Dramas Over Flowers

Anisa and Paroma gush about the first half of currently airing time-travel romance K-drama Lovely Runner, which we are LOVING. The first 40 minutes are free of major spoilers! Tell us what you think of Lovely Runner in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Anisa's Queen of Tears first impressions review TIMESTAMP: 00:40:27 Spoilers LEAVE US A REVIEW: Apple podcasts | Spotify...

In this episode, we talk about how K-dramas became a highly profitable export long before the entry of streaming platforms in the mid 2010s. This is a story of a nation's economic crisis, the creation of a unique opportunity, and a two decade long struggle for air wave supremacy in East Asia. Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIMELINE OF DRAMAS MENTIONED: 1997 I...

We are back with a long yak on three dramas we started 2024 with: Doctor Slump, Marry My Husband, and Like Flowers In Sand. This episode was recorded on 11th February. Our feelings on these dramas have stayed the same (with Doctor Slump getting special love for staying so reliably warm till the end). Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Paroma's Do...

Awards season is the perfect time for us to share our review of Past Lives, our favorite film of last year. Saya, Anisa and our friend Yunah talk about why this movie's meditations on grief, love, diaspora and selfhood spoke to us so deeply. (We recorded this at the end of last year.) Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Overall thoughts 20:39 Spo...

The 5th Annual Goguma Awards have landed! Your votes have been tallied and the results range from unexpected to unsurprising, all of which we dissect with glee. Get your tea and biscuits, it's long! Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Actor Jin: The Handsome Hotelier TIMESTAMP: 00:00:00 - Introducing the Goguma Awards 00:02:46 - The Classic Goguma...

The Year-End Yak is here! Or Part 1 anyway, where we talk about what K-dramas did this year, and how we felt about them. Goguma Awards coming in Part 2! Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Paroma's excellent 2023 Wrap for Film Companion Paroma's My Demon Halfway Review (Spoilers) K-drama Research Institute's video essay We Need to Talk About Netfl...

Just Saya popping in to share her thoughts on an assortment of dramas: a mixture of bright and dark, exquisite and questionable, therapeutic and aggravating. The tl;dl (?) being: My Demon is darkbright and exquisite, Death's Game is just dark, Park's Marriage Contract is bright and aggravating, and Welcome to Samdal-ri is therapeutic, bright, and funnier than it should be. Content warning for disc...

Perfect Marriage Revenge is a drama that kept all its promises: revenge! marriage! perfect! We revel in how the drama revels in its story, with special props to writer Im Seo-ra for some of the best writing in dramaland this year. SPOILERS EVERYWHERE, BEWARE BEWARE! Feat. beloved and returning guest, Zaynab, who does not want to be found. Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording...

Saya and Anisa talk about 8(!) dramas, including writer Park Hre-ryun's newest Castaway Diva, gorgeous romance melodrama Call it Love, and the actually perfect Perfect Marriage Revenge. Lots of time travel, revenge and contract relationships in this one, so you know we're both happy campers. Leave us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIMESTAMPS: 00:01:00 Castaway Diva 00...

Kick back with us on a diatribe filled episode where we talk about women written by men, unearned forgiveness, and the ethics of love potions. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINK : Listen to the trailer of The Broadside (new podcast hosted by Anisa) TIMESTAMP : 00:09:00 - Titanic (Spoilers) 00:19:00 - Women written by men (and also, Dev Anand's C.I.D.) 00:28:0...

We are joined by kfangurl on an ultimate fan trip episode where we deep dive into a cult classic time slip romance that set new standards in storytelling for all of us. This drama has also been recently remade into the Korean, A Time Called You, which we discussed in episode 161. Tell us your thoughts about either drama in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Paroma's twitt...

Anisa, Paroma and Anisa's sister Zaynab talk about A Time Called You, remake of hit Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, how it compares to the original, and the eternal question of the adaptation: why? Catch our spoiler review of Someday or One Day next week! Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIMESTAMP: 0:00 General thoughts on A Time Called You 31:00 SPOILERS fo...

Welcome to another anniversary Mailbag episode! We asked for your thoughts on dramas, on us, anything at all, and you gave us a lot to talk about! Also, let us know if you liked, loved, or FF'd this episode in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: The Hollywood writers’ strike: Vox explains LA Times article about Netflix's affect on Korea Entertainment Industry Burn it Down...

