Favorite Gateway Kdramas with Reggie

S3 E33 / Reggie, Kdrama fan and host of A Life of Learning podcast, joins me to talk about favorite Kdramas. 

🏆 We explore why the one-season "done and dusted" format is so addictive, and how Kdramas stack up against western shows in terms of story structure, emotional payoff, and satisfying endings.

📊 We delve into the pros and cons of using buzz and online rankings to evaluate Kdramas and curate a watch list. 

👏 And we list our favorite gateway and "heavyweight" Kdramas, overlooked gems, top tropes (including slow-motion falls, the dramatic U-turn, and product placement galore), and why rewatching is nearly impossible when the watch list is endless.

⚠️ Mostly Spoiler Free episode. Spoilers are called out. 

Our wide-ranging conversation touches on the following shows: 

• Gangnam Beauty
• Shine on Me
• Erased
• My Mister
• Summer Strike
• Idol I
• Love Me
• When the Phone Rings
• Crash Landing on You
• I Can Hear Your Voice
• I’m Not a Robot
• Gentleman’s Dignity
• Our Unwritten Seoul 
•  Hello My Twenties
• It’s Okay not to be Okay
• Reply 1988
• Descendents of the Sun
• Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
• Extraordinary Attorney Woo
• When Life Gives you Tangerines
• Start Up
• True Beauty
• My Father is Strange
• Dr. Romantic
• Hospital Playlist
• Business Proposal
• Call it Love
• Reset
• Do you like Brahms?
• The King’s Affection

🔗 Links

10 Reasons We Watch Kdramas;

https://pod.link/1516507572/episode/MTdjZTdkNDAtOThmMS00NTljLTlmMmMtOTQ5MDdlNmJkZjJi

Beginners Guide to Kdramas Part I:

https://pod.link/1516507572/episode/NmJkZmJhYjYtYjNiNS00MTcxLWI4M2ItNzRjMDRiODJmMTA0

Beginners Guide to Kdramas Part II:

https://pod.link/1516507572/episode/N2E0NWQ2ZjMtMzBiOS00Zjg5LTgyYTMtNWQxNWU3OWViZDAx

Transcript

Intro

Sara Rosett 0:08

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 Reggie is here with me. And Reggie is a fellow podcaster and he hosts the Life of Learning Podcast. Hi, Reggie.

Reggie 0:22

Hi, Sarah.

Sara Rosett 0:24

How are you?

Reggie 0:25

Yeah, no, I'm all good. Like I said, I was looking forward to this all week.

Meet Reggie

Sara Rosett 0:29

Me too. I love meeting new people and talking about K-drama and stuff. So tell a little bit about you, a short bio about you, so people know a little bit more about you.

Reggie 0:38

Um I'm a network engineer. I live in London, the UK. I don't know why people say that, London, UK, because I'm not sure how many Londons there are around the world.

Sara Rosett 0:47

Definitely top of mind.

Reggie 0:49

And yeah, I'm a network engineer. I've got a family of two children in their 20s. And I've also got a podcast. It's called A Life of Learning. I started it during COVID. And I've got about 100 episodes, and I've done some K-drama episodes. One of them was Beginner's Guide to K-drama. I did that with uh a lady called V, and then I did we did recommendations. Then I did another uh podcast, uh 10 Reasons Why We Like K-dramas. So if you want to look at that, I'm sure I've sent you the link and you can put that in the show notes. Yeah.

Sara Rosett 1:21

Yeah, I can put those in the show notes and people can find those.

Reggie 1:24

Yeah. And yeah, and I love K-dramas. I've been down that started that rabbit hole in 2019, and I'm still going deep into the rabbit hole.

Sara Rosett 1:33

I know a lot of people got into K-dramas in 2020, so you were a little earlier than that.

First Kdrama and Recommendations

Reggie 1:36

Yes, I was.

Sara Rosett 1:37

Tell everybody what your first K-drama was. Do you remember?

Reggie 1:41

Yes. And the way I got recommended it through Netflix. It just came up with Gandam Beauty. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that one.

Sara Rosett 1:51

I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it, yeah.

Reggie 1:53

Yeah, okay, yeah. So that one came up, and I thought, I'll tell you what, let me try something different because I don't know about you. I was looking at a lot of Western shows, and I think the one that kind of I got back into sort of like TV shows from 24, and that's really addictive. I don't know if you've seen 24, but it's a really addictive. Yeah, it's really addictive. And then after that, I got into Lost. I don't know if you were into Lost.

Speaker 2 2:18

I remember Lost.

Reggie 2:19

Yeah, and there were a lot of podcasts that came out around the time. There was a lot of theory, there was a lot of fanfare about it, it was a lot of there was a lot of everything about it, it was a big thing, and it was about five years, I think it took about five years to complete, maybe even six years, I can't remember. And after that, whilst the ending was good, I stopped watching Western shows and I stopped watching like dramas. And then this came up and I thought, okay, let me just try it. And it came up and I watched it and I thought it was really good. And that's it. Since then, I've gone down a rabbit hole and I'm like, I think I'm gonna get out.

Sara Rosett 2:52

Do you watch any Western shows anymore? Or are you pretty much all Asian?

Reggie 2:56

No, yeah, yeah, and it's really funny in my family. They know that I've just watched Asian shows now. I started to, yeah, not interested. I started off with say K dramas, and then I went to Chinese dramas, then Japanese, and um I know there's some other ones as well, which I probably start watching as well. But yeah, K dramas to start off with, then I branched out.

Sara Rosett 3:15

Nice, nice. Yeah. I've for people who really love K dramas, I think once you've seen it, it is hard to go back because for me, it's having an ending, knowing that the story is going to have an ending, and you're not gonna have to wait years between seasons to find out what happens. It's just I mean a better viewing experience, right?

Reggie 3:33

For sure. The one and done was the reason why I saw it and I thought, okay, that's it. That's it. And when I finished it, I go, Oh, that's the ending. Brilliant. Uh unless they have another series season, I was thinking, nah, this is it's finished nice and tight, there's nothing else. That's it. And I started looking at the other ones, and I was thinking, I was looking at some of the older ones, and they're all one season. I thought, I can definitely get behind this.

Sara Rosett 3:55

Yeah, I was a little hesitant at first. I was like, I don't know. I like these continuing series, I like the ones that go on, but after watching one, I was like totally hooked. I was like, okay, this is it. It was a very satisfying ending. So I was like, this is I like this. This is a new viewing experience.

