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love-me-a-lotta-whump · 4 months

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이재, 곧 죽습니다 - Death’s Game - Whump List - 🇰🇷

Whumpees: 최이재 (Choi Lee Jae) played by 서인국 (Seo In Guk) // 박진태 (Park Jin Tae) played by 최시원 (Choi Si Won) // 송재섭 (Song Jae Seob) played by 성훈 (Seong Hoon) // 조태상 (Jo Tae Sang) played by 이재욱 (Lee Jae Wook) // 장건우 (Jang Geon Woo) played by 이도현 (Lee Do Hyun) // 정규철 (Jeong Gyu Cheol) played by 김재욱 (Kim Jae Wook)

Synopsis: Burdened by societal pressures, Choi Yi Jae decides to take his own life. Insulted by his flippant attitude towards dying, Death comes to punish him with her game: he must experience death over and over again through 13 other lives. (MDL)

Genre/Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Revenge, Shot, Stabbed, Torture, Emeto

Watch On: Amazon Prime, DramaCool, KissAsian

⚠️CAUTION: This drama is heavily themed around s**cide and to an extent mental health, if this is a difficult topic for you please scroll or proceed with caution⚠️

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW

최이재 (Choi Lee Jae)

1.01 : kneeling, shaking, crying, gagging, sobbing, at gunpoint, shot in the head ::: falling ::: scared, concerned for someone, grabbed, scared, backing away in fear ::: in shock, shaking, near tears, anxious ::: in shock, sobbing ::: emotional ::: crying, emotional ::: crying ::: committing s**cide ::: held by his throat over a drop, thrown ::: woke up screaming, threatened, scared, sobbing, gagging, crying, shot in the head, fell

1.02 : woke up startled, crying, shot ::: bullied (sorta), fought ::: woke up in pain, thrown, face stepped on

1.03 : woke up angry, shot ::: (flashbacks: committing s**cide, in Hell) ::: woke up crying, shot

1.04 : emotional, crying ::: woke up crying, angry

1.05 : sobbing, angry ::: gagging ::: angry, shot

1.06 : shot (multiple times throughout episode) ::: crying

1.07 : shot (multiple times throughout episode)

1.08 : sobbing

박진태 (Park Jin Tae)

1.01 : woke up, scared ::: woke up thrashing and scared, threatened, crying, scared ::: anxious ::: in a plane crash, burned to death

송재섭 (Song Jae Seob)

1.01 : free falling, scared ::: free falling, died (semi comical)

조태상 (Jo Tae Sang)

1.03 : fought, manhandled ::: threatened, angry ::: saw blade shot at him, concerned for someone, surrounded (ambushed kinda?), fought ::: emotional ::: sobbing ::: stabbed, kicked, fell, bleeding, (short break), emotional, stabbed multiple times, bleeding out, crying, slowly losing consciousness, died

장건우 (Jang Geon Woo)

1.04 : nearly hit by a car ::: drunk, half collapsed, blackout drunk ::: asleep, woken up ::: cut his hand ::: panicked, manhandled, heavy breathing ::: hand bandaged, emotional, crying ::: crying, feeling guilty, crying ::: sobbing ::: emotional, hit over the head with a sign, collapsed, woke up startled ::: emotional, crying, hit by a car, collapsed, bleeding, struggling to breathe, bloody, suffocated, died

1.05 : (flashbacks: bleeding, dying)

정규철 (Jeong Gyu Cheol)

1.05 : fought ::: nosebleed, collapsed ::: told he’s dying ::: punched, fought, shot at, shot, collapsed, fought ::: passed out, woke up restrained (restraints) on a table, tortured to death

1.06 : restrained (restraints) on a table, in a lot of pain, shaky breathing

———+———

MORE WHUMP LISTS >>> {x}

#whump #asian whump #whump list #whumplist #asianwhump #kdrama #kwhump #death’s game #이재 곧 죽습니다

