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Miraculous Brothers is an interesting concept drama
Miraculous Brothers (2023)Some Korean Devotees have wanted darker themed Korean Dramas. Each has her own taste. So many dark themed dramas have too much violence in it for me. However, I fell upon this little gem of a Korean Drama. Miraculous Brothers (2023), which is a Crime, Mystery, Fantasy Bromance. The Korean Drama Miraculous Brothers is not a run-of-the-mill story. The edgy dark lyrics of the pulsating drama music should give you a clue about that. Cinematography (especially camera angles) are eye-catching. This drama kept climbing higher and higher up my All-time List, with each episode. You really have to be patient with this one. Each layer has a unique surprise.
The story centers around the mystery surrounding a magnificently written “book” which explores man’s desires and the duality of good and evil. Who is the writer of this book titled ‘God is Dead’, and is this person of this world? Is this book a book of fiction or reality? The writer of Miraculous Brothers just gives away enough mystery, a little bit at a time, until he reveals the big picture. This keeps you fully engaged as a viewer. (The drama has no demonic content, even though the young man has more than human powers.)
The drama pace of Miraculous Brothers is immaculate. What I like most about this complicated drama is that at junctures along the way, you are given recaps of what you should have picked up from all the clues. So if you get lost you are put back on track. For my taste, this is a great drama.
There are two male protagonists in the Korean drama Miraculous Brothers. Are they monsters or saviors? There is a strong female lead character too. While the subject is about serial killings, the drama does not have gratuitous violence. There is some cursing. The rating, however, is mostly accounting for suicides being covered in some arcs in the story.
One of our main protagonists is a young man who appears to be not of this world. He can manipulate time and objects, but lost his memory when he was hit in a car accident. The other protagonist is a failed writer who is the driver of the car from the accident. His life is turned upside down as he tries to piece together clues as to who is this strange visitor.
Bae Hyun-sung (Dear M) and Jung Woo (Reply 1994)
Miraculous Brothers is in the vein of the great Korean Drama Signal, with a twist. Lots of Head Talk here.
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‘When I Fly Toward You’ Chinese drama is flying high for me.
‘When I Fly Towards You’ is a Chinese Drama about a young girl who has a mad crush on this boy. Why? No particular reason. Sometimes teen girls are just attracted to someone. He is very smart and in Advance Class. She is in average class. He runs, but she persists. Will she win? The drama is uncomplicated and delightful, a simple read. I love the chemistry between the male and female leads. Cuteness overload. ‘When I Fly Towards You’ is a Chinese Drama to add to your complicated list of dramas. Use it to decompress. The drama has 24 episodes at about 35 minutes each and is on Netflix. I am totally loving this Teen Crush School Life Drama. Like with the Chinese Drama ‘Hidden Love’, ‘When I Fly Towards You’ takes this relationship from teen years to adulthood. This is a very romance centered drama with a stellar posse of actors.More attention is being paid to the Chinese School Life Romance Drama Hidden Love and deservedly so. Nevertheless, ‘When I Fly Towards You’ is an excellent drama too. Great OST or original soundtrack and great posse of actors. ‘When I Fly Towards You’ has the vibe of the Korean Drama ‘King, The Land’ because of the truculent male and the smiley female, with a splash of the Chinese Drama Hidden Love which transverses time.
PS-The voice of the Male Lead is ever heavenly, resonating in the lower register. I could listen to this voice for days and never get tired. And by the time you get to the end, you will miss this drama Big Time.
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I loved ‘My Lovely Liar’.
Hwang Min-hyun (Minhyun) singer/songwriter of the K-pop group NU’EST and actor from the big hit Korean Drama ‘Alchemy of Souls’ (which followed Live On) is putting out only his third drama. The early buzz is that this drama will make him a household name. It is fortunate that he gets the main lead with the little star maker, Kim So Hyun (Love Alarm). She is a former Korean child star, who can do little wrong in picking good Korean dramas and making her costars shine. ‘My Lovey Liar’ got off to a slow start, because this star power rich Korean drama needs a lot of set-up time. However, the chemistry between the two leads took off all of a sudden by the end of episode 2, heating up the place. I loved My Lovely Liar and I viewed this drama real-time.The drama is quaint and engaging. It is about a young lady who can hear lies and she has turned this into a profitable business. Her love interest is a music genius with a mysterious and dark past. There are a few surprises in the story, which takes the action in surprising directions. Give this one a try.
