Bad Kdrama blogger, bad

I have a confession to make. This won't be easy, but it needs to be said. Uhm, well uh, I haven't actually watched a kdrama since like forever ago.  I think the last full drama I watched was White Christmas.  It was only eight episodes long.  I haven't finished watching That Winter the Wind Blows.  So, yeah.  Awkward. I can make the usual excuses, but I won't waste my time or yours.  My life will be getting a whole lot more steady and organized within the next month, and I'm ready to get back into watching.  Any suggestions?  Anything you'd like to see reviewed either as a complete drama or first episode.  Does anybody actually like the first episode in pictures?  All comments, criticisms and ideas are welcomed. 

Episode 1 in Pictures: Arang and the Magistrate

Title: Arang and the Magistrate (아랑사또전)

Network: MBC

Episodes: 20

Starring: Lee Joon-Gi, Shin Min-Ah, Yoon Woo-Jin, Yoo Seung-Ho

Aired: Aug.-Oct. 2012

Let's all appreciate how utterly beautiful and sexy Shin Min Ah is

White Christmas (2011)

Are monsters born or are they created?

White Christmas, written by Park Yeon-Seon who also wrote the ever so lacking Wild Romance, is a psychological study in trying to answer whether the people society deem as monsters are born already being monsters or if they are created through a series of events in their lives.  It is a different breed of Kdrama, and an exciting one.
The story starts off on Christmas Eve when the school is emptied out save for seven(plus one) students and a teacher who have stayed behind to spend the winter holiday in the school after each of them received a letter with a cryptic message on it.  The letter taunted them about past sins against a fellow student.  

The seven of them are joined by elmo haired Kang Mi Reu or Mad Mi Reu, played by Woo Bin and I'm not kidding about the elmo hair.

 

Doctor Kim ... up to no good.

Doctor Kim Yo Han joins the party after he is involved in a car accident and is forced to seek shelter from the snow at the school.  For the bulk of the drama these nine people are the players in an experiment that sets out to prove everyone has a monster inside them and under the right circumstances we are capable of monstrous actions.  It is a journey that is portrayed beautifully in this drama.  The drama itself looks beautiful from the snow covered landscape, to the school, to the students; the fact that it deals with evil makes the beauty starkly stand out. 
I loved this drama mostly because it was so different than the usual drama that I watch, but also because it had no unnecessary moments.  At eight episodes every episode was important and added to the whole.  The only gripe I had about the drama was the incompetence of the police only the last episode and didn't detract from the overall greatness of the drama. 
Are monster born or are the created?  The drama answers the question, but sometimes the answer isn't the one we want.

First Episode, First Impression: White Christmas

Title: White Christmas (화이트 크리스마스) also known as Monster (몬스터)
Network: KBS2
Episodes: 8
Starring: Kim Sang Kyung, Baek Sung Hyung, Kim Young Kwang, Lee Soo Hyuk, Sung Joon, Kim Woo Bin, Kwak Jung Wook
Aired: Jan. 2011 - March 2011

I've been in what can only be described as a drama slump the last couple of weeks.  In fact, the last Korean drama I watched was two weeks ago which was the first episode of 7th Grade Civil Servant, and since then nothing.  Not the ending to That Winter the Wind Blows not the second half of 49 Days, nothing.  I have watched Great Teacher Onizuka, which is a Japanese drama but even that took me almost three weeks to get through, if you like Japanese dramas, animes, or mangas I recommend GTO in all three of it's incarnations.  I posted over on /kdrama about my problem and I got some really great recommendations to get me out of my slump; most of which I will get to, but the one that jumped out at me was White Christmas.  I had been wanting to watch this drama for a while now, but never really got around to it.  Finally, I'm going to sit down and watch the first episode.