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eohachu · 2 years

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[ID: 8 gifs from the kdrama “tomorrow”. gif 1: an elderly, elegantly dressed woman, yoo bok hui, is cleaning the statue of a sitting girl. it is the Statue of Peace in seoul, commemorating the comfort women. gif 2: a japanese imperial soldier shoots a girl who is off screen. a group of girls, sitting on the loading area of a pick-up truck, startle and cover their ears with their hands. the scene cuts to young lee jeong mun shivering in fear. gif 3: jeong mun sitting on a bed. she fidgets with her fingers, then covers her legs with her skirt. she has wounds on her face and hands. gif 4: a close up jeong mun’s left hand. on it is a tattoo reading ‘joseon whore’ in japanese. she quickly covers it up with her sleeve. her voiceover reads: “the look of contempt i received from the people in my village... their words were sharper than daggers. that hurt more than being kicked by the imperial japanese soldiers.” gif 5: a close up of elderly jeong mun’s left hand, showing the same tattoo. gif 6: a sequence from an actual historical moment when kim hak sun talked on tv in 1991 about being forced to become a comfort woman. she says, “It’s too overwhelming, I can’t speak. I didn’t know anything, and they dragged me in. They ripped my clothes off just to satisfy their urges and did whatever they wanted and I couldn’t bear it.” gif 7: jeong mun lying on a hospital bed. she says, “what i... what we want isn’t such a difficult thing. to admit the atrocities they had committed and make it clear to the world. to formally apologize for that fact.” gif 8: choi jun woong kneeling in front of the Statue of Peace. he says to the girl, “i promise to remember. i promise.” /end ID]

14 August - International Memorial Day for Comfort Women

↳ Tomorrow (2022), dir. Kim Tae Yoon, Sung Chi Wook. Episode 13

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mystarmyangel · 8 months

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[HOT-THEQOO] TOP 5 best female acting idols selected by 31 industry experts

StarNews conducted a survey with 31 industry experts, including representatives of entertainment management companies and production companies (each expert to select 2 male and female), to select the acting idol with the most active performance this year and whose performance are most anticipated in the future.

5th place: Kim Sejeong (5 votes) (Latest works: The Uncanny Counter 2/Today’s Webtoon/Business Proposal) 4th place: Nana (7 votes) (Latest works: Mask Girl/Confession/Glitch) 3rd place: Suzy (9 votes) (Latest works: Anna/Start-Up/Ashfall) 2nd place: IU (11 votes) (Latest works: Dream/Broker/Hotel Del Luna) 1st place: YoonA (13 votes) (Latest works: King The Land/Big Mouth/Confidential Assignment 2)

■List of survey participants (in alphabetical order)

Kwon Jae Young, CEO of A9 Media ● Kim Nam Hyung, CEO of GF Entertainment ● Kim Yong Seop, Managing Director of FNC Entertainment ● Kim Jong Do, CEO of Namoo Actors ● Kim Jiwon, CRO of SM Entertainment ● Kim Hyeong Gon, Director of P Nation ● Noh Hyun Tae, CEO of iNKODE ● Park Hee Young, Vice President of MLD Entertainment ● Bang Jae Hyuk, Director of KQ Entertainment ● Bae Ki Hwan, Director of Tango Music ● Baek Chang Joo, CEO of C-JeS Studios ● Seong Hyun Soo, CEO of Noon ● Yang Hyun Seung, CEO of UL Entertainment ● Yeon Han Jun, Director of THINK Entertainment ● Oh Jong Heon, Production Division 2 Head of IST Entertainment ● Yoo Hyeong Seok, CEO of Yooborn Company ● Lee Sang Cheol, CEO of In Next Trend ● Lee In Gyu, Head of Division of Antenna ● Lee Jin Sung, CEO of King Kong by. Starship ● Lee Hae Jong, Director of DSP Media ● Lee Hoon Hee, CEO of Starship Entertainment ● Lim Seung Chae, Vice President of WM Entertainment ● Jang Doo Bong, CEO of Story J Company ● Jeong Deok Gyun, CEO of J Wide Company ● Jeong Wook, CEO of JYP Entertainment ● Cho Dae Kwon, CEO of Alien Company ● Jin Jeong Kyun, Director of GLG ● Tak Young Jun, COO of SM Entertainment ● Han Jeong Soo, CEO of Mystic Story ● Heo Seong Moon, Director of Media Lab SISO ● Heo Jae Ok, Head of Division of Cube Entertainment.

