Hallyu Surfer's Year End Awards - Drama Edition

Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner and 2014 is slowly creeping towards me with a promise of more dramas and k-pop comebacks and debuts? How dare you do this to me, Hallyu gods? As if it weren't enough that I have dramas piled up from years back, now time is also slowly being taken away from me.

Before I turn this mini rant into mindless ramblings, I've decided to sum up the past year into a series of awards that I'll be handing out to worthy k-drama and k-pop winners. And, indeed, what a year we've just had.

To deviate from the rest of the blogosphere's award-giving bodies who tediously put up polls and have their readers vote and then hand out legit sounding titles to their winners, I will simply be handing out high school yearbook award titles to my own winners. For one, it's fun that way. Secondly, I don't have enough readers willing to vote even if I do decide to put up the polls.

So, without further ado, I present to you the first of hopefully many more Hallyu Surfer's Year End Awards - the Drama Edition.

DRAMA AWARDS

Most Likely to Become Prime Minister - Cha Kwan-woo (I Hear Your Voice)

Ever the upstanding and idealistic man, Lawyer Cha is headed for greatness. He might not have gotten the girl, but he's going to be the hottest Prime Minister yet.

Runner-up: Uhm Dae-woong "Uhm Force" (School 2013)

Most Likely to Be Famous - Lee Soon-shin (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Well, that was the point of the drama, wasn't it? Birth secrets aside, it was a drama centered on the rise of Lee Soon-shin from mediocrity to celebrity. It doesn't hurt that the girl is adorable and is both a singer and an actress. Also, her boyfriend freaking owns an entertainment agency. Fame is in the bag.

Runner-up: Color Bar (Monstar)

Most Likely to Become A Millionaire - Cha Eun-sang (The Heirs)

The perks of being used as the rope in a game of tug-o-war between two chaebols is the fact that, no matter who wins, Cha Eun-sang will still end up with a millionaire. She may not like it, but she is your typical Candy.

Runner-up: Yoon Chan-young (The Heirs), Seo Yoo-kyung (Mi-rae's Choice)

Most Likely to Take Over The World - Park Su-ha (I Hear Your Voice)

With that kind of supernatural power, how is he not yet the king of the world? If I had the power to read minds, I wouldn't even be blogging right now. But, then again, I don't have half of Park Su-ha's moral fiber either.

Runner-up: Joo Joong-won (Master's Sun)

Most Likely to Marry For Money - Seo Yoo-kyung (Mi-rae's Choice)

Well, that was her goal from the beginning, wasn't it? She's exactly the type of girl who would go out of her way to get invited to all the chaebol parties. To marry a chaebol was her plan, even way before she met Park Se-joo.

Runner-up: Oh Soo (That Winter, The Wind Blows)

Most Likely to Get ID’d When They’re 30 - Min Se-yi (Monstar)

Min Se-yi is a high school student and looks like a high school student, but actress Ha Yeon-soo is well in her 20's. I'm pretty sure she's not going to physically age drastically enough for her to look 30 in just 6 more years.

Runner-up: Lee Soon-shin (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Best Hair - Haetae (Reply 1994)

I have to admit that half of Haetae's charm, for me, is in his hair. His updo is totally awesome and he looks like a totally different person with his hair down.

Runner-up: Choi Jin-hyuk (Gu Family Book)

Best Couple - Park Su-ha and Jang Hye-sung (I Hear Your Voice)

A noona romance done well is a story I can fully get behind. So even though Su-ha is in high school and Hye-sung is a public defendant, their's is a romance I support 100%.

Runners-up: Yoon Chan-young and Lee Bo-na (The Heirs)

Best Dressed Female - Tae Yi-ryung (Master's Sun)

Except for that one time she was possessed by the ghost of sheer gaudiness, Little Sun has always been an impeccable dresser. Just look at that boxy cropped top paired with high-waisted palazzo pants. Gorgeous.

Runner-up: Rachel Yoo (The Heirs), Song Mi-ryung (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Best Dressed Male - Joo Joong-won (Master's Sun)

Here is one man who is unafraid of colors. Whether bright and solid, or creamy and pastel, the man can wear it with flawless ease. And the details! Only Joo Joong-won would bother with a freaking ascot.

Runners-up: Kim Tan (The Heirs), Choi Young-do (The Heirs)

Best Newcomer - Yong Jun-hyung as Yoon Seol-chan (Monstar)

Despite being a newcomer to dramaland, Yong Jun-hyung moved me and had me fully in his camp in the high school drama Mnet tagged a music drama, Monstar. He is the sole reason I even bothered to listen to B2ST's new music.

Runner-up: Lee Jong-suk (School 2013)

Best Double Act - Go Nam-soon and Park Heung-soo (School 2013)

Well, it really doesn't get any better than this bromance right here. Whether at each other's neck or fighting together to beat the big bad bullies, Go Nam-soon and Park Heung-soo keep proving that they're a match made in hell heaven. Just keep in mind that "dumb bastard" is code for "I love you, man."

