19. KULTURE STUDY- 57th Baeksang Arts Awards

A suspenseful story that asks the key question, “What if we could identify psychopaths in advance?” A crazed serial killer’s ruthless murders have left the entire nation gripped with fear, and chaos reigns. Justice-seeking rookie police officer, Jung Ba Reum, comes face to face with the killer. While he survives his dangerous encounter with the psychopath, Jung Ba Reum finds his life completely changing before his eyes. Listen to Svetlana's review.

Mama Mia, this was one ROLLERCOASTER RIDE! We honestly had a blast watching 'Vincenzo' and reviewing the same. Vincenzo Cassano (Song Joong-ki) is a lawyer, who works for the Mafia as a consigliere. Because of a war between mafia groups, he flees to South Korea. In South Korea, he gets involved with Lawyer Hong Cha-Young (Jeon Yeo-been). She is the type of attorney who will do anything to win a case. Also starring Ok Taecyeon and Kwak Dong‑yeon in lead roles. Listen to our review of this drama.

Dramarookies reviews the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards. Some controversial wins, some heart-warming wins, and some left us agape! Listen to our review as we break down the best and worst dramas and debate on the nominations and the winners.

Ahana reviews 'Into the Ring' starring Nana, Park Sung-hoon, Yoo Da-in, Han Joon-woo and Ahn Nae-sang. Koo Se-Ra comes from a poor background, but she still manages to have a bright personality. She supports herself by taking part-time work. Koo Se-Ra is famous in her local ward office for constantly filming civil complaints. Seo Kong-Myung works as a fifth-grade public officer. He sticks to his principles no matter what and he does his job well. Other people do not like him due to his unfriendly personality. He gets involved with Koo Se-Ra. Listen to Ahana's review!

UWU overload. Feels MAX. Shim Deok Chool has had a life long dreaming of performing ballet. He is 70-years-old and retired from his job as a post office employee. Lee Chae Rok is a 23-year-old man. While growing up, he played different sports like baseball, swimming, and soccer, but he wasn't talented in any of those activities. He then became interested in ballet. This deeply moving story of hope casts a small light in a world that is oh so dark and grim. Starring Song Kang and Park In Hwa in lead roles, listen to Evita's review of 'Navillera'.

Solomon’s Perjury is about a high school that is turned upside-down after a student dies. The death is quickly ruled a suicide as the school and police look to move on.  But the students believe something more is going on and take it upon themselves to uncover the truth. Starring Kim Hyun-Soo, Jang Dong-Yoon and Seo Ji-Hoon in lead roles. This 2016 drama holds relevance now, more than ever. Listen to our review of the same. 

Sisyphus: The Myth tells the story of a genius engineer named Han Tae-sul, who tries to uncover the truth behind his older brother Han Tae San's death, and a mysterious woman called Kang Seo-hae, who travels back in time to help him save the world from imminent danger. Starring Park Shin Hye and Cho Seung-woo in lead roles. Listen to Ahana's review of the same!

Between climbing the social ladder, navigating first loves, and actual schoolwork, high school students have enough to contend with. "Black Mirror" meets "Mean Girls" in this Netflix Original drama, Love Alarm starring Kim So-Hyun, Song Kang and Jun Ga-Ram in lead roles. Listen to Svetlana's review of the same.

Bullying is present in most (if not all) Korean schools to some extent. In this Kulture Study episode, we examine the various tropes of school violence, bullying, and education classism that affect Korean society. Is the school violence shown in K-Dramas a reflection of society or is society imitating art. We also look into the socio-economic reasons for bullying and why Asian societies produce smart kids but deeply flawed and emotionally damaged adults.

Awaken stars Namgoong Min, Kim Seol-hyun, Lee Chung-ah and Kim Chang-wan. The series, directed by Kim Jung-hyun and written by Shin Yoo-dam, revolves around two police officers as they dig up the secrets of mysterious events that occurred in a village 28 years ago. Listen to Evita's review of this gripping thriller drama.