Year in Review: K-dramas
Dec. 20th, 2012 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firthgalI am basically just modifying the 30 day k-drama meme and some year end memes to suit my needs, because if I was to talk about every drama of 2012, it would take too damn long. And, really, there were only a select few that I actually stuck with all the way through. It seems that I was super picky and quite fickle this year. I'd start out loving a drama and then promptly drop it a few episodes later. So, let's see how this meme turns out:
The dramas that you stuck with for better or for worse until the finale did you part
Dream High 2
I Do, I Do
King of Dramas
Take Care of Us, Captain
Rooftop Prince
Ghost
Answer Me, 1997
The 3rd Hospital/The Third Ward
What's Up
Can Love Become Money
Dramas that you never quite finished
Brain
Big
Wild Romance
Gaksital
The Moon that Embraces the Sun
The King 2 Hearts
Arang and the Magistrate
History of the Salaryman
Faith
Full House Take 2
Shut Up, Flower Boy Band
Hero
Padam Padam
Fermentation Family
Color of Woman
Operation Proposal
Your Favorite Kdrama of 2012
King of Dramas, hands down. It hasn't finished yet, but I think it's pretty safe to say that nothing will beat my love for this one unless Anthony happens to randomly die in the end (I'm looking at you, Sign. And considering this drama is by the same writer, nothing's impossible). Anyway, this drama had the best acting of any other drama I watched in 2012, and while the writing isn't exactly flawless, it's damn good. They've managed to take some pretty boring subject matter and turn it into high stakes drama. It's just as if not more exciting than all of the action dramas that I've watched in the past, and the main characters are so beautifully fleshed out and complex and they actually get to grow as people, and I basically love everything about this drama.
Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Anthony Kim from King of Dramas, no contest. First, he's played by Kim Myung Min, so of course he's going to be awesome, and KMM has this way of adding layers to a character that aren't necessarily there in the writing, but the writing in this drama is so great that it's worthy of KMM's devotion to the character. It's all in the details with Anthony. He's seemingly cold and heartless and devoid of morals in the beginning, but you can always see his vulnerabilities. It's mostly KMM's performance there, because by all means I should have hated him in the first couple eps, but you can see hints of this hidden desperateness in him that makes him do the things that he does, and the scene in the first ep where he goes to the funeral of the motorcycle guy that died and is clearly brooding over the man's death showed that he does have plenty of humanity hidden behind his heartless facade. He does what needs to be done in order to achieve his goals, and if that means ruining somebody else, well... he'll do it without blinking. But he's perfectly aware of how horrible he is, and he doesn't really blame anybody but himself for his downfall, even after he learns that it was Oh Jin Wan who was responsible for it. He's aware that he's horrible, but he also believes that he has to be that way in order to survive, in order to not be trampled on, in order to be something in this dirty, despicable world. But then he meets Lee Go Eun and her presence in his life slowly changes his outlook on pretty much everything. He starts to learn that the world isn't so dirty and despicable when he's surrounded by people who are truly on his side and genuinely care about him. He starts to get back to the man that he was before he became Anthony, and it's just a really beautiful thing to watch.
I also want to mention Yoo Bang from History of a Salaryman. While nowhere near as complicated as Anthony, he was definitely just as hilarious, and I loved how even though he was a bumbling hero, he was also pretty intelligent and always managed to succeed.
Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Definitely Baek Yeo Chi from History of a Salaryman. She was badass without having to be physically badass, if that makes sense. She just owned every scene and her romance with Yoo Bang was the cutest thing ever. She didn't take crap from anybody and she cussed like a sailor, even making gangsters blush. She was just super, super awesome and I think I was with her on her journey more than I was with Yoo Bang. She totally stole the show.
Your Favorite Story
Again, I'm going to have to go with King of Dramas. It's basically the story of a corrupt, fallen king who is trying to rise back to the top, and along the way he is learning how to open himself up to other people. He is learning how to forgive himself, which is allowing him to change his corrupt ways and to depend on/trust other people for once in his life, and he is now becoming worthy of being a true king.
Your Favorite confession scene
I adored the confession in What's Up between Oh Doo Ri and Sun Woo. Sun Woo is just like, "Bwuuuuh????" and Doo Ri is so sincere in only the way that an impulsive teenager can be, and their non-romance turned out to be one the greatest love stories of any k-drama ever. I adored the bejesus out of them. I just loved how Doo Ri owned her crush. It wasn't silly to her and she made sure that he knew that. I am entirely convinced that had he not died, Doo Ri could have made him happy. For some reason I will always associate the song Over You by Miranda Lambert with these two. I think the song came out when I was in the midst of my obsession with them, and it just fits their bittersweet love story so well.
