This week, Judy and Linda continue to annoy everyone with their indecisiveness by talking about the second episodes of two MBC K-Drama series: "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" (역도요정 김복주) and "Missing Nine".
Linda gives her first impressions of Lee SungKyung and Nam JooHyuk as the lead characters in "Weightlifting Fairy". Judy desperately wants to eat Korean barbecue. We want to commend the drama for trying to normalize professional psychological help. At the same time, what message is the drama trying to send about body image issues?
"Missing Nine" continues to intrigue with its tangle of mysteries. Joonoh (Jung KyungHo) is still annoying and generally useless. Judy and Linda are no outdoorswomen by any means, but they have watched enough "Survivor" and "Lost" to act like know-it-alls.
Some Korean terms:
뚱: [Ddoong] short for 뚱뚱 ("chubby").
여자분: [yuh-ja-boon] formal way of referring to a woman; lady.
과자: [gwa-ja] snack.
죽: [jook] porridge.
Judy refers to a lesser known Jules Verne novel, "Adrift in the Pacific". It's a fun read about a group of teenagers who are shipwrecked on a deserted island and have to learn to survive by working together. It is totally not like "Lord of the Flies".
Judy also talks about the deep voice of the creepy boss of Legend Entertainment in "Missing Nine". We used an audio clip from episode 1, because the character had more dialogue. The audio clip of the Japanese voice we used to illustrate this point is of a character named Akainu from "One Piece".
Are you guys happy with our choice? What else have you been watching so far in 2017? Please let us know on Facebook or Twitter (@kdramamyeyesout) or by e-mail!
Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review:
The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.
Now that Goblin is over, Judy and Linda had to make some important decisions about what K-drama to watch next for the podcast. This week, we watched the first episodes of 4 new dramas that started in January/February of 2017.
To start off, we talk about "Saimdang: Light's Diary (Herstory)" (사임당, 빛의 일기), the new SBS drama starring Lee YoungAe and Song SeungHun. This was a huge disappointment, especially because of the high hopes we had for it. How can you take a subject like Saimdang, who was such an important and prominent female figure in Korean history, and make it so objectionably boring? Judy and Linda love Lee YoungAe and yet this drama was so hammy that they have a serious moment of doubt about her acting ability. That's like finding out that Cate Blanchett is bad at acting! How can that be?
In "Tomorrow With You" (내일 그대와), the tvN drama, Lee JeHoon plays a time traveller who is trying to solve the mystery of his future death by befriending a sad sack former child actress played by Shin MinAh. Judy thinks that the main characters wholly uninteresting and unlikable. Linda finds the premise interesting, but the rules of time travel are too vague and loose (does that remind you of frustrations we've had about a certain teahouse?).
"Missing Nine" is an MBC drama, starring Jung KyungHo and Baek JinHee. Despite the man bun, turtlenecks and bangs in the drama, Judy is intrigued by the mystery and relationships established by the first episode. Linda predicts which characters will die off first, especially since there are 11 passengers on the plane, not counting the pilots and the one flight attendant.
Finally, we watched "Rebel: Thief of the People" (역적: 백성을 훔친 도적), an MBC drama starring Yoon KyoonSang and Chae SooBin. This series is a straight forward historical drama about Hong GilDong (Yoon KyoonSang), a Korean Robin Hood, who leads a rebellion against YeonSanGun (Kim JiSuk). The first episode starts off so strong, but Judy and Linda are disappointed that the drama is going to be spending so much time examining the protagonist's childhood.
Some Korean terms:
낙지: [nak-ji] octopus.
촌스러워: [chon-seu-ruh-wuh] old-fashioned.
해녀: [heh-nyuh] female diver.
도련님: [do-ryun-nim] old Korean address for "young master".
마님: [ma-nim] old Korean address for "madam".
If you would like to read more about Saimdang (신사임당), you can click here to see her English Wikipedia page.
Judy thought that Hong GilDong (홍길동) was a fictional character, but apparently he was based on a real person in Joseon! There is an actual novel about his adventures, though. Click here to read about the novel, because the English Wiki page for the actual person has very little information.
The King portrayed in "Rebel: Thief of the People" is Prince YeonSan (연산군). His title is "Prince" and not "King", because he was later deposed for being a tyrant and replaced by his half brother. Click here to read about a short history about him on English Wiki.
So our choices come down to "Missing Nine" or "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo"! If you want to recommend one over the other, or if you have any other questions or comments, please contact us on Facebook and Twitter (@kdramamyeyesout) or e-mail us.
Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review:
The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.