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This review may contain spoilers
Time Travel fast track to understand the meaning of the Time Travel Loop Fantasy Drama.
A Time Called You ⚡️⚡️Spoilers⚡️⚡️The whole crux of this drama pivots around this little girl who played video games with the high schooler Nam Si-heon. Her importance was not clarified in the Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ .
With respects the Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’, maybe I could help some fully understand the ending.
The Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ did not explain the importance of this little girl. It was left out of the drama. ‘A Time Called You’ is a remake of the Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’. It is explained in the Chinese version who this little girl is at the very end, in a simple flashback. I even missed her importance until the end too. While some may have caught it, I sense that because this is a complicated drama, most persons probably missed that this little girl is the pivotal force of the whole drama. Who is she? Let’s get the background first.
The storyline revolves around two people in this drama Universe who have doppelgängers who exist in the same timeline. We meet Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-been) and Koo Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyo-seop), who are lovers. He dies. She misses him so much she wills herself to travel back in time to where she thinks that he is alive.
When Han Jun-hee travels back in time, she inhabits/shares someone else’s body, the body of her older doppelgänger, high schooler Kwon Min-ju. Han Jun-hee’s mystery is “Why does Nam Si-heon (The doppelgänger of her love Koo Yeon-jun) look like Koo Yeon-jun, her lover who dies?”
Han Jun-hee/Kwon Min-ju, Nam Si-heon/Koo Yeon-jun, Jung In-gyu
The Mystery
This is a double time travel!!! In the actual timeline, Kwon Min-ju dies. The actual teenager/adult (Nam Si-heon), misses the future Han Jun-hee. He met and fell in love with her when she inhabited/shared the body of Kwon Min-ju before Kwon Min-ju’s death. After the death of Kwon Min-ju, teenager/adult Nam Si-heon wills himself to travel in time to be with Han Jun-hee in the future, using that music tape and cassette player. However, he does so through his doppelgänger Koo Yeon-jun, a younger gay man who dies in a car crash. Nam Si-heon starts this journey when he inadvertently travels to his doppelgänger in the future and decides to become him after the death of Koo Yeon-jun. Nam Si-heon inserts himself into the timeline of Koo Yeon-jun. Nam Si-heon/ Koo Yeon-jun is the one who gives Han Jun-hee the means to travel back in time to the past. It is through the music tape and cassette player he used to travel to the future. It is Nam Si-heon/ Koo Yeon-jun who starts this time travel loop, to try to fix time so that he and Han Jun-hee can be together, as time keeps turning in on itself or looping.
Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ and Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’ .
Who is who? Who are the players?
Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-been) is 6/7 years younger than her doppelgänger high schooler Kwon Min-ju. They both grew up in the same town.
Koo Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyo-seop) is 6/7 years younger than his doppelgänger, the high schooler Nam Si-heon. He does not live in the same town as Nam Si-heon. Koo Yeon-jun is the gay man who dies in a car crash. As he traveled through time, Nam Si-heon takes over the identity of Koo Yeon-jun.
Kwon Min-ju (Jeon Yeo-been) is the doppelgänger of Han Jun-hee and is 6/7 years older than Han Jun-hee. She is the one who loves Nam Si-heon, but Nam Si-heon is not attracted to her. The best friend of Nam Si-heon, Jung In-gyu, is in love with Kwon Min-ju.
Nam Si-heon (Ahn Hyo-seop) is the high schooler in the past and the doppelgänger of the younger Koo Yeon-jun. He encounters Han Jun-hee when she travels back in time and inhabits/shares the body and life of high schooler Kwon Min-ju.