Reggie 4:11

For sure. And what I liked about this one, because you couldn't watch your first K drama and you could just get totally put off. But this one was it was a school drama, but it was about there's a couple of themes in there which I thought, wow, they've actually some of the themes that they brought up were really great. So it was about a young lady who was in college, and but before that, when she was younger at high school, the younger women she was younger, she everyone said that she was ugly, and she battled with that and she got bullied, and everyone was saying that she was ugly. Anyway, to cut long story short, uh her mum knew that this was a confidence thing and stuff like that. So she actually got a cosmetic surgery. That's why it's called Gandam Beauty, because you know Gandham is the place where, yeah. And when she went to college, everyone started liking her. And one boy that was in the same school as her recognised her and he had a crush on her when she was yeah, like before. So it was really interesting. And what I found, the two things what I found about it read afterwards was that the even though that she was pretty, well, she was classed as pretty later when she had the she noticed that she was getting more attention, but she was still our old self, so she couldn't handle, she was thinking, why is this person talking to me? She still had that same mindset of people don't like her, but obviously people were looking at her different, so that was a shift that she couldn't do. And one thing that produced the did was when they showed flashbacks of when she was younger, they didn't show her face because they didn't want to portray this as being not pretty or not. Yeah, sorry, okay, sorry, not pretty. And I thought that that decision to do that, I thought that was great because if you think about it, if people looked at it and said this person is not pretty, this is not the standard beauty, then people would think, oh, I'm not pretty as well. So I just thought that theme, I thought this is much deeper than I thought, and that's the reason why I just started watching more.

Sara Rosett 6:12

Yeah, and that's come up in my recommendations a lot, and I've never clicked on it because I was like, I don't know, just the do you see the one student summary? And I was like, I don't know, but you sold me on it now that I know a little bit more about it.

Reggie 6:23

I'll have to go watch it. Yeah, I wouldn't say it was this is my gateway drama, it's uh it's special for me. Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 6:31

So I jumped ahead in the outline because we were talking about first things we had watched. So let's go back a little bit. Are you currently watching any K-dramas right now?

Reggie 6:40

Yes, I am. Now, I had I've been watching the C drama called Shine on Me. Now, that is just so good. Really is it is to be honest, the C dramas, like we said before we spoke, the C dramas are different from the K dramas, and the Japanese dramas are different. This one reminds me of some C dramas that I watched a couple of years ago, even last year, and they were called First Frost. I don't know if you've heard about that one, Hidden Love and Fly Back to Me.

Sara Rosett 7:14

Uh-huh. Right.

Reggie 7:15

Like all the same similar themes, but this one is they're older, so they're they're in their late 20s, so it's a little bit more of a mature one compared to those ones. But this one is really good, and what I liked about it as well, do you know, like when you get misunderstands in a K-drama or any drama, and they'll drag it out for maybe a couple of episodes, and you think, oh, there was a misunderstanding in this one, and I think it was a cliffhanger. Anyway, the next episode, he went to the person, right, mentioned it, and he said, and he got into his car, drove at breakneck speed with the person, and went to the person and actually said, Can you tell us what happened? It happened that within the first five minutes. I thought it was almost like it was fanfare for us. So thinking, right, we're not gonna drag this out. The character is gonna go down the motorway, breakneck speed, and sort it out. And the misunderstanding was killed off within the first five minutes, didn't drag on, and that was it. And I thought, brilliant.

Sara Rosett 8:14

How refreshing, right?

Reggie 8:16

Yeah, it was, yeah, it was. But this drama is good. The chemistry, there's a lot of and I do strong female women in powerful positions, and these ones, some of these are ones of running companies in this sort of like this K drama, so it is really good. If you like that sort of thing, it is really good. Yeah, so I'm still past five episodes away. Yeah, and then the other one is what's it called? It's called Erased. I don't know if you've heard about that one.

Sara Rosett 8:42

Is it a Japanese drama?

Reggie 8:44

Japanese, yeah. Japanese.

Sara Rosett 8:46

I started that one.

Reggie 8:47

Oh, yeah, and I'm not a couple of episodes. It is dark.

Sara Rosett 8:51

It was a little dark, and I was like, I don't think I can handle this right now, so I could unpause.

Reggie 8:55

Yeah, but the acting is the child acting is and the story, it's not something that you know. If you look at my list, it's not one of those that genre that I look at, but it was just so engaging. The acting is really dark, it's really earthy, and yeah, and I just thought, just for a sort of like uh change of scenery. So I think I've got a couple of episodes left, but it is really good, really good.

Sara Rosett 9:20

Yeah, I've heard that that one's really good. So I will probably go back to it. It was just at the time, I was like, oh, I just couldn't handle it, it was too much for me. But you could there are certain ones that are just so well done. I felt like that with my mister. I watched that one and it was dark, it had dark features to it, but I was just drawn in and I just had to see what happened.

Reggie 9:39

That's on my list, and I listened to other people say that their minds not when the mind's not ready for it, they'll put it on hold and say, when your mind's up for it, then you'll do it. So then on on Netflix, the there's a one called Summer Strike. Now, people some people recommended this one, and they said on Netflix they said it's leaving in February. So I've put all those other dramas on hold and started watching this one. And this one is yeah. Have you watched this one at all or not?

Sara Rosett 10:09

I have, yeah, I liked it.

Reggie 10:11

So good, so funny. Just this, these are the kind of cave dramas that I like, these kind of rom-com, slicer life, slow pace, funny, great chemist, great chemistry, great ensemble cast as well. Brilliant. I'm about four episodes into that, so yeah, so that's it. Those are the three that I'm on the go at the moment. Yeah, oh wow.

Sara Rosett 10:32

So yeah, you're busy. Yeah, yeah. I'm watching, it's called Idle Eye, the letter.

Reggie 10:37

Yeah, no, that came up with a 9.8 on Vicky, and I'm thinking, is it good?

Sara Rosett 10:44

Oh, it's excellent. It's just oh, okay. And I went into it with zero expectations because I and I'm not a huge, I know some about K-pop, but not a lot. I'm not a huge K-pop fan. So I was like, I don't know. But I'll try it. And it is really good. It's got a good mystery to it. The characters are deep, they're like they have this, each one has a backstory, and the pacing is really good. I think we're right now as we're recording, I think there's two more episodes to go. You know how some you get to about the midpoint and then it dies. Yeah, this one. This one has been strong all the way through, and it's just been really good. And it surprised me. I'm like, I can't believe I like this one so much, and it's got some really funny rom-com-y type moments to it. Yeah, I'm really liking that one. That one's really good. And then I also watched Love Me. It's on Vicky, and it's that slice of life, just normal people going through their lives, and I really like the beginning of it. I didn't like the end as much. Okay, kind of tapered off. My yeah, it just tapered off, but I'm still really good. I would still recommend it if you like slice of life.

Reggie 11:51

No, love it. Roncomb slice of life. Those are the ones that I love.

Sara Rosett 11:55

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that's what I'm watching.

Reggie 11:57

Yeah, but like you said, there's so many that I have on my list that if you want to talk about watch lists, this is I was listening to one podcast. I don't even I don't even bother because I listen to your podcast, I listen to other people's podcasts, and uh sometimes I listen to if I listen to in the middle of the night, I need to get up and make a voice note. Yeah, write it down. But the thing is, I was listening to one podcast, I can't remember what it was, is it a Soju podcast? I can't remember what it was. And they were saying maybe. Yeah, that's it, yeah. Yeah, and they were saying, My pod, my watch list is so long, I'm not sure what my life expectancy is. Is it gonna meet up? Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to watch everything. Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to even make it because you I don't know, it's crazy. I don't know how many how what do you do? Do you are you able to tick it off? Because it just gets larger and larger.

Sara Rosett 12:47

There's always new ones coming out, so those I keep adding to my list, but then there's this huge backlist of and I there's some of them that it's hard to watch because the hair stuff because they're older, but I do enjoy some of the older ones who have been some of my favorites that I've watched. So I'm like, I can't not watch these. I've got to check them out. So are you a binge watcher or do you like to watch stuff as it airs?

