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dangermousieI woke up an hour earlier than I had to be because I was soanxious about IRIS. There is fannish and there is unhealthy. It's just as well that it's ending - I have never been this obsessed about drama in all my years of watching. Never.
This also made me decide to rewatch Beautiful Days with Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo.
Made in 2002, BD is a classic melodrama, one of those quintessentual Hallyu hits. She is a strong, feminine artist brought up at an orphanage. He is an icy, competent workaholic from a completely messed-up family. They meet, fall in love, and face obstacles together, while being completely grown-up and hot about it.
Why do I love it?
1. It's a drama where the OTP gets together early and then faces the world. I love those.
2. It bucks two biggest kdrama cliches - heroine with leukemia recovers (apparently because the station received a mountain of letters begging it to let the OTP have a happy ending) and childhood crush does not = OTP. Her childhood 'destined' love is his stepbrother (a character I loathe as he is whiny immature brat though I think we were supposed to like him)
3. There is no Other Girl. There are various other female characters but no OTP interlopers. Because he'd never even look at another woman.
4. Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo burn up the screen. It helps that they are "allowed" to be physical with each other. (Has there ever been a LBH drama without a bed scene? :D)
5. I adore LBH's character - he is a difficult person and the drama makes no bones about it (it helps to make him real and not just some Prince Charming fantasy) and being in that family permanently affected him but he is rock-steady and grown-up and the way he looks at her! I am a sucker for competent, love-starved guys. I also love that being with her makes him happier and mellows him out a bit but he will always be a reserved, driven person - his basic character did not change.
6. Choi Ji Woo is so good at womanly role - she is elegant and ladylike and relatively quiet but she is no pushover in any way - when she thinks he goes out of bounds, she has no problem bringing him to heel asap without raising her voice. It's like she's 'training' him for a relationship as he's had no practice before. She is awesome. Together they are so mature, which I love.
7. One of the most delicious angsty shippy scenes ever (in my cap).
If this is all not enough to convince you, have a shippy MV:
Yes, his hair is blond. No, I have no idea why the stylist throught it was a good idea. I don't care - he still looks hot.
Pssst - skip ep 1, it's pure backstory and not that interesting.
This also made me decide to rewatch Beautiful Days with Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo.
Made in 2002, BD is a classic melodrama, one of those quintessentual Hallyu hits. She is a strong, feminine artist brought up at an orphanage. He is an icy, competent workaholic from a completely messed-up family. They meet, fall in love, and face obstacles together, while being completely grown-up and hot about it.
Why do I love it?
1. It's a drama where the OTP gets together early and then faces the world. I love those.
2. It bucks two biggest kdrama cliches - heroine with leukemia recovers (apparently because the station received a mountain of letters begging it to let the OTP have a happy ending) and childhood crush does not = OTP. Her childhood 'destined' love is his stepbrother (a character I loathe as he is whiny immature brat though I think we were supposed to like him)
3. There is no Other Girl. There are various other female characters but no OTP interlopers. Because he'd never even look at another woman.
4. Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo burn up the screen. It helps that they are "allowed" to be physical with each other. (Has there ever been a LBH drama without a bed scene? :D)
5. I adore LBH's character - he is a difficult person and the drama makes no bones about it (it helps to make him real and not just some Prince Charming fantasy) and being in that family permanently affected him but he is rock-steady and grown-up and the way he looks at her! I am a sucker for competent, love-starved guys. I also love that being with her makes him happier and mellows him out a bit but he will always be a reserved, driven person - his basic character did not change.
6. Choi Ji Woo is so good at womanly role - she is elegant and ladylike and relatively quiet but she is no pushover in any way - when she thinks he goes out of bounds, she has no problem bringing him to heel asap without raising her voice. It's like she's 'training' him for a relationship as he's had no practice before. She is awesome. Together they are so mature, which I love.
7. One of the most delicious angsty shippy scenes ever (in my cap).
If this is all not enough to convince you, have a shippy MV:
Yes, his hair is blond. No, I have no idea why the stylist throught it was a good idea. I don't care - he still looks hot.
