The writer made a conscious effort to avoid standard tropes. Great filmmaking.

Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.


The Deal Crime Thriller Mystery

Great acting, inventive and realistically raw story about two childhood friends who on a whim kidnaps another childhood friend, who is the son of a Chaebol. Everything goes downhill after that. The drama has great information about life in Korea as a male, after leaving a mandatory stint in the Military. This ordinary life is contrasted with the life led by the rich son of a Chaebol, whom the youths kidnap. In addition, The Deal Korean Drama explores the struggles of the poor youthful friends who feel forced to commit a crime.

The Deal is on the order of the great Korean Crime SyFy Drama ‘Signal’ and the Crime Thriller ‘Through the Darkness’. The Deal engages the brain to contemplate what is moral behavior? Does the quest for money allow you to forego acting with human kindness? Does criminality only reach into the neighborhood of the disenfranchised uneducated poor? My brain did not stop working from start to well after I finished viewing.

Off the bat, the writer of The Deal made a conscious effort to make this drama (The Deal) trope free. Miraculously and remarkably, you will be hard pressed to find one trope. This in and of itself sets this Korean Drama ‘The Deal’ above the crowd of Korean Drama usuals. Besides having poor youths and a son of a rich Chaebol, the action tries hard to avoid tropes by making different choices in the action outcomes, the backgrounds of its characters, how woman deal with bad situations, and who gets their just deserts in the end. It would take its own post to explain it all. The scripted material is fresh and thought provoking. The scriptwriter for The Deal is award winning and prolific filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, who is a writer and Director. There is some cursing and some violence in this drama.

I had thought that The Deal Korean drama would be a comedy, but this drama is serious filmmaking. The Deal is a Crime Thriller Mystery. The kidnappers keep making one bad choice after another. What is the right choice to resolve this dilemma and why does greed stand in the way? As a side matter, one thing that The Deal Korean Drama makes apparent is that all who think that they have privacy in this world are sadly mistaken.

The Deal stars two accomplished young actors, Baeksang Arts nominee Kim Dong-hwi (In Our Prime) and Grand Bell Awards winner Yeo Sung Ho. The drama also stars Yoo Su-bin (DP 2). The drama is listed as PG 14. At times, there is strong language and two violent scenes that push the boundaries of PG 14.


Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.

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What societal or political messages are expressed in "Arthdal Chronicles"?

Firstly, you must know that the writers built different societies that don’t exist in our natural world for Arthdal Chronicles. These societies have totally different belief systems. One has an unusual language (Think Klingon), and each of these societies have different religions, hierarchies, customs, and metric systems for success. When I say that the writers have built these societies from the ground up, I mean it. Thus, you will have to think to watch Arthdal Chronicles, because the action is presented from the point of view of the new societies. What these new societies would think and how they would react to each situation is how the action is driven. This is not your regular Joseon adventure fantasy. Secondly, if you don’t like to think when you watch a Korean Drama, you want a simple format served in a simple way, then you need to skip this one. Thirdly, Arthdal Chronicles has a very interesting storyline.

What many of the different Clans mirror from our society in this drama is prejudice, and a readiness to destroy persons they don’t understand. Ambition is in any society, because you can’t get rid of competition. Also, what is mirrored is that technological advances give some societies greater advantages over other societies. This mirrors real life. Are you going to choose to be benevolent or do you seize the opportunity to subdue and rule? The need for land expansion is always a cause for war, historically. This is a political message presented in Arthdal Chronicles.

Let me associate some of the societies with things we might know and understand.


Nweantal Clan—A Clan with persons of extraordinary strength and speed. One Nweantal can take down 15 men. This clan is peaceable and just wants to be left alone. You don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. They have blue blood thus their mouths are blue. They have cat eyes and are born with a funny scar on their backs. Their language sounded like they weren’t speaking Korean. It sounded like a made up language similar to Klingon. If I were to associate this Clan with something I know, it would be the Klingons from Star Trek.

Arthdal Clan—From what I could see, the Arthdal Clans (Saenyeok Tribe, Hae Tribe, and Hwinsan Tribe) are the more advanced Clans. In espisode 1, these Clans commits genocide of the Nweantal Clan after a failed alliance. They are aggressive people and use their power to wield authority to achieve submission. If I would associate these Clans to something I know, it would be Mongols or (with great sensitivity meant) Caucasian conquest of new worlds.

