K-drama recs?

[dhampyresa]

Swimming: It was raining, I didn't want to go, but I did. Between being sick and bank holidays, it's been about a month since I went. Total before today: 2 850 / 590 000. Today: 20 x 25 = 500. Total today: 3 350 / 590 000.

ALSO! Does anyone have recs for K-dramas I can watch with English subtitles? I like sff, women, queer themes, complicated relationships and shenanigans. Honestly, I have a very broad and not that discerning taste, so as long as it's in Korean with English subs, I'll give it a go -- I really need to practice my Korean.

Comments

[the_rck]

I really like what I've seen of Dae Jang Geum. It's historical, but the focus of it is on female characters, specifically the ladies who prepare food for the king and his court. The politics among the women are complicated, and there's a good bit of tension because all court ladies are considered to belong to the king with death as the penalty for sex with anyone else. The first episode or two are about the main character's parents. Then there are a few episodes about the main character as a child and how she gets herself accepted into the kitchens.

[dhampyresa]

Thanks for the rec!

[yhlee]

If you are okay with a slightly slow start and historicals, I highly recommend The Great Queen Seondeok, which has AMAZING women--not just the protagonist (who grows up to be Queen Seondeok), but her sister, the maid, and the incredibly amazing antagonist Misil. I don't know if the Latin near the beginning is any good (the only word I could catch was "regina"--my Latin is v. rusty and I never exactly had listening comprehension for it).

That being said, if you want to practice the kind of Korean people today actually speak, contemporary may be the way to go.

I honestly cannot think of ever seeing much sff that wasn't manhwa (cartoons) when I lived in Korea. The impression I always got was that science fiction was "kids' stuff."

[ljwrites]

YES SECONDING THIS Seondeok is awesome, so many strong female characters, high-flying action, such an epic story. Deokman (the protagonist of the series) in earphones agrees with me. It's not very big on queerness, but the viewer can take care of that problem real soon on their own.

I'm sort of ashamed that I can't make more recommendations--I can't stand most K-Dramas, personally. I'm easily bored by TV shows in general and have been able to like and finish only a select few. Queen Seondeok is one of those few, and I highly highly recommend it if you're in the mood for something long and epic.

On the language front, while the Korean in the show does take on a more archaic tone it's not too distant from modern Korean, since modern Korean audiences still have to understand it. The difference is mostly in the intonations and the PERIOD DRAMA VOICE people use, which will make you sound pretty funny if you try to speak that way in everyday situations, but for vocabulary and grammar it's generally OK.

[dhampyresa]

Does she wear earphones in the show?

How long and epic are we talking about?

Thanks for the additional info!

[ljwrites]

Nah, that was the actor relaxing backstage in costume. That's how you get anachronistic pictures like this one.

Seondeok ran for 62 episodes, so yeah, very epic and very long. It lost both momentum and viewers in the last 10 or so episodes, but the 50 episodes are well worth it. I skipped about half the episodes in the middle and still enjoyed the beginning and especially the ending (well, it really ended at Episode 50 as far as I'm concerned and that was the original schedule), so the show overall is pretty good about recapping and explaining things I think.

[dhampyresa]

Ancient Koreans vs Romans sound awesome as does the drama itself. Thanks for the rec!

[skygiants]

You may have seen any or all of these, but here's my go-to kdrama recs for reasonably short series:

Sungkyunkwan Scandal, which is a super hijinks-y Joseon-era rom-com about a girl who cross-dresses to attend university, complete with Joseon-era roommate drama, intramural sports, frat hazing, and political internships; additionally notable for the canon bisexual character and the gay trial sequence in which the hero saves the heroine from Gay Expulsion by nobly declaring, "The homosexual ... IS ME!"

Capital Scandal, my all-time favorite despite a very frustrating final episode; set during the Japanese occupation, the heroine is an ardent patriot and revolutionary, the hero is a playboy tabloid writer who gets drawn into the revolution after an ill-advised She's All That-style bet. Notable especially for the second heroine, who is the hero's platonic bff and becomes the heroine's mentor; she is a glamorous courtesan who enjoys trolling her friends, shopping and makeovers, planning revolution, and murder. She is possibly my favorite character in any work of media ever.

Queen In-Hyun's Man, a time-travel drama about a Joseon-era scholar who ends up traveling back and forth from his own time and falling in love with an actress starring in a drama about his own time period; pretty much a straight-up romance without much ensemble to it, but a super well-done and charming one, and the hero is by far the smartest and most sensible time-traveler I've ever seen in fiction (also, so respectful! no wrist-grabs, not even one!)

I also second the rec for Queen Seondeok, which is lengthy but super interesting.

[yhlee]

Seconding Sungkyungkwan Scandal. It's adorable on a stick.

[dhampyresa]

I have seen exactly one K-drama and that was Faith | The Great Doctor.

roommate drama: Can I ask for specifics about this? It might be a deal-breaker for me.

What's so frustrating about Capital Scandal's last episode?

the smartest and most sensible time-traveler I've ever seen in fiction FUCKING SOLD

Thanks for all the recs.

[skygiants]

The roommate drama is mostly centered on the fact that Our Secretly Cross-Dressing Heroine has to share a room with both of her potential love interests. Since they come from opposing political factions, and also one of them is a secret vigilante and comes in and out of the room at weird hours, they initially make her sleep in the middle. Accidental cuddling and four-way puppy piles ensue! (Four-way because the fourth lead character, who is a senior with his own room, eventually becomes really determined to get in on all the roommate cuddling.)

Capital Scandal's last episode is really frustrating because a.) one of the best characters dies in the second-to-last episode and b.) the women, who have been not only driving the plot doing almost all of the actual revolutionary work up until that point in the plot, are abruptly sidelined for NO GOOD REASON so the dudes can run off and have nonsensical action hijinks without them. It's maddening because up until that point the show is so good with its female characters! AND SUDDENLY.

[dhampyresa]

Thank you for the detailed answers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

meganbmoore a pas mal de posts sur les K-dramas.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

Merci beaucoup! :D