fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3290 ]

[ SECRET POST #3290 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3290 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 022 secrets from Secret Submission Post #470.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Help me F!S T^T I have to watch more TV in Korean for language study reasons. Variety TV doesn't often do it for me, so I'd rather watch a drama... but I tend to hate dramas.
I don't like plot contrivance. I don't like it when the characters are stupid for no reason (or plot reason). I hate romances with male assholes. I struggle with secondhand-embarrassment inducing humor.

Is there any chance that one of you can suggest a show that doesn't fall into these traps? I am willing to go with any genre.

I haven't seen many kdramas but those that I have seem to fall into those. I'd suggest movies. I've seen some really great films - Man From Nowhere (Ajeossi), The Host, Lady Vengeance, Chaser - IF you're okay with tons of violence.

I didn't like The Host, but I will check out the others :) anything's worth a try! Thanks!

Sure thing.

So these are much older from when I watched Kdramas, but I really enjoyed

My Name is Kim Sam Soon-Kim Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On Christmas Eve, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo (Lee Kyu Han), cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. On that same night, she accidentally went into the men's restroom and met Hyun Jin Hun (Hyun Bin), a somewhat callous fellow but sometimes considerate guy. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant's chief baker and the two fights like cat and dog. Nevertheless, they started to have feeling for each other and Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun's girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun's ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back.

Queen of Reversals - Hwang Tae Hee is the daughter of a chaebol and team leader at her workplace. She is married to Bong Joon Soo who works at the same company. When Bong Joon Soo's ex-girlfriend, Baek Yeo Jin, who happens to be Hwang Tae Hee's rival as well, begins to work in her team, troubles start to surface. Tae Hee has to juggle her challenges in love with those in work, helping shape her boss and department director, Goo Yong Shik, from an insensitive and uninterested second generation chaebol to a true leader. Tae Hee's seeming success in love, however, presents her with another problem as she begins to realize that marriage involves just as many obstacles to overcome.

Greatest Love/Best Love - Ae Jung was once the most popular member of girl band The National Treasure Girls. However 10 years ago the band broke up and she received most of the blame. Despite her warm personality her career has suffered ever since and she now spends her time fighting for air time on variety shows. Dokko Jin is a top movie star at the height of his career. The two meet and become involved in each other's careers. Yoon Pil Joo is a doctor of oriental medicine who has no interest in the entertainment industry but agrees to make a dating show. Dokko Jin helps get Ae Jung a role on a new reality show called Couple Making. Pil Joo is the bachelor being set up on Couple Making. Both men fall for Ae Jung both off and on the screen.

49 Days (this is an incredible tearjerker) - Shin Ji Hyun was enjoying absolute bliss as she was about to marry her fiancé, Kang Min Ho, but her perfect life is shattered when she gets into a car accident that leaves her in a coma. She is given a second chance at life by a person called The Scheduler (Jung II Woo), but it comes with a condition: she has to find three people outside of her family who would cry genuine tears for her. In order to do this, she borrows the body of Yi Kyung, a part-time employee at a convenience store for 49 days.

Here are others I have saved on my computer but you might not care for them.
Prosecutor Princess
Oh! My Lady
My Fair Lady
Protect the Boss
Coffee Prince
Shining Inheritance
Goong
Dream High

da

Ugh but I fucking can't at how many people genuinely like My Name is Kim Sam Soon. The love interest is an abusive piece of shit WHO MAKES THE MAIN CHARACTER FEEL LIKE SHIT. She deserved better. Ugh. UGH. Forever bitter about how she gave up her happiness and wishes for some guy who "settled" for her.

I CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T

....yeah okay. I was getting some nope vibes from the description, and you just cemented it.
I hate those types of "romances".

Well, this is big :) I will check some out!
(The first one is giving me warning signals, though, with the constant fighting...)

That's why I thought I'd give you a summary rather than just list everything.

I also remembered this other drama.

Pasta - "Pasta" covers the dreams and success of a young woman who aspires to become an elite chef at La Sfera restaurant.

Seo Yoo Kyung started her career as a kitchen assistant at La Sfera restaurant. She eventually works her way up to become a chef.

Choi Hyun Wook is the top chef at La Sfera restaurant. He studied the culinary arts in Italy and started out as a chef assistant at a hotel in Sicily. Hyun Wook eventually worked his way up to become the most widely recognized Italian chef in Korea.

Miss Korea
A surprisingly mature drama about a beauty pageant that features a lot of good female AND male characters. The main couple isn't melodramatic.
Touches on a lot of feminist issues (by showing the viewer and not just telling), which I thought was really unusual for a Korean drama. The male character has his asshole moments, but thankfully he's not an asshole. He never abuses the main female character, and she doesn't take his shit the very few times he gets out of line.
Overall I found the romance very realistic and honest and not just another fairy-tale.

Secret Love Affair
An older, rich woman falls in love with a younger guy.
Very unusual for a kdrama. Or for a drama of any kind, period. Worth checking out for that alone.

