Posted on 11/21/2018 7:05:44 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
Try “Healer” - the ‘worst’ episode is actually the very first episode - every episode in my opinion just keeps on getting better as the series progresses up to the end.
“For those who are worried about subtitles - don’t be. You get used to them very quickly, and these things would just not be the same if they were dubbed.”
Exactly - you don’t even think about it after awhile that is what you are doing. I also completely agree on dubbing vs. subtitles - the natural voices going with the actors is far better to maintain than someone else’s voice speaking over them. You don’t lose anything as far as performance - you can understand tone of voice, emotion of a scene, etc. just fine. Dubbing is inferior - the voice actor was not in the scene actually performing it live.
I noticed that using the website for Viki - those don’t appear on the smartTV app for Viki - thankfully. :-)
[Try Nirvana In Fire. Viki has it. A guy seeks justice for a conspiracy that labeled his family as traitors 12 years prior.]
I have not seen the sequel, NIF2. Chinese shows can spew a lot of information in the beginning, especially when they describe a battle or a war between two nations. It can be a bit confusing at first, i will stop a show and look up information if they make refrences to places, people or events.
“... and the way the narrative plunged straight in before explaining who everyone was. “
I’ve noticed that so many times, I have to just assume it’s part of the way these things are done. In the first episode most of the main characters will be introduced, but not necessarily their back stories or connections. It’s actually kind of nice to watch something that’s not dumbed down for American viewers - you know, you actually have to figure out who’s who sometimes!
On the other side, on many dramas, it seems there’s often a “wind down” episode, where the story is really concluded but the series hasn’t. I have a feeling this is there to allow you to say goodbye to the characters / story you’re now hopelessly attached to. I don’t recall anything like that in our TV, though it reminds me of the OVA episodes in Japanese anime.
Welcome to the club. You have now added value to your entertainment life. We will never go back to the dissolute and debauched themes of US movies. I hope you enjoy the uplifting stories that the Koreans value.
Right now we are watching Mr. Sunshine. It takes place during the Teddy Roosevelt era and involves a Korean who has rejected his homeland. We are on episode 4. If you need to have an explication of an episode, because it is fast paced and deep, you can read the recaps on Drama Beans. This site is also very useful for summarizing of the most popular dramas.
Thanks for keeping me up with your new found hobby. And about the subtitles. Some times even in English films, the sound effects are so loud, you can’t understand them correctly. With subtitles, you always do.
Of all the KDramas I watched, I know of only “Secret Garden” with a gay character, but you never see him act on it.
Thank you for your recommendation of “Tunnel” - I just got done watching that series. It was as good as you said it would be (some of the violent scenes I thought was overly graphic - not necessary for us to know what was going on...but oh well). Well developed storyline and characters...actors all performed well. (***spoiler alert - I kind of wish they had shown a scene where he grew old in his normal timeline and regrouped with his friends he made in the future, but the way they did it still brought closure and was pretty much implied everything turned out).
Thanks again for the recommendation - I’ll see if I can find “Signal” next. By the way - given the kind of show “Tunnel” was and that you enjoyed it, I think you would definitely enjoy most, if not all, of the below shows as well (I’m also adding “Tunnel” to my running list of recommendations):
“Healer” - https://www.viki.com/tv/23730c-healer?locale=en
“Naked Fireman” (an odd title - not at all what it sounds like - it is perfectly appropriate) https://www.viki.com/tv/33954c-naked-fireman?locale=en
“Moorim School” https://www.viki.com/tv/27773c-moorim-school?locale=en
“The K2” https://www.viki.com/tv/31865c-the-k2?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
“Mad Dog” https://www.viki.com/tv/35613c-mad-dog?locale=en
“Tunnel” https://www.viki.com/tv/33747c-tunnel?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
I’m going to keep on watching them. I guess I’ll keep this as a master thread and update the list of shows I recommend.
Thank you for your photo of beautiful Korean food. If only I could indulge.
Here are two Korean dramas that I have watched and enjoyed recently. ( I also watched our common favorite My Love From Another Star last week. It is still great!)