"Prison" there is no way I would stay behind, no matter what.  I've read The Shining; I know how this ends

Just finished the first episode of White Christmas and honestly it took me longer than it should, but that is mostly due to outside distractions.  I'm going to try really ultra hard not to give away any spoilers.  The drama special, since it's only eight episodes, revolves around seven students (plus one) at the elite Susin High School, or "prison" as it is lovingly referred to, who stay behind over Christmas break after getting a letter written on black paper and in a black envelope which reads:

   You tainted me, made me pitiful.
    You made me a monster in the corner.
    You silenced me.
    You ridiculed my false hope.
    You took the only thing I had and put it around your neck.
    I held out my hand and you let go.
    You deleted me from your eyes.
    Finally, you overtook me.
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
    After 8 days, walk up the path by the zelkova tree.
    Under the clock tower you will see someone dead.
    The night that Jesus was born, I curse you.

No, thank you very much, me and my happy ass would be on the first bus out of dodge if I got a creepy letter that sounded like a bad poem written by an emo kid on LSD.  The first episode does a really great job at introducing the seven students you get to know them a tad as they try to figure out what they all have in common to have gotten the same letter.  As the first episode goes on the questions of whether monsters are born or created is posed, and if they are born should they be punished when they can't help themselves, and if they are created should the people responsible for creating them be held accountable?  And according to all the synopsizes that I read, this will be the central point of the drama.  Just the mere fact that this drama will try to answer such a philosophical question already sets it apart from other Kdramas.

My only slight beef with this first episode is that it makes it obvious that someone isn't who they say they are.  I'm sure this is on purpose; we are supposed to know the "monster" right away, right?  Not the moody one that wrote the torrid poetry, but the one that sneaks into your house at night under the guise of a friendly neighbor.  Cuz seriously that psychiatrist dude sends out creepy vibes like you would not believe.

This first episode piqued my interest enough that I had to force myself not to go ahead and just forge forward with episode two.  It hit all the right notes to engage me into the narrative. So, I will most definitely be watching the rest of this drama not not solely for the Eye Candy. 

 

First Episode, First Impressions -- 7th Grade Civil Servant

Title: 7th Grade Civil Servant (7급 공무원) 
Network: MBC
Episodes: 20
Starring: Choi Kang Hee and Joo Won
Aired: January 2013 - March 2013

I'm very much of the do not judge a book by its cover camp, but I definitely do judge it after a chapter or in some extreme cases a paragraph.  For the most part, I am much more forgiving of Korean dramas.  I am known to give them the benefit of the doubt right up to the very end or until I'm sidetracked by a different drama or new knitting project.  Since my plan to watch list has grown to unruly proportions, I have decided that I will be tougher on dramas and give them one episode, one chapter to convince me that I should invest a considerable amount of my time watching them.  I am horrible at making decisions so I will be going in order as the appear on my list.  First up, 7th Grade Civil Servant.
Episode one opens with a news broadcast with dire information about the economic downturn in South Korea and sky rocketing unemployment rates, as a current unemployee I can relate.  We are introduced to our two leads which can be said, like in almost every other drama I have ever watched, are polar opposites.  Kim Kyung Ja, played by Choi Kang Hee, is from a modest background working three jobs while going to school to take her civil servant exam to join the NIS(National Intelligence Service).  She lives paycheck to paycheck and is barely able to make ends meet.  At the other end of the spectrum we have Han Pil Hoon, played by the cutie that is Joo Won.  He is a rich boy that spends his time racing cars, practicing his marksmanship, and arguing with his father about taking over the company.

The two end up on a blind date when Kyung Ja takes a job from her best friend who owns a match making company and Pil Hoon is bribed by his mother, who was convinced by a fortune teller that he needs a woman in his life, with the promise of a new car.  The hit it off during the first date due mostly to the fact that they did not speak to each other, but rather both of them spent the required two hours studying on their own for the upcoming exam; her with open book and highlighter, him on his handy tablet, Samsung Galaxy 10in looked like to me. They agree to meet the following day for a second outing this time he takes her to race his car against another rich boy.  This leads to probably the worst part of the whole first episode:  She freaks out during the race and starts pulling his hair and manhandling him while he is going full out on a curvy road.  Really!!! Stupid bitch.  How the hell does that make sense??? I understand if maybe you are freaking out because of whatever, but seriously just close your eyes and curse at him really loudly.   I was so pissed off at this whole scene that I hate Kyung Ja.  I want to see her die in a fiery explosion.  Baka (Ok, I've been cheating on Korea with a few Japanese dramas).
During this first episode we are also introduced to a few peeps at the NIS and to the bad guy.  The resident baddie is played by Uhm Tae Wong, a short lived cameo it seems, and for some unknown reason he is after Pil Hoon.

