This review may contain spoilers
Time Travel fast track to understand the meaning of the Time Travel Loop Fantasy Drama.
A Time Called You ⚡️⚡️Spoilers⚡️⚡️The whole crux of this drama pivots around this little girl who played video games with the high schooler Nam Si-heon. Her importance was not clarified in the Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ .
With respects the Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’, maybe I could help some fully understand the ending.
The Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ did not explain the importance of this little girl. It was left out of the drama. ‘A Time Called You’ is a remake of the Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’. It is explained in the Chinese version who this little girl is at the very end, in a simple flashback. I even missed her importance until the end too. While some may have caught it, I sense that because this is a complicated drama, most persons probably missed that this little girl is the pivotal force of the whole drama. Who is she? Let’s get the background first.
The storyline revolves around two people in this drama Universe who have doppelgängers who exist in the same timeline. We meet Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-been) and Koo Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyo-seop), who are lovers. He dies. She misses him so much she wills herself to travel back in time to where she thinks that he is alive.
When Han Jun-hee travels back in time, she inhabits/shares someone else’s body, the body of her older doppelgänger, high schooler Kwon Min-ju. Han Jun-hee’s mystery is “Why does Nam Si-heon (The doppelgänger of her love Koo Yeon-jun) look like Koo Yeon-jun, her lover who dies?”
Han Jun-hee/Kwon Min-ju, Nam Si-heon/Koo Yeon-jun, Jung In-gyu
The Mystery
This is a double time travel!!! In the actual timeline, Kwon Min-ju dies. The actual teenager/adult (Nam Si-heon), misses the future Han Jun-hee. He met and fell in love with her when she inhabited/shared the body of Kwon Min-ju before Kwon Min-ju’s death. After the death of Kwon Min-ju, teenager/adult Nam Si-heon wills himself to travel in time to be with Han Jun-hee in the future, using that music tape and cassette player. However, he does so through his doppelgänger Koo Yeon-jun, a younger gay man who dies in a car crash. Nam Si-heon starts this journey when he inadvertently travels to his doppelgänger in the future and decides to become him after the death of Koo Yeon-jun. Nam Si-heon inserts himself into the timeline of Koo Yeon-jun. Nam Si-heon/ Koo Yeon-jun is the one who gives Han Jun-hee the means to travel back in time to the past. It is through the music tape and cassette player he used to travel to the future. It is Nam Si-heon/ Koo Yeon-jun who starts this time travel loop, to try to fix time so that he and Han Jun-hee can be together, as time keeps turning in on itself or looping.
Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ and Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’ .
Who is who? Who are the players?
Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-been) is 6/7 years younger than her doppelgänger high schooler Kwon Min-ju. They both grew up in the same town.
Koo Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyo-seop) is 6/7 years younger than his doppelgänger, the high schooler Nam Si-heon. He does not live in the same town as Nam Si-heon. Koo Yeon-jun is the gay man who dies in a car crash. As he traveled through time, Nam Si-heon takes over the identity of Koo Yeon-jun.
Kwon Min-ju (Jeon Yeo-been) is the doppelgänger of Han Jun-hee and is 6/7 years older than Han Jun-hee. She is the one who loves Nam Si-heon, but Nam Si-heon is not attracted to her. The best friend of Nam Si-heon, Jung In-gyu, is in love with Kwon Min-ju.
Nam Si-heon (Ahn Hyo-seop) is the high schooler in the past and the doppelgänger of the younger Koo Yeon-jun. He encounters Han Jun-hee when she travels back in time and inhabits/shares the body and life of high schooler Kwon Min-ju.
Jung In-gyu (Kang Hoon) is the best friend of high schooler Nam Si-heon. To explain why Jung In-gyu confessed to the murder of Kwon Min-ju, this was because of his love for her. Kwon Min-ju wanted to die at the hands of a killer, because she felt that her pathetic life would be glorified in the news if she died this way. She asked Jung In-gyu to kill her, but he would not. She ended up committing suicide. He took the blame, because while he could not kill her he could give her a glorified death by being her “killer”, instead of her just committing suicide.
The Killer Oh Chan-yeong (Min Jin-woong) is 6/7 years younger than his brother, and is the younger brother of the classmate of Kwon Min-ju and Nam Si-heon. In the future, he steals the time-travel cassette. When he goes back in time (In the form of his brother) to kill Kwon Min-ju for fun, he is thwarted by the Police before he can kill Kwon Min-ju. He successfully kills her in the first original timeline.
Who is the little girl who played video games with high schooler Nam Si-heon?
Nam Si-heon finds out who the little girl is in the future. They were always destined to meet in the past, no matter through what timeline. That timeline was not disturbed be all the future fixes. If there were no interferences in the future, these two had met already, and in the Chinese version the little girl told high schooler Nam Si-heon that he was her future husband. These two fixed the most important part of the timeline, getting rid of the killer. Both knew to avoid that fated plane flight which crashed. The Universe was righted, making way for their eternal love.
Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ 9.0/10 and Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’ 10/10.
+
She is Han Jun-hee. The little girl tells Nam Si-heon to remember her name the next time they meet. How could you leave this explanation/clarification out of the drama? Koreans most likely caught that the little girl was Han Jun-hee. Americans are too busy reading subtitles, trying to keep everything straight. The simple Chinese drama flashback was all it would have taken for clarification.