Reggie 13:11

Okay, no, I don't watch it whilst it airs because I wait for the buzz and find out what the ratings are.

Sara Rosett 13:17

Yeah.

Reggie 13:18

I think there's been one or two that I've probably watched. I think I started watching what's that one? When the phone rings. I think it was that that blew up. That blew up and I thought, okay, let me watch it whilst it airs and get the buzz from what people's theories are and stuff like that. Because you do miss that when when you when it drops, everything drops and stuff like that. And I just couldn't keep up with it, so I waited for it to finish and then watched it at the end. And then have you watched when the phone rings? Okay, yeah, I don't I don't I don't know. What do you think? I think the ending we know to be honest, it was still a good drama because everything up until that was really good. Just that last bit.

Sara Rosett 14:00

I was thinking the compellingness of it was there all the way through. But then I think those last couple episodes, we were just everyone was just like, Oh, what happened?

Reggie 14:10

Yeah, when I'm not even gonna say it because I want people to watch it because I think what I want people to have that same reaction. I think where did it come? Where did this come from? But yeah, it was yes, that's probably the only one really that I watch. What I try and do is because I think you're gonna be gonna talk about what what I use the recommendations. I obviously podcast, you know, what people and if people describe a really good drama, that's my style, because most people uh my my style is K drama, not K dramas, rom-coms and slice of life, those are the ones that I eat up all the time. Yeah, so then I'll look at the then I'll look at the rating. Now, the Vicky rating is way above higher, way above all the other ratings. I don't know if you've noticed that.

Sara Rosett 14:55

Yeah, I do you think people are in there talking up their favorite shows, maybe? I don't know.

Reggie 15:00

That's what I wonder sometimes when I say I don't know because when I first started because when I first had Vicky, I looked at the ratings and I thought, okay, the ratings are high, but an eight must be still good. 8.5 must be still good. And then I watched the eight five, and I thought, no, I'm never gonna watch anything below nine, nine, anything below nine, I'm not watching from Vicky. Anything nine point five has got to be good, and most of the time it is good because my time is precious. I don't really watch as many K dramas as most other people because I just yeah, I just don't have I just don't have the time and the bandwidth. So I'm only gonna watch the good stuff, right? I'm not gonna watch any experimental one or anything, anything below a nine, I'm not gonna watch it. IMDB, I think is 7.5. If he said eight, then that means it's a really good one. And I think the highest ones, I think the highest ones, I think a nine, maybe nine on IMDB. And I think those are the I don't know if you watch Breaking Bad. I love Breaking Bad. That was one of the, and that's one of the higher ones. So anything between I find 7.5 above an eight is almost like a must-watch type of thing. So that's where I look at, but I have to look at the ratings because I'm not gonna I'm not gonna mess about watching something that's not good.

Sara Rosett 16:14

Yeah, and then do you drop things if they're if you try to get it?

Reggie 16:18

Yeah, it's I'll tell you what, yeah, I could just go to the one I did drop, and I don't know how I even got that far. When I first started watching K-drummers, I looked for the go-to ones. They said these are the ones you must watch, and one of them came up as airs. I don't know if you've seen that one. Have you seen that one?

Sara Rosett 16:34

No, but I'm gonna love it.

Reggie 16:36

And I got up to about 14 episodes thinking that it was gonna change, and I just dropped it after that because I thought I know where this is gonna go. This is in my early years. I thought, I know where this is gonna go, I'm not even gonna watch it, and that was it. But people talk that up so much, and I don't know, just didn't get me.

Sara Rosett 16:53

Yeah, I think some people have fond memories for when they watch. I think some people like we were talking about with when the phone rings, I will always remember watching that with everyone else and the community, trying to figure out what was going on and being invested in it. So that's part of my memory of the show. So maybe if you watch something when it came out and you're still from adding that to the whereas if we come to it later, we may be like, it's okay. Yeah, we can drop it much easier. So yeah.

Reggie 17:23

But in terms of dropping, I very rarely drop because I go for the good stuff. I always go for the good stuff.

Sara Rosett 17:29

Yeah, you're pretty picky, it sounds like I have to be.

Reggie 17:32

I have to be.

Sara Rosett 17:33

Yeah, and that makes sense. Do you have a K-drama that just really has a special place in your heart that you just love? And why does it resonate with you?

Reggie 17:42

Yeah, I mean, I've got loads, but I think to be honest, I think Crash Landing. And I I'm not gonna talk about it anymore because everyone has we all know Crash Landing masterpiece happened during COVID when I was watching it in COVID, and that's when I really got into K-dramas. I thought, right, this is it. I'm in for the long haul now after watching that. And I think even though Gander Beauty was my K-drama gateway, this was the one that blew it up, and it was just so good. Everything there was no, I think it was probably the even the ending. I was thinking, how are they gonna do the ending? And I found the ending really satisfying. I don't know about you.

Sara Rosett 18:20

Yeah, I felt a little okay, spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen Crash Linny on You, which most people probably have, but I did find it a little sad. But I think we were supposed to. I think there was supposed to be a bitter sweetness to it, and so yeah, it was but it wasn't a rom-com.

Reggie 18:37

It was no, it wasn't but it were funny moments though, yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 18:41

It had everything in it, really. And I always think that even if you didn't like certain elements of it, there was enough of other things. It was such a blend that I think that's one reason so many people like it, because it has rom-com, it has humor, it has romance, it has that horrible kind of star cross lovers. How are we gonna get out of this thing? The angst.

Reggie 19:03

Yeah, yeah. And one thing about Crash Landing on You as well was that she was an heiress and she kept on eating in Subway. And this is obviously this is the first time that I was watching. I was thinking, hold on, she's completely why is she going to subway? She's wearing this really nice dress, she looks like a million dollars, and she's going to eat. And then when the other guys came over, she was going to all go to Subway. And I think, surely. And then I went down. I thought, okay, people told me about product placement. And then I thought and then you were like, oh okay, and then I thought, I'm here for it now. I'm here for it because if they can do this product placement and actually put this in, yeah, it just means that I wouldn't say they don't care, but they really trying to be really creative, but that's what I found as well. And at the beginning, as well, where they had the uh the parachute scene, and I looked at the CGI and I thought they don't really care, it doesn't matter, doesn't it? It's not integral to the story. This I'd rather them spend less on the CGI and more on the plot and the acting and stuff like that. I know people said that the CGI, I remember it when it first came out and people were talking about it. I said, that CGI put a lot of people off. I'm thinking, I don't care.

Sara Rosett 20:11

Because you were there for this story. Oh, I do remember it. And so I started it because Netflix kept recommending it to me because I watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo, it was one of my first one, and then it kept recommending Crash Landing on You. And I I got to that scene and I was like, I just can't, nope, I'm just not here for this. So I clicked out, went watched some other stuff, and then came back to it later. And once I got through that, then I loved it. And it but it was just like that was very goofy almost to me. I was like, oh my goodness, are we actually doing this? But it's okay. I got approved.

Reggie 20:45

But I think a lot of K dramas have that some goofy element as well, don't they?

