Author Archives: nobodybutkyu

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Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 4 Recap (and who is the prince?)

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The case of the day gets a little more personal in this episode as we take a look at one of the coworkers Kangbae’s closest to CHOI JINDONG .

We pick up where we left off with Yeorin stopping an irrational customer from slapping Kangbae. She coolly cracks her neck, saying that if he wants to get physical he can do so with her. The customer quickly leaves. Yeorin turns to Kangbae asking him what he’s doing here and tries to take him to security, not believing his pleas that he works at the mart. Continue reading →

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Mystic Pop Up Bar (and where on earth have I been)

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Ah, 2017. I remember when this little blog was growing and I had all the time in the world to do what I love: fangirling and dissecting kdramas. Then, life happened. More specifically, law school happened. Now those who frequented this site despite my 3 year hiatus might go well damn, you’re rich now. Nope. Not even close, I’m even more in student debt than I was before and this pandemic has affected what small prospects I had for a long-term career in a very saturated market. So I’m back to drown my sorrows in Kdramas! Not that I ever stopped watching dramas these past 3 years (okay, only for the first year, I didn’t have time to breathe that year), but I just didn’t have the time to lay out the analyses I was known for.

But law school (aka hell) is now over and life shows signs of resuming, so I’m finally back with a review of Netflix’s latest foray into Kdramas: Mystic Pop-up Bar.

First off, that is a terrible translation of the Korean title 쌍갑포차 (Ssang-kab-po-cha). The last two syllables 포차 (po-cha) refers to the road-side red tent restaurant seen so often in Kdramas. The first two syllables 쌍갑 (Ssang-kang) are a little more complicated. 쌍 means twins or equal and 갑 has a meaning similar to ‘top’ or boss’, hence ssang-kap-po-cha. A red tent restaurant where all customers are equal and everyone’s a boss (no class/hierarchy here!)

But that’s where all the terribleness ends, because this show is a lot of fun. And I mean FUN.  Continue reading →

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Going into Defendant’s final week (and Ji Sung’s utter brilliance)

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I seriously don’t know how/why I keep getting hits on this page when I’m such a lazy bum and haven’t updated it in so long. What came so easily during the second and third years of my undergrad gets more and more difficult as I keep losing time in my final year. Thank you so much to those who still frequent this corner of the web! And if you haven’t seen Defendant, please do.

It’s sheer utter magnificent brilliance.
one-hd-innocent-defendant-5
Now I could write an ode, like I did with Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim. But odes are based on the premise that words can capture or do some justice to an experience. I can’t describe this. The acting, writing, directing, music (say goodbye to excessive osts, 99.9% of everything’s instrumental and perfect), everything is so bloody brilliant that my jaw spends a lot of time on the floor.  Continue reading →

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An Ode to Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (and Han Seok Kyu is wonderful)

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Another drama that took my soul ended. I always think that there surely can’t be another drama that’ll steal my heart and soul and then something comes out of the blue and holds parts of me prisoner that I never even knew existed. Such was the case with Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim. I first came for Seo Hyunjin, Yoo Yeonseok, and that older actor who was rather impressive in Tree with Deep Roots, Han Seok Kyu. In that order and for those reasons. Only that order and those reasons changed after the first few episodes. He’s over three decades older than me, but I have the biggest crush ever on our Romantic Doctor. His smile, his cheekiness. Perfection. But superficiality aside, that wasn’t (purely) why I loved this show.

(Look at that babe, HOW IS HE 52!!!)
If you’re debating on whether or not to see this, the answer is yes. In fact, please do. It will change something in you. This isn’t just about the titular doctor, or his proteges, but about people, first and foremost. How we grow, evolve and have the capacity to change in ways that may be for the better. It’s a show without perfect characters. The good doctor himself is a world-class grumpypants with a preference for tough love, though he has the smile and heart of an angel. He not only imparts lessons but learns a few himself. And to watch him, and the wonderful people of Doldam Hospital grow and change and love has been my privilege for the past two months.
Continue reading →

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2016 SBS Drama Awards Recap and Translation

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Onto the final two drama ceremonies of the year! The red carpet MCs were Boom and Jung Chaeyon of IOI fame, while the MCs on stage were Lee Hwi Jae, Minah from Girls’ Day, and Jang Geunsuk.

[Note: I will be focusing on translating the interviews and speeches for Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim for the most part, because I adore that show and I’m out of time at the moment. UPDATE: Yoo Yeonsuk and Seo Hyunjin’s table interview has been translated. I’ve also covered Moon Lovers and some Jealousy Incarnate interviews. If there’s someone whose speech you want me to translate, shoot me a comment below! Also I can’t catch the name of every staff/PD/person they thank so I’ll just list them by their titles 🙂 ]
Sadly, there wasn’t much of a focus on red carpet interviews. Some stars merely said a few sentences. Park Sungwoong hoped Jo Jungseok would sin the Daesang. Namgoong Min gave a shout out to his Beautiful Gongshim co-star (and MC of the night) Minah saying that he’ll be looking forward to their MCing. Seohyun and Jun Hyosung danced about on the red carpet. Yoo Seungho gave a smolder on the red carpet and Lee Minho shot finger hearts everywhere.
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2016 MBC Drama Awards Recap and Translations

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It’s been a hell of a while since I last posted here what with university and life managing to drag me out of blogging (but not out of drama watching!). Today seemed like a good day to get back into things with the 2016 MBC Drama Awards. Everyone usually walks away with an award here, and my ultimate favourite, Ji Sung (who’s making a drama comeback soon!) walked away with quite a few last year. Let’s see what this year had to bring!

[Note: MBC has seperate categories for mini-series and daily dramas. I will be translating the speeches and wins of the more prominent award winners. I’ll be skipping PD and writer names if I can’t catch them at times. I’ll also be skipping those in the daily drama category and focusing purely on mini-series and weekend dramas. Winners are bolded among the nominees. ]

The MCs for the night were Kim Gukjin and UEE, who looked lovely although far too skeletal. The nominees for the Daesang were:

Kim Soyeon for Happy Home
Seo Inguk for Shopping King Louis
UEE for Marriage Contract
Lee Seojin for Marriage Contract
Lee Jongseok for W: Two Worlds
Jin Seyeon for Flower In Prison
Han Hyojoo for W: Two Worlds

Continue reading →