Jung In-gyu (Kang Hoon) is the best friend of high schooler Nam Si-heon. To explain why Jung In-gyu confessed to the murder of Kwon Min-ju, this was because of his love for her. Kwon Min-ju wanted to die at the hands of a killer, because she felt that her pathetic life would be glorified in the news if she died this way. She asked Jung In-gyu to kill her, but he would not. She ended up committing suicide. He took the blame, because while he could not kill her he could give her a glorified death by being her “killer”, instead of her just committing suicide.
The Killer Oh Chan-yeong (Min Jin-woong) is 6/7 years younger than his brother, and is the younger brother of the classmate of Kwon Min-ju and Nam Si-heon. In the future, he steals the time-travel cassette. When he goes back in time (In the form of his brother) to kill Kwon Min-ju for fun, he is thwarted by the Police before he can kill Kwon Min-ju. He successfully kills her in the first original timeline.
Who is the little girl who played video games with high schooler Nam Si-heon?
Nam Si-heon finds out who the little girl is in the future. They were always destined to meet in the past, no matter through what timeline. That timeline was not disturbed be all the future fixes. If there were no interferences in the future, these two had met already, and in the Chinese version the little girl told high schooler Nam Si-heon that he was her future husband. These two fixed the most important part of the timeline, getting rid of the killer. Both knew to avoid that fated plane flight which crashed. The Universe was righted, making way for their eternal love.
Korean Drama ‘A Time Called You’ 9.0/10 and Chinese Drama ‘Someday or One Day’ 10/10.
+
She is Han Jun-hee. The little girl tells Nam Si-heon to remember her name the next time they meet. How could you leave this explanation/clarification out of the drama? Koreans most likely caught that the little girl was Han Jun-hee. Americans are too busy reading subtitles, trying to keep everything straight. The simple Chinese drama flashback was all it would have taken for clarification.
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Were six episodes enough to pull off this wonderfully imagined SyFy Action Drama?
Black KnightA celestial catastrophe causes Korea to change to a desert where air quality is drastically limited. Only 1% of the population survived and now live in a masked world. To receive goods and services in this dystopia, the population is divided into the general, special, core population members, separated by QR codes encoded into their skin. Those of the population not chosen for either of these special groups receiving special treatment are termed refugees. Humans can disassociate from humanity in times of extreme crisis.
The heroes of this new dystopia are the Deliverymen. They are the ones who fight off brutal Hunters, seeking to confiscate these special delivered goods. The Hunters try to steal from those supply cargo trucks called Relief Supplies Transport Vehicles the Deliverymen drive. The Deliverymen bringing replacement goods to the people in the serviced populations are Rockstars to the public. Out of the shadows of this fighting force of martial arts specialists is the legendary Deliveryman 5-8 (Woo Bin) who is the superhero among super heroes.
This drama had a great ideal premise and could have been a great SyFy drama. I feel that the scriptwriter who transposed the brilliant Webtoon (By the same name) into a drama could have handled his brilliant material better. The writer seemed to have lost his way through this potential hit. Black Knight was reduced to allowing violence to take the place of a well written script, in my opinion. The cast was stellar, led by Woo Bin as the legendary 5-8 Deliveryman and Kang YouSeok as the dreamer and population castaway, seeking to become a Deliveryman like his hero 5-8.
I found myself fast-forwarding past certain violent scenes and I was left a little empty waiting for this potential hit to take off. This drama has six episodes. More episodes could have been used to develop the wonderfully imagined characters living in this wonderfully imagined life-interrupted world in this drama.
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Delves into the Webtoon Industry and give behind the scenes knowledge
I think that the Korean Drama ‘Today’s Webtoon’ is a special hidden gem. It stars Kim Se-Jeong (Business Proposal) as On Ma-Eum, and Nam Yoon-Soo (The King’s Affection) as Goo Jun-Yeong.Fresh from her starring role in the RomCom Business Proposal, Kim Se-Jeong moves from high energy comedy to expose her softer realistic side as a personal developer of young Webtoon cartoonists in ‘Today’s Webtoon’. Kim Se-Jeong, playing On Ma-Eum, could not be a more empathetic drama character. I love her strong presence in this Korean drama. Empathy means the ability to wear the other person’s heart in your chest. On Ma-Eum really understands her young creative charges and really knows what they need. She garners the romantic attention of everyone looking for a safe haven. Nam Yoon-Soo plays Goo Jun-Yeong, who is the exact opposite in personality. He is too logical to understand feelings, but senses that he should latch on to On Ma-Eum. Goo Jun-Yeong is a business genius a tactician. You will not know whether to love or hate him. This drama also has great music. Stick with this one for the long haul. It just keeps getting better and better with each episode.
