This episode started as a spoilery discussion of Arsenal Military Academy (a 2019 chinese drama set in the early 20th century, starring Bai Lu and Xu Kai), but became a longer conversation on the history of imperialism and china's use of underdog stories to ignite national pride. But it's still a dramas over flowers episode, so expect lots of fangirling and explosive laughter. Send us your thoughts on the episode in a voice note here: LINKS: KOBO PLUS is available in Italy | Canada |...

In this second part of our conversation about celebrity, authenticity and Korean variety, we talk about the miracle of entertainment that is Youth MT, and the lovely, warm experience of watching In the Soop: Friendcation. (And its 2017 ajusshi predecessor, Dragon Club.) Spoiler warning: You may want to catch a few episodes of Youth MT before you listen, because we discuss specific scenes—and also because it is SO GOOD. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: LINKS MENTIONED: BTS's Jin...

A beginner friendly discussion of K-pop sensation BTS and how idol groups connect deeply with fans by opening up about their vulnerabilities. Tell us your thoughts in a voice note here: MORE EPISODES YOU'LL LIKE: Episode 138: The Red Sleeve Episode 137: F4 Thailand and the Boys Over Flowers Extended Universe NEWSLETTER: Join our email list for the monthly newsletter with podcast announcements and special episodes! PATRONS: SPECIAL THANK YOU to our beloved patrons for another year of helping...

The Red Sleeve is a story of a woman's wish to belong to herself and the man who couldn't let her go. It's also about a king who couldn't trust his grandson and a crown prince who survived against all odds so he could some day be a good ruler to his people. Mimi from The Talking Cupboard joins Paroma in a very spoilery episode where they wonder at the superior storytelling, the strength of conviction of the creators, and the exceptional performance by the entire cast, but most especially by...

At last Dramas Over Flowers talks about Boys Over Flowers! With our amazing guest Frabby, we discuss the latest adaptation of the memorable Hana Yori Dango, and how it stacks up against the Korean version that is a guilty watch for many. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on Insta or Twitter! LINKS MENTIONED: Book Recommended: The Unmatchmakers by Jackie Lau The scene in Meteor Garden - !! Trigger warning for sexual assault !! Find Frabby's recaps of F4...

The second part of our extra long discussion of extraordinary attorney woo is here! (Find Part 1 here.) Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on Insta or Twitter! LINKS MENTIONED: Register for the Writers on Writers livestream here. For REPLAY of the live sign up to our newsletter here. MORE EPISODES YOU'LL LIKE: Episode 135: Extraordinary Attorney Woo Spoiled Yak (PART 1) Episode 133: Extraordinary Attorney Woo MID SEASON REVIEW THANK YOU to our beloved patrons...

The first part of our spoiler discussion of Extraordinary Attorney Woo (season 1). We also covered our early impressions of the show on episode 133. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on Insta or Twitter! LINKS MENTIONED: The interview with writer & director of EAW (translated by Anisa) Park Eun-bin answers 10 questions about EAW (video) Redeemed for the wrong sin: Paroma's post on Kwon Min-woo Interesting recent article Saya came across: ‘A lot fell into...

We loved Lee Min-ki in My Liberation Notes and decided to talk about all his dramas and movies that we sought out over the years cause you can never have enough of this guy. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on Insta or Twitter! TIMESTAMP: 01:19 - Important announcement 02:46 - All about Lee Min-ki 3 LINK: What Would Dramaland Do? MORE EPISODES YOU'LL LIKE: Episode 133: Discussing first half of Extraordinary Attorney Woo Episode 129: We yak about My...

Our love for Extraordinary Attorney Woo is as deep as our dislike of Kwon Min-woo is high. Anisa and Paroma talk about all that has happened in the first half of this excellent show about a rookie autistic lawyer who learns how the law really works while making new friends, battling workplace discrimination, and entering true adulthood. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on Insta or Twitter! TIMESTAMP: 00:00 - Non-spoilery discussion 16:46 - SPOILER segment...

Saya, Anisa and Paroma talk about timey-wimey dramas Reset, Again My Life and Legally Romance, with digressions on binging C-dramas, ideal episode lengths (again), and why K-dramas are still doing romance better. Don't forget to tell us what you're watching and what you think we're missing out on! DM on Insta or Twitter! TIMESTAMP: 00:01:05 - We tease a special future episode on Boys Over Flowers! 00:02:38 - Miracle: first impressions and comparisons to K-pop novels 00:10:02 - Time loop...

Stephan Lee talks to us about his books, K-pop Confidential and its sequel K-pop Revolution, which follow a Korean American teenager chasing her dreams as a trainee idol in Seoul. We discuss his writing process for each book, the relationship between art and activism, his personal experience of anti-Asian violence, and his trip to Seoul during his time as an entertainment journalist for Entertainment Weekly, and more.  LINKS: Buy Stephan's wonderful books! Stephan's viral thread about his...

Saya is here for a Wild Yak to convince Paroma to watch 2020 Chinese drama CROSSFIRE, about two young men who meet each other in a game - but are eleven years apart in time. A spoiler-free intro to the show. PS. Saya really, really loved it. We talk about: The Signal conceit The rise of pro-gaming Gaming dramas as an emerging genre in C-dramas The trials of watching dramas in a totally unfamiliar language with horrible subtitles Side discussions on: dealing with addictions, C-drama Sweet...

We bring you a shorter long yak on two dramas we're watching and a lot of discussions on actor micro-expressions, the impermanence of cancel culture for powerful actors, and why we some time pause dramas we love. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on https://www.instagram.com/dramasoverflowers_/ (Insta) or https://twitter.com/dramasoverflow (Twitter)! [More information about the disgraced actor, Lee Kyung-young, who is guilty of sex with a minor can be found...