Yiareukeu (Wahan Tribe)—These are people of the earth, who are not looking for a fight. They just want to observe their ways, express their religion, and stay away from trouble. A very superstitious lot, these are a less developed people. The Yiareukeu thought it strange when someone thought to learn to use a horse for riding. This was something they did not do. If I were to associate them with something I know, think early American Native Indians, with their closeness to the soil and the natural earth.

Our main protagonist is Eun-Sum (Song Jong-Ki). He is half Nweantal and half Arthdal. His blood is purplish blue as a half-bred. Separated from his mother early on, Eun-Sum is raised by the Yiareukeu Clan (Wahan Tribe). One interesting scene is when he came up with the idea to ride a horse. Horses weren’t used like that. Eun-Sum has a twin brother (Saya) who was stolen by a warrior of the Saenyeok Tribe. He lives among the Saenyeok Tribe. Amazingly, Joong-ki plays twin 20 year olds, Eun-Sum and Saya, and he is pulling it off, even in his late thirties.

I love this storyline in Arthdal Chronicles, as it dares to be totally different from what I have ever experienced before in Korean Dramas. If you are adventurous, like puzzles, don’t mind thinking deeply, you might enjoy Arthdal Chronicles.

Side Bar—If you are not a Star Trek Fan, you won’t know what a Klingon is, so Google search it.

Arthdal Chronicles is a great Action Historical Fantasy Drama.

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The “Good” Bad Mother or The Good “Bad” Mother. Life has its turns.

The word has been out for a little while, that The Good Bad Mother is a super hit. I will just add my voice in affirmation. This drama is a must see, especially for parents trying hard to master this parenting thing, and having to listen to their children tell them that they are not getting it right. You become “the bad mother” in their eyes of misunderstanding. Anyone with kids knows that children never see the real you, the real parent, while they are growing up. Children just misunderstand the protective you, the parent who tries hard to sanitize their world. And yes, at times as parents we can be overbearing and we don’t get it right. This drama gives you the prospective from both points of view and how both parent and child are forced to recognize each other, through a shared misfortune. The “Good” Bad Mother is appropriately titled.

The Story

The Good Bad Mother is about the struggles of a mother to raise her child on a family run pig farm, after the murder of her husband. It is a story of a mother’s revenge on the perpetrators of the death of her husband, as she recognizes that power brings results. Therefore, she strictly raises her child to be powerful, so that he can be the one who gets justice. She becomes The Good “Bad” Mother.

Nonetheless, her son faces adversity, because of a car wreck which leaves him with the intelligence of a seven year old child. She is left to start all over again raising her son. Through this adversity, both parent and child come to recognize the full intentions of the other. The story is well intended, but at times the story becomes predictable, even following illogical paths. That is a writer’s issue. However, this will in no way take away from two of the most outstanding acting performances of the year for 2023 for the mother and son.

Note: In the drama series Extraordinary Attorney Woo, we got Whale Moments. Be on the lookout for our cute Pig Moments in this drama series.

Quote: “Pigs use to roam free, keeping clean bathing in mud. People started to lock up in tiny pigsties. The pig could not bathe in mud anymore, so they began to rub their bodies in their own excrement. That is how they grew dirtier and more aggressive. However, what is really sad is that pigs cannot lift their heads, so they live their entire life staring at the ground. There is only one way for a pig to look up at the sky and that is to fall down”. The “Good” Bad Mother.

Acting Corner

The Mother—Ra Mi Ran (Black Dog) is outstanding as the misunderstood mother, whose sole aim is to protect her child. It would be no surprise to me if she gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series.

The Son—Lee Do Hyun (The Glory) is the son who balks at the tiresome drilling of his mother, as she tries to produce a powerful man. After the accident, this powerful intelligent man is reduced to the mind of a seven year old. This character has super range, from acting as a seven year old to assuming the power behind revenge. Lee Do Hyun gives another outstanding performance. Again, it would not surprise me if Lee Do Hyun gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actor in a Drama Series.

