A VERY occasional outlet, for whenever 500 characters at Mastodon is not enough
Don't You ... Forget About Me: Episode 4
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Concluding my nostalgic look back at old OST tracks from various KDramas, CDramas, JDramas
and TWDramas I've watched - all released prior to 2010. This episode covers the final year of that period, 2009. The Dramas are listed in the order in which I viewed them.
This Yoon Eun Hye starrer Korean Drama goes by several English names, the one I've used is how I watched it and is descriptive of the plot. The Drama was my first introduction to Kwon Yul, and triggered a remarkably long-lasting antipathy toward him - he always seems to play characters that make my skin crawl. Even though I watched this twice almost back-to-back in my "brand new to KDramas, watch YEH" phase, I was pleased to see when preparing this post that even back then I scored it only 6/10. I doubt it would score that highly today! The MV attached is a favourite of mine for the truly bizarre rarity of an upbeat fun song from the Queens of teary melo, Davichi. It also highlights the way personal preferences can change over time. Watching the 'highlights' reel of an MV makes me realise I've grown a lot since watching this 12 years ago.
This Korean remake of the 1990s Japanese Hana Yori Dango is deservedly described as iconic and often labelled a "must-see" KDrama. Both of those might be true, even though the Drama itself is risible. I chose that word very carefully and deliberately.
Watching the "Almost Paradise" MV attached here, I literally burst out laughing - both at the imagery and at the fact that I once thought this KDrama was GOOD. Despite now finding it laughably awful, I would still say this IS close to being a must-see, or at least must try, KDrama because of the extent to which its referenced in later Dramas. This song is a great example of that - referenced and/or sampled in more KDramas than it would be possible to count. In fact, the soundtrack as a whole is well worth a listen.
(2MLexcised above because I abhor partner/spousal abuse)
From the ridiculous to the sublime. Korean Drama City Hall is a great watch. Kim Sun Ah once again proving she totally rocks the strong, capable FL roles, and her OTP with the dreamy Chajummah was heart-meltingly awesome. Her character's growth as a strong, independent woman who accomplished her goals and overcame almost cartoonishly OTT KDrama shouty villainy was a great watch. The ONLY Kim Eun Sook Drama I like, this Drama was a solid 9/10 for me. The truly beautiful theme song otoh is pretty much perfect in my opinion. It would be very little exaggeration to say that in the 12 years since I first heard it, I've listened to this song more often than to all other KDrama OST tracks COMBINED.
At twenty-eight 70-minute episodes the total runtime for Shining Inheritance feels almost as long as a single Netflix KDrama episode does these days. Despite that, I watched it twice, for two reasons. First, to see if my recall of the OTP was valid. It was, a sweet romance well-played. The other reason for the rewatch was to savour something that was vanishingly rare in KDramas of the era - karma. The victimised Cinderella female lead is viciously persecuted by her stepfamily, nothing new there. But what IS different is that the villains pay for their sins. VERY refreshing. When this Drama aired Lee Seul Gi was still more renowned as a singer than an actor, and I enjoyed this song of his from the show.
This Taiwanese Drama features what remains my favourite 'noona-dongsaeng' pair. The
OTP are amazing together, and the Drama is unflinching in its handling of their relationship. There was an insipid, timid Korean remake called Witch's Romance which totally destroyed itself at the end. After a strong start, fiery chemistry from the two leads in that KDrama was negated by the bizarre decision to suddenly turn the 40ish female lead into a giggling, prudishly virginal schoolgirl. A total waste of the talents of Uhm Jung Hwa.
There are no such issues with this original. Although cursed with the usual TWDrama affliction of pointless makjang thrown in for filler, the core arc remains strong right to the exceptionally excellent ending. An ending which is somewhat given away by an alternate English translation of the title, which is why I didn't use it here. Listening to this main theme track from Malaysian singer Fish Leong always makes me smile in memory of one of the very best Taiwanese Dramas I've seen.
The definition of quiet understatement, this Japanese Drama was a balm for the soul. The name translates into English as Midnight Diner and the concept of the show has been remade in several different countries and languages. I really loved season 1 of this original, and season 2 was not bad. A celebration of quiet, and a who's who of Japanese actors in cameos. The low-key title track simply could not be more tonally appropriate.
This Taiwanese Drama I scored at 6/10, meaning it just made the cut for this list. A pretty straightforward cop show, it was neither bad nor great. My recollection of it is that might have thought itself edgier than it was, but the fact that several movie sequels were made shows that the audience whose opinion mattered viewed this rather differently from me. The real reason I watched it was for Ivy Chen (grey shirt, white trousers above), but even her pretty face couldn't embed this one deeply in my memory. The punchy theme song, sung by one of the male leads, certainly is a good fit for the show, and is the real reason the Drama was awarded the inestimable and highly coveted honour of being included here.
That the very last entry in this collection should be a Japanese Drama called Buzzer Beat was so delightfully apt I grinned. It is a very straightforward sports/high school romance, the unguessably shocking closing scene revealed in both the title and the cover image above. While it was not Palme D'Or material, it was fun. Like almost all JDramas, it's short, just eleven episodes and a total runtime around 9.25 hours. With a story as straightforward as this, that's a big plus. KDrama and CDrama versions of similar stories are 2-3 times as long, with the same basic material. A fitting win at the death for this JDrama that ends with a win at the death. (whoops, spoiler!)
Another thing that marks many JDramas as different from most KDramas and CDramas is high volume, punchy upbeat opening songs. My favourite is a hard rock number with bagpipes (not a combo I'd have expected from a JDrama) but even without bagpipes, this one is still a lot of fun.
And that's a wrap! Covering Seven years and twenty-seven Dramas, this self-indulgent ramble down memory lane ends on a bright, breezy, SHORT note - the antithesis of what went before it. 😁
I've hugely enjoyed compiling this, and am now looking forward to re-watching several of the Dramas featured. If you, my dear (putative) reader, have made it all the way here, I hope that your reward could be to have found at least one Drama you'll watch and enjoy. Sayonara, annyeong and bye bye!
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