At time of posting 14 Sep 6pm KST: 47K views, 271 comments (Will only translate comments relating to YoonA)

2. Look at YoonA’s latest projects line-up, everything is going well for her ㅋㅋㅋ 7. All are doing really wellㅋㅋ 8. I thought YoonA wasn’t good at acting when she was Saebyuk (in her first lead drama ‘You Are My Destiny’) but these days her acting is really good. Not just as an acting idol, but she's just good at it (acting). ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I thought IU was good since the drama ‘Pretty Man’ that starred Jang Geunsuk, and for Suzy, Anna, is the best... 9. I watched YoonA well in ‘King The Land’ ㅋㅋ She was a perfect fit ㅋㅋ 11. What? These are all the people I like!!!!! Everyone is pretty and their acting is great. By the way, Yoona's recent works are crazy, they're all successful ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 12. YoonA was so cute in ‘King The Land’ and her acting is so good ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 13. I watched all three of YoonA's latest projects. They were all good. So good. ㅋㅋㅋㅋShe is soaring especially in ‘King The Land’. 15. YoonA is also good at acting and is building up her filmography well. 16. Wow, just look at YoonA’s recent works ㅋㅋ 17. YoonA is really good at comical acting

19. YoonA, you acted so well, so natural ㅋㅋㅋ I'm looking forward to your next work. 20. I’m convinced (I agree) ㅋㅋㅋㅋEveryone's acting is good, and YoonA's batting score (percentage of her success rate) is especially good lately. 22. Wow, it looks like there aren't any (i)dols to remove (meaning OP agrees with all on the list). But it is surprising that Jung Eunji and Sooyoung aren't here.. I guess it's because there are a lot of female idols who are good at acting. 26. YoonA acted so well in ‘King the Land’ㅋㅋㅋ 27. Wow, 1st place for both men and women are ‘King The Land’ male and female leads ㅋㅋㅋ 28. It's freaking that both YoonA’s dramas and movies did well. The line-up of her recent works is insane ㅋㅋㅋ 30. YoonA’s latest works line-up are insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 31. Yoona’s career is insaneㅋㅋ 32. It’s the same with male idol rankings, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places are the ones that always come up when acting idols are mentioned ㅇㅇ 33. YoonA's works line-up is insane 34. I really enjoyed watching Yoong’s ‘King The Land’, it’s my life drama ㅠ 35. Only the people who should have been chosen were chosen. 36. Nodding (in approval) ㅋㅋ 39. Oh, there are all these people who I thought they were good ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 40. They all act well... 41. Agreed 42. They are all good at acting and pretty 44. Her latest work ‘King The Land’, ‘Big Mouth’, ‘Confidential Assignment’ shivering (because of the awesome line-up) 45. YoonA's acting was really good in ‘King The Land’. She was just like Cheon Sarang herself👍 47. It feels like the differences in acting skills among the actresses aren't that big. The 5 people seem to be famous enough to be in the top 5 in terms of influence and reputation. 48. Do well, everyone 49. YoonA is really good 50. I acknowledged 51. They are all well-known faces. 52. I saw YoonA for the first time through ‘King The Land’ and she was really good. 57. YoonA was really good in ‘King The Land’. 63. I clicked in the article shouting ‘YoonA’ 65. Lim Yoona's latest work is insane...;; 68. These are all people I like 69. The votes are more evenly distributed here, so the difference in votes is not that big... The male idols were overwhelming. 71. I came in thinking YoonA would be here, but she ended up in first place ㅋㅋㅋ. 72. (Comment deleted at time of translation) 74. YoonA's acting in ‘The K2’, IU’s in ‘My Mister’, and Suzy's in ‘Anna’ were really, really good. I'm curious about the acting of this three people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. 76. But this was released yesterday morning and suddenly both articles (male and female) came out as ‘hot’ topics. 79. To be honest, I was sad because I thought YoonA's (drama) filmography was bad, but these days, everything is really good.. ㅜㅜ And the movie filmography is good too. 80. I acknowledge everyone in this article, but it's a shame that Jung Eunji, Han Sunhwa and Sooyoung weren’t included. I really enjoyed Sooyoung's ‘Not Others’. 85. YoonA seems to choose her works well. 88. (Comment deleted at time of translation)