The character I am most drawn to in ‘Today’s Webtoon’ (because of the realistic rawness) is Sin Dae-Lyug. Few people understand a Webtoon genius and how to soothe that quiet beast within. In this drama, all of his Webtoon storylines are very dark, but autobiographical. Sin Dae-Lyug is played by Kim Do-Hoon from ‘My Absolute Boyfriend. His performance is very gritty and emotional and it may put him on your list of young talent for which to watch out.
What ‘The Liar and His Lover’ did for explaining the Music Industry, ‘Sh**ting Stars’ did for explaining the intricacies of handling the egos of drama stars in the Drama Industry, ‘Today’s Webtoon’ will do this for Webtoons. This drama explains the ins and outs and back door cutthroat dealings of the Webtoon Industry, while showing how creative genius Cartoonists are cultured as Webtoon Artists. Each drama character has his own dynamic backstory which adds richness to the drama. While enjoying this Korean drama, I learned so much about design and production of web cartoons, how to develop them, and what makes one web cartoon fun while another one is not.
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Doctor Slump is a RomCom to start right now.
Are you enjoying the RomCom Doctor Slump, in spite of its serious message about Clinical Depression? Are not Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Sik a perfect match for this Drama?Doctor Slump 2024 ‧ Medical Mystery RomCom
Quote: “It was once said in a movie . . . that failure and defeat meant different things. Anyone can fail, but defeat was an utter fiasco usually found in legends. I was defeated”. Male Lead explains his bout with depression and his life in general.
All those who have been waiting for Park Hyung Sik (Hwarang) to give a performance like his iconic performance in Strong Girl Nam Soon, you might want to check out Doctor Slump. Firstly, since his character starts off in High School, Park Hyun Sik is back to his skinny-K-Pop days. Secondly, Park Hyung sik’s roots are firmly planted in comedy, therefore, the RomCom Medical Mystery Doctor Slump plays to his strong suit. With the combination of Park Shin Hye playing the straight guy to Park Hyung sik’s funny guy, I see a hit for me with Doctor Slump. The drama series is not all fun and play though. Serious issues, like depression among Doctors, are addressed as well. There is great chemistry between the ML and FL and the series also takes a sobering look into the world of gapjil, or workplace violence and bullying. When you are the top in your class and you hit rock bottom, the failure seems ever so greater.
Quote: “During these hard times, if you have someone who could comfort you, would it help you to get better?” Female Lead.
Doctor Slump is quaint and cute and is a go from me. Laughter is the best medicine for what ails you. I laughed a lot with the Korean Drama Doctor Slump, in spite of the heavy noteworthy message about controlling depression.
Actors Corner
Both actors (Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Sik) can be both serious and/or comedic actors, even with the same character. They both have the acting tools to pull it off. Both have such great acting ranges too. Doctor Slump is a great vehicle to showcase the acting strengths and talents of these two acting powerhouses.
As a particular acting strength, Park Shin Hye talks with her eyes. Whole sentences are embellished and punctuated by her eye expressions. Look for what she is saying with her eyes. Mommy is back. Park Shin Hye has carved her acting lane in Korean Drama since her early teens.
As an actor, Park Hyung Sik uses expressive hand movements, body shapes and levels, and voice changes to add entertainment value to his acting. This enhances the viewer experience. Park Hyung Sik must have a very comedic voice in his head. Please pay attention to his hand movements and body shapes which creates his own sign language. This is his acting signature.