Your Favorite Kiss
Does it count if it was just in dream form? Because Anthony and Go Eun's kiss in King of Dramas killed me. IF ONLY IT HAD BEEN REAL! As for kisses that happened in non-dreams, I'd go with the closet kiss in I Do, I Do.
The Worst of the dramas that you watched until the end
Probably Dream High 2. Why I stuck with it I'll never know. It was fluffy fun, I suppose. I wasn't too thrilled with the latter half of Rooftop Prince either, but at least it had plenty of laugh out loud moments to cancel all the badness, unlike Dream High 2.
Your Best Actor
Kim Myung Min all the way.
Your Best Actress
Jung Ryeo Won, not only for History of a Salaryman but also for King of Dramas.
Your Best Couple
Anthony/Go Eun!!!!! The soft smiles, the way they went from enemies to work partners to friends to maybe something more to really can't live without each other was so beautifully done. The show took it slow and really laid the groundwork, and oh man does it make the tension smokin'! I don't usually feel the sexual tension between couples in k-dramas, but these two have UST up the wazoo. I was also super obsessed with Da Jin/Captain Kim from Take Care of Us, Captain, Doo Hyun/Hye In from Third Ward, and Doo Ri/Sung Woo Young from What's Up. But I think Anthony and Go Eun eclipse all of those ships for me.
Most overrated drama of 2012
Moon that Embraces the Sun. WTF even was that drama? It was so damn stupid. How that reached record-breaking ratings is beyond me, but whatever floats your boat. I actually enjoyed it when it was in the childhood stage, but once it got to the adult stage it just got really convoluted and... well... boring.
I kind of also want to say Gaksital, but I don't think it really qualifies since the acting was mostly pretty great and the drama itself wasn't badly written. It just stopped being what I wanted it to be, I guess. I lost interest halfway through. Perhaps one day I'll go back to it now that it's complete and I can watch it all in one go, but I still feel like people praise this drama more than it's really worth.
Most underrated drama of 2012
Pfft, pretty much every drama I loved this year got very little attention and had horrible ratings. I think King of Dramas is the biggest travesty there because the drama is SO DAMN GOOD, but at least it's critically acclaimed if not widely viewed by Korea or by the international audience. I really, truly loved Third Ward, and once it got on track it was actually pretty decent, but very few people watched/cared about it. Take Care of Us Captain was on during the Moon Embracing the Sun mania, so it really got overshadowed, but it was more of a character drama, which rarely pulls in the viewers anyway. Ghost was another excellent drama that didn't get much attention. Not sure how it did in the ratings, but it didn't seem to have that big of a following. I blame the first ep, which was just clunky and misleading as to what the show was really about.
Biggest disappointment for 2012
I think most everyone has said this, but Big was a huge disappointment, especially since it had the talent but lacked the oomph. I rarely finish a Hong Sisters drama anyway, but I usually really dig their dramas until about the tenth or eleventh episode (seriously, it never fails, all but two of their dramas have lost me at that point). It was kind of the same deal here, although I realized earlier on that it was a sinking ship. I think I just stuck with it as long as I did because of Gong Yoo. But I really wanted to see how it ended, and so I watched the last few minutes of the last ep, and... oh, man, that was terrible. What even was that??? I just really wanted this drama to make the boys swap back to their original bodies after the female lead figured out that she was truly in love with the younger boy, and I wanted to see where it would go from there, but the drama never even thought to broach that plotline because it would mean less Gong Yoo. In the end, more Gong Yoo hurt the drama, which is just craziness.
Dropped dramas that you plan on picking back up later
History of a Salaryman - I actually only missed the last couple of eps, but the drama got a little weird towards the end, which kind of turned me off. This drama was so excellent up until that point that it just really threw me off.
Arang and the Magistrate - at the time that this was airing, I got super obsessed with Third Ward, and I find that when I get that obsessed over a drama, there isn't any room for anything else. Not sure why, have never had this problem with American shows, but with k-dramas, all I want is the one that I am salivating for, so, I'll have to pick this one back up when there aren't any dramas that are grabbing me
Dramas that you plan on watching in 2013
So far I am really digging Alice in Cheongnamdong, but I'm not sure if it's one that will manage to keep me when it hits angst mode. Right now the OTP is being super cute and funny and awesome and I really don't want that to end, but they are both lying about who they are, so it'll be interesting to see how the drama makes their romance possible. I just fear what Seung Jo's reaction will be when he finds out that Se Kyung has been trying to seduce Jean Thierry Cha for his money (even though she is legit falling for him without realizing that it's him, but still, he likes her because he thinks she's innocent and everything right in the world, so he'll either be devastated when he finds out she's playing him, or else he'll get really, really angry and try to destroy her).
