In The Know with Purplenette

Here are some of the upcoming dramas for April.

A Girl Who Sees Scents/Sensory Couple

Yoochun (Three Days) and Shin Se Kyung (Blade Man) are to star in the new SBS drama, Sensory Couple, which will begin airing on April 1 after Hyde, Jekyll, Me on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  This is based on a webcomic “Naemsaereul Boneun Sonyeo” by Man Chwi.  The writer for the drama is Lee Hee Myung, who also wrote Queen of Ambition and Rooftop Prince.  The director is Baek Soo Chan, who also directed Tazza.  Nam Goong Min (My Secret Hotel) and Yoon Jin Seo (Twelve Men in a Year)  are also cast in the drama.

Choi Moo Gak (Yoochun) is a man who loses his younger sister in the “Bar Code Murder Case” and ends up losing his ability to sense things. Oh Cho Rim (Shin Se Kyung) miraculously survives the same incident but loses her memories and gains the extrasensory ability to visualize smells.

TRAILER 1

TRAILER 2

I'm not watching this.  I give you one reason Keanu Kyung.  It is a nickname a friend gave Shin Se Kyung because she resembles the one-dimensional actor Keanu Reeves.  I have given her three chances and she is out.  I just can't do it.  It is really upsetting to me because I think the plot sounds like a fun watch.  What scares me is that I have talked myself into watching dramas with her in it over and over again.  Will I be able to keep from watching this time?

The Lover

Oh Jung Se (Plus Nine Boys), Ryu Hyun Kyung (Tasty Life), Choi Yeo Jin (Valid Love), Jung Joon Young (Monstar), Ha Eun Sul (Yoo Na's Street), Lee Jae Joon (Dating Agency Cyrano) and Terada Takuya (Run 60) have been cast in the new Mnet drama, The Lover, to begin airing on April 2.  The writer is Kim Min Seok who writes for SNL Korea and a one-episode JTBC short called Monster.  The director is Kim Tae Eun of Superstar K.

I don’t know the character names so I’m just going to have to use the actor’s names.  Oh Jung Se as a voice actor and Ryu Hyun Kyung who runs a blog are the main couple.  They are in their 30s and have chosen to live together for two years instead of getting married.  Choi Yeo Jin and Jung Joon Young are the second couple and they have a twelve year age gap.  They have been living together for a year.  He is a singer and she supports him as her much younger boyfriend.  Han Eun Sul and Park Jong Hwan are a 20s couple that has just moved in together.  She only wants her boyfriend to see her perfect feminine side and strives endlessly to keep up the illusion.  Lee Jae Joon is a loner who stays at home.  He is forced to get a roommate and takes in Terada Takuya from Japan in the hopes that he won’t have to even converse with the roommate.  However, Takuya thinks it is a waste of youth for Lee Jae Joon to stay inside and start to draw him into the world.

TRAILER 1

OMG...I'm watching this!  The trailer was enough to convince me.  

Falling for Innocence

Jung Kyung Ho (Cruel City), Kim So Yeon (I Need Romance 3), and Yoon Hyun Min (Discovery of Romance) star in jTBC’s new drama, Falling for Innocence, which will air April 3 after Maids ends on Friday and Saturday.  The writer is Yoo Hee Kyung who is new.  The director is Ji Young Soo who also directed Big Man.  Gong Hyun Joo (Hotel King), Jo Eun Ji (Best Wedding), Park Yon Gyu (My Lovely Girl), Ahn Seok Hwan (King’s Face), and Lee Shi Un (Modern Farmer) are also in the drama.

The drama is about Kang Min Ho (Jung Kyung Ho) who transforms completely from a cold-hearted man to warm-hearted man after he receives a heart transplant for which he also falls in love with Kim Soon Jung (meaning innocence) due to “cellular memory”.  Kim Soon Jung (Kim So Yeon) is a sharp and capable executive secretary.  She has earned the nickname “Iron Secretary” because she is strong and can deal with anything.  Lee Joon Hee (Yoon Hyun Min) is Soon Jung’s charismatic childhood friend.  Han Ji Hyun (Gong Hyun Joo) is a corporate headhunter.  Na Ok Hyun (Jo Eun Ji) is a detective in a violent crimes unit. 

