mango

I wish there were more college dramas! age of youth is my favorite (& **definitely** worth watching!!), &---altho it's not on this list---I loved nodame cantabile, too. bright it on ghost is a fun one, & I enjoyed citt up to a certain point. I paused reply 1994 but intend to go back to it.

48-ninme no chuushin, jimi ni sugoi!, toge shoushimin kuranaga haruyuki no gyakushu, chef: mitsuboshi no kyushoku, & iq246 --- I'm most interested in checking these guys out!

"Train to Busan is a thrilling, fast and fun ride with an emotional ending"

agree 100%. it doesn't offer anything new IMO, as far as zombie works go, but it kept me at the edge of my seat. it's thrilling, like you said, &---for me---surprisingly emotional. lots of credit has to go to kim soo an for that. what a talented little girl! I like gong yoo & ma dong seok, but her performance had me the most absorbed.

I need more ji soo in my life; he really is a cutie pie. my first encounter with ji soo's acting was in sassy go go, & he blew me away there. seo ha joon is by far one of my favorite characters, & he wouldn't have been the same without ji soo portraying him. + he's so precious in page turner, too. I still want to watch angry mom at some point, but for his other roles... I'm not sure if I'm willing to sit through doctors to see his episodes. I do want to pick up scarlet heart & fantastic, tho! except I'm a little overloaded on dramas rn, so maybe in a few weeks. concerning his health & his current drama, I'm not sure what they'll do with his fantastic character or how reworking the script will effect the story, but he needs recuperation time & I wish the best for his recovery. I'm glad it's not cancer but osteomyelitis is no joke, either. xx

in the mean time I'm totally checking out that webdrama! thanks for providing the links!

yes! who can't help but to love those two?

I haven't seen the moon that embraces the sun, but page turner & healer are both excellent dramas. but, honestly, it's because they're good that I don't want them to be remade. not so soon, anyway. ten years might seem like a long time to some, but it's like I still remember loving the heck out of dae jang geum as if it aired yesterday & I can't warm up to this idea of a sequel---& without lee young ae, too. who knows how I'd feel if they wanted to do a total remake, ahhh. I mean, I'd watch another country's remake, but a straight-up sk remake of a solidly good sk drama? idk.

I think remakes are best used for stuff that didn't live up to their full potential, or maybe they're dated or just not well known, etc. in ten years there will no doubt be a new crop of amazing actors to fill these roles, & yet I'm not so sure that talented actors & a good script can ever recapture the magic of what makes these dramas special.

+1

idk how anyone couldn't have their heart go out to tk, but I genuinely loved his character all around.

I think the blazing chemistry between matsujun & inoue mao put oguri shun in my blind spot. I didn't consider him at all, lol. besides hyd, I've seen citt, pretty boy, & the heirs, & I agree about the second male leads. I can't excuse kwb's bully behavior in heirs, tho; why did I love him so much? in terms of sls, I should consider myself lucky. I didn't feel *too* strongly about any of these guys to consider myself a real sls sufferer. same goes for sung joon's character in lie to me. I would have been THRILLED if yoon eun hye's character fell for him instead, but it was obvious who she'd end up with from day one. both leads had good enough chemistry for me to not feel too deflated over sung joon, anyway, but he's one of my faves regardless! can't forget seo ha joon, either. I love everything about him (especially his beautiful gummy bear confession, because I don't think you do much better than that). props to ji soo who did such a great job in his portrayal, not that anyone should doubt his capability.

my first & only true case of sls belongs to school 2015's gong tae kwang. I can't decide if he's my first or second favorite, but he stole my heart. I just wanted him to be happy ;a; (but it's a little strange, because he seems more like the lead male through maybe the first quarter of the drama before he jumps into second lead position... or is that only me who feels this way?)

