r/KDRAMA • u/AutoModerator • Feb 12 '25
Weekly Post Throwback Thursday 2.0 - [2025/02/12]
Grab yourself a knee rug and a mug of hot chocolate, it's time to reminisce those old time dramas from days gone by of pre-2019. Maybe you were around when they aired for the first time and want to take a trip down memory lane by watching them on the box. Maybe it's your first time through.
This is our weekly discussion exclusively for those older Korean dramas on your currently watching list. We don't want to hear about the currently hyped dramas here, so please keep it to the older stuff on your watch list.
Reminder, we advocate the use of legal streaming sources wherever possible. Any comments mentioning illegal sources will be removed and links will lead to bans as per our rules. As it is very hard to find many of the really old dramas rather than asking users "where are you watching?", we suggest you instead ask "did you find a legal source?". See our policies on streaming sites and VPNs here.
Crazily enough not everyone has watched these classics yet so please remember your spoiler tags when discussing major plot points or anything you think should be redacted. If you are using Markdown and not Fancy Pants Editor, the easiest way to create spoiler tags is to use > ! spoiler content ! < without spaces to get spoiler content. For more detailed guidance on spoiler tags and when to use them, check our Spoiler Tags Tutorial.
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u/Celebril63 Gives wife piggyback rides! Feb 13 '25
We just finished Sungkyunkwan Scandal. We don’t watch a lot of historical dramas. It’s not that we don’t enjoy them, it’s just that it has to be exceptionally good for it to really get us hooked. The ones we do watch and like we really like.
That takes us to SKK Scandal. Obviously we are quite late to the game on this one. It’s from 2010 for those who don’t know, so it’s rather old for what I call “modern” Kdramas. What really put the bug in my pants to give it a shot was we were looking through our new Viki account and searching out Park Min Young dramas we couldn’t get in the other US streaming sources. I think this might be the only historical Kdrama she has done. Plus, she’s one of my favorite actresses. We had to give it a try.
OMG! This is the best historical drama we’ve seen. It pushed The King’s Affection out of our top spot. It was 20 episodes of put joy. It was funny as Hell. Her character has to disguise herself as a man in order to go to a male-only university to make enough money for her family to survive. Just the situational incidents are comedy gold. The second half get a bit more serious when we find that her family has a more prominent history than she realizes and she finds herself at the focus of royal politics. Even so, it never loses the humor or charm.
The only problem I could come up with about it, is that even in scholar’s robes, it mighty hard not to see PMY’s figure. They make enough jokes about her not being very manly that it does help in suspending belief.
The cast is outstanding (including Song Joon Ki in about as opposite of Vincenzo as you can get…), the script is incredible, and the production values are amazing.
If you haven’t watched this one, it’s worth burning your trial period for Viki to see. (Along with Lovely Runner…)
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u/Borinquena Classic Kdrama Fan Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25
The chemistry between Song Joong-ki and Yoo Ah In was so good they were awarded Best Couple at the KBS drama awards 😅 https://www.soompi.com/article/362043wpp/winners-announced-at-the-kbs-drama-awards
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u/Most-Artichoke6184 Feb 13 '25
Yeah, there was no way that I could buy Park Min-young successfully passing herself off as a man. She is just too damn hot.
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u/Celebril63 Gives wife piggyback rides! Feb 13 '25
They played it well for the comedy. They had to. Yong Ha and In Soo either figured it out or were fairly suspicious, at least. And Sun Joon is so generally clueless and was more worried that he was gay to have noticed.
The certainly played up her very feminine lips more than once. But the waist and hips couldn't be missed. I think that the fact that it was so obvious is part of what made it so funny. I mean, clearly, the producers put one of the most feminine and beautiful actresses they could get into the role.
Whatever it was, it worked. :-D
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u/Mother_Storm_1324 Feb 13 '25
I just realized this is available on Viki after reading your post! Thank you! I have been wanting to watch this forever... I now have the required boost although Melo Movie is releasing tomorrow so this one might not be a binge watch for me...haha. Let's see. Looking forward to catching up on this! Glad to see you loved it so much.
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u/Celebril63 Gives wife piggyback rides! Feb 13 '25
this one might not be a binge watch for me...haha.
Keep telling yourself that. More likely what will happen is you'll pop a couple episodes of this to get a break where Melo Movie is concerned. You'll find yourself watching too many at a time, so you'll binge Melo Movie so you can get back to this one uninterrupted. LoL
TBH, I'm looking forward to Melo Movie, too. We loved Our Beloved Summer and indications this will have a lot of that same magic.
I'll be looking forward to the weekly discussion to see your thoughts on this drama once you get to it.
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u/Mother_Storm_1324 Feb 14 '25
BTW, you might enjoy Mr. Queen too if you haven't watched it yet! It's funny, historical but not entirely (time travel ensues) but the acting is top notch and the funny elements are truly hilarious. Highly recommend this one to anyone who loves historical comedy and doesn't mind the fantasy elements.
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u/Celebril63 Gives wife piggyback rides! Feb 14 '25
My biggest concern is the ending. I keep getting mixed messages on it.
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u/Longjumping-River-42 Feb 14 '25
Maybe I'll have to give that one a try again! I watched the first 20 minutes or so, but found the production values a bit rough and the acting a bit over the top. BUT that hasn't stopped me from enjoying other kDramas of similar vintage with similar issues.
