2025 Kdrama Year in Review: Highs, Lows, and Favorites

S2 E30 / It’s that time of the year for recaps, backtracks, and wraps of the previous twelve months. This episode is all about the best (and sometimes worst) of Kdrama in 2025.  

Shannon from Bonchon Bite Sized K-drama Reviews joins me to talk through the highs and lows of Asian dramas. We chat about drama-watching stats, our personal high points of 2025 dramas, and the throw-back dramas we watched this year. 

Currently Watching/Waiting For:

Shannon: 

• Surely Tomorrow 
• Love Between Fairy and Devil
• Dynamite Kiss

Sara:

• Surely Tomorrow
• Love Me
• Cashero

Our 2025 Favorites: 

Favorite supporting characters 

Favorite couples

Favorite found family

Favorite (or least-favorite) childhood connection 

Favorite OSTs

Drama you were surprised you liked

Best fashion

Best villains/worst villains 

Best crying scenes

Fastest drop

Most satisfying dramas

Worst ending

Favorite drama *not* from 2025 that you watched during 2025

Favorite friendships

Favorite umbrella scenes

Favorite ramen scenes

Best Second Lead Syndrome

Most over-the-top makjang moments

Truck of Doom award 

Favorite swoony moments 

Most underrated dramas

Best performances by an actor/actress

Shannon’s Podcast: https://pod.link/1839465628

Shannon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banchankdramapod

Comfort Watches and Palette Cleansers with Shannon https://howimetmykdrama.buzzsprout.com/2435348/episodes/17898269

Transcript

2025 Year in Review

SPEAKER_00 0:05

This is the How I Met My K-Drama podcast, and it's all about K-drama origin stories and recommendations. I'm Sarah Rosette, and today Shannon from the Bonchon Bite-sized K-Drama Podcast is here, and we're doing a 2025 recap. How are you? I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Thanks for having me back.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

This is so much fun. Yeah, it's gonna be a back-to-back double episode because our other one about just between lovers will come out.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

I know. I hope your listeners aren't tired of hearing me.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

No, I don't think I think that this is gonna be fun. It'll be great. And it'll be fun to kind of bounce off of each other some of our topics we're gonna talk about. I tried to come up with a list of uh interesting and fun, not just best of, but some interesting, unusual topics. So hopefully that'll keep the conversation going. So give a quick intro to you and your podcast. You've been on before, obviously, because I just mentioned it. So I'll link to those in the show notes. But tell everybody what your podcast is about and a little bit

Meet Shannon

SPEAKER_00 1:00

about you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

All right. So yeah, my name is Shannon, and um I am both a children's librarian and an avid K drama watcher. Uh my podcast is for people looking for quick reviews on dramas that maybe they haven't watched yet to get an idea if it's one they want to add to their two watch list. So my reviews are pretty short, uh spoiler-free, and it's really just to help people find um, you know, dramas to add to their list or to press play on.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Perfect. All right. It's great. I love it because it gives you enough about the drama to figure out if it's your cup of tea or not. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

You know, I kind of go over some of the tropes too. So, like, yeah, if there's a trope people really hate, then they'll know maybe give it

Currently Watching

SPEAKER_01 1:45

a pass. Yeah. Well, what are you currently watching? Well, in theory, I am keeping up with Shirley tomorrow, but I'm also contemplating dropping it.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah, it hasn't totally hooked me, but I really do like Park Sojoon, who is the male lead. Um, it's just I don't look forward to watching it every week, you know. So that to me is a sign that maybe it's not for me. I don't know. I might, I might give this weekend's episode episodes a watch and see how I feel after that. But other than that, I am watching an older drama from 2022. It's my very first C drama that I've watched. Yeah, Love Between Fairy and Devil. Um, and I'm I'm into it. I'm on episode 16. So like halfway through, no, less than than I think it's like 36 episodes long. So it's different than K dramas where I can like just fly through them. This one I'm like, oh, okay. I still have 20 more episodes to go. Still in the early phase. Yeah, still in the early phase, I guess. Um, but um, it's good, I'm enjoying it. So I think this was a good way to kind of get my feet wet when it comes to see dramas.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Well, that's exciting. It's always interesting when you start dramas from a country that you haven't seen before. Because there are all these little fine differences that you notice.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Definitely different than any of the K dramas or J dramas that I've watched before.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Well, I'm watching Shirley Tomorrow and I'm hanging in there. I I've decided that the going back and forth in time, the storylines that have the dual timelines are not my favorite. But I am interested in these characters in this story, so I'm gonna stick with it. Um, I'm hoping that as we get more towards the end, we we spend more time in the present and less bouncing back and forth.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

I just want the female lead to be more likable, I think. I just I haven't warmed to her very much.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I don't mind her, I just I'm tired of the back and forth. I'm getting a little confused, and I think it's like if you were if I were binging it, I would be able to keep up with what time period we're at. But when it goes back and forth, I'm getting a little confused. But I'm gonna stick with that. And then I also started Love Me, which is um, it's on Vicky. It's only got two episodes out right now. The first episode is very heavy, very it's very um family story, slice of life, but it's very heavy. But then episode two kind of lightens up a little bit. So I'm like, I think I'm gonna really like this one. So I'm sticking with that one so far.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Only two episodes in um Korean or Japanese?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Korean. No, I I haven't heard of this one, so yeah, it's pretty new. It was recommended to me, you know how they bring up similar stuff. It's very compelling right now. So I'm enjoying that one. And then as we record this, this is December 21st. So we haven't quite made it to the end of 2025. So I have a couple dramas that I'm still watching, and I have one or two that I'm still waiting for that will start. One of those is Cashiro.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Oh, yeah, that's on my list.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

I know, and it all apparently drops on one day. So I'm like, technically that could be a 2025 drama, you know, could be a real good one, hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

No, I know. I released my um episode ranking the dramas that I watched for the year, and I was like, well, it's a little early because yeah, you've got Kashiro, you've got Made in Korea coming out. That looks really good. Um, I haven't watched Dynamite Kiss yet, even though I know I'm gonna love it. Like it seems exact like tailor-made for me. I'm so looking forward to it, but I wanted to binge it. But the final episode doesn't air until December 29th, I think. Oh, yeah. So that seems late. It is, yeah. So I was like, well, I'm not gonna be able to fit it all in before the end of the year, I don't think. But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching it.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah, I watched uh probably six episodes of that, and uh it got to the point that I was not enjoying it, like you were saying with surely tomorrow, and it's just me. It's not it's it's my the perception of cheating and all the angst. It was just I was like, uh, just wasn't for me. So I was like, I'm gonna put on hold, and then I may go back when I can binge the whole thing and finish it off.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

I specifically knew I wanted to binge it, so that's why I I held off. Also, I wanted to make sure that it stuck the landing, and it seems like it's been staying pretty consistent all the way through. So fingers

Stats

SPEAKER_01 6:10

crossed.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Okay, well, let's do some urine review stuff. First, let's talk stats. So I think you have a lot of stats about what you've watched and maybe what you dropped.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

All right. Well, I I tried to pare down my stats because I do have a massive spreadsheet that I think I'll probably end up putting on my Instagram a link to like a clean version of it for people to use in 2026. Um, so people can also have a ridiculous amount of stats.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

So they can do their own. Like you, yes, yeah. It's your tracking. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

