Korean Drama Update for August 2019

Published by

Kay

August 31, 2019

Angel's Last Mission: Love Korean Drama - L and Shin Hye Sun

I got in three dramas in August, and they were all good in their own way. It was the fantasy romance Angel’s Last Mission Love, the historical Nokdu Flower, and the classic melo-romance Tree of Heaven that kept me glued to my screen:

Angel’s Last Mission: Love

The fantasy romance Angel’s Last Mission: Love had me intrigued early on with it’s premise of a trouble-making angel helping a woman with an icy heart find love. We’ve got interesting characters with rich back stories, a bit of mystery, and a forbidden romance that packed such an emotional punch.

L and Shin Hye Sun both gave wonderful performances as our lovely couple who just wanted to be live and be together. I loved the angsty and desperate love that they experienced and completely felt their joy and sorrow.

This is the kind of romance story I would like to see more often because it allowed me to be completely invested in the couple by focusing so strongly on them and their amazing love story. In the end, Angel’s Last Mission: Love really won my heart. (Angel’s Last Mission: Love Review)

Nokdu Flower

Nokdu Flower wasn’t exactly the kind of historical I usually go for because of the strong military elements, but ultimately, I warmed up to it. It’s well-written with good pacing, has complex characters, and a vast amount of talented actors. Yoon Shi Yoon in particular gave such a strong and memorable performance.

The series is fairly unique since the story is more centered around average people rather than royalty and palace politics. The individual journeys of two brothers who end up on opposite sides of an uprising was very interesting to see.

It also tackled a unique portion of history set during the early stages of the Japanese occupation that changed the face of Joseon. All of these elements came together to make for a pretty solid drama. (Nokdu Flower Review)

Tree of Heaven

Tree of Heaven is a forbidden love story between step siblings that gave me a lot of mixed emotions. Park Shin Hye was just a teenager here, and she was wonderful. I enjoyed the angsty romance but found the male lead’s actions towards her a bit disconcerting at times. Their relationship has to be viewed through a particular lens.

Tree of Heaven is a sad, tearjerker type of show. It feels heavy, but it also has moments of levity. These forbidden lovers have a difficult road to walk both in life and in their relationship. This couple loved each other very deeply and brought us an emotional romance that packed a punch (Full Review Coming Soon).

So how was August for you?

Happy drama watching to everyone!

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14 responses to “Korean Drama Update for August 2019”

