tsutsuloo

The ML (Jung Woo) starred in the hilarious yet bittersweet 2020 film, BEST FRIEND. Available on Viki and elsewhere.

It's set in 1985, towards the end of the Fifth Republic when the dictatorship was still in place. Jung Woo plays one of three intelligence officers spying on their neighbor, a politician preparing to run for president. They want to prove he's corrupt but find themselves getting a little entwined with his family.

I highly recommend.

... a pantless man dancing in the rain.

Watched Ep. 4 and 5 today and laughed so, so much. Show delivers unexpected laughs alongside sadness and the jokes you KNOW are coming but still delight.

Also: I think the future of k-dramas might be ... [see spoiler below]

Watched the first three episodes and found it refreshingly humane and darkly funny. I'm not above poop humor either. Another plus? There is absolutely zero chance that either lead is going to f* their psychiatrist. How's THAT for refreshing?

Yes! Manager Seo Ji Hyang is the best character in the whole show. He's professional, mature, respectful and even handsome! That ramen scene (Ep. 6, 30:29) was so warm and immediately suggested a better Alternative Universe for these two. Much more potential than whatever _this_ is.

Yup. Zhao Jian also played an antagonist in CINDERELLA CHEF (2018) too. Very distinctive face. His characters probably never get the girl.

Interestingly, his weibo doesn't mention this drama. Reminds me of my friend who decided to remove her most recent job from her resumé. She has freelance work that covers the same period and can afford to pretend her year at –––––– (an awful organization) never happened.

How are you pacing yourself? I'm watching it live but can imagine bingeing this over a weekend.

I look forward to seeing her performance here. In IE URU ONNA, her character has a very flat affectation. It's never explicitly stated that her character is on the spectrum but it has those vibes.

Thanks for much for promoting this series! J-dramas add just the touch of weirdness I need in my drama diet and I'm very curious how the series addresses marriage, divorce, gender disparities, etc.

Nagayama Eita is one of my favorite actors—how did this drama slip past me? He has the best hair in j-drama. I didn't recognize him here without his thick, messy and shexy mane. Those ears!

If you're curious about his work, I have two recommendations:

HELLO HARINEZUMI (2017) , a quirky 10-part drama about a team of freelance detectives who like troublesome cases. (Also has exquisite jazzy score by Soil and "Pimp".)

MIX (2017), a charming movie about a former table tennis player who gets back into the game. Cast lead by the wonderful Aragaki Yui (We Married as a Job).

Only one episode this week. How are we supposed to wait another week for Ep. 14?!? The Blue Salt ahjumma uttered my favorite lines from Ep. 13 (32:34)—

"Do you want to know how to avoid becoming an unrested spirit? When you're thankful, express your gratitude. When you've done wrong, apologize. And show affection to those you love. We could die at any given moment. We shouldn't hesitate or be afraid."

Fun observation from Ep. 13: The hospital room is the same set as Se Ri's fancy private hospital suite from CRASH LANDING ON YOU, Ep. 14-15.

Thank you so much for promoting this little gem! I learned of this series through AvenueX's YouTube channel and am now at Ep. 12/36. Though AvenueX had some minor aesthetic complaints, she praised the intelligent characters and compelling cases.

I cannot overstate the refreshing charm of this show. The budget might be lower than the usual grand palace drama but everything works—good direction, a tight and COHERENT script, young and talented actors. They even film in low-light conditions (one of my pet peeves is overly lit interiors!) Best of the all are the interpersonal connections amongst the villains and heroes. The affection between parents and their young adult children is appealing too. (I love that scene where Jing Yi is hanging out with his dad in their his-and-his bathtubs!)

I've recently trimmed back my watch list and THE IMPERIAL CORONER continues to be worthy of my time.

@Vick—The roommates are not biological brothers. The use of "hyung" indicates their emotional closeness. When we first see them together in Ep. 4 (starting around 24:37) Cha Joo Ik and Lee Hyun Gu allude to the time CJI was LHG's tutor:

CJI: How did something like this get into my life?
LHG: Just think of it as paying back the tuition fee you got from my dad.
CJI: Did I get paid for free? Teaching a dimwit like you, I was—
LHG: So what? I didn't get in a college because of you.

Joo Ik's dinner conversation with his father (Ep. 6, 13:00) cements this notion that Hyun Gu is not his biological brother. Dad owns the building that houses the coffee shop, the publishing house and the apartment the two young men share. Dad jokes that Hyun Gu's good looks are good for the coffee shop but teases that Joo Ik doesn't work hard enough since he has enough time to have steak together. He also mentions being happy that Joo Ik's brother is too busy (aka "productive") managing the other buildings to spend time with Dad.

It's an interesting relationship between father and son. Not quite warm but they have a playful banter even if it's full of barbs. As for the two young men—they're close but Hyun Gu seems to blame the other for not getting into college ...

@Antaria77—Agreed. The serial human antagonists make sense but what are our heroes fighting against in their heavenly realm? Their HR department with all its rules and punishments? It feels a little bit like a workplace drama where you never see the (heavenly) CEO.

I feel the same. I love, love, love the background music but haven't seen it listed anywhere. It's often the case that only the official OSTs are available. I think STRANGER/SECRET FOREST (2017) was one of the few to (briefly) make the _entire_ background score available for purchase.

I ran into a similar frustration with BLACK (2017). Three fantastic OSTs were available but the superb, haunting score was never made published.

@jennieha—That's an excellent question. After watching Ep. 12, I sense that Hwa-jung's been trying to "protect" Ji-ah from the trauma of understanding the full scope of Ji-ah's role in her mother's death. In-bum's true identity was a threat because he's an integral part of Ji-ah's trauma and he'll inevitably lead to unraveling the lies.

One of things I actually despise about k-dramas is how children might not be told the truth about life and death situations—for the sake of plot. In TERIUS BEHIND ME, the twins are never told their father is dead (I guess Daddy just never comes back from that work trip?). Another drama dropped a birth secret late in the series where the FL discovers she'd forgotten she had a little brother who died in a car crash when they were very young. (As a parent, I was so outraged by that grotesque plot line that I dropped the show-at Ep. 14 out of 16!)

So I wonder if Hwa-ju's secret is just a terrible drama trope or if it actually reflects something about the broader culture where withholding truth from children (or blaming them) is par for the course.

I eagerly wait to the mystery to unfold. Given how much Ji-ah trusts Hwa-jung, this plot line makes me very anxious!

Oh In Hyung is the SFL. I had the same question. I suspect that JJ owns the apartment. She lives in a gilded cage.

@checkinout—Beautifully summarized.

Well said, @Dani. Scripts often confuse overstuffed plots with complexity. SELL YOUR HAUNTED HOUSE is a simple story with complex characters. The connections between the episodic elements and the overarching story is also beautifully balanced.

Thanks for the critiques and the laughs!

"Actually, it was really good until it wasn't" resonates—I hate those shows the most because of the lost invested time. Most recently, OH! MASTER garnered an incredible amount of vitriol—domestically and internationally. I went from really enjoying it to finding it so insufferable that I couldn't even hate-watch it. The thread here on MDL was hilarious though. Incidentally, that show's screenwriter wrote FATED TO LOVE YOU.

I just checked the tags. "Slow Burn Romance" is one of the options you can vote for on a sliding scale. I didn't see "Romance" as a top tag ...