TRAILER 1 

TRAILER 2

I will watch this for the actors alone and hope that the story line is good.  Sometimes new writers are good at putting a new spin on Korean troupes.  Hopefully, this will be one of those times.

Let's Eat Season 2

Yoon Doo Joon will be the only original cast member to return to tvN’s Let’s Eat Season 2 which will start airing April 6 on Mondays and Tuesdays after Ho Goo’s Love.  Seo Hyun Jin (Three Musketeers) and Kwon Yul (Angel's Revenge) among others have been cast.  Lim Soo Mi and Park Joon Hwa will be joining forces again as writer and director respectively.  Other cast include Hwang Seok Jung (Incomplete Life), Kim Hee Won (Angry Mom), Jo Eun Ji (Best Wedding), Lee Joo Seung (Pinocchio), Hwang Seung Un (Heart to Heart), and Kim Ji Young (Triangle).

Ga Dae Yong (Yoon Doo Joon) moves to a new neighborhood and befriends a group of quirky neighbors. Baek Soo Ji (Seo Hyun Jin), an old classmate from elementary school that Dae Yong doesn’t get along with ends up being his next-door neighbor.  She has been dieting for four years and only eats one meal a day, so she makes sure that one meal is the most delicious.  Lee Sang Woo (Kwon Yul) is another neighbor that is a handsome civil service worker that Hyun Jin has a crush on.  He is a vegetarian.  The series will continue the original idea of building friendships through food.

TRAILER 1

I have never seen the first one, but this makes me think that I should watch both.

Splendid Politics/Hwajeong

Cha Seung Won (You're All Surrounded), Lee Yeon Hee (Miss Korea),Seo Kang Joon (Cunning Single Lady), and Kim Jae Won (May Queen) are cast in MBC upcoming sageuk drama Hwajeong which will air after MBC’s Shine or Go Crazy on April 14.  The director is Kim San Ho, who also directed Arang and the Magistrate and Can You Hear My Heart.  The writer is Kim Yi Young, who also wrote Dong Yi and Horse Doctor.  Lee Sung Min (Incomplete Life) and Han Joo Won (Joseon Gunman) have also been cast in Hwajeong.

Princess Jeongmyeong (Lee Yeon Hee) is the sister of King Seongjo’s legitimate heir, Grand Prince Yeongchang.  However, the Grand Prince is only two years old at the time of King Seonjo’s death so the throne goes to Prince Gwanghae (Cha Seung Won).  The political factions are split among the heirs and they fail to usurp Gwanghae first with his older brother and later with Yeongchang.  They end up getting Yeongchang exiled and murdered.  Gwanghae has Queen Inmok and her daughter, Princess Jeongmyeong, ousted from the palace to live as commoners and fall to slave status.  Princess Jeongmyeong falls in love with Hong Joo Won (Seo Kang Joon) who is a nobleman and the son of a very prominent family.  King Injo (Kim Jae Won) is the man that eventually takes the throne from Gwanghae.

I could not find a trailer at the time I wrote this article.

There have been many dramas made around this era and concerning this exact time period.  I just finished watching the King's Face which had Prince Gwanghae.  It is interesting after watching the King’s Face and other dramas where Prince Gwanghae is the “victim” of politics to now watch a drama where he is the "villain".  I have always wondered how am I supposed to tell who is good and who is bad when they are all selfish and greedy wanting to be king.  One of the exceptions is when there is a son doing his parent's bidding and the parent is crazy greedy.  In this drama's interpretation Prince Gwanghae apparently has the former king's favorite son killed and  takes the throne from the direct bloodline as he is “only” the son of a concubine and a secondary heir.  It might be interesting to see Cha Seung Won be bad.  I also think it would be fun to watch smiley Kim Jae Won play King Injo who is thought to be weak and paranoid king.  Wow, I think I am talking myself into watching this drama. 