I love a man in all black.

As a first episode it was alright.  It wasn't horrible, but nothing about the first episode compels me to sit through a second one.  I'll probably watch the drama once it ends in a week so I can marathon through as I work on the blanket I'm currently knitting. I was liking the drama, and even digging the "tough" female lead right up to the point where she freaks out in the car after that my whole mindset went from ok, I can give this a chance to checking how much more of the first episode there was to the end.  I hated, loathed, that scene.  It was too long, too annoying, too everything bad.  I might watch it for Joo Won but this is supposed to be an action rom-com and at this point I'm completely uninterested in the main couple being together.

Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures.  We all have them.  Those things we enjoy more than we probably should; maybe we enjoy them in the middle of the night when no one else is around just so you don't have to explain your fascination to others.  I have any number of guilty pleasures and they range from my unhealthy love of instant ramen to my love of '80s hair bands, from trashy romance novels to badly made SyFy movies and so many, many more.  However, my biggest guilty pleasure are musicals.  There is nothing wrong with musicals, but I'm not just talking your standard musical, although I do love them as well, I'm talking about those corny movies dealing with someone trying to become a famous singer.  You know leaving their small town to venture into the big city only to find out that it's harder than they thought so they end up serving beer at a seedy bar for tips.  I love those movies too.  Truth be told if it has to do with someone breaking into song a drop of a hat for no real good reason I'm all over it; I'll admit to even watching Glee.  I'm going to date myself but Eddie and the Cruisers was one of my favorite movies growing up, and don't get me started on Disney Princess movies and the many sing-a longs I've had with them.

 

I've tried really hard for this slight obsession not to bleed into my Kdrama watching, and for the most part I've been successful mostly because I don't think I've found any true musicals a la Rent or Sweeney Todd, but what I have found are dramas dealing characters wanting to be successful in the music industry, unfortunately, none of them work in a skanky bar with scantily dressed women.  Three of my favorites are Heartstrings, You're Beautiful and Shut Up Flower Boy Band. 

Ok, yes this one is my all time favorite .... ever.

This slight obsession with all things musical led me to watch K-Pop the Ultimate Audition also called K-Pop Extreme Survival I wasn't going to watch it because, but not only is it about an all boy kpop group it is also about a girl pretending to be a boy to be part of said group how could I pass this up?  I'm weak and I couldn't.  So I watched and for the most part I did enjoy it.  The story is about a young tomboy who plays classical piano but really wants to be a hip hop star.  Seung Yeon ditches her prestigious school in England, returns to Korea, hides out from her parents, tries out for the most popular kpop group, M2, alongside her best friend, Ji Woo, makes it as one of the finalists, lives in a house with seven guys, falls in love with Woo Hyun, the assholey lead of M2, dances, sings, is found out, something ... something happily ever after.  Ok, it's not the greatest drama dealing with music, that distinction belongs to Shut Up Flower Boy Band, but it's not the worst, Dream High 2, cough cough.
The best thing I can say about it is that it was cute and short.  They cut the drama down to 14 episodes so I saved two hours of my life. Hooray.  I would even venture that I kinda liked it. The lead played by Ko Eun Ah was great, the music was pretty okay.  The only things were that I have no idea how they thought she was a guy with big ole boobies that she had even after they were taped down, and it had the most awkward kisses ever to grace dramaland.  We are talking Heartstrings awkward, but there were more than one.  You'd figure they would learn how to kiss after the first one, or they would be more comfortable doing it after the first kiss, but no every kiss in the drama was deer in headlights kiss. Shudder.

