On the drama landscape so far...

I know that this post is long overdue.  >.<
Before I go further on this,allow me to introduce you to a song. I just thought that this song is too good to go unnoticed without a listen. It's Shin Yong Jae's (from 4men) The Reason I Became A Singer. I first came across this song while watching a Korean reality singing programme called The Voice of Korea.  (Just in case you were wondering,yes,it does share the same concept as its namesake,The Voice.) Some contestant did a brilliant rendition of this song which somewhat prompted me to search for the original version. It's no secret that 4men is one of my favorite voices in the industry,so I was stoked when I heard that the song was originally sung by Shin Yong Jae,and that he wrote the song. The lyrics,the amount of thought and care put into the execution of the song makes it all the more special. Check out the video with English translation of the lyrics below and you'll see what I mean. :)

Anyway, I digress. Where was I again? Oh,previously I did a poll so that I could vaguely get a brief idea on what you guys would prefer to hear me talk about on my next post and the majority of you answered:

Anything K-drama related (First Impressions,Reviews etc.)

Remember my last post on That Winter? I'm afraid that I won't be able to stick to my claim that I'll see the drama through the end of its course. I can't. I don't know why but I somehow fell out of love with it. It happened somehow around the halfway mark I think? And yet I convinced myself that there's something that I must've missed since a huge majority of the viewers absolutely adored the show.  You know sometimes I wonder if it is my adverseness that prevents me from committing to a melodrama one hundred percent. The cinematography's breathtakingly stunning but why I am so easily distracted by the many glaring little plot holes in the storyline instead of focusing on the story itself? I admit,there were instances where I have seen dramas with so many glaring faults here and there (e.g. Flower Boy Next Door and School 2013) and yet I still managed to stick through the end. Why,you ask? The chemistry of the cast made it worthwhile,plus the acting by the main leads were often above par. The biggest flaw of all for That Winter is how awkward the sibling fauxcest felt as the story progressed further. Okay,you can go ahead and shoot me with your imaginary darts if you want to but personally I'm not feeling OTP vibes from our supposedly main couple. At first I felt considerable amount of sparks flying around but how is it that as the storyline progresses I felt like all that chemistry has somewhat converted into a sibling kind of chemistry? It felt that the writer-nim tried too hard to present us with the fauxcest dilemma. In the thirteenth episode Soo did something which further intensified the icky factor,God I just feel like strangling the writer-nim very violently. If there's a thing that I cannot stand it's makjangness and drama tropes that are being used,or rather abused in a way that doesn't make any sense at all.  I just want to clarify that I do not hate this drama in any way,it just simply wasn't my cup of tea,I guess. I actually succumbed to reading recaps on Dramabeans instead from the 12th episode onward and I think it was truly a right decision having seen all the crap that's happened in the 14th and 15th episode. REALLY,NOH HEE KYUNG? Is this what us viewers get for putting our faith in you? You're lucky that I wasn't half as invested in the storyline as the most of the viewers was. Drama,you're also very lucky that the writer that I want to strangle the most is Yawang's writer but not you. (I ABSOLUTELY HATED THE SHOW, I STILL DO.) My parents ADORE the show.the more makjang it gets,the more my mum digs it. Anyway,I digress. That Winter,Everyone Dies (yes,pun intended) further reinforced my belief that I should just stay away from melodramas for good. What a disappointment. I think the main problem here is that all I really wanted was a decent storytelling from the director and the writer. Yes,the cinematography was out-of-the-world-amazing but as time went on it felt like all the director cared about was which angles actually portrayed the actors in the best light and thereon things started to get pretty heavily gimmicky instead of focusing on the trajectory of the characters.

