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

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.

Sirius(2013)

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.

Do Eun Chang (teenager)

Do Eun Chang

Do Shin Wu

An Na (Shin Wu's love interest)

So Ri (Eun Chang's love interest)

Mr. Ko

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.