K-drama blog #1
Just something I decided to do for the sake of being more active in my journal. I plan on doing this once-twice a week, depending on my mood & series I've been watching.
Since I've watched over 300 j-dramas (a lot of them RAW as well) and I realised that I had only watched 20 something k-dramas I wanted to close the gap a little. Besides j-dramas lately are nothing like they used to be & they bore me to death. I even dropped a couple of series. Thankfully this is not the case with k-dramas so far. I always found them more addicting than j-dramas in general anyway.
So I'll be blogging about the series I watch in a regular manner. No major spoilers for the sake of those who really want to watch them. ^^
Here we go:
Dream (2009): 8/20
I always wanted to watch this ever since it was aired but I postponed it & eventually kinda forgot about it. Now that I'm on the k-drama watching high I picked it up. Glad I did. I love both story & characters. For some inexplicable reason it gives me an RPG (especially Final Fantasy) vibe. The fallen sports agent who meets the youth who has talent in boxing & grooms him to become a champion while planning to get even with the evil president who sacked him. Oh yes! It's kinda remindant of FFVII! And that's a good thing. The heroine is played by Son DamBi & she's quite powerful. I think she does a good job.
So far the story flows naturally & there are a lot of comedic moments. I love Kim Bum & his ridiculous smile everytime he looks at DamBi! And not to mention the Flower Fighters! This twist alone gives a manghwa touch to the series.
I'm watching this slowly but I expect to finish it in a couple of weeks the most.
Gumiho: Tale of the Fox Child (2010): 13/16
It was my summer sageuk pick. With the fantasy & thriller elements it makes a very enjoyable watch that has you on the edge of your seat. Or has you creeped out. A Gumiho (Nine Tailed Fox) & her daugher, wonder into a village where the local lord takes them in. But the lord's daughter is sick & will die unless the lord feeds her the gumiho's daughter's liver. And that's just the beginning.
The actors are amazing in this.Seo Shin Ae has to be the best child actor I've ever seen. She literally creeped me out on many occasions! The story gets more complicated as the episodes pass. 3 episodes before the end & I still wander what kind of ending it'll be. The shaman is one of the scariest & mysterious characters I've seen in any drama.
A highly recommended drama if you're tired of the usual romantic comedies & melodramas.
Oh My Lady (2010): 9/16
The standard romantic comedy I have to watch in between sageuk & action dramas to lift the heavy atmoshere. Of course together with my sucker-for-romcoms sister. A divorced 35 year old lady finds herself working at a house of a younger top star who also happens to have a hidden child. The star is played than none other than Super Junior's resident hunk, Choi Siwon. And the leading lady is miss Dalja, ChaeRim!
Apart from the apparent style cliches it's really fresh & flows really good. The protagonist is a very well behaved, no nonsense, considerate woman, who is nothing like the usual girl lead who acts foolish. Also, a good part of the story centers around the secondary characters & the musical production industry so it's interesting to watch. The little girl who plays Siwon's daughter is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Even Aiba's daughter in My Girl wasn't that cute.
Of course get ready for copious amounts of fanservice from Siwon, who, seems to take his blouse off at every chance!
I am Legend (2010): 2/16
A story of female empowerement. At first I wanted to watch this because word had it that Kim Sunah would play the lead & she's one of my favorite actresses. But when she pulled out I wasn't that sure if I would watch it. Gladly, the new about U-KISS appearing in this drama made me pick it up again & I was not disappointed (so far). A woman trapped in an unhappy marriage with a prestigious lawyer decides to change her life & asks for a divorce. At the same time she gathers her friends & revives her old high school rock band.
A theme like that is rare in Korean dramas. Most of the times we see the girl relying on the prince charming for protection. This time around the tables are turned. The heroine was a slave to the house she married into. Her mother in law is an awful woman who forced her to do fertility treatments while her husband doesn't even love her. At the end of the 1st episode she gets fed up & asks for the divorce. Now she has to fight him in court while she works towards her dream of becoming a rock star. Of course her best friends support her all the way.
Stories like this are very hard to come by. I believe that the drama will take advantage of its uniqueness & continue to unfold at a good pace. We'll see! :3
Secret Investigation Record (2010): 1/12
Also known as Joseon X files. Another historical drama but with an different & interesting approach: Science Fiction. One day in 1609 a light is seen on the sky of a province in Joseon. A huge UFO lands in the mountains. A whole village dissappears. And the governor who dares to report the incidents to the Emperor is jailed for treason. An open minded investigator of the Court set off to find out the truth behind these incidents.
Basically it is like X files. Only in Korea & in ancient times. This fact alone (& the fact that it's only 12 episodes) made me pick it up. Not that I need any excuses to pick up sageuk. And this one has something different. From the start you can see the UFO landing on Joseon. It's not some kind of conspiracy. There really are aliens there. But someone is trying to hide their existance. Who? I still don't know. Our Korean Mulder will have to find out by risking his life. Of course there is the Korean Scully as well but she was only briefly introduced at the first episode.
The filming differs radically from any k-drama you might have seen so you'd better keep this in mind. If you like historical dramas & mysteries do give it a try. WITHS2 is subbing it.
So far these are the dramas I'm currently watching. Next week I may also pick up the following: My Girlfriend is a Nine Tail Fox, Swallow the Sun, Sunkyunghwan Scandal & Playful Kiss.
Also I'm waiting for Fugitive, Secret Garden & Athena to air but it'll be a while.
