Dramas That Don't Promote Toxic Masculinity

The archetypes for characters in romance stories have been set in stone for as long as the term 'Hallyu Wave' has been in operation. The male lead will be prickly, sometimes downright cruel, but often will have a heart of gold. The second male lead, the one who's chances with the girl are about 0.000001%, is the sweet and caring one who's always there to listen to her. Look at some of the Hong Sisters dramas for proof - hell, even some of my favourite dramas aren't completely immune to such stereotypes (Thirty but Seventeen, Drinking Solo, Hana Kimi to name just a few). To be honest, I think these models are popular for a less-than stellar reason.

I was wrong! (Gangnam Beauty)

When I provided a mini-review of My ID is Gangnam Beauty in the summer of last year, I'll admit it was somewhat disingenuous. Opinions on the drama were split right down the middle, me favouring the side that screamed it was awful and offensive, but the review I wrote was non-committal. I wanted to avoid upsetting anyone. I actually never watched the first episode, which prompted me to re-watch the majority of the show and finally finish it. As for how I feel about it now... I've changed my mind. Gangnam Beauty is not a terrible drama - whilst I think it had trouble attempting to address every social issue it wanted to effectively, it was a damn good try.

Swing Kids Analysis: War, Freedom and Magic Shoes

I've fallen in love. Swing Kids is a fucking masterpiece, and I'm head-over-heels, madly, passionately in love with it. It's too rich thematically for me to do justice to it in a full review, so I've decided to take a few of the greatest scenes and pull them apart by themselves. Today, I have the 'Modern Love' dance scene, between Do Kyung-soo and Park Hye-soo.

I Give My First Love to You: Movie Review

I watched this movie on a whim - with the drama adaptation airing right now, I decided to finally bite the bullet and give I Give My First Love to You a try. It's an interesting film for both of the actors - Okada Masaki was only starting to make a name for himself despite some iconic supporting roles, and Inoue Mao was and still is first associated as the face of Hana Yori Dango. Maybe I overlooked it for that reason? But it was a box-office hit and now I think I understand why people treasure it so.

The Best of 2018

This has been a great, if weird, year for drama. If last year I learnt not to try and persevere with a drama I'm not enjoying, then this year I learnt that I can love a drama wholeheartedly even if it isn't the best I've ever seen, from unlikely obsession Grand Prince and there after. I was also graced with two additions to the Hanadan canon this year, one fantastic and one appalling. I was also happy to discover that I haven't fallen completely out of love with SBS, which I basically didn't touch any dramas from last year! There isn't a lot of worsts this year, to be honest - I don't pursue shows I don't like anymore. Here are my favourites of the year, in no particular order.

NOTE: To save time, a few favourites that I already feel I've done justice to are exempted here. That would be Your Honour, and Come Here and Hug Me.

Women in Buzzer Beat

I love Buzzer Beat - it's an exemplary, feel-good romance story that focuses mostly on the price of chasing your dream. I wanted to analyse this drama in particular for it's portrayal of women because, when I watched this for the first time at about age twelve, I never particularly thought that I loved the women characters. It's actually a little sad that I tend to leave rom-coms a lot nowadays thinking that I loved the male lead and couldn't find anything in the female lead's personality that I clung to. Buzzer Beat certainly stands out for having a great male lead, since men in drama who are empathetic and openly compassionate are sadly few and far between. But I think I now hold my affection for the women in this show. Let's take the three most important women - Riko, Natsuki, and Mai - and look into why I thought they were so interesting.

Bok-soo is Back: A Feast for the Eyes

Everything Yoo Seung-ho touches nowadays turns to gold. Hey, everyone, it's been a while - now I'm going to gush over a potential new favourite of mine: Bok-soo's Back, or My Strange Hero.

KBS Drama Specials 2018

They're finally here! I always look forward to the KBS Drama Specials - you'll never know quite what they'll be, so watching them blind is such a fun experience. Here's a mini-review of all the ones I watched. There's something for everyone here. Also, I was half-way through writing this post, when suddenly it just up and disappeared, so hopefully I was able to remember most of my original thoughts?

Song Jae-jung Hates Her Heroines

For anyone who doesn't know, Song Jae-jung is one of the greatest sci-fi fantasy writers on the scene today. She partially inspired the love I have for thrillers now, and is responsible for one of the most romantic dramas I've ever seen. But... I don't think she's perfect. Namely because within the four dramas I've seen that Song Jae-jung has written, I've noticed parallels - in each one, the male leads are charismatic and deftly written, but I'm convinced that comes at the expense of the female leads.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (Movie Review)

So the manga for Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (which literally translates to something like The Monster Beside Me, but uses the official English title My Little Monster) is a lot of fun. I liked the manga a lot, so when I heard about the live-action adaptation I was happy. But to be honest, I'm really starting to get sick of all these manga-to-film projects now, because it just doesn't seem to be working anymore.