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Undercover Relationship
Off the bat, we have a reverse trope in Queen of Tears. She is the rich guy and he is the poor lover. We start off with a kiss in the first two minutes. Kim So Hyun (playing ML Baek Hyun Woo) looks gorgeous as the New Company Recruit and Kim Ji Won (playing Hong Hae In, the Heiress of Queens Group and FL) is our beautiful rich Heiress. He is left handed, she is right handed and so are their lives. This is a very acrimonious relationship, stairs to nowhere. Queen of Tears is a Dark Comedy.Hong Hae In met Baek Hyun Woo working undercover as an intern in her own Conglomerate. Not knowing who she was, it was love at first sight for him. This drama could well be named ‘The Impossible Heiress’ or ‘Snow Queen and the Seven Airs’. After 10 minutes of viewing, you might agree with me that this drama has “Hit” written all over it. Secretly, behind the Ice Maiden veneer, there is a woman who loves her husband and a man who does not know that. This is a painfully great story, with a stacked cast. And believe it or not, this is a laugh out loud RomCom.
I like the dichotomy of the character Kim Soo Hyun is playing. Literally, his character (Baek Hyun-woo) has two faces. He is playing his character in happy times, a time in flashbacks when he and his wife (Hong Hae-in played by Kim Ji Won) were in love with each other. In the next sceen in Queen of Years, Kim Soo Hyun is playing his present self, one jaded by life and one totally saddened by his living situation and the loss of love for his wife. Kim Soo Hyun is asked somehow to reconnect to the emotions and feelings he had with his wife at first. For this character, Kim Soo Hyun has to be bipolar or living in two different worlds. I am so enthralled by how he is pulling off these polar opposite characters for his performance in Queen of Tears. Can he find the self he lost?
What I really like about Queen of Tears is a hidden message to the World of the Married. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it.
Oh BTW. Seeing Kim So Hyun after almost a three year drama lay off (His last role was Ordinary Day 2021), you might have love at first sight (again) too. There is great cinematography in Queen of Tears. One thing that is inconvenient in Queen of Tears is the close up shooting of this drama. We have to read subtitles and try to look at faces. Since the camera person is using close in shots, that camera stays on the person speaking only a split second and then moves to the the next person speaking. The camera is moving off each person too quickly. To view the faces of the actors, I literally have to pause frequently.
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Is The Story of Park’s Marriage a time travel or a time slip Korean drama? I love this drama.
The Story of Park’s MarriageThe Story
The Story of Park’s Marriage begins in the later Joseon era. A complicated aristocratic young woman wants to be a fashion designer, an occupation shun for Aristocrats. Her parents arrange a marriage with another Aristocrat who has an undiscovered heart condition, which can take his life at any moment, especially if he is excited by love. She falls for him immediately, but he dies on their wedding night (action which takes place in the first episode, so this is not a spoiler). Through happenstance and a convenient body of water, the female lead finds herself time traveling to modern Korea. She is immediately confronted by her lost love, who is a Deputy CEO of a company. While this story may seem pretty bleak, her experiences and reactions to the modern world of “New Joseon” Korean is wholly hilarious and gives constant fodder for laughter, as she tries desperately to reclaim her lost love.
The Story of Park’s Marriage is well written. It is one of the most intricate meshing of what happened in the past with what is happening in the present. Like a top designer’s intricate threading of a garment, the scenes of the past are so tightly woven with the scenes of the present. The Story of Park’s Marriage is a bold mystery sewn into a RomCom. The story is a time travel Korean Drama, since there is a definite mode of time travel (a body of water). In time slips one accidentally travels through time by unknown means.
I really like The Story of Park’s Marriage. This drama gets better and better with each episode. At first, I thought that this drama would be an uncomplicated drama that would score in the high 8/10, but now for me, it is scoring 10/10. As dramatic actors are challenging themselves with RomComs of late, this is the first RomCom I have seen with Baeksang Arts Award winning dramatic actress Lee Se-young (The Red Sleeve and The Crown Clown). While actor Bae In-hyuk has played in RomComs like My Roommate Is a Gumiho, Bae In-hyuk (At a Distance, Spring Is Green and Why Her?) has been in challenging dramatic dramas as well. Bae In-hyuk is indeed a late bloomer in the acting business. His first Korean drama was only in 2019. Bae In-hyuk also has turned into a fine actor. And I must admit that the way he wears a suit is so reminiscent of Lee Jun Ho in King, The Land.