We bring you another long yak this months where we talk about two new dramas and final thoughts on three completed ones. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: The anime Paroma mentioned: How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (on Netflix) TIMESTAMP: (No spoilers = NS) 00:00:40 - My Lovely Liar (NS) 00:21:08 - Behind Your Touch (Ep 1 Spoilers) 00:42:0...

Saya and Paroma pick apart Our Blooming Youth and pore over its bests and not-so-best things. Bests include: Park Hyung-shik and Jeon So-nee. Dissatisfactions include: plot lapses, villains with unconvincing motives. Erratum: Saya's first Park Hyung-shik drama was Nine (2013). Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIMESTAMP: 00:01:52 When fandom doesn't feel the way...

We are back with a long yak after a very long while. Settle in as we discuss two new romances and one completed romcom with a side serving of murder! Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Paroma's video about kdramas badly solving classism [ here ] Jun-ho and Yoon-ah's 'Senorita' at MBC's music festival [ here ] TIMESTAMP: 00:00:38 - King The Land (f...

In this Spoiled Yak, Anisa and Paroma review Dr. Cha and talk about why dramas about a middle-aged woman getting a new lease on life are so enjoyable - and mention some other favorites in this genre. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > TIME STAMPS: 00:00:00 Dr. Cha Spoiler Review 01:03:40 A wild Kwon Min-woo appears! (Yes, this is an Extraordinary Attorney Woo refe...

Bora! Deborah was mostly frustrating yet sometimes joyous to watch. So we do a needlessly long deep dive into why it gripped us so hard. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: Mattie Kahn's excellent Vox piece on Viktor Frankl [ here ] (the real source of Bora's "getting pretty" quote) My own short piece on why using such an anecdote without context i...

Saya and Paroma went to see BTS's concert film, Yet to Come in Cinemas , which took place in Busan on 23 October 2022 and released in cinemas worldwide in February 2023. We talk about the boys, the music, the fans, and our good and bad experiences at the cinema. Check out the official trailer here . Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS MENTIONED: ScreenX trail...

We finally talk about why Crash Landing on You is SO GOOD. And we discuss Anisa's master's thesis on media portrayals of love across the borders created by partition - and why CLOY's depiction of that yearning is the best we've ever seen. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > LINKS: Anisa's thesis, Visualizing the Fractured Nation: Narratives of (Un)belonging in 21st...

Here's a special sneak preview of something we've been doing on Patreon: The Lone Yak! We take a moment (or a few) to tell you what's on our minds, whether about a drama we've been watching, general K-drama thoughts, or life! This episode contains Saya talking about becoming a new version of yourself in public, Paroma talks about when we defend our faves (and don't) and why, and Anisa reviews the...

If you've missed Park Hyung-sik in a sageuk or if you have a fondness for tortured Crown Princes, we have the drama for you. As a pleasant surprise, you also get a capable heroine with her own heroine arc in the story. As Saya puts it, Jeon So-nee might actual be the real protagonist of this show! Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: < Recording Page > MORE EPISODES YOU'LL LIKE: Episo...

In Part 2 of our discussion on K-drama screenwriting, we talk about Kim Eun-sook, whether great acting can rescue a bad script, why dramaland has so many serial killers, and much more! Listen to Part 1 HERE . We recorded this episode during a livestream discussion in 2022. If you here us speaking about comments, it's from the attendees of the stream. In Part 2, you can hear some of their voices in...

There is something special about the way K-dramas are written beyond the formulas and tropes. In this episode we talk about the way dialogue, story acts, and unique writing styles collide to make our favourite dramas. We recorded this episode during a livestream discussion in 2022. If you here us speaking about comments, it's from the attendees of the stream. In Part 2, you can hear some of their...

Understanding deeply that nobody wants a brutal analysis of this candyfloss, I have stuck to talking about two things that I found really interesting: (ONE) how the drama tries to equate the female lead's wariness of men to the male lead's shallow beliefs and hostile reactions to women... and then undermines its own thesis (TWO) how the male leads in romantic k-dramas go through an emotional journ...