The Love Interest—Ahn Eun Jin has become an A-List Actress. I picked her up in her early years in the drama series ‘More Than Friends’, recognizing this acting potential. Ahn Eun Jin has two super hits in 2023 in The Good Bad Mother and My Dearest. Her star is being planted in the sidewalk.

The Good Friend and Second Lead— Ahn Eun Jin (Alchemy of Souls, The Uncanny Encounter Season 2) is the scene stealer, with his big personality. Ahn Eun Jin is a rising star.

Be prepared to have a solidly fixed smile on your face, because of the two outstanding child actors, Park Da On and Ki So Yu. The whole acting posse is stellar

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One of the best Time Travel dramas, Korean or Chinese.

Shining For One Thing (2022) is a Time Travel School Life Romance Drama (contains no spoilers).


Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour)

Short Review

Sometimes you pick up your next drama by following a favorite actor from the previous drama that you watched. I followed actor Qu Chuxiao from ‘Wandering Earth’ to ‘Shining For One Thing’. This Chinese drama is a Time Travel Drama which is very technical and science rich in story construct, but very romantic. The Chinese are often sticklers for technically sound plotlines. The writer was very careful to try to stick to the modern Scientific constructs of time travel/displacement thinking. I have covered the different modes of Time Travel in the past, like the differences between Time Travel, Time Slip, and Time Blend as a writing style for a story. ‘Shining For One Thing’ goes one step deeper, to try to explain Time Placement. It covers which timeline you are breaking, the possibilities of where you end up and the consequence possibilities when you travel into different Time Displacement zones. While this may sound too scientific for some, ‘Shining For One Thing’ really breaks through by making the explanations uncomplicated and informative, producing a very entertaining Time Travel drama. Shinning For One Thing is a “Time Travel” drama, because the mode of traveling through time is a definite object, an outdated phone. Great OST! Great love story. Although many time travel dramas use time travel only like a cab ride to the past, Shining For One Thing uses great writing, great concept, and a great use of time travel itself, to produce a great time travel story.

The female protagonist in this drama uses time travel to go back and forth in time to change her dismal future/present. Through it all, she gets hooked up with a young male student whom she knows (in the opening segments of this drama) dies in the past. She then makes it her mission in time travel to change her future/present, but also try to save this boy too. Along the way, she falls in love with the boy. The story is complicated, but totally intriguing. It progresses very slowly, I suppose this is so that the viewer can keep up with the action and the science. You have to sit with this one. However, there is a grand payoff in the back half of this drama.

Time travel is a modern construct, which is not believed to be naturally occuring. It has been given meaning by humans who believe that time travel is a definite possibility. In Shinning For One Thing (2022), the time travel was caused by the inexplicable use of an old phone and by deleting the messages to cause time travel to that point in time of the deleted message.


Extended Review

The female protagonist traveled to a new past each time she attempted to go back in time. She kept failing to enter an open loop of time where changes could be made to the future. To fix the future she needed to enter the right alternative universe.


Quote

Scientist in the Drama—We can go back to yesterday or even the distant past. But it is unlikely for humans to open the wormhole. Most travelers who claim to go back to the past did not enter the closed structure of the wormhole universe. Instead, they enter the crack of a parallel universe. The crack of a parallel universe takes place in every time and space, without affecting or changing each other.

Female Lead—So I did not travel to the past. I went to a new time and space (parallel universe). No wonder nothing changed (when she traveled through time).

Unquote

At the end of the Korean drama ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’, the male protagonist had to search through many alternative universes to find the right one which held the right circumstances and the woman he loved. This became necessary after his mode of time displacement (That family heirloom) was broken. The Wormhole had to be manipulated manually in The King: Eternal Monarch. In Shining For One Thing, the girl knows the outcome, the death of her schoolmate. We find that out in the opening minutes. She makes several attempts to enter the right time wormhole universe, which would allow her to change the past, but she keeps failing. She needs to enter the time and space where changes are possible. She must find the open time loop, instead of the closed time loop where changes can not be made to what has happened already. Along the way, even with all her course corrections, she finds romance.

