My Demon (2023 Korean Drama)

“A pitiless demon becomes powerless after getting entangled with an icy heiress, who may hold the key to his lost abilities—and his heart.”

While beautifully filmed (as you would expect from a Netflix KDrama), I would not have finished this drama LB hadn’t insisted. She wouldn’t finish it without me. She also wouldn’t abandon it like I was all for doing. So she’s been forcing me to watch episodes since Christmas.

While this has some interesting themes blending Confusion and Catholic doctrine, I mostly found the drama angsty and slow.

LB says: “Could have been a little bit shorter. Enjoyable over all, but really didn’t need to go on for as long as it does. You can only get by on the male lead’s sass for so long.”

The K Drama Influence

My sophomore year of college, two friends asked if I would like to watch a “Korean soap opera” with them. The ripple effects of that one question continue to impact me.

Korean dramas became my primary form of TV for many years. My sisters got hooked on K pop; Korean dishes entered our family’s meal rotation. And wherever I go, I end up meeting (or making!) K drama fans.

When I first moved into this townhouse, Korean dramas were not center to the house culture. DJ might have seen one or two. Lydia had seen none. (And in fact, made fun of DJ and I for watching a show with subtitles.)

Fast forward two years.

I am sitting at the kitchen table. LB has K pop blaring while she experiments with a new new Korean beef recipe. This is the second dinner with a Korean entree and side dishes she has made this week. TG inquires from the sunroom about the most recent K drama we started. DJ observes that we need more chopsticks.

Korean food has officially become our comfort food. K dramas our go-to entertainment. And if the amount of Stray Kids playing at any time is an indication, K pop is the primary genre of music in this house.

All because of two friends 11 years ago and a question about a Korean soap opera.

Love to Hate You (2023)

In the spirit of updating my K Drama repertoire, I tackled the 10-episode Netflix drama Love To Hate You.

The plot centers around a rookie attorney who hates men and her celebrity client, a popular actor who hates women.

While the initial episodes sucked me in and got me really excited, the last few episodes left me underwhelmed. I don’t think this one will stick in my memory. It wrapped some things up too fast and dragged out others.

Cute enough and short compared to the usual 20 hour commitments that come with watching a Korean drama, but overall average.

Vintage K Dramas

My sisters have long since informed me that my taste in Korean pop music and television is out of date. (“Second wave” is the phrase they use, meaning the Korean entertainment from mid-2000 – mid-2010s, as opposed to the modern “third wave” Korean music and dramas.)

I started watching Korean dramas in 2012 so I know to some degree, I’ve been at it for a while. But as my housemates are starting to get more and more into Korean dramas, I’m realizing just how long it has been.

Yesterday I introduced my housemate DJ to Secret Garden.

“It is kind of old.” I informed her. “But a classic. Anyone who watches Korean dramas knows Secret Garden.”

Yeah, so, turns out Secret Garden aired in 2010 and almost no one under the age 30 knows what I’m talking about when I reference it.

Also turns out that the “recent” dramas I think of when I say “that is a newer drama…”?

2013. (The Heirs)

2015. (Healer)

2016. (W: Two Worlds)

Excuse me while I go have an existential crisis and accept that my sisters are right and most of my K drama references are horribly out of date.

Vincenzo (2021)

It took me a while, but I finally watched Netflix’s Korean drama Vincenzo.

AND IT WAS SO GOOD.

Vincenzo Cassano is a Korean-Italian mob consigliere who joins forces with an underdog attorney in South Korea to take down an evil corporation. The plot plays around with the meaning of revenge, justice, and heroism. Vincenzo is very much an anti-hero, and he only gets darker as the story goes. His love interest is his equal in all ways, and it really is just a delight to watch them interact.

The numerous quirky side characters are also a delight. The plot’s ability to go from dark to quirky ought to feel out of place, but instead it really adds to the storytelling. You can’t TELL when Vincenzo will succeed because he so often fails. It really makes the story interesting and keeps you on your toes.