 Nine ,on the other hand is such a gem to watch,it's a bit hard for me to pinpoint exactly how I feel about this drama. Yes it did take awhile for me to get into it but I was sold after the third episode.  I'm getting so many feels from this drama,it just encapsulates the whole mechanism of time travel really well. Every single action brings about a sensible effect and the motivation or driving force behind the characters are  actually understandable,as in,if you were the main lead,you'd probably do the same thing as him. And what's even more amazing is that for the first time in my drama-watching history,I actually don't mind the tumor plot in a storyline. It did not feel like a drama trope being used for the sake of  convenience. I know,I know,as crazy as it seems,apparently the storyline itself progresses so well that in fact half of the time I actually forgot that our main actually has tumor. Oh yes,our male lead ain't somebody you wanna ever mess with,cause he can definitely kick some serious ass,as shown towards the end of the first episode. I adore the nostalgic feels that this drama gives me. Although that Seo Taiji and Boys reference may be lost to me but it doesn't deter me from the entire watching experience,in fact I love how the show perfectly integrated Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You into the background without it feeling out of place at all. I really felt the conflict,the pain and the memories our main guy,Park Sun Woo felt. I was emotionally rooting for him and by the end of the 6th episode I just want him to be happy with Min Young already. I know,I'm not revealing much of the storyline but trust me,story's too good for me to spoil you the pleasure of discovering the little bits and pieces of the puzzle. To be honest,I went into this drama with zero expectations,and rightly so given the bland dramascape as of late. I have yet to find a drama that truly owned my heart and soul ( Case in point: Shut Up Flower Boy Band ,Queen In Hyun's Man) for this year. I have to say,tvN has really upped their ante as a cable channel. Although Flower Boy Next Door didn't own my heart like SUFBB but it was pretty well thought out albeit the lackluster episodes in between. I LOVED THE ENDING. And also it was a magical ride for me to have seen our main OTP grow and complement each other so perfectly. I'm a total sucker for anything related to the soulmate theory so naturally I totally dig their interaction with each another. It was truly magical seeing them both light up each other's life. Having seen all three dramas from the Flower Boy Franchise I'd rank it somewhere in the middle. I definitely enjoyed it way more than Flower Boy Ramyun Shop but it lacked a little something compared to SUFBB. After doing a little Math in my head I just realised that BLIMEY Nine is going to be my 7th tvN drama! Not all of them were downright awesome but I can confidently say that the prospects are pretty good.  Well,ON THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS LEE JIN WOOK ,I wonder how come it took me eons to discover a gem of an eye candy like him omg,a guy has never looked so sexy even when he broods. And did I mention that our guy can actually plant REAL kisses. Oh yes,not the elementary ones that we usually see on the main broadcasting channels but the ones that makes your cheeks turn warm and before you know it you find yourself smiling along all the way through. You can get to know more about what others thought of this drama HERE and HERE.

And here we have last but not the least,I LIVE IN CHEONGDAMDONG! I LOVE THIS DRAMAS TO BITS. I don't know anyone who doesn't love this drama,like seriously. You can totally run up a search on this drama and I swear,you'll probably have to squint your eyes really hard to find anyone ever badmouthing about this drama. This is my first jTBC drama,also my first sitcom,first time embarking on a drama with an episode count of 170(which will the most episodes that I've ever watched for a drama). I usually don't do more than 30 episodes for a drama(with Bu Bu Jing Xin being the exception-I absolutely adored the novel and the drama largely stayed true to it so I also adored the TV adaptation) BUT after hearing so many exceptional reactions and reviews from the dramas-blogosphere I finally couldn't take it. My curiousity got the better of me,and after hearing that there's only complete Chinese subtitles are available I decided to take a leap of faith by jumping onto the bandwagon. I know that I'm a little more than a year late but you know what they say : better late than never. Sadly the ones that I sourced has crappy resolution but surprisingly it didn't make my dramawatching experience any less enjoyable. I only have one question to ask : DRAMA,WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE? I'm only about 45 episodes in but I've been loving this drama so much that I couldn't bring myself to marathon the episodes in fear of losing something as precious as this too quickly. I am so lucky that I am proficient enough to be able to read and converse in Mandarin. Thank you mom,dad,I owe all this greatness to you. Thank you so much for insisting on your children's Chinese education from young,I love you! Words cannot express how much I wish that this gem of  a drama can reach out to more of our viewers out there.

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