In this episode, Judy and Linda finally get to talk about episodes 15 and 16 of "Goblin: The Lonely and Great God" (쓸쓸하고 찬란하신 도깨비), starring Gong Yoo, Kim GoEun, Lee DongWook and Yoo InNa. Brace yourselves for some rants.
Robert contributes another multilingual pun. Judy and Linda can't figure out how Euntak (Kim GoEun) regains her memories. Judy wants to reiterate the importance of knowing how to park your car on hills safely. How come Euntak gets to refuse the Grim Reaper's tea? Why doesn't Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) come into the teahouse to bid farewell to Sunny (Yoo InNa)? How did Euntak make her way to Quebec again in her second life? How? What? Why?
All of these questions detract from the romance and satisfaction we're supposed to be feeling from the finale, which is too bad.
Some Korean terms:
사투리: [sa-too-ri] provincial accent.
개딸: [geh-ddal] "dog"+"daughter".
정화수: [jung-hwa-soo] according to Naver dictionary, this is well water drawn early in the morning, used to pray or to make herbal medicine.
허무하다: [huh-moo-ha-da] feeling of emptiness and futility; how Judy and Linda felt at the finale of this drama.
네팔: [ne-pal] the country Nepal; also homonym for "four arms".
If you couldn't hear Robert very well, here's the pun he uses to torture Judy at the beginning of the episode:
"What country has four arms?"
"Nepal."
Next week, we are discussing our first impressions of "Saimdang: Light's Diary", "Missing Nine", "Rebel: Thief of the People" and "Tomorrow with You". Along with "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo", these dramas are candidates to continue our podcast.
If you have any other comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us @kdramamyeyesout on Facebook, Twitter and Gmail!
Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review:
The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.
You get two KDMEO episodes this week! Today's episode covers episodes 13 and 14 of "Goblin: The Lonely and Great God" (쓸쓸하고 찬란하신 도깨비), starring Gong Yoo, Kim GoEun, Lee DongWook and Yoo Inna.
Judy and Linda think it's poor strategy for Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) to use Euntak (Kim GoEun) as bait for Eyeball Professor. Judy goes a bit mad, when Robert sneaks up on the recording with a multilingual pun. Linda wants Korean listeners to try the dal.komm sausage thingy and then give us a review.
Some Korean terms:
비녀: [bee-nyuh] hair stick.
처녀귀신: [chuh-nyuh-gwee-shin] virgin (female) ghost; usually wearing white hanbok and long black hair draped over face.
무: [moo] homonym for "nothingness" and "radish".
계란: [gye-ran] egg.
If you couldn't hear Robert's multilingual pun very well, here it is:
"What did the Korean bus driver say to the egg?"
"Gye-ran (get on)."
This is why Judy hates puns.
What did you think of the Eyeball Professor's demise? Did you cry as much as we did when Kim Shin died? Were you as annoyed as we were by episode 14?
Please tell us @kdramamyeyesout on Facebook, Twitter and Gmail!
Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review:
The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.
Audio Credits:
My Fair Lady - "Loverly"
Cast from "Inside Out"
George S. Clinton - "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"
Hey guys! Last Friday, Linda and I recorded our thoughts on episodes 13-14 of "Goblin: The Lonely and Great God" (쓸쓸하고 찬란하신 도깨비). However, when I listened to the playback, we sounded like Transformers with bronchitis. So, many apologies to my co-host, Linda, and to you, our listeners.
This week, Robert was our special guest and we talked about the first episode of "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo" (역도요정 김복주), starring Lee SungKyung and Nam JooHyuk.
Robert is enthralled by the music references, which completely went over Judy's head. Judy worries if she's too old to be the target audience. Despite the Mean Girls-ish cliquey bickering, we found Kim Bokjoo (Lee SungKyung) delightful. Jung Joonhyung (Nam JooHyuk) starts off the series as a self-involved douchebag, but that's what the drama production intended, right?
Thanks again to Robert, for being a last-minute guest and also being our guest editor this week!
Have you watched "Weightlifting Fairy" yet? Did you enjoy it? Be honest, did you actually understand that the characters were saying "swag"? Please tell us @kdramamyeyesout on Facebook, Twitter and Gmail!
Download this and other episodes and while you're there, write us a review:
The KDMEO theme music is 'Cute', by Bensound (www.bensound.com), and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International.
Audio Credits:
Vangelis - "Chariots of Fire"
West Side Story - "Cool"
Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Ray Man Legends OST - "The Spy Who Kicked Me"
Alert sound from "Metal Gear Solid" series
Looney Tunes - "Spike and Chester"