*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.
I don’t watch melodramas, except for Sirius, That Winter the Wind Blows
is the first for me. I don’t like to be depressed when I watch Korean
dramas, although I do like depressing movies. When I watch a Kdrama I
want to let go of real life and watch something fun and bit on the
ridiculous side. I want to watch something that I know will have a
happy ending. The same reason I like Disney Princess movies because I
want to see a happily ever after. Going into a true melodrama, you
never really know if at the end you’ll get that happy ending. So as a
general rule I tend to stay away from them, however, when I first saw
the trailer for That Winter the Wind Blows I was determined to watch it. Besides, I’m already sad that Flower Boy Next Door ends next week a bit more melancholy will hardly register. (BTW, are you watching Flower Boy Next Door? And if not, why not? Go, now, watch it. I’ll wait here.)
The drama opens in a barren winter landscape where a lone tree breaks
the unending white of winter. Underneath the tree is a parcel of
clothing, and as we see a woman quickly walk away from the tree we are
given a glimpse of a baby in the parcel. This is our “hero” Oh Soo, who
we find out in the voice over is living a meaningless life. The barren
tree is very significant because in many ways Oh Soo sees himself like
that tree devoid of life. The first episode sets us up for the main plot
of the drama and in parts it feels more like an action drama than a
melodrama. There are fights, flights, and car crashes. But beneath the
action you feel Oh Soo’s sense of desperation. I’ve seen all three
episodes out now, and that sense of desperation mixed in with deep
sadness prevails throughout the three episodes. It comes from Oh Soo
and also from the main female lead, Oh Young. Both of their lives, for
different reasons, have made them into innately sad people.
I think since the first episode was shockful of action scenes the
second and third episodes nothing really happened. The story moved
forward, people talked, the bad guy stalked, and I became completely
hooked on the drama. I can feel the sadness emanating from these two
characters, the loneliness they’ve lived with for most of their lives
and it touches something within me. I don’t want to cry, but I do want
to smack a few people.
My absolute favorite parts however are whenever Kim Bum and Jung Eun Ji
are on camera and not just because I happen to adore them, but because
they have wonderful chemistry together and become a backdrop to showcase
that although Oh Soo might be lonely he isn’t really alone. I don’t
want to spoil the drama go watch it, well, after you’ve caught up with Flower Boy Next Door of course.
Sirius is a drama special lasting only 4 episodes that aired on KBS 2 in January. I first read about this drama several months ago on DramaBeans, and had decided that maybe it would be something I would enjoy after which I promptly forgot about it as I went on with my life and watched other things. I was browsing DramaCrazy a week ago and noticed that the first episode had finally been subbed. Last night, when I checked again all four episodes were up and subbed, I decided to go ahead and relax watching an action drama. I love action, guns, fights, car chases, explosions, love it all. Although Sirius is touted as an action drama, for me personally, it was more melodrama than anything dealing with the relationship between two brothers and how one's actions can affect both for many years to come.
This drama affected me more than any other drama I've watched. My heart ached after watching it. That's not a bad thing; it only means that it did its job very well. The drama is about two brothers the older brother Do Eun Chang and the younger brother Do Shin Wu. They happen to be identical twins. Eun Chang is the popular brother, charismatic and street tough. Shin Wu is quiet, naive, and prone to bullying. The first fifteen minutes of this drama just about killed me; the whole time I was close to tears.
The twins as teenagers are played by Park Hyung Sik. He does a marvelous job portraying both brothers in a way that they are easily distinguishable and unique. Throughout the drama we get a few more clues about what happened after Eun Chang is sent to prison through flashbacks, and each time you can see the pain in the actor's face. Park Hyung Sik is on my to watch list from now on.
Several years go by and we find out that Shin Wu is no longer the naive, scared younger brother he is now the Chief Detective going after the bad guys, and Eun Chang is released from prison only to find himself alone. To me it seems that the personality of the two brothers changed. Eun Chang comes out of prison quieter, humbler while Shin Wu has made himself tough and mean. Makes you wonder what happened to the brothers when they didn't have the other one.
There's a bad guy, Mr. Ko, who kidnaps Shin Wu and forces Eun Chang to take over at the police station with the threat of killing Shin Wu. And you see that regardless of the years that have passed the older brother is still willing to do anything to protect the younger one. There are not enough words in the English language to describe how good this drama is. From beginning to end, it tore my heart out.