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Drawing Lines
Comic Bang takes you into the world of Online Comics, in this case Chinese Manhua.. If you have children who adore anime, manga, manwha, Manhua, or that kid is you, this is the drama for you. These comics are generally designed to be viewed on smartphones or mobile devices.The drama is very stylish and written like classic comic art. It even has naration. However, the drama boils down to being about first crushes, falling in love and confessing your feelings. When you see him, you know that it is him. He just doesn’t know it yet.Comic Bang stars Shen Yue (Smile Code) as Zuo Qian Dai and Singer, Model, Actor Wang Jing Xuan as Lu Ye Qi.
First of all, you never know when the feeling of attraction will strike you or who the person will be that will floor you. Zuo Qian Dai happened to pick a 6’2” nerd and secret cartoonist Ye Qi. He is awkward when it comes to girls. However, secretly he is a comic Manhua cartoonist and she is a comic commentator. Game, Set, Match.
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The original was a masterpiece and so is the sequel, even after a five year wait.
Acting, Thrilling Action, Comic Relief, Cinematography, and great OST💌💌💌💌The year 2024 will be the year remembered by some as the year Chinese dramas out classed Korean Dramas in putting out great drama productions for this year. Like the year 2016 did for Korean dramas (the turning point for Korean dramas) 2024 abounds with some of the greatest most innovative Chinese Dramas I have seen. Forget the question about which is better, Chinese dramas have arrived.
Chinese Period Drama Joy of Life 2
From the Book Qing Yu Nian, written by Mao Ni, the Chinese drama series Joy of Life (2019) was written by Wang Juan and directed by Sun Hao. Both writer and director returned in 2024 for Joy of Life 2. It is like Wang Juan and Sun Hoa were not going to put out anything short of the perfection, like the high standards found in Joy of Life. The Chinese drama series Joy of Life sits at number one out of all 100 Chinese Dramas I have viewed. The pair of writer and director seemed to have vowed to wait out these five years until the stars aligned so that they could put out perfection and they did it again. It is a death knell to wait five years for a sequel. You lose your audience. Joy of Life 2 was going to be a masterpiece or it just was not going to be put out. There are thrills and action, great acting, great comic relief, great cinematography and filmmaking, great music and a very cohesive story. Joy of Life did not suffer from the five year wait as respects cohesive storyline between the original and the sequel. Joy of Life 2 will most likely land in number 2 on my All Time Chinese Drama List. Joy of Life is number 5 out of 400 Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Dramas I have reviewed. (To note: I have not watched Nirvana on Fire (2015) yet, which by everyone’s account should be in the top three)
What the story of ‘Joy of Life’ does is fill in all of the canvass. While many dramas are entertaining on so many different levels, many of these dramas are pencil drawings next to the Renoir of the Joy of Life drama series for me. Joy of Life 2 is so well written. Many words fill up the dialogue, leaving so many thoughts to digest, one doesn’t feel like the dialogue space is wasted with garbage words. The interplay between the good and the evil, each challenge, each victory, each loss in the cat and mouse games play out wonderfully in this Period Political drama with intense Court intrigue. The cat and mouse skirmishes are reminiscent of the great Chinese drama The Rise of the Phoenixes (2018). Joy of Life 2 is a next level experience.
Joy of Life 2 is a great interplay of serious drama with comic relief. Mapping out the comedy within the serious is not the easiest of tasks. If you throw in the comedy in the wrong places it becomes a joke. If the comedy is weaved in seamlessly, it can become a masterpiece. What Joy of Life 2 is good at is throwing in comedy amidst chaos. The viewers get scenes like where there is threatening chaos and thrilling danger and then amongst this you see dancing Eunuchs doing line dancing? You freeze in place trying to comprehend what you are viewing. This much of a juxtapose should not work in any universe, but it works in the Chinese Costume Drama ‘Joy of Life’ 2 series. What brain is that creative?
Joy of Life 2 has some of the best choreographed action sequences, as was the case with Joy of Life. Known for its trend-setting moves for its action sequences, I enjoyed the wonderful cliff scene in Joy of Life 2. The two nefarious Princes are back and a whole lot more nefarious and funnier in Joy of life 2 than in Joy of Life. (Watch out for the Poison Prince scene. Hilarious). Also back are much of the cast from Joy of Life, including the weirdest but most intelligent Emperor, who provides much angst for the protagonist. Our protagonist Fan Xian / Fan Shen again is played by Chinese actor Zhang Ruoyun. He gives another great dramatic comedic performance.
Can Joy of Life 2 stand on its own without viewing Joy of Life? There will be some parts of the drama that should produce a deeper value meaning with a deeper connection to the past that will be lost. However, Joy of Life 2 can stand on its own, because of its entertainment value. Some problems will arise for sure with the lost of all the information about the dead mother of the protagonist and her connection to the present action. This is lost to those who view this series out of sequence. It is worth putting in the 82 episodes back to back for the best experience. You won’t get bored at all if this is your kind of drama. However, the presentation of Joy of Life 2 is so good that if I could read Chinese, I would read the book.
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The Perfect Family is most certainly above to crowd. Intriguing.