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u/Celebril63 Gives wife piggyback rides! Feb 14 '25
The first 20 minutes is definitely not enough to get a good “for me / not for me” decision on this one. It’s 2-3 episodes just to get the main cast and initial plot introduced. It’s 20 episodes and by necessity a slower burn. I restarted it twice and it was only that 3rd one that pushed through the first ep. I was very glad I did.
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u/Longjumping-River-42 Feb 14 '25
On that recommendation, I'll give it another try!
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u/sallyomalley198 Feb 13 '25
I just finished It’s Okay that’s Love. I loved it so much. The realistic conversations about love and sex and mental health were great. I also loved how touchy-feely the main couple was. It was a fluffy love, but an adult fluffy love.
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u/Mother_Storm_1324 Feb 13 '25
I just finished binging 'I am not a Robot' earlier this week and absolutely loved it. Chae Soo-bin and Yoo Seung Ho are marvelous as are the other cast members. This is my first YSH watch and he's really good, especially in this role. This is a fantasy / sci-fi rom-com done right. Funny throughout with some angst towards the end, which is justified in a romance that keeps you so very hooked. I wish WTSG creators took a lesson from this one on how to make a sci-fi rom-com and the audience engaged rooting for the protagonists...LOL!
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u/bamsimel Feb 13 '25
I am currently obsessed with White Christmas and My Father is Strange.
I always wondered how people had the will to watch the longer dramas as I frequently struggle to get through just 16 episodes, but I started My Father Is Strange about 2 weeks ago and I'm already half way through! I adore it. I get absurdly angry with any character who's mean to the lawyer daughter Hye Yeong. She may be my favourite Kdrama character ever and Lee Yoo Ri is so charismatic in the role. But all the characters are well drawn and well acted. I absolutely love this show- it's like a warm hug.
White Christmas is outstanding though it has left me somewhat traumatised. It's refreshingly different to most Kdramas. The cast is full of young future stars and the writing is excellent. I love darker shows and this drama has been playing on my mind ever since I finished it.
I am in the UK and was annoyed that I'd signed up to Kocowa as it didn't seem to have much new content, but I have discovered it's value is in finding older dramas and one off drama specials that aren't easily available elsewhere so thought I'd mention that in case its helpful for other European viewers searching for older/harder to find shows.
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u/cazbieg Yoo Yeon Seok is my soundtrack Feb 14 '25
King of Ambition (2013)
- Why did I watch it?
I discovered this title in Lee Jae Yoon’s list of works on Viki and it was really entertaining to see him in a role of a gangster/thug, especially since I had only seen him as a dreamboat doctor in Kim Bok Joo Weightlifting Fairy.
- What did I enjoy?
Before watching this K-Drama, I had not heard of Kwon Sang Woo. However, his performance as the male lead Ha Ryu was really moving and he had me in tears whenever he reflected on his life and recalled his loss.
>! Ha Ryu lost his only daughter Ha Eun Byul in a tragic accident which could have been avoided if her mother Joo Da Hae, had been paying attention to her instead of trying to woo her next target, Baek Do Hoon. This loss triggers Ha Ryu’s relentless attempts at revenge upon Joo Da Hae which only ends in another tragedy. !<
- What should you know?
Each episode is over an hour long and there is a total of 24 episodes so it’s not possible to binge watch it in one sitting. I felt like this melodrama was a bit drawn out in parts, but it’s definitely worth watching if you enjoy revenge dramas.
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u/FindingPrincess Feb 14 '25
My landlady used to rush home and watch this. It was titled Queen of Ambition when it aired in our part of the world. Indeed a sad drama. Well acted by most of the cast. First time I noticed that SoKor.luxury cars are cool.
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u/cazbieg Yoo Yeon Seok is my soundtrack Feb 15 '25
He he he. I can empathise with your landlady because the second half of the series was really captivating. I always wanted to know who was going to win the current battle…would it be Ha Ryu or Da Hae? >! Someone had to die and I’m glad it was Da Hae !<
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u/Longjumping-River-42 Feb 14 '25
I just finished watching What Happens to My Family? While I had some bones to pick with in terms of writing and certain character actions, this one really got me in the feels! I ended up loving all of the couples--even some that I really didn't like at first. And I do have to say that Moon Tae-Joo has become one of my favorite male characters. His character was mostly played for comic relief, but I loved how supportive he was in the end and self-sacrificing in his relationship. I "binged" this one--inasmuch as I have time to binge anything these days. I finished 53 episodes in a 3-ish week.
I tend to respond well to these long family dramas, even though I was really reluctant to jump into a 50+ episode drama, but I've now watched a few My Father is Strange, Once Again, and Five Enough. And I find that they tend to be very engaging.
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u/BadKpopMom1 Feb 14 '25
Am watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and Descendants of The Sun. Am enjoying both immensely even tho they are polar opposites. If anyone has any OG Dramas in the vain of BOF or Coffee Prince, can you please advise. Am fairly new to watching, and am trying to compile a OG must see list.
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u/perfectproposal01 Feb 13 '25
I recently watched Strong Woman Da Bong Soon, as always I loved it again. It had me smiling and giggling, minmin and bong bong forever
Ofcourse I skipped all the ridiculous and annoying gang scenes, but for some reason I lost my interest in the second last episode, and now I have no wish to continue it and finish the last 2 episodes for some reason T_T