honeycrunch321
August 31, 2019
I’m glad that you have nice kdramas to watch in August, Kay! 😁
Btw, I’m watching Hotel Del Luna, and Doctor John, and I’m currently binge watching Come and Hug Me 🙈
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1. Kay
  August 31, 2019
  I appreciate that! 🙂 Looks like you have a good list going too. I loved Come and Hug Me (tragic & romantic), and I just started Hotel Del Luna which seems very promising 🙂
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  1. honeycrunch321
    September 1, 2019
    Yeah! 🙈😊 I’m loving Come and Hug me so far 😉
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    1. Kay
      September 1, 2019
      Yay! Happy to hear that you’re enjoying it 🙂
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Timescout
August 31, 2019
I didn’t manage to finish any kdramas, not even the ones that ended their run in August, ha. I do have plans on dramathoning those that were on my roster (like Watcher and Designated Survivor), at some later date. But as per usual, no idea when that ‘later date’ might be. 😀
I did finish one drama though, The Untamed (a cdrama), which I really loved. Drama had it’s flaws (it sometimes looked like it had about 5$ budget 😂 ), but the story was SO well told that the somewhat wonky technical details didn’t matter one whit. Despite of the pretty green main cast, they did a very good job too. The leads especially sort of grew into their roles and made the characters their own. Untamed also has a fitting, beautiful and evocative OST, which I’ve been listening on repeat lately.
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1. Kay
  August 31, 2019
  Yep, later can mean tomorrow, next month, or next year when it comes to dramas, lol. At least you got in a good cdrama. Sounds like it was able to do well despite a few hang ups. And I love it when a drama has a good OST. Found so much good music through dramas 🙂
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Snow Flower
August 31, 2019
I completed the following dramas in August:
Designated Survivor: 60 Days
I like political dramas, but only in sageuks. This was the first contemporary political drama that I tried and I loved it! I was happy to see familiar actors in top form and also to discover the talents of actors I had never seen before.
Misty – part mystery, part melodrama, and part character study. Moody, twisty, and suspenseful. I will pretend that the last 15 minutes of the show never happened.
Nokdu Flower – Somebody please give an award to Yoon Shi Yoon. The rest of the cast deserves awards too. Great story and an unforgettable history lesson. Now I have to learn the end credits song. Seya, seyaaaa, paran seyaaaaaa…
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1. Kay
  August 31, 2019
  Oooh, you did have a good month! I’m not a fan of political dramas, but I plan to watch Designated Survivor soon. I really liked the first season of the American version, and I think it’s a good fit for a kdrama. Heard lots of good things about it too. So we’ll see how it goes 🙂
  And yes! Yoon Shi Yoon soooo deserves an award for Nokdu Flower. I think since he’s so good in comedies people underestimate how amazing of an actor he really is in more serious roles. He was exceptional in Nokdu Flower! Like you said, everybody was though. I still have that song lingering in my head too.
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  1. Snow Flower
    August 31, 2019
    The actor who plays the president in Designated Survivor is Ji Jin Hee. He was great! I tried Misty because of him and was not disappointed. The actor who plays Secretary Cha is truly exceptional. I had never seen him before, but he totally stole every scene he was in. The dynamic between him and the president is one of the highlights of the show.
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    1. Kay
      September 1, 2019
      I’ve like what I’ve seen of Ji Jin Hee and thought he would be a solid choice for Designated Survivor. Glad to hear he did well 🙂 I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the actor who plays Secretary Cha in anything, so I’ll look forward to that. I also really enjoy Heo Joon Ho, so he’s another plus 🙂
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D
August 31, 2019
Hi Kay – I didn’t see any of the ones you watched this month. Angel isn’t available for me anywhere and so I can’t watch it. I am hoping it will be available for me one day. Tree of Heaven sounds like one of those old school ones I’d like too. Sounds like you had a good month.
I watched way too many this month – 5.
Go Go Squid (CDrama) – I fast forwarded most of the drama and only watched the scenes with OTP but even then I was annoyed how the heroine worshipped the hero. I don’t know why I watched it till the end.
Well Intended Love (CDrama) – I enjoyed this one despite the obvious flaws in the drama. Again it wasn’t that great to be honest but I did complete it till the end.
The secret life of my secretary – Really really liked this one. So enjoyable and had an old school drama feel which I loved.
Reply 1988 – I agree with your review and ratings. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly addictive when you are watching each episode. However, to complete the whole series it actually took me two whole months. It could have been done in normal 16 episodes. I was over it by episode 13. Still a really good series. Just way too long.
Watcher – I finished this up to episode 15 but I’m going to count it as complete as I won’t be watching anymore. The cast was great and the story was good in the beginning but disappointed with the way it was going towards the end. I felt the show wasn’t giving me good answers as to who culprits are which in my opinion is important in a mystery show like this.
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1. Kay
  August 31, 2019
  Oh that’s too bad Angel’s not available for you. I hope it becomes available sometime. It’s good if you like angsty romances. Tree of Heaven is definitely an angsty romance. Also good if you like the old school melos.
  You got a lot of dramas in though! Ah, glad you liked The Secret Life of My Secretary. I thoroughly enjoyed that one 🙂 Reply 1988 was good too. Yeah, it was definitely a bit drug out, but it had a good feel to it overall. Too bad Watcher didn’t work for you. I’m still undecided as to whether I want to try it. Been hearing a lot about Go Go Squid. That always piques my interest, but since I don’t fair well with most cdramas, I’ll keep it on the back burner for now 🙂
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  1. D
    August 31, 2019
    Angsty romance? old school melo? I will definitely love it for sure. It’s a shame it’s not available anywhere for me.
    Yeah – watcher was a little disappointing. You never know you might like it. I would still watch it if it’s only for Seo Kang Joon. He was really good in this drama. I was a fan and I am even more of a fan now. So, I am now checking out one of his other dramas Cheese in The Trap and I already have second lead syndrome. I am really liking him in this drama too.
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    1. Kay
      September 1, 2019
      Those are always big selling points for me too 🙂 I definitely enjoy Seo Kang Joon. He’d be the main reason for me to check out Watcher for sure. And he was great in Cheese in the Trap! Everyone had second lead syndrome for him in that 🙂
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Hi, I’m Kay

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