women: a :3 history
30 Day Kdrama Challenge
Your Favourite Lead Female Character
Pop the kettle on! Get comfy! It's gonna be fun, beautiful, fierce journey into what makes kdrama awesome for me - The Ladies.
Soundtrack: 'Run The World (Girls)' by Beyonce
The Ladies. The Ladies. I'm actually yet to watch a kdrama where I don't love the main lead - they're varied, faceted, beautiful, resilient, brilliant, stupid-in-love and fierce as fuck. Here are a snapshot of the women who make Korean drama for me. I LOVE THEM, GUYS. I JUST DO.
KIM SUN-HWA
IRIS/Athena-verses
"Pieces," I hear you say, concerned, "Sun-Hwa isn't exactly the lead female character. That was -"
Shhhh, my precious. I don't give a shit. Because to me? She is the lead female character in IRIS, and her fifteen seconds in Athena was the only highlight bar that car sliding sideways, NK Lite and 'Cool Bass' aka The Greatest Musical Cue Ever.
To be honest - she's probably my favourite character, ever. Big claims, but the more I think about it, the more I think that statement's pretty much on the money. It's the quiet subtlety of Kim So-yeon's performance that makes Sun-Hwa just perfect - every second you think she's just in the background, you realise she's actually a bigger part of the IRIS mythos that anyone realised. Her transition from ruthless North Korean agent - a robot, a tool in a war she shouldn't of had to fight - to a strong, resilient female who learns to live on her own terms - it's just breathtaking.
Her relationships with Teeth (FOREVER), The NK and (yes, really) Ki Soo only serve to highlight the aspects of her characterisation that make her so interesting. When she appeared in Athena and the whole fucking soundtrack changed, it just proved to me how integral Sun-Hwa is, and how much she grew to be the only part of a universe that made sense. The fact she (and Kim Min-jong, it should be said) managed to create a past in one look across a car park says to me that IRIS 2? When it happens? Is set to be amazing, if only for the fact Sun-Hwa will be at the forefront, where she should be.
You live her heartbreak, her sorrow, her happiness, her internal ache - it's so wonderfully realised by Kim So-yeon that there was no way possible I couldn't have had her in this list. omgiloveherican'teven
SHIN MI-RAE
City Hall
The fact she was my first kdrama heroine set the bar pretty damn high, and I'm yet to see a female lead (other than Sun-Hwa and Ae-Jung in Best Love) that develops and progresses like Mi-Rae. Her arc is well-realised and organic, and Kim Sun-ah really shines as a nobody who becomes a Wonder Woman mayorette with - shock! - flaws and who makes mistakes like every other female on the planet. Sun-ah has a talent for taking down-and-outs and turning them into something real, through believable acting. Mi-rae's arc isn't dependant on her relationship with Mayor Jerk-Face Jo Guk, and I love that.
Only bad note: she's not fat, writers of City Hall. No really, she's not. Really.
NA YEO-KYUNG
Capital Scandal
She doesn't bow to the playboy's every whim! She has a makeover for five seconds before going back to her traditional garb! She sticks to her politics and doesn't waiver! She's a militant nationalist when it was dangerous to be so! She has a proper relationship with a woman from a different background and there's no fighting over some jerk! She says no when presented with sexytiems, and defends her right to do so! She's not afraid to use a gun (even though she kind of is)! She's cute! Proper! Intelligent! Well-read! Open-minded! Spirited! And most of all, she grows and learns and accepts people she didn't think she would, and she's amazing. Full stop.
Note: The Song-Joo Appreciation Hour will be on Day 5.
ANNA JO/NA SANG SHIL
Fantasy Couple
Han Ye-Seul isn't a particularly good actress outside of Fantasy Couple, but she's phenomenal as Anna Jo. She captures the awkwardness of a woman who's not sure of who she is at the best of times, and has to deal with memory loss to boot. There's a nice roundedness to the way she plays both of her roles; there's a moment, towards the end of the series, where Anna Jo - after regaining her memory - says, when thinking of her time as Na Sang-Shil and her life as Anna Jo - "I am both of them." It's a gorgeous, heartbreaking moment and makes you really love her. And she's Princess' mum, what else can I say?
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
GU AE-JUNG
Best Love
Honourable Mention, as the show is still airing, and she may turn into The Worst Character Ever within the next four episodes. I highly doubt it, though, and accept her unconditionally into the gallery of Characters That I Am Most Like, forever. Gong Hyo-jin is painting a gorgeous picture with her portrayal of a woman on the verge of a new life, who's trying to do it without sacrificing herself in the process. Plus she's so damn beautiful, she makes my heart ga-dunk ga-dunk (pun intended).