Sirius(2013) South Korea KBS 2 Original Airdate: 1/6/2013-1/27/2013 4 episode series
Episode 1(below are random thoughts that went through my head while I watched this episode):
Stupid drama making me have feelings only five minutes in My fucking god that mother is a grade-A bitch. The first fifteen minutes of this drama should be extended into it’s own drama series. I would watch the shit out of it with a full box of kleenex and a pint of hagan dazs to get me through. BRUTAL. I wonder why he only goes after drug traffickers. It looks like prison humbled him. Maybe I should rewatch the beginning to make sure I have the brothers straight in my head. If I weren’t gay and old I’d totally stalk Park Hyung Sik. Look he’s twenty-two I can cyber stalk him with a free conscious. They’re identical twins but have different birthdays ... that’s kinda cute one was born on New Year’s Eve the other on New Year’s Day
Episode 2:
Poor Shin Wu even in prison Eun Chang is Mom’s favorite. Mom became drug addict no wonder he is all superman going after drug dealers Older brother trying to protect younger brother but never getting it quite right. Please, please tell me these brothers have a happy ending Eun Chang is trying to warm up So Ri’s hands by blowing on them, but she’s dead and then he puts gloves on her hands not sure if really sad or just creepy. Boys if you just listen to each other maybe you would understand where the other is coming from. I can’t fucking believe he pulled the trigger
Episode 3
Another flashback, now they are even younger, wait is Shin Wu in an orphanage?? I’m really thinking the mom is the queen of all bitches, she tried to convince Eun Chang to let Shin Wu take the blame, seriously how can you prefer one son so much more over the other somebody needs to slap some sense into her. This drama really wants me to cry but I’m stronger than the average Kdrama addict; tears will absolutely not be shed These brothers are breaking my heart.
Episode 4 Shin Wu pretending to be Eun Chang for his mother might be the saddest thing ever This whole drama is sad on top of sad NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Reply 1997(2012)
I like to watch dramas after they finished airing so that I can marathon them from start to finish in a couple of days or sometimes even one. Reply 1997 ended its run on TvN in September of 2012 and since then I have started it and turned it off within the first fifteen minutes on numerous occasions, in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, while Lambo was taking his morning nap and again and again I tried to watch it but there was something about it that didn’t appeal to me so I would stop it put it back on my plan to watch list and pick something else. About a week ago I started it again, and maybe this time I was ready to watch it because I made it through the first twenty minutes and two days later I had watched the entire thing wondering why I had put if off for so long. This drama blew me away. It is unlike anything else I have ever watched, kudos to TvN for showcasing interesting dramas that are oh so good and different. Please be advised there will be spoilers.
The drama opens in the present where a group of friends have gathered for their high school reunion. The voice over lets us know that it has been 15 years since their high school years and that at this reunion one of the couples would be announcing their upcoming marriage. The story about this group of six friends is told through a series of flashbacks that take the viewer back to 1997 the year of boy bands and dial-up modems. It is through these flashbacks that we see these young men and women stumble their way through the end of their childhood and into adulthood.
I’ve never been one to like anything told in flashbacks mostly because I lack patience. If we are already in the present just fucking tell me what’s going on quickly, there is really no need to take me to the long last past really just a quick synopsis and away we go. With Reply 1997, I didn’t mind the constant traveling back in time, in fact, I loved it. I loved absolutely everything about this drama. I loved the friendship between the characters, first loves, first heartbreak everything was handled so beautifully in this drama that at times it took my breath away.
The main character is Sung Shi Won, played extremely well by Jung Eun-ji. ShiWon is a total fangirl of ‘90s kpop group H.O.T. She stakes out the singer’s home just to be able to catch a glimpse of him, she camps out with other fans in front of a record store just to be able to be one of the first to get their new album which she of course pre-ordered, her walls are plastered with their posters and when her father rips them from her wall in a fit of rage her whole world is on the brink of ending.
I’m not going to delve into the plot of the drama just going to say that you need to watch it. It’s a kdrama so you know who it’s going to end but the journey that this group of friends take is beautiful to watch.
