DRAMA EXCHANGE

This is my 2nd time participating in the drama exchange and I’ve been paired up with @kiyulking. I received the following dramas:

Liar Game Master - God of Noodles History of the Salaryman

I already watched Liar Game (and HoS) so I’ll be watching Master of Noodles. I was aware of this drama while it was airing and I even came across some spoilers on twitter and tumblr and DB but I’m looking forward to watching it properly now for the exchange. I’m familiar with all the main actors, I even watched a Chung Jung Myung drama for the last round haha

Episodes 1 - 2 - first impressions

@seunrig was my match for this round of the drama exchange and she recommended me 3 dramas: Liar Game, Signal and Heartless City. I will be watching Liar Game. 

The only thing I really know about Liar Game is that it’s based on the same manga as the variety show the Genius. And that is a really good show (at least the first season) so I’m excited! And it’s only 12 episodes, so my goal is to write a post about every episode. 

I liked the first episode. I love how honest Da Jung is, but I do think she seems to be a bit too… innocent? She hands over the money to her opponent without really thinking about it. I think that she would have been better off in the tv-show if she had attended the professor’s lesson in the beginning of the episode. It was pretty obvious what was going to happen. It’s going to be so much fun to watch Da Jung and the professor trick the teacher in the next episode!

I actually kinda like the ex-convict/loan shark. He seems to have a conscience and he seems to care about Da Jung, so I’m pretty glad that she has him on her side. He’s not the best option, but at least she’s not completely alone now that the teacher has betrayed her. 

The professor is interesting. I wonder if he killed a person that tricked him, cuz then the lesson in the beginning really makes sense. The tv-host is creepy. I like the lady producer more, she seems competent and I hope we get to know more about her (she’s named according to dramawiki! That means that episode 1 passed the bechdel test^^)

Prophecies, promises, black magic, assassination, a princess brought back to life and true love! The Moon Embracing the Sun is already jam packed six episodes in and so far, I’m enjoying it!

This is the first time I’ve participated in a drama exchange so I was really excited to see what dramas my partner, @ninooow, would recommend me. The drama picked for me ended up being the 2014 drama ‘My Lovely Girl’ starring Rain and Krystal. 

Upon receiving the match, I have to say I wasn’t really excited to watch this drama. The age gap between the two makes me uncomfortable and I really don’t care for either of them as actors even though I love their work as artists.

I think I should take this whole drama exchange thing more serious. That’s why I’m making this post. I just posted my random thoughts about the drama but now I’m gonna make a post about my initial thoughts of the recommendations and the first episode.

So my partner @mademoisellejosee recommended me the following dramas:

1.       Sensory Couple

2.       High School King of Savvy

3.       Heartstrings

I haven’t watched any of that but I heard of “Heartstrings” because Park Shin Hye and Jung Yonghwa are starring in it and it’s actually on my to-watch-list. I haven’t heard of “Sensory Couple” and “High School King of Savvy” before and so I searched “Sensory Couple” up, because well it’s gonna be the drama I’m going to watch. I need to say that I wasn’t quite sure about the story  because I like realistic dramas and yeah a girl who sees smells doesn’t sound really realistic if you know what I mean. So yeah I wasn’t that excited to watch it . So I watched the first episode and tbh I was so surprised. Like the CG effects when she sees smells are so pretty and the whole drama is really fun to watch. I really got attached to the lead characters even though it was just the first episode but Park Yoochun and and Shin Sekyung snatched my heart away. So yeah as I said in my previous posts I’m really happy that I got this recommendation and if it wasn’t for dramaexchange I’m pretty sure that I would have never started to watch this drama and that would be a shame wouldn’t it?

I’m already halfway through the drama even though it’s been only like 4 days since the drama exchange started but I just really enjoy watching it. I’m excited how it’s gonna end. Well that’s about it. And now I’m going to watch the next episode :D

So, I have officially watched the first 5 episodes of What’s Up? and I’m so here for this. I love musicals, I love the main cast, and it’s both dark and funny at the same time.