YAMADA NAOKO
Trick
Honourable because, well...she's not Korean. But, again - and not to sound like a petulant child - I don't care. Yamada is easily one of my favourite characters full stop, and Yukie Nakama has taken a role that could have gone stale in ten years and managed to keep it fresh as a daisy. The chemistry with Hiroshi Abe's Ueda is only one part of Trick - a good chunk of it is Yamada's attempts at trying to live up to parents who potentially could be more than what they seem, while living the life she wants to live. Granted, it's a messy, disjointed, bizarre life - but as the series progresses and Ueda and Yamada's relationship becomes one of beautiful inevitability, you begin to understand that she probably wouldn't have it any other way.
Filed under: Characters That Are Too Much Like Pieces For Her To Be Comfortable. See also: GU, Ae-Jung
...I really need to do a proper post about Trick, don't I?
What was I saying? Oh.
LADIES
LADIES
I LOVE THEM
GUYS
I LOVE THEM
Day 01: Your Favorite Kdrama
Day 02: Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Day 03: Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Day 04: Your Favorite Male Third Wheel Character
Day 05: Your Favorite Female Third Wheel Character
Day 06: Your Favorite Song from a Kdrama OST
Day 07: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Lead Character
Day 08: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Lead Character
Day 09: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Third Wheel
Day 10: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Third Wheel
Day 11; Your Favorite Dialogue
Day 12: Your Favorite Story
Day 13: Your Favorite “I Love You”
Day 14: Your Favorite Kiss
Day 15: Your Favorite Ending
Day 16: A Kdrama you started but can’t finish
Day 17: A Kdrama you’ve watched more than once
Day 18: The Worst Kdrama that you’ve watched until the end
Day 19: Your Best Actor
Day 20: Your Best Actress
Day 21: Your Worst Actor
Day 22: Your Worst Actress
Day 23: Your Best Couple
Day 24: Your Worst Couple
Day 25: Your First Kdrama
Day 26: Your Recently Finished Kdrama
Day 27: A Kdrama loved by many but you don’t seem to like
Day 28: A Kdrama not loved by many but you seem to like
Day 29: A Kdrama which made you so happy
Day 30: A Kdrama which made you so sad
Day 31: A Kdrama you plan on watching next
North Korea's Greatest Warrior (who you only brought flowers for, you jerk) thanks you for your time.
Your Favourite Lead Female Character
Pop the kettle on! Get comfy! It's gonna be fun, beautiful, fierce journey into what makes kdrama awesome for me - The Ladies.
Soundtrack: 'Run The World (Girls)' by Beyonce
The Ladies. The Ladies. I'm actually yet to watch a kdrama where I don't love the main lead - they're varied, faceted, beautiful, resilient, brilliant, stupid-in-love and fierce as fuck. Here are a snapshot of the women who make Korean drama for me. I LOVE THEM, GUYS. I JUST DO.
KIM SUN-HWA
IRIS/Athena-verses
"Pieces," I hear you say, concerned, "Sun-Hwa isn't exactly the lead female character. That was -"
Shhhh, my precious. I don't give a shit. Because to me? She is the lead female character in IRIS, and her fifteen seconds in Athena was the only highlight bar that car sliding sideways, NK Lite and 'Cool Bass' aka The Greatest Musical Cue Ever.
To be honest - she's probably my favourite character, ever. Big claims, but the more I think about it, the more I think that statement's pretty much on the money. It's the quiet subtlety of Kim So-yeon's performance that makes Sun-Hwa just perfect - every second you think she's just in the background, you realise she's actually a bigger part of the IRIS mythos that anyone realised. Her transition from ruthless North Korean agent - a robot, a tool in a war she shouldn't of had to fight - to a strong, resilient female who learns to live on her own terms - it's just breathtaking.
Her relationships with Teeth (FOREVER), The NK and (yes, really) Ki Soo only serve to highlight the aspects of her characterisation that make her so interesting. When she appeared in Athena and the whole fucking soundtrack changed, it just proved to me how integral Sun-Hwa is, and how much she grew to be the only part of a universe that made sense. The fact she (and Kim Min-jong, it should be said) managed to create a past in one look across a car park says to me that IRIS 2? When it happens? Is set to be amazing, if only for the fact Sun-Hwa will be at the forefront, where she should be.