Now, personally the best and most heartbreaking part of this drama is Hoya’s character Kang Joon-hee. Joon Hee is the male lead’s best friend and he is also in love with his best friend. You see his heart break bit by bit as he tries not to let his feelings affect his friendship. As someone who during high school constantly questioned my sexuality and had to keep feelings and preferences bottled in, watching Joon Hee struggle through the minefield that is high school made my breath catch. Watching him loving someone he knew very well he would never be able to have, made my heart ache for him. Truth be told, I really wanted Joon Hee to have his happy ending with his first love. That would have made a good drama perfect.
I am slowly starting to knit again after many months of being unable to pick up the knitting needles. Even holding needles for a couple of minutes would make my hands ache, so I put away all my projects and let my hands rest. Now, almost four months later, I've picked up the needles again and am able to knit a few rows before my hands become numb and the pain creeps through my fingers. Little by little I'm working on a giant pink scarf with huge needles hoping that I can finish a project that should take a couple of hours in a few weeks and hoping that by then I will be able to knit comfortably for longer stretches of time.
This inability to do that which I love most is the reason I've gotten back to marathoning dramas and Korean movies. One after another I've consumed them to keep my mind off the fact that I'm emotionally ready to knit but physically every stitch is painful. In the last couple of weeks I've watched six movies and finished nineteen dramas. Yes, 19. I like to watch dramas much the same way I like to watch Doctor Who I like to consume them all in one sitting one episode after another until I get to the final episode which gives me a great sense of accomplishment much the same way casting off the final stitch of a knit project gives me this sense of accomplishment, a sense that all those hours were not in vain.
I feel about Korean dramas much the same way a mother feels about her children. I love them all equally, but definitely have my favorites. There’s the first born, the misunderstood rebel, the youngest, and of course the one that breaks your heart. If you have never watched a Korean drama, I suggest any of the following four. Each and everyone of these dramas will get you addicted for different reasons. They each tell a story ranging from first love, to love that can transcend any obstacle, and to love of best friends. The following are my current personal favorites. The might change as I watch more dramas but this is a good starting point for anyone to enjoy something a wee bit different that what is currently offered on American television.
No, these dramas are not ordered in favorite to least since I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, rather they are in the order in which I watched them. Be warned, there will be spoilers.
Boys Over Flowers(2009)
Truth be told Boys Over Flowers, a remake of Japanese Hana Yori Dango, will always be in my top five list for the very simple reason that it was my first. Like first love I find it very difficult to let go of these one. I probably will never rewatch it but the memory of that first weekend is still strong. The story revolves around Geum Jan Di a poor girl that gets a scholarship to attend ShinHwa School, a school that is home to the richest of the rich and the richest of these are the F4(flower 4). She, of course, is the only student to go up against this group of rich bullies. The two most important members of F4 are Goo Jun Pyo, played by a curly haired Lee Min Ho, and Yoon Ji Hoo, played by the beautiful Kim Hyun Joong. Geum Jan Di crushes on one but eventually falls in love with the other, you know the one that acted like an ass and treated her like a possession rather than a person. Boys Over Flowers wasn’t only my first drama it was also my first time experiences second lead syndrome but more on that later. This drama is cute and sweet and for a first timer exactly what was needed. It delved into a majority of the Kdrama tropes. Poor girl rich guy, unrequited love, amnesia, among many more. And beyond the main story arc it also has a subplot dealing with Geum Jan Di’s best friend and another of the F4 So Yi Jung, played by oh so got Kim Bum, which is just heartwarming. For a long time this was the drama I would recommend to people to get them interested in Korean dramas because even with its flaws it still has some really good eye candy and a firm albeit predictable plot. My Lovely Sam-Soon(My Name is Kim San-Soon)(2005)
There is absolutely nothing in this drama that should make it a standout. The plot is the same as countless other dramas, the cast isn’t uber beautiful, and for the most part the scenery is pretty meh. And yet, this drama comes together perfectly. There is not one thing that you can point at and say yep, that’s exactly why this is good. The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. The chemistry between the actors, the dialogue, the intensity of the drama just makes you forget that you aren’t watch anything new. The story revolves around Kim Sam-Soon a rather average looking female, in fact in the show she is considered chubby and is subconscious of her stomach when trying to have some sexy time with the male lead. Sam-Soon is a pastry chef that lands a job at an up-scale restaurant run by younger man Hyun Jin-heon, played by, he gets a lot hotter as he ages, Hyun Bin. The first few minutes of the first episode took a few tries to get through, but I am so glad I did. What followed was a solid story about two very different people coming together without sacrificing what is important to them. In many dramas the lead heroine starts off strong and spunky and then fizzles when she confesses her love, but with Sam-Soon you get a heroine that starts off strong and spunky and never lets that go, she becomes stronger because of the love she found and that in itself is rather refreshing. The First Shop of Coffee Prince(2007)