The antagonists also make fantastic villains. They are so evil. But the power dynamics at play in their evilness just adds to the storytelling.

DJ and I binged the last 7 episodes tonight, so we’re riding on a bit of a high. A more articulate review to come. Maybe.

Business Proposal (2022)

I did it! I finally completed a K Drama on Netflix. It only took one based on one of my favorite webtoons to make it happen.

Business Proposal is a Korean Drama based on a webcomic, also named A Business Proposal.

The story follows Shin Ha-ri, a regular office worker who agrees to put on a disguise and replace her best friend on a blind date in order to sabotage it. Things go awry, however, when the CEO of her company turns out to be the date! And worse, he’s determined to make things work for motives of his own…

The show ends up differing at several key plot points from the webtoon (at least, what I remember of it) but still retains much of the story’s charm.

The oddest part, at least in my opinion as someone who has been watching K Dramas for a decade now, is how much the humor echoes old K Dramas. This is what I would categorize pre-obviously-trying-to-appeal-to-Western-audiences humor.

There is so much toilet humor. Never the main couple, but side characters frequently run to the bathroom or make comments about the state of their bowels.

The drama also relies heavily on many of the standard stereotypes, like disapproving in-laws, sudden and life-altering diseases, and phobias from childhood.

It is nothing terribly egregious and ending at 12 episodes means the show cuts much (but sadly not all) of the “filler” typically associated with later episodes. I wouldn’t give this a super high rating, maybe 3/5, but it is worth a try if looking for something lighthearted. (Or you could read the Webtoon instead!)

Her Private Life (Korean Drama Review)

It has been a while since I reviewed a Korean drama! But if you’re looking for something to stream with all your free time…it is free on Viki. I’m giving it 4/5 stars. Solid, but not solid enough to get me to finish. 

Her Private Life follows art curator Sung Deok Mi (played by Park Min Young, you might know her from What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?, Healer, or even City Hunter) and her new boss, painter Ryan Gold (Kim Jae Wook, who I know as the guy who should have gotten the girl in Mary Stayed Out All Night). Sung Deok Mi acts mature at work, but she carries a secret: she is a huge fangirl of K pop celebrity Cha Shi An (Jung Je Won). And she will go to any lengths to keep her two worlds from colliding. Her new boss, Ryan Gold, also has an interest in Cha Shi An and keeps showing up to the same events. It won’t be long till he realizes her secret…

I love Park Min Young and I think this drama especially demonstrates the much healthier direction K dramas have taken in recent years. Instead of the typical dense schoolgirl with a heart of gold, the heroine of Her Private Life shows brains, ambition, and self-confidence. The main love interest acts with the traditional cold-heartlessness of a male lead, but quickly redeems the stereotype with some truly heartwarming acting and delightfully memorable scenes. And the secondary love interest is…ah…forgettable enough. So no secondary lead syndrome here. 

The plot clicks along at a strong pace until episode 9, which unfortunately displays the K Drama tendency to keep the couple apart with stupid misunderstandings. I stuck around for episode 10 and with the resolution of most of the plot…don’t feel inclined to watch another 6 episodes. I don’t care enough. 

But what I did see impressed me. Besides excellent acting, Her Private Life shines in two ways that don’t traditionally stick out to me: music and costumes. 

The choice of music is interesting mostly because of how often it is lacking. Particularly intense, romantic scenes that you would expect a sweeping score to accompany get acted out int total silence. At first it threw me. But I came to appreciate how much it makes the viewer hold their breath and just appreciate the tension and drama of the moment. 

The costumes are also delightful and very well coordinated between the main leads: lots of linen suits and loose fitting, professional clothing. It ties the main couple together almost from the start because their clothing matches so well. Only when the heroine goes crazy fangirl and wears her fangirl clothing do we see a change. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?, which also features Park Min Young wearing a lot of professional, business clothing, does something similar except in that drama the heroine favors pencil skirts and silk blouses. (Also beautifully contrasted with how she initially dressed at the beginning of the drama.)

