DramaMeans

In a DramaMeans Podcast first, Mel and Ryan discuss a French period drama that dabbles into witchcraft and religious themes. We also wonder, aloud, why Netflix’s, "Nero: The Assassin" needed to be kinda gross in order to tell their story. Cast: Nero - Pio Marmaï Perla - Lili-Rose Carlier Taboury Hortense - Alice Isaaz La Borgne - Camille Razat Rochemort - Louis-Do de Lencquesaing

This week on the DramaMeans Podcast Mel and Ryan take a look at past dramas to examine break up scenes done right and debate whether the 11th episode curse is truly a bad trope or just lazy writing.

This week on the DramaMeans Podcast we question whether the filmmakers behind Japanese drama, "Learning to Love," really understand their own show, while also asking whether a homeroom teacher is really responsible for her students 24/7. Cast: Ogawa Manami - Kimura Fumino Kaoru (Takamori Taiga) - Murakami Raul Maito Kawahara Yoji - Nakajima Ayumu Machida Momoko - Tanaka Minami Ogawa Seiji - Sakou...

This week on the DramaMeans Podcast we discuss the Thai supernatural BL thriller, "Khemjira," and debate whether scary stories need to actually be really scary. We also try to figure out how reincarnation curses work while not getting too confused along the way. Cast: Khem - Namping Peem - Keng Jet - Firstone Charn - Tle Ramphueng - Green

This week, the DramaMeans Podcast dissects Chinese period drama, "Coroner’s Diary," to find out whether a room full of dead bodies really put a damper on the lead actors’ romantic chemistry. Cast: Qin Wan / Shen Wan / Wan 'er - Landy Li Yan Chi (7th Prince) - Ao Rui Peng Yue Ning - Shen Yu Jie Yan Li - Yu Cheng En Bai Feng - Cheng Hong Xin Fu Ling - Wan Lu Qing

DramaMeans takes a look at Japanese rock music drama Glass Heart to see if it has the rhythm of a hit, or is a tragic tone deaf flop. We also question the need to wedge romance into a story where it doesn’t belong, while simultaneously wishing for romance from Mel’s favorite “ghost ship.” Cast: Naoki - Satoh Takeru Akane - Miyazaki Yu Sho - Machida Keita Kazushi - Shison Jun Toya - Suda Masaki

This week on the DramaMeans Podcast, Mel and Ryan give a full check up to Korean Drama “Resident Playbook,” the follow up to the highly successful “Hospital Playlist.” We discuss the differences in character and tone throughout the series, as well as coming to the realization that perhaps not even the most seasoned doctors in the hospital… really know as much as they are letting on. Cast: Oh Yi Ye...

The DramaMeans podcast is back to take a deep dive into the 2025 Chinese BL drama “Revenged Love.” Join us as we decide whether or not trying to seduce someone as part of an elaborate revenge plan is toxic, adorable, or somewhere in between. Cast: Wu Suo Wei - Zi Yu Chi Cheng - Tian Xu Ning Guo Cheng Yu - Zhan Xuan Jiang Xiao Shuai - Liu Xuan Cheng Wang Shuo - Liu Jun Wang Zhen - Wang Yu Qiao Yue...

In this episode of the DramaMeans Podcast, we take a serious look at the very unserious 2025 Thai Drama “Break-up Service,” which gives a new meaning to the phrase, “All’s fair in love and war.” We also discuss why sometimes a show is allowed to do everything from cheesy physical humor to over the top product placement and still be considered a quality drama. Summary: Desperate for work, an ideali...

This week on the DramaMeans podcast, Mel and Ryan dive into the 2025 Japanese live action adaptation of “Cells at Work” to discuss whether or not the feature film lived up to the clever anime. We also ask who the target audience is for the recent trend of live action remakes of popular animations or whether it’s just a studio cash grab. Cast: White Blood Cell (U-1146) - Satoh Takeru Red Blood Cell...

This week, Mel and Ryan discuss how the 2025 Cdrama, Prisoner of Beauty, was able to execute the well-known trope of enemies to lovers. But did the use of several tried and true costume drama conventions make this drama a stand-out success or a tired attempt at doing the same old thing? Summary: Two families form an alliance through marriage, but the bad blood between their clans leads the couple...