Dal Ja’s Spring http://kissasian.video/drama/dal-jas-spring.html
And I am currently just loving the chemistry between these two leads in Devilish Joy
https://kissasian.es/Drama/Devilish-Joy-2018/Episode-001?id=49747
I’m tagging to try one of these over the weekend. Thanks every one for the new info.
Why can’t you eat Korean food?
Will this be your first time trying them out? Once you get into the storylines, the subtitles are a non issue - you don’t even notice anymore that is what you are doing. The ones on my list are action dramas and crime dramas.
(notice you and I joined FR on the same day)
We working expats in Mexico. One Korea restaurant in Guadalajara and they don’t serve kim chee or traditional side dishes, but wow they are very generous with the grill at your table BBQ meat.
However, when I go back to the US, I stock up on Korean bean paste, chili paste,seawood, chilli powder and pancake mix and cook at home.
I use Maanchi’s cookbook, but her website and youtube recipes are better.
I’m back again - just got done with “Signal” - it was an extraordinarily well done series but the ending was kind of flat...almost like they were setting it up for a possible sequel series. Nonetheless, it was well done. Interestingly, in the last week when doing the search on viki to continue watching episodes, another “Signal” starting appearing as “coming soon” - only the trailer is currently available right now - I watched it and this “Signal” appears to be a direct Japanese remake of the same series with a nearly identical plot and script. I might watch that when it becomes available in the future to see how it compares.
Thanks again for that recommendation...now I guess I’ll have to find and watch something else when I have time.
Recommended K-drama series:
“Healer” - https://www.viki.com/tv/23730c-healer?locale=en
“Naked Fireman” (an odd title - not at all what it sounds like - it is perfectly appropriate) https://www.viki.com/tv/33954c-naked-fireman?locale=en
“Moorim School” https://www.viki.com/tv/27773c-moorim-school?locale=en
“The K2” https://www.viki.com/tv/31865c-the-k2?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
“Mad Dog” https://www.viki.com/tv/35613c-mad-dog?locale=en
“Tunnel” https://www.viki.com/tv/33747c-tunnel?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
“Signal” (Korea) https://www.viki.com/tv/26896c-signal?locale=en (some episodes have Korea TV 15 rating - a few highly violent scenes though less than Tunnel)
I just had some Korean food the other day for the first time...it was probably Korean food that was “Americanized” but it was prepared by Koreans and it was definitely a different flavor and method than our American Chinese. I wasn’t even expecting the restaurant to be Korean and decided I had to order it because of my new K-drama hobby. Enjoyed it.
Thanks for touching back with me! Glad you enjoyed “Signal” and “Tunnel.” I’ll give some of your recommendations a try.
You warned these were addictive...because they’re just well done. There is only one show I started to watch that I turned off and decided it wasn’t going to be any good - all of the rest I have watched all the way through that I got started on.
Added another one to the list I highly recommend - “Two Cops” - at first it looked like it was going to be a light-hearted and comedic “buddy cop” type show that was going to be fun and well worth it to watch but not as deep in story as the others - that turned out to be wrong. While it kept the more light-hearted and comedic feel to it as it progressed, it also was at the same time a very serious crime drama with a deep story line. Though I was not expecting it to be bad it turned out way better than I had expected it would be...adding to my list of recommendations:
Recommended K-drama series:
“Healer” - https://www.viki.com/tv/23730c-healer?locale=en
“Naked Fireman” (an odd title - not at all what it sounds like - it is perfectly appropriate) https://www.viki.com/tv/33954c-naked-fireman?locale=en
“Moorim School” https://www.viki.com/tv/27773c-moorim-school?locale=en
“The K2” https://www.viki.com/tv/31865c-the-k2?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
“Mad Dog” https://www.viki.com/tv/35613c-mad-dog?locale=en
“Tunnel” https://www.viki.com/tv/33747c-tunnel?locale=en (Korea TV 15 rating - some of the violence is graphic)
“Signal” (Korea) https://www.viki.com/tv/26896c-signal?locale=en (some episodes have Korea TV 15 rating - a few highly violent scenes though less than Tunnel)
“Two Cops” https://www.viki.com/tv/35661c-two-cops?locale=en
Thank you. I am going to run Healer for my husband.
I think you’ll find Healer to be a fun show - and the storyline gets much deeper than you might expect at first after you get a few episodes in.
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