Runners-up: Haetae and Samcheonpo (Reply 1994), Jin-rak and Dong-hoon (Flower Boy Next Door)

Best Teacher - Teacher Jo (School 2013)

This man not just schools his young students, but also the wayward teachers at Seungri High School. And he does it all in the most humble and grounding way possible. It's always nice to know that there are teachers who care.

Runners-up: Kang Se-chan (School 2013), Jung In-jae (School 2013)

Best Singer - Park Kyu-dong (Monstar)

The moment Kyu-dong started singing Lee So-ra’s "The Wind Blow" in episode 1, we all fell in love with him. We just wanted to stand up for him and punch them bullies in the face.

Runners-up: Kim Nana (Monstar)

Best Party - Yoon Chan-young and Lee Bo-na's Reunion Party (The Heirs)

If not for anything else, that party gave us this scene. Chan-young and Bo-na are the best secondary (tertiary?) couple in, like, ever. I luff them.

Most Annoying But Loved - Kang Se-chan (School 2013)

Teach is hot. But he's also the biggest know-it-all ever. That's why it's even more annoying when he's right - which is most of the time. If it weren't for his smug ass, I'm pretty sure everyone would've loved him more.

Runners-up: Kim Shin (Mi-rae's Choice), Tae Yi-ryung (Master's Sun)

Biggest Drama Queen - Ahjumma Mi-rae (Mi-rae's Choice)

Le sigh. The only reason I have yet to finish watching Mi-rae's Choice, despite it's run ending earlier this week, is that I'm getting sick and tired of future Mi-rae's histrionics. Gurl, get over yourself.

Runners up: Kim Jung-ae (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Biggest Flirt - Haetae (Reply 1994)

Haetae wishes he had game. Sadly, he really doesn't. But that still doesn't stop him from chasing after the girls in hopes of finally putting to good use that condom in his wallet.

Runners up: Enrique Geum (Flower Boy Next Door)

Biggest Party Animal - Jo Myung-soo (The Heirs)

Though never blatantly shown, I'm pretty sure Jo Myung-soo parties hard. There have been mentions of his clubbing habits and him spiking the punch at Bo-na's party, but his partying ways has never been an actual story point. Which is sad because Myung-soo is one of the more likable characters in this drama and I'd like to know what's behind that class clown facade, but he's more often than not relegated to comic relief.

Biggest Dork - Shin Jun-ho (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Sometimes, the most socially awkward spaz can be the most charming. Especially if the dork looks like our gorgeous Shin Jun-ho. Too bad the drama sucked, because they initially had me at "Jo Jung-suk."

Runners-up: Seo Jin-wook (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Biggest Ego - Kim Nam-yoon (The Heirs)

Do I even have to explain myself? The puppet master, also know as Kim Tan and Kim Won's father, is the sole reason shit has been hitting the fan on a semiweekly basis. If no one cared about Jeguk Group and this man's wealth, would there be anyone there for him to manipulate?

Runner-up: Song Mi-ryung (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Hottest Freshman - Hong Hye-sung (Potato Star 2013QR3)

Every now and then, I pinch myself as a reminder that this boy is only 16. He may be playing a 24-year-old man in the sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3, but Yeo Jin-goo isn't even allowed to watch his own 19+ movie for which he won Best New Actor at the recent Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Prom Queen - Seo Do-yeon (I Hear Your Voice)

Because, let's face it, the lead actresses in our dramas would not have become Prom Queens. Prom Queens are usually the Queen Bees. The mean girls. The most popular girl in school. Do-yeon would have won over Hye-sung. Bo-na would win over Eun-sang. Yoo-kyung over Mi-rae.

Runner-up: Lee Yoo-shin (You're The Best, Lee Soon-shin)

Prom King - Choi Young-do (The Heirs)

Clearly, my bias is showing. I don't even think the students at Jeguk High School would choose Young-do as their Prom King. But my love for Kim Woo-bin knows no bounds. I mean, he's this 6'2" model-turned-actor who can actually act his butt off. He's not the most handsome of the bunch but, goddamn, is he charming. So yeah, my Alien Prince for Prom King!

Runners-up: Park Su-ha (I Hear Your Voice), Kim Tan (The Heirs), Chilbongie (Reply 1994)

~*~

There were too many dramas this year that I didn't even bother watching and I'm quite sure a number of them should be on my to-watch list. So my year end awards had to make do with characters from the dramas I actually had time for this year. If some of your favorite characters are not on my list, and should be, I probably wasn't able to catch that drama. But what can a girl do? Time is, after all, limited.

My k-pop awards will be up soon!

