entirely ruined her disposition with books

I've decided to start keeping a post of my recs for Korean dramas to help you figure out what you might want to watch. This won't be a list of all the dramas I watch, just the ones that I think are good enough that other people should watch them too. I'll be updating it as I find new ones, and I'll be making this a sticky post within the next few days. I hope it can lead you on your way to loving Korean TV dramas!

At the moment, all of the listed dramas are available on dramafever and/or hulu. Dramafever officially licenses these dramas, so if you watch there (or on hulu) you are NOT participating in piracy--you're getting things straight from the source. In the future, there might be some dramas that aren't available on those sites (for instance, I've got Capital Scandal on my harddrive at the moment and Resurrection/Rebirth currently torrenting, and I expect to add both of them to this list) and I know that those sites aren't available to all of my friends, so you can PM me if you're trying to find something you don't have access to. I'll try to help you out, though I make no promises.


( dramas behind the cut! )

Hey, y’all. I’m generally okay, but still feeling too overwhelmed to actually wade through my flist, so again I entreat you: link me to things! I can click on links when I can’t scroll through things. Ah, the joys of mental illness.

Anyway! I started watching Gaksital and I Do, I Do, and I like both of them lots in very different ways. Gaksital is great in a Robin Hood/Scarlet Pimpernel/City Hunter sort of way (and I never get tired of those stories), but with an added twist of having our protagonist be a bad guy at first. His moral journey is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I’ve only seen the first three episodes, so I need to catch up on the fourth before the next one gets subbed.

IDID is just light, breezy fun with Kim Sun Ah being flawlessly beautiful and Lee Jang Woo being too adorable for words, and I don’t hate the second leads for once! I do hate how much emphasis there is on the competition between the two main female characters: do we really need another bitch-off? Can’t they be friends? And I’m wary of the show going the route of “taking the competent career woman down a peg;” I really hope it subverts that at least a little. But other than that it’s hella cute and as long as it doesn’t get too annoying I’ll stick with it for a while.

I’ll probably be checking out Big despite my wariness of the Hong sisters. But I can’t resist Gong Yoo and that precious kid who looks like Sungyeol and Myungsoo’s love child and also I’ve heard good things about it. So.

Ranking King is finally decent! Especially since this latest episode was the “Dongwoo is the most delightful person on the planet” show. Because Dongwoo is the most delightful person on the planet, and I want to squish him. And also do naughty things to him, because he is also HOT. I’m also rejoicing that everyone else recognizes that Sungyeol is the smartest kid in that band because he is. And Myungsoo coming in last was hilarious. Actually, the whole episode was fun, which was such a relief after the last two that just weren’t. I’ll try to keep the rest of my Infinite feelings to tumblr. Except for fic, which is totally forthcoming (Lauren writing slash, did you ever think you'd see the day?).

As for Western TV, I realized that I never finished the last few episodes of this season of Cougar Town, so I need to get on that stat. I watched the pilot of Revenge and enjoyed it well enough (I won't lie: I'm checking out this show because tumblr has made me love Nolan), so I'll probably be working my way through it slowly. And I intend to start Teen Wolf shortly because everyone on my tumblr dash is obsessed with it and while I am typically impervious to peer pressure, somehow I am completely susceptible to it when it comes to TV.

And now for what I’m really here for: a new rec!

Queen In-Hyun's Man




Summary: Kim Boong Do is a scholar who had supported the reinstatement of Queen In Hyun when Jang heebin's schemes resulted in her being deposed and replaced as King Sukjong's queen consort. He travels 300 years into the future of modern Seoul and meets Choi Hee Jin, a no-name actress who is expecting a career renaissance through her role as Queen In Hyun in a TV drama - dramawiki
Can be watched on: dramacrazy, kimchidramas
Starring: Ji Hyun Woo, Yoo In Na, Kim Jin Woo, Ga Deuk Hi
Watch it if you like: time-travel, adorable people in love, smart heroes, smart writing, excellent pacing, romances that are sweet without being saccharine, plot twists that will actually make your jaw drop, barriers to romance that are actually barriers and not just idiot plots, culture clash, costume dramas, political intrigue (but not too much political intrigue), competence in your leads, characters who totally deserve to be happy, good people doing the right thing because it’s the right thing.
Why you might not like it: If you hate romance and love and adorableness. No but really: this is a straight-up romance with time-travelling goodness, and though it is swoony and adorable and lovely, it isn’t cheesy at all


Y’all, this is one of the most satisfying romances I have ever seen, and the leads are definitely one of my all-time OTPs. And Boong Do might just be my ideal man. I cannot gush over it enough. It’s a straight-up romance without having to be a guilty pleasure at all, because the writing is smart and the characters are smart and good people, and you just want them to be happy and together and everything in it feels earned. There’s no insulting of intelligence the way there so often is in romances. There’s angst enough for conflict but the angst is driven by both the plot and characters in ways that make total sense. It doesn’t lag in the last third like so many shows do. And just when you think the plot twists are behind you, a new one shows up! All in all, I love every single thing about this drama, and if it weren’t for Shut Up Flower Boy Band, I can’t imagine another drama getting anywhere close to this one on the top of my Best of the Year list. WATCH IT.

