Submissive Asian girl stereotypes? Think again...
I was going to do a post on cool drama guys with swords but then I thought...ehhhh, everybody's done one of those. I want to do a cool post on kickass drama GIRLS with swords or guns. And why they are awesome.
So here goes:
Xiulie, Bichunmu
Who: Xiulie is the illegitimate daughter of a Chinese Warlord and a dancer. While she is always strong, she does not start out as a great warrior or knowing how to fight. However, various things in her life (like the fact that her OTP is always being chased by Dudes with Swords or that she wants to be able to protect self) lead her to learn how to fight and be a supremo kickass girl. In fact, the drama starts with her and Jan Ho (the Hero) outnumbered, taking on an entire army by themselves. The rest of the drama is their kid telling their story, but yeah, he is going to have a hard time to live up to his mother.
Chae-Ok, Damo
Who: Chae-Ok is ostensibly a 'tea servant' in a medieval police precinct. However, not only can she outfight most anybody in the precinct (having grown up and trained with Lord Hwangbo Yoon, the police commander), she is also intelligent, reserved, and emotionally crippled. She is so awesome that I am happy she and Hwangbo Yoon never have any kids. If they did, said kids would probably be tough enough to take over the world.
Sosunho, Jumong
In fighting gear:
In Queenly regalia:
Who: Sosuhno is a princess of a small kingdom neighboring Gogureyo, but mainly, she is a talented and fearless trader. She is also politically smart, following the shifting ambitions of Gogureyo's court and its potential heirs to see who wins. She is the one who toughens up Jumong, our hero, and she can fight as well as any man. What's not to love?
Sujini, The Legend
This guy is so SO lucky to have her by his side:
So lucky.
Who: Arguably my favorite drama gal, orphaned street rat Sujini is a hard-drinking, practical archer who is possessed of unswerving loyalty, total optimism, and yeah, mad fighting skills. She repeatedly saves the life of our hero, Dam Duk, exchanges sex advice with a hardened mercenary in the middle of a hopeless battle, and oh yeah, has the potential to destroy the world. She rocks SO hard.
Heo Yi Nok, Hong Gil Dong
Yup, here she is being a bandit's moll. Heh.
Who: HGD is Korea's Robin Hood and Yi Nok? The story's Marian. She is a good fighter, but even better, she is sunny, good-hearted, and will never stop eating. She is total love.
Yoon Shi-yeon, Nine Tailed Fox
Who: Shi-yeon is the reverse Buffy, a 'fox' (i.e. a vampire) who is an elite fighter for the organization which fights humans and who might have a special destiny. She has a star-crossed love with a cop from the special unit who hunts them, but that is not a typical kdrama love. The story of their grown-up selves starts, after all, when she is the one who saves him from being sliced up.
Xiao Long Nu, Return of the Condor Heroes
during filming:
with Yang Gup. Nothing says ILY like constant sword practice:
Who: Long Nu is the mysterious but fearsome fighter who does not mesh well in the human world because she grew up in a cave. She is incredibly cool for many reasons: awesome fighting skills, the fact that she is the martial arts master (and is older) for Yang Guo, the guy she ends up with. She survives poison, stab wounds and when she gets raped-by-trick (she thought it YG but it wasn't)? When she finds out the truth, she goes after the offender, offs him, and that is the end of the matter because NOTHING WILL KEEP HER DOWN EVER.
Orchid, Handsome Siblings
(pic stolen from meganbmoore)
Who: Orchid's meet cute with her OTP? In a giant fighting tournament. She has great fighting skills and does not give in to the villainesses and won't die even after jumping off a cliff, but her real talent is tolerating her husband's brother. seriously. Dicky Cheung, shut UP!
Hong Bi, Romance of Red Dust
Here she is in the center:
And here she is, with her deceptively nice-looking assassin squad:
Who: fearsome assassin and concubine of evil governor, Hong Bi can outfight and outmaneuver basically anyone. She goes on the lam when she gets fed up with yet another order, this time assassination of an idealistic young scholar. They end up travelling together, falling in love, fighting off hordes of assassins. There is a bit of an awesome gender role reversal there: he is the naive one and she is the tough as nails experienced one, and a better fighter.
Yankumi, Gokusen
Who: Mob heir, aspiring teacher? Yup. Yankumi is all about non-violence until one of her students is threatened. Then she unleashes skills so scary, the room gets covered with flying bodies with no time.
Maria, The Lobbyist
Who: Haven't seen the drama yet, but the gal is holding a gun and is an international arms lobbyist, so I am assuming she is tough.