90. Lim Yoona’s form is crazy!!!!!!! 92. (replied to 69th comment) Oh, it looks like they got votes from all over. Female acting idols are also good at acting. 94. Oh, they are all good actors ㅋㅋㅋI also liked Jung Eunji, Sooyoung and Sojin ㅋㅋ 100. YoonA, IU and Suzy's singing and acting careers are all top notch 101. I acknowledged all of them 105. I thought about Bona, but the acting idols in the article are all very good 106. I also thought about YoonA's ‘EXIT’, but it is not her most recent work. 107. I enjoyed everything YoonA has released recently. 108. I came in the article thinking of YoonA. 109. YoonA❤️ I like her very much 112. King-jeong (t/l note: It is a slang to of 킹 (king)+ 인정 (agreed), to describe being full agreement of something) 113. I approved 115. YoonA’s recent career seems really good 117. Approved approved. 119. YoonA and IU, king-jeong. I want to watch Suzy’s drama, why isn’t it coming out yet? 120. We selected the acting idols who showed the greatest success this year and who we are looking forward to in the future. ----------------------- This is the survey topic. 121. I think YoonA’s career is so good 122. I heard about ‘King The Land’ being a huge hit on Netflix and ‘Big Mouth’ also did well, hence it is a back-to-back hit. 125. I acknowledged it 127. (replied to 120th comment) It is in the text ㅋㅋ 128. As expected, YoonA! 129. Ah, YoonA’s acting is good. 130. I acknowledge all of them 131. Approved 132. Ah, I approved of everyone listed here 133. YoonA is good 134. YoonA seems to be in good form these days. Personally, I think Suzy’s ‘Anna’ was the best ever, so I hope Suzy do another such genreㅠㅠ 135. Good 136. Approved 137. I acknowledged everyone listed here, there are people who I am disappointed that they are not on the list, but there is also no one in the list that I objected too. 138. YoonA’s filmography is good. All her works are very good, and she acts very well too. 140. Everyone's form is good, but the acting skills of the female idols are ambiguous. 141. I like YoonA so much 143. (Replied to 140th comment) What?;; As expected, all the malicious commenters are like sh*t. All the 5 females here have a besting acting of their life for at least once, so what are you talking about? 144. Yes 147. IU and Nana are good. No, all the 5 people listed here are goodㅋㅋㅋ 148. For the female acting idols, the votes are considered more evenly distributed. 149. (Replied to 140th comment) ? 152. I’m looking forward to YoonA’s movies and dramas doing well. I’m also curious about the ‘2 O’clock Date’! 153. I agreed with all listed in the article, Nana’s acting is really good. 156. I like Lim YoonA to the point of dying ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ 157. King-jeong 158. YoonA is good. I thought her acting was good after watching her works recently 160. YoonA is so likeable these days. I've seen all of her recent works. Now, she is a ‘trust and treasure’ actress.

161. Wow, all of them are K-pop talent. 163.The 1st place for both male and female are Junho and YoonA, ‘King The Land’ couple is really good ㅠㅠ I hope they both do better. The chemistry was good, and their acting was good in ‘King The Land’ 167. King-jeong to all on the list

