My Drama List of 2013

Dramas are quite different from K-pop because even though I know that I have probably missed a lot of music, I feel good about the amount of things that I have been able to listen to. Music videos are normally over in a matter of minutes and then you can listen to them on repeat afterwords in you like it enough. Dramas take a considerable more amount of time so there are only so many dramas that a person can watch, and it feels like you are playing a continuous game of catchup which you know you can never win at.

After that happy note, there are quite a few dramas that I heard were awesome that I didn't watch this year and hopefully in the future I will be able to watch them. There are also dramas that I have heard I shouldn't go near with a ten foot pole, unfortunately, I watched some of those ones.

So here are all the 2013 dramas that I watched this year from best to worst.

I Hear Your Voice

You know the feeling you get when you are presented with a puppy that just wants to love you? That is what this drama makes me feel, it gives me the warm fuzzies, that is until people start trying to kill each other and then the puppy isn't so cute anymore.

I seriously loved this drama and would totally watch it again and tell everyone I know to watch it as well. There was the giant question that was never answered: where did Soo Ha's powers come from and why did they appear and disappear? but aside from that, it was a very well written drama. I didn't even mind when they threw us the amnesia card because that gave us more opportunities for cute puppy moments and it actually moved the plot forward. The resolution of the amnesia was a little sudden, but I have definitely seen worse.

This is also the first thing that I have seen Lee Jong Suk in other than Secret Garden because I started watching School 2013 and then didn't finish because like got in the way. I know, I'm terrible. I'll finish it eventually.

The Master's Sun

Like I Hear Your Voice, this drama also had a few weird plot moments, but was otherwise amazing. I know that there are a lot of people in the drama community who have been watching dramas for years and have seen all the Hong Sister dramas and they are only content with this drama. I have only seen You're Beautiful and there are a few others that I want to watch as well, Big is not one of them, I've heard stories.

If the chemistry in I Hear Your Voice was cute and made you squeal with joy, this couple's sexual tension was almost tangible through the screen. Gong Hyo Jin and Seo Ji Sub acted off each other so well and you could tell that the actors liked each other too which made their relationship that much more believable.

The one main issue I have with this drama is that the ghost stories were sometimes boring. I really liked the episode with the ghost children but then others like the cheating husband were a little bland. Then there was the whole "sell your soul" to the creepy ghost marriage lady just to have it ended suddenly by Joong Won. I'm still scratching my head over that one. 
 
Dating Agency: Cyrano  

One of the main reasons that I started to watch this drama was because Jo Yoon Woo. I really liked his character in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and I thought that it was funny that he was cast in another Flower Boy drama in a similar role. It did make me sad that his story ended in a similar way though. You'll get the girl someday. I also really liked Hong Jong Hyeon's character and he was one of the reasons that I decided to watch White Christmas. My friends and I all affectionately named him Roppa (robot/oppa) because that's what we do.

I really liked the story too and the theme that is brought forth about can a person be tricked into liking another person and what happens in the figure it out. I was always interested in the stories too I liked that they were their own stories, but they were also used to bring the main couple together. It was cute.

Now about that main couple. I wasn't really feeling it. I think that Lee Jong Hyuk was just too old for Sooyoung and when they kissed at the end, it didn't feel genuine and it made my skin crawl a little. I mean, he is 15 years older than her! I was rooting for Lee Chun Hee through most of the drama anyways. He still had 11 years on Sooyoung, but I felt that they had better chemistry and she seemed to like him more that Jong Hyuk at times.

Gu Family Book 

This drama was pretty good, but it wasn't amazing. I thought that it was going to focus more on Kang Shi's journey to become human and the battle with his dad and less about his love story with Yeo Wool. Not that I didn't like their story and their chemistry was fantastic but the drama did turn into a giant love story rather than a story about finding yourself.

One thing that I absolutely loved unconditionally though was Wol Ryung and Seo Hwa. That was beautiful and I might have cried a little. You know a drama has some good writers when you cry about some characters you see for a short time at the beginning and then for an equally short amount of time at the end.

But then there was that ending. What was that? Like, seriously. What the heck? Unless there is going to be a part two, there was no need for any of that. I just like to pretend that the last ten minutes didn't even happen.

Flower Boy Next Door 

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember a lot about this drama other than the fact that I did like it. It was cute and playful and didn't require too much brain power. I have really liked all of the "Flower Boy" dramas as well, the best, of course, being Shut Up! Flower Boy Band, wow was that good.