It's to track my dramas and then I have it generate a bunch of charts and graphs for me. So this is yeah, this is where I pulled all of that from, was from the info that it generated for me. I watched 95 dramas this year. I was a little hesitant, like, oh God, do I admit just how many dramas I watched in a year? Like, I do promise I also work full-time and you know, have a child. Yeah, one take care of everything. I'm sure other things. It's just, I will say I am very lucky. I have an hour-long lunch break at work. Um, so that's like one guaranteed hour a day. And then I don't have to go into work until later two days a week. So like I get lots of um quiet time in the house where I can watch a few episodes. So that's how I managed to fit it in. Um, I did drop six dramas this year. Okay. Um, overall, uh, according to my chart, it tells me I watched 1,252 episodes total this year. Uh 44% of those dramas were released in 2025, and 96% were Korean dramas, which is, I will note, a little different for me because previously they would have been 100% all Korean dramas, but this year I did try a couple J dramas, and like I said, my very first C drama, but primarily most of them are Korean. And um, I track all sorts of stuff like uh 64% of my dramas were not based on a webtoon, but 35% were or I should say webtoon or novel. Right. Um, I rate all of my dramas. I look at the genres, which is no surprise to me. The majority of them are romantic comedies, romance and comedy. And then um action was a big one for me this year. I guess I watched a lot of action, uh, which makes sense because I watched the manipulated, and then I went back and watched the K2, which also had Chi Chang look in it. Um, so yeah, I guess it was a big action year for me. Um most of them take place in the present day, although I have a few that take place during the Josun era. And because I watched um reply 1988, that takes place in the 80s, uh, watched Typhoon Family, which took place in the 90s. Um yeah, and then I I also track like where I stream everything, you know, gotta gotta validate my subscriptions, right? Like show how much I'm using them. Where uh so like 37% of my dramas come from Vicky, 44 from Netflix, and then like various other platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime make up the other percentage. So yeah, that's just a little bit of like the statistics that I track during.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

I think that's great. I think that's great, and I think it's fun. I love year-in review stuff looking back. Um, I love the thing from Spotify that you get that tells you what you've listened to. And and I and I get it for podcasters, you know, you see you can see who's listening, how long they're listening. So I love all this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

So I do it for my reading too. Like I look at my good reads statistics.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Very cool. I and I don't think you should feel bad about watching a lot of dramas, but there is that little like, oh wow, that's a lot of time that that's a lot of dramas for me too, even though I didn't watch as many as you. I had the same thought. I was like, ooh, that's a lot. But if we enjoy it, we shouldn't be apologetic about it. I'm trying not to be apologetic about it. Although I have a little twinge of that, but um, I watched 50 total dramas and I didn't, I wasn't aiming for that, it just came out to be a round number. So I was like, okay, that's cool. That's perfect. Um, yeah, so 50 total, 16 from 2025, and 34 were throwback dramas older than 2025. So I've watched a lot of the classics, the older ones that I've heard a lot of people talk about. And so of the 16 from 2025, six of those were J dramas. And then of the 34 that were throwback dramas, 24 of those were J dramas and 10 were K dramas. So I really got into the J dramas this year. And they're a little shorter, they go a little faster usually. And um, let's see, they the the throwback ones, the earliest one was from 2014. I dropped 15 dramas. So I tried a lot from 2020. And I looked back at the ones I dropped, I tried a lot from 2025, and a lot of them were drops.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Well, that's kind of how I felt about the year in general. Like there were definitely more I probably should have dropped that I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yeah, and I like to complete things. So I have that urge to finish something, but lately I've been like, you know what? I don't want to finish it and go, well, I would rate that a three.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Right, right. Yeah, exactly. It's kind of just a waste of your time at that point when you could be watching something so much better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

So that's kind of what I've kind of come to. Um, let's see. And we already talked about I have a couple I'm currently watching and then a couple that I'm waiting to release. But I guess the ones most of the ones that are releasing now probably won't finish until 2026.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

So what do you do for those? Do you count those towards 2026?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

It's tough. I generally try, I think where I fall is I count them in the year they were like started. So if it, you know, the first episode aired in 2025, I count it as a 2025 drama, but I know that's not like standard across the board. I've seen other people say, you know, like last year, you know how when the phone rings started airing in December 2024 but finished in January 2025. Some people counted it as a 2025 drama. I count that as a 2024 drama. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Me too. Because I feel like the majority of the conversation and the dialogue around that was in 2024. That's what I remember from the end of 2024, is everyone being just obsessed with that.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

I remember wrapping Christmas presents while watching.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

There you go. So, how would you rate overall your watching? Would you say it was a good year, bad year?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Um, just the 2025 dramas. I would say this was not a good year. There was nothing that truly swept me away. Like nothing that made it into my top 10. Um, that's not to say there weren't weren't gems in there for sure. Like, you know, I have a few that really stood out. But overall, this year with its new releases ended up being like disappointing. I would get my hopes up really high, which was, you know, that's a that's my fault. Like getting my hopes up really high. Shouldn't have done that. Um, but like I would be, I'd yeah, I mean, I'd be like, oh, I love that actor, you know, that's gonna be so great. And then I'm just kind of like, oh, I watch it and I'm like, oh, this is not captivating me in the way I was really hoping it would. And then, you know, I think like with 12 as the perfect example, like I think the hype was so high. Like everyone had their hopes up for that one and just it crashed and burned, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

I know, yeah. I think one of the questions that we could have had was what was the most anticipated drama that you didn't even watch because you heard that was 12 for me because I heard people talking about it, like, oh, it's so great, looking forward to it. Yeah, and then almost immediately it was like it's disappointing. No, I feel like I didn't even I watched all of them.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

I didn't I don't think I ended up avoiding them. I think I watched all the disappointing ones. I mean, I watched 12 specifically because I wanted to review it for the podcast, so I like very pointedly made myself watch every single one you assigned it to yourself, I you know, took that hit for everyone else so that everyone knows. We appreciate it. You're welcome. Now everyone knows to avoid it. But I also completed When the Stars Gossip, mostly because I was watching it with other people. Watching that one with other people made it kind of fun because we could make fun of it, which is you know, not what you want out of, you know, no one makes a K-drama like, oh, I hope people poke fun at this constantly. Yeah, but that's what that's what made us like carry on with it. Keep going. Yeah. Um I completed the divorce insurance. I don't know why. Like made myself for me. Yeah, well, it should have been for me too. But I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

But certain ones they just look so good, like you like the actors or you like the concept. And uh one that I thought could be really interesting was um second shot at love, because that's not a subject, alcoholism isn't a subject that's really tackled seriously. And I just was so disappointed in that drama. I dropped it after about five or six episodes because I found it just a slog.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Oh, that's not fun. I did avoid that one. I do remember you saying that that one was not that good. And I remember seeing other people like, yeah, I dropped it. So um, okay, I guess there is one that I did avoid. Yay!

Favorites of 2025

SPEAKER_00 15:56

All right, well, let's talk about some positives. Let's get to our list. So we're gonna start with favorite supporting characters. And we originally were going to do just like favorite supporting character, but we've decided to expand and include, you know, more than one answer. So um, who do you have for your favorite supporting characters this year?

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Uh okay, so for the 2025 releases, uh, it was the friends in study group. So, like the study group, I guess. Uh-huh. Um, they all were fantastic. They were all great supporting characters. And also Kim J. Ook's character in Mellow movie. He played um the older brother of Che Wu Sheik's character, and he was fantastic in it, like just so well done. Um he really added a lot to that drama, I feel. He did a fantastic job. Um, this year I also watched Prison Playbook, which is an older drama. So I also would want to shout out like all the supporting characters in Prison Playbook. They were all fantastic. Um, lots of familiar faces. And, you know, just all those characters coming together make that drama worth watching.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

That's great. Yeah, that's one that I hear recommended all the time. And I've not watched it, it's on my list. So it's good to hear.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

So good. Yeah, I highly recommend it. I put off watching it for a long time because I was like, prison, that's so depressing.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

But no, no, there's a lot of hope in it, a lot of light. I mean, it's not a light drama, but there are light moments, really likable characters, um, important plots. I think there's like some good discussions that that happen, you know, like there's a a drug user in there. And so, you know, it's just good to look at how they kind of treat him and just the other characters' backstories. Zhang Hei Yin is in it, and like anytime he's on the screen, it feels like just like a nice big warm hug. Like, I love him so much.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

It's worth watching. It does sound that sounds good. Yeah, that's kind of like um this year. I watched If You Wish Upon Me, which is set in the hospice.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Oh, yeah, I haven't seen that one.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

So it's really good. And I put off watching that. It was on my it was the same thing. It was on my list, but I was like, I don't know, hospice drama. That's that sounds really heavy, but it was really good. And it wasn't all you know down and depressing, it was uplifting and so much found family. But yeah, I understand that. Sometimes the the titles, the settings can really pull put you off. So all right. So did you have any more supporting characters?