This is time travel with a definite mode of travel, the outdated phone. With some travel, you are just an observer and can change nothing (closed time loop). With some time travel, you can change the outcomes (open time loop).

The female protagonist keeps failing, because she is not entering the open time loop section of the time wormhole. She is entering the crack of a parallel universe and is not able to change anything in that future. Same with the Chinese Drama Someday or One Day (2019), you must find the right time wormhole with the right set of circumstances, before change is possible. With the Korean Drama A Time Called You, the right time wormhole was entered on the first try in this time travel Korean drama, using a Song Cassette and Walkman as the means of time travel to the right alternative universe.

Cast

Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour), and Caesar Wu (Meteor Garden)

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Smoking OST and great concept drama journey

Chae Jong-Hyeop (Nevertheless), Park Sung Woong (Snowdrop), and Seo Eun-Su (Dr Romantic)

This is an unusual Korean Drama starring Chae Jong-Hyeop (Potato Man from Nevertheless) as Park In Seong, who is putting out multiple Korean dramas a year now. I suspect that he is trying to catch up with Song Kang.

With radical music as a backdrop and the best OST of the year (2022), this high tech Light Comedy Thriller is a body switch drama. However, this time the body of an AI Corporate CEO is switched into a smartphone. This is an interesting concept, but the premise is not any harder to accept than the premise that men in red capes can fly. The drama character Park In Seong (Chae Jong-Hyeop) is a failed actor who ends up with the smartphone. The CEO in the phone (Park Sung Woong) solicits the help of the failed actor to get the personality of the CEO out of the phone and back into reality, as Park In Seong substitutes for the CEO in the Company for a time . Unlock My Boss is a lighthearted Comedy Korean Drama Chill Pill and a great down-time drama. This drama keeps getting better and better over viewing time. I loved it and loved Chae Jong-Hyeop in this Korean Drama, Unlock My Boss.

Unlock My Boss PG 14 is based on a Webtoon by the same name. While this drama is not a slow burn, the super action does start in episode four. The drama has twists and turns as well, which keeps you guessing.


Quote: “People say, “”Time heals all wounds”. But this is half right and half wrong. Time does not heal anything for you. It is just during that time, you learn how to endure and deal with the pain until you get use to it.” Female Lead Unlock My Boss

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Finding yourself through another person’s eyes.

Shorter Chinese dramas are becoming a stable. Also, some of these shorter dramas give new comers, who are not yet proven, a chance to act in dramas before they are called up to the Epic Dramas. What makes the Chinese Drama ‘When You Be Me’ a special gem is the writing. The writing of Pei Li and Hua Qian Ci nail this double body swap of a girl transferred to a male body and a boy transferred to a female body and the learning experiences they get because of it (This writing team also wrote A League of Nobleman). How do men relate to women? How do women relate to men? What are their differences? The drama When You Be Me has unpredictable outcomes that should keep you engaged, unpredictable to the very end. Unlike some Chinese dramas where the writers lose their way towards the end of the drama, this storyline is consistent and has logical order all the way through. Explore unique possibilities in this new Chinese double body swap drama ‘When You Be Me’.

There are so many little things that are great about When You Be Me, besides the two leads (Zhou Yi Ran as Mu Xiang Xiang and Kido Ma as Qiao Nan). It depicts teens in leadership roles, camaraderie among peers, bullying, good parental guidance, good and bad family dynamics, a slew of talking points that will keep your mind occupied for days. You can tell that these young inexperienced actors had a great director (Chen Chang) with great ideas on how to interpret their characters. The writing was believable and inventive, but so in tune with the possibilities of an actual body swap. Both young actors locked in on their character and neither one abandoned it during the body swap scenes, which added to believability and escapism. The male and female characters are polar opposites. Qiao Nan is a brash athletic spoiled second generation rich Plutocrat (Chaebol) boy and Mu Xiang Xiang is a top student who is a timid and introverted girl, and comes from a poor family. This swap makes for hilarious antics, nonetheless.

Ladies, what would be one of the first things you would give into, if you inherited a male body with little fat? I could have just died with laughter when the first thing the girl in the boy’s body did was to go buy a really expensive fancy decadent desert and eat the whole thing, not having to worry about calories. Men are so fortunate to burn calories so quickly. Even as funny was that the boy (in the girl’s body) learns how to use emotional guilt, utilizing the emotional cry to get his way. Nothing beats a try, but a cry.