my other top male lead favorite is song sam dong from dream high. what a perfectly adorable cutie played by the perfectly adorable kim soo hyun. ♡♡♡

bring it on, ghost has the perfect blend of humor & "horror"---which is to say that that altho its scary moments are creepy, they're creepy to an extent. I'm genuinely freaked when the show wants me to be, but I also don't feel like it ever tries too hard or takes itself too seriously. there's a nice coalescence of genres here. there is a great deal of stuffing in place of plot, tho. it could/should be moving at a quicker pace, but that would also require fewer than 16 episodes---not that I mind it too much. it has enough going on per ep to keep me interested & entertained, but what do I have to do to get lee david & kang ki young more screen time together? they are positively my favorite thing about bring it on, ghost. ♡

torachan2006 from doramatique is subbing, here's the link: doramatique.livejournal.com/9765.html

I grabbed a raw from nyaa but jdramacity has it, too.

if you're not a member of doramatique I believe you can leave a comment in this post: http://doramatique.livejournal.com/794.html just make sure to answer the questions, click to join, & pm lynn79 with a public blog/social media account if you're new/inactive on lj.

I think the show erred most by not showing decent romantic development. I love 1988 for its primary focus on friends & family, but it looks like they held out on deok's sun's loveline for shock value. I have a tough time understanding why, too, because that's not good story-telling imo! there is a reason 1997's yoon jae & 1994's sseurekiI oppa feel like the natural, obvious choices for their respective female leads. each have a longstanding relationship where the attraction is/becomes mutual (or we notice a strong *something* between the characters), & we see that develop throughout the course of the show. but 1988 leaves it one-sided for the guys (or it's made to appear this way) & remains stagnant on deok sun's end for way, WAY too long. not to mention how a whole lot of attention is paid to jh's feelings, yet I feel like I only got a glimpse of taek at times by comparison. that made it easy for me to support jh & overlook taek even tho I utterly adore both to death! it pained me to think about either one having his heart broken! but, because of the jh focus, it wouldn't have felt shocking if she'd chosen him, I think, regardless of the few to nil signs that she reciprocated. I accept deok sun's choice, but it's not easy to make sense of this from a writing pov. all I can say is ugh.

despite all that I still love this show to bits, it's just.... it does have this kind of a big issue that's always going to put a dagger in my heart.

I was going to cry oceans of tears if nobody picked this up for subbing; I'm so glad I get to watch this now!

all the reply dramas are good character-driven stories, but what sets 1988 apart is the main focus. the first two reply dramas are hellbent on prolonging the big reveals til the end, which are also their primary storylines of interest---& that is their biggest flaw, imo. 1997 probably could have ended in 12 or 14 eps, because the "who married who?" followed up by the "who's the baby's daddy?!" questions were dragged, & I didn't dig the weird triangle between shi won, yoon jae, & yoon jae's older brother. then came 1994, & oh my god do they milk & drag the lovelines! I lost patience very early on. 1988, however, doesn't fall victim to these problems. sure, deok sun's loveline is dragged out---or, rather, the potential for it is dragged, because she herself doesn't show true interest in jh or taek until the end (gah!)---but it's not the center stage storyline.

the heart, in fact, belongs to the neighborhood. it's about the lives of the families that live on this street who in turn are practically one giant family, & it was them---all of them---that I came back to see each week. I cried, laughed, & hurt for & because of these wonderful characters I grew completely attached to. I was more invested in the friendships & families than the lovelines, which I can't even find the words to express how refreshing that felt. I also think there is fewer trolling in 1988; albeit, at the expense of blind-sighting many viewers. (but that's a whole different topic right there...)

& since you mentioned starting out as a jh supporter, I have to say: I did, too, & I was was quick to jump on board especially because I was 100% certain that he was deok sun's future husband. I didn't think the reply series would deviate from their usual m.o.---whoops. but I changed my feelings on this after the sun woo trick. I second-guessed everything once that happened, & altho I remained a strong jh/ds shipper I also expected a dark horse.

speaking of, I know the endgame pair upset jh fans. either they're mad at the writer or mad at jh or both! I fault the writer for not showing taek/deok sun development as well as for keeping deok sun's feelings in the dark (or for choosing to keep her uninterested, for lack of a better word, for so long), but I am not that upset with jh. he should have (genuinely) confessed at some point, but I understand why he didn't. he was an insecure teenager too afraid of what others might think, & the situation worsened after taek's confession. when he finally found the courage to confess he made it a joke, & this pissed off A LOT of viewers---myself included. but when I rewatched that episode later on I felt it may have been a better option.

