Soyong dreamed of warm summer nights. The paper lanterns were hung around the gazebo with a great view of the mountains against the starry night sky. She sat on the cushion with her gayageum on her lap playing her father’s favorite melody. Her dad as always proudly praised her skills and her orabeoni Kim Byeong-in smiled nodding in agreement. The next melody Soyong has chosen to play is for him, something very difficult so she can impress him even more.
Continue readingAuthor: orladark
The Royal Tango
AU where Kim Soyong comes back to Joseon from the 21st century and discovers that everyone knew she was away, her family is punished for their bad deeds and her father is under home arrest. Facing new challenges, Soyong must find a way to save herself and her father from the King’s vengeance. But she doesn’t know that the King’s perception of her also changed.
Continue readingEvillive: ep1-2 opinion
The new ENA’s drama “Evillive” tells the story of a humble lawyer Han Dong Soo (Shin Ha Kyun). He visits prisoners that don’t have any lawyers and represents them. They often laugh at him for it because he takes the “scraps”: cases no one wants to bother with. His wife works in the supermarket, and he takes care of his niece and pays hospital bills for his mother who has Alzheimer’s. His half-brother doesn’t have much in life as well: he works in a store where he sells second-hand computers or tries to fix them. He comes up with cases for his brother for a little percentage.
Continue readingA Good Day to Be a Dog: ep1-2 opinion
“A Good Day to Be a Dog” is MBC’s new Wednesday drama and tells a story about school teacher Han Hae Na (Park Gyu Young) who suffers from a curse that her family has been having since the Joseon era. If she kisses a guy then for the 100 days she will turn into a dog at midnight and return to her human form only at 6 am. The curse could be broken if the same person kisses her in her dog form again, proving that their feelings are real. But she has only 100 days for this; if she fails, she will have to continue living as a dog.
Continue readingMy dearest: Part 1
Look out for your hearts because this Korean drama will break them and let the pieces ache as crazy. “My Dearest” is MBC’s 2 part drama set in Joseon’s dynasty during the Qing invasion (Jan. 3, 1637 to Feb. 24, 1637). For 10 episodes of part 1, we will see horrendous times of invasion and its results, all that with the main lead trying and failing to be together. Hearts were broken, women and men died, and tons of tears were fallen but this masterpiece drama is worth every single tear. All that with the complicated love story between a noble Lady Gil Chae and a scoundrel-like man Jang Hyun playing out.
The drama is loosely based on the American book (and very popular old Hollywood movie) “Gone with the Wind”. While some plot points were borrowed, Koreans made the drama and characters original enough to stand out on their own. I read the book once and watched the movie a lot but it was a long time ago. However, in this review, I will refer to it to point out similarities and changes.
Read the rest only if you watched already or don’t mind spoilers.
Continue readingChapter 33: Mr. Jang
When Jang Bong Hwan woke up in his own body at the peak of the critical moment, he couldn’t believe fate decided to joke with him in that way. First, when he slipped into the Joseon era against his will. And the second time, when he was yanked out of there, once again against his will.
Nothing regarding Joseon ever went his way and coming home felt like a real curse.
Continue readingChapter 32: The Royal Family’s Greetings
When Wonbeom decides something he becomes unstoppable…and maybe a bit too diligent. At least this is what his wife told him at one point in her second pregnancy. She had asked him to go all in and not skip anything related to the prenatal activities, but she still ended up complaining he had overdone it. His never-consistent wife sometimes reminds him of a cat, one that asks for a pat and then bites the hand.
Continue readingChapter 31: Made of white jade
Wonbeom’s excitement about having another baby is so adorable that it seems like no one in the palace has the immunity to resist his enthusiasm.
Every single day he and Soyong talk about babies. With each other. With friends. With attendants. With Hyun-ki, who doesn’t understand a word, but nonetheless smiles happily seeing his parents so delighted.
Continue readingSee you in my 19th life: opinion on ep3-4
The story of Ban Ji Eum continues as she’s getting closer to her beloved Mun Seo Ha. She meets and bonds with her sister from a previous life and even gets a glimpse of her mother, learning how terribly hard all her lives were regarding family. Understandably, she refuses to meet her past families because she was hurt the very first time she was reborn. How cruel it is to be rejected by her own mother (that little girl with a mom from ep2 was actually her and her mom, not she as a mom with her child like I mistakenly thought) and how a little boy had to cope with it at very early ages of Korea with no help.
Continue readingSee you in my 19th life: opinion on ep1-2
The new TVN series on Netflix tells the story of Ban Ji Eum, a girl who remembers all her previous 18 lives, and Mun Seo Ha, a guy she met in her previous life and wants to protect. The story has a unique perspective of someone experiencing the continuation of their story while for other characters this story is a new one. Ji Eum already knows Seo Ha and his story, she doesn’t need this dive-in as if their story just started. However, for Seo Ha it’s all new and he needs time to know her better. When people start their communication on this different level it gives a very interesting dynamic. Quite fast Seo Ha remembered a 9yo girl who helped him and proposed at the first meeting, so I think it won’t be long before he realizes she’s the reincarnation of Jun Won.
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