Adventures in Asia

Do I have time to watch a Korean drama? No. Do I have slightly more time recently than usual? Yes. Was this one worth it? YES. I had a few reservations about “I Am Not a Robot” (2017) at the beginning. First, I wasn’t a fan of the shorter episodes (30 minutes each) and didn’t recognize the channel, and thus thought it might be a cable show – which didn’t seem promising. Second, it was clearly a rich-guy-falls-for-poor-girl story, which is a bland trope in dramaland. However, it was recommended as “cute” by a friend and ranked highly online, so I decided to give it a shot. I quickly discovered that though the episodes are shorter, there are 32 of them, which allows for 16 hours of drama, which is a normal season. Also, the acting was excellent and overall quality of the drama certainly wasn’t lacking. As for the trope, I’ll dive in to that later. The story is something like this… Kim Min Kyu is a wealthy, successful chairman of a financial company with ...

Wow, it’s been a few months! Holiday season, finishing the term and moving to a new city put my drama-watching on hold for a while. But I’m back to blogging now! And I just finished an excellent drama! Two of the actors from my favorite drama ever, “Secret Garden,” returned to my screen (and my heart) in “I Hear Your Voice”: Oska (Yoon Sang Hyun) and that musician kid who had a crush on Oska (Lee Jong Suk). This time they play the two male leads (both straight) and deliver some amaaaaazing acting. In “I Hear Your Voice” (also called “I Can Hear Your Voice”), female lead Jang Hye Sung is a bored lawyer intent to become a Public Defender for the money. Also in the running for the position is hard working, idealistic Lawyer Cha (that is, Oska!). Meanwhile, senior in high school Park Soo Ha has the uncanny ability to hear others’ thoughts, which he’s been able to do ever since he was injured in the car “accident” that killed his father. Jang Hye Sung happened to witness that i...

After a couple of moody, intense, recently-aired dramas, I decided to watch something funny from a few years ago. Thus, “Protect the Boss”! Has anyone else noticed that 2011 was a ridiculously good year for kdrama?? “City Hunter,” “Dream High,” “Secret Garden” (technically a 2010 drama, but it finished in 2011), “Heartstrings,” “Protect the Boss”… All of the dramas in my top five are from that year (except for “Heirs”). Maybe I should just watch all the dramas from 2011… What was I doing back then, anyway? Oh yeah, college – studying and not enjoying hilarious, heart-warming, Korean TV. Anyway, “Protect the Boss”: Chaebol Cha Ji Heon (I know, another heir) is an OCD slacker who avoids work and can’t keep a secretary. His cousin and rival for the company, Cha Mu Won, hires an unqualified but determined Noh Eun Seol to be Ji Heon’s new assistant. Perfect setup for a love triangle. An ex-girlfriend eventually shows up, and we’ve got an even more comical love...