When You Be Me is a great fantasy body swap drama to add to your binge-watch list.

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This one is a hidden gem. Great concept story.

‘All That We Loved’ is a hidden gem for me. It is complicated without appearing to be so. ‘All That We Loved’ has a unique storyline for the youthful School Life Romance drama. There are two teen best friends who are the exact opposites. One is gregarious, comedic and athletic. The other is seriously studious, shy and withdrawn, and sickly. They are brought up like brothers. When one needs a kidney transplant, the other does not hesitate to share his kidney with the other. During this experience, both begin to share the same emotions, even falling for the same girl. The two best friends have an interesting backstory and the drama covers the years 1996 as kids, 2006 as teens, and 2023 as an adult. This may confuse some at first, because of the flashbacks, but everything gels together by episode 3. I really loved this story and the story telling was stellar.

‘All That We Loved’ reminds me of the Korean School Romance Drama ‘Dear M’ in its relevance to youths, but is a drama for all ages, when considering its message. ‘All That We Loved’ has a high recommendation from me and it is ready to binge. With only eight episodes, this is a great choice to view.


Actors Corners

The teen actors are the following:

Jo Jun Young is a new kid on the acting block and is just starting out in acting. He was in Dear M. I thought that he was a star in that drama, and I actually followed him to this new Kdrama. Tall with good looks, Jo Jun Young is nailing the soft timid friend Go Joon-Hee, who is about to come out of his shell.

Another fresh new comer is Jang Yeo Bin from Our Blooming Youth. She plays the love interest Han So-Yeon and she plays a most interesting character, because this character can’t be categorized.

K-pop EXO band member Sehun (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure) has been taking on more Korean dramas of late. He plays the gregarious funny guy Go Yoo and has natural appeal as an actor. Sehun is finding KDrama life outside of EXO.

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Medical Action and Romance, STAT delivery.

How do you watch Doctor Romantic 2? Just hold your breath for 16 hours. It is that exhilarating. While with Dr. Romantic 3 I did not need to hold my breath, nonetheless, I could not hold back the tears as I watched compelling heart tugging medical situations being portrayed .

Every Doctor Romantic series in the three seasons has had stellar cast members, including well seasoned actors. However, the main component of the Doctor Romantic series is the medical thrills received from watching the deep dive into new and unusual medical cases. My favorite to date in the series remains Doctor Romantic 2, but Doctor Romantic 3 delivered the K drama goods, with two additions to the Doctor’s list of characters. With a series like this, lasting over 3 seasons, it should become harder to invent new personalities, each character with their own little quirks and and gifts. Nonetheless, our new additions have their own entertaining personality strengths and failures. I took a week and finished all 3 in the series and enjoyed every minute. I think that Doctor Romantic 1, 2, and 3 should be added to everyone’s Korean Drama playlist. There is a smoking OST, featuring Baekhyun from EXO and Seungkwan from Seventeen. Add these to your “playlist”. Pun not intended.

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This Great Drama Just Gets A Bad Rap.

ML Gu Jun-pyo (Played by Lee Min-ho from The King: Eternal Monarch)

Boys Over Flowers (2009) has a character which some feel is a most alienating figure in all of Korean Drama Land. I must confess that I don’t understand why. Gu Jun-pyo is self-centered and a pampered chaebol. His is pampered by his mother, his friends, and classmates. Everyone lets him have his way, that is until he meets a girl who kicked his rear end and knew how to say No! to him. He fell in love instantly. Gu Jun-pyo really did not grasp the gravity of his bad actions. This was the life-style he was given, and it had its perks. However, as soon as he met this girl that put him in his place, he allowed himself to be trained for the good. Bad Boy turns Good.

One of the most special scenes was when he almost froze to death waiting outside for this girl to arrive. She asked him why he waited for her outside instead of getting in out of the cold? He said to her that he had never ever had to wait, and he kind of like waiting for someone. The transformation of Gu Jun-pyo is iconic Korean drama. However, this drama is very polarizing in so many circles of friends, but without merit.

