feztheshep's recent activity

  1. Comment on Anyone here a fan of Kdramas? in ~tv

    feztheshep
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    I know this thread is like 4 days old but it inspired me to finally send the email requesting an invite and I got it today! I love kdramas and have been watching then off and on for a long time!...

    I know this thread is like 4 days old but it inspired me to finally send the email requesting an invite and I got it today!

    I love kdramas and have been watching then off and on for a long time!

    Re: strong female characters, it's interesting you say this - to my understanding women writers and directors are much more prevalent in the kdrama industry! I won't claim they're a majority but it's a significant amount, much more common than western shows (that I'm aware of... I don't watch a ton of western shows). I imagine there's a lot that could be said/analyzed about how this impacts how kdramas feel compared to how western dramas feel, but that’s for a different post.

    Way back when I started watching kdramas I found an episode recap website/community for them called Dramabeans, which I use to gauge how a drama is in quality and tone, based on the recapper's feelings as well as the community comments. (The recappers are a staff of seasoned kdrama enthusiasts)(Also this site is basically where I got any/all of my knowledge of kdramas)

    The recaps also can often be helpful to understand some of the Korean culture context which is sometimes very relevant, especially on some of the period pieces/historicals.

    This community watches a lot more kdramas than I do and I find it hard to trust some other sites’ star ratings bc they’ve given some dramas I consider bad like a 9/10 - but then again, tastes are different for everyone lol.

    I often will also go to the last ep recap to see their conclusion comments to see how they felt overall, since I don't mind some spoilers. They have End of the Year posts including what various recappers felt, but what's most interesting to me is the Bean Count, which is a poll of sorts where the recappers allocate points to all the dramas released in that year, indicating which ones were more liked overall and which were less so.

    Sometimes a kdrama (or anything else I guess) can have a great premise but then really fumble the execution, and I try hard to avoid those because I'm really picky.

    Sidenote the streaming service Viki is basically the biggest source for dramas besides Netflix! (that I know of) They also have dramas from other Asian countries as well like jdramas, cdramas, thai dramas etc.

    Anyway having said all that…
    You may have heard of or watched some of these (since drafting this post you have said you've watched Weightlifting Fairy but I'll keep it in for passersby!) but I'm just gonna do a rundown of some of my faves, also for anyone else who happens across this post. There are some really popular ones like Squid Games or Pachinko which I haven’t watched yet, and some were already listed like Extraordinary Attorney Woo (so so good!), so that might be why I haven't listed them here.