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Currently Watching: The Heirs, Mi-rae's Choice, Pretty Man, Reply 1994

It's gotten really bad, this addiction of mine. I think this is the most number of dramas that I've ever attempted to watch simultaneously. By simultaneously, I don't mean I have 5 different screens simultaneously airing 5 different dramas. But If I could do that and still completely understand what I'm watching, I would. That would cut down on my drama-watching time significantly.

Aside from watching currently airing dramas, I'm also watching an older drama that has been on my to-watch list for so long. Also, I'm revisiting a favorite from last year. So without further ado, here are the dramas that are currently taking up most of my time.

1. The Heirs - As frustrating as it is to watch two overgrown teenage boys playing tug-o-war - sometimes emotionally and most times literally - with a tiny girl, I'm stuck to this drama like glue. For one, it does have a stellar cast - although most of them are underutilized and left in the background.

Aside from the main love triangle, I'm loving all the minor relationships in the drama. The mothers are awesome. Yoon Chan-young and Lee Bo-na are adorable. Well, Lee Bo-na is just all-around wonderful - and here I thought I was going to dislike her. I'm glad they took Krystal's character in a different direction because it's quite too easy to make her haughty, possessive, self-important role and turn her into a mean girl. It also must be said that characters like Lee Hyo-shin and Jo Myung-soo keep me sane.

We have 6 more episodes and I'm hoping we find some believable character growth in our main leads before the finale. If not, I will have wasted 20 hours of my drama-watching life that I could have very well used to re-watch City Hunter, a drama I actually liked Lee Min-ho in.

2. Mi-rae's Choice - While I'm more sympathetic towards the male leads in this drama, the Noble Idiot act that both Oppa and Kim Shin are pulling in the recent episodes are frustrating. I thought my annoyance would be reserved for Ahjumma Mi-rae, but no. The boys are starting to aggravate as well.

I'm just glad I'm still fully behind Mi-rae every step of the way. Because it's one thing to gripe about Noble Idiots and another thing entirely to have no heroine to support. I'm happy Mi-rae is not just likeable, but she's also shown the most character growth in the drama. She's no longer the weak pushover who was happy with being mediocre. Now, she has an actual dream and a goal to work towards. There's no way in hell she's ending up with Ahjumma Mi-rae's life and problems. She's above all that now and her growth has been fun to witness. Honestly, she needs neither men right now.

Here's to hoping that the final episodes redeem Kim Shin's decision to be an ass towards Mi-rae (to spare her from a future that hasn't even happened yet). I mean, we all know Mi-rae ends up with him, right? Park Se-joo may be awesome, but Mi-rae's just not feeling him. Sad. My Shin-woo feels are resurfacing. Let me love you, Shin-woo hyung!

3. Pretty Man - Come to think of it, we have Shin-woo and Go Mi-nam in separate dramas this season, and with the premiere of Pretty Man last week, Hwang Tae-kyung is back as well. All we need right now is for Lee Hong-ki to get himself a drama and my A.N.Jell babies will be complete.

That aside, Pretty Man had a pretty strong premiere week. In my personal opinion, that is. I'm not sure how it rated against The Heirs, who shares the same time slot, but I thought the first 2 episodes showed promise. While I was expecting fluff and cuteness, what I was not expecting was depth and mystery. I should have taken more note of KBS's decision to use Bel Ami as its international title, a reference to the Guy De Maupassant novel. Clearly, we're delving into darker and more emotional corners here.

I'm glad then that they have both Jang Geun-suk and IU on board. Both actors can do comedy and drama quite well. While Jang Geun-suk has a tendency to overact, it bodes well for the drama that he is also a very nuanced actor where multiple emotions come across with a single look.

Though they are of different genres, and are as different as night and day in treatment and aesthetics, what immediately comes to mind with the characterizations in Pretty Man is the 2007 drama Que Sera Sera. That character-driven drama tackled similar themes - an abusive relationship between a simple girl and a gold-digging womanizer. So while both lead characters in Pretty Man are completely flawed, I'm excited to see how working with each other will change them. Because that's where we're headed, right? Right?!

4. Reply 1994 - While I'm not liking how long this drama is seeming to be (20 one-hour-long episodes?!), I can't help but love its plot points and characters. A lot of the plotting is similar to its predecessor, Reply 1997, and yet it doesn't exactly feel the same.

What this drama does so well, as with 1997, is how they tackle real-life situations without aggrandizing these occurrences. First loves, first heartbreaks, one-sided loves, friendship, family - the drama finds these precious moments in the lives of our characters and highlights the emotions without amplifying them. It's very day-in-the-life and can easily make a wrong turn towards the mundane, but it doesn't. It's quite beautiful.

Because of the longer format, compared to 1997's total of 16 30-minute back-to-back episodes, 1994 actually jerks us around more in the question of who Na-jung ends up with. Is it Oppa? Is it Chilbongie? No, it's Oppa, right? Nope, Chilbongie? No! It's Haitai! Team Haitai for the win!