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Um, no, that's all I put down for that one.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Okay. I have from Typhoon Family, Typoon's mom, uh Kim G. Young. I just loved her and I loved their relationship. It was just so sweet. Um the I guess moms were something that I was into this year because I also have down from um our unwritten soul, uh his mom, Kim Sun, Kim Sun Young. She's in everything, you know. She's she was great, and I really loved the understated way she played that role and the impact she had, just such a quiet character.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah, I highly agree.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Yeah, it was so good. So those were two of my two of my favorite supporting characters. And I was almost more into their stories than the main story sometimes. I was like, oh, good, we're going back here. Because sometimes, you know, when you get to the the other characters, you're like, eh, we could fast forward through this a little bit. So I really enjoyed those.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

I do wish we had spent more time with Tai Fung's mom in Typhoon Family. Like, I would have loved to have spent more time with her. And then Me Sun's younger brother, who like she kind of took in as her own son. Like, I would have loved more of that.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

I know. I wanted less villains, more of the yes, found family storylines. I we could have just camped out there and then all of the stories with the the people that they met as they worked. You know, I was like, we could just we have a great story here. We don't need as much villains. So that was my thought too. Yeah. What about favorite couples?

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Um, this was a hard one for me. I know. So I kind of like listed a bunch of nominees before I like picked a winner. Um G Yun in Unho from Love Scout, A Sun and Guan Sheik from When Life Gives You Tangerines, Miji and Hosu from R Unwritten Soul, Te Pong and Mi Sun from Typhoon Family. And ultimately, I think I have to give it to A Sun and Guan Chic because we got to see their whole life together essentially. Right. Like the love and dedication they had to each other was just like truly inspiring. Like it's not, you know, it didn't end up super high on my list of dramas for the year, but that couple, you know, was the heart of that drama. You know, everything revolved around them. And both the younger actors, Ayu and Pakbogum, and the older actors whose names I don't know off the top of my head, they both did such great um, just their work was great. It would, they were really nice to watch. Both sets of those younger actors and the older actors just really seemed to they must have they had to have worked together and really built those characters, all four of them working together, make sure everything was like in in sync with each other so that it's yeah, you would have to. Yeah, and and I thought they did a great job, um, which shows a lot of hard work, like behind the scenes, I think. Um, just yeah, they were just a couple that you know stuck with me for the whole year, I think.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah, and there it was interesting. I mean, I haven't watched that one yet, it's on my list. It's just was not the time for me to watch it this year. So there, I I know there were certain elements of the story that I was like, I just can't handle that right now. So I have put it on my to be watched list, but it is interesting that because most of the time in a drama we're seeing a section of a Lifetime instead of in this one, you get the whole story.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

You get like the whole story. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah. I wrote mine out. I have different couples. I the sweetest couple I thought was Wooju and Mari and Would You Marry Me. Because they were very sweet together. And I just their relationship was very fun to watch. And uh, it was such low stakes that was a comfort watch for me. I know a lot of people didn't like the drama because of that, but I did. I thought it was a fun drama to watch them interact together, and they seemed to enjoy playing those roles.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Yeah, yeah, I like that. I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Yeah. And then um, I had a little angsty and more intense couple is uh I'm hopefully saying this right, Wataroo and Misa and Marry My Husband Japan. And I love this so much more than the Korean version. I was so into the Korean version when it came out, but then when this came out, I like the way they changed up the characters because you see them supporting each other and they get to know each other as characters, and he's very much a um repro like reserved, socially awkward, but you don't see that until you kind of get to know the characters a little bit more, and then she's very smart, but not self-confident in her the way she's living her life, and so like they both grow and it I just love that. I mean, and it was a little more, it had the thriller elements to it and time travel elements, so it was a little bit different couple.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

I need to add that the Japanese uh remake of Mary and my husband. I need to add that to my two watch list because I like you, I like I loved the Korean version, so I'll probably end up liking the Japanese one too.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Yeah, and I went back to watch an episode or two for some of these other things. I was like, oh, let me go see if that was as good as I remember it. I kind of got sucked in again. I was like, okay, gotta stop watching this.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Well, that's a good sign.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Yeah. Yeah. What about favorite found family?

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Um, so this again, I I had to pick the kids in study group. The way their group comes together and how they end up having to fight together was really fun to watch. Um, my runner-up for this category would be the winning try, which is a high school rugby sports drama. I mean, found family vibes are like kind of a staple for sports dramas, I think. It's like built in because of the fact that they are a team and they spend a lot of time together. So it's perfect. Yeah, it was it was really perfect. And the winning try was a really feel-good kind of drama. And um the team coming together and working together was really heartwarming.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Well, I have seen that one and I really haven't heard anybody talking about it. So that's going on my list.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Yeah, you're right. I you know, I I haven't heard many people talking about it either. It was pretty good, like, you know, not the top drama for me for the year, but like if you're looking for something found family sports, which comes in with its own, are they gonna win? Are they gonna lose? Like the challenges they face. Yeah, the the stakes are are right in there. They're they're built in too. So if you're in the mood for that, it's it's a really good drama to kind of scratch that itch.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Perfect. Okay, that's good to know. Well, for me, I picked Typhoon family because I feel like you had the found family at work, you had the found family of the two families getting of Tepoon and um Misu? Misan. Misan getting together as it all came together. It felt like it was layers of found family. So I love that aspect of it. And then um I also put down a natural that's a Japanese drama, it's a throwback drama, it's a uh corner's office, and it was just so unique because there were little friendships within the office, but then over the course of the series, they really become a tight-knit group and they help each other out, and there's an overarching mystery that they all get involved in solving. And it was just it was one of the un unexpected delights for me of this year, and it's not some corner stuff is kind of uh dry, not for the squeamish, right? Oh, oh this was not like this, it was very, very watchable for somebody like me who doesn't like medical dramas that much.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Okay, okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Yeah, so could found family there. All right, favorite or least favorite childhood connection because there seems to be this divide about this trope. Do you people love it or hate it? So I don't know which side do you fall on on this usually?

SPEAKER_01 26:27

I'm kind of ambivalent, really. I don't mind it very much, but I did have one that had my least favorite type of childhood connection. Um, and that's would you marry me? Um I just I hate when they meet when they're like seven years old and they're like they remember each other as their first loves. Like I definitely had crushes when I was in elementary school, but like there's I barely remember their names. I there's no way I would recognize them, you know. Right. It's just it's so preposterous.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

I just I can't get over it.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

I can't. And and I am willing to go with the flow on anything in dramas, like uh weird plot twists, like things that would never happen in the real world. They don't really bother me. But for some reason, when they have kids meeting when they're like in first grade and then you know, meeting years later, I don't know. It's just it's weird to me. So it's it's that's my least favorite kind of childhood connection.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yeah, and I don't love the trope, but most of the time I'm like, okay, we'll go with it. But I had the same reaction, and this is the one I put down too is Would You Marry Me? Because I just thought I feel the same way. I'm like, it's just odd to me to think of grade school kids finding the love of their life and recognizing that. Right. I'm like, hmm, it when they're that age, you know, because in this story they were specifically like, Oh, I was in love with him then. And I was like, Yeah, it's weird to me. Maybe it's a cultural thing that I just don't get.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

But that was total agreement there, 100% on that one. Well, what about favorite OSTs?

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Oh, this was easy for me. Um, okay. Backpacker by Zero Base One members Soc Matthew and Puck Gunwook, uh, who actually I only just found out that they were from Zero Base One recently.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

But that song is the um, it's an intro song for study group. It's I love it. Such a good song. It's got the energy, it's got that like feeling of like, yeah. I don't know. It's just such a good listen. They did a really good job with the song. Um, perfect for that drama, really.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Yeah, when it matches up, it's just so good.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Yes. Um, and then I also I have to mention um the song that I Jun Ho sings for Typhoon Family. Like, I can't not mention that. Um I didn't write down the name of the song, though. I think it's can you see or did you see the rainbow?