Pssst - skip ep 1, it's pure backstory and not that interesting.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 01:32 pm (UTC)Choi Ji Woo is my biggest girl-crush and her herouines are my absolute favourites (never noisy or bitchy which I dislike).
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 01:37 pm (UTC)I don't hate stepbrother as a character (because he was necessary) but as a person - I think I hit the roof when he told the heroine he forgave her for sleeping with his stepbrother which was mighty kind of him, seeing that heroine was in no way shape or form ugly brother's girlfriend and has been dating LBH from the start. Just - I thought he was awful.
I don't mind checking out Truth - if the plot sounds appealing, I'll always give anyone a chance (Park Yong Ha went from "I loathe him" to "love" though one of those)
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:56 pm (UTC)And CJW was HARDLY in it. it was mostly a Park Sun Young drama.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:55 pm (UTC)and it's basically centered on a selfish, entitled, ignorant, bitter individual. CJW is the protagonist, but most of the screen time goes to PSY who is brilliant but her hair... so offensive.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:56 pm (UTC)RSW would be decent looking if he lost 25lb, got a new haircut, and a better facial expression.
Unfortunately, nothing could help the lack of charisma and acting ability.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:35 pm (UTC)but I cannot stand Yoon Soo. I just can't. I thought she was too quiet, too subdued, too much of a martyr, she's not even dim at all but she's so self-sacrificing and like a little mother to all the cubs ... can't. stand. it.
I was far more invested with the rivalry of the men/family rather than their love story.
Want to know who I adored in this drama? Yang Mimi. that bitch was fierce.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:38 pm (UTC)I loved CJW's character but I usually love her ladylike, quiet and strong ones - I thought she was pretty awesome :)
Minchul = mmmmmmmmmmmmm. My thoughts are probably not even legal :)
Also, your icon!!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:48 pm (UTC)I have a lot of anger issues when it comes to Korean melodrama. I always want an anti-hero(ine)to come out winning and Yang Mimi got what she wanted. Even with her fake, plastic nose and all.
CJW's roles are basically an epitome of ol' Korean melodrama. She's like the poster child for the Queen of Tears. if there was a Korean melodrama heroine in the dictionary, Choi Ji Woo will be front and center, her picture will be right there, with sparkling tears in her eyes.
I must admit though, STH and Winter Sonata = my biggest guilty pleasures.
My mom LOVES CJW and will watch anything she has done. I like CJW a lot as the star that she is. I just wish the woman changes it up once in a while and actually play a different role. Lee Mari from Star's Lover started off pretty damn complex but she ended up as another run-of-the-mill Queen of Tears. =/ I hope she makes another project with Yonsama. Yes, I'm a shippah.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:38 pm (UTC)I wanted someone to take a hammer to Minchul's father. A rusty, heavy hammer. And use it on his head.
If BYJ and CJW made another drama, internet would explode and go down for the count.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:26 pm (UTC)Not CJW's whiney little sister. I DESPISED HER! Not that kid.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:34 pm (UTC)The whiny sister = must die. DIEEEE! Or be inflicted on Ugly Brother, who deserves her. (I spent most of the drama wanting LBH and CJW's characters to film a sex tape and send it to him).
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:41 pm (UTC)and also, the sister can go diaf. i wanted CJW to just kick her ass so bad, just run over that little, demanding, bratty puta. MYGAWD. She doesn't owe you her life just because she scarred your ~beautiful~ back. sitdown,ho.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:51 pm (UTC)I mean - the scene where he basically told CJW that LBH is only dating her to get revenge on him (why? how? for what?) as if nobody could find heroine attractive on her own? Or the bit where LBH begged him to hold off breaking Evil Father news so he'd have time to take his troubled little sis out of the country so she wouldn't see and he was all "I can only think about meeee now" or the bit where he decided it was awesome to proposition a woman whose fiance just left her and who just found out she is dying of cancer...ARGH.
The little sister should have been tied in a sack and murdered.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:58 pm (UTC)The little sister should have been tied in a sack and murdered.
take that and her annoying, repetitive song with her.