One thing that I do remember is that the second OTP was fantastic. They were so funny and such an odd couple you can't help but root for them to get together. I also had some serious second male lead love for Oh Jin Rok and his stupid pants that occasionally made him look like he was wearing a diaper.

I am also always down for a retold fairy tale, this one being "Rapunzel", kind of. It took that general idea and used it in it's storytelling. I also liked that this drama would be used as an example of a lot of people's lives. How many of us live in a neighborhood, whether house or apartment, but don't actually know our neighbors? Why do we coop ourselves up when there is so much out there to live for?

The ending did slow a lot compared to the zippy pace of the beginning and the ending was a lot like Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, but this drama has the most natural kiss scene that I have ever seen Park Shin Hye give, like ever. Good job Yoon Shi Yoon.

Who Are You?

And the award for worst use of an amazing actor goes to *drum roll* Kim Jae Wook's role as Lee Hyung Joon in Who Are You. Congratulations! Now go sit in the corner and think about what you did. Seriously, he was the best actor in this drama and he spent 90% of it staring longingly and looking mournful.

I would also like a rewrite of this drama that either involves Yang Shi On dying so she could be with Lee Hyung Joon or Hyung Joon pulling a Arang and becoming human so that the two of them could live happily ever after. I don't know what the writers were thinking in making Hyung Joon's character so likable and sad and showing us all those wonderful flashback of the couple before his death. Taec's character didn't stand a chance with me, maybe next time.

All that being said, I didn't love this drama. It wasn't bad, but if someone asked me which ghost drama to watch, I would direct people to The Master's Sun. The story line was a little weak and so was Shi On who supposedly was this honored graduate of her academy, but she was always taken down pretty easily. The ghosts also disappeared from the story and all the energy was focused on Hyung Joon. Not that I'm opposed to that, but it was suppose to be a ghost drama right?

The end was also a little weird. I understand why the writers made it the way that they did in a kind of open ending, "what will the future hold for them?" but I didn't totally buy it.  

Nail Salon Paris 

Thinking about this drama makes me want to weep anew. I'm trying hard to forget that it ever happened. It started out with a good idea, a girl dresses like a boy to get a job and then there is also a dash of fantasy with the gumiho element. I was excited for it to begin, and then I was excited for it to end.

This drama just tried to be too many things at once though and it was it's downfall. There was the easy nail salon, secret girl thing, but then there was also therapy sessions, birth secrets, magic, love triangles, and some near death experiences all within ten episodes. The only thing that kept me watching was that it was such a train wreck, I had to find out how it all ended and Song Jae Rim and to a lesser extent, Thunder.

I had only seen Song Jae Rim in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, where he sits in the background with his hair and cheekbones and The Moon that Embraces the Sun where he also flaunts his hair and cheekbones but he also gets to do a little acting. He was also the shinning light it a sea of bad acting. It's not even like it was this phenomenal performance, he just didn't suck.    

The only thing that this story did that brought me any joy though (SPOILERS) was that Song Jae Rim, our second male lead, got the girl in the end. It was kind of a backhanded victory with the whole "is he or isn't he" angle, but at least I got something for my pain.

Mi Rae's Choice

This drama had so much potential to be awesome, but unfortunately the writer got tangled in his own web which caused this dramas web to become unsalvageable.

This dramas one saving grace is that everyone got to see that Jung Yong Hwa's acting skills have vastly improved. Even though he has gotten better, his character was not a great character. But let's be honest, nobody's character was that great with the exception of Yoo Kyung. All the characters were so indecisive and annoying and because of that, the plot never really went anywhere.

Something else that left me scratching my head was, what was Mi-rae's choice? She never made one! Future Mi-rae goes back to the future and somehow receives the box that Present Mi-rae buried (which breaks the rules that they set up). Then Present Mi-rae never chooses a man! It is left annoyingly open! After all that time and all that set up, nothing happens! I think I need a drink.
  
Heirs 

Yes, Heirs is last. Why? Because I didn't even finish it, I read recaps for the last four episodes. I was bored to freaking tears and it became a waste of my time to watch it. I was sad about that too because the acting was good but I didn't like all the characters which also added to the boredom.

Everyone in this drama, especially our main trio, were always being acted upon instead of them making decisions on their own. This resulted in the same situations happening over and over because they didn't know what they wanted and even if they did, they rarely did anything to remedy their situation.