Wild Romance? Where? Did I Miss It?

Last weekend I decided to finally finish watching Wild Romance after many, many months of it being on my on hold list.  The drama originally aired between January and February of 2012, I watched the first episode probably sometime in March of last year and then promptly dropped it.  I hated the first episode.  I hated the characters, I wanted to bitch slap them so hard they would see cartoon birds circling their heads.  Last weekend, I was in the mood to give second chances so I decided to watch Wild Romance from beginning to end, damn it I was going to finish it no matter how many alcoholic drinks it took, the vodka did help by the way.
The drama stars Lee Dong Wook as Park Mu Yeol, a famous baseball player, and Lee Si Young, as Yoo Eun Jae, his spunky female bodyguard.

If only they looked this good in the drama...sigh.

The drama starts off with our two leads meeting in a karaoke bar and getting into a drunken scuffle since Eun Jae is a diehard fan of the rival baseball team.  This being dramaland it leads to her becoming his bodyguard to protect his image and her job.  They instantly hate each other, and I can see why because I hate them too. It seems that Mu Yeol is being stalked and that is the cover that they use for her becoming his bodyguard.  The first half of the drama they spend sniping at each other and making funny faces as they try to go about their daily lives.  She slowly warms up to him realizing that she has feelings for him that move beyond disgust, and just when you think that maybe this drama will be good in walks the crazy ex-girlfriend.
She is literally crazy something about her being bipolar and prone to go into catatonic stages.  She comes in to add a wrench to our main couple's pursuit of happily ever after.  It really pissed me off that our lead male has more kissing scenes and make out scenes with the crazy ex than he did with the main lead.  For an episode there I thought the drama was going to really surprise me and he was going to work it out with the ex and they would have the happily ever after.  Maybe that would have been more enjoyable.
The last fifth of the drama finally comes back around to the stalking plot, and it was meh.  It seemed to much like they were trying to turn what should have been an entertaining rom-com into a thriller complete with murder, psycho best friend, and bat shit crazy housekeeper.  I didn't buy it and only mildly entertained.  I knew from almost the start that the housekeeper was the stalker; she was just plain weird and overly hovering.
The only reason I didn't drop this drama a second time was because of the hilarious side couple of Manager Kim and Kim Dong Ah.  These two had more chemistry than the lead couple and more ahhh moments also.  They were wonderful.  From her asking about his fantasies and offering to watch porn with him to him losing his robot facade to defend her against the psycho bad guy.  I just loved them.  I want to see them in a drama again with more airtime.

 

 

Flower Boy Next Door Series Review

  I adored this drama.  I thought it was so cute and it never failed to make me smile.  It is the Seinfeld of rom-coms.  Nothing really happened, there were no evil mothers, long lost loves coming back, nor amnesia,  and yet the characters were able to grow and develop and become complete and beautiful people at the end.  Having given myself a week so as to not gush all over this drama, I can honestly say that I still feel like gushing.  From beginning to end it was one of my favorite dramas, it might even replace one of my top four or maybe I’ll just bend to the masses and make it a top five.  Now, I’m not blind to the shortcomings of the drama, but I loved this drama so much I am able to gloss over the shortcomings like the ones I talk about here, and the lack of romantic scenes.  Now the lack of romantic scenes is one of my personal gripes with kdramas but I’ll leave that for another post.
    For those who haven’t watched, you could go do that now, or for those who haven’t made it to the finale, I must warn you there will be spoilers.
  The drama starts with what I think is one of the cutest openings I’ve seen.  We see our main female lead Go Dok Mi waking up from where she had been asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and then we see her spy on her neighbor across the way and imitate his daily routine in a completely cute, stalkery, creepy way.

  Go Dok Mi is a modern day Rapunzel, she, however, is locked up in her tower by choice.  She doesn't like to venture out into the outside world and wants to have a little interaction with others as humanly possible.  Her little world is her apartment, the travel shows she watches on t.v., and the neighbor she spies on with her funky yellow binoculars.  This little world is about to be turned upside down by the arrival of our male lead Enrique Geum.

