Drama Recs the Fifth, reloaded
2020-07-01 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rodoAll these series are available on Netflix where I live, by the way.
1. Arthdal Chronicles: So, I’m a bit ambivalent about reccing this one. On the one hand, I really love it. On the other, I have to admit that it doesn’t really have anything in the way of a satisfying ending. It does a lot of things that you don’t really see that often, though. It’s a prehistoric fantasy series, for one, that sort of features fictional bronze age and stone age societies that clash with each other, and it really explores what it means for the characters to live in such times. Our hero grew up outside of the titular Arthdal and fights against it after his people are taken as slaves, while the eventual villain (sort of) navigates a tribal system to make himself king.
2. Crash Landing on You: In this series, a rich woman from South Korea ends up landing in North Korea through a paragliding accident. There, she meets a couple of North Korean soldiers who – for plot reasons – have to help her hide and get back home. It’s a really cute series, and I especially enjoyed the portrayal of North Korean society and its mixture of modernity and being a bit backwards (I mean, where else are you going to keep chickens in a high rise flat if not the balcony?), as well as how people deal with living in such a society.
3. Designated Survivor: 60 Days: The adaptation of the US series of the same name. I nope out of the US version after a few episodes, but I really liked this one. It’s well paced, doesn’t spent too much time on a conspiracy that drags on forever or the political drama, and it has a rich cast of major and minor character. I especially enjoyed all the different staff members of the president and the leader of the opposition party, but honestly there isn’t really anything I would say I disliked about this series.
4. Mr Sunshine: This historical series has a great cast of characters, is incredibly well-acted and it deals with an episode in Korean history that I haven’t seen in dramas often yet: the early twentieth century (which, if you know anything about Korean history tells you anything you need to know about how it will end). The main character is a Korean American who ends up embroiled in the power struggles about dominance between the world powers in Korea at the time when he falls in love with a noble born rebel. He was also born a slave, and his rivals include a gangster and the son of a rich family. Against all odds, these three end up becoming friends in the end, which was probably one of my favourite parts of the series.
5. My Secret Terrius: A spy on the run ends up working as a babysitter for his neighbour, and all the shenanigans that includes. If you like tall, gruff men taking care of adorable children, watch this. There’s spy shenanigans too, of course, and a cast of nosy but clueless neighbours, plus the mandatory shady global conspiracy. One highlight is the incredibly well-cast deputy of the NIS who hunts for the hero with all her might, and who manages to look incredibly uncomfortable in just the right moments!
6. Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung: If I had to describe this series in one word, I would say cute. It is low stakes cute fluff, and sometimes, that’s just what you need. It helps that all the characters are lovable in their own right, for once you get two princes who actually genuinely love each other instead of being rivals for the throne, and the historians fight for their rights not with swords but with words. If you want to watch something that is both engaging and soothing at the same time, watch this series. Seriously.
1. Arthdal Chronicles: So, I’m a bit ambivalent about reccing this one. On the one hand, I really love it. On the other, I have to admit that it doesn’t really have anything in the way of a satisfying ending. It does a lot of things that you don’t really see that often, though. It’s a prehistoric fantasy series, for one, that sort of features fictional bronze age and stone age societies that clash with each other, and it really explores what it means for the characters to live in such times. Our hero grew up outside of the titular Arthdal and fights against it after his people are taken as slaves, while the eventual villain (sort of) navigates a tribal system to make himself king.
2. Crash Landing on You: In this series, a rich woman from South Korea ends up landing in North Korea through a paragliding accident. There, she meets a couple of North Korean soldiers who – for plot reasons – have to help her hide and get back home. It’s a really cute series, and I especially enjoyed the portrayal of North Korean society and its mixture of modernity and being a bit backwards (I mean, where else are you going to keep chickens in a high rise flat if not the balcony?), as well as how people deal with living in such a society.
3. Designated Survivor: 60 Days: The adaptation of the US series of the same name. I nope out of the US version after a few episodes, but I really liked this one. It’s well paced, doesn’t spent too much time on a conspiracy that drags on forever or the political drama, and it has a rich cast of major and minor character. I especially enjoyed all the different staff members of the president and the leader of the opposition party, but honestly there isn’t really anything I would say I disliked about this series.
4. Mr Sunshine: This historical series has a great cast of characters, is incredibly well-acted and it deals with an episode in Korean history that I haven’t seen in dramas often yet: the early twentieth century (which, if you know anything about Korean history tells you anything you need to know about how it will end). The main character is a Korean American who ends up embroiled in the power struggles about dominance between the world powers in Korea at the time when he falls in love with a noble born rebel. He was also born a slave, and his rivals include a gangster and the son of a rich family. Against all odds, these three end up becoming friends in the end, which was probably one of my favourite parts of the series.
5. My Secret Terrius: A spy on the run ends up working as a babysitter for his neighbour, and all the shenanigans that includes. If you like tall, gruff men taking care of adorable children, watch this. There’s spy shenanigans too, of course, and a cast of nosy but clueless neighbours, plus the mandatory shady global conspiracy. One highlight is the incredibly well-cast deputy of the NIS who hunts for the hero with all her might, and who manages to look incredibly uncomfortable in just the right moments!
6. Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung: If I had to describe this series in one word, I would say cute. It is low stakes cute fluff, and sometimes, that’s just what you need. It helps that all the characters are lovable in their own right, for once you get two princes who actually genuinely love each other instead of being rivals for the throne, and the historians fight for their rights not with swords but with words. If you want to watch something that is both engaging and soothing at the same time, watch this series. Seriously.
