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The songs we featured during the recap: "Picasso’s Room" by Yun Hyun Kyum and "Geum Myeong is Truly a Blessing to Me" by Chang Hyowon.
Joanna’s Korean food tour in Annandale, VA with Virginialicious and tour guide Park Su-jin, and how Korean food has become mainstream in the U.S.
Gongjindan, a traditional Korean herbal medicine, and its symbolic role in showing affection and care.
The blossoming emotional depth and poetic confession from Chung Seop to Geum Myeong — comparing her to a Christmas tree that sparkles no matter where it's placed.
The nuanced reasons why Geum Myeong breaks up with Yeong Beom — not because she doesn’t love him, but because she loves herself, too.
Yeong Beom’s powerlessness and the lasting emotional scars inflicted by his mother’s dominance.
A powerful parallel between Ae-sun’s life and her daughter’s — and how Ae-sun attempts to protect Geum Myeong in ways she never was.
The heartbreakingly awkward sanggyeonrye (formal family meeting) that underscores socioeconomic disparities and family values.
Ae-sun’s emotional devastation over her daughter’s humiliation and her own flashback-infused realization about parenting and sacrifice.
The hauntingly predictive flash-forward of Yeong Beom’s life of submission and regret, visualized through a lonely aging montage.
The poignant metaphor of The Little Prince and how it mirrors the final farewell between Geum Myeong and Yeong Beom.
References to Korea’s educational reform in 1994 and the CSAT — a life-shaping exam with nationwide effects.
A brief but loaded cliffhanger involving a mysterious woman from Gwan Sik’s past.
Our spotlight on Lee Soo Kyung, who plays Bu Hyeon Suk — her rise as a two-time Baeksang winner and her roles in dramas like Love in the Big City and Law School.
References
* While I also enjoy these cutesy happy endings, I tend to find heartbreaking break-ups far more memorable. And Kdramas have some of the best. They have some awesome break-ups (I won’t name the series, but I will say it happens at a bus stop and involves shoelaces. Probably my favourite, at least of recent years)
ReplyDeleteAnd, I loved this one, while I had my tears rolling down my cheeks.
It was such a painful scene to watch, but it had one of my favourite exchanges:
"You are giving me flowers on your birthday"
"It is present for myself"
The whole episode was really good though. I don’t have any substantial thing to add to what you ladies said about these various meetings other than they have achieved what they were trying to achieve.
On a separate note, few years ago I read a very good, and very famous Japanese novel “The Makioka Sisters” by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.It spans the years 1936-1941
One of its main threads is trying to find a husband for one of the sisters, so the whole process is described in details. Interesting read.
*Scorched rice: Oh! MY! GOD! You have no idea how wide the grin on my face was when you were talking about that. Where I originally come from, it is also something tons of people love it, and fight over who gets it (usually the fastest lol). Personally, I like it, but not a lot.
But, having a cooker make it somehow doesn’t feel right :).
Btw, from last episode. Ditto to eating rice at any time of the day, and making sweets from rice. My Mom used to make us some.
* I love those geography questions. They are interesting on more than one level. Btw, I am actually curious how the podcast of this series doing against other ones?
The fact that this is your hobby, and you have very successful careers outside it, should give you the freedom to experiment, and either discard, or adopt the ideas.
I think having an intermezzo episode between seasons was a good one. Maybe, have even two or more to talk about movies as well. Or, a mid season break episode? (probably more suitable for shows that finished some time ago).
Maybe have your own yearly awards? You can add listeners if you wish.
My point is that there are plenty of other things you can do. Others might have other ideas.
You have built a very strong foundation, and the core should always be what you are doing now, but a bit of variety is also good.
Seven Seas, you are so right about Korean drama sad endings! The sad ending at the bus stop, involving shoelaces, wrecked me for months! And what about the sad ending involving a bullet and a train? As Sung Hee says, those sad endings are sooo sad, but they are sooo good.
DeleteBTW, I asked my half Japanese husband about scorched rice and he says it's definitely not a thing in Japan. I suppose the place that perfected rice cookers would not cherish burned rice. Haha.
Will have to check out The Makioka Sisters. I'll see if book club is interested.
Thanks for your comment about the geography questions. We love diving into the map of our listeners. We end up going down rabbit holes because we want to learn more about these new places - so fun!
And yes, K Drama Chat is a hobby. A pretty serious one. We have no idea how we stack up against other K Drama podcasts. Feedspot ranks us number 2 of podcasts devoted to K Dramas, so that's something - https://podcast.feedspot.com/korean_drama_podcasts/
Our format is so different from pretty much all the other podcasts. The other podcasts tend to devote one episode to an entire show or they talk about multiple shows in one episode. We are the polar opposite, as you know. We will end up spending nearly four months talking about When Life Gives You Tanginers and we will have gone down so many rabbit holes related to language, tradition, culture, food, clothing, you name it. As we say, we talk about anything we find interesting or confusing. How do YOU think we compare to the other podcasts?
Thank you, as always, for your comments!
Joanna...Sorry I wasn't clear. I wasn't really asking about your podcast vs. others. I was asking about this seasons vs. others.
DeleteBut, now you brought it up, I checked the link. I don't know what is this ranking is based on. That said, being second is very impressive.
