KDMEO Episode 21 - First Impressions

Now that Goblin is over, Judy and Linda had to make some important decisions about what K-drama to watch next for the podcast. This week, we watched the first episodes of 4 new dramas that started in January/February of 2017. To start off, we talk about "Saimdang: Light's Diary (Herstory)" (사임당, 빛의 일기), the new SBS drama starring Lee YoungAe and Song SeungHun. This was a huge disappointment, especially because of the high hopes we had for it. How can you take a subject like Saimdang, who was such an important and prominent female figure in Korean history, and make it so objectionably boring? Judy and Linda love Lee YoungAe and yet this drama was so hammy that they have a serious moment of doubt about her acting ability. That's like finding out that Cate Blanchett is bad at acting! How can that be? In "Tomorrow With You" (내일 그대와), the tvN drama, Lee JeHoon plays a time traveller who is trying to solve the mystery of his future death by befriending a sad sack former child actress played by Shin MinAh. Judy thinks that the main characters wholly uninteresting and unlikable. Linda finds the premise interesting, but the rules of time travel are too vague and loose (does that remind you of frustrations we've had about a certain teahouse?). "Missing Nine" is an MBC drama, starring Jung KyungHo and Baek JinHee. Despite the man bun, turtlenecks and bangs in the drama, Judy is intrigued by the mystery and relationships established by the first episode. Linda predicts which characters will die off first, especially since there are 11 passengers on the plane, not counting the pilots and the one flight attendant.   Finally, we watched "Rebel: Thief of the People" (역적: 백성을 훔친 도적), an MBC drama starring Yoon KyoonSang and Chae SooBin. This series is a straight forward historical drama about Hong GilDong (Yoon KyoonSang), a Korean Robin Hood, who leads a rebellion against YeonSanGun (Kim JiSuk). The first episode starts off so strong, but Judy and Linda are disappointed that the drama is going to be spending so much time examining the protagonist's childhood. Some Korean terms: 낙지: [nak-ji] octopus. 촌스러워: [chon-seu-ruh-wuh] old-fashioned. 해녀: [heh-nyuh] female diver. 도련님: [do-ryun-nim] old Korean address for "young master". 마님: [ma-nim] old Korean address for "madam".   If you would like to read more about Saimdang (신사임당), you can click here to see her English Wikipedia page. Judy thought that Hong GilDong (홍길동) was a fictional character, but apparently he was based on a real person in Joseon! There is an actual novel about his adventures, though. Click here to read about the novel, because the English Wiki page for the actual person has very little information. The King portrayed in "Rebel: Thief of the People" is Prince YeonSan (연산군). His title is "Prince" and not "King", because he was later deposed for being a tyrant and replaced by his half brother. Click here to read about a short history about him on English Wiki.    So our choices come down to "Missing Nine" or "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo"! If you want to recommend one over the other, or if you have any other questions or comments, please contact us on Facebook and Twitter (@kdramamyeyesout) or e-mail us. Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review: Apple Podcasts Google Play Music Stitcher Libsyn RSS The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.