Are Kdramas as good as they were back then?

[liyahsbutterfly]

13 hours ago, philosophie said:

chingu i watch eve too!! why don’t i see u on the thread there?!

 

I also watch Eve, it's such a great drama so far!

[joccu]

@Sleepy Owl  honestly so far there has not been as good psychological thriller as nobody knows or children of nobody.  we have to just wait for that writer to write new psychological thriller kdrama

[partyon]

3 hours ago, ferily said:

@Sleepy Owl We don’t speak about Mouse here 

 

Does that also apply to?

 

1) the sudden demise of a certain Oppa on this forum by the Truck of Doom IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST. An EO may or may not have been responsible for it. Who knows?

 

2) a certain moderator's courageous fight for survival in the middle of the same forest as mentioned above. Only to later fall down from a tree. While sleeping. Oops.

 

Of course the subjects shall not be named.

Just tagging randomly some peeps

@LeftCoastOppa@agenth @ferily

 

Don't mind me!

[agenth]

4 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

The Sound of Magic wouldn't be what it was originally, if they would have aired by TvN, SBS or any other Korean Network. They would bring in stuff to bring in more ratings, bring in PPLs, and seriously, it wouldn't be like it is, and I am really happy NF released it. It is sort of a first of its kind in Kdramas (again, not saying it with surety since there could be some others like this before), and I seriously think it would have failed ratings wise if it would have been aired instead of being streamed by the NF. @agenth Chingu, could be thinking otherwise though

 

I focused more on the acting and the beautiful elements of the story as well OST. I guess it was better quality since there was no Subway scene. I don't see a particular reason why it would fail ratings wise on cable tv though

 

 

4 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

I never had that much issues with the PPLs, except for when I watched DOTS, and there was a certain dude who would always talk about "Almonds" and bring out their box with brand name (and some more). This happened more in Goblin, and well, I suffered a lot in TKEM, it is the drama, where I actually felt to be watching a 90 mins long commercial instead of drama sometimes. 

 

I didn't notice PPL in DOTS or at least I don't remember being annoyed about it. Please illuminate me

 

 

Please watch this segment about Subway, at least the part I time-stamped. It really talks about PPL in a nutshell

 

and in the end of the video, John Oliver created a parody Subway PPL  

 

[partyon]

5 minutes ago, agenth said:

I focused more on the acting and the beautiful elements of the story as well OST.

 

Chingu, you focused more on your oppa. Let's admit it.

[agenth]

Just now, partyon said:

Chingu, you focused on your oppa. Let's admit it. 

 

Well he was the main part. But I read the webtoon beforehand and found it unique and profound. And I liked his version of the magician especially the dark sides so i am excited, if he takes a role as an antagonist (probably soon? according to rumous). 

 

 

 

[Sleepy Owl]

11 minutes ago, partyon said:

2) a certain moderator's courageous fight for survival in the middle of the same forest as mentioned above. Only to later fall down from a tree. While sleeping. Oops.

 

 

I wonder this certain moderator saw a mouse up the tree and jumped 

 

 

Tagging @ferily Chingu, for no reason 

 

11 minutes ago, partyon said:

1) the sudden demise of a certain Oppa on this forum by the Truck of Doom IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST. An EO may or may not have been responsible for it. Who knows?

 

 

I wonder if this was the truck being talked about? 

 

 

@agenth, @LeftCoastOppa Chingus, what are your thoughts on it? 

 

25 minutes ago, joccu said:

@Sleepy Owl  honestly so far there has not been as good psychological thriller as nobody knows or children of nobody.  we have to just wait for that writer to write new psychological thriller kdrama

 

Yes Chingu, both were different type of dramas, but extremely good. I look forward to their writers' next projects 

 

10 minutes ago, agenth said:

I focused more on the acting and the beautiful elements of the story as well OST. I guess it was better quality since there was no Subway scene. I don't see a particular reason why it would fail ratings wise on cable tv though

 

 

 

I'd rather agree to disagree on the ratings part honestly, than bring in another topic to debate upon apart from LITC 

 

12 minutes ago, agenth said:

I didn't notice PPL in DOTS or at least I don't remember being annoyed about it. Please illuminate me

 

 

You can check out this article 

 

https://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201604071708545115491_2

 

I just loved the last line, "While another even dubbed the episode as the “Descendants of the PPL.”"