Hey, y’all. I’m generally okay, but still feeling too overwhelmed to actually wade through my flist, so again I entreat you: link me to things! I can click on links when I can’t scroll through things. Ah, the joys of mental illness.

Anyway! I started watching Gaksital and I Do, I Do, and I like both of them lots in very different ways. Gaksital is great in a Robin Hood/Scarlet Pimpernel/City Hunter sort of way (and I never get tired of those stories), but with an added twist of having our protagonist be a bad guy at first. His moral journey is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I’ve only seen the first three episodes, so I need to catch up on the fourth before the next one gets subbed.

IDID is just light, breezy fun with Kim Sun Ah being flawlessly beautiful and Lee Jang Woo being too adorable for words, and I don’t hate the second leads for once! I do hate how much emphasis there is on the competition between the two main female characters: do we really need another bitch-off? Can’t they be friends? And I’m wary of the show going the route of “taking the competent career woman down a peg;” I really hope it subverts that at least a little. But other than that it’s hella cute and as long as it doesn’t get too annoying I’ll stick with it for a while.

I’ll probably be checking out Big despite my wariness of the Hong sisters. But I can’t resist Gong Yoo and that precious kid who looks like Sungyeol and Myungsoo’s love child and also I’ve heard good things about it. So.

Ranking King is finally decent! Especially since this latest episode was the “Dongwoo is the most delightful person on the planet” show. Because Dongwoo is the most delightful person on the planet, and I want to squish him. And also do naughty things to him, because he is also HOT. I’m also rejoicing that everyone else recognizes that Sungyeol is the smartest kid in that band because he is. And Myungsoo coming in last was hilarious. Actually, the whole episode was fun, which was such a relief after the last two that just weren’t. I’ll try to keep the rest of my Infinite feelings to tumblr. Except for fic, which is totally forthcoming (Lauren writing slash, did you ever think you'd see the day?).

As for Western TV, I realized that I never finished the last few episodes of this season of Cougar Town, so I need to get on that stat. I watched the pilot of Revenge and enjoyed it well enough (I won't lie: I'm checking out this show because tumblr has made me love Nolan), so I'll probably be working my way through it slowly. And I intend to start Teen Wolf shortly because everyone on my tumblr dash is obsessed with it and while I am typically impervious to peer pressure, somehow I am completely susceptible to it when it comes to TV.

And now for what I’m really here for: a new rec!

Queen In-Hyun's Man




Summary: Kim Boong Do is a scholar who had supported the reinstatement of Queen In Hyun when Jang heebin's schemes resulted in her being deposed and replaced as King Sukjong's queen consort. He travels 300 years into the future of modern Seoul and meets Choi Hee Jin, a no-name actress who is expecting a career renaissance through her role as Queen In Hyun in a TV drama - dramawiki
Can be watched on: dramacrazy, kimchidramas
Starring: Ji Hyun Woo, Yoo In Na, Kim Jin Woo, Ga Deuk Hi
Watch it if you like: time-travel, adorable people in love, smart heroes, smart writing, excellent pacing, romances that are sweet without being saccharine, plot twists that will actually make your jaw drop, barriers to romance that are actually barriers and not just idiot plots, culture clash, costume dramas, political intrigue (but not too much political intrigue), competence in your leads, characters who totally deserve to be happy, good people doing the right thing because it’s the right thing.
Why you might not like it: If you hate romance and love and adorableness. No but really: this is a straight-up romance with time-travelling goodness, and though it is swoony and adorable and lovely, it isn’t cheesy at all


Y’all, this is one of the most satisfying romances I have ever seen, and the leads are definitely one of my all-time OTPs. And Boong Do might just be my ideal man. I cannot gush over it enough. It’s a straight-up romance without having to be a guilty pleasure at all, because the writing is smart and the characters are smart and good people, and you just want them to be happy and together and everything in it feels earned. There’s no insulting of intelligence the way there so often is in romances. There’s angst enough for conflict but the angst is driven by both the plot and characters in ways that make total sense. It doesn’t lag in the last third like so many shows do. And just when you think the plot twists are behind you, a new one shows up! All in all, I love every single thing about this drama, and if it weren’t for Shut Up Flower Boy Band, I can’t imagine another drama getting anywhere close to this one on the top of my Best of the Year list. WATCH IT.

Behind the cut:
99 icons:
64 Queen In-Hyun's Man icons
35 Love Rain icons

Samples:






( icons here )