SPEAKER_00 29:03

The rainbow, yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Um, but that's their um opening song, and then you hear it several times throughout the drama. And of you know, I love I Jun Ho, so that was another good one for me.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I had the rainbow song on my list. I can't remember the name of it perfectly, but I agree on that one. And then the other one that I put down was Glassheart, because that is a J drama, and the music is basically the story because it's about a band, and it was so well integrated into the drama. There's 10 songs, and each episode is named after one of the songs, and it's incorporated into the story of that episode, but then it all comes together, and they did all these interesting things to visualize the music, like the opening credits, the the song that's going to be the one for that episode. They just play the song, and then as the credits are rolling, they do like a light, I don't know how to describe it, like different shapes and colors that match up with the music, and it's very short, very, very snappy. So for me, that was an interesting, I didn't expect to like the music because I'm not into uh J-Rock, but I enjoyed it. And there was one that um it's called Citrus, and I just I love the intro to it and the way it was integrated into the story, it was very cool, and then the songs themselves, you know, are part of the storyline. There's another one called Um A Song to Sing Together, and it's a duet between a man and a woman, and it cracks me up every time I watch it because the woman who's singing it, she's a beautiful voice, and then the actress that plays her is beautiful and gorgeous, and she's singing about she's making like singing about dried macaroni sound sexy. That's talent, you know.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

That sounds very Japanese to me. Like, yes, of course, that's what they're singing about.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

Yeah, but anyway, so those were just compelling to me, and I think it's because I wasn't familiar with that world and stuff, but I thought that was interesting. So that was what I put down for OSTs because it was so integrated into this story. So and some of them were a little too rock for me, but the ones that were more ballads and more pop, I liked those.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

So this year I also watched The Sound of Magic, which Oh, okay. Tell me about that. Stars Chi Chang Wuk, and um I went into it because I know he has a really lovely voice. I've I've heard him sing other songs, like he's done tracks for other dramas he's been in. Right. So I was like, I'm gonna watch this like just to listen to him sing. And I was really hoping to come away like loving the music. It was not memorable. The music was not memorable for me at all, which is such a disappointment because it's like kind of like a musical drama, you know, like yeah, you know, it's a musical just in drama, and just it was not uh didn't make the list. Did not know did not make the list. I don't want to, you know, say too much about it because I know it does have its fans, and I didn't dislike watching the drama. It was it was a fine drama for me. I just was really disappointed that the music wasn't like I wasn't running out afterwards to add it to my playlist, you know. So that was a little bit of a disappointment for me.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Yeah, yeah, I could see that, and I've I've heard varying opinions about that drama.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Yeah, I think it's you either love it or you hate it. Well, it's one of the really divisive ones. Yeah, it is pretty divisive. Like I can see both sides, both arguments for like why it's not a great drama, and I can see why people did like it too.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

Enjoy it, yeah, yeah. Well, what about a drama that you were surprised you liked?

SPEAKER_01 32:52

For me, that actually I watched pretty recently. I watched Spirit Fingers, it wasn't on my radar at all, but when I gave it a shot, I was so charmed by it. Like I'm not a huge high school romance fan, but I really liked this one. Um, and the secondary c characters were contenders for favorite, um, like supporting actors too, because it's got strong found family vibes to it. And I related a lot to the female lead, um, like how I was in high school with like confidence issues and and stuff. Um, just you know, I didn't have a tall model boy chasing after me, you know, trying to get me to fall in love with him. So, you know, very few of us. You're right.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Unfortunately, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:39

That was not the part I could relate to. But other than that, yeah, I could, you know, I saw a little bit of myself in her and just it's just such a like a visually pleasing drama. They really did a lot of things. I mean, color plays a huge part of it. Each member of this art club chooses a color to represent themselves. So like color plays an important role, and it's just really nice to like just to look at. Just you know, the cinematography was done really well. Um the story was fun. Um the romance was sweet. I mean, it's high school, so like you know, just hand holding is like a huge, huge deal, like, you know. Um, but it didn't feel immature like some high school dramas could, you know, like it was also easy to relate to as an adult. And um, I wasn't expecting it. Like this was not one I had on my list of dramas that were coming up, but just, you know, it Vicky advertised it to me and I was like, all right, I'll it that looks like it could be fun. And I really needed something that was more lighthearted, you know, something that wasn't gonna make me sit on the couch and cry. This like definitely filled um a spot that I needed, right, you know, in dramas this year. And you know, I watched a lot of dramas this year, so I picked an older one too that um I watched specifically for Zhang Heian because, like I said, I I really love him. And I hadn't seen DP yet. Oh, okay. I had been putting it off. Heavy, and it is sounds heavy. Yeah, it's a little bit heavier. Um, but it's so good. I ended up really liking it. Um, it wasn't quite as heavy as I thought it was gonna be. Um, it does have its lighter moments, but um, I I just found myself really liking it and I was just really surprised by that because I really didn't think I was gonna enjoy it as much as I did.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Spirit fingers, there it's getting a lot of buzz. I mean, I've heard a lot of people talking about it, and it was not on my radar at all.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

So yeah, I just think that made it check out.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Yeah, yeah. So for me, for um Surprise You Liked, I put, you know, I mentioned If You Wish Upon Me, because that's one that I was I wanted to watch it, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was very well done. There was I had some quibbles with some of those storylines, but overall I really enjoyed it. Glassheart surprised me because you know, I was not, I was getting into J dramas and I was watching some of those, and I was like, eh, well, I'll check it out because I am watching these, but I'm not into music dramas specifically, but I really enjoyed that one. And then the main one that I was thinking of was it's called Usataki Rhetoric. It's a throwback one, I think, from 2023. Japanese drama, it's a historical, it's got some fantasy elements to it, and I was like, I'll try that. You know, it's not those aren't my go-to genres, but I really enjoyed it. It was great. It was more of a uh kind of a crime crossed with light fantasy, 1920s, Japan. So it was very different. And uh I really enjoyed that one. So I I love it when I when you just press play and and you're delighted, you know, and that the best.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

That honestly sounds like something I would probably like. Historical fantasy, like 1920s. It sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

And it's got really good found family, it's got the characters have good rapport. There's very little romance, there's you know, friendship, more friendship than romance. But yeah, it was really good. I'd recommend it.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Awesome. Oh, I'm gonna come away with so many more dramas now. We're gonna be so busy in January.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Yeah, right. We've already talked about how we're gonna watch dramas in December during our time off. But we're just making our list longer and longer.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Because as soon as Christmas is done, I'm just gonna camp out watching dramas.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Yeah. Well, what about best fashion? What do you have for that?

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Um, I didn't have a great answer for this one, but I'm gonna go with Spirit Fingers because for each of their meetings that the art club would have, um, they would do a theme. So they would dress in these fun costumes each time they met up. And that was really fun to watch them do. Like, you know, back in my mind, I'm like, where are they getting all these costumes from? Like, you know, if you go into a shop and renting it, you have to pay for that.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Like, but you know, how are these high school kids doing this, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

So, like, yeah, I mean, a couple of times she borrowed clothes from like the older women that were in the group. So, like, that made sense, but you know, it's one of those things you just kind of like, I'm just gonna You're gonna have to suspend your disbelief, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Like, yeah, like when the the poor person gets the office job and they come in in the beautiful suits, and you're like, Right, did they go shopping?

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Did I miss that episode? The poor person has like designer label thing, yeah. Or bags, designer bags. Yes, yep. Um, I also have a nominee for worst fashion. Oh, okay. And it's from an older drama. Uh it's from Shopaholic Louie, which don't let that like don't let that stop anyone from watching. The fashion is terrible. Um, it was, I think it's 20, it's 2016. It's a 2016 drama. Um but like they went out there on the fashion choice, especially for this one character, like the boss type guy, who's supposed to be wearing, I think, the more expensive clothing, but like some just there's some like weird neckerchief things going on and lots of like polka dots and stuff and weird shoes. So like it just and the his hair was not great either. It's really celibate. I know, I know. But the drama itself, as fashion aside, the drama itself is fantastic, and I highly recommend it. Um, it was a top drama that I watched out of the older dramas this year. Um it's so heartwarming and just so fun. I I really I did love it so much from looking at the fashion.