Chinese equivalent to The Story of Park’s Marriage is Miss Crow and Mr Lizard, because of the fact that falling in love could cause the death of the male lead who has a heart condition.
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This story is time travel and not reincarnation
The StoryIn the first 15 minutes (Therefore, this is not a spoiler), the Heroine dies, then gets a second chance to live her life again. Her is transported back in time via an unknown reason, hopefully to correct her past mistakes in life. The Story of Kunning Palace is a Time Slip (Time Travel) Drama, or this suggests that the means for time travel is not established. Nonetheless, this is a story within a story and is inventively designed. Both stories run concurrently, as the first life of the Heroine is threaded into the second life as flashbacks.
The heroine is the daughter of nobility, but she was switched at birth. The Noblewoman is raised as a plebeian and the switched plebeian is raised as a noblewoman. When all is discovered decades later, due to sentimentality and other reasons, the legitimate Heroine is accepted into the family only as a second daughter and not with the status of the plebeian daughter. This makes for an interesting start to The Story of Kunning Palace.
Quote: “He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick”. Young Warrior from The Story of Kunning Palace.
I love complicated dramas. The Story of Kunning Palace checks all my Asian drama criteria boxes. There is even a lot of ancient law incorporated into this intelligently written script. However, until enough of the backstory is revealed, the drama may be hard for some to follow. The heroine makes lots of mistakes as she first lives her life, which ends in her death. She is snatched out of her first timeline and reinserted back into the beginning of her failed first chance. What will she do? Will she learn from her past mistakes and correct them or is history doomed to repeat itself? It seems like that many of her efforts to change her new timeline produces failures, as history continues to make corrections back to its past timeline to thwart her new insertions. When under Time Travel restrictions, if one cannot makes changes or corrections in the new timeline then one is in a time alternative universe where changes to the future are impossible.
The heroine, who actually turned out to be a wicked person in the first timeline, gets a new chance to live a proper life. You see her make conscious efforts to correct past mistakes as these mistakes are revealed through her constant flashbacks to her original timeline. However, overall, her life course seems destined to be repeated. Will she succeed in correcting her past and saving all the lives she destroyed. You must watch The Story of Kunning Palace to find out.
Note: Some have flagged ‘The Story of Kunning Palace’ as drama about reincarnation.
It is not. Reincarnation is rebirth into a new body. The drama is a reinsertion into a first life and thus is Time Travel and not Reincarnation.
Quote: “What the world needs is heartless men. Those who abide by the rules can’t move forward fast enough. So screw the rules”. Anti-hero from The Story of Kunning Palace.
Quote: “I would not dare to ask your Majesty to move. But I also have a message for your Majesty. You must know that a man who is greedy for his own profit and who seeks the skin of a tiger, does not know that the tiger is a tiger”. Lowly Court Official loved by Her Majesty from The Story of Kunning Palace.
Actors Corner
Bai Lu—Strong female role with a woman who knows how to pull the surprise, by playing dumb.
Zhang Ling He—The anti-hero (Villain) you will love and hate to be confused by.
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This review may contain spoilers
Does The Long Ballad show how powerful love can be, as lovers ignore the cost of love?
This post does contain small spoilers in the text.The Long Ballad is unique in showing what power love has over a person. Many Korean Drama devotees will remember the Korean Drama ‘Nevertheless’ as a drama showing how one can ignore all the red flags which tells you that this is not a love pathway you need to travel. However, you also learn that your heart can so easily ignore all the warning signs as you steamroll over common sense. The story of The Long Ballad becomes a truly tumultuous journey of love for me of the true costs of love.