The Perfect Family is a well written Suspense Thriller Drama that may leave you breathless, similar to Atypical Family.The Story
The Perfect Family is a brilliant drama, my kind of story. Hopefully the story does not collapse along the way. It is about two girls who use to be best friends. Something tragic happened to one of the girls and the misfortune of one appears to be the fortune of the other. Or is it? The details given by me must be sparse here, lest it ends up being a spoiler, the way the story is writing. The Internet is ablaze about this drama. The Perfect Family has invoked much thought and conversation all around.
The story is a contrast between someone in whose life nothing goes right with someone who has everything a person could want. Who is better off? One has a loving doting family, teen popularity, riches, opportunity, and a boy who truly loves her. The other has none of this, but whose life should this be? Was the trajectory incident the fault of the one? Not really. Should it be the guilt of the other to own? Probably. The girls reunite as teens and that is where the story begins. The Perfect Family would be a perfect Watch-Party drama.
Stars Park Ju-Hyun (as Choi Sun-Hui) and Choi Ye-Bin (as Lee Soo-Yeon)
How the story is written is important
The Perfect Family has a unique way to tell its story. One can tell that this story comes from a very complicated mind. Normally, I can take the facts presented after three episodes of a drama and tell you in a write-up exactly where this story is going. That is impossible with the story The Perfect Family. Its writing style is layered and complicated and I will need to write a spoiler follow-up just to keep it straight in my own mind. This story of The Perfect Family also is compelling and profound, invoking much deep thoughts around the issues presented.
The drama The Perfect Family is written in reverse chronology. You get the foreboding end of the story in the first four minutes of action. This is a flash-forward scene foreshadowing what is to come. This is a writing technique that is not often used and less so in Korean dramas. Using this technique throws the viewer into a quandary about the characters, because you have not yet grown an attachment to these characters. However, you are immediately drawn into caring about their fate.
Next, the writer layers the action like an onion, to establish how the foreboding opening incident happened. In continuous motion, the writer gives you the opening scene several times from several different points of view of each of the players involved. This keeps you in your chair waiting for the total reason why this foreboding outcome occurred, as you continue to establish a relationship with these characters. The writer is using foreshadowing, as the writer gives you portions of the complete puzzle, spoonfuls at a time. This is how the story is accomplished, but what is the true story?
The Perfect Family is such a profound Korean drama. I thought that the Korean drama Atypical Family was profound, but this is too. Whether it is your taste, is another story. However, is it profound? Yes.
(My mind is reeling like it was when viewing the drama Atypical Family)
There is a stacked cast in the drama ‘The Perfect Family’. The Perfect Family reunites the two principle leads of the Korean Drama ‘Forbidden Marriage’, Kim Min-ju and Kim Young-dae. While Forbidden Marriage was a RomCom, The Perfect Family is a Suspense Thriller.
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Impressions of the Korean Drama Motel California (2025)
She (Ji Gang Hui played by Lee Se Young) affectionately calls him (Cheon Yeon Su played by Na In Woo) teddybear. She likes this guy who is overweight, because he is comfy. She likes him to the core. Some may not agree with the first 15 minutes of the Korean Drama Motel California. It is an interesting choice for an opening scene. Our Female Lead whispers to him ‘not to ever lose weight’, affirming to him that she likes him just the way he is. WOW! Nonetheless, he does loose weight. What will this do to their relationship?Motel California is a drama about discrimination, and many types of discriminations are addressed. This drama is a very raw drama. I don’t know how Motel California will play in Korea, but it should play well in the States. Powerful. Two social outcasts, according to societal acceptability, are brought together. He is overweight and she is an ethnic minority of mixed race in conservative Korea. The two misfits fight for each other in a small town in Nowheresville, Korea. Cheon Yeon Su reads Ji Gang Hui like a book, knowing her every emotions by reading her body language. Even when he is not present, he is her emotional rock, as she contemplates what he would tell her to do. The world is steadied when she thinks of him. I don’t know what others will get from this Korean Drama Motel California, but there is huge depth to these characters. The two become separated for ten years when she decides to leave Nowheresville. She just can’t face the pressure.
I don’t know what to tell you. I am so impressed by the performances of Lee Se Young and Na In Woo thus far. These two actors are drawing tears from me in the first 33 minutes. Their plights are so relatable, on so many different levels. You don’t have to be Black to be discriminated against. You could be a woman. You could be fat. You just could be yourself. However, you cannot let others control your destiny. Don’t get stuck on other people’s planet. Create your own universe.
Na In Woo is giving such a great performance. I am in love with his character. I love the way the Director is using his body language in silent screen moments, to make impactful statements. The use of dark lighting in odd moments adds such an oddity, which I like as well. The screen content visuals are through the roof. These kinds of visuals really elevate this drama to above ordinary. I am so excited about this drama. Motel California is my ‘Atypical Family’ for this year of 2025. The rating thus far for Motel California is 10/10 on the Internet and that is my rating too.
Quote: “Can someone with prejudices really evaluate ability without bias?” Lead Female.
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Looking at the winners of the Baeksang Arts Awards, what are some take aways?
