A demon Jeong Gu-won is superior to humans in every way, but when he loses his powers, he will have to work with a chaebol heiress Do Do-hee to recover them, and romance begins to bloom in this process.
Song Kang and Kim You-Jung. They are both pretty. Kim You-Jung is not only beautiful, she is also one of the best acting actresses in KDramaland.
Song Kang's Sweet Home Season 2, a horror fantasy series is coming on December 1, 2023 on Netflix. Can't wait.
Woo Young-Woo is extremely smart and she also has autism spectrum disorder. She never forgets what she sees, but she lacks in social skills and empathy. Woo Young-Woo begins to work as a trainee lawyer at a large law firm. While working there, she faces prejudice and irrationality against her, but she solves cases with her own unique perspective and grows as a lawyer.
Although the main character Attorney Woo is a 28 year-old lawyer, the drama is kinda bildungsroman because she has autism and only becomes fully an adult towards the end of the first season. The writing is absolutely perfect. I love her immediate boss, Jung Myeong-Seok's admirable and warm personality, that I was rooting for him when he fell ill. I read there will be a second season because fans around the globe love the series. I'm looking forward to the second season.
Alchemy Of Souls
20 episodes, 62 - 70 minutes, Season 1 complete
tags: fantasy, mages, magic, romance, sageuk
The fate of these people become twisted due to "hwanhonsool" (the soul of the dead takes over the body of another living person).
In the country of Daeho, Jang Uk comes from the noble Jang family. He holds an unpleasant secret about his birth, which people all around the country talk about. He is a troublemaker. Jang Uk happens to meet Mu-Deok. She is an elite warrior, but her soul is trapped in a physically weak body. She becomes Jang Uk’s servant and secretly teaches him how to fight.
Seo Yul comes from the noble Seo family. He seems perfect with good appearance, intelligence, and strong martial arts skills.
Go Won is the crown prince of Daeho. He hopes to become a generous king.
A period drama, comedy, horror, shamans, mages, the baddest villains, romance, lots of sword fight, pretty and cute young leads, and the obligatory love triangle. Here the triangle becomes a polygon with 4 young men and 2 young women, it is dizzying at first but eventually settled to a rectangle, then a triangle. Whew! 😄Second season with 10 episodes will be aired in December, 2022.
The love polygon - Crown Prince, nobles and mages Jang-Uk and Seo Yul are all in love with maidservant Mu-Deok. Crown Prince calls her Filthy Mu-Deok because she used to wear tatty clothes.
Little Women
12 episodes, 60+ minutes, ongoing Saturday and Sunday
tags: 3 sisters, corruption, loosely based on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, mystery
Three sisters get involved in a case that leads them to fight against the richest and most influential family in South Korea. They grew up in a terribly poor environment with an inattentive mother and absent father who lives abroad.
Oh In-Joo is the oldest sister. Since she was a young child, she realized that money was the most important thing to protect herself and her family. Her dream is to live an ordinary life like other people. She gets involved in a case that could change her life.
Oh In-Kyung is the middle sister. She is an enthusiastic reporter at a news station. She believes in doing the right things. She believes money doesn't rule life. She now begins to dig into a mysterious case that she first faced when she first became a reporter.
Oh In-Hye is the youngest of the three sisters. She is a student at a prestigious arts high school and she has a natural talent for painting. She often feels her two older sisters' love for her is too much.
There are only 3 sisters, not 4. I'm guessing Beth is not included because nobody will want to watch if the middle sister dies. The story is a mystery involving an ambitious wealthy politician and his involvement in a series of deaths in the present and 4 years before. Interesting story line and the acting and script are really good.
Yoon A-Yi is a high school student; she supports herself and her younger sister by working part-time jobs. She doesn't know where her parents are. Her father was driven away from home because of debt collectors and her mother then left home. Even with her poor financial situation, she is able to rank near the top at her school academically. She also has a pretty appearance. Yoon A-Yi wants to become an adult as soon as possible to have a stable job. Meanwhile, her classmate is Na Il-Deung. He regularly competes with Yoon A-Yi to receive the top grade, but they begin to have feelings for each other. One day, Yoon A-Yi meets Magician Lee-Eul at an abandoned amusement park. He puts on magic shows to people who tell him they believe in magic. He is a mysterious person, but he comforts Yoon A-Yi, who told him that she believes in magic.
Ji Chang-Wook plays the magician. He looks like he lost a lot of weight, his face is so thin. The promotional still photos look magical.
Watch the Disneyesque sequence after end of credits. This is not a comedy nor romance but a beautiful drama fantasy with some life lessons. Highly recommended.
The series is brilliant tackling the subject of killing hundreds to save millions. The story borrows from a few sci-fi novels and movies specially Kazuo Ishiguro'sNever Let Me Go. Is it ethical to create clones for experiment that kills them in order to save humanity? The illegality of owning pets is borrowed from Philip K. Dick'sDo Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. The dialog-heavy style which many viewers find boring is similar to Danny Boyle's movieSunshineand the Russian movieSolaris. IMHO, the story is complete and doesn't need a second season. You draw your own conclusion based on what happened.