The Long Ballad (Song) centers around many true historic figures among the plot. The drama is a Romeo and Juliet story of star-crossed lovers from the Tang Dynasty Period (618-907) who should have been enemies, since their Tribes were enemies and were constantly clashing and fighting each other. Our lovers are Li Changge (Dilraba Dilmurat), a Royal Princess from the Tang Dynasty and A’ Shi Le Sun (Leo Wu) who is Commander of the Eagle Military Division of the A’ Shi Le Tribe. Being the only member to survive the loss of all her whole family in a coup for the Tang Dynasty Throne, heroine Li Changge sets out on a quest for revenge, as she remains loyal to her Tang Tribe no matter what the cost. Princess Li Changge is totally reckless in her quest, ready and willing to give up her life at any time. A’ Shi Le Sun becomes the one who wants that life for himself, and he refuses to let her sacrifice herself, as he constantly goes to her rescue. Li Changge and our hero A’ Shi Le Sun meet by chance while she is disguised as a man, who has full expertise in the Martial Arts. Later, when he finds out that she is a woman, love comes almost instantly, as he admires the bravery and skills of this powerful woman fighter. Even at the potential cost of the danger to his whole Military Division and potential disloyalty to his Tribe because of this love affair, A’ Shi Le Sun can not withdraw his heart to the side of reason.
A’ Shi Le Sun is often physically harmed, disgraced, and even loses his mother to death protecting the only woman he has ever loved romantically, as Li Changge continues on her reckless course. A’ Shi Le Sun tried many times to let go of his love for Li Changge, but he was not able to release himself from this burdened love. Love has full power over you, but so does Li Changge’s revenge and loyalty to her cause.
(When A’ Shi Le Sun’s mother was killed, all I could think of was “Release the Kraken”, as A’ Shi Le Sun went on a rampage of blood, ala Vincenzo.)
Along the way, Li Changge begins to realize the depth of the romantic love A’ Shi Le Sun has for her, as she slowly begins to return his endearing love. A’ Shi Le Sun’s love is like a third uncontrollable character in this love story of The Long Ballad. Every time Li Changge endangers herself A’ Shi Le Sun is forced to pay the cost of sanitizing her world to keep his love in this world. He could do no less. While the cost of loving Li Changge was great, losing Li Changge was a price A’ Shi Le Sun found unimaginable to pay.
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Does Golden Spoon become the first Korean Drama to have two Male First Leads outside of BL dramas?
In Korean Dramas specifically and writing in general, the First Male Lead is the male protagonist around whom the storyline pivots. Therefore, the Male First Lead never becomes the Male Second Lead. In addition, if you pluck out this character from the storyline you have no story. Outside of BL Korean Dramas, you get one Male First Lead usually.(No Spoilers)
The storyline for Golden Spoon is exceptional and unusual.
Golden Spoon is the story of two teen young men, one super rich and one very poor, who go to the same high school. The poor teen desperately wants to be rich, to control his life. As the story evolves, a Golden Spoon grants his wish to switch parents. In a reality-bend, he abandons his parents in his reality to become the son of the riches Chaebol. In this switch, the (unaware) natural son of the riches chaebol inherits the parents of the economically poor young student. Each boy keeps his personality identity and both are their original self, but they just live in a different reality in this switch. Reality is bent. As you can see, because of this unique storyline, neither teen can be plucked out of this story. (We are not talking about changing out an actor).
“Male First Lead” Confusion
In Golden Spoon, both boys fall for the same girl. She likes only one of the boys, but in this reality-bend, at any given time, both of our teen boys are this boy which she likes. This reality-bend in Golden Spoon leads to a Korean Drama conundrum. The First Male Lead of a story is always the protagonist about which the drama story is written. Because this story is equally about the two boys living in each others’ reality-bend, for me this makes Golden Spoon the first Korean Drama which I have seen that has two Male First Leads or Double Male First Leads and no Second Male Lead.
Fan Alert: The ending is mind-blowing.
Take-Away from the Story
Golden Spoon addresses whether all that is golden is really ideal? Should value be attached to the integrity of your soul? Is money really what makes you happy? Golden Spoon has many aspects of the Korean drama Reborn Rich. It handles the material in unique ways and may be a fresh look at an old theme, “Is the grass greener on the other side?”