One take-away for me after viewing the Baeksang is this. Comedy as an art form instead of an orphan child of Art is rarely recognized in the Film and Drama industry in general worldwide and in South Korea specifically. Therefore, Joo Ji-hoon winning the Best Actor category at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards (2025) in an Action Comedy was a shock for me. Many Comedies before have failed to get the call, notably Song Joong-ki for Vincenzo in 2022. I think Comedy is a high art form, which is not achievable by many people. Dramatic actors and Comedy actors try to stay in their lane. It is not an easy feat for an actor to switch back and forth between drama and comedy or vice versa.I don’t know what was a bigger shock. That a great dramatic actor like Joo Ji-hoon could find his footing in the world of comedy or that the Baeksang Arts Awards recognized that the acting skill set level needed to pull it off was a great feat. Kudos to Joo Ji-hoon for crossing the boundaries of drama to comedy and being great at it. Who knew?
Joo Ji-hoon put out two stellar roll-all-over-the-floor Comedies this Baeksang Arts Award Year 2024-2025. They were ‘Love Your Enemy’ (2024) and ‘The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call’ (2025). In the same period, Joo Ji-hoon put out two great dramatic dramas, Blood Free (2024) and Light Shop (2024). This proved to me that Joo Ji-hoon’s crossover was not just a fluke. I did not pick Joo Ji-hoon to win in the Best Actor category with a Comedy Action Drama, because I did not think that it was possible for him to win. Comedy is always invited to the dance, but always asked to be a wall flowers. I am truly glad that someone in the High Tower is finally waking up. Congratulations to Joo Ji-hoon and may this not be a one-and-done for rewarding comedy at the Baeksang.
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Silence is acting too.
There are Korean dramas that you like very much and those that you totally enjoy. These latter ones leave you haunted by them long after you have finished the drama. Tell Me That You Love Me is the second type. I really got into the headspace of the main characters and felt their pain deeply in this impactful drama. Amidst the heavy hitter Korean dramas of 2023, this drama is a perfect sleeper gem of a Korean drama some might have missed.The story is about a woman trying to find her way in life and a man who is deaf trying to navigate through a hearing world. She has to learn to communicate with him with her hands, and he has to learn how to communicate with her with his heart. Tell Me That You Love Me has a well thought out, well executed, and unusual storyline. The story is written so well, from a deaf person’s point of view. This Korean Drama is the type of artsy drama which people who appreciate the finer nuances of good filmmaking would love.
I love it when actors use body language to convey thoughts without words. When you are playing the part of a deaf person who can not speak, you have no other way to convey the emotions of the character other than with body language.
The male lead playing the deaf character is seasoned veteran and Baeksang Arts Award top honor Daesang winning Actor, a Director, a Producer, and a Model Jung Woo-sung. He nailed this performance of a deaf person who is totally confident in his skin, but who is seared by the challenges of hearing people. The female lead is actress Shin Hyun-been. She plays a woman starting a new career as an actress. She has a soft demur acting delivery which was so appropriate for her role in Tell Me That You Love Me. The performance which both gave is called the art of acting.
Quote: “I always thought I was the one who should make an effort to live in harmony with others. Because in this world there are a lot more people who can hear than those who can’t. But out of those people, someone came to me and said hi first.” Deaf Artist expressing his feelings about someone who took the effort to communicate.
Quote: “I read sounds (voices) with my eyes. It means that every time I blink, for a brief moment, I get disconnected from the world”. Deaf Male Lead.
Quote: “Since I can’t hear people’s footsteps approaching me, I must always keep a safe distance from them.” Deaf Male Lead.
When the deaf lead was with hearing people, his demeanor was unsure and not assertive. Teaching his deaf students he was very assure and assertive. This seemed so realistic to me. I love the acting choices of the male lead. I love the way the male lead brings you into his world and verbally shows you what it is like for a deaf person to live in a hearing world. Love that at times the drama goes completely silent when two persons are signing. This was a dramatic choice I loved.
I enjoyed Tell Me That You Love Me. The OST is so poignant, featuring star singers like Seungkwan from Seventeen who wrote and sang Still You from Doctor Romantic 3 and Seori who sings Sound of Your Heart. The OST music is so encapsulating of the action that at times the music can leave you crying. There are two great second leads, a guy and girl character.
Tell Me That You Love Me meets industry stands of excellence in acting, cinematography, sound, lighting, and music OST. It falters with film editing, taking breaks of action in the weirdest places.
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Blossoms in Adversity
Blossom in Adversity is a woman-positive Chinese drama that is very well written and acted. There are so many females who are positive role models in Blossoms in Adversity. The main protagonist is portrayed as a young intelligent female who can figure out how to survive and thrive in spite of adversity.A strong teen pulls a politically ostracized former noble household of 35+ women and children out of poverty, by using good business sense and radical thinking. To get the indentured servants among her entourage to work happily in the household, she sets them all free and makes them a social equal and equal business partners in her thriving newly formed business. Having no money and just a roof over her head, she uses what some people would throw away and makes good business profit.
There is a great ending to Blossoms in Adversity as the ruler of the Kingdom, trained through adversity and deprivation, ascend to the throne. Thrilling.
Blossoms in Adversity has such young Chinese star power leading the cast. The Female and Male Leads are actress Zhang Jing Yi (Lighter and Princess) as Hua Zhi and actor Hu Yi Tian (Hello Sharpshooter). Adapted from the web novel "Xi Hua Zhi". Enjoy.
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Some of the best acting ever.