With all of that, there was a lot of wasted talent in this drama that was filled to bursting with some fantastic actors and actresses, namely Choi Jin Hyuk. Hopefully, in his next drama he can be given a roll where he actually does something.

~~~~~~~

As for what I am watching right now, Beautiful Man is going to finish up next week and I have been fully enjoying that. The way that the writers wrote Myo Mi out was sloppy, but whatever, I can deal with that. I am really sad that I will probably have my heart broken though because I am totally in love with David. I will go down with my ship!

I am also watching My Lover From the Stars which started recently and that it also fabulous. I will not be suffering from Second Male Lead love here because I totally love Kim Soo Hyun and the second male lead is a little desperate and annoying.

The last thing is Golden Rainbow which is a weekend drama and will have, by the end, a whopping 50 episodes. I will not give up on this one like I did on Cruel Palace though, and I would like to pick that up again. I like the family angle that is being played along with all the intrigue that is going on within the Golden Fisheries. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top and who comes out dead, because I feel like a few people might come out dead in the end. Hopefully it's not our main people.

Well, I had a bit of a mixed bag this year, but there were a lot of good dramas that came out and I know there are a lot more excellent dramas that I need to watch. Drama watching is seriously a never winning battle or catch up.

Here's to another great year!

~ Alora

I Hear Your Voice Part 2: Spoilers

Alora did an amazing job last week of describing I Hear Your Voice and explaining why it's one of the best dramas to come out this year. But the thing is, is that Alora watches episodes as soon as they come out and I try to wait until the whole drama is over before I start watching. This means that she is always one or two steps ahead of me. That said, I have a few points to add about I Hear Your Voice, but be warned: All my comments are regarding the last 15 minutes of episode 17. If you haven't finished it yet, do so and then come back. Okay! Let's have some fun!


These are the lessons I learned during the last 15 minutes of episode 17. 


Lesson 1: Call the Police. 

In K-Dramas they never call the police. I am always yelling at them to call the police, but  they hardly ever do. And on the very rare occasions when they do, the police are completely ineffectual. So what a breath of fresh air it was when they actually alerted the police and it turns out that Korean law enforcement are total rock stars!

While Park Soo Ha &  Min Joon Gook are locked in a stand off...

Police and snipers are stealthy surrounding them. And even though they have plenty of opportunity to take out the bad guy, they are apparently not averse to the pageantry of a good stand off. So it is a big surprise when Joon Gook has the pipe blasted out of his hand by an unseen sniper.

Oh no! What to do!! How about smashing him with this wrench?

Nope. The snipers got that too. You know snipers, with your crazy amazing accuracy you could have just shot Joon Gook. Just sayin'.


Lesson 2: Crazed Killers Can Still Dress Well.

As Joon Gook was trying to decide what he should do, I couldn't help but think about how much I like his hat.

I wonder where he got it? Maybe he picked it up at Serial Killer-Mart. You remember that from episode 16.

Yup, there it is.

Lesson 3: It is Kind to Let Main Characters Know That Their Love Interest Was Not Murdered By a Serial Killer. 

It's called common courtesy.

Can someone tell him that she just fainted. And while you're at it, can you tell her that he didn't die!!! Seriously. This lack of communication might be the reason why people in K-dramas prefer to not involve the police.

Lesson 4: Sometimes You Need a Serial Killer to Help Everyone Else Learn to Get Along.

Look at this, the cop, prosecutor and defense attorney are all getting along thanks to a deranged killer. Maybe we could use a few more of those in the world... or not.

Lesson 5: Best. Entrance. Ever!!

Lesson 6: If You Can Read Minds, How Do You Not Repeat What Others Are Thinking All the Time?

Okay, that is a question, not a lesson... but perhaps it should be a lesson for the drama's writers. If I knew what other people were thinking, I'd probably always try to finish their sentences.

Lesson 7: Sometimes Couples Fashion Can go Too Far.

So, I know couples fashion is a big deal in Korea, but matching head wounds is going overboard.

Like Alora, I also loved this drama and highly recommend it... but hopefully you have already watched it since I just spoiled one of the last episodes for you!



What did you learn from watching this series?


~Autumn

I Hear Your Voice

If I could, I would marry this drama. From start to finish, and even with the added two episodes, it had strong story telling and characters. There was never a moment that I felt the need to jump into my computer and smack some sense into the characters. That is not to say that they didn't have their issues and make mistakes, but they weren't those completely idiotic mistakes that are so prevalent in dramas. The writers even play the amnesia card, which can become such a crutch in dramas in order to draw a story out, but this was used very well.

