2016 Kdrama Catchup – May

Well look who’s here! May kdramas are filled with surprise hits and hot new faves!

Better and Better
This month, revenge dramas have gotten darker, romcoms have gone quirkier, and sageuk dramas have grown richer. What shows have you glued to your screen each week?

Romcoms have come a long way since She Was Pretty, Twenty Again and Oh My Venus, my top 3 of last year.

As for heroines, I loved watching Shin Minah play a strong yet vulnerable romantic. I think I’ve found myself a new fave in Seo Hyun-Jin! (Another Oh Hae Young).

And she’s not the only one who’s impressed me since the start of my new May dramas. Trust me, you’ll want to meet all these cool new characters and dramas.

Shown in only in the first 4 episodes, Jung Da-Bin smashes in her role as the younger Ok-Nyeo

Flower in Prison
Ok-Nyeo of Flower in Prison, is like our modern day version of Dong-Yi. Just more, well, kickass.

The young Ok-Nyeo learns martial arts from a secret prisoner hidden deep in the dungeons of the prison where she was born and grew up.

Not your typical girl then.

Yep, behind that pretty smile is one tough cookie – so noone better mess with her!

You could say Ok-Nyeo picked up a few life skills while at prison Jeonokseo. Some good, some bad – but she’s more than equipped to face the real world which holds the secret of her mystery family’s past.

I’m definitely going to be glued to witnessing her exciting journey to the truth!

Another Oh Hae Young
I knew I was going to like this – I just didn’t know it would be this good.

The characters are as well thought out as the sound effects our hero produces so capably. Park Do-Kyung is our perfectionist male who works as a sound technician.

He’s had a taste of heartbreak, and he’s done a few things he regrets. How can we possibly want to root for him?

Somehow though, we find that we do. We want his redemption as much as we want Oh Hae Young to find her place, and find herself.

There’s our Oh Hae Young, and there’s that Oh Hae Young, who was the prettier, more loved one in high school.

Our heroine was always in ‘that’ Oh Hae Young’s shadow. And even now, years later, looks like it’s still happening – though in the most unexpected and insane way!

We’d hate to play second fiddle to anyone too! Is our girl destined to always be the unwanted one?

How often does a case of mistaken identity get this twisted? Our Oh Hae Young is jilted a day from her wedding, and all because she was the wrong Oh Hae-young.

Now she puts on this mask, pretending her life is peachy but every so often, her little facade slips and you can see the cracks.

Someone is going to pay for all her recent troubles, and I want to be there to see it go down!

Work it babe! Oh Hae Young knows she shouldn’t change a thing about herself. And I agree, because she rocks!

Master – God of Noodles
Whoa. This drama doesn’t do boundaries. Every bad thing you can imagine happens in this show, and still you can’t get yourself to stop tuning in each week.

What soulless person embezzles money from an orphanage? And don’t even let me start about the convict gangster who picks on just about anyone, even defenseless teens.

But damn…the main villain has to be the absolute worst. He won’t seem to rest until he finishes off the family of a man who once was his ‘friend’. And that means killing that friend’s surviving son.

But our hero Moo Myung isn’t going down that easily.

It’s just at four episodes and you can feel the buildup taking place, drop by bloody drop. I want to see into the future, and find out if Moo Myung will get tougher, better and wiser.

He has to outsmart the evil Kim Gil-do so Moo Myung needs to be one step ahead of the enemy, all the time. Gil-do is that manic killer that takes no value in human life. You really don’t want to be caught slipping with someone like that.

I’m eager for more of this gripping, suspenseful drama with all its labyrinthine complexity. Everyone is tortured in their own way. The good guys at least, deserve to find their inner peace. I’ll be rooting for them all the way!

Driven both by love and by revenge…Moo Myung spreading his parents’ ashes from the mountaintop was such an impacting moment. For us and him.

Still hooked on…
Jackpot/The Royal Gambler
Another revenge-driven plot, Jackpot (Daebak) is getting finer with age.

Brotherhood at its best…Dae Gil and Yeoning work and play so well together. Adorbs!

You’ll like how much our hero has grown, in so many ways.

He never set out to be a hero, but it just turned out that way. Now he’s found a calling that’s higher and deeper than himself.

Lots of gambling, and lots of confrontations still trail this riveting sageuk. Simply a thrill to watch week to week! 10 more episodes to go…goody!!

Goodbye Mr. Black
Four more episodes until we really have to say goodbye to Mr. Black.

More and more revelations are making an appearance as we reach the close of this enjoyable tale.

Much as we want the camera to keep rolling so we will have continuous access to Swan and Black, it’s not going to happen.

So it’s best to be happy with what little time we have left with this revenge-tale turned romance saga that’s won over our hearts.

There’ll be more dramas cropping up this month. Dear My Friends and Mirror of the Witch(May 13), Beast’s Beauty aka Beautiful Gong Shim(May 14) and Lucky Romance (May 25).

It’s a vibrant list featuring romance, comedy, suspense, and historical fantasy.

I don’t really see myself starting up any new dramas soon. But who knows? There might be one or two stunners just waiting to be my next hot pick.

Till then I’ll stay fixed on my current, addictive shows that always keep me guessing, what next? Once your drama has you compelled to ask that each week, you know you’ve found a winner!