Sara Rosett 20:49

They have early on, right?

Reggie 20:50

Yeah, and I love that because Western shows don't do that. I was describing a show to someone. She said, What are you watching? I goes, I'm watching this programme called what was it called? That got it written down here. It was I Hear Your Voice. I don't know if you've heard, have you read, have you watched that one?

Speaker 2 21:06

No, I've got it.

Reggie 21:06

And I was yeah, I was describing it to someone, it's about a guy who can hear people's voices.

Speaker 2 21:11

Uh-huh.

Reggie 21:12

And I was describing it to this person, and she was thinking, Oh, that's a little bit weird. But it's such a good K-drama, it really is. And they always mix the fantasy element or the yeah, that element into it. And I thought, no, this was just so good. And it's a Nuno romance as well. As well. Yeah, it's really good. And one of the famous actors, yeah, I can't remember his name, like we said. Yeah, but yeah, I hear your voice was really good. But yeah, I I don't think they don't mind mixing genres, and that's what I like. That's what I like about K dramas.

Sara Rosett 21:42

Yeah, I love that too. And I think that a lot of the shows, if you just give the description, it doesn't capture what it's about. And some of them they do sound just crazy. I'm not a robot. Have you read? Have you seen that one?

Reggie 21:55

No, I've heard that's on the list. That's on the list.

Sara Rosett 21:57

It's very good. It's very good. It was one of the early ones I watched. And I was just amazed that I was like, I can't believe I'm watching this thing about a person imitating a robot, and it's really good.

Reggie 22:06

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You describe it to someone, when you're in the c when you're when you're in the K drama universe, everything goes it does.

Sara Rosett 22:14

It really does. Do you have do you re-watch shows? Do you have watches you go back to?

Reggie 22:20

No, I don't, because I just don't have the time, and I'd rather watch something new. Because as I said, my list, if I'm gonna get this list down, I can't go back and do and to be honest, I was thinking about watching Flash Friend Lind on You, but I was thinking some of these episodes are like an hour and a half. They are, they're and I was thinking I cannot invest my time looking. I'd rather watch something new, even though it is a masterpiece and everything. Like, I can't. What about you? Do you?

Sara Rosett 22:46

I do some, not many. There's some, and I've done a couple of spotlight episodes where I've gone back and talked about a single show, and so I've gone back and either skim rewatched the whole thing or really and gotten into it and re-watched it. But most of the time, I'm like, you, I want to press on and see what else is out there. So I get that. Yeah. What's a K-drama trope that you can't that you just love that you have to watch?

Reggie 23:11

Okay, because I sent you that list of so good. I'll tell you what, when I looked at it, I just laughed all the time because it was just so funny. In terms of in terms of tropes, I mean if I like the smaller tropes when the lead falls, or the female lead falls, and the male lead cat catches her. Yeah. And I saw that first, I was thinking, what the hell's this all about? And then I noticed it more and more. I think I tell you what, I love that. I love it, and they do it in slow motion, and I'm thinking, and I I think I I eat that up every time. So I like the little things that they do.

Sara Rosett 23:50

What are some of your favorite small tropes then?

Reggie 23:52

Like where when a carry the lead carries the main lead on the back, you know, those ones, yeah. That one. Let's have a look. What are the other ones? Ah, spin in the bottle, spin in the bottle.

Sara Rosett 24:04

Oh, yeah. I love it when any character gets really drunk. I just think that's so funny. You because they play it up for humor most of the time, and that's when the truth comes out and everything. I love that.

Reggie 24:15

Yeah, and they really play it up, but the drunk scenes are just unbelievable. And they and make sure that the fed the red is that the face is really red as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are the sort of like ones that I like. Oh, yeah, and I like potty humor as well. I don't know about you. There was when someone's got when something that's it's there's something in every drama, yeah. When they're hungry, you hear their stomach rumbling. How many times do you see that happens probably in every K drama? And then when someone wants to go to the toilet really quickly and they can't find somewhere and they're really struggling. I just for me, I just find that huge, I just find that so funny.

Sara Rosett 24:52

That's yeah, that's not my thing as much.

Reggie 24:54

Okay, good.

Sara Rosett 24:56

One that one that I always laugh about is the dramatic U-turn. It seems like one character will be driving somewhere and they'll hear something, think about something, and then all of a sudden they're like, and they do the big dramatic you and always makes me laugh. I don't know why. I think because I know that Korea is a very law-abiding, like they're very conscious of staying within certain bounds. I think sometimes to do a U-turn is like a big no-no, like I don't think you're supposed to cross the lines and stuff, so that shows their urgency.

Reggie 25:25

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. And the white truck of doom.

Sara Rosett 25:30

Oh, yes, the classic.

Reggie 25:32

Yeah, the classic. I'm thinking, when's it gonna happen? And they almost tell you when it is gonna happen. But yeah, I do what's I do like it, I'm just it's just one of those things that you think, okay, you guys there. Yeah, here we are. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 25:45

Check that box.

Reggie 25:46

There were so many of those small types. The wrist grab. I was thinking, where's this? Where does that come from? I think, oh, but they still do it. I know they probably did it back in the olden, not the olden times, but like in the 2010s, where I think maybe even before that, and I think they've probably done it a little bit less now. I don't think there was as much. Yeah, I think they've got, but that was one thing I was thinking, ooh, but then I'm thinking, yeah, don't know, don't know. I don't know how to I don't know how to get behind it.

Sara Rosett 26:14

Yeah, certain things just don't appeal, but there's so many little things that they throw in. A couple of them are gonna appeal to each viewer, is gonna have, oh, there's my umbrella scene, there's my eating in the little red tent scene. We've got all those.

Reggie 26:29

Yeah, and when they're walking, they're not gonna touch their hand with brushes in.

Sara Rosett 26:34

That's another one.

Reggie 26:35

I eat all that up, I love all that. Yeah, it makes it fun.

Sara Rosett 26:39

Yeah, yeah, it does. Do you what do you think is the oldest K-drama you've watched?

Reggie 26:44

Yeah, and I'll tell you what, this was a surprise, and it was called Gentleman's Dignity. It was 2012. Now it's about four guys that were in high school and they're in their 40s, so it was quite a mature K-drama because there's a lot of ones nowadays where they're in their 20s and 30s, but this one was a really mature one, and obviously it I don't want to say dated because dated doesn't mean it's not good, it's still good, but obviously the phones are really old and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, the story was really good. And uh the reason why I picked up on this K-drama was I watched a TikTok video and it had a scene from it, and the scene was the main lead was walking through a market, and his I can't remember his rucksack got caught on the bag got caught on this on the main lead, female lead's red skirt, and the red skirt was was knitted, so it caught part of the skirt, and as he was walking, obviously her skirt is unravelling, and he's walking and walking, and he goes, I don't know, maybe a hundred metres or two hundred metres down the road, and he down the market, and he looks and sees this red thread, and he's where's this come from? So he reels it in, and obviously he meets uh the female lead, and half her skirt is like on the back, a sort of gone, and that's how they met. And the reason why it gravitated to me because I don't know if in Eastern folklore there's this thing called the invisible string.

Sara Rosett 28:12

There's the red yeah, red, yeah, string of fate.

