Those to whom evil is doneDo evil in return. W. H. Auden, September 1, 1939 Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for 'Weak Hero Class 1'. Rating warning: This drama is rated R and the content discussed in the following paragraphs reflect that rating. Trigger warning: child abuse, bullying The moment I realized what Beom... Continue Reading →
‘The Golden Spoon’ character vignette: Why we love a morally gray protagonist
Spoilers ahead for episodes 1-4 of The Golden Spoon. Lee Seung Cheon -- as one sharp Asianwiki commenter put it -- is a morally gray protagonist. By that, I mean that his actions are not always what one might consider noble or conventionally good. His motivations are sometimes flat-out questionable; for instance, a couple of... Continue Reading →
Second Lead Syndrome is back, people: How ‘The Golden Spoon’ is breathing fresh life into a stale archetype
Episodes 1 and 2 of The Golden Spoon are hands-down the best premiere episodes I've seen recently. Which says a lot because I watch a...perfectly healthy amount of dramas, I swear. Honestly, it's doing too many things right to talk about all of them, so I've picked only one element of the drama to talk... Continue Reading →
How ‘Today’s Webtoon’ invalidated trauma (and infuriated an audience) in one episode
TW: child abuse Contains spoilers for Ep. 14 of Today's Webtoon. Like many viewers, episode 14 of Today's Webtoon deeply upset me. I can't possibly be the only one who feels this way, I thought while checking online to see what the world had to say. Sure enough, dozens of comments had already flooded in... Continue Reading →
‘Wannabe’ sucks viewers into the lives of its young rappers (Ep. 1 Review)
My original plan for the night was to be fast asleep at this very moment. But I made the fateful decision to begin Wannabe, and now I'm way too excited to sleep. To say the brand new Thai drama starts off strong is a heinous understatement: this first episode slaughters most drama premieres I've seen... Continue Reading →
‘Bad Genius: The Series’ would have been perfect if not for this sequence
<<This post contains spoilers for Bad Genius: The Series.>> In my previous post, I heartily praised the Bad Genius franchise, specifically the series. At the end of the post, however, I did tease me writing another post explaining the one element of the series I hated. Well, ladies and gents, the nail-biting wait is over.... Continue Reading →
‘Bad Genius’: Why the popular cheating thriller works better as a series
The 2017 Thai film Bad Genius follows four teenagers who scheme up a cheating racket worth millions of baht. The movie was an international hit and -- unsurprisingly -- was remade as a series three years later in 2020. [1] I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I sure as all get-out was not... Continue Reading →
First Impressions: ‘Through the Darkness’ Pulls Us Inside The Minds Of Killers
In crime dramas, the element I typically find most compelling is the criminal him- or herself and the reason behind their actions. So, an entire drama dedicated to that very idea? Forget about signing me up, I'm already there. In general, everything about this drama -- acting, cinematography, all that -- is excellent. If you... Continue Reading →
‘Bad and Crazy’ proves tropes are not always a bad thing
This post contains spoilers. Please enjoy. Bad and Crazy is a masterclass on how tropes should be used in dramas. Though the term "trope" can carry a negative connotation, it'd be hard to argue that these literary devices have not stood the test of time. So, if those devices are viewed as simple guidelines --... Continue Reading →
Drama Battle: ‘Solomon No Gisho’ (Japan) vs. ‘Solomon’s Perjury’ (South Korea)
<<This post is spoiler-free except where clearly marked otherwise.>> Welcome, readers! Today, I'm going to be comparing the South Korean drama Solomon's Perjury (2016) to the brand-new Japanese remake, Solomon No Gisho (2021). I have watched the original Japanese films as well, but we'll just be focusing on the two dramas because it's been years... Continue Reading →