Action, comedy, corruption in politics and police, Korean series starts December 17, 2021 Fridays and Saturdays
The first episode suggests that the 2 characters are one and the same person just like the characters in Fight Club. Ryu Soo Yeol (Lee Dong-Wook) is a competent police officer but with questionable work ethics kissing a politician's ass for fast promotion. But his activities are suddenly thwarted by the appearance of K (Wi Ha-Jun of Squid Game) who is rather crazy but righteous.
Lee Dong-Wook as Ryu Soo-Yeol and Wi Ha-Joon as K
Ryu Soo-Yeol was relaxing in the sauna when K suddenly appeared fully clothed wearing a bike helmet and shoes and tossed the poor guy around. He asked for CCTV footage but K appeared nowhere in the video.
At the end of Episode 2, newly promoted Bad Ryu Soo-Yeol realized he is Crazy K when he kicked the dirty politician right on his face. One of the best and funniest second episodes in KDramaland. 😁
South Korean dramas last year and this year created several family oriented and clean fun with very little romance or none at all. They are currently the favorites of viewers from around the globe, not just South Korea. I made a short list of my favorites so far and 2 are family friendly. All the series were broadcast in 2021.
My number 1 favorite drama is family and friends oriented, funny, has well developed characters, there are no lingering and annoying villains, the very young and very old people become close friends and are almost equally represented. A heart warming dramedy with plenty of humor and cheese [but in a good way]. The badminton games are surprisingly enjoyable and exciting as though the competitions are real. All the actors are excellent specially the teen boys and girls. I will surely binge watch the series again.
even when the much-awaited wi-fi was finally working at the house, the racket boys and girls prefer to hang out at neighbor grandma's house to enjoy her company and yummy food
2. Move To Heaven
Streaming on Netflix
10 Episodes
Based on the writings of a real person who cleaned up what the deceased left behind, excellent script and character development, great story telling, superb acting, no boring romance. Each story will probably make you cry, make sure there's a box of tissues nearby.
Geu-Ru is a 20 year old young man with Asperger's syndrome. He works in his father’s company, Move To Heaven, sorting out items left by the deceased. One day, Geu-Ru's own father dies and he is left alone but his father left a will assigning an unknown "uncle" Sang-Gu to be Geu-Ru's guardian. Sang-Gu is a bitter and cold man, a former martial artist who fought in underground matches. He went to prison because of a tragic incident during one of his fights. They run Move To Heaven together with the help of a teenage female friend and neighbor of Geu-Ru.
3. Hospital Playlist Season 2
streaming on Netflix
12 episodes, 80 - 90 minutes
I am not a fan of hospital dramas but this one is different. It is also about friendship, a little romantic relationships, and family. The "band" sings at end of each episode. It's an ongoing joke that the lone female doctor always sings out of tune and is hopeless.
"Wise Doctor Life" depicts the stories of doctors, nurses, and patients at a hospital. 5 doctors all entered the same medical university in 1999. They are friends since and now work together in the same hospital.
tags: gory, horror, Korean drama, Netflix streaming, violent
Episode 1 streams on Sept 17, 2021
Similar to horror books and movies Battle Royale, As The Gods Will, The Hunger Games, The Circle, Liar Game, etc, is a new gory drama series from Korea based on a children's game. Can't wait to see it.
Two new Korean drama series came out this week June 19 and 20, 2020. 16 episodes
Backstreet Rookie
It's Okay To Not Be Okay streaming on Netflix
Wow! Cinematography, setting, actors, story are beautiful and mesmerizing. The animation parts and music remind me of 2 dark-themed animated movies Coraline and Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart.
These 2 new series might become my favorites of 2020.
tags: action, fantasy, Korean drama, Lee MinHo, Netflix streaming, parallel world, romance
I can't give a rating yet but I already love the first episode - the acting, story, cinematography, and of course Lee Min Ho who has become even more beautiful at 32 years of age. He has matured and has become a better actor IMHO since playing the rich brat but lovable Jun Pyo in 2009's Boys Over Flowers. He looked overweight when he emerged in April 2019 from his mandatory military service and it's amazing how he lost all of the weight gain in so short a time. He's back being thin but not too City Hunter buff.
I initially thought the story is time travel. It is a parallel universe and the king of modern day Kingdom of Corea, Lee Gon played by Lee MinHo, goes in and out of both universes. Interesting. The second half of the first episode is full of action and lots of LMH close-up shots. Enjoy!
Streaming on Netflix Fridays and Saturdays for 8 weeks starting today, April 17, 2020.
bratty Gu Jun-Pyo and his "croissant" hair, Boys Over Flowers, 2009