I am also kind of interested in Level 7 Civil Servant. I am just rom-com starved. We need some good old trendies up in 2013! 2012 was too damn melo. And sageuky. And time travely. I just want cuteness and fluff (which luckily King of Dramas is starting to bring me, but damn, it took it long enough!)
The dramas that you stuck with for better or for worse until the finale did you part
Dream High 2
I Do, I Do
King of Dramas
Take Care of Us, Captain
Rooftop Prince
Ghost
Answer Me, 1997
The 3rd Hospital/The Third Ward
What's Up
Can Love Become Money
Dramas that you never quite finished
Brain
Big
Wild Romance
Gaksital
The Moon that Embraces the Sun
The King 2 Hearts
Arang and the Magistrate
History of the Salaryman
Faith
Full House Take 2
Shut Up, Flower Boy Band
Hero
Padam Padam
Fermentation Family
Color of Woman
Operation Proposal
Your Favorite Kdrama of 2012
King of Dramas, hands down. It hasn't finished yet, but I think it's pretty safe to say that nothing will beat my love for this one unless Anthony happens to randomly die in the end (I'm looking at you, Sign. And considering this drama is by the same writer, nothing's impossible). Anyway, this drama had the best acting of any other drama I watched in 2012, and while the writing isn't exactly flawless, it's damn good. They've managed to take some pretty boring subject matter and turn it into high stakes drama. It's just as if not more exciting than all of the action dramas that I've watched in the past, and the main characters are so beautifully fleshed out and complex and they actually get to grow as people, and I basically love everything about this drama.
Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Anthony Kim from King of Dramas, no contest. First, he's played by Kim Myung Min, so of course he's going to be awesome, and KMM has this way of adding layers to a character that aren't necessarily there in the writing, but the writing in this drama is so great that it's worthy of KMM's devotion to the character. It's all in the details with Anthony. He's seemingly cold and heartless and devoid of morals in the beginning, but you can always see his vulnerabilities. It's mostly KMM's performance there, because by all means I should have hated him in the first couple eps, but you can see hints of this hidden desperateness in him that makes him do the things that he does, and the scene in the first ep where he goes to the funeral of the motorcycle guy that died and is clearly brooding over the man's death showed that he does have plenty of humanity hidden behind his heartless facade. He does what needs to be done in order to achieve his goals, and if that means ruining somebody else, well... he'll do it without blinking. But he's perfectly aware of how horrible he is, and he doesn't really blame anybody but himself for his downfall, even after he learns that it was Oh Jin Wan who was responsible for it. He's aware that he's horrible, but he also believes that he has to be that way in order to survive, in order to not be trampled on, in order to be something in this dirty, despicable world. But then he meets Lee Go Eun and her presence in his life slowly changes his outlook on pretty much everything. He starts to learn that the world isn't so dirty and despicable when he's surrounded by people who are truly on his side and genuinely care about him. He starts to get back to the man that he was before he became Anthony, and it's just a really beautiful thing to watch.
I also want to mention Yoo Bang from History of a Salaryman. While nowhere near as complicated as Anthony, he was definitely just as hilarious, and I loved how even though he was a bumbling hero, he was also pretty intelligent and always managed to succeed.
Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Definitely Baek Yeo Chi from History of a Salaryman. She was badass without having to be physically badass, if that makes sense. She just owned every scene and her romance with Yoo Bang was the cutest thing ever. She didn't take crap from anybody and she cussed like a sailor, even making gangsters blush. She was just super, super awesome and I think I was with her on her journey more than I was with Yoo Bang. She totally stole the show.
Your Favorite Story
Again, I'm going to have to go with King of Dramas. It's basically the story of a corrupt, fallen king who is trying to rise back to the top, and along the way he is learning how to open himself up to other people. He is learning how to forgive himself, which is allowing him to change his corrupt ways and to depend on/trust other people for once in his life, and he is now becoming worthy of being a true king.
Your Favorite confession scene
I adored the confession in What's Up between Oh Doo Ri and Sun Woo. Sun Woo is just like, "Bwuuuuh????" and Doo Ri is so sincere in only the way that an impulsive teenager can be, and their non-romance turned out to be one the greatest love stories of any k-drama ever. I adored the bejesus out of them. I just loved how Doo Ri owned her crush. It wasn't silly to her and she made sure that he knew that. I am entirely convinced that had he not died, Doo Ri could have made him happy. For some reason I will always associate the song Over You by Miranda Lambert with these two. I think the song came out when I was in the midst of my obsession with them, and it just fits their bittersweet love story so well.
Your Favorite Kiss
Does it count if it was just in dream form? Because Anthony and Go Eun's kiss in King of Dramas killed me. IF ONLY IT HAD BEEN REAL! As for kisses that happened in non-dreams, I'd go with the closet kiss in I Do, I Do.