168. Wow, 1st place is YoonA, congrats congrats!! 169. The movies and dramas YoonA starred in, all received great success, so amazing 171. I clicked in the article shouting YoonA ㅋㅋㅋㅋI hope things go smoothly~ 175. YoonA deserves the 1st place. Her drama and movie careers are all good. 176. Regardless of her career, Yoona really showed off her acting chops with her ‘Confidential Assignment’ and ‘EXIT’, and she did well in King the Land as well. Nana and Kim Sejeong are rather unexpected, and I think Han Sunhwa or Jung Eunji are better. 178. All of them have improved a lot in their acting so it’s even better 180. I feel like all the idols mentioned in the original text and Sooyoung and Eunji are good at acting. 185. YoonA 189. YoonA has a good way of choosing projects ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 191. These are the actors who were active 'this year', but it seems like it includes only those who can be included... YoonA did well in ‘King The Land, and IU and Suzy are the queens of immense popularity who respond right away in surveys like this even if they didn't have any hit films or activities this year. (Just like stars who are ranked even if they are inactive that year when Gallup selects the best OO of the year...) Nana becomes popular because of ‘Mask Girl’ recently. 193. YoonA! 194. Even though Nana is really good, I recognize all 5 people there. 196. (Comment deleted at time of translation) 197. YoonA was such a perfect fit for ‘King The Land’ this time, so pretty 198. I'm waiting for YoonA's next work 200. YoonA! 201. Acknowledged acknowledged 204. I agreed with all the line-up here 205. Waiting for YoonA's next work 208. Line-up approved... 209. No, initially I thought how could Sejeong be in 5th place only, but as I scrolled lower (to reveal the top 4), the more I understood. 212. I only saw YoonA's works for a few seconds in passing, so I had the prejudice that I couldn't get into the character because I heard YoonA's voice that I used to hear.. I recently watched Exit belatedly and was so surprised that it turns out okay. I finally understand why her movies are so successful and how she gets casted so consistently. 214. YoonA is good! Han Sunhwa too!! 215. YoonA is really good 216. Even though I’m not a fan of all five of them, I acknowledged. 217. Oh.. everyone who are good are gathered here 218. Soshi is YoonA, but I was also surprised that Sooyoung was better at acting than I thoughtㅋㅋ 219. ‘King The Land’ influence is huge. Both sides (male and female) came in first place 220. YoonA is really good ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I watched ‘Big Mouth’ and ‘King The Land’ recently, and she did well in both dramas. YoonA would be a perfect match for a little bit of ‘Big Mouth’ – ‘King the Land’ – ‘EXIT’, a bright, cheerful, confident and u undaunted not in a villain way character 221. The experts voted but there are people here trying to start a fight so ridiculousㅋ What is it? ㅋㅋㅋ 224. They are all good 225. YoonA’s latest line-up projects are really awesome ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

226, Everyone are gathered here, they are all good 227. Oh, YoonA approved 229. Really, YoonA is really good. I think she has star quality, good screen control, and acting skills. 231. If its YoonA, its king-jeong. 232. YoonA is building up her filmography for movies and dramas well. Her acting in ‘Confidential Assignment’, ‘Big Mouth’, ‘King the Land’ were really good. I admit her acting in ‘Miracle’ was also really good. 233. (Replied to 232nd comment) All same as you and ‘EXIT’ too!! 235. Oh my, YoonA's acting was really good. 236. YoonA, approved 238. Agreed 239. YoonA, approved approved 240. YoonA, approved 241. YoonA, I really enjoyed ‘King The Land’. So lovely ㅠ 243. Hehehe YoonA>< 244. All are good 245. Acknowledged 246. YoonA, approved 248. YoonA, approved 249. Oh, they are all good. And popular too. 258. Even if there are people who should be added in, but there aren’t people that should be removed. I went ‘King-jeong King-jeong’ while scrolling down the list. 259. I watched every project of YoonA that comes out after ‘EXIT’. Really, she is good at acting in both movies and dramas. 260. Agreed 261. It's a shame that YoonA keeps getting underestimated because of the disgusting keyboard warriors. 263. I clicked in thinking of YoonA. 264. Didn’t YoonA filmed a drama in the early days of her debut, she did really well in that too. 265. Agreed, YoonA and Suzy are good at acting 266. YoonA and Suzy are both good at acting 267. Agreed 268. YoonA did really well 269. Agreed for all 270. When will YoonA's next work come out ㅠㅠ I want to see it soon 271. YoonA has become someone that can be trust and treasure (to watch). I am waiting for her next work.

Source: TheQoo Trans: mystarmyangel

#YoonA #Trans #TheQoo

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coreancitizen · 1 year

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2022 Year in Review: My Korean drama recommendations

2022 went by so quickly, and I think that's partly because almost every week I had new episodes of shows to look forward to. I'm a bit of a contradiction: I don't have the patience to wait for a new show to be completed so I could binge it, but I (maybe not-so) patiently wait for episodes every week, haha. TBH, I find I'm more invested in a show and its characters when I watch a drama weekly. And there were so many characters worth the investment in 2022: Woo Young Woo, Queen Im Hwa Ryeong, the Oh sisters, Kim Yumi, Jin Do Jun and Jang Uk, to name a few.

I just want to make clear that, as in previous years, this is by no means a list of the best Korean dramas of 2022. These are merely my favorites among the ones I watched that premiered in 2022 (or ended in 2022).

