How to Make a Korean Drama: Lessons From My Favourites

What happens when you are out of ideas for a post and have been sitting on some reviews? You steal from  get inspired by an article elsewhere and apply it to K-drama!

1. Start off on the right foot (Coffee Prince)

Opening strong counts for a great deal. But sometimes a drama conflates ‘strong’ with ‘a lot’, and in a desperate bid to hook audiences throws every thing it can at the screen–a car chase here, a shower scene there, a flashback or three. All this frenzy of activity can seem disorienting and muddled instead of clear and assuring. In this light, I’m struck by how lean and efficient Coffee Prince‘s opening is. The first 6 minutes contains everything you need to know about the show in a nutshell. In quick, fun succession, the show introduces the two leads, tells us who they are, and even has them meet! We see Eun Chan zipping around on her motorcycle, and getting thrown out of the sauna when she’s mistaken for a boy–there’s our Candy (with a slight twist). Han Kyul is all playboy charm, toothy, bare-chested and sweet-talking (our resident man-child male lead). And with his brief glance at a photo and slight hesitance on the phone, we see our second leads, Han Seong and Yoo Joo, and get hints of Han Kyul’s complicated relationship with them. Voila! Characters, conflict and set-up all in 6 minutes. It’s a fabulous reminder of that old adage less is more. (For a recent example of the exact opposite, see the first episode of Warm & Cozy.)

Sisterhood of Blogging Buddies Award!

I’m stealing this from KFangurl *smooches*. Thank you!

Okay, that’s not exactly what the award’s called but it’s what it feels like to me!

I’m catching up with a backlog of posts y’all! And as this one desperately needed to be written a looong time ago, first, I hafta say sorry for the delay, and second, thanks for nominating me!  I love you all! Let’s not dilly dally, and get on with it shall we?

First one’s from KFangurl!

1. If you didn’t have a blog, how would you be spending your spare time?

Since my blog hasn’t been taking up any of my time of late, I kinda wonder what I’ve been doing with my spare time. I mean, I must have some because I do do stuff. Like, eat. And cook. And sleep. Right?

2. Do your family, friends, and colleagues know about your blog? Why or why not? And if they do know about it, what do they think?

The hubs obviously knows, and after a brief period of looking at me funny, he actually became really supportive to the point of drawing up plans for (blogging) world domination. (I had to talk him down from the ledge.) A couple of others do know, but they’ve never seen the blog despite hounding me for the URL. They are amused by it, but that’s about it, and it’s not something I want to tell the world about. Dramas, and by extension this blog, are my lil’ secret pleasure thing :).

3. Have you met blogosphere friends in Real Life? If yes, what was that like? If not, would you want to, given the chance?

Yes! I met you and Nelly! IT WAS SO GREAT. Remember how we entertained the food court drink seller with our laughter?  MOAR PLEASE.

4. If money were no object, what gift would you give to a loved one (significant other, family, friend; you pick), and why?

Hmm… I’d suppose I’d give a whole bunch of money to my sis for my nephew’s education cos he’s a special kid 🙂

5. Since this is a sisterhood type of award, who’s your favorite female celeb (actress, singer, comedienne, doesn’t matter), and what do you love about her?

Hmm I don’t quite have a favourite, but I do really like Amy Poehler who is funny, talented (I loved Parks & Recreation) and especially because she’s a feminist and her work reflects that. Have you seen her youtube channel called Smart Girls? Its aimed at young girls, and it celebrates all kinds of girls and all forms of girlhood, and she even does an Ask Amy series where she gives advicee to girls who ask her life questions with great candour, sincerity and wisdom.

7 Things I Learned From Healer

I know what you’re thinking. It’s been months since Healer ended, and months since I last wrote, and my first post after a long hiatus is about…Healer? Haven’t I watched anything since then? Have I not moved on??

Well, short answer is yes and no. I’ve only managed to finish two K-dramas, TWO, a clear indicator that I’m having a spate of bad luck with K-dramas since those ended around the same time Healer did ages ago.

But this little K-slump of mine got me thinking about the last drama I was legitimately thrilled about. Plus, I wanted to give the show a decent send-off on this blog, which it never quite got for some reason, and I’m not going to pass up the chance to plaster Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young’s precious faces all over the blog again.

And…okay, fine. The true story is this post was already half-way written, and since I’m short of time, I’m going with the low-hanging fruit today.

So, I present to you my lil’ low-hanging fruit listicle :D.

1. Never ever underestimate the power of a crack drama

The Healer Handjob of DEATH

I haven’t been watching K-drama for very long (two years-plus now, according to WordPress), much less live-watching shows, but of all the dramas that I’ve watched so far, I think Healer was one that made me truly understand why these particular dramas are called “crack”.  I’ve been into dramas before, or at least I thought I was, but this “crack” business really is what it sounds like–a deep-seated need, a craving emerging from some previously unknown part of your body.

It was a perfect storm circumstance–my mood, a lack of other watchable fare, and an entire day drugged on cold meds that led me to Healer. And the funny thing is, I’m not quite sure why this particular drama fit the bill, though I do have a couple of guesses (see #2), but I do know it was all somewhat bewildering. What drove me to count the days, hours, minutes? To actually look forward to Mondays? To reblog the life out of every single gif on tumblr, giggling and swooning? To seek out fan fiction and, failing to find any, harass people to start writing some??! It was the crack I tell you. The crack made me do it.

And in the aftermath of a crack drama, like coming up for air after a deep sea dive, blinking into the sunlight after a swimming in a fog of subterranean madness, I hardly recognise that person. Who was nutcase? 

Healer: Bong Sookie is Back! Episodes 17 – 18

Yes show, a very good job indeed! Episodes 17 and 18 of Healer pretty much rocked. Team Feels approves!

If you missed last week’s commentary, visit Sarah’s!

As usual, spoilers aplenty, but surprisingly, we hold off on the cussing. That means there was nothing much to get mad about this week :). Enjoy!

Healer: Where is Bong Sookie When You Need Him?: Episodes 15-16

Team Feels is back! And this time, we’ve got dissension in the ranks! What about? Well, I’m not going to spoil here, but it’s safe to say it’s mostly about, what else, our OTP’s canoodling.

If you fancy reading what’re unpopular opinions, heads on over the Sarah’s for our commentary of Healer episodes 15-16. And as always, let us know what you think 🙂

If you missed last week’s instalment, head here. Until next week then!