Reggie 28:16

Fate, that's it, yeah. And that's how they got together. And I thought, wow, and it was just that one scene, yeah, that I saw, and I thought, I've got to watch it, and it's really good because it reminds me of because I've got some friends that I've known since high school and school, and we all hang, we always used to hang out, go parties, and most now we're married and we're still friends and stuff. So it's that friendship that's built over the years. So it is I found it really good. Good, strong female characters as well, and some of the getting men get put in their place as well. So it's yeah, it's really good. But yeah, I thought that was really good. Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 28:50

I love that example because it shows you how you can take a scene that's just on the surface, it seems just like a meat cute, yeah. But by by having it be the red thread, yeah. If you know about that, it gives it a little more depth. I feel like they do that really well. I feel like convincing do that great for sure.

Reggie 29:08

And I think do you know? Because I mean I've Vicky, I used to watch a lot of stuff on Vicky, but I've cancelled the membership because I've got just too many memberships on everything. But Vicky are good when they do their subtitles because they would have little things about why they said that and yeah, cultural things, yeah, yeah. Whereas Netflix just do straight subtitles, and I'd I'd that's fine.

Sara Rosett 29:28

Yeah, Netflix feels like their subtitling is just like the bare minimum. Just we're just getting this out here to you. Just enjoy what we give you.

Reggie 29:34

Yeah, let's face it, if it weren't for Netflix, this explosion, I wouldn't be seeing as many K dramas as that's true.

Sara Rosett 29:40

So we'll take it. We'll take the dramas. Well, what about is there a drama that you were surprised you liked?

Reggie 29:46

Definitely that one, the gentleman's dignity, that one. I was surprised I liked that one because of how old it was and whether it would stand up. So I did like that one. But I think there's another one that not many people talk about. There's two. I want to talk about 2025 because I think there's one drama that I think people have said it's good, but I think it is for me, I think it's a masterpiece, and it's Unwritten Soul. I don't know if you've watched that one.

Speaker 2 30:10

Yeah, yeah.

Reggie 30:11

Have you watched it?

Speaker 2 30:12

Yeah, uh-huh.

Reggie 30:13

Yeah, I did. And the reason why I like that is because the female lead plays literally four characters, and and every character has had a story arc and they flushed it out. And the scene at the end with the grandma, I've I don't want to give it away. I thought that scene was done so well. The whole story, the mums, different generation of mums, and how they thought I just thought every character that was in there got their storyline and you got to know them. And I think it was only like 12 episodes, and it was, I think it was, yeah, it was a really short one. I think to be honest, most K dramas are now dropping down to 12 anyway now. But it was good. There was no filler episode. In fact, it's really funny when people started talking about filler episodes and k-dramas. I'm thinking, how can there be a filler episode in 16 episodes? Because I've watched Lost and other films, and we almost get a whole season of filler.

Sara Rosett 31:12

Your filler year.

Reggie 31:13

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So Unwritten Soul, definitely up there with I just I was so surprised how good that was.

Sara Rosett 31:21

Um yeah, yeah, the acting was amazing because I always knew who she was, even though you know which twin she was and what part she was playing. It was pretty complex.

Reggie 31:34

Yeah, yeah. I don't know how, in terms of how she prepared for that role. Yeah, for me, that's probably one of the acting performances of all time. I don't think there's I've seen twin, like whether but this one was, yeah, she had to pay four different parts, and yeah, it was yeah, really good, really good. And the other the one that I feel that most people don't know about was one of my early years was uh Hello My Twenties.

Sara Rosett 31:58

Oh yeah.

Reggie 31:59

Yeah, I don't know if you've uh you haven't seen that one at all.

Sara Rosett 32:02

I've dipped into it to start it.

Reggie 32:04

Oh, yeah.

Sara Rosett 32:04

And then I thought, and it's a two it actually has two seasons.

Reggie 32:07

It has two seasons, yeah. Later. That is really good. Acting, storyline is really good, and it takes a turn where something happens to one of the weapons to one of the characters. And normally in what was it called, in in films or maybe K drama, no in any drama where something happens to a character and then I don't know, five or six episodes later, they're all it's all good. It's not like that. It's it yeah, it is it the way and I was thinking, wow, this is so refreshing to see that person go through something and they the aftermath of it. It's really well done. And the basically four students in a in a house, and yeah, it the acting is superb, the chemistry between the the four housemates are great because they're all different personalities. It's yeah, it's really and I'm surprised people don't talk about that enough to be fair.

Sara Rosett 33:06

Yeah, yeah, because that is my thing, is I love the different personalities, I love the we all live in a house together and our lives intersect and cross. So that's kind of why I was saving that one. Yeah, I think it I'm looking forward to it.

Reggie 33:20

Yeah, yeah, good, good, yeah. Watch it.

Sara Rosett 33:23

I will. So let's see. We talked about drops. Do you have any other K-drama like disappointments or shows that just didn't work for you personally? Or we can if you don't.

Reggie 33:35

No, like I say, I try and watch the good stuff, stuff that people recommend. So I've got a list of like heavyweights of so I've got a list, obviously crash landing on you. For me, it's okay not to be okay. I love that one because it deals with K-drama. There's the it is heavy. The lead actress in that one is superb, she's fantastic, and there's the guy that plays an autistic person in that one as well. And he is the the acting is unbelievable. You see him in other K-dramas, and you think, hold on, he's it's just the same person, is it's it's the same person. It was yeah, it that was really good. Yeah, but I like that one. Replied 1988. That is if you watch that one.

Sara Rosett 34:20

No, I see. I have a lot to go through. Oh man, yeah. This is why I can't re-watch a whole lot because I don't know.

Reggie 34:25

It's the same here, and what I liked about that one, that's got there's a lot of words that I've terms that I've found family. That is all about found family. And when I watched it, I was listening, I heard I don't know if if you've seen this in other K dramas, but when if it's funny thing, if something's funny comes up, they had a goat bleeping.

Sara Rosett 34:48

Yes.

Reggie 34:49

Yeah, I was thinking I was listening, I had my headphones on, I was thinking, where's that noise coming from? I was looking around the room thinking someone else had I was looking, where's that goat noise come from? And it happens throughout the whole of the uh it's almost like a laugh track, right? And it adds to the add to the charm of of that. So for me, that's for me, I think that's just a must. I really do. It's just yeah, just the whole the the relationship with the younger children, the relationship with their parents and the family, and it that it's it's up there, everyone talks about it. So those are the that's why I will always watch these big ones, all the ones, and not go for any ones that have not been recommended or anything like that. The Scent of the Sun, yeah. I think I love that one. I don't know about you. Have you watched that one?

Sara Rosett 35:32

Haven't seen that one yet either.

Reggie 35:34

Oh, okay, good. Okay, so that's a good one. Yeah, that's romance, a lot of iconic scenes in that one. Lot of yeah, a lot of iconic scenes, great acting, yeah. Funny as well, funny, a lot of funny stuff in there. Strong woman of the Bong Sum. Yeah, have you watched that one?

Sara Rosett 35:51

No, these are a bunch that I need to that are on my list. I've heard of them and I know a little bit about them.