Note: Golden Spoon is not a body-swap Korean Drama. Both boys are themselves, but the one with the Golden Spoon retains the knowledge of their former self and their relationships in the other bended reality. Although not knowing the life the other boy lived, each are retrofitted into that life or reality-bend. This makes for a unique prospective view on both of their lives.
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Give the Teacher an apple.
I really loved the quirky unusual drama Falling High School Girl and Irresponsible Teacher, but I got some explaining to do first. The premise is about a High School Girl who tried to commit suicide, because a boy rejected her. A young Teacher’s assistant saves her and tells her to give herself another chance at love with “him”. Never mind that girls have rejected him five times and he loses all his money gambling on the horses. Could this odd romance match-up change her mind? I debated about looking at this one, because I said that this is going south already (Teacher/Student realationship). However, something told me that this might be satirical. So I watched and it was. ‘Falling High School Girl and Irresponsible Teacher’ is more of a Black Comedy then meant to be taken seriously. However, through this RomCom you learn lots of valuable life lessons. Also called Tsuiraku JK to Haijin Kyoshi Lesson 2.The Male Lead in ‘Falling High School Girl and Irresponsible Teacher’ (J-pop Star Hashimoto Ryo) is heaven sent and could not be more adorable and suited for this role. His acting will floor you. The Female Lead(Takaishi Akari) keeps full control, giving you only small bits of emotion at one time. She is adorable and a comedienne, becoming the straight man to the ML’s manic behavior. The story is imacculate, if you can get past the fact that he is her teacher. The age difference of the two is very close. Each nine episodes are 25 minutes long. That is a total commitment time of less than four hours. Oftentimes minutes (short dramas) are where stars are born and/or tested out. There are two bright future stars hanging in this drama sky. Take a short detour from your Korean Drama List and view the sleeper ‘Falling High School Girl and Irresponsible Teacher’ (2024).
Note: Asian Dramas always get an R rating if there is a suicide attempte or success in the drama. There is no cursing, violence, nor any sex scenes in the Drama.
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Body Swap, the Next Generation
I liked this drama High School Return of a Gangster—Science Fantasy Revenge Tragedy Drama. It is about a man in his 40s who through happenstance finds himself in the body of a teen boy who attempted suicide. The story is about bullying and depression, therefore parents may take note. However, the drama is lighthearted fare, covering the good that can be found in each individual. It has comedic moments, as this adult gangster in a teen’s body navigates teen life in the next generation.Some have mistakenly said that High School Return of a Gangster is a Boy Love drama series. It is not. At best, this drama is a bromance, as several of the teens are drawn to this teen who is “wise beyond his years”. There are conflicts and challenges along the way. At times I thought that the drama did not know what type of drama it wanted to be. Was it just a body swap or a gangster drama? Nonetheless, I loved the story and it has a most satisfying, but maybe controversial ending.
Where did he come from?
With his deep bellowing lower register voice, child actor Yoon Chan-Young has grown up before my eyes over the past five years to become a great Korean drama actor with Male Leads. I never once saw a teen in this complex role. Yoon Chan-Young was so believable as a gangster in the body of a teen. I have seen him in the following dramas. I picked Yoon Chan-Young up early as one to watch and for which to look out.
Doctor Romantic
The King in Love
Still 17
Nobody Knows
Do You Like Brahms?
High School Return of a Gangster on Hulu
Yoon Chan-Young was in All of Us Are Dead too, but I did not see this drama. Disney + Hulu has snatched up Yoon Chan-Young again for another drama coming in 2025, Hyper Knife starring Park Eun-Bin (Extraordinary Attorney Woo).
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Quaint little movie
A Quaint but unusual story of the strange goings on of an upper class Cruise Ship. In Love and Deep Waters is a story of how a ship’s Butler keeps his clients satisfied. He has a very subservient attitude. It never dawns on him that he should be any other way. That is until the young son of a rich person’s maid tells him to take a good look at his actions. This movie offers an eclectic bag of drama emotions as its characters’ back stories are isolated. Some may like this story, which is a Murder Mystery Suspense RomCom.From celebrated Japanese writer Yuji Sakamoto.
Winner of the International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA)
Ryo Yoshizawa and Aoi Miyazaki
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