You can find my previous roundups here:

2021: Year in Review 2020: Year in Review

YUMI'S CELLS 2

New season means new love for Kim Yumi (Kim Go Eun) as she begins a romance with co-worker Yoo Babi following her breakup with video game designer Goo Woong. TBH, I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about the new pairing — I have a soft spot for Ahn Bo Hyun — but Jinyoung charmed me even before the series started. He and Go Eun have a sweet and natural chemistry that made me root for Yumi and Babi, even knowing how the relationship ended in the webtoon. Another thing I love about the series is its portrayal of Yumi's pursuit of her dream to be a writer — from the frustrations of earlier rejections to keeping it positive while faced with criticisms and the satisfaction of another job (book) well done. That shot of her jumping on the bed toward the end of the series was cathartic and the perfect cap to Yumi's growth. (Viki)

LITTLE WOMEN

This is NOT Louisa May Alcott's famous novel though it does share some themes and puts sisters at the forefront of the story. The Oh sisters — In Joo, In Kyung and In Hye — just want to live a life not steeped in poverty. So when 2 billion won falls on In Joo's lap, their problems are over, right? Nope. A multitude of troubles arrive as the sisters get entangled with a rich, powerful and corrupt family with a lot of unscrupulous allies. This series got me on the edge of my seat from the very first episode and the thrills and tension never let up until the end. I absolutely love how messy and chaotic the sisters and their relationships with each other are. They love but they also fight, annoy and block each other, LOL! Now please cast Kim Go Eun and Wi Ha Joon in an action comedy series or film and give them the ending on the sunny beaches of Greece that their characters deserve. (Netflix)

BULGASAL: IMMORTAL SOULS

This is the first drama that caught my attention last year, a fantasy with monsters, past lives, immortal love and families. It's the story of how the lives of a man (Lee Jin Wook) who was turned into an immortal monster 600 years ago and a woman (Kwon Na Ra) who has been dying and reincarnating for centuries have been intertwined. The world building is quite interesting and the central mystery keeps you guessing until the very end. Keep an eye out for familiar faces as people from the past emerge in the present. (Netflix)

A BUSINESS PROPOSAL

This romcom is adorable with a capital A. Shin Ha Ri (Kim Se Jeong) shows up to a blind date pretending to be her best friend and does her best to turn off a potential match by behaving outrageously. It's a schtick she and her chaebol best friend had cooked up a long time ago to discourage suitors. Unfortunately, the blind date turns out to be Kang Tae Moo (Ahn Hyo Seop), the young president of the food company where she works. And even more unfortunately, he's interested and now wants to marry her! Hilarious chaos ensues, abetted by the couple's adorable best friends (the second couple), her zany family and his kdrama-loving grandfather. You'll never look at an archaeopteryx (bird-like dinosaur) the same way again. (Netflix)

TOMORROW

This is a lovely, heartbreaking, oftentimes cathartic drama about people desperate enough to consider taking their own lives and the team of resolute grim reapers who work very hard to prevent their deaths. Comatose Choi Jun Woong (Rowoon) is the newbie in the Risk/Crisis Management Team led by Koo Ryeon (Kim Hee Sun). Lim Ryung Gyu rounds up the team. Head of the Soul Collection Team Park Joong Gil, despite being a fellow grim reaper, is a thorn on the team's side — he has a special animosity for Ryeon that may have something to do with the past. Fortunately, the team has a stalwart supporter in the Jade Emperor (Kim Hae Sook). (Netflix)

MILITARY PROSECUTOR DOBERMAN

Legal action drama with a touch of comedy is probably the best way to describe this series and it's the perfect leading man vehicle for Ahn Bo Hyun. Do Bae Man passes the bar with basically just a GED and so finds himself unable to find a spot in a decent law firm until he gets an "offer he can't refuse" from corrupt lawyer Yong Moon Go: Serve in the military for five years as a prosecutor and then join his prestigious firm after. The plan is going swimmingly until he crosses paths with another military prosecutor, Cha Woo In (Jo Bo Ah), who is targeting some members of the military brass for revenge after her beloved father's suspicious death. After long-buried secrets begin to emerge, Do Bae Man finds himself reevaluating what it is he really wants to do with his life. (Viki)

EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO

Woo to the Young to the Woo! The series follows Woo Young Woo, a young lawyer on the autism spectrum. She's got a brilliant legal mind, able to see different angles of a case but struggles with day-to-day interactions. Fortunately, she has the people looking out for her, like her dad, her boss/mentor, her law school friend and, of course, the handsome support team member who might just have more than friendship in mind. Park Eun Bin is brilliant as Woo Young Woo, she truly gets you invested in her challenges and triumphs. The legal maneuverings are fairly interesting, especially when they involve a rival law firm and somebody from WYW's past. (Netflix)

ALCHEMY OF SOULS

In the land of Daeho, an assassin trapped in a blind woman's weak body encounters a young lord from a powerful family who needs help to unlock his powers. Interesting lead and supporting characters, solid world-building, fantastic sword and sorcery action? I was sold from the very beginning. At the end of the second ep, I was absolutely in love with the feisty Mudeok and her rather bratty young master/pupil Jang Uk who just wants his gate of energy opened so he can do what everybody can — cast spells and use a sword. There's a twist at the end of the 20-episode first season, and I guess your enjoyment of the second season would largely depend on how much you accept the change. But in both seasons, the crown prince remains quite the scene stealer and he's possibly my most favorite character of all. (Netflix)

UNDER THE QUEEN'S UMBRELLA

A truly female-driven drama — from the queen and the queen dowager down to the concubines and, yes, even the court ladies. The series begins with Queen Hwa Ryeong's biggest problem being the four grand princes' rather relaxed approach to their education, lagging behind the other sons of the king via his numerous scheming concubines. But tragedy strikes and the queen and her sons suddenly find themselves fighting to make sure they don't lose not just their positions but their very lives. Kim Hye Soo makes it so easy to root for the embattled queen who wields her position and her eyebrows skillfully to thwart ministers, concubines and her mother-in-law, the queen dowager. I also love that her sons, the four grand princes, are unlike other royal brothers in sageuks — they are close, affectionate and loyal, leaving the dirty tricks to their half-brothers. This series probably has the most satisfying ending among the ones I watched last year. (Netflix)

REBORN RICH

Yoon Hyun Woo is a hard-working, loyal, no-questions-asked employee of the powerful Jin Family, which controls the Soonyang Group. One day, on an overseas errand to retrieve some secret money, he is betrayed by someone in the family and murdered — but promptly finds himself "waking up" in the body of the youngest grandson of the Jins, back in 1987. How, you ask? I finished the series but that part is still unclear. What's clear is how charismatic and believable Song Joong Ki is as the twentysomething investment whiz Do Jun. And what an amazing actor Lee Sung Min, as Soonyang chairman and patriarch Jin Yang Cheol is. The push-pull in their relationship is what made the series work for 15 episodes. Not that the supporting cast members are slackers. This is one of the best ensembles I've ever seen, the actors really working to make these characters ones you'd love to hate. Some of the business stuff might put off viewers but I found the whole thing fascinating and easily understood. I cheered when Do Jun/Hyun Woo used his knowledge of the future as well as his relatives' greed to take pieces of Soonyang. I'm recommending this series but with a caveat: I found the ending a bit of a mess and rather unsatisfactory. BUT the previous 15 episodes are fantastic and definitely worth a watch. (Viki)

Bonus recommendations

I recently started dipping my toes into Chinese dramas, even though I'm still intimidated by the episode count. "Love Between Fairy and Devil" is sweet and hilarious and has fantastic special effects. (Netflix and Viki)

But my heart truly belongs to Li Wei and the sixth young prince of Xin State as they figure out family, politics and love as their "New Life Begins." (Viki)

Last but certainly not the least, "Pachinko," which even though it stars some of the biggest names in Korean entertainment is not considered K-Drama by its creators. Based on Min Jin Lee's critically acclaimed novel, the series — Youn Yuh Jung, Lee Min Ho and Kim Min Ha are key parts of the ensemble — follows the trial and tribulations of a Korean family over four generations. The story begins in Korea, moves to Japan and eventually spreads to the United States. The story is rich and emotional, the direction precise and the acting superb. It has been recognized in a lot of year-end lists and recently won the Critics Choice Award for best foreign language series. (Apple TV +)

#kdrama reccs #yumi's cells 2 #tvn little women #bulgasal #military prosecutor doberman #mbc tomorrow #a business proposal #extraordinary attorney woo #alchemy of souls #under the queen's umbrella #reborn rich #love between fairy and devil #new life begins #pachinko

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