Reggie 35:57

Yeah, these are the heavyweight ones because when you go to IMDB and you go to Vicky, they're all 9.5, 9.6, 9.7. You just can't go wrong. There's never gonna be a I'm I'm never gonna drop a K drum if I'm gonna go for the heavyweights.

Sara Rosett 36:11

And I like the term heavyweights. That seemed that kind of captures the they're popular, they're well known, and there's a reason for it, right?

Reggie 36:18

Yeah, attorney Woo.

Sara Rosett 36:20

Yes, heavy. I love that.

Reggie 36:21

The acting there, she was unbelievable. Yeah, so that's for me, that's a heavyweight, that's a must. There was the other ones again. Life when have you watched When Life Gives You Tangerines?

Sara Rosett 36:33

No, that one I think I need some time. I want because it's got some heavy themes.

Reggie 36:39

Oh I stopped it halfway because I needed time to I need time away from it because you will cry. You will get emotional, you will get emotional, but it is a masterpiece, and I think you just gotta grind it out. You've just got to go for it because it is that good. It really is, but you need to be in the right space. I stopped and then I carried it on again because it was too much. Too much. Yeah.

Sara Rosett 37:08

Well, do you keep track of your dramas? It seemed do you have a way you keep track of them?

Reggie 37:12

No, I don't, and I wish I did. And I'm someone that they I think they interviewed on the podcast, and she's got a spreadsheet of ratings, the directors, and what the year it came out and where she saw it. And for me, I would eat that up because that's something that I would do. I love stats and stuff like that, but I just never got around to doing it. So I'll just look on my uh Netflix feed and you can download a Excel spreadsheet, and then you can I can see what I was watching at the time and stuff like that. Vicky's not so great with the back. I don't know.

Speaker 2 37:42

No. No, I'm surprised.

Reggie 37:45

Yeah, I always thought they would have your watch, not your watch list, because watch list is there, but your the history, and it hasn't got that.

Sara Rosett 37:52

Yes, I know. I did notice though they have something, I think it's on the oh no, that's on my drama list. They have a thing a year in review, and I hadn't seen that before. So I think that shows you, but you have to use it.

Reggie 38:08

Yeah, and you have to tick it off, don't you?

Sara Rosett 38:10

Yeah, and it's not automatically keeping track of like Netflix, you can go back. Vicky, I haven't found a good way to do that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 38:16

Yeah.

Sara Rosett 38:17

Well, do you have a this is the K-drama made me do it question? Do you have anything you tried, like a food or anything you've done because of K dramas?

Reggie 38:26

Oh yeah, I tend to when I meet someone, I tend to bow. And I do that a lot, and it's really for me. I just like it because it's a sign of respect. I and I just do it. And obviously, Japanese that Asian culture do it most of the time, in fact, no awful time. So I do do that, and I notice that I do it. Also, I do this as well. That yeah, when I'm in pictures, yeah, yes, and my wife hates it when I'm in pictures. I do it. I mean my daughter laughing any pictures we do with the heart sign, and you know that one as well. Finger heart when you finger heart, yeah. And in terms of food, another K-drama term, it's not a K-drama term, but food porn. Have you heard that phrase? Oh, yeah. I've never heard that phrase before. And I'll tell you what, there's a ton of food porn food porn in nearly all k-dramas.

Sara Rosett 39:19

Because eating is so important to the and the screenwriters use it to show so much.

Speaker 2 39:26

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 39:27

I love it when somebody gives somebody a little bit of food, and sometimes the people they're like they're shocked, going, yeah, they're I don't really want this food.

Reggie 39:36

Yeah, it's almost like a sign of affection, isn't it? When you see when you sit in cage runs. Yeah. So I've actually only been to one Korean restaurant, and I just happened to be in another part of the UK and had a Korean restaurant. And I went there, so I got a hot pot which was with seafood, and it had an egg in there that wasn't even, I don't think it was even cooked all the way through. So I was a bit worried about that. But I had it, it was really nice. And most and let me see if I could pronounce the name tukboki. Is it I think so? I can't pronounce it, yeah. And I've had Korean chicken, so those are the only I haven't had much Korean food, which I would love. But I but one thing I'd do is I do cook a lot of stir-fries and stuff like that, and I do try and do some sort of like Korean food myself as well. That with without that, I would never have I would never have given it a go. Yeah, kimchi. Love kimchi, sorry. Oh yeah, yeah, that's a basic all the time. Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 40:33

Do you have any oh any words that you've picked up? Do you use them in your everyday life or do you just think them?

Reggie 40:41

No, the words obviously found family, just in terms of these are the words that I've picked up. I've never heard these terms before. Yeah, so found family. Oh, okay, yeah, those are the kind of dramas that I like. Second lead syndrome.

Sara Rosett 40:55

Yeah, okay. So yeah, you're talking about terms associated with dramas that we think of. Yeah, sorry, yeah.

Reggie 41:01

No, no, no, that's okay. And I thought, you know, what's that all about? And there are two dramas that have got that. I don't know if you've seen Startup.

Sara Rosett 41:09

Yes, and I totally have you seen Star Up the second syndrome there.

Reggie 41:13

I totally get it. Because I was because everyone was saying, watch Star Up, and you'll the the ending, you'll be surprised by the ending. And I was thinking, I've got to watch it. And it's like it is a good drama, but the secondly well scene was huge in that one. I couldn't believe it. Yeah, what did you think?

Sara Rosett 41:32

Oh, yeah, and it was interesting to me to watch it having heard yeah, I didn't know, I didn't know. Yeah, I knew where the story was going. Yeah, and I so I wasn't surprised, but watching the beginning, I thought, okay, I understand why because of the setup where the one character has the history and he has the relationships and everything. And so I was like, okay, I totally get this. It was very interesting to watch it and see how that was built up. Yeah, and then I can see why people were upset with it.

Reggie 42:04

Yeah, and it was a still good drama, and I think sometimes those dramas are good because they get people talking, and it wasn't good or bad, it was just a good K-drama, and it did throw me, I must admit, because even up until the end, I was thinking, nah, it can't be this guy, it can't be this guy. And then I thought, okay, this is how K-dramas are, and then the other one wasn't if you've seen True Beauty.

Sara Rosett 42:29

No, I haven't seen that one.

Reggie 42:31

Okay, that's another one that is it's a it's a school, it's got high school drama or drama, yeah, yeah. But that's uh another one where everyone's thinking, why are you going for the male, the the leader? And I've but then I got into the K dramas. I thought, I know this is how it's gonna end. I know it's the second lead is not gonna, yeah, the second lead is not gonna get a look in.

unknown 42:54

Yeah, yeah.

Reggie 42:56

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 42:56

I was about, oh, keep going.

Reggie 42:58

No, no, it's angst. I've never heard that term.

Sara Rosett 43:01

Okay.

Reggie 43:01

Now I'm not sure whether that is used globally, but I've only heard it from like listening to K-dramas. Is that something that people say outside K-drama world or not?

Sara Rosett 43:11

I've heard it some mostly with romance books, I think. Okay, yeah, but not a lot. I think it's used a lot more in K-drama land.

Reggie 43:19

Got it, yeah, yeah. That's the only land I'm in, so I don't make sense, yeah. Yeah. Dropping shows. I've never heard that term before.