SPEAKER_00 39:49

So that's just a quirky thing that you can just have as a side as you watch the drama. Yeah, yeah. For best fashion, I picked Miss Incognito because she was so interesting as a character. She had the storyline where she starts out, she's not doesn't have very much money. Then she gets in the situation where she has money. And so you see her like very basic clothes, gruffy and mended things. And then she just has this fabulous wardrobe of these designer suits, and then she changes again because she has to kind of go undercover in this little town, but she still dresses very nice. So that was cool just to see those changes. Um, but I have to give a shout out to $1 lawyer. I watched that as well.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Oh, I watched that this year too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Yeah. And I mean, I loved the whoever did the styling for that, kudos to them because you know, he had Nam Gumen played the character where he had the fabulous quirky suits, like the plaid suit. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01 40:49

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

And so but he just went, he just went full on, or the whoever did it, they went full on for I don't know what you call it, well tailored, but just kind of bizarre choices.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Yeah. You know, the pattern choices were just a little out there. But yeah, his suits like all fit nicely, like they were definitely yeah, you know, tailored to him. But yeah, no plan.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

So that drama is worth watching just for the fashion choices because he looked fabulous in all these kind of weird, quirky things. And then the female lead, she wore these beautiful color block power suits. She was either like all in red or all in white or all in blue, and it was just very, I'm sure it was to create a contrast between the two of them. But I thought she looked fabulous too. So that was fun. And that was that drama, I wouldn't say that was a top drama, but it was entertaining. And yeah, the the clothing choices, I was like, this is just so much fun. What is he going to be wearing in this episode?

SPEAKER_01 41:50

And he was so particular about his hair, like how he would he would curl the ends of his hair.

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Yeah. So that's a good, that's a good light watch. Um, mostly.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Mostly until kind of towards the end.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

Then it yeah, as most K dramas do, yeah. You start out light and then you drop down and you have this all is lost moment, and then you come back and it's hopefully gets back on an even keel. Yeah. Anyway, okay, so best villains, that's the next category. And I find this more as an antagonist than villain. So, what how'd you take it?

SPEAKER_01 42:21

Um, so my first one, I guess he pretty much was a villain. Um, from the manipulated Kyung Su, uh, who is from the group XO, he was like maniacally over the top. Um, I don't know, I wouldn't call him the best villain per se. Um, but like watching him, I mean, the whole drama, The Manipulated, was kind of like none of that's gonna happen in real life. You know, you're not watching it for it's a thriller. Yeah, exactly. It's a thriller. And so his over-the-top villain really fit, it worked, and like he just chewed the scenery around it. He was just like, oh god. He did, I mean, he did a good job. It's probably how he was directed. So I think it was memorable. Um, but I think my actual answer would probably be Kim J-Wok's character in Dear Hong Rong, specifically for there's this one scene between him and Hong Rong towards the end of the series, and I don't want to give any spoilers at all for it, but it was it was epic. It was an epic like showdown and just the acting that he was doing was just fantastic. He was just fantastic and evil and like scary. And I also watched Death's Game this year, which he was also in, and he was scary and like. Terrifying in that too. He just plays those roles so well. Like he's so good because he can go from doing that to being Ryan Gold in oh my god, I'm blanking off her private life. Yes, her private life. Yeah. And he does them both equally as well. But man, his villain in Deer Hong Rong, which again isn't a top drama for me, but his character, super memorable.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Good to know. Good job, not giving spoilers.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Yeah, no, I don't. There's oh god, I would not want to spoil that for anyone because when I saw it, I like gasped. So I gotta save that moment for everyone else.

SPEAKER_00 44:39

Yeah, that's good. Well, there is a uh J drama that came out called Learning to Love. And the dad, the main characters, her, the female leads, dad, and her fiance are like the worst people. They're just awful in the way they treat people, the way they act. Just oh, they're just and it's one of those that it's a very slice of life type show. And they did a great job in making these characters unlike. I had issues with the end of the show because they kind of gave redemption arcs to both of them. And I was like, no, we don't deserve it. No, maybe, you know, tamp it down a little bit. Maybe a hint that maybe they could get better in the future. But anyway, so those two characters were just oh, just terrible. And um, obviously they did a good job because I was actively rooting against them, you know. Please get your come up. It's I'm ready for it.

SPEAKER_01 45:35

How would you say the best friend character and the husband character in Marry My Husband, the Japanese version? How is that compared to how they are in the Korean one? Because last year, like they were some of my favorite villains.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

Um they were good villains. I thought they were good. I heard other people say that they didn't, that they liked the villains better in the K-drama version. I think I liked the drama, the villains better in the Japanese version because it seemed more they changed up the story a little bit and you got a little more information about like the background for some of the stuff that was going on. The female villain was really good.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

It was interesting to watch them both and see the comparisons, you know.

SPEAKER_01 46:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

So definitely give it a try.

SPEAKER_01 46:25

I am a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

I would love to hear what you had to say.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

That long list. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

All right. What about worst villain? And however you wanted to take this, like worst least believable or however.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Yeah, I mean, going back to the manipulated, I think um, he's kind of the best and the worst. Like that he's just so it's so out of the realm of reality. I think he's a super like mega rich kid based. I mean, he's not really a kid, he's a grown-up, but not he's like, I think in his 20s, probably or something. And um, he inherited all this money from his parents and he just uses it for evil, essentially. And it's like, okay, I don't think this would have been absolutely possible, but um but okay, yeah. And I'm also when I was thinking about Worst Villain, um, I was thinking about like the melodramas I watched this year. So I'm just gonna lump it all into a general category of um incurable illness.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

Oh, there you go. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

I love that cancer and incurable illness, you know.

SPEAKER_00 47:41

There you go. There you go. That's a good villain. For worst villain, I put down the rival boss lady in Love Scout. Remember her? Yeah, I put worst because I just didn't care. I was like, every time her scenes came on, I was like, eh, I don't care. So I wasn't invested in that storyline at all. And it just wasn't compelling to me. So so that one I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_01 48:06

That's a that's a good pick.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Yeah, what about best crying scene or scenes?

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Uh that would be um me crying to Wayback Love. Um probably just that whole drama in general had some really good crying in it. Uh-huh. Uh specifically, and again, without giving spoilers, there's a scene between a character and a mom where tears are shed, grief is shared, and there's a little bit of healing that happens. That always gets me too. Yeah, it was such a moving scene. Um, and like I'm like sobbing along with it. That drama me, I think, made me cry the most this year, probably. So, like, yeah, just everything in Wayback Back Love uh had some good crying scenes.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

I put down in our movie the we haven't talked about at all, really. That's one that had has the terminal illness storyline, which you know at front. Yeah, and um, there were a couple of scenes between the lead and her best friend that one of them it was just so heartbreaking because the the lead, I can't remember her name at the moment as her character name, but she was saying she was apologizing basically that I won't be there to see you get a job and get married and have kids. And I mean, it was just heartbreaking. That was like, oh, and that's drama, they didn't really play up the crying scenes that much. And I think because they didn't, when you have something like that, it hits harder.

SPEAKER_01 49:37

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

And yeah, but her best friend, in time her best friend and her best friend's mom stood in for being the mom in her life, and it was just those scenes were just so sad.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

Yeah, they were.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

So that was sad. Yeah. All right, so from sadness to to a lighter topic, what was your fastest drop?

SPEAKER_01 49:58

Uh, my fastest drop was last summer. Um, I made it only an episode and a half, and I was bored and confused about like what the backstory was. So I asked others um if I should continue. And a lot of people said they dropped it just several episodes later. And a couple people were like, I was enjoying it when I was like, you know, where you are in the in the story. And I was like, well, if I'm not enjoying it now, and they enjoyed it now, but then later dropped it, which it means it's only gonna get worse for me. So um, yeah, that would that was my fastest drop. I usually try and give you know more episodes a go, but this one just no, I I just I wasn't hanging with it. I think my second fastest drop was probably Dear X, which I think I made it to five episodes for that. Um I just found I didn't care about any of the characters or the plot. Um, but I know this that one has a lot of people that loved it this year. Like people were really into the drama and the twists and turns and stuff, and just I maybe it was the mood I was in. I don't know. Just it wasn't working for me.

