Korean TV series, April 2024
Monday, 8 April 2024 15:33Here are the TV shows I've watched since January:
Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023)
This stars one of my favourite actresses, Shin Hye-sun, as a fashion photographer whose life falls apart; she returns to her childhood island where she meets up with her childhood friend, now a weather forecaster after his mother died in bad weather. Nice romance, and some good subplots with other characters.
My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010)
An aspiring action star accidentally releases a magical gumiho, a nine-tailed fox, and she gives him her fox bead that enhances his physical abilities, while she wants to become human. The story is amusing enough, but the male lead is a bit of a bastard at first, and the meat-loving gumiho is a little dim.
My Demon (2023)
This was a lot of fun. An heiress (played by a ridiculously talented Kim Yoo-jung - she's 24, and has done 24 movies and 33 TV series!!!) makes a marriage contract with a demon who has lost his powers; he helps her against her predatory family, while she, by proximity, helps him with his powers. This series has some really nice k-pop songs in the soundtrack.
Abyss (2019)
This was so entertaining! A wealthy but unattractive man is accidentally killed by aliens. They revive him with a device called Abyss, but it revives him with looks matching his soul; he is suddenly tall and handsome. The model-like woman he's always liked but who rejected him is murdered by a serial killer; he revives her with Abyss, but she is revived is a short, cute woman (in fact, a clone of a local lawyer); she's not happy, of course. They have to somehow track down the serial killer (oops, he got revived too!) while negotiating looks that don't match their official identities, especially when the lawyer who looked identical comes back to Korea...after major plastic surgery. Lots of fun.
Forest (2020)
A doctor is sent out to a rural hospital in a forest, close to an emergency response unit. A financier with childhood trauma who runs an acquisitions company wants to develop the forest area as a resort, so he goes undercover in the response team to see how to persuade them to relocate, and he ends up renting part of the house the attractive doctor is renting. There are, of course, lots of background issues in the area, and financial machinations. It was amusing that both leads were left-handed; I knew about Jo-Bo-ah, she's been in a few series I've enjoyed). It was interesting, but did drag on a little, I thought.
Doona! (2023)
A beautiful but troubled k-pop idol takes up residence in a shared house and strikes up a relationship with an engineering student there. The female lead, Bae Suzy, was in fact a k-pop star turned actress. The series is short and sweet, but a little frustrating and meandering at points.
Doctor Slump (2024)
This was such a good series. A brilliant plastic surgeon, Yeo Jeong-woo, has a patient die on the operating table, and his life is destroyed; he's forced to move in to a cheap rooftop flat. He discovered that his downstairs neighbour is Nam Ha-neul (played by the always-excellent Park Shin-hye), a brilliant anaesthesiologist; she has resigned from her work suffering from severe burnout and depression. The two of them were high school rivals, but but they start coming together to help each other. I really enjoyed this. Great characters and a good story.
Queen of Divorce (2024)
Kim Sa-ra, a lawyer, is framed by her wealthy husband, and goes to prison. When she's released, she starts a company that focuses on divorce, while she struggles to get access to her son. She gets Dong-Ki-joon (played by Kang Ki-young, who I've seen as a supporting actor in heaps of series, including one I'm watching at the moment), a lawyer, to help her, and they start liking each other while solving peoples' marriage problems and getting to the root of her husband's evil deeds (and his mother's!). Lots of fun.
Hi Bye, Mama! (2020)
I watched this on a whim, and was absolutely hooked! Cha Yu-ri died in a tragic accident the day before she was due to give birth; her baby was saved. She spends the next 5 years as a ghost, watching her husband fall apart, watching her daughter grow up but fall behind her peers, watching the pain her parents and her best friend suffer. Finally, angrily, she curses the gods, and she becomes mortal again...except she has 49 days to get back to her place in the world, or she gets taken up to heaven. Her husband has remarried...but his new wife loves Yu-ri's daughter, and does her best for her, and is a good person. Her husband, a surgeon, has PTSD, and can't do operations anymore (he was busy with a surgery when his dying wife was brought in). Then there are the group of ghosts who all have their own tragic stories. The series makes one think about the pain one leaves behind, and what you make of your life before you die. It was thought-provoking, and sweet. I loved this series so much.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heatherbubbles , watch this! Something a bit sad was that the actress who played Yu-ri's younger sister died a couple of years ago of unspecified causes. :(
I'm currently watching Queen for Seven Days, and Doom at your Service.
Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023)
This stars one of my favourite actresses, Shin Hye-sun, as a fashion photographer whose life falls apart; she returns to her childhood island where she meets up with her childhood friend, now a weather forecaster after his mother died in bad weather. Nice romance, and some good subplots with other characters.
My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010)
An aspiring action star accidentally releases a magical gumiho, a nine-tailed fox, and she gives him her fox bead that enhances his physical abilities, while she wants to become human. The story is amusing enough, but the male lead is a bit of a bastard at first, and the meat-loving gumiho is a little dim.
My Demon (2023)
This was a lot of fun. An heiress (played by a ridiculously talented Kim Yoo-jung - she's 24, and has done 24 movies and 33 TV series!!!) makes a marriage contract with a demon who has lost his powers; he helps her against her predatory family, while she, by proximity, helps him with his powers. This series has some really nice k-pop songs in the soundtrack.
Abyss (2019)
This was so entertaining! A wealthy but unattractive man is accidentally killed by aliens. They revive him with a device called Abyss, but it revives him with looks matching his soul; he is suddenly tall and handsome. The model-like woman he's always liked but who rejected him is murdered by a serial killer; he revives her with Abyss, but she is revived is a short, cute woman (in fact, a clone of a local lawyer); she's not happy, of course. They have to somehow track down the serial killer (oops, he got revived too!) while negotiating looks that don't match their official identities, especially when the lawyer who looked identical comes back to Korea...after major plastic surgery. Lots of fun.
Forest (2020)
A doctor is sent out to a rural hospital in a forest, close to an emergency response unit. A financier with childhood trauma who runs an acquisitions company wants to develop the forest area as a resort, so he goes undercover in the response team to see how to persuade them to relocate, and he ends up renting part of the house the attractive doctor is renting. There are, of course, lots of background issues in the area, and financial machinations. It was amusing that both leads were left-handed; I knew about Jo-Bo-ah, she's been in a few series I've enjoyed). It was interesting, but did drag on a little, I thought.
Doona! (2023)
A beautiful but troubled k-pop idol takes up residence in a shared house and strikes up a relationship with an engineering student there. The female lead, Bae Suzy, was in fact a k-pop star turned actress. The series is short and sweet, but a little frustrating and meandering at points.
Doctor Slump (2024)
This was such a good series. A brilliant plastic surgeon, Yeo Jeong-woo, has a patient die on the operating table, and his life is destroyed; he's forced to move in to a cheap rooftop flat. He discovered that his downstairs neighbour is Nam Ha-neul (played by the always-excellent Park Shin-hye), a brilliant anaesthesiologist; she has resigned from her work suffering from severe burnout and depression. The two of them were high school rivals, but but they start coming together to help each other. I really enjoyed this. Great characters and a good story.
Queen of Divorce (2024)
Kim Sa-ra, a lawyer, is framed by her wealthy husband, and goes to prison. When she's released, she starts a company that focuses on divorce, while she struggles to get access to her son. She gets Dong-Ki-joon (played by Kang Ki-young, who I've seen as a supporting actor in heaps of series, including one I'm watching at the moment), a lawyer, to help her, and they start liking each other while solving peoples' marriage problems and getting to the root of her husband's evil deeds (and his mother's!). Lots of fun.
Hi Bye, Mama! (2020)
I watched this on a whim, and was absolutely hooked! Cha Yu-ri died in a tragic accident the day before she was due to give birth; her baby was saved. She spends the next 5 years as a ghost, watching her husband fall apart, watching her daughter grow up but fall behind her peers, watching the pain her parents and her best friend suffer. Finally, angrily, she curses the gods, and she becomes mortal again...except she has 49 days to get back to her place in the world, or she gets taken up to heaven. Her husband has remarried...but his new wife loves Yu-ri's daughter, and does her best for her, and is a good person. Her husband, a surgeon, has PTSD, and can't do operations anymore (he was busy with a surgery when his dying wife was brought in). Then there are the group of ghosts who all have their own tragic stories. The series makes one think about the pain one leaves behind, and what you make of your life before you die. It was thought-provoking, and sweet. I loved this series so much.
heatherbubbles , watch this! Something a bit sad was that the actress who played Yu-ri's younger sister died a couple of years ago of unspecified causes. :(I'm currently watching Queen for Seven Days, and Doom at your Service.