New Kdrama Alert: Marriage without Love (Marriage, Not Dating)

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I don't know what it is about summer, but it makes me want to start a billion romantic comedies. I can't stop! I no sooner finished You Are All Surrounded than I randomly picked up Marriage without Love/Marriage, Not Dating. This is where I draw the line, though! I'm not allowed to start any new dramas until something else ends. I'm falling behind as it is!

I had heard very little about this drama, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because Dramabeans didn't start recapping it until after I started watching. Whatever the case, here's an overview for those of you who, like me, might have missed the memo on this one:

Overview: Marriage without Love stars Yeon Woo Jin (aka the sad murderous guy in Arang and the Magistrate) as Gong Gi Tae, a successful, grumpy plastic surgeon who doesn't want to get married. Han Groo (who it took me a solid three episodes to recognize as the girl from Killer Girl K--maybe because she wasn't dripping with blood?) is Joo Jang Mi, a girl who wants revenge on the guy who broke her heart. Because of some utterly nonsensical reasons, they decide to fake a relationship. Toss in a love hexagon, and you've got the show.

Thoughts so far: Okay, so the plot isn't exactly groundbreaking. In fact, the reasoning for the fake relationship is worse than usual in this one. I get that he wants to keep his house, but seriously. You're a freaking adult. Put on your big boy pants and just say you don't want to get married. 

Even though the entire show is one enormous cliche, I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. The leads have nice, believable chemistry that makes this the perfect throwaway summer show. Han Groo's character could be my worst nightmare, but the actress is pulling it off with just enough attitude to make me like her. I will say, though, that she needs to grow a backbone and start saying no to people pretty soon here. Otherwise, we may end up with a Personal Taste situation on our hands.

The love hexagon is fun for a light comedy. I mean, the less said about Jung Jin Woon's acting, the better (Let's just say that his face is very pretty and leave it at that), but overall, it's a fluffy show that--so far--seems to understand what people want from a fluffy show. I can appreciate that.

P.S. The cold open on episode 6: Clever undermining of audience expectations, or mean writers playing tricks on the audience?

Where to watch Marriage without Love:

Kdrama.com 

Viki

New Dramas: King of High School, Joseon Gunman, and Trot Lovers

I had a chance to spend last Saturday hanging out with a bunch of other K-drama lovers/bloggers who happen to live in my area! Eating delicious Korean food and chatting about K-dramas was delightful. I had no idea that the people I read on the internet actually live near me in real life. Dewaanifordrama did a little write-up about our meeting here. I just have to say how much I enjoy the K-drama community. Whether it's the K-drama lovers I meet in real life or those of you who chat about dramas on the internet, you all make watching dramas worthwhile. Thank you. You're the best drama friends a girl could have.

Now that I've gotten my sentimentality out of the way for the day, it's new drama time! Last drama cycle was kind of a bust for us. Out of all of the options, I was only interested in You Are All Surrounded, and then I picked up Witch's Romance towards the end of its run. Coco and I are more interested in the shows this time around. Here's what we're watching:

King of High School/ High School King of Savvy

This poster. I hate it. But I love the show.
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What it's about: Lee Min Suk (Seo In Guk) is a hotshot high school hockey player. When his hotshot businessman brother disappears the day he's supposed to start a new job, he asks Min Suk to act as his double. Min Suk juggles the stresses of high school and business as hijinks (and, I assume, a noona romance with Lee Ha Na) ensue.

First impressions (episodes 1-4): First of all, can we just agree that High School King of Savvy has got to be one of the least appealing show titles of all time? It sounds simultaneously smarmy and childish. I'm glad that I didn't let the title deter me because I went into episode 1 with reeeeeeeeally low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Seo In Guk is carrying this whole show, no doubt about it. He's amazingly good at playing up the mannerisms of an 18-year-old boy, and I love that his character, while playful and immature, isn't your typical jerkface male lead. He's caring and friendly from the very beginning, which always scores points in my book. I have to admit, though, that I'm just pretending that he's a college student instead of a high school student. I enjoy a good noona romance, but rooting for an older woman to pick up on a high school kid crosses my pervy boundaries. Can we all just agree to pretend he's closer to Seo In Guk's actual age?

I'm a little split on the female lead. She's endearing, but her awkwardness is so over-the-top that it's kind of a cliche at this point. I also can't look at her without seeing this:

I have faith that she will grow on me over the course of the show.

If you're okay with suspending your disbelief of the absurd premise, I would say this is worth a watch for Seo In Guk's performance. And his grandpa.

Where to watch King of High School:

Kdrama.com

Joseon Gunman

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What it's about: At the end of the Joseon era, a sword fighter's son (Lee Joon Ki) must learn to take up the gun in order to get revenge. (Or so I hear. We aren't at the revenge part yet.) He is joined by a young woman (Nam Sang Mi) who fights for enlightenment ideals.

First impressions (episodes 1-2): I'm a sucker for pretty dramas, and this drama is insanely pretty. I'm also a sucker for Lee Jun Ki, so this started out with a stacked deck in my book. Although it might be odd to compare this to King of High School, they're both similar in that they have male leads who start out as immature, but kind and caring. I think the pacing on this drama is pretty smart, as well. We know that the heavy stuff is coming, but they started with some absurdly cute and romantic scenes to carry us through the inevitable melo. I already feel invested in this couple, and it has only been two episodes. As a bonus we already have a cross-dressing drama and forced cohabitation, which happen to be two of my favorite things!

The female lead is interesting. I don't know if the writers did this on purpose, but she's an interesting mix of traditional and assertive. She wants to be a scholar and she sasses anyone who disagrees with her, but she's also kind of damsel-in-distress-ish. Squealing and crying aren't usually my favorite character traits in female leads, but I'm willing to let it slide here because she encapsulates that interesting era of history so well. She's an embodiment of both traditional Korean women and enlightenment ideals. 

Where to watch Joseon Gunman:

DramaFever

Trot Lovers

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What it's about: A superstar (Ji Hyun Woo) falls on hard luck, and, in order to save his career, he must help a young woman who loves traditional trot music (Jung Eunji) become a singer.

First impressions (episodes 1-4): I love both of the leads (and I also like our second male lead, Shin Sung Rok, now that he isn't murdering people), but I'm a little bit worried about the writing after four episodes. The first two episodes were light and fluffy, episode 3 got pretty dark pretty fast, and then episode 4 went back to light and fluffy. I'm happy that they didn't play sexual harassment or suicidality for laughs, but consistency is also important. The tone has been swinging so wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other that I get the sense that these writers aren't quite sure where this train is headed. Let's just hope they don't steer it off of a cliff! 

Where to watch Trot Lovers:

DramaFever

Viki

What are you guys watching? Thoughts so far?