SPEAKER_00 51:18

That's totally fine. That's why we have all these different categories and combinations and all there's something for everybody. Yeah. So my fastest drop was Genie Make It Wish.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

And um that's another one I continued with, but I probably should have dropped.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

I was like, well, I'll try it. 15 minutes in. I was like, Yeah, I don't think this is for me. So, and I watched a little bit longer and I was like, No. So I didn't even make it through the first episode of that one. And normally I'm like you, I try and give it an episode or two, but just that one was definitely not for me, and I could tell right away.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Yeah, I should have dropped that one. It was the same thing, like first episode, 15, you know, half an hour in, and I was like, This, but again, because I wanted to keep watching it with the people that were watching it, I kept going, but it's kind of a little punishing, which I feel bad saying because again, that's another drama that I know people love, and and that's great, fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

But yeah, we're not throwing shake, we're just saying these were yeah, just what didn't work for us.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

Didn't work for me.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

Yeah. What about most satisfying drama? Which or drama is?

SPEAKER_01 52:24

Yeah, I was gonna say I have a bunch of nominees for this one. Okay, perfect. Uh Love Scout, that was very satisfying. That one I felt stayed very consistent throughout the whole drama and and had a nice ending. Study group, like really started strong and kept it going the whole way. Um, and I think probably my top choice for satisfying drama would be Romantics Anonymous. Just um it was probably because it's short, it's only, I think, like episodes long, like under an hour, you know, per episode. But it had really good characters with real-world issues that help each other become better and improve their quality of life as far as like being out in the world is concerned. And it was sweet. Um, it just felt good to watch it, it just felt like a complete package, and it was just really satisfying to watch.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

Yeah. I I like your term a complete package because I feel for my list, I put our movie on there, even though that's not a topic that I normally am drawn to. But I feel like the whole thing was well done. Um, the storyline was well done, the cinematography was beautiful, the music matched perfectly, the acting was good. You know, and I know some people didn't like some of the acting choices that were made, but I feel like you knew what you were getting when you signed up to watch it, and that's what you got. And you didn't get um, they they carried it through to the end. And I felt like it was a complete story well done. Yeah, I would totally agree with that. I felt like that was good. And then um the other one that um I thought was really satisfying was If you wish upon me, because when they got to the end, I love it when they take characters you've seen and storylines you've seen and kind of wrap it up at the end, and you get kind of where are they now? And or or they bring them back. And that was what I wanted that in Typhoon family. I wanted to see all those different things that interacted. I wanted to kind of see where people were and what you know bring back. And so they did that in If You Wish Upon Me. And I just liked it the way it was all done.

SPEAKER_01 54:35

So nice.

SPEAKER_00 54:37

Yeah. All right. Worst ending.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Um, I'm so sad that there were so many that I could choose from. Yeah. And um, like I said, I'm kind of annoyed at myself for finishing so many dramas that had bad endings. Uh-huh. Um, I mean, they were just plain bad dramas like When the Stars Gossip and 12. And then there were boring ones like the divorce insurance, and then there were some debatable ones like Head Over Heels. Um, started out really strong and then kind of petered off. The ending didn't bother me as much as it bothered some other watchers, but I don't think it finished as strong as it started. But I think I have to give this to Buried Hearts. Oh, yes. Yeah. This one I've heard about Buried Hearts. Yeah, it had great twists, like started off with a bang. It was very moody and atmospheric, like that kind of drama. And I was with it for like a good portion of it, like uh maybe 80%. Then the last few episodes just I felt like a deflated balloon after being so hyped for most of the series, and then just kind of like the just kind of just petered out and felt unsatisfied. Like it's the complete opposite of the satisfying dramas. I just felt so unsatisfied by the ending, didn't didn't work at all for me. Um, I felt that there was a character who I guess we could say was the female lead. She I I think some other things should have happened with her. And I yeah, uh it was just such a disappointing ending, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:26

I get that. I think the ones that you have high expectations for and then they fizzle on the end are way more disappointing than the ones who are just kind of mediocre all the way through.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

So I I mostly binged this one. I was like initially waiting and I was gonna binge it all when it was completely done, but there was so much hype about it, and people were like talking about it and how fantastic it was. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna jump in, I'm gonna catch up. And then I caught up for like I think maybe the last four hadn't aired at that point yet. So um I caught up and I was like, yeah, this is great. And then as I'm watching it week to week after that, I was like, what happened? What went wrong here?

SPEAKER_00 57:09

Yeah, I did not watch that one specifically because I heard I watched, I think, one or two episodes and then I heard people talking about it and I was like, maybe I'll just wait. That was funny. And then I was glad I did. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, for worst ending, I put down nine puzzles because I know a lot of people really enjoyed this one. For me, I was watching it as a mystery story. I was into the characters, but I was so curious how they were gonna pull it all together at the end, you know, and make the mystery make sense. And they just didn't do it, they just didn't answer any of the questions about how it was done. I mean, they told you who did it, but it was more of a telling. And oh, yeah, it was it was just so disappointing to me because I was so into it. I was like, oh, it's gonna be fantastic. And then when you get all these clues dribbled out over time, but you don't get the satisfying resolution, I was like, mm-hmm, disappointing.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

That's kind of how I felt about buried hearts too. Like the mystery. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:05

Yeah. And then um, another one that I enjoyed most of it was Summer Strike. That was a throwback one that I watched this year. And I enjoyed so many of the elements, but I didn't get that satisfying ending. It was okay, yeah, but I felt like it could have been so much better. Um, I won't say anything else, but no, I know what you're talking about because I also watched it this year.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

Um and I totally understand what you're talking about regarding the ending, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 58:31

Yeah, we'll leave that vague. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

I don't want to give spoilers because, like for most of that drama, I actually really enjoyed it. So people should give it a shot if they think they might like it.

SPEAKER_00 58:40

Yeah. Well, what about favorite drama not from 2025 that you watched during this year?

SPEAKER_01 58:46

Um, a lot.

unknown 58:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:50

Uh Death's Game, definitely high up there for me. Prison Playbook, like I mentioned before, like so good. Love that one. Um, I watched my first BL this year. I watched Semantic Error, and I really like that one and just discovered that um they're releasing a paperback version of the webtoon. Um the monoir. So I read the first volume and I'm um hoping to get the other ones for Christmas, maybe, but we'll see. If not, I might just buy it myself. And then I'm thinking of like I might do some kind of comparison on my podcast of the the monoir to the K drama because the K drama is really short. Um, it's not a very big time commitment, but it's very good. Um, I also watched Our Beloved Summer, which was yeah, fantastic. Yeah, it's so good. Um and this next one is another one that I was surprised I liked. Like this one could have gone in that category and it's our blues. I thought it was gonna be super depressing and leave me feeling sad, but I watched it and it's not it's not that like definitely deals with heavy topics, but in a way that doesn't leave you like feeling bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

Devastated?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:06

Yeah, yeah, like you're not devastated. It was I enjoyed it so much more than I I thought it was, and I was so glad I gave it a shot.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:14

Nice. Okay, that's good. That's also on my list.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:17

Yeah, oh you you should watch that. That's that's really like good a kind of I guess we could call it slice. Yeah, I guess it's slice of life. And then it's like told in the vignettes. So um that's a good one. Shopaholic Louie that I mentioned was a lot of fun. Um, I know the first time I was on your podcast, I talked about Empress Key. I had watched that earlier this year. Um still highly recommend that one. Very good. And then this fall I watched Light Shop, which was really good, very uh creepy, not like scary necessarily, but definitely has like eerie kind of moments to it, and just like a really good. I mean, so it's a K drama, so like it has all this like creepy, kind of horror-ish vibes to it, but at the same time, there's like a really like there's these moving stories that like touch your heart in it as well. And it's um I really hope that they do a second season of it. I don't know if they will, but I really hope that there's more.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

Yeah, awesome. For me, I I have some that just really surprised me. These are all older Turn to Me, Mu Kai Koon, and that's a J drama. And it's a rom-com about a guy who's trying to find the one and kind of his the humorous things that happen to him along the way as he's dating. And then let's see, also Quartet from I don't know what year that was. I think that was 2018. Um, that's more of a friendship drama. I really enjoyed that one. And Unnatural. Those were ones that like they're really high on my list when they when I look at you know my overall dramas. I didn't have a I don't think I've watched a draft uh a Korean drama. Oh, yes, I did. Um another rom com Marriage Not Dating.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:11