Move To Heaven (2021) is about a cleanup business run by a father and his savant Asperger son, who takes loving care of the last remaining earthly belongings of the deceased. So much loving care is taken with the belongings of the deceased that the work assignment begins and ends with prayer, as the deceased “moves to heaven”. The loving father meets with tragedy and the young brother of the father (and uncle to the mentally challenged but high functioning son) is asked to be a caretaker to the son and help him run the business. This uncle should not be trusted even with a dead dog, let alone a mentally challenged human. However, somehow they need to make this work.Quote: I can’t believe we’re rummaging through garbage to find garbage.” Reckless young uncle trying to find in the city dump the belongings of the deceased he carelessly threw away.
The young boy knows how to read the life story of the deceased from what others perceive as trash. I can not express how good the young actor who plays the mentally challenged youth is doing in Move To Heaven. Sometimes, you get these performances which are so good (Leo Di Caprio in the American movie ‘What’s Wrong with Gilbert Grapes’) that at no point in time do you see the actor as anything other than mentally challenged. This neat and ordered youth goes up against the abrasive slob from destruction. The drama covers the back story of each deceased character. This drama is so good. (I have a Note To The Sensitive at the end)
Actors Corner
Tang Jun-sang (Racket Boys) as Han Geu-ru just keeps on surprising me with his great performances in his dramas. He is a Baeksang Arts Awards Nominee for Move To Heaven.
Lee Je Hoon (Taxi Driver) as the young uncle Cho Sang-gu. He plays the irresponsible young uncle who only became the guardian of his mentally challenged nephew to get control of the money from his inheritance. There is a great human interest backstory for the uncle. Lee Je Hoon won several Best Actor Awards from various awards shows for his performance in Move to Heaven.
Hong Seung-hee (Navillera) portrays Yoon Na-mu, the best friend and interpreter for Han Geu-ru. She is his defender to the end. Hong Seung-hee gives a great performance.
Move To Heaven won the Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2022 for Best Drama.
Note To The Sensitive
Occasionally, there is amounts of strong cursing from certain guest characters and smoking in the drama. There are occasional boxing scenes. I will try to include Note To The Sensitive to my drama reviews.
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Learn to take care of “me”.
What does your mental health look like?Quote: “All of us are standing on the border between normal and abnormal”. Female Lead from A Daily Dose of Sunshine.
Quote: “Psychiatry is for those whose mental immunity has been weaken. Anyone of us can find ourselves in a weakened mental state”. A Daily Dose of Sunshine
The Story
A Daily Dose of Sunshine is about a psychiatric ward nurse with a different approach to psychiatric therapy, being kind and showing empathy. I am just now getting back to finish this drama, which debut at the end of 2023. For my taste, A Daily Dose of Sunshine was stellar. The story centers around the life of a nurse in a Hospital psych ward and the many story arcs of the many patients who pass through its halls. This drama is the closest drama to another stellar Korean Drama, Chocolate (2020). A Daily Dose of Sunshine asks you to take a good look at your mental health. Before it is to late, give “Me” a little attention.
One of the most poignant scenes in the whole drama for me was when and overworked overstressed mom was admitted to the psych ward, because of pseudo-dementia caused by being overworked and over stressed. The head nurse of the psych ward is also overworked and overstressed and is facing a failure as a mom and wife. It was not until the overworked nurse had to sit down and listen to the evaluation of the overworked and overstressed out patient and the overworked and overstressed patient observed the overworked and overstressed nurse at her work that they both got it. They both finally understood their problem. When you view this part, look at the faces of each woman. Priceless. The camera shots in this scene has the patient’s face darkened out at times, so as to allow the viewer to put their face in that image. (Episode five, A Daily Dose of Sunshine).
Every story arc of A Daily Dose of Sunshine was written with great emotions and contained well researched information. The script is stellar and the acting was too. Each arc will touch your heart deeply. A Daily Dose of Sunshine get a high recommendation from me.
Quote: “Mom, why were you late?” Little daughter. “I had so many sick people at the hospital.” Mom. “But mom, I am sick too, and you are a nurse. Why wouldn’t you nurse me too?” Little daughter on A Daily Dose of Sunshine.
Quote: “That person who was always smiling . . . His smile was pitiful to me. And so my heart ached. Hurting words have a way of hurting you, no matter the occasion”. Lead Female tries to calm her heart. A Daily Dose of Sunshine
Quote: “Life’s problems are like a public train, the longer the time of travel the more passengers you take on”. Me
Actors Corner
Yeon Woo Jin (Good Doctor), Park Bo Young (Strong Girl Bong Soon), and Jang Dong-Yoon (Flowers in the Sand). All gave great performances.
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Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama with a serious ending
The main character is Yun Ye (Played by Wang Tianchen)—Wang Tianchen’s personality is so perfect for this role in Tang Dynasty Tour. Most will fall in love with this actor.Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama is a Chinese drama which acts as a tour through history, like the American Movie Forest Gump.
Tang Dynasty Tour is a Time Travel drama, which takes you back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). This is a Time Travel drama instead of a Time Slip, because there is a definite mode for Time Travel. It is an ancient ornamental hairpin.
Quote: “Water carries a boat, and yet water can overturn it”. Tang Dynasty Tour.