 

I didn't notice as many PPLs as I did in Goblin, and in TKEM, I didn't really need to notice it honestly, but the only thing I remember is, that "Almonds" dude would bring out his Almonds box in the most unexpected scene, and you would just know it is just a commercial stuff and nothing else.

[partyon]

5 minutes ago, Sleepy Owl said:

but the only thing I remember is, that "Almonds" dude would bring out his Almonds box in the most unexpected scene, and you would just know it is just a commercial stuff and nothing else.

 

Honestly, they could have done the Almond PPL in more creative ways.

 

Like how they did it in Modern Farmer in 2014:

 

 

Even PPLs were better before

cr.to owner

 

 

[ferily]

@Sleepy Owl @partyon No comment. I will use my right to remain silent as said in kdramas

[philosophie]

19 hours ago, maribella said:

One old series which broke my heart was Damo. I don't like Ha Ji Won's voice but I forgave it for she was so good in this show. It had incest vibes because they were siblings and had that natural bond but did not know they were siblings. However, the good supper made me cringe since the ajusshi was her carer and they had lived together without any other characters in the house. Someone mentioned he must have bought her first box of pads. Yikes !!! My 'must know the ending' syndrome had kicked in, so I sort of watched many episodes to get to the end.

Yes chingu thank you for mentioning this drama. I LOVED it. One of a kind story especially for seageuk era. 
 

19 hours ago, Thong Thin said:

 

Chingu... long time no chat.... how are things over your side. 

 

I do agreed with you on the revenge plots.. how both sides scheme to get what they wanted

and how good is the ending.

 

Money Flower & Resurrection are in my watchlist as recommended by @philosophie

Revenge is my FAVORITE, if theres any genre I’m always excited to suggest it’s revenge. I have to say for the Eve watchers, you want a real revenge femme fatal story and are okay with it being a Japanese drama not a kdrama-watch Saki. Impeccable show. Resurrection is one my fav older revenge kdramas that never disappoints. The Devil (actually preferred the japanese version Maou more) and Shark are very good too if one is craving the male character to be taking revenge. For female character, daily wise Heavens Promise was a good one. pink Lipstick as well. Because dailies have so many episodes, some revenge dramas drag a lot with misunderstandings or spending majority of episodes frustrating viewers with the bad guys ‘winning.’ But this one defied alll that. flames of Desire was very good too, with a more anti heroine female lead. They are also older kdramas. Oh my god A love to kill WAS crazy!! An older kdrama that was chefs kiss (honestly for me many the older revenge kdramas are the ones on my rewatch list vs newer ones). Every episode left me at the edge of my seat literally screaming to the tv NO RICHARD SIMMONS WAY. An absolute rollercoaster. Probably that most wild revenge kdrama I have EVER scene.

[LeftCoastOppa]

10 hours ago, partyon said:

Does that also apply to?

 

1) the sudden demise of a certain Oppa on this forum by the Truck of Doom IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST. An EO may or may not have been responsible for it. Who knows?

 

... "Noona", that sounds an awful lot like an admission.  Something you want to tell me?

 

 

10 hours ago, agenth said:

Well he was the main part. But I read the webtoon beforehand and found it unique and profound.

10 hours ago, partyon said:

Chingu, you focused more on your oppa. Let's admit it.

 

Speaking of Chang-Wook, when are we getting our 2nd season of LITC ???

 

 

10 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

@LeftCoastOppa Chingus, what are your thoughts on it? 