Oh, I have that on my to watch list.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:13

Yes, I found it on I think Tubi. And it it was really good. I really enjoyed it, and it had all the kind of throwback old K drama feels to it. And um yeah, it was really good. I would recommend that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:27

Yeah, I've had that on my list forever, but I think because it's on Tubi, that's why I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:34

I know. Platform has a lot of uh influence sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:38

Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

Yeah. All right. Well, what about favorite friendships?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:43

So this might be an unconventional choice, but I'm going with Gumja, which uh was the grandmother, and Jun Hee, which is the pregnant girl, and Hianju, who is the trans woman in Squid Game Season Three. Um they're brought together under terrible circumstances, but they formed kind of a nice bond with each other by helping each other out. There's a lot of character growth due to the fact that the three of them are kind of bonding together, like sticking together. And you know, like for instance, the grandmother at the very beginning, I think probably in season two, when when all the characters are kind of introduced, um, is like she says some like, you know, not appropriate things. And her son who was in the game with her is like, you can't say that, like, you know, and it's not like her being malicious, and just the way she comes around to like really forming a strong bond with that the trans woman is just it was really nice to watch, like treating her no differently than she would treat another girl. And then the pregnant girl, you know, she's pregnant, so she needed help and had to come to rely on others and squid game, so awful things eventually happened. But for a tiny bit of time, the three of them had formed a really nice bond and friendship that was a little ray of sunshine and amongst all the terrible things that go on in Squid Game. In Squid Game, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:15

Well, for favorite friendship for me, I put down to the moon. Have you heard of this one? This is one that not a lot of people have watched or talked about. And I think because it was on things on Amazon Prime. Those are sometimes hard to you don't hear about those as much as like something on Vicky or Netflix. But this one, it's about three women who are friends, they work at a company, and it's 2017, 2018, and one of the women gets into crypto, and so they they would they're trying to change their lives. They're temporary employees, and so they're second-class citizens at the company, but they have such a good friendship, and so much of it is about the women themselves. They each have their own storylines and things happen. There's romance. One of the women was dealing with some issues from her past. All these storylines are going on, but the main storyline throughout the whole thing is the women and their friendship and how they support each other. And it's got some funny, funny dialogue and lighter moments. And then in a way, it kind of reminded me of some of the older school K-dramas. It's got some really quirky, wacky humor that I was like, eh, I'm not into this part. But the friendship among the three women was fantastic. I really love that for the friendship.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

You might like um be melodramatic. Have you seen that one yet?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:29

Yes, yeah, I have that on my list. I think I'm I I started it and I got partway into it and then got distracted. I I keep meaning to go back to it. You know how it is. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:39

Yep. I think you'd like it though. Um, the female friendship specifically is a huge part of the story, and it sounds kind of similar to the drama you just were talking about. Yeah. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

So many that are officially on hold. Not dropped, just hold. Right. What about your favorite umbrella scene? So

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

The only one I could think of, I don't think I saw many umbrella scenes this year, but the only one I could think of was um Unho from Love Scout uses his daughter's pink umbrella to cover Jiyun uh at one point. And I think that might be the only umbrella scene that I saw.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:18

Yeah, there weren't as many this year, I don't think.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:20

Yeah, not not in the 2025 dramas. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:23

Well, I put down the umbrella scene in our movie. There's a scene where she convinces him to come outside. Oh, yes. And when she was a child, her mom let her play in the rain, and she's trying to help him kind of loosen up and enjoy life a little bit more. And she convinces him, and he's worried about her being sick from being in the rain, but he says, Okay, for one minute, and he drops the umbrella, and then the camera rotates around them, and the music is beautiful, and it's just them enjoying the rain. And then when the minute is up, he puts the umbrella back up, and I think the camera actually turns upside down, and then she kisses him, and the camera flips over, and it's just it's just so interesting, and it's so it's so well done, so interestingly filmed. I was like, oh, this is cool. This is a new way of seeing it, it's very swingy.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:15

Now that you're talking about it, now I remember the scene. I had forgotten all about it. But yeah, that was a really beautiful moment for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:22

Yeah. What about favorite ramen scene? Did you have anything for this?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:25

I did, yeah. Um, Typhoon Family, when it's like um one of the last episodes of the series, I think maybe it's second to last episode where they're finally close to getting a win, like just the end, and the coworkers all come together and they celebrate by eating ramen in Tae Pung's father's office. And it was just such a nice moment because they were getting to the end, like we knew the win was finally coming after episodes of like, we think there's gonna be a win, or yeah, something happens, it ruins it, and then finally they're getting to the end, and like finally it's like the family has come, the work family has come back together, and it was just like a really nice moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:09

Yeah, I enjoyed that one too. It did have that kind of rounding it off feeling, like we're reaching the end, we're getting there, a celebration with ramen. Yeah. Um, I put down uh Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle? That one is a J-drama, and the ramen is a going to this ramen stall is a motif throughout throughout the throughout the series. It opens with the main character having ramen noodles with her dad, and it's just that comes to symbolize comfort and continuing on when things are difficult. Because when she was a child, she went through a difficult time, and you need to eat, you need to take care of yourself, and so she has to do that again because of things that happened in the drama, and then the drama ends with them going to get ramen, not her and her dad, but she's going to get ramen. And I just like, oh, it's just such a sweet scene. It's just so sweet. Yeah, yeah, and ramen is very it's like the comforting comfort food, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

Right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:12

What about best second lead syndrome?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:16

So I don't really get second lead syndrome very often. I always think I know who the man either is, yeah. But I did put down from Deer Hong Rong. Um I think that's probably fits the category best. Um I didn't really love this drama. Um, so I wasn't super invested in the couples, but I think she should have, I think she should have gotten with her adopted brother. Like I think she should have given him a shot, which sounds really weird to say, but they're not blood related. And um, he was kind of the better option until the second half of the drama when they completely changed his character and he became like an antagonist. But before that, he cared for her, like he loved her and would have been there romantically for her. And he was like by far the better option. So that's like the only example I could really think of where like I thought the second lead should have gotten a shot.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:19

Yeah, I don't usually get second male lead syndrome. I'm like, I'm usually in for the main couple. Yeah. Um, the only thing I did think of was for Love Scout, and I know some people loved Love Scout. I did not, it just it didn't click for me. And I think part of it was he was so perfect. I was like, that's I don't buy it. He's he's too perfect. I was I was waiting for his fatal flaw to appear. And then I felt a lot of resentment for all the female characters who are single moms who've been portrayed as just so frazzled. Oh, it just it it kind of rubbed me the wrong way that he just handled it all so wonderfully and so beautifully, and he never had any challenges, and it just annoyed me.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:59

So in that, but I did watch the drama and I enjoyed parts of it. And one of the parts that I really liked was the second couple because I thought their storyline was interesting, and you know, I I love that, and we accidentally fall in love storyline.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:12

It was good. I liked that storyline too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:15

What about the most over the top moment, like craziest moment?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:19

Um, again, I have to mention the manipulated and just that it wasn't really mockjong, but the the villains in it, like anyone who was an antagonist were like way over the top and just like stereotypical psychopath murderer, like so. That was kind of like the closest, I think, to mockjong. I didn't I didn't really watch anything very mockjong or soapy this year, I don't think.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:50

For me, the what I thought of here was um, I'll just say it's it's the boat rescue slash concert in Glass Heart. So if you've seen Glass Heart, you will know what it is. I'm not gonna describe it, so I don't spoil it, but it was the one of those moments that you're like, oh, that would never happen in real life. But because it's in the show, you go with it. And I think those were based on I maybe not a serial novel, I think. And they did have some elements to it that I was like, okay, this is just absurd. But I was into it because I was into the characters, so I went with it. What about um Truck of Doom Award? I did not remember a whole lot of Trucks of Doom this year. What about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:31

Yeah. Um I just gave the award to 12, just like it should because it just in general, just because it deserves a Truck of Doom to just run it over. So there was a Truck of Doom in Buried Heart. Um, and actually, I will say that it was done pretty well. Um, it was if you can say that about about a truck of doom, but the moment it was used was just I don't want to, I don't want to give spoilers, but it was surprising. It was used very well in the story, I would say. It wasn't a stereotypical truck of doom. Um, so for like an actual truck of doom, I would say the one in buried hearts was pretty good. But if I could run a drama over with a truck of doom, it would be 12. That would be that one. That would be the the new category for truck of doom.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:26

