by: Raine

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My second featured blog is the eclectic and intensely interesting Couch Kimchi. It focuses on all things Korean and Japanese (and even Indie), which makes it fun, informative and incredibly addicting. The ladies on staff are really clever and LOVE what they do. Each of them brings a lot to the table.

So without further ado, a blog with over 5 MILLION hits:

(They have lovely headers that rotate. They feature assorted fonts, actors, and drama screencaps.)

What makes Couch Kimchi worthy of being featured is that they cover a large amount of material and they do it well. Each of the ladies brings their own flava to the blog that helps to keep reader’s interest.

So let’s meet these ladies who met in the Soompi thread of their favorite drama, Coffee House. We have Leila, Clockwatcher, Goodange and Tessieroo.

Leila

Leila initiated everything by approaching her most respected friends and bloggers in the Coffee House forum. And the rest is history!

This lady also is a lovely, straight forward writer. She works on the Couch Kimchi exclusives (like fangirling over Lee Min-ho in Manila!) She also posts about her favorite shows, which I really like. It’s fun to see what other people like and she explains why she likes what she does very well.

The clarity of her writing style is my favorite thing about her posts. She focuses on weekly drama recaps and reviews. It’s a pretty massive undertaking that she performs in conjunction with Clockwatcher and Tessieroo.

Clockwatcher

Couch Kimchi‘s name was Clockwatcher’s creation. She is sassy and fun, Ms. Clockwatcher is. Her sardonic, wry sense of humor really brings color to her reviews and weekly recaps. Sometimes she teams up with other bloggers for joint recaps, which are fun and easy reads.

She is the resident J-drama and gossip guru, which is where I started, so she’s a girl after my own heart.

Ms. Clockwatcher also fangirls like a pro. Me likey. And, she posts raw and subtitled videos of shows the blog is covering.

Goodange

She’s the resident Asian entertainment blogger. Most of the fashion posts, CF posts and celebrity posts are by Goodange. The photographs are high quality, so I can download them and make them desktops, kekeke.

I also like that she’s a graphic artist because that unique perspective is great for posting pictorials and photos! As a musician looking at photos, I really appreciate an artist’s point-of-view because it’s one that I don’t have. I’m always pleasantly surprised by her artistic eye and her knowledge of not only Asian entertainment, but American and Indie entertainment.

Tessieroo

She is the maknae, but she is ridiculously enthusiastic. I love it. She reminds me of me with her energy. I first was introduced to her when she came in and started writing series reviews. The girl knows how to analyze and think. I love clever fangirls.

They are the main cast of Couch Kimchi, but also sometimes bring in other creative bloggers from the Coffee House Soompi thread, Yitiantulong and Choufy. It’s nice to see all the drama and Asian pop culture lovers!

One of my favorite aspects of the blog is that they feature celebrity photo shoots and spreads, but they also talk about the shoots in terms of artistry, some news, and enough fangirling to keep the fangirl in me happy.

(The amazing Bae Doo-na featured on Couch Kimchi.)

So as you can see/read, Goodange posts pictures, talks about current celebrity happenings, gives her two cents on the shoot and really makes the post fun to read. I also appreciate its brevity because the site hosts a LOT of information and the short length makes it easier for the reader to digest and enjoy.

I also appreciate that they use high quality photos (i.e. higher pixel count).

And, this is a personal bias, but a lot of their favorite celebrities coincide with mine. Like the above pictured Bae Doo-na.

Couch Kimchi recaps, but generally in groups of two or more episodes. I know there are tons of recapping sites out there, but the “grouping” format is great. It gives us a bigger picture of what’s going on. Plus, they scatter opinions and analyses throughout the recap.

I always like to read several recaps of my dramas by different authors. You get different insights because the writers have different points of view, they’re from different locations and the purposes of their blogs differ. I particularly enjoy these recaps ’cause they’re just plain fun.

As you can see, the choice of photos in the recap is also very powerful. That’s really important. That very first photo needs to catch a readers attention.

The ladies also provide series (and film) reviews. I’m sure you noticed that I choose to screencap the Answer Me, 1997 review…hehe. I LOVE that show. It’s currently my #1!

Anyway, the really cool thing about these reviews is that they’re long, but not boring. They’re engaging. You need to settle in for a good read, but it’s totally worth your time. They’re also full of photos. If you couldn’t tell, I love the visual stimulation of this site. It’s one of the biggest pluses!

The organization of a blog is very important. It needs to be clear and easy to follow. Couch Kimchi has lots of visuals, but it’s organized effectively. Navigation bars are located at the top and the bottom of the site, a style that I prefer. When I get to the bottom of a page, I like to have options! Sidebars contain some information, previews of posts and lists of options to choose from.

It resembles a magazine, which is an effect I love.

And I said it before, but I LOVE the color and the focus on images. They are almost more important than a post’s byline. It’s so nice to look at it, so go look at it!

Couch Kimchi Testimonials

Raine‘s testimonial

I first stumbled upon Couch Kimchi when I was searching for information and photographs of Jang Geun-suk. I know, I know, he’s a total weirdo, but I still really enjoy his acting and he’s hot. So sue me!

Anyway, the best quality photos I found on the Google image search were from this site called Couch Kimchi. So I started surfing the site and then kept surfing…and surfing…and surfing. There was just so much information, but well-organized information. The tags were helpful and kept me busy.

As I got to know the site a bit better, I found that the CK ladies were funny and engaging and put out multiple posts a day! That is a perk of having four bloggers running a site!

This site is highly recommended by ME! Go check it, yo!

kfangurl‘s testimonial

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Let me read your testimonial to Couch Kimchi!

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