You live her heartbreak, her sorrow, her happiness, her internal ache - it's so wonderfully realised by Kim So-yeon that there was no way possible I couldn't have had her in this list. omgiloveherican'teven
SHIN MI-RAE
City Hall
The fact she was my first kdrama heroine set the bar pretty damn high, and I'm yet to see a female lead (other than Sun-Hwa and Ae-Jung in Best Love) that develops and progresses like Mi-Rae. Her arc is well-realised and organic, and Kim Sun-ah really shines as a nobody who becomes a Wonder Woman mayorette with - shock! - flaws and who makes mistakes like every other female on the planet. Sun-ah has a talent for taking down-and-outs and turning them into something real, through believable acting. Mi-rae's arc isn't dependant on her relationship with Mayor Jerk-Face Jo Guk, and I love that.
Only bad note: she's not fat, writers of City Hall. No really, she's not. Really.
NA YEO-KYUNG
Capital Scandal
She doesn't bow to the playboy's every whim! She has a makeover for five seconds before going back to her traditional garb! She sticks to her politics and doesn't waiver! She's a militant nationalist when it was dangerous to be so! She has a proper relationship with a woman from a different background and there's no fighting over some jerk! She says no when presented with sexytiems, and defends her right to do so! She's not afraid to use a gun (even though she kind of is)! She's cute! Proper! Intelligent! Well-read! Open-minded! Spirited! And most of all, she grows and learns and accepts people she didn't think she would, and she's amazing. Full stop.
Note: The Song-Joo Appreciation Hour will be on Day 5.
ANNA JO/NA SANG SHIL
Fantasy Couple
Han Ye-Seul isn't a particularly good actress outside of Fantasy Couple, but she's phenomenal as Anna Jo. She captures the awkwardness of a woman who's not sure of who she is at the best of times, and has to deal with memory loss to boot. There's a nice roundedness to the way she plays both of her roles; there's a moment, towards the end of the series, where Anna Jo - after regaining her memory - says, when thinking of her time as Na Sang-Shil and her life as Anna Jo - "I am both of them." It's a gorgeous, heartbreaking moment and makes you really love her. And she's Princess' mum, what else can I say?
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
GU AE-JUNG
Best Love
Honourable Mention, as the show is still airing, and she may turn into The Worst Character Ever within the next four episodes. I highly doubt it, though, and accept her unconditionally into the gallery of Characters That I Am Most Like, forever. Gong Hyo-jin is painting a gorgeous picture with her portrayal of a woman on the verge of a new life, who's trying to do it without sacrificing herself in the process. Plus she's so damn beautiful, she makes my heart ga-dunk ga-dunk (pun intended).
YAMADA NAOKO
Trick
Honourable because, well...she's not Korean. But, again - and not to sound like a petulant child - I don't care. Yamada is easily one of my favourite characters full stop, and Yukie Nakama has taken a role that could have gone stale in ten years and managed to keep it fresh as a daisy. The chemistry with Hiroshi Abe's Ueda is only one part of Trick - a good chunk of it is Yamada's attempts at trying to live up to parents who potentially could be more than what they seem, while living the life she wants to live. Granted, it's a messy, disjointed, bizarre life - but as the series progresses and Ueda and Yamada's relationship becomes one of beautiful inevitability, you begin to understand that she probably wouldn't have it any other way.
Filed under: Characters That Are Too Much Like Pieces For Her To Be Comfortable. See also: GU, Ae-Jung
...I really need to do a proper post about Trick, don't I?
What was I saying? Oh.
LADIES
LADIES
I LOVE THEM
GUYS
I LOVE THEM
Day 01: Your Favorite Kdrama
Day 02: Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Day 03: Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Day 04: Your Favorite Male Third Wheel Character
Day 05: Your Favorite Female Third Wheel Character
Day 06: Your Favorite Song from a Kdrama OST
Day 07: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Lead Character
Day 08: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Lead Character
Day 09: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Third Wheel
Day 10: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Third Wheel
Day 11; Your Favorite Dialogue
Day 12: Your Favorite Story
Day 13: Your Favorite “I Love You”
Day 14: Your Favorite Kiss
Day 15: Your Favorite Ending
Day 16: A Kdrama you started but can’t finish
Day 17: A Kdrama you’ve watched more than once
Day 18: The Worst Kdrama that you’ve watched until the end
Day 19: Your Best Actor
Day 20: Your Best Actress
Day 21: Your Worst Actor
Day 22: Your Worst Actress
Day 23: Your Best Couple
Day 24: Your Worst Couple
Day 25: Your First Kdrama
Day 26: Your Recently Finished Kdrama
Day 27: A Kdrama loved by many but you don’t seem to like
Day 28: A Kdrama not loved by many but you seem to like
Day 29: A Kdrama which made you so happy
Day 30: A Kdrama which made you so sad
Day 31: A Kdrama you plan on watching next
North Korea's Greatest Warrior (who you only brought flowers for, you jerk) thanks you for your time.