[2023 Year in Review] Bean of Hiddenness » Dramabeans

[2023 Year in Review] Bean of Hiddenness

by DB Employees

We’ve handed out the Bean of Greatness, the Bean of Disappointment, and the Bean of Squee. For our closing bean of the yr, we’re awarding the Bean of Hiddenness. You understand the drama — it was flying underneath the radar. Properly, till it flew proper into your coronary heart and have become the hidden gem you didn’t know you wanted.

To not be confused with the well-known Editors’ Picks, this bean collection is very like our different DB group posts — every author sharing their feels. Add your individual private Bean of Hiddenness within the feedback and share your gems!

 
missvictrix: Can a hidden gem drama even be painful and filled with torment and pressure? If that’s the case, my Bean of Hiddenness goes to Trolley. It’s not a fluffy drama. You gained’t go away with stars in your eyes. You’ll in all probability be a wreck of feelings. However that being mentioned, it’s a drama that’s amazingly acted, well-written, and completely riveting. And though our heroine goes by a harrowing journey of lies and deception, the overarching message is about going through your demons, and having the ability to uncover a deep effectively of interior power, even when it looks like there’s nothing left inside you. How’s that for being completely miserable and but vaguely uplifting? Jokes apart, it is a well-crafted, high-intensity drama that deserved far more consideration than it acquired.

mistyisles: Unlock the Boss aired throughout that in-between interval of the yr the place it’s simply missed — too late to be included in 2022 opinions, however so early within the 2023 timeline that a whole yr’s price of Ok-dramas stand out in newer reminiscence. It does seem to be extra individuals have found it all year long, however I’d nonetheless think about it one in every of 2023’s hidden gems. I got here for the bizarre premise, nevertheless it didn’t take lengthy for Chae Jong-hyeop to cement the theater-kid-turned-acting-CEO Park In-sung as one in every of my favourite Ok-drama heroes of the yr. His cleverness saved his enemies on their toes even when it appeared his again was in opposition to the wall, his unfailing kindness was inspiring — particularly in the way it affected these closest to him and gained him stunning allies — and the little glimpses into his creativeness had been simply pleasant.

solstices: Tinged with the nostalgia of bygone recollections, imbued with the magic of Christmas, and wrapped up within the heat of a beautiful discovered household, Finland Papa was my hidden gem of the yr. A superbly understated story of forgiveness and therapeutic, the drama mirrored the way in which grief lingers within the crevices of widespread areas and the threads of tucked-away issues. It gave its characters the area to easily exist in liminal moments, permitting us to really feel the load of unstated feelings in poignant silences. Pared right down to its emotional core, the present wove in a nuanced tapestry of particulars into context clues, trusting its viewers to sew the items collectively. At simply three hours lengthy, this pocket-sized story painted its magic in broad strokes, unfurling its secrets and techniques with minimal fanfare and permitting the simplicity of its sincerity to shine by. Generally misguided wanderers simply want slightly nudge again onto the suitable monitor, and Finland Papa — each the cafe and the present — felt like returning residence to cozy blankets and a heat cup of cocoa after a protracted trek by the snow.

Unit: The Matchmakers will get my uncontested bean as my hidden gem for the yr. That is one drama I began for the actor, and stayed for its intentional storytelling and delightful manufacturing worth. The drama had a well-woven plot, an amazing ensemble (that includes superior feminine characters, THE finest Joseon king, well-utilized facet characters, and various secondary {couples} to root for other than the OTP), a number of humor, attractive aesthetics, and better of all, it caught the touchdown! I’ve largely expressed my emotions about this drama within the recaps, so I’ll simply say this: for those who should decide ONE 2023 present to binge — and I say binge, as a result of the odd-even episodes had been designed to be watched as a pair — earlier than diving into subsequent yr’s choices, it’s best to completely watch The Matchmakers.

Dramaddictally: Discovering a hidden gem is one of the best feeling. While you go in with few expectations, not solely are you much less more likely to be dissatisfied, there’s additionally a lot room for completely happy shock. One Day Off was the 2023 drama that had this impact on me — and I would like it to not stay hidden! At a decent eight episodes, it has an total imaginative and prescient for its philosophy of life. However every episode is self-contained, unearthing little classes within the everyday. We comply with highschool instructor Park Ha-kyung (Lee Na-young) as she takes one-day journeys, eats good meals, walks round new locations, and interacts with on a regular basis individuals. Sound boring? It’s not. It’s full of meals for thought, in addition to indie-film cinematography and experimental strategies of storytelling. This isn’t a type of dramas I really like a lot that I need to preserve it to myself. It’s one I would like everybody to see so we are able to discuss and debate it collectively — since there’s a number of room for interpretation. My one and solely gripe with this drama is that extra individuals haven’t seen it.

 
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