Clik here to view.
Drama Review: I Need Romance 3 (2014)
Grade: C+CategoryWorkplace romanceWhat it’s aboutThis light melodrama revolves around a chilly, no-nonsense career woman who experiences an emotional awakening thanks to a younger man from her past....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Still more swooning for Secret Love Affair
You know that feeling when something you’re looking forward to doesn’t live up to your expectations? Well, the first two episodes of Secret Love Affair made me feel the exact opposite. I watched and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From zero to hero (and vice versa)
Secret Love Affair is a perfect storm of awesomeness.The script is so low-key and wonderful that I want to watch episodes again and again to mine for details that I missed, while the director’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My love affair with Love Affair
Last December, I posted a wish list of things I wanted for the coming year in dramaland.The first of those wishes seemed the most unlikely to come true: I asked for a new show that I would love as much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Heroine addict
Sometimes I think 90 percent of Korean dramas are about the same girl. (See above.)You know her: always hardworking and self-sacrificing, wide-eyed and innocent. Sure, the details are different. She...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drama Review: Miss Korea (2013)
Grade: B+CategoryLight melodramaWhat it’s aboutJi Young was always the prettiest girl around, but it turns out that adult life doesn’t live up to her high school expectations: She’s single and lives at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
House of horrors, Kdrama style
“What do you mean, Yoon Si Yoon is going to cut off all his hair and disappear from public view for two years?”If I had a dollar for every time someone called me “Debbie Downer” or a variant thereof, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Substantial: Subbers on Secret Love Affair and the craft of subbing
Subtitles are the key that allows international viewers entry into the world of Korean drama.I didn’t fully understand this until my first rewatch of Coffee Prince. Before that, I blindly followed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Secret Love Affair: Winding to a close
“All good things must come to an end” is one of the cruelest—and most accurate—expressions in the English language.Unfortunately, it definitely applies to Secret Love Affair. The ending is creeping...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Now?
Will Secret Love Affair’s finale live up to Tokyo Tower’s fantastic Parisian hug?When this post goes live, I will be watching the final episode of Secret Love Affair. (Yes, I’m so obsessed that I’m...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drama Review: Majo no Jouken (1999)
Grade: A-CategoryJapanese melodramaWhat it’s aboutAt twenty-six, Hirose Michi’s life seems perfect. She teaches high school math and has responsibility for her own homeroom class, and her longtime...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drama Review: Return of Iljimae (2009)
Grade: B+CategoryAction/adventure fusion sageuk What it’s aboutThe epic (but occasionally tongue-in-cheek) journey a hero and his desperate efforts to protect Korea and her people.What it’s not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Goodbye, my Love
Do you think they were trying to tell us something with this shot? Like maybe the ending?For the past two months, I’ve lived in the world of Secret Love Affair. Now that I’m reawakening to real life, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drama Review: Secret Love Affair (2014)
Grade: A++CategoryRomantic melodramaWhat it’s aboutOn the surface, Oh Hye Won is an elegant professional who works at a ritzy arts organization, living a life filled with luxuries that anyone would...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Things I wish existed: Fangirl tours
Have you always wanted to visit Korea? To order an overpriced Americano at Coffee Prince, troll for handsome chaebol sons in Cheongdamdong, or pretend to be a cross-dressing Joseon scholar on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My two favorite things: books and dramas
Books and reading don’t come up all that often in Western entertainment. I did some Googling on this topic, and even listing ten on-screen readers required one website to go all the way back to the...
View ArticleOpening numbers
My Lovely Sam Soon was the first Kdrama I ever watched, back before Korean dramas were easily accessible on legal streaming sites. Thanks to a borrowed set of DVDs, a friend and I were able to marathon...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drama Review: Witch’s Romance (2014)
Grade: B-CategoryWorkplace noona romanceWhat it’s aboutYears after being left at the alter by her globe-trotting photographer boyfriend, Ji Yeon is a hard-charging career woman and dedicated...
View ArticleLazy: An autobiography by me
Motivation has been even harder than usual for me to come by lately. So instead of an actual Tuesday post, I give you a short review of Witch’s Romance (below), and a new blog thingy (“Favorite Posts,”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My favorite OTP moments: a brief catalog
There are lots of things I love about Asian dramas. Key among them is a willingness to tell stories about love. The American television I grew up with doesn’t really do this—instead, it’s full of...
View Article