Here are a few of my favorite things so far: 1. Can we talk about Byung Gun singing ‘Those Magic Changes’ from Grease???? Honestly, I’ve made all my musical loving friends watch that scene because IT WAS EVERYTHING. That’s it. I don’t even care about the rest of the show, that was the BEST SCENE in drama history. I’m in love. 2. So the main couple hasn’t interacted and I’m a little confused about that. But either way, I’m so here for Jae Hun and Tae Yi. They make the cutest couple, and all their interactions have been really adorable. 3. Also, on the other hand, Tae Yi and Do Sung are really cute, too… 4. The acting has been great. I love all of the main characters so far, even the rude B-rated actress. Because even if I don’t like her meanness, I can see where it’s coming from, so it makes sense. 5. When everyone stood up for Jae Hun when he was about to be arrested, it really warmed my heart. Like, he’s such an ass most of the time. So when people sort of care about him anyway…. I feel so happy. This friend group is the best and I really am looking forward to seeing the relationships grow as the next 15 episodes play out.

The first episode was just like any first episode of a sageuk drama: introducing the tragic past of our main character. I’m not a huge fond of overly political plots (so I might skip over these parts) but I’m definitely curious about the link between Lee Geom and Cha Dol. Clearly it looks like they are brothers and I suspect they will battle for the lady’s heart once they are grown up. I just can’t wait to see what happens when they discover they are brothers. 

The best part of the episode though was definitely watching baby Yeo Jin Goo and baby Kim Yoo Jung together. Memories from The Moon Embracing the Sun came back and I’m now praying for them to act together again!

I’m really loving the music so far as well as the scenery! The cherry and plum blossoms are just so pretty! 

I have yet to see the adult cast but I don’t think I am going to be disappointed since Han Hyo Joo, Park Shi Ho and obviously Lee Jung Ki are part of it. I’ve seen them act before so I have pretty high expectations from them.

It is finally happening!!! Yaaaay my first ever drama exchange and I couldn’t be any happier with the choice of drama!

Thanks to @arangs, my match for this exchange :D, I get to finally watch Iljimae, the 2008 version with Lee Jun Ki. I’ve always wanted to watch this version but never had the occasion to do so. Plus, I’m not going to lie I was really confused with the two versions and ended starting the other one only to never finish it. I’m particularly happy since it will be a good way to wait for Moon Lovers that I am dying to watch (despite the presence of IU)

The drama is 20 episodes long so I think I will do a first impressions post after the first episode and then give an update every 5 episodes. 

Drama Exchange

This is my first time taking part in the drama exchange and I’ve been paired with @rughydrangea .

My partner recommended me the following three dramas: Painter of the Wind, Shut Up Flower Boy Band and Transit Girls. I haven’t seen any of these dramas, but Painter of the Wind is the drama I’ll be watching for the exchange.

Painter of the Wind is a historical drama, (I’m already excited from the get go), and seeing as it has been a fair while since I’ve seen a sageuk, (I’ve mainly been been watching Chinese historical dramas as of late), it’s great to get the chance to watch a Korean one again.

This drama is not a drama I wasn’t aware of, I’ve seen it around when looking for sageuks to watch. I must admit, despite the posters being extremely pretty, I’ve avoided this drama. Not because of the plot, it’s definitely something I would watch, but more because of the actors as I’m not a fan of either of the two mains. This drama exchange will give me the chance to get over whatever prejudice I hold against these two and watch it.

This is my first time doing the drama exchange and I’m so excited to finally be able to take part in it. I’ve been paired up with @kodrama and I’ll be watching Gu Family Book.

This drama is one I don’t remember much about. It first aired when I was kind of on hiatus from dramaland. I was aware of it, I knew many people raved about it while some others didn’t like it at all but that’s just about it. Now that I’m about to watch it, I can say that I’m going in almost blind. The only apprehension I have is that I’m not particularly fond of either of the main actors, namely Lee Seung Gi and Suzy but I never get stubborn about opinions and first impressions. If I’m convinced then I’ll be more than happy to change my mind.

After two episodes, I have to say that I’m positively charmed. The premise is interesting, it’s fast paced and intriguing. In true sageuk fashion, the show is off to a dramatic start introducing characters, establishing relationships and providing a background before the “real” story takes off.

The first episode was hard to digest though. As much as I like historical dramas, I admit it’s never a nice genre to watch when it comes to female characters and this show is a perfect example. In the span of an hour, we witness a succession of horrible events including rape, murder and suicide. While some are more fortunate than others, no woman is really spared and their fate is still cruel.

About the story, the pattern is quite familiar and predictable with the tragic past and injustice and the revenge that is sure to come afterwards but what sets this show apart is the supernatural element that I really love. I’m enjoying this sort of twist on the beauty and the beast trope and the less happy version of it here where the beauty never really accepts the beast’s true nature who may or may not have turned into an evil spirit and it all ends tragically.