 

 

 

[Sleepy Owl]

14 hours ago, ferily said:

@Sleepy Owl @partyon No comment. I will use my right to remain silent as said in kdramas

 

Someone has been watching too many law dramas 

Or is this something you learnt from a certain forbidden drama (which shouldn't be talked about), named after an animal

 

16 hours ago, partyon said:

Like how they did it in Modern Farmer in 2014:

 

 

Noona, would you buy the almonds about which a certain Grandpa claims to be part of the almond chocolate bar where he can just eat the Chocolate and not the almond? 

Not the best way to advertise something 

5 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

Speaking of Chang-Wook, when are we getting our 2nd season of LITC ???

 

 

If only you had asked this question in some other event, the truck of doom wouldn't have happened 

 

 

[confusedheart]

@Sleepy Owl Chingu, I am more invested in real life drama now- AH/ JD or we always have Harry + MM stories to keep me entertained. I have been watching a lot of these You Tubers who have been analyzing real life dramas and they are way more interesting , entertaining. 

 

If you have watched one K-drama, you've watched them all. Few that have left me impressed recently are - Mr. Queen  (though the ending sucked), Yumi's Cells, W etc are few I can recall immediately.   

[partyon]

10 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

... "Noona", that sounds an awful lot like an admission.  Something you want to tell me?

 

Absolutely not, dongsaeng.

 

5 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

If only you had asked this question in some other event, the truck of doom wouldn't have happened 

 

Ooh

 

 

Again randomly tagging some peeps

@agenth

 

[ElleSor]

I am still avidly watching a lot of KDramas.

I did notice that most of what I've watched are sageuks. Is there something going on there or are there more sageuks with better actors...I don't know exactly.

I am watching Dear.M and I like it even with relatively younger actors. 

I switched to CDramas earlier but the length is always a turn off compared to the compactness of the KDrama. 

The shortness of JDramas are also off-putting for me...so I'm sticking mostly to KDramas. 

A lot of the endings of KDramas are not as satisfying for me but better than nothing to watch. 

 

 

[madmad min]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:12 AM, agenth said:

I don't see a particular reason why it would fail ratings wise on cable tv though

I am not sure but maybe Disney Musical isnt the exact type of Drama Genre National TV Airs there,  is it? Cable TV are mixed audience , TSOM I felt targeted more on younger audience, it would have suffered on TV imho as a few of them stated. Also this show was mostly without PPLs, but on TV PPLs are needed to garner investment I believe , so yeah that would ruin the free flow as well. Sort of like Imagine Magician Holding a KFC while talking to his parrot...:) 

[sweetroad]

Being newer to kdramas, I'm still enjoying the journey. Especially because newer dramas have better cinematography (in my eyes) and moments of soft focus rather than older dramas that seem to be more stark and sharp.

 

I'm also fortunate in that when I do watch an old drama, it's something that got great ratings or stood the test of time since it's a recommendation all these years later. So I haven't had to slog through the entire pool of dramas over all these past years, since you guys tell me what's good!

 

Also, and this is very important to me. I have to say that newer dramas have less spitting, toothbrushing, ML and FL brushing their teeth TOGETHER (GROOOSSSSS!!!!!), eating messily, and talking with their mouths full. I'm looking at you, Coffee Prince. That kind of stuff just grosses me out, and I have to block all of the TV with my hand - except for the subtitles - whenever a scene like that comes on.

 

 

 

It is overwhelming sometimes to have so many options when it comes to current dramas, though. I'm not sure where to start sometimes, so unless it's an actor/actress or writer that I really like, it's easier to just start dramas to see what they're like, and then move on.

[Sleepy Owl]

On 6/30/2022 at 9:54 AM, ElleSor said:

I did notice that most of what I've watched are sageuks. Is there something going on there or are there more sageuks with better actors...I don't know exactly.

 

 

Chingu, I agree with you on this. Sageuks have become better in terms of cinematography, and also acting. But I feel like the Sageuks have become repetitive. The main reason for this is because most of the Sageuks now are based on Joseon Era, and even there the central figure is the King and his struggle to rule while having a political fight with the evil ministers. 