In conclusion, Her Private Life is artistically quite beautiful, very well acted, and far too long.  But if you don’t mind lots of scenes with the main couple being lovey-dovey while the side stories get wrapped up, I’d recommend giving it a shot. 

A Dream Come True

For as much as I hate on group projects, 7 years ago a group project basically changed my life. 

As a sophomore in college, I took Personality Theory (unfortunately, a class covering actual psychological theories and not personality tests like I thought.) The professor required group presentations and after we finished studying, my two group members asked if I wanted to stay and join them for, “a Korean soap opera.” 

And, oh, my life has never been the same since. 

We started with Dream High 2 but did not make it very far. 

Korean dramas usually range from 16-20 one hour episodes. They are one season. After studying together, we would sit on someone’s bed and watch an episode. After giving up on Dream High 2, we switched to Personal Taste (the first drama I ever finished.) 

I remember vividly one scene where we squealed so loudly an RA came into check on us. (And by we, I probably mean me.) 

Meanwhile I started watching Boys Over Flowers on my own. I basically spent the entire Thanksgiving break that year binge watching.

And after that there was no going back. I became obsessed with Korean dramas!

And I remain obsessed. 

Meanwhile, I began to get everyone around me into Korean drams. My sisters in turn discovered K Pop and quickly got me addicted! 

Of course, you cannot watch a show about another culture without becoming obsessed with the food. I now consider kimchi more important than dairy. (And I love dairy.)

As for bulgogi, bibimbap, and tteokbokki…my mouth waters just thinking about them. Korean food went from a nonentity in my life to a dietary staple. 

All this to say, for the past 7 years Korea has influenced the food I eat, the shows I watch, the music I listen to, and even the clothes I wear. 

And tomorrow, I get to visit one of the friends who got me addicted to Korean dramas…IN KOREA!

Can you imagine anything more amazing? 

 

 

 

(As I previously wrote, however, you will have to wait to hear about the experience till I am on a flight back to the U.S. Until then, enjoy the story of my vacation in Krabi with another college buddy!) 

Chicken Feet

If you somehow missed it, I love Asian entertainment. Dramas, manga, anime, I appreciate it all. Consistently in Korean dramas in particular, the heroine eats chicken feet. 

This always baffled me. I’ve SEEN chickens. Their feet do not look edible. 

Walking back from class today, I saw a food stall with chicken feet! I did this cartoon-ish double take because I could not believe my eyes! I did not think such things existed outside of Korean dramas!

With great enthusiasm, I bought a stick from the baffled chicken woman and practically floated all the way home. I, Amy, was going to try chicken feet!

Eagerly I bit down and found…bone. Cartilage. Skin.

I Googled – and then YouTubed – “How to eat chicken feet” and watched in amazement as people wolfed these things down. Turns out, these things are supposed to only consistent of bone, cartilage, and skin. 

It took me 75 minutes to get through the first one. I gnawed on the second one for about 20 minute but my more aggressive approach meant I got more mouthfuls of cartilage and it crunched like a bean sprout. 

And, um, as much as I wanted to like chicken feet…I really didn’t. I put the rest in my fridge but I do not think I will get to them. I’m just not that big a fan of cartilage and crunch. 

DramaFever Is No More

My favorite Korean Drama streaming service no longer exists. 

This is quite heartbreaking. I’ve been watching Korean dramas for 6 years now and DramaFever was the best. I even paid for a premium membership. Besides being a source of excellent shows, DramaFever usually produced fun content, from celebrity gossip to drama promotions. (My favorite was an ode to Lee Min Ho when he starred in Gangnam Blues by two YouTubers but I can’t find it anymore so I’m wondering if it got taken down with the site.) Also the K-Drama LoLs videos but they also gotten take down. 

In summary, DramaFever did an amazing job uniting fans from across the world with our shared love of love Korean dramas and it is now no more. 

I guess this means we all go watch on Viki now?