The Story
A radical young smart archaeologist named Yun Ye (Wang Tianchen) is warned to be careful while in an archeological dig, as they combed through buried ancient Chinese artifacts. Yun Ye ignores the warning and falls down through a compartment which seems to have no way out. Using his ingenuity, he finds an opening that opens with a woman’s hairpin. Nevertheless, Yun Ye is unaware that he falls through a time warp, which takes him back to the Tang Dynasty. He decides to stick around for a tour. Along the way, he falls in love. Since most of the Royalty in this drama are historical figures, it is fun to see how Yun Ye touches bases with history, ancient culture and artifacts, and events, like in the American film Forest Gump. Since I study history in general, I picked up most all of the references to Chinese History. Tang Dynasty Tour is scoring a 9.2 on the Chinese Streamer iQIYI, even with a very bad translation Team. The Chinese are going to get the historical references more so than most others cultures. In the same way, Forest Gump would score higher in America, because the central theme has American History.
What is unique about the drama Tang Dynasty Tour is that Yun Ye can use his brilliant mind and his vast knowledge of the future to control and guide him through, and invent different ways to live in the past. I truly enjoyed this drama immensely. There are the most complicated love triangles in Tang Dynasty Tour than in any other Asian Drama I have seen. This drama has all the bells and whistles for my taste.
The following is a quote from Emperor Tang Taizong:
“If one uses bronze as a mirror one will be able to adjust one’s dress and hat properly. If one uses the past as a mirror, one will be able to learn the principles of the rise and fall of a dynasty. If one uses a person as a mirror, one will be able to discern one’s own achievements and mistakes.” The Zhenguan Zhengyao
(贞观 政要)
Specifically for one homage to history, look for the green Chamber Pot (toilet) of Emperor Gaozu, the Grandfather (Father of the Emperor Li Shimin and former/first Emperor of the Tang Dynasty). Yun Ye is granted any gift he wants by former Emperor Gaozu. He asks for the chamber pot (toilet) of the retired Emperor as a gift. While everyone laughs at the request, Yun Ye quips that it will be of great value someday. Along the way Yun Ye introduces or “invents” a game called Mahjong, a very popular Asian game today. The Tang Dynasty was long gone by the 1800s, when the very popular Mahjong was introduce to the world. However, we get to see Chinese people circa 600 CE play the game. Yun Ye also introduces Scandinavian furniture into the Tang culture and it becomes a hit. Come to think of it, Chinese furniture at a point in time in history does suddenly modernize and takes on a seeming European look. Okay, I am over thinking things a bit.
The time period of Tang Dynasty Tour is the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), during the reign of Emperor Tai Zong. He is a real historical person who reigned over the Tang Dynasty 626–649 CE, of the period of Zhengguan. Because Yun Ye knows how to make granular table salt, Yun Ye becomes valued and protected, like a commodity. What salt did to food historically radicalized eating. Also in the past, salt was the same price as gold. Imagine a world without salt. With his inventiveness and future know-how, Yun Ye becomes the MacGyver of the ancient Tang Dynasty world.
Quote: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton (1887)
Set decorations, costume designs and shoe-ware are exquisite and so Tang Dynasty These are a literal feast to the eyes. Cinematography is off the charts and the drama has a great OST. Hair and makeup are divine. There is lots of Court Intrigue and thrilling action in this drama, women in distress, valiant swordsmen, it is all there, making Tang Dynasty Tour a fun delicious adventure. The plot line of The Tang Dynasty Tour Drama does get incoherent in some spots in the back half, as a few Chinese Dramas do. Over all, Tang Dynasty Tour is a Chicken Dinner Winner. (The drama is available on Amazon Prime Video and iQIYI in 2024).
Viewer Note: Be aware that there is a bad translator for this drama, Tang Dynasty Tour.
The Rules of Time Travel.
Somehow, because of his time travel to the past, Yun Ye has thrown off the original historical timeline. It becomes disordered. Yun Ye creates a grandfather paradox. The man who should have fathered his nation in the future (being the only male left in the clan) died because of the time travel insertion of Yun Ye. If Yun Ye does not agree to father the nation of Yun, as the last man, he does not exist in the future. He must become his own ancestor if he is to go back to the future. This is a modified grandfather paradox. The paradox entertains what would happen if you went back in time and killed your own grandfather. If in time, you always killed your own grandfather, you would never have existed in the future to go back in time to kill your own grandfather. That is a paradox similar to what Yun Ye faces. To correct the paradox, he inserts himself in as his own “grandfather”.
In Tang Dynasty Tour Time Travel drama, Yun Ye changes time events. Therefore, Yun Ye is in an alternate universe where events are correctable.
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What is all this hype about, with WWWSK? Did a kiss make this a Kdrama classic?
“What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” (2018) stars Park Seo Jun as Lee Young-Joon and Park Min-Young as Secretary Kim Mi So. The drama is taken from a Webtoon by the same name.Each person can have their personal opinions about any drama. I am good with that. However, the Korean Drama “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is about more than that ‘top five kisses of all times’, in the back half of this Korean Drama. “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is one of the deepest Korean Dramas of all times too, in spite it being a RomCom. This drama is about a mental and emotional promise which one abused child (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) made to another abused child (Kim Mi So). That promise was to always be her protector, in spite of the mental and emotional hits he took in life to be there for her. While the child abuse was a shared experience of two young children (kidnapped by the same abuser), the young boy just took it upon himself to handle the abuse while shielding the little girl from it. Consequently, he took on the damage this experience would eventually cause in life while he hide her eyes from the potentially bad consequences.