Reply 1994
About a group of teens in the 90s.
Not sure how I'd describe this in a way that hasn't been said better by someone else. Google this. It's good and deserves many praises. Also notable for having an actual gay character with a real plotline.

You Who Came From The Stars/My Love from the Star
Ok, so, it's about an alien who falls in love with an actress. It's more serious than it sounds. A bit melodramatic at times.
It's a drama alright, but it's fun. And enjoyable.
The main character is an absolute delight (she's flawed and funny), easily one of my favorite female k-drama leads, and for that reason alone I recommend checking it out.
I really liked the "different and unusual" kinda ending, but judge for yourself.

As far as Korean entertainment goes, I tend to prefer movies since there isn't enough time in a movie to continue dragging everything out and sometimes I'm not in the mood for romance.
I see someone already recommended The Host (seconding that), but here's a few others worth checking out:

200 Pounds Beauty (romance)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (dunno what to categorize this as)
The Beauty Inside (romance)
A Girl at My Door (drama)
King and the Clown (drama, romance)

Ooh, these sound interesting. I will check them out :)) thank you so much! I am definitely all for the more unusual/nonstandard stories and relationships.

And King and the Clown is a great movie, I love it. So sad though! (and the song Fate is one of my absolute favorites)

Well, I'm mostly into lighthearted/silly romcoms, so I'm not sure how good my recs will be, but these are some I really liked:

- Queen In Hyun's Man
- You Who Came from the Stars
- A Gentleman's Dignity
- Witch's Romance
- Marriage, Not Dating

My favorite is You're All Surrounded but it has some camp factor, a lot of intrigue for intrigue's sake and you may think the main male character is a jerk because he's very "Ice Princess" (I liked him a lot, personally) but overall, I thought it was a funny, endearing procedural.

Thanks for the rec! I can always give it a try and see :) worst case I quit...

My favorite Kdrama of all time (okay, the only Kdrama I like at all) is Legend of the First King's Four Gods. It's a historical drama about the legend of King Damdeok, and I find the romance part of it nice and not in-your-face like most Kdramas.

Less romance is a-ok in my book, haha. Thanks!

I liked White Christmas a lot - summary says this:

Susin High School, nicknamed "Prison High," is an elite school attended by the top 1% of students in the country. Their stellar marks are the result of constant pressure and a strict punishment system, to the point where students avoid any activities outside of studying. It is in this atmosphere that seven students and a teacher remain at school for the winter break, joined by Kim Yo Han, a psychiatrist who was forced to take shelter with them after he was involved in a car accident nearby. At a time when everyone else is celebrating Christmas Eve, the students realize that the anonymous letters they each received were not the result of a harmless prank; there was a murderer in their midst. A question lies unspoken: Are monsters created, or are humans born monsters?

It has quite a few plot twists (some of which are kinda obvious, admittedly) and I'd say it's basically a psychological thriller, genre-wise. It has a kinda bleak atmosphere as well. Didn't have a huge amount of romance either, afair, but it's been a while since I watched it.

Other than that - Reply 1994 was already mentioned. That one was pretty good (had a bit of second hand embarrassment inducing humour, but it's not that much. I hate that kind of humour as well.

The Three Musketeers was kinda interesting because - as the title says- it's basically a (fairly close) adaption of the Three Musketeers in a Korean historical setting. That was quite amusing to watch.

Personally, I wish there was at least one single historical drama without romance as a main plot and especially without the damn "girl disguises herself as guy, male character falls in love with crossdressing girl, has a crisis of heterosexuality, girl reveals she's girl, all is well" trope.

Edited 2016-01-07 10:24 (UTC)

Thanks for the recs! I am actually most intrigued by The Three Musketeers, I'm curious what they did with the story.

I kind of agree with you on the crosdressing. Weirdly, I do kind of like that plot, but I wish it sometimes played out differently. I watched Go Mi Nam years ago (not to the end), and I kept wishing the girl would finish by going "screw this, imma stay male" and actually transition or something.

I second the rec for 49 Days. There's some great acting in it, a unique concept, character growth, very sentimental.

I really love Sungkyungkwan Scandel: Joseon-fusion drama where a girl disguises herself as a guy to attend university. The male lead isn't an asshole, the other two male leads are interesting/well-acted with a lil homoromantic vibe, the female lead is clever and kind and sharp. There's a bit of second-hand embarrassment type stuff but not too much (that's my weakness too) and I remember very little passing of an idiot ball.

(If you're ever looking for a drama but want a review before you check it ouy, Dramabeans does reviews/recaps of Kdramas, including several older ones)

I'd heard of Sungkyungkwan Scandal I think, but you've got me interested. And thanks for the Dramabeans rec, too! Though atm it sounds like I've got a bunch of series to check out, and hopefully I'll find myself liking at least some of them :)))

I will also check out 49 Days.

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[ SECRET POST #3290 ]

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