It's been almost 2 years, guys. It's definitely time to move on from https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/kimseonho (#KimSeonHo)'s breakout performance in START-UP. But before we do, here's a look back at why https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/hanjipyeong (#HanJiPyeong) captured our hearts, how much of this effect was intentional on the creators' part, and why his fans walked away bitter after that ending. (Also maybe why https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/namjoohyuk (#NamJoohyuk) also got a bad deal...

Saya rewatched Goblin for the dozenth time and pulled Paroma into a discussion of our deep love for a story that also has so many elements we feel conflicted on. Dive in with your SPOILER hats on. Also, don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on https://www.instagram.com/dramasoverflowers_/ (Insta) or https://twitter.com/dramasoverflow (Twitter)! Or leave a comment on our blog for this episode! Paroma's Video Essay on Toxic 1000 year old Gumihos:...

Welcome to our first proper Long Yak of 2022! In this one, Anisa and Paroma dig into our widely varying first impressions of Twenty-Five Twenty-One and Forecasting Love and Weather. And Saya makes a good case for why Rookie Cops is a worthier successor of Police University. Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on https://www.instagram.com/dramasoverflowers_/ (Insta) or https://twitter.com/dramasoverflow (Twitter)! Or...

Welcome back to our monthly What's Up in Dramaland. Let's talk about what dramas we're adding to our watchlist this February? Don't forget to tell us which shows you've decided to pick up! DM on https://www.instagram.com/dramasoverflowers_/ (Insta) or https://twitter.com/dramasoverflow (Twitter)! Or leave a comment on our https://dramasoverflowers.net/?p=5011 (blog for this episode)! TIMESTAMP: 00:53 - Forecasting Love and Weather 11:42 - 2521 15:37 - Crazy Love 18:12 - Grid 25:48 -...

Finally, it's part 3 of the longest yak we've ever done! In Part 3 of our 2021 Year End Yak, we bring you Listeners' Choice Awards, each of our personal top three dramas, and some reflections and thanks to round out the year. Note: We recorded this in December, so if you became a Patreon subscriber since then, not to worry, your patron shoutout is coming soon! Timestamps: 00:00:45 Listeners' Choice Awards 00:07:07 Our Personal Top 3 Dramas 01:04:38 A look back at DOF's year 01:17:03 Some...

Have the perfection of drama story lines ever made it hard for you to accept reality? It has for us, and that's what we are discussing on this episode. This is actually a recording from a livestream we did last year during the K-Pop Social Night Conference, so if you notice that the audio is funky, don't blame us, blame the internet. Terrible stuff. Hee.

Welcome, welcome to Part 2 of our year-end celebration gala! With no less than 28 different awards, this not so much a Yak as it is a Mammoth Marathon, as we try to conquer the highs and lows of Dramaland 2021 in the space of two wild hours. If you've listened to Part 1, you may already know that we thought this was going to be in 2 parts (big mistake!), but it ended up being 3 - so happy new year and we'll see you in Part 3! TIMESTAMPS 00:01:06 - The Most Hallyutastic Drama 00:09:37 - The...

Welcome to Part 1 of our Year End Yak. In this episode, we discuss the stories, trends, controversies, and fall out from dramaland in 2021. And when Saya, Anisa, and Paroma are done, our listeners and guests chime in with their insightful commentary on the year that passed. Have a very happy new year, everyone! TIMESTAMPS: 05:00 - Shorter Streaming Dramas 10:17 - Getting Netflix to Pay For Data Consumption 14:13 - Bullying Scandals 16:21 - Snowdrop Controversy 21:01 - Work-life Focused...

It’s the end of the year and as we all reflect on the dramas we loved in 2021, we thought it would be a good time to release this Spoiled Yak on one of our favorites—Run On. Our friend, Seoulbeats editor Rimi, joins Anisa Paroma for a long and detailed squee session about the show. If it sounds familiar, that’s because we actually recorded this in a livestream on Valentines day. In the spirit of Mi-joo’s movie madness, our topic headings for this Spoled Yak are all film references. Listen and...

Saya and Paroma sit down for a good gab about jTBC's 10-year anniversary drama, Sisyphus: The Myth, that aired earlier in the year, starring Park Shin-hye and Jo Seung-woo. We discuss why it wasn't a perfect show, but also the things that were perfectly done despite it. We're optimistic about the future of sci-fi in the K-drama realm, though, and the lush scope of Sisyphus gets us really excited! Come and listen! Note: At times, we (mainly Saya) use the name 'Seung-bok' to refer to Eddy Kim....

In our final What's Up in Dreamland of the year—what.—Anisa and Paroma discuss December premieres, with a meaningful tangent about political protest. As we anticipated during recording, The Silent Sea does now have an airdate and will be dropping on Dec 24. There are plenty of ways you can participate in Dramas Over Flowers' year-end festivities. See the links below to join us! Links: https://www.dropbox.com/request/YKH2VwXcRAoFNylnpL7P (Upload your voice note) for the Year-End...

Welcome to the last Long Yak of 2021! Join us for a long conversation as we catch up with each other on all the dramas on our plate. Use the hashtag #DramasOver2021 on twitter and review the dramas you watched in 2021! We'll retweet every one of them. 3 LINKS: Send us your voice notes for the Year End Yak: https://www.dropbox.com/request/YKH2VwXcRAoFNylnpL7P (UPLOAD) Use our K-drama tracker for 2021 for free: https://mailchi.mp/b0dea407c384/untitled-page...