Sara Rosett 43:27

I haven't heard that. What is that?

Reggie 43:29

No, when you drop a show, when you said dropping a show, yeah. I never heard that term before because most of the everything that I've watched, I've more or less seen it through. So I never knew that was a thing. Oh yeah, and obviously I've it feels when people say I've got the feels. Yeah. Yeah. So I've never I don't know whether that's a K drama term or whether it's outside. I don't know.

Sara Rosett 43:49

Yeah, I think maybe I've heard that associated with books.

Reggie 43:53

Okay.

Sara Rosett 43:53

This book gave me all the feels, but but I think it was more romance and like urban fantasy. Who were into that, those genres, that's where I hear it. I don't hear it a lot in other movies.

Reggie 44:04

And the muck jum K dramas, where it's almost like soap type dramas. Yeah. And I watched a couple of them. One was called My Father is Strange. That was 52 episodes. And another one. Yeah. And once again, it was a hundred episodes. And I'll tell you what, I mean, I never thought I would even get through the first 20, but they are they're soap type dramas. And they build up for this big like in K-dramas, they build up to this specific point where it's been the build up, just like the kiss. But there's that build-up. You're talking about sometimes 60 episodes of build-up before you get to it. Yeah. And the payoffs were just so good. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I would to be honest, I'll would I recommend them if you've got I enjoyed them, but yeah. Um but after those, I went back to my 15, 16, and 12 episode ones. So muck jum ones that are really I think the Sky Castle is, I think it's class as that one. Have you watched Sky Castle?

Speaker 2 45:09

No.

Reggie 45:09

Yeah, I stopped halfway because it was just too, it was too angsty. It was too much. It was too much. Yeah. Yeah.

Sara Rosett 45:16

Yeah. I wondered if you had if there are any Korean words incorporated. Because I've picked up some things and my husband has watched some with us, with me, some of them we watched together. And the other day we were doing something and he went fighting and he put his hand up. But that's only the one the only one I can think of right now.

Reggie 45:38

Yeah. No, I don't think I don't think I do. I don't think I do. Apart from the bowing. And yeah, that's it. Yeah, I don't think I'll come up with any Korean. I'm always I know quite a little bit more Korean words than before because you just hear them all the time.

Sara Rosett 45:52

You just pick it up and yeah, you do, you do, you do. I'm amazed at I do, I know I don't I couldn't speak to somebody or understand what they're saying, but I am amazed at the amount of words that it's able that you're able to just pick up by a kind of osmosis. It's yeah, yeah. This is the big kind of overall question. Why are K-dramas special to you? We've hit on a lot of different things, but yeah, what would your answer be?

Reggie 46:15

The one undone, one season and done for me, that's huge. Even though now some K-dramas are going into one, two, three seasons. The Dr. Romantic one, I don't know if you've ever seen that one. Yeah, that went into three. But I love that because I love the characters, and then that was good. And I watched all three, and all three of them were just as good. I don't know if you watched that one. Dr. Romantic. Okay, that's a Doctor one. Yeah, and a hospital playlist. I don't know if you've watched that one. That's a slice of life that went into two seasons. Love, love that. I love that slow burn, and that's another one. I love the slow burn episodes where nothing can not no plot can happen for the whole season. It's just people, I love those types of slice of life, slow burn plots. And they I think the K-dramas do that really well. So that's one thing I do. Clean wholesome, I like that. Don't get me wrong, I've watched Western films, a Western where they have a lot of sex and stuff that's but I love the K-dramas because they're more focused on characters and story and stuff like that. So I do like it for that. Soundtrack and cinematography. Oh my goodness. And I'll tell you what, I think the reason why people look at the soundtracks, the soundtracks are good. I think nearly all of them, I think the soundtracks have actually been made with the uh with the story in mind. That's what I've heard. I don't know whether that's true. Yeah, but the cinematography is unbelievable. Some of the camera angles that they get and some of the lighting, it's just that they do that so well. And I think that the reason why we maybe notice it more is because we're looking at subtitles and we're looking at the screen all the time. Whereas when my wife's watching the program, she's on a phone. When my son is watching a program, she's on he's on his phone and watching our daughter's on watching on a she's on a computer. Well, she's watching the watching, so they're not looking at everything, they're not looking that glancing up occasionally.

Sara Rosett 48:10

Yeah.

Reggie 48:11

Obviously, with K dramas, you've got to have 100% interest. Yeah, you there's no two ways about it. So I think that's the reason why maybe we notice more of the cinematography and those types of things. I don't know, don't know why. Must have looked someone, yeah, and I love the slow motion scenes as well.

Sara Rosett 48:29

There are a lot of those.

Reggie 48:30

Oh they eat that up so much. Um, yeah, yeah. And also the animation. I don't know if you've seen Business Proposal. Have you seen Business Proposal? Yeah, and do you know they had the animation of the dinosaur?

Sara Rosett 48:43

Yes, I forgot it was called the dinosaur.

Reggie 48:45

I thought we had a terrap, yeah, I can't remember what it was. And I thought, well, I'm not sure in Western shows whether they would have that.

Sara Rosett 48:52

I know it's very inventive, right?

Reggie 48:54

Yeah, it is, and there's a there's quite a few dream k dramas that do that, that have animation inside the K drama just to give it a bit more life and stuff like that. Yeah, so just in terms of their creativity, I yeah, I don't think there's any other, I don't know, industry that does it the way they do. And I'm talking about the C dramas as well as the day dramas. Obviously, day dramas are a little bit more for me. I think the word I'll use is a little bit more earthier. That's what I would say. Yeah, yeah. Whereas K dramas are glitzy and and C dramas. I don't know if you've watched C dramas, any C dramas.

Sara Rosett 49:28

No, I haven't gotten into C dramas yet because that's such a huge rabbit hole. I'm let me just because I'm I have a tendency to go overboard, so it's like I need to rein it in right now.

Reggie 49:38

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 49:39

Yeah.

Reggie 49:40

To be honest, I'm sure you will go down that rabbit hole because they do it differently in the storylines and the acting and the cinematography again. And yeah, it's it's no, they are good. What about J dramas? Because I know you said did you say you watched any J dramas?

Sara Rosett 49:57

Yeah, I love J dramas. And I feel like you like the K-drama is like this kind of big, explosive kind of we're gonna do it big and emotional. And J dramas, I feel are more subtle, or almost slice of life, pondering things. They're more thoughtful in some ways. I've read I've watched some really funny ones too, but a lot of them have even the funny ones have introspective elements to them. But yeah, so I was gonna mention the cinematography when you talked about that. That made me think of the the show that I'm watching right now, Idle Eye. They have such beautiful scenes, and it's a lot of it takes place in the woman's house, but it's the way it's framed and the lighting, and it's interesting, it's just interesting to watch. And there's one scene where it's shot from up above, and there's a staircase. Someone almost pointed this. I saw somebody talking this online. It's a staircase, and you're seeing down to the middle, and there's a character standing at the bottom, and he's at a low point. And so it's like the spiral going down. You see him at the bottom of the spiral, and I was like, Oh, that is so cool, and that's so true. And I it's just interesting things that maybe we notice because we are watching them so intently to get the meaning, and it's just it's so well done. And the woman who directs Idle Eye also direct what's it called? Call It Love.