WWWSK does display the comedic genius of Park Seo Joon, one of the top Korean Drama actors. However, the drama also delves into what made his drama character in WWWSK become the egomaniac which he became. The drama character Lee Young-Joon was a huge egomaniac and narcissist [having Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)]. Even though his NPD produced the most laughs in the drama, some may not know that egomania and NPD can be caused by childhood trauma. The beautiful love story which emerges out of WWWSK becomes a healing process for all, as the now “grown little boy” (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) can finally keep his pinky swear he made with the now “grown little girl” (Kim Mi So) so long ago.
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? is a play on words. Is this exclamation a question or a discovery? Is something wrong with Secretary Kim or let me tell you what is wrong with Secretary Kim. Nonetheless, this Korean Drama is a must see for every Korean Drama devotee, in my opinion.
Personal admiration: For me, this drama (WWWSK?) has one of the top five drama performances by children. The child stars are actress Kim Ji Yoo as Kim Mi So (Eun Dan Oh [Young] from Extraordinary You) and actor Moon Woo Jin as Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun [Young] (It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, Castaway Diva). Kids don’t stay kids. Go figure. Watch for the great performance of actor Moon Woo Jin playing another abused child in Castaway Diva (2023).
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The writer made a conscious effort to avoid standard tropes. Great filmmaking.
Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.The Deal Crime Thriller Mystery
Great acting, inventive and realistically raw story about two childhood friends who on a whim kidnaps another childhood friend, who is the son of a Chaebol. Everything goes downhill after that. The drama has great information about life in Korea as a male, after leaving a mandatory stint in the Military. This ordinary life is contrasted with the life led by the rich son of a Chaebol, whom the youths kidnap. In addition, The Deal Korean Drama explores the struggles of the poor youthful friends who feel forced to commit a crime.
The Deal is on the order of the great Korean Crime SyFy Drama ‘Signal’ and the Crime Thriller ‘Through the Darkness’. The Deal engages the brain to contemplate what is moral behavior? Does the quest for money allow you to forego acting with human kindness? Does criminality only reach into the neighborhood of the disenfranchised uneducated poor? My brain did not stop working from start to well after I finished viewing.
Off the bat, the writer of The Deal made a conscious effort to make this drama (The Deal) trope free. Miraculously and remarkably, you will be hard pressed to find one trope. This in and of itself sets this Korean Drama ‘The Deal’ above the crowd of Korean Drama usuals. Besides having poor youths and a son of a rich Chaebol, the action tries hard to avoid tropes by making different choices in the action outcomes, the backgrounds of its characters, how woman deal with bad situations, and who gets their just deserts in the end. It would take its own post to explain it all. The scripted material is fresh and thought provoking. The scriptwriter for The Deal is award winning and prolific filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, who is a writer and Director. There is some cursing and some violence in this drama.
I had thought that The Deal Korean drama would be a comedy, but this drama is serious filmmaking. The Deal is a Crime Thriller Mystery. The kidnappers keep making one bad choice after another. What is the right choice to resolve this dilemma and why does greed stand in the way? As a side matter, one thing that The Deal Korean Drama makes apparent is that all who think that they have privacy in this world are sadly mistaken.
The Deal stars two accomplished young actors, Baeksang Arts nominee Kim Dong-hwi (In Our Prime) and Grand Bell Awards winner Yeo Sung Ho. The drama also stars Yoo Su-bin (DP 2). The drama is listed as PG 14. At times, there is strong language and two violent scenes that push the boundaries of PG 14.
Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.
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Arthdal Chronicles Part 2: The Sky Turning Inside Out, Rising Land
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This review may contain spoilers
What societal or political messages are expressed in "Arthdal Chronicles"?
Firstly, you must know that the writers built different societies that don’t exist in our natural world for Arthdal Chronicles. These societies have totally different belief systems. One has an unusual language (Think Klingon), and each of these societies have different religions, hierarchies, customs, and metric systems for success. When I say that the writers have built these societies from the ground up, I mean it. Thus, you will have to think to watch Arthdal Chronicles, because the action is presented from the point of view of the new societies. What these new societies would think and how they would react to each situation is how the action is driven. This is not your regular Joseon adventure fantasy. Secondly, if you don’t like to think when you watch a Korean Drama, you want a simple format served in a simple way, then you need to skip this one. Thirdly, Arthdal Chronicles has a very interesting storyline.What many of the different Clans mirror from our society in this drama is prejudice, and a readiness to destroy persons they don’t understand. Ambition is in any society, because you can’t get rid of competition. Also, what is mirrored is that technological advances give some societies greater advantages over other societies. This mirrors real life. Are you going to choose to be benevolent or do you seize the opportunity to subdue and rule? The need for land expansion is always a cause for war, historically. This is a political message presented in Arthdal Chronicles.
Let me associate some of the societies with things we might know and understand.