I have listened to many of these podcasts in the past to varrying degrees, but I honestly, and without any flattery can say that once I found yours, I stopped listening to others.
Personally, I don't find Afternoonas that good. Their tangents are mostly boring, and don't add any value. The complete opposite of yours. Your tangents elevate the whole podcast and makes it cultural rather than TV only.
I liked some others more, but I didn't listen to anyone with regularity.
I have only limited amount of time, and Kdramas are no longer a novelty and I am very hungry for them. They have become the norm, so I chose only my favourite, and with all honesty, you are my favourite by miles.
The only thing I look for somwhere else from time to time is new material about "My Mister".
Hi Seven Seas, thanks as always for your input. It's extremely flattering to have your good opinion.
DeleteWithout doing an in depth analysis of our stats, I think the trend is generally an upwards one, with respect to how many listens we get in the first week of the episode release. Our blockbuster seasons were the predictable ones: Queen of Tears and Crash Landing on You. What I find to be interesting, however, is that while the greatest number of listens each week is for the new episode, it's typically only a fraction of the traffic for the podcast as a whole, about a third. The rest of the downloads are almost evenly spread among all the rest of the episodes in the catalog. So it's gratifying that people are discovering and listening to past episodes as well as the current ones.
Seven Seas, I also enjoy the geography quiz in the episode. It really is amazing how technology allows this podcast to have a global reach. And speaking of geography quizzes, I am trying to figure out what country you are originally from! I don't want to know just yet - I'll provide an educated guess once I've gathered enough clues! I've eliminated Korean and Japan, as well as the Philippines (I assume if you were Filipino like Joanna we would have already found out). Keep dropping clues and I'll eventually figure it out....
DeleteWe will have to see what we can do to displace the Afternoonas Delight Podcast from the top spot! I listen to that one and I enjoy it. It's obviously quite different with far more banter (maybe too much at times), but I enjoy their takes on certain things. But of course, KDC is my favorite.
And I'm all for more "intermezzo episodes" as you referred to them. Did you listen to their Best of K Dramas podcast back in September. I really enjoyed that even if they got many of the categories very wrong! ;-)
Malcolm..Yes, I listened to the September podcast, and even compiled my own list, but for some reason never posted it.
DeleteA Korean food tour?! I’m so jealous. I assume one of the five places you went was Subway?! What a great idea to have Park Su-jin on the podcast. I’ll have to see if I have any pressing questions regarding Korean food. I guess an obvious one is what is the best K Drama featuring food?
ReplyDeleteAs for this episode, this was one to get the blood boiling! Yeong Beom’s mom is a top candidate for worst mother in a K Drama. She and the mom from Something in the Rain should meet up! Let me know where and when and I’ll be there with the White Truck of Death! Parents who make their children’s life an extension of their life like Yeong Beom’s mom are such a red flag! I think this is more common in Asian societies with their Confucian value system, but its certainly not uncommon in Western societies.
Joanna, I am so disappointed that you did not know who Kim Il Sung was! Did you learn nothing from Crash Landing on You?! LOL That scene with Geum Myeong crying in the back of the cab with the radio report of his death was actually quite hilarious. As I recall, tension were somewhat high when Kim Il Sung died as nobody knew what to expect. The South Korean military was put on full alert. Also, there are some who think that South Korea and the West missed an opportunity to improve relations with North Korea following his death:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/north-korea-america-reconciliation
As for the Yeong Beom and Geum Myeong’s breakup, it was painful to watch. As someone whose broken up on their birthday I can confirm its…… not great! But such a great bit of story telling and writing here. Yeong Beom’s mom wanted them to break up because she thought Geum Myeong was not good enough for Yeong Beom’s family, but they actually broke up because Yeong Beom’s family was not good enough from Geum Myeong. Perfect! No notes!
As usual, I am loving the predictions from the only two people who have not watched the entire series. I also enjoyed Sung Hee’s description of Harbin: “I know the story, because its history after all.” So Sung Hee remembers history, but not K Drama plots! 😉 And FWIW, I agree with Sung Hee that affection is a component of longing, not the opposite.
And finally, without further ado, What Malcolm’s Watching:
Second Shot at Love on Viki – This is pretty good, even if there are some questionable plot developments. The show is about a woman trying to quit drinking, which is very difficult in South Korean society. Much like Doctor Slump takes on the issue of depression, it doesn’t quite reflect reality, but the fact that they are addressing the topic should be considered progress.
Tastefully Yours on Netflix – This is another K Drama with some questionable writing and plot but is enjoyable enough.
Dear Hongrang on Netflix – The best way I can describe this show is Joanna will love it! It is a Joseon historical centered around a sister from a merchant family searching for her lost brother from 12 years ago and whether the person who shows up claiming to be her brother is really her brother. There’s a lot more to it, but it is written extremely well, with lots of mysteries, questions, dual loyalties, etc. I generally don’t like historical, but this one is great!
"A Korean food tour?! I’m so jealous. I assume one of the five places you went was Subway?! "..Hahaha..that really made me laugh.
DeleteGrowing up as a third generation Japanese-American, we also used to fight over the scorched rice that formed at the bottom of the rice cook pot. Sadly, this stopped when we got a dedicated rice cooker that prepared perfect rice every time.
ReplyDelete