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To understand the Korean movie Dream, you have to understand Dark Humor.

The movie ‘Dream’ is a comedy that uses Dark Humor for laughs. Your brain has to have a reset for this movie, adjusted to humor that pokes fun at subjects normally excluded from comedy, because the subject is considered sacrosanct. The subject matter for laughter is serious, but the Comedy pokes fun at the nature of things. Dark Comedies may not do well with some audiences, because some may not get the jokes or some may not see these serious matters as something which should be used for humor. I hope most get the Dark Humor jokes and accept it’s intended hilarity in the movie Dream, because Dream is an upbuilding and motivating film which will have you cheering.

The movie Dream stars IU (Hotel Del Luna) who plays Lee So-min and Park Seo Joon (The new Captain Marvel movie) who plays Yoon Hong-dae. The cast entourage is great.

This movie ‘Dream’ is based on a true event of the “Homeless World Football (Soccer) Cup” held in 2010, and covers a documentary being made for it. The documentary has the main purpose of bolstering up the flailing careers of Soccer Player Yoon Hong-dae (Park Seo Joon) and Videographer Lee So-min (IU). The intentions are to make a tearjerker documentary, which will garner viewership and public attention to themselves. Along the way, their selfish quests becomes a quest to help the homeless achieve something important.

To be successful with Dark Humor, you have to deadpan (be deliberately impassive or expressionless) Dark Humor. You play it like it is not funny, but totally serious. Park Seo Joon deadpans his character so well. Who knew he could play Dark Comedy? The movie Dream left me belly-aching with laughter. It is certainly a movie to add to your Korean Drama list. The more you watch Dark Comedies the better you get at watching Dark Comedies. I was crying ‘Mr Queen’ tears of laughter. The movie ‘Dream’ eventually becomes a serious commentary on life as we know it. The homeless are real people too.

For me, and I know this will set off people questioning my abilities to judge, but this movie is a 10/10, and that is my final answer.


Note: Korea is becoming the nation putting out great Dark Comedies in film and drama. Here are other Dark Comedy films and dramas from Korea.

Korean Movies

Oscar Award Winning ‘Parasite’

International Award Winning ‘Decision To Leave’

Baeksang Arts Award winner for Best Actor ‘Sound of Silence’


Korean Dramas

Oasis
Snowdrop
Vincenzo
Prison Playbook
It’s Okay Not To Be Okay
Bad and Crazy
Gaus Electronics

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My Perfect Stranger was perfect to me

My Perfect Stranger mimics the American Movie series Back To The Future. Therefore, first take note that many teenagers and adults you see in the past in 1987 (the drama’s main time destinations) are people you see in the present/future before the time jump, only they are 35 years older. The common thread between those in the present/future and those in the past/1987 are our time travelers, who are our male and female leads. They remain their same age.

The Male lead is a famous News Anchor in the present who starts the Korean Drama journey by finding a car that is a Time Machine. As he jumps around time on joy rides, he discovers something important about his future. This takes him back to 1987 to find out more. Along the way, inadvertently, a perfect stranger is pulled into the past with him. Why is she so perfect for these strange happenings? There is a rocking OST as well.

My Perfect Stranger has a rich powerful approach to the theme of the little used concept of Back To The Future. Solving the many mysteries in the past is the driving force of what happens in the present/future, and puts the outworking of the story in overdrive. The powerful automatic steering from the acting, uses the coasting setting to build the storyline into a profound slow crescendo of the action. One will not easily guess the perpetrator of this Who Dun-nit and the Big Reveal will make you put on the brakes for a hard stop of disbelief. Go with this one. It is a Korean Drama that you should not let pass you by. My Perfect Stranger is My Surprise Hit thus far this Korean Drama Season of 2023.

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This is a drama to think through. It brings up important issues

Normally, Bad Memory Eraser would not be the type of drama I would watch. The writing is too simplistic. Nonetheless, I see so much potential in this drama’s storyline which should resonate with many readers. The storyline addresses those who are self-doubters, those who feel hopelessly unassured of themselves. Bad Memory Eraser will entice those who lack confidence and motivation. That is not me. However, I want to be a support and show empathy to those who are self-doubters. I don’t want to show sympathy, because that is feeling sorry for you. I want to show empathy, because that is trying to put myself in your place and understand you. Are self-assured persons better than self-doubter? Not necessarily. Each of us all have our own private little demons we have to resolve.


