Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Second lead syndrome is strong in “Love in the Moonlight.” And although it’s obvious from the beginning who will end up with the girl, I honestly would’ve been fine with either. Are you #TeamBoGum or #TeamJinYoung?!
Remember that last post when we wondered whether KBS — or KBS2 in this case — could have a hit with either “Doctor Prisoner” or “My Fellow Citizens!” It turns out that they could!
Quick! Off the top of your head, which K-Dramas have been talked about the most in recent years? If you said “Sky Castle,” “Reply 1988,” “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God,” “Mr. Sunshine” and “100 Days My Prince,” you would be correct. And something they all have in common is that they aired on Korea’s cable television.
Before I watched “Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth,” I was looking forward to seeing how the romance between Dog Bird (Park Seo-Joon) and Ah-Ro (Go Ara) played out. But after the finale, I realized that what stuck with me wasn’t their tepid relationship, but that of the young men who formed a relationship — which at times was adversarial, but also based on friendship, honor and righteous morals. In other words, I was all about the poet warrior youth’s bromance.
A smart, 20-episode series that was well cast, it offered intrigue, action, comedy and a bittersweet love story that ends in such a way that the viewer is left assured that the couple stays together forever. This is also one of the rare Korean dramas I’ve seen where the lead characters aren’t involved in a love triangle (though there is a sub-plot where unrequited love between secondary cast members plays a role).
“You get to decide what kind of King you are going to be.” Don’t remember that line from “Hwarang”? That’s because it’s a quote from the blockbuster film, “Black Panther.” When the newly crowned king, T’challa, worries about how he will rule over his subjects, Nakia tells him, “You cannot let your father’s actions define your life.
If you could go back to your past, would you? And, if so, what would you change? That’s the premise for “Go Back Couple,” a thoroughly-enjoyable drama filled with charismatic leads and a plot that is both funny and touching — especially for those of us who are already parents.
One of the things I enjoy about Korean dramas is that many tend to focus of the main characters’ childhood friendships and how that camaraderie evolves into their adulthood. Such is the case here, where four friends grow up with each other and, eventually, end up falling in and out of love with each other.
I had a difficult time reconciling myself with the fact that I enjoyed “Boys Over Flowers,” while being disgusted that the showrunners never addressed how cruel the main characters were to kids outside of their circle.
Let’s cut to the chase: the plot revolves around a high school student and a doctor who switch bodies after an accident. Yoon-Jae, the 30something doctor is in a vegetative state in the body of 17-year-old Kyung-Joon. Meanwhile, the teenager is alive and well, but he is trapped in the buff body belonging to Gong Yoo, er, I mean Yoon-Jae. Caught between these two is Gil Da-Ran, a wet dishrag of a woman, who (despite her beauty) has absolutely no confidence in herself. When she realizes that Yoon-Jae really isn’t Yoon-Jae and that it may take a while for the two to switch bodies again, she plays along with the charade.