The World, All At Once

It's increasingly common for K-Pop groups to craft their own storylines and universes, which we generally see from their various MVs. DREAMCATCHER, PIXY, WJSN and the multiple group-spanning SM Culture Universe are all part of this phenomenon but apart from them, there's another contender for most well-developed K-Pop "storyline" and that is Blockberry Creative's (BBC) resident girl group LOONA. Otherwise known as "Girl of the Month", the 12-member group has been in the works since late 2016, with each member releasing their own solo tracks before their official debut in 2018. Ever since then, Orbits (fandom name) have theorised about the LOONAVERSE, which supposedly ties together many of the group's tracks to form one big storyline and now we're getting a possible continuation of that with their fourth EP "[&]". There's a lot to unpack here so without further ado, let's explore LOONA's latest title track PTT (Paint the ...

In recent years, global attention to mental disorders has started to increase exponentially, aided by the continuing inclusion of such topics in popular media. When it comes to K-dramas, we've gotten examples in It's Okay to Not Be Okay or Soul Mechanic , which gave us a better understanding of different kinds of mental disorders while at the same time thoroughly entertaining viewers. Now, we're heading back into the fray with Mad for Each Other (or directly translated to Crazy Person in the Area ), another Netflix Original which takes on a more web drama-like format, similar to some of the previous outings we've seen on the streaming service. Starring Jung Woo ( You Are the Best! , Reply 1994 ) as male lead NOH HWI-OH and Oh Yeon-seo ( A Korean Odyssey , Love with Flaws ) as female lead LEE MIN-KYUNG, this romcom revolves around two neighbours with their own mental health problems and the wacky situations they end up in on their path to romance. Let's dive in. ...

The past couple days, my neighbours and family probably wondered if there was a madman in our home because man was laughing nonstop at the silliness of So Not Worth It . I can't stress enough just how hilarious this sitcom has been, from the crazy situations the characters end up in to the over-the-top slapstick humour, I love it all. The comedy in this drama is universal, whether you're old or young, Korean or not, there's something here for you to enjoy so without further ado, let's dive in.  SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT) This is a true sitcom, with episodic events, a large number of lead characters, a ton of silly humour and a laugh track peppered throughout the series. Unlike most K-dramas, even the super long 50+ episodes kind, So Not Worth It  doesn't really follow a proper storyline, with each episode more or less being very standalone. Of course, there're story and character elements that do carry over (just like a normal sitcom) and these...

I've said this before in older posts but I have a soft spot for sitcoms. There's just something about cheesy comedy coupled with ridiculous laugh tracks playing in the background that speaks to my soul and these elements have been staples in Western sitcoms for a long time now, which is why I was pretty excited to get something that combined this idea with K-drama. A Netflix Original marketed as the latest Korean sitcom, So Not Worth It  (or directly translated to I Hope the Earth Collapses Tomorrow ) is set in a university dorm for international students only and focuses on the crazy shenanigans that go down in this multicultural environment. Headlined by Park Se-wan  ( Just Dance , Never Twice ) as female lead SE-WAN and Shin Hyun-seung  ( Be My Boyfriend ) as male lead JAMIE, episode 1 alone has a lot of heart and was an absolute joy to watch. Without further ado, let's dive in.  INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT) Right off the bat, you'll probably noti...

Misdirection is something that films and TV series use often to make audiences think that they've figured out the direction a story is going only for the rug to be completely pulled out from under them when the truth is revealed. We see this very often in crime thriller K-dramas and Mouse  is no different. In the drama's whopping 20 episodes (plus 2 spin-offs), we get a ton of misdirects which keep us on our toes and you never know how everything's going to turn out. I truly lost count of the number of times I commented on the insanity of this series and the final reveal only adds to the insanity. Unfortunately, it does heavily alter the drama's genre, which ends up becoming very over-the-top and leading to a somewhat unsatisfactory ending. Due to the extensive nature of this series retrospect, I'll be breaking it down into segments as listed below. Let's dive in.  SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT) Introduction : I mentioned in my initial thoughts pos...

In 2017, South Korea was gripped by the murder of an 8-year-old elementary school girl in Incheon, a gruesome affair where the victim was lured into the murderer's apartment, strangled to death and then dismembered. When the victim's mother asked the perpetrator what the hardest thing was for her now, the answer shocked and angered the entire nation. Instead of expressing sincere remorse or guilt, the murderer said that the weather was nice now and she regretted not being able to see the cherry blossoms. It turns out that the murderer was born with the MAOA-L gene, otherwise known as the "psychopathic gene", which is commonly found in psychopaths. As we know, symptoms of psychopathy include being unable to feel empathy or close attachment to others and exhibiting extreme boldness, not fearing potential consequences for their actions. This explains why the aforementioned Incheon Elementary School murderer was unable to empathise with the victim's mother and couldn...