Kim Jae-Joong as Lee Guni is the male lead.

The main cast include ML Kim Jae-Joong (Triangle), FL Jin Se Yeon (Born Again), actor Lee Jong Won (Knight Flower), and actress Yang Hye Ji (Nevertheless).


The Story

Bad Memory Eraser is about a self-assured, hot shot teen tennis player who is the bread winner of the family. This family includes mom and dad and little brother. The teen suffers a devastating injury which causes him to have to leave the sport. The parents now turn all of their attention to the little brother, who is cultured to be the next tennis hot shot family bread winner. The parents subject the older brother to being the butler to the new younger pro tennis sensation. This relegation of the older brother to servant status causes the older brother to question his self-worth and he becomes a self-doubter.
The story involves a Scientific invention which when attached to the brain, it removes bad memories. The accident of the older brother and the subsequent treatment by his parents all count as bad memories. The experimenters convince the older brother to become a human subject. The invention is no magic pill. It has its flaws.

Questions which arise to be answered while viewing Bad Memory Eraser are:

1. With bad memories being so apart of your being, would erasing bad memories necessarily make you a better person?
2. Can some people actually benefit from bad memories?
3. What happens when bad memories are attached to good memories with this eraser?
4. Would we necessarily like the person we become when bad memories are erased?

There are so many raw ideas fed to you from the premise that it could make Bad Memory Eraser a fantastic story. I just tended at times to question the choice directions of the writer. The writer had some great story ideas, but the ideas are not always sewn together interestingly. However, it is not my story to write. Nevertheless, I am finding Bad Memory Eraser a compelling story to watch. I am motivated to see this one through. Hopefully others will do the same.

Those who are familiar with ‘ole school’ K-pop will recognize singer song writer Kim Jae-Joong as the lead vocalist from the Boy Band TVXQ. They were huge in their time. Kim Jae-Joong is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, director, and designer.

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Is the new Chinese drama ‘Smile Code’ an incredible drama to watch? Yes!

Smile Code will appeal to most all Asian Drama Lovers. Let me begin by saying that the OST for the Chinese drama Smile Code is beyond the bomb! As a habit, I don’t watch opening or closing credits for Chinese dramas. The clipped videos just give away too many drama secrets. For Smile Code, you are compelled to watch the opening and closing credits for this Chinese drama, because there are two incredible songs which pull you out of your seats to dance. And it never gets old listening to the opening song Make Me Wanna by Teloupe and the closing tune It’s You by Stringer. The song It’s You is right out of Taylor Swift’s playbook, without being a copy. The music in between is just as good. Boy are Chinese dramas catching up with and in some cases surpassing Korean Dramas at present.


Quote: “Laughter is the painkiller for life lived.”

This Is The Story.

Smile Code has heavy hitter actors, FL Shen Yue (Meteor Garden) playing Gu Yi, who is a Stand-Up Comic. ML Lin Yi (Put Your Head On My Shoulders) playing Liang Dai Wen, is an Accessibility Designer.

It becomes “love at first sight” for Gu Yi when she sees 6’2” Liang Dai Wen walk into the comedy show, and he sits down to listen to her comedy set. Gu Yi is left with her mouth dropped open. I feel you girl. However, Liang Dai Wen sits there through the whole set and does not even crack smile. He has picked up the nickname “The Comedy Assassin”, because no joke seems to phase him. Liang Dai Wen has Alexithymia. He cannot display or feel emotions. When it comes to emotions Alexithymia sufferers have a blank mind. This character is an interesting start for a Romantic Comedy character. Liang Dai Wen may not be smiling, but I had a permanent smile on my face.

Smile Code is an artsy drama. The format for the drama is different from usual Chinese dramas I have seen. This drama has the charm of the Chinese drama Hidden Love. With youthful style and fun energy, it is like being on a fantasy date.

