#OnMyDramaRadar: My Drama Week in Emojis

Fall dramas are starting to roll in and as much as I want to check them all out *and* be up-to-date with my current dramas. I still. can’t. do. it. 😫 I need help stretching some days to at least 30 hours. Any time-benders out there?⏳⏳⏳

I’m a little behind with my watch list – for some of them it was intentional. So for this round I may not be reacting to the latest episode out. Please hold back on the spoilers though. Heehee 😉

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Amnesia, Cohabitation, and Lots of Clinginess in New Fall Drama ‘Shopping King Louis’

Seo In-guk is one busy man. I haven’t quite gotten over his clever cons and occasional satoori in 38 Task Force and now he’s back in dramaland – speaking random English and French!

New MBC Wed-Thu drama Shopping King Louis opened this week, promising a quirky romance between an amnesiac chaebol raised abroad and a kindhearted (this seems to be an understatement) country bumpkin. Honestly though, it started out as a bit too weird and ridiculous for my liking, but the main couple’s winning performances got me watching on. The second episode is much better with the chemistry and cuteness now that the hijinks are kicking in. However I’m still cautious that things may spiral out of control in the future. I’ve already been burned by quite a number of dramas to be blindly optimistic.

K-Drama 101: What is a Candy Girl?

Familiar with the drama term “Candy girl”? Even if you say no, there’s an 80% chance that you’ve already encountered this type of heroine. She’s everywhere in K-dramaland, and is even sometimes referenced in other types of shows and media.

JTBC Drama ‘Fantastic’ to Revise Script in light of Ji-soo’s Medical Condition

Following reports of Ji-soo’s recent emergency surgery, the production team of his current drama Fantastic has announced that they will not replace the actor, but will be adjusting the story to consider his recovery. Ji-soo is part of the drama’s main cast as Kim Sang-wook, a young lawyer who will have a noona romance with Park Shi-yeon’s character.

Hold up. Ji-soo had what?

Last September 12, Ji-soo was rushed to the hospital for severe leg pain and high fever, and underwent emergency surgery for acute osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone or bone marrow). It was later revealed that the rising actor has been suffering from leg pain for some time, and prior check ups had them initially suspect it to be bone cancer.

‘Reply’ Series Tribute: My ‘Reply’ Awards

The Reply Series is my favorite K-drama franchise, which started as a humble tvN project that turned into a phenomenon – earning both critical praise and commercial fame. Every era brings a different flavor to the timeless stories of love, youth, and family – with each season breaking TV records. I’ve been wanting to write about the series (aka fangirl away) for sometime now. So I’m using this window to finally do it, before the post-Chuseok premieres spring up in late-September.

Fans tend to ask each other which is best among the three; but it’s almost unfair to choose one absolute favorite as they all have their own strong points. Not all dramas are created equal, even if they were written and directed by the same people. And since there’s the tvN10 Awards next month, I was inspired to create my own “Reply Awards”, to acknowledge the strengths of each season – at least in my opinion.

Nominees Out, Voting Now Open for the tvN10 Awards

tvN is certainly celebrating its 10th year in a big way. Apart from having an impressive drama lineup this year, it will also hold its first-ever awards ceremony. The event will be held on the network’s anniversary date, Oct. 9, (which is only a month away), and the list of nominees has been released for online voting.

I’ve always been a fan of tvN for its fresh and original content, as well as its risk appetite for the sake of creativity. It has been home to some of my all-time favorite programs, and the network has made a strong presence in the industry by breaking TV records over the past decade.

Raise Your Glass for the Premiere Week of ‘Drinking Solo’

This is a drama that lured me to watch solely by its title. The phrase “drinking solo” bears a negative connotation (I presume more so in Asian countries than the West), but it can be comforting and liberating when you let it. I should know; I’ve done it too. And I was intrigued as to how this show will interpret the title.

So I jumped in without any expectations – I don’t know the actors except for Gong Myung (whom I completely forgot about until I saw him appear onscreen) and I haven’t seen the Let’s Eat series (which inspired this spinoff). I might have imagined some dramatic brandy-pouring or wine tasting 101, but I’m glad Drinking Solo (also known as Let’s Drink) is actually heavier on the human angle than plain alcohol appreciation. It looks at the different approaches to drinking, and the different reasons why people do so.

First Impression: New JTBC Drama ‘Fantastic’ is Gives More than Celebrity Romance

My Friday-Saturday drama lineup suddenly felt empty after Age of Youth and The Good Wife said goodbye last week, which no amount of cohabitation hijinks from Cinderella and the Four Knights can solely fill. Hence I checked out the new JTBC drama FantastiC (while I still got spare time in my hands), which at the very least would let me see Ji-soo. Maybe it’s premiere burnout (my slate just looks totally different from a few weeks ago), but this drama didn’t quite captivate me as much as its predecessor AoY did. But it has some potential; and it looks like the K-audience are responding positively, maintaining ratings above 2% on its opening weekend (at 2.2%, 2.4%).

New Teasers: Upcoming September KDramas

This is one busy month indeed in the world of Kdramas. New JTBC drama Fantastic aired last September 3, kickstarting the month’s batch of show premieres. Just when you thought your watch list is getting cleared, several new additions are just around the corner. Here’s a little taste on what to expect in these upcoming dramas:

Drama Premiere: The Time Travel Begins on ‘Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart: Ryeo’

It’s finally here. The much-anticipated SBS sageuk remake of highly-popular Chinese novel-turned-series Bu Bu Jing Xin premiered this week, airing two back-to-back episodes on its first night.  Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart: Ryeo is considered to be a production Goliath – armed with a big budget, a 100% pre-produced format, and many of today’s hottest names in K-entertainment. This formula so far has no guaranteed results, as demonstrated by the opposite reception on its predecessors Descendants of the Sun and Uncontrollably Fond.

Loosely inspired by Korea’s own history, Scarlet Heart Ryeo follows the story of a modern-day woman named Go Ha-jin who gets transported back to the Goryeo Dynasty, and finds herself in the body of a girl named Hae Soo. She gets entangled with the many princes of the empire, who are at the onset of a power struggle. I somehow think of it as Game of Thrones-slash-shoujo manga, with its multi-cast fight-over-the-throne aspect and reverse harem with seven flower princes. That alone pretty much sounds like a dream come true to me.