5. School 2013 - Truth be told, while School 2013 is on my list of favorite dramas, I actually haven't watched the entire drama. I used to watch it on KBS World when it aired late 2012 to early this year. And on those days I couldn't watch, I'd immediately go find the recaps on dramabeans while promising myself I'd download the episode eventually. I never did. So I finished the series half by watching it on tv, and half by reading the recaps online. I cheated and I'm sorry.

So now, with the vast onslaught of Lee Jong-suk and Kim Woo-bin feels (from both I Hear Your Voice and The Heirs), I've decided to revisit School 2013. Properly, this time around. I'm still on episode 2 (I started last night, to be fair) but the feels are already there. Heung-soo isn't even around yet and I'm already itching for his appearance and the promise of angst-y bromance. I luff them.

6. White Christmas - This drama has been on my list for the longest time. I actually started watching it several times before but never got past the first episode because of one thing or another. But I've always been told of how awesome it is and that I absolutely must see it. I actually have no excuses seeing how it's only 8 episodes long. And this is it. I swear.

I'm not going to deny the fact that the driving force behind watching White Christmas is, once again, Kim Woo-bin. He is awesome and I just need more of him. Not to mention the very many other model-actors in this drama. Apparently I have a thing for them. Lee Soo-hyuk, Hong Jong-hyun, Sung Joon - I love them all. If only Lee Jong-suk were in this drama too. HA.

7. We Got Married - In this variety-docu series, I'm still totally invested in the relationship of Taemin and Na-eun so I do try to stay away from the crazy things the fans have to say online. I don't need the netizen-driven drama to enjoy this couple, thank you very much.

I've also started to watch the 2 new couples: Jung-Jung Couple and the Yoon-han couple. I actually love Jung Joon-young and Jung Yumi together. They are hilarious and complete opposites, yet so awesome together.

To be honest, I'm thinking of dropping Yoon-han and his wife (I don't even remember her name). While I think they are cute and a perfect match, they bore me to tears. They should just get it over with and get married in real life. I loved Yoon-han even before he got on board the We Got Married train and he's an awesome singer and pianist, but this show is showing me how dull he is. Everything is just so damn serious with them. I can't. My older friends absolutely love it but I'd rather have more of Taemin and Na-eun's adorable first love instead.

So these are the shows I've been busy with on a weekly basis. It's insane. And yet, there are still other shows I watch every now and then, on top of my already busy drama-watching schedule. There's that adorable show Tablo and his daughter are on, Superman is Back. Cuteness overload, seriously. And then, of course, there's Running Man. And I also have to try to tune into the new season of 1 Night 2 Days, if only to check out the rapport between the new cast members and to see if the new PD is any good.

Ugh. I'm so ready to hibernate. Is it December yet? I need a breather. From work, that is. I'm probably just going to keep watching all these dramas (and the upcoming new ones) during my Christmas break.

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Reply 1994 set to broadcast in October

The much-anticipated Reply 1997 prequel of sorts, aptly dubbed Reply 1994, is set to air on cable channel tvN on October 18 at 9PM (KST). The drama will be aired twice weekly, every Friday and Saturday.

Last year saw the success of Reply 1997 and blew expectations out of the water with its wit and humor and a whole bunch of heart. Not only was the show filled with 90’s references (hello, Tamagotchi), it also gave us heartwarming coming-of-age stories for each of our characters. Though the drama started off quietly, it ended with a bang when its popularity slowly grew as the drama progressed, eventually earning itself a cult following.

With the success of its predecessor, the expectations for Reply 1994 is much higher - which has its pros and cons. On the upside, right off the bat, this drama is sure to have an audience. On the downside, they will need to make sure the drama lives up to it's precursor's name and keep that audience. If the writers stick to what made 1997 a runaway hit - casual 90's references, an awesome soundtrack, but above all, a story with heart - then we can rest assured that we will have a good show on our hands. I'm expecting baggy jeans, a whole load of basketball crazies, and Seo Taiji and Boys references.

The cast attended a script-reading session several months ago and look how adorable Go Ara was in her 90's getup. The Lakers shirt and denim overalls? Daebak. That was an awesome initiative on her part.

Though 1994 has nothing to do with the plot-lines and characters of 1997, we see the return of Sung Dong il and Lee Il Hwa, who appeared as the parents of A Pink's Jung Eun-ji in 1997. They will be joined by Go Ara, Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon Suk, Kim Sung Kyun, Tiny G’s Min Do Hee, B1A4’s Baro, and Son Ho Joon. 

Reply 1994 also released their first promotional poster featuring their ensemble cast. If the drama maintains the feel of this poster, then we're in for one hell of a nostalgic trip. I'm excited!

Will you be tuning in to this drama when it airs in October?

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