I am sure there are tons more but am too lazy to think...
So here goes:
Xiulie, Bichunmu
Who: Xiulie is the illegitimate daughter of a Chinese Warlord and a dancer. While she is always strong, she does not start out as a great warrior or knowing how to fight. However, various things in her life (like the fact that her OTP is always being chased by Dudes with Swords or that she wants to be able to protect self) lead her to learn how to fight and be a supremo kickass girl. In fact, the drama starts with her and Jan Ho (the Hero) outnumbered, taking on an entire army by themselves. The rest of the drama is their kid telling their story, but yeah, he is going to have a hard time to live up to his mother.
Chae-Ok, Damo
Who: Chae-Ok is ostensibly a 'tea servant' in a medieval police precinct. However, not only can she outfight most anybody in the precinct (having grown up and trained with Lord Hwangbo Yoon, the police commander), she is also intelligent, reserved, and emotionally crippled. She is so awesome that I am happy she and Hwangbo Yoon never have any kids. If they did, said kids would probably be tough enough to take over the world.
Sosunho, Jumong
In fighting gear:
In Queenly regalia:
Who: Sosuhno is a princess of a small kingdom neighboring Gogureyo, but mainly, she is a talented and fearless trader. She is also politically smart, following the shifting ambitions of Gogureyo's court and its potential heirs to see who wins. She is the one who toughens up Jumong, our hero, and she can fight as well as any man. What's not to love?
Sujini, The Legend
This guy is so SO lucky to have her by his side:
So lucky.
Who: Arguably my favorite drama gal, orphaned street rat Sujini is a hard-drinking, practical archer who is possessed of unswerving loyalty, total optimism, and yeah, mad fighting skills. She repeatedly saves the life of our hero, Dam Duk, exchanges sex advice with a hardened mercenary in the middle of a hopeless battle, and oh yeah, has the potential to destroy the world. She rocks SO hard.
Heo Yi Nok, Hong Gil Dong
Yup, here she is being a bandit's moll. Heh.
Who: HGD is Korea's Robin Hood and Yi Nok? The story's Marian. She is a good fighter, but even better, she is sunny, good-hearted, and will never stop eating. She is total love.
Yoon Shi-yeon, Nine Tailed Fox
Who: Shi-yeon is the reverse Buffy, a 'fox' (i.e. a vampire) who is an elite fighter for the organization which fights humans and who might have a special destiny. She has a star-crossed love with a cop from the special unit who hunts them, but that is not a typical kdrama love. The story of their grown-up selves starts, after all, when she is the one who saves him from being sliced up.
Xiao Long Nu, Return of the Condor Heroes
during filming:
with Yang Gup. Nothing says ILY like constant sword practice:
Who: Long Nu is the mysterious but fearsome fighter who does not mesh well in the human world because she grew up in a cave. She is incredibly cool for many reasons: awesome fighting skills, the fact that she is the martial arts master (and is older) for Yang Guo, the guy she ends up with. She survives poison, stab wounds and when she gets raped-by-trick (she thought it YG but it wasn't)? When she finds out the truth, she goes after the offender, offs him, and that is the end of the matter because NOTHING WILL KEEP HER DOWN EVER.
Orchid, Handsome Siblings
(pic stolen from meganbmoore)
Who: Orchid's meet cute with her OTP? In a giant fighting tournament. She has great fighting skills and does not give in to the villainesses and won't die even after jumping off a cliff, but her real talent is tolerating her husband's brother. seriously. Dicky Cheung, shut UP!
Hong Bi, Romance of Red Dust
Here she is in the center:
And here she is, with her deceptively nice-looking assassin squad:
Who: fearsome assassin and concubine of evil governor, Hong Bi can outfight and outmaneuver basically anyone. She goes on the lam when she gets fed up with yet another order, this time assassination of an idealistic young scholar. They end up travelling together, falling in love, fighting off hordes of assassins. There is a bit of an awesome gender role reversal there: he is the naive one and she is the tough as nails experienced one, and a better fighter.
Yankumi, Gokusen
Who: Mob heir, aspiring teacher? Yup. Yankumi is all about non-violence until one of her students is threatened. Then she unleashes skills so scary, the room gets covered with flying bodies with no time.
Maria, The Lobbyist
Who: Haven't seen the drama yet, but the gal is holding a gun and is an international arms lobbyist, so I am assuming she is tough.
I am sure there are tons more but am too lazy to think...