Because I really didn't have, I can't think of any that um from this year from 2025. I'm sure there were some. So let me know in the comments when help me remember which ones I forgot. All right, let's go to a the fun category. Favorite swoony moments either from this year or if you watch something that really stood out from previous years.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:47

There were a few swoony moments this year for sure. Like everything Unho did in Love Scout. I know you weren't, you know, it's not a favorite drama of yours, but like when he fixed her office door so that it would swing the right way because she kept walking into it and like it wasn't opening the way she expected. So he just silently went and fixed that for her. It's like that is really nice. Um Guan Chic jumping off of the ferry boat to swim back to shore for A Sun and When Life Gives You Tangerines, like that was a super swoony moment. Um, but I think I did the most swooning um in Typhoon family with Taipong and Me Sun. Um like when they're on the subway and he's getting jostled up against her and he's trying to stay stoic, and she lowers her newspaper to look at him, but he's like, that's like too much for him to handle the phone. So he like moves it back up to cover her face, and she just keeps teasing him by lowering it back down. I mean, like the looks that Jun Ho gave her, the whole series just had me melting, like when he's singing the song on stage when they're in Thailand, and when he like goes and sits outside and um when he gets her the cell phone and just they're sitting outside on the bench. Oh, there's just like so many moments that like he was so charismatic in that drama, and it made him so swoonworthy, really. Just yeah, he was it just heart melting, loved it.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:25

Yeah. The first one I have on my list is the the train scene in Typhoon Family early on. He's calling the flowers. Oh, yeah, and she's reading the newspaper and he's reading the newspaper. But their eye line keeps catching. That was a memorable scene for me. I was like, okay, yeah, this was good. Another one I put down was the wedding shoot and Would You Marry Me, the wedding photo shoot and Would You Marry Me.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:47

Because that one, I was like, ah, this is pretty good. But then at that point, I was like, okay, I'm in. I I thought that was pretty swimny. Um oh, and then I put down Kim Young Day's forearm veins in To the Moon. If you've seen To the Moon, you'll know what I'm talking about because this is a subplot in there that one of the characters her weaknesses is men who work hard and have veiny forearms, and so and it was hilarious. I just thought the whole thing was hilarious. And then there's a scene in Marry My Husband Japan where they're trying to I I think of it as a hide-and-seek scene. Um the main character is trying to make sure the villain, villainess, doesn't see her and the the lead together because then that will make things worse. So they're leaving work and they're going back and forth around this kind of wall, and she's pulling him along. And this is before they've really they're more just work acquaintances, and he's attracted to her, you can tell, but he's very reserved, and she's just manhandling him, pulling him around and shoving him back and forth. And at the end, they end up like squished face to face in this little crevice, and his face is just like, oh my gosh, what is and she's like right up there, and once and she's totally focused on not being seen. So then when she realizes they're safe and she looks up at him, she realizes they're that close, and she's like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? And they back off and they break apart. And I saw that little clip, and I was like, up to that point, I thought, I don't know if I want to watch that. I've already seen the green version, and I saw that. I was like, Oh, well, if we're gonna have scenes like this, yeah, I will check this out.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:27

That kind of sells me on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:30

So it was a lot of fun. What about most underrated drama of the year for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:35

Um, I really didn't know. I put down Wayback Love, but when I mentioned the winning try, actually, you had mentioned that you hadn't heard a lot about that. So I guess actually the most underrated drama is probably the winning try. Um I didn't I I I think I remember seeing some stuff about it on social media while it was airing. But since then it's been pretty quiet. You're right. It's not one that really kind of got talked about a lot.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:07

It hasn't come up a lot, yeah. Yeah, I would say to the moon, probably, because just people don't talk about it. And it was very entertaining. It had, you know, some things, some turns in the storyline that I wasn't as excited about, but overall I really enjoyed it a lot, and I don't hear people talking about it that much. Okay, our final one best performances by an actor, actress, probably both.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:30

Yeah, yeah. I picked one, one of each, basically. Um, my best actor award goes to I Jun Ho for Typhoon Family because he was able to make his character so charismatic, like I said. And I could tell that he really put a lot of work into figuring out how his character moves, how he stands. He really worked on his micro expressions for it. I've yet to see an E Jun Ho drama where he doesn't have chemistry with the female like it just exudes chemistry with whoever he's with. I just I could tell that he really cared about his character and making sure that he was likable. I just really appreciated his whole performance, really. Um and best actress I had to give to Pakbo Young for playing twins in our unwritten soul because she managed to make them both distinct without resorting to caricatures. Like, you know, one wasn't like super goofy while the other one was super sporadic. Like they she brought a subtlety to both characters that you so you could tell which twin was which and who was pretending to be the other twin just by how she played these characters. It wasn't over the top, it was like they were real people. She had to have also prepared a ton for that role. I can't even imagine. And she had to have chemistry as each twin with their respective love interest, which I think she also did. So, like really a fantastic performance this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:13

I agree. That's what I put down part Bo Young in Our Unwritten Soul, because like you said, it was just an amazing performance. And I always knew who she was when I was watching it. I knew if she was which twin she was, and if she was a twin playing one of the the opposite role, I knew who the hell that was, and so that was really amazing. And then uh Nam Gumin in our movie, because I think that was a really hard role to play because he was so um non-emotional, non-stoic. Yes, very stoic. And I I remember noticing that he very rarely looked people in the eye when he would talk to them, he would glance at them and glance away, or he'd be looking just to the side, and uh he just did all these small things to show the the reserved nature of the character. And I I feel like it was sort of like Colin Firth talking about playing Mr. Darcy. He said that was so hard to do because there's all these things going on under the surface, but you can't see them. You gotta only let little glimpses of that come through. And you could see that every once in a while, you'd see a little smile or a little like out of he would give a fleeting glance, you know, that maybe his eyes would crinkle just a little bit. I just feel like there was a lot going on there, and it could have been very flat, right? But I felt like he showed there was emotions and stuff, and I thought that's probably a really hard thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:37

Yeah, that's gotta be super hard to play a character like where there's tons going on underneath the surface, but that character doesn't show it. But you have to let the audience know that it's happening. That's that's complicated.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:50

Yeah, because it's visual, and and we didn't hear a whole lot of thoughts, you know, internal thoughts, internal monologue.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:55

Like that's easy to do, I would think. I'm not an author, but I would think that's easier to do in a book than it is to like portray on the screen.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:02

Yeah, I think that's why so many adaptations just don't work because you have all the internal monologue and then you go to film it, and unless you have people speaking these things, it's really hard to show. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:14

Right. And like you don't want a voiceover all the time because that gets really tiring as well. Yeah. So yeah, you know, that's that's a really good point. Like characters that have a lot of internal stuff happening are really hard, I would think, put on to portray.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:28

Yeah, yeah. So that's it. We've done recap 2025 up to December 21. Who knows what will come out between now and the end of the year? Right. So who knows? We will just have to catch those later. Thank you for doing this with me. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you for having me back.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:44

I love this.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:45

Yeah, it was fun to talk about it. And and I think our watch lists are different enough that we give different shows and recommendations. So yeah, it's it's worked out good.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:54

With a few overlapping.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:56

Yeah, a few. Well, so where can people find you in your podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:22:59

Um, so you can find me on Instagram at Bonchon Bite Size K Drama Pod. Um, so that's B-A-N-C-H-A-N-K-D-R-A-M-A-P-O-D. And um, that is the name of my podcast, Bonchon Bite-Size K-Drama Reviews. Uh, you can find me on pretty much every podcast platform, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube, your and you know, third-party spot um podcast app. You can find me on there.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:32

Yeah. Yeah. And so I'll put those links in the show notes so you can find them there. Um, just thanks for being here today. If you enjoyed the episode, please take a minute to rate or review it wherever you listen to the podcast. That will help K Drama fans find it. And I will see you next time. Thanks for listening to our marathon 2025 episode. Bye, everybody.