Reggie 51:20

Call It Love, and I'm not familiar with that one.

Sara Rosett 51:22

I can't think of the name of it. I'll have to look it up. It's on Hulu. But it's got the same. I once I recognized, I was like, oh, it's not the same visuals, but it's interestingly shot.

Reggie 51:32

Yeah, yeah. I think they do that so well. Even like with when I first started watching, when I watched Crash Landing on You, there are so many iconic scenes and cinematography, and just they I would I don't I'd ever go back to a Western show because they just do it so well. And now I've gone down the C drama and the J drama rabbit hole, it's all over.

Sara Rosett 51:56

You're gonna be you'll be busy forever.

Reggie 51:58

Yeah, yeah. Now it's interesting that you want to give C dramas a little bit of a wide berth at the moment because it would open up so much, it really does.

Sara Rosett 52:06

Yeah, and part of it is the they have longer, longer series, usually more episodes. I feel like J dramas are usually shorter and their episodes are a lot shorter, so I can handle that. I feel like I could squeeze in J drama here and there, and it's not gonna take over my life. Whereas I think C drama is a commitment.

Reggie 52:26

It is not in fact, there's one C drama that is really good, and it's only about I think 10, 12 episodes. It's called Reset.

Sara Rosett 52:34

I have started that one, and I decided to save it so my husband and I can watch it together.

Reggie 52:38

Yeah, I think if yeah, if your husband likes that sort of thing, it is just so good. If that's yeah, if yeah, and that's a short one as well. And I've and I don't think it's I think it might even be four like 45 minutes long or something like that.

Sara Rosett 52:50

I don't think it's it wasn't long, yeah.

Reggie 52:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one's a really good one. Yeah, but yeah, most of the C dramas, yeah, sometimes 45, 36 episodes, but they're all like 45 minutes, whereas the K drama ones are 16 episodes, and they are standing on you, an hour and a half.

Sara Rosett 53:06

Those and episodes, they're too long. I really feel like they could have been pared down, some of them. Yeah, yeah.

Reggie 53:12

But during COVID, it wasn't long enough.

Sara Rosett 53:15

Okay, we have two hours.

Reggie 53:18

Yeah, yeah. So those are the ones, yeah. So those are the oh, and that was another thing. Sorry, coming back to because I wanted to mention it because I thought it was quite funny. Is I'm not sure if it's a trope, but it's where someone says something, say this they're in the toilet in the yeah, and someone says something about someone, and that person comes out of the store. Like right afterwards, yeah, right after, and or someone's saying something, and in the stairwell, someone's listening, and that happens so often. I'm thinking, don't people understand? Look around and make sure before you say anything, doesn't you know a little recon and somewhere else?

Sara Rosett 53:51

Yeah, overheard conversations.

Reggie 53:53

That's it, overheard conversations.

Sara Rosett 53:55

Yeah, that's so funny. That does happen a lot. Yeah, we're coming to the end of the of our time, but I definitely want to ask you what drama do you feel is overlooked or you wish more people watched? You've given so many that are good, solid recommendations. Do you have any a couple more?

Reggie 54:14

No, I I think no, I think Hello My Twenties. I don't think people talk about that one a lot.

Sara Rosett 54:18

Yeah, okay.

Reggie 54:19

I really do, yeah. And I suppose another one, which is a kind of sliced laugh, and I remember you mentioned it as well, was do you like Brahms? Yeah, and there's yeah, there's so many themes in that one, and I don't think that's for everyone, to be fair.

Sara Rosett 54:32

Yeah, it's it is very slow paced, it's very slow.

Reggie 54:36

Yeah, but I just love the theme on it, whereas everyone she's obviously she's a violinist and she enjoys it, but she's trying to everyone thinks that you have to be seek perfection at the top of the phone. In order to, yeah, yeah, and be in the middle of the road at something is still good, and everyone strives to see these be perfect, and this drama was like that. It's difficult to describe. I don't know, you might be able to describe it a little bit better than me.

Sara Rosett 55:07

I don't know. I feel like a lot of it was she was trying to become a professional musician because she loved music so much, and that was part of her struggle. Was she good enough to do that and make a living at it? And that's something that I think everybody can identify with. Because we all have hobbies like podcasting or other things that we're never I'm never gonna be a professional podcaster or you know join the club, yeah, sports, things that we enjoy. Yeah, but is it worth it to enjoy that and have it not be because a lot of people start out doing things and they love it so much they want it to be their full-time income. And sometimes that just doesn't happen as it does. But I like that discussion of that, that yeah, same yeah, same yeah, that theme.

Reggie 55:51

Yeah, no, that one I did, and she's probably my favorite actress if it was uh she wanted to finish off because she does so many different roles, yeah.

Sara Rosett 55:59

And she's an extraordinary attorney exactly, yeah.

Reggie 56:02

She was in Hello, my twenties as well.

Sara Rosett 56:04

Yes, yes, yeah, which I didn't even recognize. She's good at changing her look.

Reggie 56:08

Oh, yeah. She's also in that King's Affection. I think it's King's Affection. I don't know if you've seen any any of those what they call it, historic ones.

Sara Rosett 56:16

I've seen a few, yeah.

Reggie 56:17

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Rosett 56:18

Yeah. That was a really good one. Okay. Anything else you want to talk about?

Reggie 56:22

No, that's it. I really enjoyed talking to you because, like I said, I don't get to talk to anyone about K-dramas, literally anyone. And yeah, I love listening to your podcast because it feels like you're talking to me as well. Yeah, and other podcasts. What I do is I watch the K-drama, go to Drama Beans. I don't know if you heard of Drama Beans. I go there and look at the recap in case I've missed something, and then I listen to the podcast. So that's my three sort of like things that I do. And this and the some of the good podcasts do a recap. So I follow the recap as whilst I'm watching the K-drama as well. And there's a lot of K-drama podcasts out there. And yeah, and there still could be more, and I'm happy for it.

Sara Rosett 57:01

That makes my day because that was one reason I started this was because I feel like people love K dramas, but we don't have a lot of people to talk to. And I was like, this will let people talk about their favorite K dramas, and I'll get to talk to people about their favorite K dramas. It'll be great.

Reggie 57:15

Yeah. Nah, it totally fills the void.

Sara Rosett 57:17

Yeah, yeah. Do you have do you want to share your podcast again? Or is it a good idea? Yeah, yeah.

Reggie 57:22

Yeah, yeah. It's just yeah, life of learning. That's it, really. Yeah, life of learning is just about learning new things, hobbies, pastimes. I get to come on just like yourself and come and talk to people about some of my hobbies and pastimes. Because I just don't get to speak to people about some of my hobbies and pastimes. So that's the yeah, that's the podcast. Uh that's what it's all about. Yeah.

Sara Rosett 57:41

Okay, cool. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. And just thanks for being here today. It's been great.

Reggie 57:46

No problem. Keep doing what you're doing, Sarah.

Sara Rosett 57:49

Oh, I'm not quitting. Don't worry about that. All right. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a few minutes to write or review it wherever you listen to podcasts. That will help K Drama fans find the podcast. And I will see you next time. Bye.