Nweantal Clan—A Clan with persons of extraordinary strength and speed. One Nweantal can take down 15 men. This clan is peaceable and just wants to be left alone. You don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. They have blue blood thus their mouths are blue. They have cat eyes and are born with a funny scar on their backs. Their language sounded like they weren’t speaking Korean. It sounded like a made up language similar to Klingon. If I were to associate this Clan with something I know, it would be the Klingons from Star Trek.
Arthdal Clan—From what I could see, the Arthdal Clans (Saenyeok Tribe, Hae Tribe, and Hwinsan Tribe) are the more advanced Clans. In espisode 1, these Clans commits genocide of the Nweantal Clan after a failed alliance. They are aggressive people and use their power to wield authority to achieve submission. If I would associate these Clans to something I know, it would be Mongols or (with great sensitivity meant) Caucasian conquest of new worlds.
Yiareukeu (Wahan Tribe)—These are people of the earth, who are not looking for a fight. They just want to observe their ways, express their religion, and stay away from trouble. A very superstitious lot, these are a less developed people. The Yiareukeu thought it strange when someone thought to learn to use a horse for riding. This was something they did not do. If I were to associate them with something I know, think early American Native Indians, with their closeness to the soil and the natural earth.
Our main protagonist is Eun-Sum (Song Jong-Ki). He is half Nweantal and half Arthdal. His blood is purplish blue as a half-bred. Separated from his mother early on, Eun-Sum is raised by the Yiareukeu Clan (Wahan Tribe). One interesting scene is when he came up with the idea to ride a horse. Horses weren’t used like that. Eun-Sum has a twin brother (Saya) who was stolen by a warrior of the Saenyeok Tribe. He lives among the Saenyeok Tribe. Amazingly, Joong-ki plays twin 20 year olds, Eun-Sum and Saya, and he is pulling it off, even in his late thirties.
I love this storyline in Arthdal Chronicles, as it dares to be totally different from what I have ever experienced before in Korean Dramas. If you are adventurous, like puzzles, don’t mind thinking deeply, you might enjoy Arthdal Chronicles.
Side Bar—If you are not a Star Trek Fan, you won’t know what a Klingon is, so Google search it.
Arthdal Chronicles is a great Action Historical Fantasy Drama.
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The “Good” Bad Mother or The Good “Bad” Mother. Life has its turns.
The word has been out for a little while, that The Good Bad Mother is a super hit. I will just add my voice in affirmation. This drama is a must see, especially for parents trying hard to master this parenting thing, and having to listen to their children tell them that they are not getting it right. You become “the bad mother” in their eyes of misunderstanding. Anyone with kids knows that children never see the real you, the real parent, while they are growing up. Children just misunderstand the protective you, the parent who tries hard to sanitize their world. And yes, at times as parents we can be overbearing and we don’t get it right. This drama gives you the prospective from both points of view and how both parent and child are forced to recognize each other, through a shared misfortune. The “Good” Bad Mother is appropriately titled.The Story
The Good Bad Mother is about the struggles of a mother to raise her child on a family run pig farm, after the murder of her husband. It is a story of a mother’s revenge on the perpetrators of the death of her husband, as she recognizes that power brings results. Therefore, she strictly raises her child to be powerful, so that he can be the one who gets justice. She becomes The Good “Bad” Mother.
Nonetheless, her son faces adversity, because of a car wreck which leaves him with the intelligence of a seven year old child. She is left to start all over again raising her son. Through this adversity, both parent and child come to recognize the full intentions of the other. The story is well intended, but at times the story becomes predictable, even following illogical paths. That is a writer’s issue. However, this will in no way take away from two of the most outstanding acting performances of the year for 2023 for the mother and son.
Note: In the drama series Extraordinary Attorney Woo, we got Whale Moments. Be on the lookout for our cute Pig Moments in this drama series.
Quote: “Pigs use to roam free, keeping clean bathing in mud. People started to lock up in tiny pigsties. The pig could not bathe in mud anymore, so they began to rub their bodies in their own excrement. That is how they grew dirtier and more aggressive. However, what is really sad is that pigs cannot lift their heads, so they live their entire life staring at the ground. There is only one way for a pig to look up at the sky and that is to fall down”. The “Good” Bad Mother.
Acting Corner
The Mother—Ra Mi Ran (Black Dog) is outstanding as the misunderstood mother, whose sole aim is to protect her child. It would be no surprise to me if she gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series.
The Son—Lee Do Hyun (The Glory) is the son who balks at the tiresome drilling of his mother, as she tries to produce a powerful man. After the accident, this powerful intelligent man is reduced to the mind of a seven year old. This character has super range, from acting as a seven year old to assuming the power behind revenge. Lee Do Hyun gives another outstanding performance. Again, it would not surprise me if Lee Do Hyun gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actor in a Drama Series.
The Love Interest—Ahn Eun Jin has become an A-List Actress. I picked her up in her early years in the drama series ‘More Than Friends’, recognizing this acting potential. Ahn Eun Jin has two super hits in 2023 in The Good Bad Mother and My Dearest. Her star is being planted in the sidewalk.
The Good Friend and Second Lead— Ahn Eun Jin (Alchemy of Souls, The Uncanny Encounter Season 2) is the scene stealer, with his big personality. Ahn Eun Jin is a rising star.
Be prepared to have a solidly fixed smile on your face, because of the two outstanding child actors, Park Da On and Ki So Yu. The whole acting posse is stellar
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