hye ri sometimes has this blank stare where I can't pick up any sort of underlying emotion or thoughts from her, & this is partly what makes jh's confession a tough scene to read. he confesses his heart out, but she doesn't react. there's nothing there. maybe she's shocked; maybe she's uneasy. maybe she's both, but who knows? when I came back for a second viewing I already knew taek was her choice, so hearing what sounded like a sincere love confession wouldn't have made her feel too good. if jh had kept it sincere I'm almost afraid--& I wonder if he was, too---that it would have damaged friendships. (not everyone can have a seo ha joon gummy bear confession, I guess. *sigh*) the entire episode, tho, feels like it's saying that these two aren't meant to be. I remember a scene where deok sun & jh both head out around the same time & just barely miss bumping into each other---how perfectly symbolic!

now one thing that pisses me off is how jh appears abandoned by the writer after this point. it's like, "okay, I guess I don't need you anymore"---or more like, "I don't have time"---"because the big couple's revealed & I should wrap these other things up!" this is why deok sun's loveline shouldn't have been dragged with zero development for the bulk of the drama tbh. I wanted to see more of deok sun's & taek's relationship, but more than that: I was with jh through every moment of his epic, one-sided love, & to see it swept away without a sound feels... very sad! but what feels sadder is how his character is pushed to the background after spending all this time in the forefront. I love everyone in 1988, but I love some more than I love others---jh is one of those characters. it's heartbreaking that I had to say goodbye to the show without feeling like I got to say goodbye to jh. even despite that I hoped to at least see all the characters back together for a reunion. I wanted to see where they were in life & how close or drifted apart they'd become, but there is no such gathering. maybe that's partly why the end feels so bittersweet.

oh, that kim family, tho. they make me feel so many things.

completely agree on page turner & white christmas. both are among my favorites! but white christmas is a special one for me, probably because it not like any kdrama I've seen & it really surprised me. I wasn't expecting it to be that good, yet I was totally engrossed from beginning to end & felt impressed by the show. there are some lapse in logic goofs near the end, but everything else is so quality that I overlook them. it's haunting at times---very distinctly atmospheric---& visually stunning with a talented cast. the great cast especially may not surprise people when they see who plays in this, but to consider how the lot of them were green at the time! oh & the music, too. it works so well & is perfect for the mood. I have a few of the instrumentals, & my only complaint is that they're too short.

I've seen a couple others on this list while a few more are watchlisted, but most I haven't heard of. I love discovering new specials to enjoy, so thanks! they aren't included here, but I also love old farewell (jang hyuk & jang nara) & we all cry differently (kim so hyun). I rec that anyone check both out if you haven't seen them.

torachan2006 at doramatique picked this up for subbing! it's over here: http://doramatique.livejournal.com/ if you're not already a member it's pretty simple to get in assuming you have at least one active & public social media account.

edit: spacecadet is also subbing: http://spacecadet1017.livejournal.com/

I know that since I'm familiar with all three sites, but I'm referring to the selection listed at the top of viki's page: http://i.imgur.com/OeCEL3A.jpg

I always love spotting a jdrama article here! in addition to dramafever & crunchyroll, viki has a selection of jdramas as well. I'm not sure how viki's jdramas compare to crunchyroll (which I rarely visit), but I think they have more than df. altho it is a little heartbreaking to see them include a category for k, c, & tw series, but no j in their header. I'm guessing that's because fewer jdramas are licensed than k/c/tw-dramas.

can't say that I've heard of this actor or his movies until now, but I already have several of the dramas he's played in on my watchlist. he looks like he has a rather interesting & very promising filmography, too, & I'm so tempted to plow through it!

I was going to say that maybe guys are more difficult to gender bend, but then I thought about an cafe's former bandmate bou so idk but I wish there were more dramas like this! ma boy is a cute one with appropriate length for its easy-breezy plot---not too long; not too short. just the perfect quick-binge during a slow evening.

sageuk dramas may not be something I watch all the time but I do love checking out historical films! the divine weapon looks interesting. thanks for the recommendation!