This week, Mel and Ryan show appreciation for two dramas that were able to overcome the shortcomings of their source material. Yes, sometimes the TV show is better than the book…or the anime. Both Korean BL drama, "Secret Relationships" and Thai BL drama, "Top Form," do a good job of demonstrating that. Secret Relationships Cast: Jung Da On - Kim Jun Seo Ju Seong Hyeon - Cha Sun Hyung Kim Su Hyun...

In this episode of the DramaMeans podcast, Mel and Ryan discuss the unorthodox love story of Hong Kong film, "Love Lies - 我談的那場戀愛." We also advise our listeners not to take any inspiration from the film and become online scam artists in order to find love. That kind of thing only works in the movies! Summary: A widowed doctor signs up for an online dating app and ends up falling for a hunky...

As we always say on the DramaMeans Podcast: Endings are hard. Endings are important. So did the 2025 Chinese Costume Drama Demon Hunters Romance provide us an ending that was worthy of the story and world the series created? You’ll have to hear what we think on this week’s episode. And we dive deep into our favorite trope “enemies to friends” to see if this series gave us enough team building mome...

As we discuss the growing pains of the main quartet of characters in the Thai BL Drama “Gelboys,” Mel and Ryan reminisce about the mistakes of youth, and give thanks we didn’t grow up in an era where everything was posted online for the world to see. We also attempt to not sound old and out of touch as we try to find the answer to a very serious question: How the hell do you start a Spotify Jam Se...

DramaMeans dives into the action, the violence, and the folklore of Japanese revenge thriller Demon City. Mel and Ryan attempt to find out if movies like this actually need substance, or if giving a popular actor a big knife and covering him with blood is entertaining enough to keep audiences engaged. We also question whether the world of this film has anyone in the police force working forensics....

In this episode of DramaMeans podcast Mel and Ryan discuss how Korean medical drama, Trauma Code tried to stay grounded and address real life issues of the bureaucracy of modern medicine. But do the over the top comedy and mustache twisting bad guys give the show a massive tone problem? The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call Cast: Ju Ji Hoon Choo Young Woo Ha Young Yoon Kyung Ho Jung Jae Kwang Kim Won Ha...

This week we vent about all the gripes we have over the 2025 Chinese romance drama "First Frost," starring Bai Jing Ting and Zhou Ruo Nan. We discuss if the drama services each character sincerely and if good acting can really make up for a weak story.

Tpop idol group Lykn put their collective acting chops on display in this Thai BL drama about the challenges of love and romance inside the music industry. We discuss whether their attempt demands to be taken as seriously as other dramas or whether it's just a shameless marketing ploy to promote their music. Episode 301 of DramaMeans Podcast, where we talk about the 2024 Thai BL series, ThamePo: H...

In the final episode of the year, we discuss a host of different topics from the international drama world, including what we loved from the year, what we didn’t, and what we wished we had never started in the first place. We also run through the short list of dramas we are currently watching and hope to feature in future episodes of the DramaMeans Podcast. We hope everyone has a great holiday sea...

If you're already afraid of flying, Hong Kong/China collab action flick, "High Forces" may not be for you. Good thing we watched it for you and in this episode, we take a deep dive into what worked and what didn't. Was this film starring international superstar Andy Lau a fun filled mindless ride that we enjoyed or an over the top wannabe blockbuster that crashes and burns? Maybe both?

This week we discuss the real life drama and controversy that surrounded Korean BL drama “Love in the Big City.” People had their opinions about this show before it was even released, and we breakdown why, in our opinion, it was an overreaction to a show that should be celebrated for its filmmaking instead of demonized by self righteous critics. We also dig deep into each of the relationships in t...

Men In Love, a 2024 Chinese modern romance drama, following a group of buddies as they fumble through life and love. Leading the pack, Ye Han (Hu Yi Tian) and Xiao Xiao (Liang Jie) showcase their varying maturity levels but only managing to demonstrate luke warm chemistry. Join DramaMeans in analyzing the characters' inconsistent arcs, imbalanced dynamics, and underdeveloped supporting characters....

Come and explore the Thai BL series, "The Trainee," with us in depth. This funny series tracks a group of university students as they navigate their internships and build camaraderie at a busy production house. In this episode, we will talk about the fans' concerns about how unprofessional the characters are portrayed, the relationship that is built within the intern gang and the swoon moments bet...

So many dramas, so little time... This episode of the podcast, instead of focusing on one series that we've completed, we discuss several dramas we are currently watching and our reactions to them so far. We swoon over the ones we like, bash the ones we don't, and explain how one drama earned the rare distinction of being dropped part way through an episode. This week has a little bit of everythin...