There is a lot of back story to this drama which the audience is still being given information about until the very end. It begins ten years before the drama even starts when our main character Jung Hye Sung and her frienemy Seo Do Hyun witness a murder, which brings me to this question: why is Kim So Hyun always cast as theses super damaged children? I suppose I can answer my own question by saying "because she's good at it", but seriously, here are the dramas I've seen her in, I Miss You: super damaging and traumatic childhood; this drama: super damaging and traumatic childhood; The Moon that Embraces the Sun: she is kind of evil and her dad sucks, making her a sucky adult; Rooftop Prince: she puts her younger step sister on a truck and watches it drive away as her sister cries and tells her to save her, she then becomes my least favorite female adult in drama history. She always rocks it though and I love her so good job on being a damaged child type actor. Hopefully this doesn't mess her up in the future.

At about the twelfth episode mark this drama got its two episodes extension. Fortunately, these two episodes were used very well and didn't drag the story out unnecessarily. The only main change with the extend is that the story did slow down a little, but not for the worse. It wasn't case after case and attacks from Min Joon Guk anymore, there was a more talking and character building. This also gave the writers a better build up to the end, which was amazing. We also got more of this

which is totally fine by me. I would watch the Hye Sung and Soo Ha show all day long and love every minute of it. They had such an easy relationship and you could see that the actors genuinely liked each other. Some of my favorite scenes were when they were sitting in her house talking and one of them couldn't get something open. The other person would then take the object, open it, and hand it back without either of them missing a beat. It's a small and random thing to like, but it's one of those easy relationship moments that a lot of dramas lack.

Something else that I liked about their relationship is that Soo Ha was so careful with Hye Sung and you could just feel how much he loved her and wanted to take care of her. Especially when he kissed her hand when she was asleep for reasons that I will not disclose here because that would ruin A LOT of things. Just know, that it will make you go "aww" and then "aww" again.

While watching their romance unfold, I would occasionally think about the romance in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop because these couples have about the same age gap. Where Ramyun Shop had a lot of sexual tension and you were just waiting for the moment that Cha Chi Soo and Eun Bi confessed their feelings and then commence to kiss the crap out of each other, that was definitely not something that I expected, or wanted, from this drama. I think is what makes their final kiss so endearing to the audience. It was cute and romantic all at the same time and it was wonderful.

One of my other favorite characters was our bad guy Min Joon Guk. He was so creepy and played his part so well that he just made your skin crawl whenever he was on the screen. The other reason that I liked him is because he does end up becoming a tragic villain, which is the best kind of villain in my opinion. About half way through the drama, he started to form layers and by the end, while he is still evil and deserves to be punished, you understand him a little better and feel bad for him.

Doesn't this picture make you want to feel bad for him?

 
A theme that was played with during the end of the drama is whether or not a person can be turned onto a beast based on their surroundings. It was very White Christmas in that way, which I recently watched and quite enjoyed. I think that this drama dealt with it better though because it was clearer than White Christmas, which got a little confusing at times.

Another theme that this drama used is what is the definition of truth. I think that it would be obvious that this idea would be dealt with because we are watching a drama where almost all of the characters work at a law office. The issue of truth is brought up early in the drama when Soo Ha asks Hye Sung "doesn't truth win in the court room?" to which she replies that that statement is backwards and that "what wins in the court is truth." As sad as it is, there is a lot of truth in that statement which out characters come to learn as they get deeper into their jobs and personal issues. They also learn that truth isn't as obvious as we would like to think and it takes a brave person to be able to look at the truth and accept it.

This drama does deal with a lot of dark things so, luckily for us, there were lighthearted moments sprinkled through apart from the interactions between our main couple. There was the moment that Soo Ha realized that the woman that he had loved for ten years was a dirty, jaded lawyer

 
The scene where Oska Lawyer Cha and Hye Sung went "undercover" at Soo Ha's high school

And any time these two were on the screen together. I hope that someday Choong Ki can take his foot out of his mouth and then they can have a beautiful, if slightly angry, relationship.

So, should you watch this drama? Yes, a million times yes. It is wonderful and will have you feeling all the feels by the end and then, when it leaves, you will beg it to stay and give you more. I will now leave you with the very adorable Soo Ha, have a good weekend!