The Worst of the dramas that you watched until the end
Probably Dream High 2. Why I stuck with it I'll never know. It was fluffy fun, I suppose. I wasn't too thrilled with the latter half of Rooftop Prince either, but at least it had plenty of laugh out loud moments to cancel all the badness, unlike Dream High 2.
Your Best Actor
Kim Myung Min all the way.
Your Best Actress
Jung Ryeo Won, not only for History of a Salaryman but also for King of Dramas.
Your Best Couple
Anthony/Go Eun!!!!! The soft smiles, the way they went from enemies to work partners to friends to maybe something more to really can't live without each other was so beautifully done. The show took it slow and really laid the groundwork, and oh man does it make the tension smokin'! I don't usually feel the sexual tension between couples in k-dramas, but these two have UST up the wazoo. I was also super obsessed with Da Jin/Captain Kim from Take Care of Us, Captain, Doo Hyun/Hye In from Third Ward, and Doo Ri/Sung Woo Young from What's Up. But I think Anthony and Go Eun eclipse all of those ships for me.
Most overrated drama of 2012
Moon that Embraces the Sun. WTF even was that drama? It was so damn stupid. How that reached record-breaking ratings is beyond me, but whatever floats your boat. I actually enjoyed it when it was in the childhood stage, but once it got to the adult stage it just got really convoluted and... well... boring.
I kind of also want to say Gaksital, but I don't think it really qualifies since the acting was mostly pretty great and the drama itself wasn't badly written. It just stopped being what I wanted it to be, I guess. I lost interest halfway through. Perhaps one day I'll go back to it now that it's complete and I can watch it all in one go, but I still feel like people praise this drama more than it's really worth.
Most underrated drama of 2012
Pfft, pretty much every drama I loved this year got very little attention and had horrible ratings. I think King of Dramas is the biggest travesty there because the drama is SO DAMN GOOD, but at least it's critically acclaimed if not widely viewed by Korea or by the international audience. I really, truly loved Third Ward, and once it got on track it was actually pretty decent, but very few people watched/cared about it. Take Care of Us Captain was on during the Moon Embracing the Sun mania, so it really got overshadowed, but it was more of a character drama, which rarely pulls in the viewers anyway. Ghost was another excellent drama that didn't get much attention. Not sure how it did in the ratings, but it didn't seem to have that big of a following. I blame the first ep, which was just clunky and misleading as to what the show was really about.
Biggest disappointment for 2012
I think most everyone has said this, but Big was a huge disappointment, especially since it had the talent but lacked the oomph. I rarely finish a Hong Sisters drama anyway, but I usually really dig their dramas until about the tenth or eleventh episode (seriously, it never fails, all but two of their dramas have lost me at that point). It was kind of the same deal here, although I realized earlier on that it was a sinking ship. I think I just stuck with it as long as I did because of Gong Yoo. But I really wanted to see how it ended, and so I watched the last few minutes of the last ep, and... oh, man, that was terrible. What even was that??? I just really wanted this drama to make the boys swap back to their original bodies after the female lead figured out that she was truly in love with the younger boy, and I wanted to see where it would go from there, but the drama never even thought to broach that plotline because it would mean less Gong Yoo. In the end, more Gong Yoo hurt the drama, which is just craziness.
Dropped dramas that you plan on picking back up later
History of a Salaryman - I actually only missed the last couple of eps, but the drama got a little weird towards the end, which kind of turned me off. This drama was so excellent up until that point that it just really threw me off.
Arang and the Magistrate - at the time that this was airing, I got super obsessed with Third Ward, and I find that when I get that obsessed over a drama, there isn't any room for anything else. Not sure why, have never had this problem with American shows, but with k-dramas, all I want is the one that I am salivating for, so, I'll have to pick this one back up when there aren't any dramas that are grabbing me
Dramas that you plan on watching in 2013
So far I am really digging Alice in Cheongnamdong, but I'm not sure if it's one that will manage to keep me when it hits angst mode. Right now the OTP is being super cute and funny and awesome and I really don't want that to end, but they are both lying about who they are, so it'll be interesting to see how the drama makes their romance possible. I just fear what Seung Jo's reaction will be when he finds out that Se Kyung has been trying to seduce Jean Thierry Cha for his money (even though she is legit falling for him without realizing that it's him, but still, he likes her because he thinks she's innocent and everything right in the world, so he'll either be devastated when he finds out she's playing him, or else he'll get really, really angry and try to destroy her).
I am also kind of interested in Level 7 Civil Servant. I am just rom-com starved. We need some good old trendies up in 2013! 2012 was too damn melo. And sageuky. And time travely. I just want cuteness and fluff (which luckily King of Dramas is starting to bring me, but damn, it took it long enough!)