Makes A Woman Cry

Kim Jun Eun (Oohlala Spouses), Song Chang Eui (Dr. Frost) and Ha Hee Ra (Good for You) are cast in the new MBC Saturday and Sunday drama after Rosy Lovers starting April 11.  The director is Kim Keun Hong, who also directed Gu Am Heo Joonand Gye Baek. The writer is Ha Chung Ok, who also wrote I Summon You, Gold.

Deok In (Kim Jung Eun) is a homicide police officer that retires after the death of her only child.  She opens a snack shop near her son’s school so that she can keep his memory alive.  However, she also acquires a reputation for helping student in the neighborhood.  She becomes an ajumma hero while also struggling to come to terms with the truth behind her son’s death.   Jin Woo (Song Chang Eui) is a high school teacher.  His son blames him for his mother’s suicide after she was forcefully married.  The son also kills a bully victim.   Eun Soo (Ha Hee Ra) is Jin Woo’s sister-n-law.

I could not find a trailer at the time I wrote this article. 

For those of you interested Thunder of MBLAQ will be in this drama also.  He will be playing Ha Hee Ra's son, Hyun Seo.  I'm iffy on if I will watch this or not.  The premise sounds interesting, but I'm not sure the writer of I Summon You, Gold can pull it off.  I watched I Summon You, Gold and the story was all over the place.  I may watch a few episodes and then decide.

Who Are You?:  School 2015

I couldn't find a poster and I couldn’t find any definite cast members for this KBS2 drama that should start April 27 on Mondays and Tuesdays after Blood.   Even if it doesn't start on that day, I wanted you to be aware that it is coming.  Lee Yubi (Pinocchio) and CNBlue’s Min Hyuk have been offered roles, but there is no confirmation.  The writers for this school series production are Kim Hyun Jung who wrote drama specials Their Prefect Day and Grade A Student and Kim Min Jung who was the winner of 2015 KBS screenplay open contest.  The director is Baek Sang Hoon, who also directed Secret.

Eunk Byeol is a popular girl in a prestigious private high school in Gangnam that one day goes missing and returns with memory loss.  She tries to find out the truth.

I could not find a trailer at the time I wrote this article.

I have enjoyed several of the school series dramas and I'm probably going to watch this one also.

Welcome to Our Home/Yokoso Wagaya e

Aiba Masaki (Last Hope), Arimura Kasumi (Yowakutemo-Katemasu), Terao Akira (Towa no Izumi), and Minami Kaho (Umechan Sensei) are cast in Fuji TV’a new Monday drama, Welcome to Our Home, which starts April 30.  The director is Isamu Nakae, who also directed All about My Siblings.  The writers are Jun Ikeido who wrote Roosevelt Game and Tsutomu Kuroiwa, who wrote The Perfect Insider. 

Kenta Kurata (Aiba Masaki) lives with his father, Taichi (Terao Akira), his mother, Keiko (Minami Kaho), and his younger sister, Nana (Arimura Kasumi) in an isolated home in the suburbs.  He works as an unpopular commercial designer.  Kenta Kurata possesses a timid personality, which we picked from the father, but he doesn’t like his father.  One day, while waiting for the train, Kurata surprises himself by warning a man who pushes a woman and cut in line.  However, after the incident strange things start to happen to Kurata’s family.  The flowers in their flower garden are pulled out and a bicycle seat is torn.  Also, Nana’s ex-boyfriend is stalking her.

I could not find a trailer at the time I wrote this article.

I think this would be an interesting watch.

Do any of these airing and upcoming dramas look interesting to you?

I wanted to add more Japanese and other Asian dramas to this article, but it wasn't as easy to find information on those even when I Googled them.  If any of you have sources for Asian dramas other than Korean that I can use while writing these articles, then please PM me.