Well then.... Bye bye!!!
Since I've watched over 300 j-dramas (a lot of them RAW as well) and I realised that I had only watched 20 something k-dramas I wanted to close the gap a little. Besides j-dramas lately are nothing like they used to be & they bore me to death. I even dropped a couple of series. Thankfully this is not the case with k-dramas so far. I always found them more addicting than j-dramas in general anyway.
So I'll be blogging about the series I watch in a regular manner. No major spoilers for the sake of those who really want to watch them. ^^
Here we go:
Dream (2009): 8/20
I always wanted to watch this ever since it was aired but I postponed it & eventually kinda forgot about it. Now that I'm on the k-drama watching high I picked it up. Glad I did. I love both story & characters. For some inexplicable reason it gives me an RPG (especially Final Fantasy) vibe. The fallen sports agent who meets the youth who has talent in boxing & grooms him to become a champion while planning to get even with the evil president who sacked him. Oh yes! It's kinda remindant of FFVII! And that's a good thing. The heroine is played by Son DamBi & she's quite powerful. I think she does a good job.
So far the story flows naturally & there are a lot of comedic moments. I love Kim Bum & his ridiculous smile everytime he looks at DamBi! And not to mention the Flower Fighters! This twist alone gives a manghwa touch to the series.
I'm watching this slowly but I expect to finish it in a couple of weeks the most.
Gumiho: Tale of the Fox Child (2010): 13/16
It was my summer sageuk pick. With the fantasy & thriller elements it makes a very enjoyable watch that has you on the edge of your seat. Or has you creeped out. A Gumiho (Nine Tailed Fox) & her daugher, wonder into a village where the local lord takes them in. But the lord's daughter is sick & will die unless the lord feeds her the gumiho's daughter's liver. And that's just the beginning.
The actors are amazing in this.Seo Shin Ae has to be the best child actor I've ever seen. She literally creeped me out on many occasions! The story gets more complicated as the episodes pass. 3 episodes before the end & I still wander what kind of ending it'll be. The shaman is one of the scariest & mysterious characters I've seen in any drama.
A highly recommended drama if you're tired of the usual romantic comedies & melodramas.
Oh My Lady (2010): 9/16
The standard romantic comedy I have to watch in between sageuk & action dramas to lift the heavy atmoshere. Of course together with my sucker-for-romcoms sister. A divorced 35 year old lady finds herself working at a house of a younger top star who also happens to have a hidden child. The star is played than none other than Super Junior's resident hunk, Choi Siwon. And the leading lady is miss Dalja, ChaeRim!
Apart from the apparent style cliches it's really fresh & flows really good. The protagonist is a very well behaved, no nonsense, considerate woman, who is nothing like the usual girl lead who acts foolish. Also, a good part of the story centers around the secondary characters & the musical production industry so it's interesting to watch. The little girl who plays Siwon's daughter is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Even Aiba's daughter in My Girl wasn't that cute.
Of course get ready for copious amounts of fanservice from Siwon, who, seems to take his blouse off at every chance!
I am Legend (2010): 2/16
A story of female empowerement. At first I wanted to watch this because word had it that Kim Sunah would play the lead & she's one of my favorite actresses. But when she pulled out I wasn't that sure if I would watch it. Gladly, the new about U-KISS appearing in this drama made me pick it up again & I was not disappointed (so far). A woman trapped in an unhappy marriage with a prestigious lawyer decides to change her life & asks for a divorce. At the same time she gathers her friends & revives her old high school rock band.
A theme like that is rare in Korean dramas. Most of the times we see the girl relying on the prince charming for protection. This time around the tables are turned. The heroine was a slave to the house she married into. Her mother in law is an awful woman who forced her to do fertility treatments while her husband doesn't even love her. At the end of the 1st episode she gets fed up & asks for the divorce. Now she has to fight him in court while she works towards her dream of becoming a rock star. Of course her best friends support her all the way.
Stories like this are very hard to come by. I believe that the drama will take advantage of its uniqueness & continue to unfold at a good pace. We'll see! :3
Secret Investigation Record (2010): 1/12
Also known as Joseon X files. Another historical drama but with an different & interesting approach: Science Fiction. One day in 1609 a light is seen on the sky of a province in Joseon. A huge UFO lands in the mountains. A whole village dissappears. And the governor who dares to report the incidents to the Emperor is jailed for treason. An open minded investigator of the Court set off to find out the truth behind these incidents.
Basically it is like X files. Only in Korea & in ancient times. This fact alone (& the fact that it's only 12 episodes) made me pick it up. Not that I need any excuses to pick up sageuk. And this one has something different. From the start you can see the UFO landing on Joseon. It's not some kind of conspiracy. There really are aliens there. But someone is trying to hide their existance. Who? I still don't know. Our Korean Mulder will have to find out by risking his life. Of course there is the Korean Scully as well but she was only briefly introduced at the first episode.
The filming differs radically from any k-drama you might have seen so you'd better keep this in mind. If you like historical dramas & mysteries do give it a try. WITHS2 is subbing it.
So far these are the dramas I'm currently watching. Next week I may also pick up the following: My Girlfriend is a Nine Tail Fox, Swallow the Sun, Sunkyunghwan Scandal & Playful Kiss.
Also I'm waiting for Fugitive, Secret Garden & Athena to air but it'll be a while.
Well then.... Bye bye!!!