Kim Hee Ae, Ahn Pan Seok Win Awards in Style & Other News: the OCDrama Digest 13–27th May 2014

Peeps, I’m late. Again. But better late with this, than with my period is what I’m saying 😛 (What, we’re all friends here, right? No? TMI?)

1. I don’t keep tabs on K-ent awards because they’re frankly quite bewildering. I didn’t even know today was the Baeksang Arts Awards. The only drama I care about is Secret Love Affair, and guess what? The masterminds Ahn Pan Seok PD and screenwriter Jung Sung Joo won Best Director and Best Screenwriter respectively, and were probably the most deserving winners of the night, if you ask me. (And Lee Bo Young coz she’s great too.)

How much do I love that APS cooly walks up on stage in a jeans and regular shirt looking like an absent-minded professor amidst all the glitz and glamour? So humble, and so BADASS ;). 

God’s Gift–14 Days: Midway Musings

[Spoilers Ep 1 – 10]

I started watching this show on a lark not really expecting to get involved or invested in anything new considering I was clearing my plate for Secret Love Affair. Of course, as things never go according to plan, here I am hooked on two live-watches with a growing backlog of marathons.

To be honest, this ride got off to a rocky start. The first couple of episodes felt a little disorienting. I knew the core of the drama was always going to be Soo Hyun fighting to save the life of her child, Saet Byul. I just didn’t know why another dude, and a shifty one at that, was muscling in on her story and I was getting impatient. It took about 4 episodes to get there but now I know that Dong Chan, our troubled ex-detective, is as important to this fight as is Soo Hyun.

The drama really took off once it settled around the partnership of Dong Chan and Soo Hyun on their quest to prevent Saet Byul’s murder. Once they team up, the plot surges forward relentlessly. There is very little breathing room as we hurtle from reveal to reveal, one hair-raising encounter with one murderer to the next. If you’re looking for some genuinely nail-biting cliffhangers look no further than the early-middle episodes of this drama. 

The OCDrama Digest 10th – 17th March

Folks, I’m in a state of inertia. The weather, the haze, the general state of affairs is making me feel disconnected from myself. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I’m hoping salvation will arrive soon.

1. Secret Love Affair held a press conference and unveiled a 21-minute preview that sent shockwaves through the dramaverse. Okay, fine it sent shockwaves through me. I understand if you’d rather not be spoiled and didn’t watch it, but when it’s presented to you like a poisoned apple on a silver platter, you bite and suffer the consequences. So now I gots the SLA fever. The drama starts tomorrow on jTBC and my body is ready.

Dramafever is subbing this, and if the subs don’t cut it, I just…well, lets think happy thoughts.  For now, I’ll leave this here of Yoo Ah In and Kim Hae Ee for you to start the week off on a good note.

2. Is anyone tuned in to God’s Gift? I watched the first 4 episodes and I’m taken aback by how unpredictable and nail-biting it’s been. I did not expect to be on the edge of my seat this much. And I certainly did not expect to feel so satisfied in seeing a mother be so brave but so reckless. I love that Lee Bo Young’s character gets her hands very dirty (and very bloody). I am worried though, that the drama will sacrifice logic and emotional truth for the sake of keeping up it’s relentless pace but for now, this is a small quibble. And Cho Seung Woo is wonderful to watch in the role of a former detective turned sidekick. Definitely one for those who enjoy sussing out clues and speculating outcomes.  

3. I mentioned last week about the controversy over a CL solo track ‘MTBD’ that allegedly contained a sample from a Quranic verse. After a formal complaint was lodged, YG pulled the video off Youtube and uploaded an edit without the offending sample, but there’s no news if the track will be pulled from the physical albums and digital downloads. I think this has cast a shadow over 2NE1’s comeback album and more importantly, the ire has left a bad taste in many mouths. I suggest reading jandoe’s articulate take on this for more.

4. I’ve been dipping my toes deeper into the murky waters of K-pop only to discover that the term is a bit of a misnomer. I’m used to (semi)well-defined musical genres and sub-genres and that’s just not the way K-pop seems to operate. In any case, I was happy to discover this interview with Crying Nut, a pioneering punk rock band who are, strangely (or maybe not to savier folks) playing at the K-pop showcase at the music festival SXSW in the US alongside Jay Park, Nell and Hyuna. Ask A Korean! wrote a run-down of the night here.

5.  Speaking of K-pop, I’ve been sussing out a fascinating and exploding form fan outreach called the reaction MV. I was in a midst of writing a whole post about it but inertia, remember? If you don’t know what this is, it’s fans uploading videos of themselves reacting to K-pop MVs. It’s a exhibitionist fangirl/boying, and it’s great fun. This duo called Kspazz are one of the best I’ve found. They have a hysterical mix of salacious commentary, endless enthusiasm and spasmodic flailing. If you only have five minutes of spare, start watching at the 5:00 mark to 9:00 :).

Have a great week ahead!

The OCDrama Digest 3 -9 March: International Women’s Day Edition

I guess I should warn everyone that I’m feeling rather upset and grumpy. The universe has thrown a boatload of bad news of all sorts at me over the weekend which tarnishes the appeal of writing up this post. Nevertheless, soldier on we must, and to cheer myself up, here’s something I found on tumblr in honour of International Women’s Day, a collage of some awesome drama heroines:

Pic frm queenofattolia.tumblr.com

Which by the way, also brought some clarity as to why I’ve dropped some popular dramas in this season–because the women in them deserved far better than the men they got saddled with, no matter how hard the dramas tried to convince me otherwise. Sorry, I’m supposed to be cheered up but the grump is too strong.

Weekly OCDrama Digest 29th Dec – 5 Jan 2014

Happy new year folks! How goes the new year’s resolutions? I have resolved to take better care of myself, which means dropping dramas like hot potatoes. On with the news round-up this week:

1. New couples great the new year in K-ent! First Seung Gi and YoonA were outted by Dispatch and followed by Baksa  Jung Kyung Ho and Soo Young a day later.  I’m just happy that it looks like the SNSD girls are allowed to have love lives after all. Funny story about the Seung Gi-YoonA (what’s their couple name? GiYoo? SeungNA?) news: I couldn’t sleep so I woke up at some ungodly hour that night, read the news, and then fell back asleep awhile later, only to dream about Seung Gi. As expected it was pretty bizarro, but I don’t remember much except me and Seung Gi were scouring an underground shopping mall looking for food in the middle of the night. Seung Gi must have made an impression because I remember thinking, “Gosh, Seung Gi sure is a really sweet guy. A doofus though, but sweet.”