OMG. we mad? LOLercoaster.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 07:10 pm (UTC)He was such a spoiled little bitch! I just loved how grown-up the hero was - there was one scene where RSW was all whiny 'if I died before my mom, you'd not come to my mom's memorial service once she died, right?' and LBH is all "then make sure not to die" or something. LOLOLOLOL. He had so much common sense!
I hated Evil Father so badly (loved that he wasn't invited to the wedding) but at least his evilness gave me the delicious scene of LBH breaking down in that hotel room. Ugly Brother gave me nothing but aggravation.
take that and her annoying, repetitive song with her.
And her chemically terrifying hair!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 06:32 pm (UTC)It has the fast-forwardable bits (as it's an older drama) but the shippy stuff is so good! So good.
Now that I think about it, maybe the good stuff starts halfway into ep 1? I don't remember. *tries to think but her dvds are not here*
Let me know where ep 2 starts and I can fill in the blanks.
This is SO GOOD.
I found this, which I wrote an ep-and-a-half in which should hopefully fill in the gap:
Our saintly heroine who lurves her best friend Sena (she calls her 'sister' but I am sure they are not biologically related) a little too much. In fact, it will take a lot to convince me they are not a lesbian couple, as they exchange couples rings at one point.
We have secondary male lead, to be known henceforth as Ugly Brother. Seriously, no offense to the fans of this actor, but forget kicking him out of bed for eating crackers. I'd kick him out of bed for existing. He is not helped by a bowl haircut, ears much too large, and the nerdiest clothes since Screech. He also says things like "Even your foot is sexy" to his mother, which is supposed to be cute and not creepy.
He and Heroine had a 'destined meeting' in childhood, when he gave her his watch. In fact, currently heroine is mistaking Hero for him. However, a hint of childhood love is not enough to overcome that he is not played by Lee Byung-Hun and something tells me the requisite wailing and gnashing of teeth destined for all secondary males, is Ugly Brother's lot in life.
We also have the requisite Evil Father, so beloved of kdramas. In fact, Evil Father is so evil, that he managed to kill a former friend (also a musical manager), after framing his client, before the story proper even started. Not only that, but as soon as his wife, Hero's Mum, was dead, he brought the widow of that friend into the house as Wife Number 2. He also claimed Ugly Brother is his kid, as opposed to son of Wife No. 2 and the man he offed. Which is all well and good, because it gave our Hero understandable issues, what with thinking his Evil Dad cheated on his dying wife, Hero's mother. He has also mistreated his daughter and stated ominous threats like kicking people out of the house. I expect much of him.
Also, on the plus side, we have Hero. Who is quite yummy, and with a magnitude of white teeth. He looks quite fetching staring intensely at things. Unlike Ugly Brother, Hero is quite hot. He is quite a 'good boy' to Evil Father, managing their recording company and behaving himself. However, this is only after burying his grandmother (who had his sister living with her) who died in dire poverty because Evil Father was, well, evil, when he returned to the family manse with his troubled sister, because to not come home would please Evil Father too much.
So yeah, he is icy, and reserved, and tightly wound, and hot. He is also ruthless and just generally awesome. With a very nice smile. I am sold. He has quite a fun meeting with the heroine, where he had her pretend to be someone else to fool the raging fans. It was cute. They have had many cute meetings since.
The most interesting relationship so far is between Hero and his troubled, wild-child sister, who is a more saner version of River from Firefly. I like watching them together a lot (they have a siblings against the world vibe, and he is a caretaker) and actually find that part genuinely good as opposed to just cheesy. Though the thing with the heroine also has potential.
There are a bunch of secondary characters with dyed hair, none of whom can I be bothered with.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-17 08:41 pm (UTC)*hates her*
A little further push...
Date: 2009-12-17 06:49 pm (UTC)Re: A little further push...
Date: 2009-12-17 07:01 pm (UTC)Re: A little further push...
Date: 2009-12-17 07:06 pm (UTC)He's so serious and grown-up, it's adorable that he turns into such a little kid with her.