Quote: Female Lead to our Comedy Assassin: “If you go through a security check, you would be detained”.

The FL Gu Yi is the gagster and Liang Dai Wen is the straight guy. She is young and flirtatious and he is buried under a pile of medical terms, having so many maladies. Both Chinese actors have perfect comedic timing. They are bouncing off of each other in perfect harmony.

Lin Yi is all legs


Shen Yi still is the face of innocence.

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There is a hidden beauty in the symbolism of this drama and the nature of relationships.

The Story

Some people are missing the point of this drama, big time. This drama is about interpersonal relationships between men and women and how they communicate with each other differently.

When one interprets, be it foreign language or sign language, the interpreter has to break up the conversation into short segments and release the information they just heard into the language of choice. The interpreter in this drama could listen for three minutes of conversation and repeat back the whole conversation in the language for which she is interpreting. Her record is interpreting 10-12 minute segments of spoken words. That is remarkable. Most people can interpret only 30 seconds of conversation accurately.

What gets lost first with long segments of interpreted conversation, is emotions and intent. I have studied why the mother tongue is the language of the heart and why love and attachment is best perceived when listening in one’s mother tongue. To be able to transfer emotions and intent to another language, after listening to long segments of conversation, is close to impossible. I am intrigue by this subject material. The Chinese Drama ‘Our Interpreter’ sure makes this occupation of International Interpreter look very glamorous. The drama pits a high tech CEO launching a new interpreting application against a real live interpreter. Machine against Human. Who will win? The two were once lovers and they have not seen each other for eight years. Can love be reinterpreted?

What some may fail to grasp with this drama is how normal communication between men and women can get lost in translation. We blame it on the “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” syndrome. However, the base root of the issue is how emotions and intent are conveyed. Are matters made even worse over time? There is a hidden beauty in the symbolism of this drama and the nature of male and female relationships.

Quote: As a philosophy, it’s impossible for (emotions and intent) to be completely expressed and conveyed with words (When Interpreting). It requires one to feel, understand, and think about it with the heart.” From Our Interpreter.

There is an interesting side note to the Chinese drama ‘Our Interpreter’. There is a lot of English spoken in this drama, as foreign language is rendered into English. For fun, the viewer can listen to the Interpreter interpret the Chinese into English and compare it with the interpreted material in the subtitles. The human interpreter does a way better job, since she is touted to have the ability to interpret from the heart of the language she is interpreting. Someone should have been alert to make sure that the subtitled text was as good as the Interpreter.

‘Our Interpreter’ had me with their opening quote by George Gordon Byron. My mind realized that it would be stimulated. It is an intelligent drama which may not be everyone’s taste. However, this is my kind of drama, pitting two overachievers against each other and giving each a chance to make their best corrections.

Quote: “If I should meet thee after long years, how should I greet thee? With silence and tears”, George Gordon Byron.


Actors Corner

Victoria Song—I have compared her to the Korean Actress Jun Ji Hyun in the past. Her acting skills are most spontaneous and creative. I loved her in Find Yourself.

Chen Xing Xu—Acting since age three, Chen Xing Xu is a veteran actor. He also starred in The Starry Love.

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What can I say?

Frankly Speaking will not win awards for writing and storytelling, but it might win over your heart. It is more that a Comedy Romance, it is a Comedy. I found myself laughing hard at the silly jokes. Frankly Speaking is a lot of fun. The running “dad jokes” type situations may remind some of home.

Frankly Speaking is the story of an announcer who has lost his ability to filter his words. It stars accomplished Korean drama and film star Go Kyung-pyo (Marriage in Contract). What can I say about the story? It is stupid. However, I am laughing my rear end off. How do you rate this? I don’t plan to drop it. Frankly Speaking is a great laugh. When you think about it, Go Kyung-pyo was in the great Dark Comedy Decision to Leave. He was the funniest person in this comedy. Do you know how hard it is to act in a dark comedy. You have to pretend that it is not funny when it is funny. Go Kyung-pyo knows the comedy landscape.

Juxtaposition the comedy from Go Kyung-pyo with dramatic dramas Go Kyung-pyo has appeared in like Connect, Chicago Typewriter, and DP. This tells me that he is a great actor.

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