 

Now, this is seen in many Sageuks. If I go a bit into historical aspect of this, the whole Political Structure of Joseon actually was based on giving Ministers more power, and actually they were more powerful than King himself. So throughout the history, all the great Kings you heard about in Joseon, were the ones who struggled a lot in doing what they wanted to do while pushing back those ministers. So yeah, it is interesting to see such drama where the King tries to do it, and the whole mind game happening there. But, if this becomes the case in most of the Sageuks, then I feel like that's the problem. 

 

At the same time, before, we would see Sageuks based on different eras in Korean History as well. We have seen Sageuks based on Goryeo, or the three Kingdom Era. The reason why I feel we don't see Sageuks based on those eras is because of the recent controversies some dramas have ended up in for either using costumes similar to Chinese ones, or endorsing Chinese products.

 

Before Joseon Era, the Chinese influence was a lot, in terms of clothing, food and even culture in some parts. There were the Yuan, and Ming Dynasties during the Goryeo Era, and Tang (and some more) was there during the Three Kingdoms era. I feel that showrunners kinda feel hesitant in taking the risk since shooting such Sageuks (based on other eras) does require a good amount of budget, and we have already seen one Sageuk (Joseon Exorcist) get cancelled because of similar reasons (and some other reasons as well of course). 

 

Even in the Sageuks based on Joseon Era, there used to be dramas where the King would usually be a side character. In Sageuks like "Dae Jang Geum", "Chuno", "The Fugitive of Joseon" etc, the main characters were not Royals. The drama would be based on someone not Royal, maybe even from a lower class, and it would take away a lot of the political dramas (which many don't like about Sageuks), and also bring in uniqueness in the story. These days, we don't see it much in my opinion. 

 

Hopefully, we will see better Sageuks coming 

 

On 6/30/2022 at 1:53 PM, madmad min said:

I am not sure but maybe Disney Musical isnt the exact type of Drama Genre National TV Airs there,  is it? Cable TV are mixed audience , TSOM I felt targeted more on younger audience, it would have suffered on TV imho as a few of them stated. Also this show was mostly without PPLs, but on TV PPLs are needed to garner investment I believe , so yeah that would ruin the free flow as well. Sort of like Imagine Magician Holding a KFC while talking to his parrot...:) 

 

Let's be honest Chingu, that drama wouldn't be the same if they would air it using any other network like TvN, SBS etc. So I totally with you are saying here 

[Min2206]

On 6/30/2022 at 1:24 PM, ElleSor said:

I did notice that most of what I've watched are sageuks. Is there something going on there or are there more sageuks with better actors...I don't know exactly.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

Chingu, I agree with you on this. Sageuks have become better in terms of cinematography, and also acting. But I feel like the Sageuks have become repetitive. The main reason for this is because most of the Sageuks now are based on Joseon Era, and even there the central figure is the King and his struggle to rule while having a political fight with the evil ministers. 

 

 

Thanks for tagging me here @Sleepy Owl sunbae-nim.
Me three - I am into saguek too.  Can't explain why but  I made one exception this year - I watched Biz Proposal, which was light and fuzzy.  No regrets on this drama, it cheers me up lots.  Gotta know that bubbly Kim Se Jeong.

Not watching any drama at the moment.  

I am waiting for Big Mouth.

 

[rocher22]

I think  k-dramas have changed a bit for the better but basically they have remained the same.

In every a k-drama, I mostly watch the scenes that I like.

 

 

Save Me and TKEM - I watched because of WDH

Tomorrow - LSH's scenes were simply charismatic       

 

 

https://sweet61.tumblr.com/tagged/ocn save me

 

Lee Joon is a good actor, but I dont like his character in Bloody Heart so I dropped the drama. 

 

He Is Psychometric - the SL's story was the most interesting..   

 

 

 

 

Chicago Typewriter - the story from the occupation era was beautiful and tragic.

I liked that the most in the whole drama.  

 

 

Im currently watching Jinxed at First...   

 

Im waiting for Hunting Dogs and Arthdal Chronicles 2