I love everything about this drama. The main characters, the supporting cast, the story, everything about this drama works. The story is the most common out there boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy refuses to acknowledge said love until he can’t fight it any more and it all cumulates in a beautiful kiss except through all of this boy thinks he has fallen in love with another boy. Choi Han-kyul, played by Gong Yoo, is the playboy son of a rich family which has decided that he needs to marry, and to make this happen they start setting him up on numerous blind dates. Han-kyul really doesn’t want to get married so he hires tomboy Ko Eun-chan, played by Yoon Eun-hye, thinking she is actually a boy, to pretend to be his boyfriend and break up his dates. Eun-chan needs the money so never tells Han-kyul that she is well a she. Eun-chan then starts working at Han-kyul’s coffee shop, which only hires young men(princes), she continues to play the part of a male. Slowly the two start to get closer and closer and feelings start to develop from both of them. You see Han-kyul struggle with his increasing attraction to another man. He fights it until he can’t any longer deciding that love transcends even sexuality. His acceptance of his feelings explode in one of the best Kdrama kisses of all time called through out the web as the “alien kiss.”
It’s after this kiss that everything comes to light and you the two leads try to get over such a huge lie. Beyond the main story, you also a wonderful supporting cast that gives the story depth and makes this drama very well worth the watch.
Shut up Flower Boy Band(2012)
This is the second drama in TVN’s “Oh Boy” series, following Flower Boy Raymun Shop, which casts a slew of young, very attractive actors to lead the dramas. And the actors in this drama are nothing short of Eye Candy, which just happens to be the name of the band they are all a part of. This drama centers around these five friends which after the tragic loss of their lead singer, Joo Byung-hee played beautifully poignant by Lee Min-ki, need to find a way to stay together and honor the memory of their lost friend. Sure, there’s the rivalry between them and the other band at the school they attend. It’s the fight between the two side of the tracks. The boys of Eye Candy all come from meager backgrounds and all they have going for them is their friendship. This drama is about friendship, laced with some of the best music to ever grace a kdrama. It is unlike any other drama I have ever watched. It is gritty and beautiful, it heartbreaking and spirit lifting. This drama is a glimpse into the lives of these young men, and that glimpse is enough to make you fall in love with them, to wish them all the best, to want to comfort them when things fall apart, to want to cry alongside them when they lose their friend, and to celebrate with them when they realize that regardless of where life takes you their friendship endures and strengthens each of them. Here's a fan made trailer.
I'm completely and totally obsessed with Asian dramas. I love them all, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, but my absolute, hands down, no runner up favorite are Korean dramas. I have watched more than thirty and counting. There's this really cool website for keeping track of dramas you've watched, want to watch, are watching, called My Drama List. I like it because I can keep track of what I've watched and you can score them in case late at night you are jonesing for something good to watch but can't figure out what new drama to start you can always go through your list and pick out one to rewatch. My list has all the dramas I've seen and what I've thought of them and yes I do sometimes go back to rewatch my favorite episode like Coffee Prince's episode 11 or Heartstrings' episode 7 or Lie to Me's episode 8 oh and so many more.
My current obsession with Kdramas started a couple of years ago when I was bullied by my best friend to watch Boys Over Flowers, and although, that particular drama is cheesy and over the top and so sweet it will make your teeth ache it was also so very very addicting I watched the 25 episodes over a weekend and then promptly started my next drama. Since then I've taken breaks usually when I become obsessed with something else, Doctor Who & Torchwood, I'm looking at you, but I always go back to Kdramas. They make me happy.
I need to practice writing for the sake of writing so I'll be updating dramas I've watched and reviews. I'll post my top 5 Kdramas in the next day or two and then this weekend my review for the last two I've watched which were Reply 1997 and Devil Beside You, this one is from Taiwan. Till then go watch a Kdrama. There are a multitude of place to watch on line including Crunchy Roll, Viki, Drama Fever, and let's not forget Hulu and Netflix.
