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Dorama Recs IV: A New Beginning
This is me, procrastinating on finally starting my Yuletide fic. If I don't get that done soon, finding a beta will be a bitch.
1. Arang and the Magistrate is a drama set in the Joseon era about a ghost named Arang who doesn’t remember her life and is hunted by reapers. She meets a man named Kim Eun Oh, who has come to Arang’s town to look for his missing mother and who can see ghosts. Arang, intending to convince him to help her solve the mystery of her death, arranges for Eun Oh to become the town’s magistrate, and Eun Oh makes a deal with her, because Arang possesses the hair pin he once gave to his mother. Of course, that’s not all there is; the Jade Emperor and the ruler of the underworld play Go, an evil lord rules the city and the mystery around the disappearance of Eun Oh’s mother is far more sinister than it seems at first. I recommend the drama because it is well paced and the unravelling of the mystery and the different characters are a pleasure to watch.
2. A Gentleman’s Dignity is pretty much a straight up romantic comedy about four friends who just turned forty and steadfastly refuse to grow up. Kim Do Jin is a grouchy cynic who runs an architectural firm with his friend Im Tae San. Im Tae San dates Hong Se Ra and along with her housemate Seo Yi Su and another friend, Choi Yun, he plays in an amateur baseball team. Yi Su has been in love with Tae San for a while now, but when Do Jin meets her the first time, he instantly falls for her. She was also the teacher of Tae Sans sister, who is sixteen years younger than the friends and who has been in love with the widowed Yun for her whole life. The last friend, Jeong Rok, has been married for a while now, but still chases after women and his wife threatens to divorce him on an almost weekly basis. I simply adore the character dynamics in this story, which more than makes up for the storyline, which isn’t that unique at first sight.
3. Nice Guy/Innocent Man tells the story of Kang Ma Ru, who has been in love with Han Jae Hee since he was young and who would to anything for her. When Jae Hee murders a man, he takes the blame, but after he gets out of prison Jae Hee has moved on and married an influential business man. To get back at her, Ma Ru starts dating his daughter Seo Eun Gi, who falls in love with him. As Ma Ru slowly develops feelings for her, all three get caught up in the struggle for ownership of the company. This drama is very tense and manages to portray a lot of people who aren’t all that nice while still making them likable. The amnesia storyline puts a bit of a dent in the overall plot, but mostly it is a very tense and suspenseful drama. And the two main actors are doing a really good job.
4. Queen In Hyun’s Man is a time travel drama, which seem to be rather popular this year. Queen In Hyun’s Man is unusual in that the character from the past – Kim Bung Do, the titular queen’s man – travels to the future and back, trying to save the titular queen and himself from the plots of the opposing political party. During his travels to the future he meets Choi Hee Jin, a bubbly actress, who helps him navigate the strange new world, and falls in love with him. The pair then has to work out not only how to save Kim Bung Do and the queen, but also how to have a relationship when you’re separated by three centuries.
5. To the Beautiful You is a Korean adaptation of Hana Kimi and thus about a girl going undercover in a boys’ school in order to help her crush – world famous athlete Kang Tae Jun – with recovering from an injury. It is, well, very sweet and full of eye candy, and based on that, the good pacing and the adorable supporting cast I think it worth watching. I can’t speak for how well it works as an adaptation since I didn’t see/read any of the other versions out there, but if you watch it as a separate series, it works. I wonder if anyone else finished the series and shipped Jang Min Woo and Daniel …
1. Arang and the Magistrate is a drama set in the Joseon era about a ghost named Arang who doesn’t remember her life and is hunted by reapers. She meets a man named Kim Eun Oh, who has come to Arang’s town to look for his missing mother and who can see ghosts. Arang, intending to convince him to help her solve the mystery of her death, arranges for Eun Oh to become the town’s magistrate, and Eun Oh makes a deal with her, because Arang possesses the hair pin he once gave to his mother. Of course, that’s not all there is; the Jade Emperor and the ruler of the underworld play Go, an evil lord rules the city and the mystery around the disappearance of Eun Oh’s mother is far more sinister than it seems at first. I recommend the drama because it is well paced and the unravelling of the mystery and the different characters are a pleasure to watch.
2. A Gentleman’s Dignity is pretty much a straight up romantic comedy about four friends who just turned forty and steadfastly refuse to grow up. Kim Do Jin is a grouchy cynic who runs an architectural firm with his friend Im Tae San. Im Tae San dates Hong Se Ra and along with her housemate Seo Yi Su and another friend, Choi Yun, he plays in an amateur baseball team. Yi Su has been in love with Tae San for a while now, but when Do Jin meets her the first time, he instantly falls for her. She was also the teacher of Tae Sans sister, who is sixteen years younger than the friends and who has been in love with the widowed Yun for her whole life. The last friend, Jeong Rok, has been married for a while now, but still chases after women and his wife threatens to divorce him on an almost weekly basis. I simply adore the character dynamics in this story, which more than makes up for the storyline, which isn’t that unique at first sight.
3. Nice Guy/Innocent Man tells the story of Kang Ma Ru, who has been in love with Han Jae Hee since he was young and who would to anything for her. When Jae Hee murders a man, he takes the blame, but after he gets out of prison Jae Hee has moved on and married an influential business man. To get back at her, Ma Ru starts dating his daughter Seo Eun Gi, who falls in love with him. As Ma Ru slowly develops feelings for her, all three get caught up in the struggle for ownership of the company. This drama is very tense and manages to portray a lot of people who aren’t all that nice while still making them likable. The amnesia storyline puts a bit of a dent in the overall plot, but mostly it is a very tense and suspenseful drama. And the two main actors are doing a really good job.
4. Queen In Hyun’s Man is a time travel drama, which seem to be rather popular this year. Queen In Hyun’s Man is unusual in that the character from the past – Kim Bung Do, the titular queen’s man – travels to the future and back, trying to save the titular queen and himself from the plots of the opposing political party. During his travels to the future he meets Choi Hee Jin, a bubbly actress, who helps him navigate the strange new world, and falls in love with him. The pair then has to work out not only how to save Kim Bung Do and the queen, but also how to have a relationship when you’re separated by three centuries.
5. To the Beautiful You is a Korean adaptation of Hana Kimi and thus about a girl going undercover in a boys’ school in order to help her crush – world famous athlete Kang Tae Jun – with recovering from an injury. It is, well, very sweet and full of eye candy, and based on that, the good pacing and the adorable supporting cast I think it worth watching. I can’t speak for how well it works as an adaptation since I didn’t see/read any of the other versions out there, but if you watch it as a separate series, it works. I wonder if anyone else finished the series and shipped Jang Min Woo and Daniel …