June check-in: aliens, modern-day Cinderella, and disappearing people
I finally watched "Parasite: The Grey." Awesome series! Can anyone say quirky? "A Freaking Fairy Tale" is so unserious, but it a good way. For a 6-episode kdrama, "Grand Shining Hotel" sure delivered!
We’re halfway through the year and I feel like June is that month that’s in a rush. I blinked and whoosh! We’re already halfway through. “Lovely Runner” recently ended and I’ve seen so many fans having post-series blues about it. The pop-up store for that kdrama seemed like so much fun, though.
While my kdrama watching has been slow for me recently due to health reasons, I’m happy to report that I have finally watched one of the kdramas I mentioned in this issue: “Parasite: The Grey.” I’ve also picked up on “Dreaming of a Freaking Fairy Tale”, which had such a quirky but hilarious and fun pilot episode. “Grand Shining Hotel” is another kdrama I tried on a whim because of TikTok. 😁
Without further ado, let’s get to this month’s latest issue of Kdrama Girl’s Notebook!
“Parasyte: The Grey” – Impressive first episode, intriguing plot, and riveting characters
I’ve said it in my blog and I’ll say it again: I was expecting the first episode to be chock full of humans versus aliens all over each other’s throats, just to set the overall mood and feel of the series. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a moody vibe and a pacing that wasn’t at break-neck speed. Yes, it’s still very much humans versus aliens (or, as they call it in the drama, “parasites”) but the first episode had done such a perfect pacing of setting the ground for the things to happen.
“Parasyte: The Grey” is fast becoming a favorite kdrama of mine, and I’m not even a fan of sci-fi. What’s engrossing about this series is that the plot was executed in such a way that was gripping: With the fast spread of the parasites taking over human bodies (their “hosts”), a special task force is created to get rid of them. Caught amidst all the action and drama are three individuals: The head of said special task force, a police officer, and a clerk who has a parasite inside her but still manages to retain being human (most of the time, anyway).
The series delves into each of these main three characters, showing us their side of the story, which makes things more interesting. With the human/parasite hybrid of a girl, killing something (someone?) is not as black and white as it seems. With the parasites shown as being aggressive for the sake of survival, it makes that dilemma even more difficult – if not tricky – to handle. (This angle in the series reminds me of “Happiness” kdrama, another series that I highly recommend.)
“Parasyte: They Grey” only has six episodes. Perfect for binge-watching if you want to watch something interesting that involves aliens and the different sides of humans when confronted with something they’ve never encountered before.
“Dreaming of a Freaking Fairy Tale” – the modern-day Cinderella is not here to play around
If you’re missing “Lovely Runner” and want something full of antics and quirkiness, then you might want to give “Dreaming of a Freaking Fairy Tale” a try. The two main leads, Cha Min and Jae Rim, have a not-so-dreamy meet-cute but it was on Jae Min’s favor, who is our modern-day Cinderella here.
Jae Min has had a tough life and, with her father gone, she struggles even more to help keep their family afloat. I was waiting for the evil stepsisters and stepmother but instead got a blended family who isn't cruel. They’re not perfect and have their own set of shortcomings, but they’re not cruel. Instead, there’s the son of a chaebol, Cha Min, who owns a social club.
“And never the twain shall meet.” As different as night and day, these two leads should have never even gotten together, let alone have their paths crossed. But that fateful encounter at the staircase (all thanks to Jae Rim’s determination to make her life better) set things in motion.
Jae Rim is fearless and determined about wanting a better life for herself, and she isn’t shy about it. When Cha Min learns that she applied to his social club because she wants to marry a rich man, he makes it one of his life’s goals to prove her wrong. And so the hilarity ensues.
I swear there is not one moment when these two are together and we are spared from their antics and love-hate relationship. 😂
“Dreaming of a Freaking Fairy Tale” is a rom-com about going after one’s dream and also falling for the person you least expected. It’s also a very unserious kdrama and I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for some sh*ts and giggles.
“Grand Shining Hotel” – getting sucked into a fictional novel and pressing the panic button
I started this kdrama for two reasons: the plot and the female lead. The plot seemed interesting enough: “A fantasy story about a man who accidentally gets drawn into a fictional world inside of a horror novel.” (source: MyDramaList) The female lead, actress Jung In Sun, is one of my favorites.
I’m glad I gave this series a chance. While I was expecting something along the supernatural lines of hauntings and ghosts, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that there’s a serial killer in the plot. So now we have a mixed bag of:
the male lead mysteriously vanishing
the female lead and her colleagues uncovering the truth behind the disappearance
a mysterious writer who refuses to show their real face
the fictional hotel where something horrible is about to happen
“Grand Shining Hotel” is only six episodes short and it was perfect: The plot, the pacing, and the characters. I wasn't even disappointed by the lack of ghosts. When the male lead went missing and it was established in the story where he went to, the story unfolded with the right amount of mystery and thrill.
When trapped in a fictional setting with a serial killer on the loose and you’re left to your own devices, what do you do? That’s what Ah Young, the female lead, tries to figure out as she goes to the Grand Shining Hotel to rescue her missing object of affection, Woo Bin. The serial killer is ruthless and seductive'; a very deadly combo.
Ah Young isn’t the perfect female lead. She’s very much human and by the time the kdrama wrapped up and the bomb was revealed, “The Grand Shining Hotel” is a solid series. I think the reviews in MyDramaList speak for themselves. This is another kdrama that I highly recommend if you’re looking for a quick watch that’s tagged as mystery, horror, romance, and fantasy.
Postscript: I’ve started on a cdrama, “Our Interpreter”, too. While more than half of that series was really interesting, I feel like the rest are just fillers and they could’ve lessened the 36 episodes so it doesn’t feel dragging. I also dropped “Frankly Speaking” for the same reason. It’s only 12 episodes short, but halfway through it felt like the plot was coming loose and it was just everywhere. We’ll see if I’ll come back to these two dramas in the near future.
And that’s it for me! I hope you’re enjoying June and the kdramas that come with it. As for me, I’m going to start with “Miss Night and Day.” 😎 Have a lovely rest of the month and I hope you keep watching more Asian dramas to help amuse, heal, or satisfy you. 🫶🏼