What else am I watching? 

Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers - Something that I don't like about sageuks is all the torture, especially in a solely sageuk sageuk. I'm glad we don't do that any more.


School 2013 - This is wonderful! It's right up my alley with the teaching angle and the bromance in absolutely heartwarming. I'm just sad that the teachers aren't going to get together. 

Who are You? - This drama is like Spellbound in the sense that it mixes the romance with horror, so I'm excited to see where this goes. I am not excited to watch Taec though, thus far his acting has not impressed me and has made me cringe a little.

Word of the Day: Noona Slayer

Noona Slayer n. 1. A younger man pursuing a romantic relationship with a significantly older woman. 2. The Korean male counterpart to the American female "cougar." ex. I didn't think I'd like Lee Min Ho as a noona slayer, but I did. 

Here in the US, pop media has been obsessed and scandalized with the idea of "cougars," an older woman pursuing a much younger man. But for Korean pop media, it's the much younger man who is pursuing the older woman. Hence the origin of "noona slayers." These different terms seem like opposite sides of the same coin, but "noona slayer" infers that the relationship is male initiated while "cougar" implies that it is female initiated. Probably the biggest difference is that in western society, cougars are still considered slightly scandalous but no one bats an eye when Korean dramas cast younger men with older women. That is, unless the guy is very young, in which case the actress is then considered a pedo-noona. Now for the fun part.

My List of Top 10 Korean Noona Slayers!

1. The Telepathic Noona Slayer. Since I Hear Your Voice is ending this week, I'm listing them first. Lee Bo Young is 10 1/2 years older than Lee Jong Suk.

Noona Slayer Rule # 7- The age difference goes away completely when you are both dressed like high school students

 2. The Time Traveling Noona Slayer. Lee Min Ho and Kim Hee Sun in Faith have a whopping 10 year age difference. It's weird at first, but I promise, after episode 13 or 14 you totally forget about it.

Kim Hee Sun, how do you not run your fingers through Lee Min Ho's hair all day long? Also, how do you keep your hear so shiny and perfectly made up in ancient times?

3. The Most Adorable Noona Slayer Ever. Yoon Shi Yoon. How can you not melt when this boy smiles? You can't. It's impossible, even for this very uptight police woman, Lee Ji Ah, in Me too, Flower! ( which is the worst name ever for a K-drama). But, more importantly she is 111/2 years older than he is.

She started her period while he was still in diapers.

4.The 'My Baby Needs a Mama' Noona Slayer. In Oh My Lady, Choi Siwon discovers that he has the most adorable daughter (Yoon Shi Yoon level adorable). So what does he do? He falls in love with Park Chae Rim, the nanny. 

Park Chae Rim, you could also be Siwon's nanny since you are 9 years older than him.

5. The Body Switching Noona Slayer.Ok, so Lee Min Jung fell in love with little Shin Won Ho, who is almost 10 years younger than her in Big.

You can't blame her cause most of the time he looks like Tom Hanks... oops I meant Gong Yoo. Sorry, I've haven't seen it yet.

6. The 'So What if You have 6 Months to Live!' Noona Slayer. If your dying wish is to fall in love with a crazy hot guy, may I recommend Lee Dong Wook who was 6 years younger than his Scent of a Woman costar, Kim Sun Ah.

Yes, please protect her face from premature aging. You know what, protect it from regular aging as well.

7. The Dating Contract Noona Slayer. If you didn't want to fall in love, you shouldn't have written a contract to be in a fake relationship. Everyone knows that! Unfortunately Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah found that out the hard way in My Lovely Sam-Soon. 

What is 7 years or 15 pounds when you really love someone?

 8. The Student-Teacher Noona Slayer.  Okay, so Lee Chung Ah opened the door originally in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop by mistaking his age and calling him oppa, but Jung Il Woo happily ran through that door to win her heart. Funny that this drama, more than any other that I've mentioned is specifically about  noona slaying, but Lee Chung Ah is actually only 3 years older than him.

Your babies would be so attractive, they would come with a warning label.

9.The Original Gangster Noona Slayers.The opening lyrics of SHINee's debut song  literally begins, "Noona you are so pretty." After 5 years of honing their skills, they are the most practiced and professional noona slayers on the list. I love them so much. 

Slaying noonas since 2008.

 10. Real Life Attempted Noona Slaying Fail. I saw this in the news recently and I had to include it. You remember Ah Sun Young from Dream High? She played Mr. Kang's alcoholic sister. Well, in Dream high she was a bit of a cougar... at least in her imagination.

Well it turns out that she was recently approached by a real life noona slayer. According to her, he was a male idol 12 years younger than her that bragged about how he was going to win her over. Apparently he was very persistent and she had a really hard time shaking him loose. Check it out.


Now it's your turn. Leave a comment and tell me which noona slayers I missed.

~Autumn