I put a lot of thought into my picks this time around. Not that I didn’t put in thought my first round, but because @obscuramora had harder preferences to meet. They liked slice of life, which is a hard genre to do well, and they disliked a few dramas that I really enjoyed. So I sorted through my watch list to find the best, least makjang-y dramas I could, which is actually kind of hard 

My go to drama rec is always Flower Boy Next Door, and it just so happened to meet their preferences. It is sweet an sincere, and definitely not as overly dramatic as other dramas are. There is also a healthy amount of humor  fit in with awesome characters and a beautiful love story. It’s never explicitly a noona romance, but it will always be one in my heart I will admit I am a little disappointed that they had already seen it, because I would have loved to see their thoughts

Reply 1988 is the drama they will be watching, and I will admit this was the one I was iffy about recommending. I loved this drama, and it is extremely slice of life and does families really well. But there are some glaring flaws, one of them being episode length. It is 20 episodes and some of them hit the two hour mark, which is frankly ridiculous. There’s a lot that could have been left out, but Reply 1988 left me warm and fuzzy for a solid week, and it made me cry at several turns. It also satisfied some of their favorite tropes (noona romance, friends to lovers).  I will always love it, but I fear is isn’t for everyone, and I look forward to seeing their thoughts

This is my third time taking part in a drama exchange. This time I’ve been paired up with @tereishqnachaya and I’m watching Queen In Hyun’s Man.

I’ve heard the title of this drama here and there but I’ve never been curious enough to check this drama out. After googling up the title and seeing the official poster I was scared. In the application form I wrote that I do not like sageuks and what I saw on the poster seemed like a time travel drama. Then I noticed Ji Hyun Woo is playing the main role. I’ve seen him before in Angry Mom and Awl and currently I’m watching him in Wanted. I took a deep breath and said to myself let’s try. I was a bit sad that the license on viki is expired and that I have to watch it somewhere else. But it’s just my… eh.. I just feel kinda bad while watching dramas elsewhere than viki. All the comments below are written after seeing two first episodes. 

I found Queen In Hyun’s Man in not the best quality, drama is from 2012 so it didn’t surprise me. What surprised me was the fact that episodes are 45 minutes long. With having some new dramas over an hour long this seems rather short. Coming back to the episodes themselves, for the first half of the first episode I could barely see something due to the dark scenes but okay. After moving to the present one thing got on my nerves. The camera movements, why the hell the camera jumps from one angle to another. I find it so annoying. Though the female lead’s ringtone is hilarious.

I’ve actually seen the previous Kdrama Exchange happening on my tumblr dash and it looked so much fun. So when this one opened up, I jumped at the opportunity. I’m honestly a slightly picky watcher when it comes to dramas. More often than not I’ve dropped dramas the moment I feel my interest in them is decreasing. The Exchange is also more like a challenge for me to test my resolve as well as an exciting venture to get myself into. I’ve been recommended dramas before but owing to my moodiness, I don’t always check them out. That changes with this..

My assigned partner is @foggyseaside and the show I got was, “Girl Who Sees Smells”. My preferences when it comes to dramas is very basic so I’m not surprised I ended up with this xD

Truthfully, I know about this show and I did even check it out when it had aired. But that was last year and I don’t remember much about it. Except..well, the show did have an active audience so all the suspense in it is already revealed to me xD Plus, Namgung Min got everyone’s attention with his portrayal in this show and “Remember” so I can’t be blamed for being all curious about the show and stalking it when I got super bored. ALSO, I happen to like Yoochun so he was always a good incentive to get me lowkey interested in the show despite not watching it.

I just finished watching two episodes and woooh..this definitely won’t be easy xD So far what I liked was well..Yoochun xD And the OTP isn’t bad either. The scene I enjoyed the most was Cho Rim proving to Moo Gak that she can, in fact, see smells. Which basically means I enjoyed their scenes way more than the cases. I’m not feeling the whole murder mystery much. I wish we had more legit comedy in this show and less mystery~ Hopefully the upcoming episodes will grab my attention more than these did. Oh, the OST is fairly cute so there’s that..

Another drama exchange! I think I’m addicted since this is my third one. Thank you @dramaexchange for organizing all of this! It’ll definitely make the end of my summer a lot more fun. 

This time, I was paired up with @sseuregis, a kdrama blog I’ve been following for a while. It’s nice to finally meet you! :) On to my initial thoughts!