    Some that are my faves that haven't already been mentioned, and also slightly curated to OP's tastes hopefully:
    • Misaeng/Incomplete Life - this one is widely acclaimed, about a guy who enters the competitive blue collar office place late after having spent his youth playing baduk/go professionally, and therefore has no experience in the office/professional/adult environment. "He has nothing to offer except his effort." Often rather fluorescent office lighting melancholy but ultimately heartwarming and uplifting and often funny. There is actually no romance in it at all, so all the focus is on the development of the main lead and his relationship with his team.
    • As someone already mentioned partially, the Reply series. The first one was a hit, called Reply 1997, that one is my fave, although now thinking back the romance wasn't the main thing in this one. It is a love letter to the 90s. There is also 1994 which is less loved and spawned some shipping wars, and 1998 which is very long (20 one hour+ eps) but very heartwarming. Along with being mostly a period piece about growing up in the past eras, there's always a "who is the husband" mystery which imo was best in the 1997. Mostly though it's about the time period and the friends/families you grow up with.
    • Healer - good action, good romance. Really good for ppl unfamiliar to kdramas. It does have some political machinations and stuff, which is my least fave part, but it is admittedly well done, as is the action. Male lead is an underground courier of sorts and the female lead is a reporter for a tabloid, and eventually they team up to take down government corruption.
    • Crash Landing On You - another great one for ppl unfamiliar with kdramas! Rich chaebol girl from South Korea crashes paragliding over the North Korean border and a North Korean army captain / son of important person rescues and hides her. She slowly becomes friends/family with the village people where she was hidden and ofc the army captain. Also obv includes political stuff, that is obviously gonna be a part of it, and it's done well.
    • Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bokju - a very light fluffy coming of age one! About a girl who is a weightlifter at an athletics college, and a guy who was formerly a swimmer, whose older brother she forms a crush on. Thinking back it's kind of slice of life about trying to achieve their athletic dreams, a coming of age.
    • Racket Boys - one of my most recently watched dramas that turned out to be one I love, another athletic coming of age drama! Very good as well, this one is more literally a slice of life. A boy and his badminton coaching family moves to a rural town and he is made to join the tiny badminton team to help them compete in the upcoming competition. It's incredibly cute and sweet and lighthearted, often goofy, and is super about found family and the group of friends that form from the badminton team, as well as the few people in the village and their stories.
    • Encounter/Boyfriend - this one is more pure romance than others I have listed, and a little more serious in tone? Classy owner of a hotel chain / daughter of a political figure meets a happy go lucky free-spirited guy in Cuba, he shows her a little bit of light and fun in her very rigid serious life. Going back to Korea they discover he is a new employee at her hotel. The power imbalance is handled well imo, and his nature and determination to look past all her stuff makes it work. He helps her become more free from the suffocation that was growing up in the political limelight and having a horrible chaebol ex-MIL. The MIL is admittedly a rich elite, but the love story is very warming. The MIL doesn't have huge machinations the way many other dramas do, but has some toxic puppet strings, but ultimately that isn't really a huge focus. Filmed beautifully and with much warmth.
    • 30 But 17 - 17 year old Violin prodigy has an accident and falls into a coma, wakes up years later when she is 30. This is a sweet one, I feel like it is lighter but ofc still has serious things since she lost so much time, plus she is no longer a prodigy having lost so many years. Male lead is the owner of the house she used to live in, and she is also searching for her family, who she can't find for some reason.
    • Piece of Your Mind - this one is a much more serious drama, dealing a lot with loss and the people who have left us and the trauma that leaves behind etc. It's a very beautifully shot drama as well, although rather melancholy even to the end I think.
    • +1 extra that is just a personal favorite of mine although I can't necessarily say it is objectively 10/10, Coffee Prince. A bit of an oldie from 2007, and somewhat reflects the time. Has some big tropes but plays them well and, to me, very refreshingly. Tomboyish girl mistaken for a boy starts working for irresponsible chaebol guy who starts a coffee shop at the behest of his grandma. He only wanted to hire handsome guys for the business draw, so female lead continues to pretend to be a boy. Ofc romance ensues even while the male lead thinks she is still a guy. This issue is handled sensitively, imo. A pretty light drama as well, although the more emotional scenes are what I like about it.
    Just an unordered list of more that I’m recommending also (may be recommended already above) but without descriptions:
    I have a whole list of them but I obv can't just list all of them lol. Crying a little for the ones I haven't listed here but are equally good.

    I hope someone finds this useful and maybe finds a new drama they really enjoy!

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Favorite podcast app? in ~tech

    feztheshep
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    I use one that isn't mentioned often since it's relatively new and has a small userbase - Podurama! Features I specifically like: A little embarrassed to say it but honestly the UI is clean and...

    I use one that isn't mentioned often since it's relatively new and has a small userbase - Podurama!
    Features I specifically like:

    • A little embarrassed to say it but honestly the UI is clean and beautiful and easy to navigate which is something I didn't feel on many of the pod apps often recommended
    • Desktop/browser and app sync (it says somewhere it's not for non-premium but I thought I had it before subscribing too) - it's not as seamless as Spotify but that's ok
    • Available for both Android and iOs
    • Playlist creation
    • Bookmarks in audio
    • Set settings like speed and auto skip front/back specific for each podcast
    • You can mark a podcast played from a certain episode back, which made syncing my podcasts much easier
    • You can also like specific eps
    • Being actively updated and worked on
    • One-time lifetime subscription (which "limited time offer 50% off" rn... maybe "limited" is a lie idk)

    I didn't have much of a problem with Spotify honestly but I will list some reasons I left Spotify (For some reason I can't log into Spotify on desktop app so many of these points are for Spotify browser):
    Reasons I left Spotify:

    • I don't like its scummy exclusivity contracts etc that can of worms
    • Difficult to get to top or bottom of a podcast's catalog on browser?? the sorting ability isn't there on browser for some reason
    • Can't filter played eps either (on browser)
    • Also no speed adjustment (on browser)
    • Kind of felt like it was cluttering my music space with so many playlists, albums, and podcasts all showing together (I know there is a filter but getting there seems a little too cumbersome and the default isn't sorted)
    • Now I simply just like having a separate app for these two things

    Podurama is still being developed so it def has bugs and the userbase is really quite small comparatively but I am happy with it personally and think it'll continue to be developed better and better.

    5 votes