Enrique is a game designer who is ruled by his inner child.  He's as happy go lucky as it comes, talking a mile a minute, always smiling, and enjoying life or the polar opposite of Go Dok Mi.  He arrives from Spain to play "cupid," and along the way he stumbles upon Dok Mi and decides that it is his responsibility to make sure she goes out and starts experiencing the real world.  He may not have sequestered himself inside an apartment, but Enrique is just as lonely as Dok Mi except he hides it under a layer of laughter and words.
The third side of our love triangle is Jin Rak.  I have to admit that at first I wanted Dok Mi to end up with him because they are so similar, but as time went by I realized that with Jin Rak Dok Mi would never grow as a person.  Where Enrique wants Dok Mi to go out and experience the real world, Jin Rak is content to have her continue to live in her own world; he just wants to be able to step into it with her.  Which seems ahhh, how romantic, but really is just fear that holds him back and would hold her back as well.

 I truthfully really did enjoy this drama I didn't fast forward through any of if which is nothing short of miraculous.  I think the whole drama had a very mellow feel to it.  It wasn't exciting or edge of your seat worry about what would happen next, and to me that was the beauty of it.  I didn't have to worry about a big misunderstanding breaking up the main couple because believe it or not these characters actually talked to each other.  There were no ungrounded accusations flying, no crying over hurt feelings and refusing to communicate clearly people said what they were thinking and what they felt, with the exception of Do Hwi, and that was a breath of fresh air.  
This drama was extremely entertaining, as I've come to expect from TVN.  It was heartfelt with well rounded characters that drove the story forward without the contrived issues  that other dramas throw at their main couple.  
And most importantly, this drama provided the mostly entertaining secondary pairing ever.

And the main couple wasn't so bad either.

.

Flower Boy Next Door - The Most Perfect Imperfect Drama - The Bad

*************SPOILERS***************

*Disclaimer: My view of this drama may be slightly skewed due to my long standing infatuation with Park Shin Hye and my new found gay girl crush on Yoon Shi Yoon.

They're adorable, right??

    A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I love all dramas equally, well that was all right lie because truth be told I love Flower Boy Next Door(FBND) more than all the rest.  At the time I wrote that post, this one, I already had twinges of favoritism toward FBND, but I tried to ignore it because I was afraid of being disappointed.  But now that the drama is over, I can honestly say that I was not disappointed and I enjoyed every single one of the sixteen episodes.  They each added to the overall drama and showcased the growth of the characters.  Now, I’m not say that this was the perfect drama, came close though, but it was a damn good one.  

There being no such thing as perfect FBND did have a couple of flaws.  Such as Do Hwi, the whole issue with who the owner of the building was, and the stalker panda hat girl/fanclub losers.

I never really gave a rat's ass about the whole building issue or who the owner was.  I must admit that I kinda thought it was the security guard because he was just a little too involved in the what happened in the building with the demonstration and what not.  I think I would have preferred if they fleshed out the relationship between the security guard and the older lady rather than spend any time with the mystery of the owner.

Although, I do see the importance of having Do Hwi as a character, she is the key to explaining why Dok Mi hides herself away, I think the last we should of seen of her is when she tried to hurt Dok Mi by inviting the scumbag teacher to her party.  Since then she's just been wasting airtime that could have been taken up by one of my favorite side characters, Kim Seul-gi the webtoon editor.

The other waste of time and space was the whole panda hat girl stalker, fan club idiots.  They truly served no purpose other than to give me a minute to go refill my water bottle.  They just were not needed.  I was kinda okay with the older stalker lady mostly because that developed into something that kinda sorta dealt with Enrique's work the game addiction angle, but the panda hat girl should have maybe had one appearance and that is stretching it.  It was just not needed.  Dok Mi had enough issues with Enrique leaving or even being able to ask him to stay without added the outside interference. 

Flower Boy Next Door Episode 1 in Pictures