So this kdrama season is proving to be a treasure trove of gold for us drama lovers.

The competition is cutthroat, the genres varied and best of all, it is the ultimate battle of the Who’s Who in Korean show business as one big name is pitted against the next in the ultimate show of who has the biggest foothold in bringing in viewer ratings.

For me, i started the ball rolling today by checking out the first episode of A Gentleman’s Dignity.

First off, let me begin by saying that i now fully understand why everyone says that Jang Dong Gun is the most good looking man in Korean entertainment.

For those who are apprehensive about how he got such a title, i guess that just like me, you better see the man in action before raising your brows at the authenticity of that title.

The man practically oozes sex appeal it’s not even funny.

He has this riveting presence onscreen as if he is captivating you with his charm that would put George Clooney’s to shame and give it a good run for its money.

He may not fit the mould of the typical Kdrama male leads whom we all swoon over like Binnie, Wookie and the likes but the man is really in a league all of his own if it comes to dark, brooding good looks.

That being said and over with, i did enjoy the first episode of AGD.

Though the beginning of the show was wayyyyy more engaging and it sorta flagged in the middle, but still, it was a good enough hook for me to look forward to succeeding episodes and to make sure that i follow the duration of the series.

Much of this i guess can be attributed to the stellar performance of the F44.

Their characters are so different from one another and with the 4 being seasoned, veteran actors (Kim Soo Ro, Lee Jong Hyuk, Jang Dong Gun and Kim Min Jong), of course, they were able to breathe life into these characters as if it was truly their own.

There’s something so fresh also about the idea of a Kdrama shedding more light into a male friendship than the typical female one that is normally shown in dramas.

It might be different from what we’re used to but it sure makes for a pretty interesting watch to see how they act around each other in a more relaxed, playful setting which is more real than the standard emo bromance that we normally see in most series and AGD sure made sure that we get plenty of that in this drama.

Some parts of the meet up of the OTP and the OST reminded me a lot of SOULMATES which was one of the best Kdramas that i ever got to watch.

It was interesting how the OTP’s fates keep crossing with each other and how there was such a palpable, instant pull that we already see from Do Jin even if it was just the first time he’s seen Yi Soo.

I love how this pairing have such cool, calm, collected personas separately and that they each turn into bumbling idiots and nerds whenever they are just even within 2 feet of each other.

Similar to her very own Secret Garden wherein the writer had the male lead falling head over heels first for the female lead, Do Jin is also the one thoroughly smitten with Yi Soo from the get go in AGD and this has always been a drama angle that i really, really dig and appreciate and i don’t feel any different about seeing it here.

Overall, though A Gentlemans Dignity did not wow my socks off on the first episode, it did give me some good laughs, the warm fuzzies and that feeling of wanting to see what’s next not just for the pairing but for all the characters in the drama and as to where each of their own separate stories would take them moving forward.

I sure would definitely keep on watching.

As expected Rooftop Prince was quirky, hilarious, laugh out loud over the top excitement.

The circumstances brought about by 4 men who are suddenly thrown into the present world from the Joseon era presents a whole lot of opportunity for situational skits and gags and that is where the strength of this drama lies making it endearing, interesting and a lot of fun to watch.  

(Well, with that picture above you all know by now what scene made me laugh the most out of the 4 episodes that i’ve seen.) 

The chemistry between Han Ji Min and Mickey is not yet that palpable but it is transparent and obviously bubbling under the surface. As if it is just waiting for the right moment when we have already invested so much into their characters and when we have that burning desire to see them get together and that is when it will really strike and give our hearts a squeeze and punch us in the gut.

What makes this pairing work for me in a nutshell, is how Park Ha would not be cowed by Yi Gaks holier than thou attitude that she always takes him down a peg or two especially when he’s being too much of a jerkface and how Yi Gak is obviously confounded by how such a scrap of a girl can defy him when in his time, his word was as good as gold.

It is that curiosity and that difference that gives their pairing the sizzle that as a viewer makes you want to root for them and see them finally come to the point where it develops into long lasting feelings that would make you squee and spazz to kingdom come when you finally watch the process unfold of how they begin to have the hots for each other. 

In the acting front, Mickey’s is above par compared to his contemporary idols.

He has already proven his mettle with Sungkyunkwan and Ripley but i don’t know why i find him so appealing in his role as Yi Gak.

Perhaps because he’s all assy and dorky and arrogant and childlike all at the same time.  

A lethal combination for a hero if i might say so as these are all the characteristics that makes a male lead memorable and which surely worms it’s way into any female drama lovers heart.

Han Ji Min reminds me of Goo Hye Sun in Boys Over Flowers with her character.

She comes replete with the optimistic nature and the tough girl persona and the over the top facial expressions but what i can’t really get over is how she looks so much like Hwang Jung Eum that she can pass off as her doppelganger.

They look so much alike that i sometimes get confused thinking it’s Jung Eum in the lead role whenever i’m watching her. 

In the supporting characters front, Yi Gak’s trio of misfits are a laugh a minute. 

Them, with the earnestness of wanting to serve their master and perform their honorable roles to the fullest while being trapped in the weakness of the pitfall of the temptation of new sensations and tastes and sights of the new world that Park Ha rewards them with after a day of hard labor.

What makes them extra funny is how serious they are about everything that they do and how they don’t seem to realize how exceedingly laughable the things they do are and that makes me warm to their characters all the more.

However, not everything is rainbows and sunshine of course in this drama as there are some things that i wish we could have less of

Like the cookie cutter villain roles and the played again and again angle of rival cousins/stepbrothers/illegitimate children scheming and backstabbing a lead just to get their hands on the company and the family corporation .

That, along with the hidden murder secrets are just so makjang like that it gets tedious to see Lee Tae Sung and Jung Yumi plot again and again and up themselves evilly as they come up with manipulative plans to make the lives of the lead characters a living hell time and time again.

It’s just so old school drama and since the whole plot of the series is fresh and new, it’s something that i wish the writer could have also done a fresh twist on so as to make the drama more fresh and contemporary as a whole.

Speaking of Jung Yumi, i can’t believe how much i hate her in this character when she had my complete sympathy in a Thousand Days Promise where she played a woman of such immense naivete and goodness that i can’t believe they’re one and the same.

Overall, i can already feel my heart twisting at the thought of how Se Na would use Yi Gak’s dedication and love for her to wrap him around her fingers and how in the process it would pulverize Park Ah’s heart and ground it into hamburger.

I just wish that Yi Gak being a royal prince and all would use his wiseness to decipher that she is a snake hidden in fashionable, trendy clothing and that in the end, he will follow what’s destined for him and Park Ah without too much angst and melodrama because it had already taken them 300 years to get together, so i say, it’s about damn time he ditch the bitch and go with the girl that would warm his heart and also his bed.