My Princess - fever pitch (and a bit on The Duo). Plus, Secret Garden

[dangermousie]

(Thanks to ockoala for the heads-up).



More My Princess stills and a teaser is out. The stills look swoonily romantic and the trailer looks funny. MP stars Kim Tae Hee (whom I love and will defend to the death - I think she's gorgeous, has a warm on-screen vibe and great chemistry with costars. If I hear she is in a drama, it's an automatic 'check it out' in my book) as a long-lost Korean princess who only discovers the fact in her mid-20s. It also stars Mousie's sexiest kdrama actor ever, Song Seung Heon, as a diplomat tasked with training her for her new duties (I will take him over Julie Andrews any day!)





MBC's My Princess is slated to start on January 5. It is supposed to occupy the dreaded Wednesday-Thursday slot - if a drama starring Song Seung Heon and Kim Tae Hee and written by the writers of Lovers and On Air can't get good ratings, I will believe that slot is really cursed.



Here is the teaser:

Adorable, isn't it?



It's rather surprising but the two 2011 dramas I am looking forward to the most are both MBC dramas - My Princess and the fusion sageuk The Duo, which is a Prince and the Pauper-like tale of a nobleman and slave sons switched at birth, with Chun Jung Myung playing the protagonist - the aristocrat swapped for a slave, and Han Ji Hye playing his OTP. I hope it will be more Hong Gil Dongian/Chonolike in its approach to class issues and not take the "well, if only everybody stayed in their place, the world would be perfect" - i.e. the inequity is that an aristocrat by blood got to be a slave, not the existence of slavery itself.

In Secret Garden thoughts, I had a bit of a revelation - I think I love SG so much in part because the emotional power in the story is the woman's. Joo Won may be objectively correct when he states that Ra Im is inferior to him in status, wealth or education, but nonethless she has all the power in their relationship. Because he's mad about her, obsessed about her, cannot eat or sleep for thinking of her, but she is not. She is attracted him to him, sure, and is on the cusp of loving him (if he ever shuts his mouth for long enough :P) but she is not there yet. She can walk away and leave him, but he cannot do the same. His line in upcoming ep that if she doesn't want be the Little Mermaid, he's willing to be one, shows that. Ultimately, when push comes to shove, he is going to be willing to take her on any terms she posits. I love it especially because this is unusual in kdramas - usually the women fall in love first. They are both messed-up people but he needs her and she does not need him. Yet.

In conclusion, this still from MP gives me wicked deja vu to East of Eden (the scene with Dong Chul and Grace on their wedding night). Let's hope MP won't end as badly for the OTP!

Comments

[ockoala.livejournal.com]

OOOOOH, The Duo is my #1 most excited drama of 2011. Chun Jung Myung in a sageuk!!! *squee, I dies* Been waiting for this awesome boy-man-hottie to finally do a sageuk. If Junki can do it, he can do it!

MP - the stills are all poetic and lovely, and the trailer is all slapstick and hilarious. I'm ready for the fun times, hit me baby, with the MP cute.

Btw, hope you find time to catch up on Mary 11-12, the funny will be a nice pick-me-up.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The subs aren't out for MMM 11-12 yet. :( But yes, I need a pick-me-up after watching FOL.

I am excited for TD. Can't imagine CJM in a sageuk but that is what I also thought about Jang Hyuk and look how well that turned out. (Now it's Hyun Bin's turn to do one :P)

[bae-mac.livejournal.com]

Totally ot but have you watched first episodes of Athena? :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

No subs out yet, so no.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, I am really pleasantly surprised at how cute the trailer was. I didn't understand anything that was said but I was impressed by KTH. I've only seen her in Stairway to Heaven and remember her as bugging her eyes out all the time. She seemed really natural and warm. SSH has always been kind of blah for me, he's hot but I've been rather indifferent to his acting. This is now officially on my to watch list.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay! I hope this drama turns out to be good.

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

Re: SG - agree completely. Though I wish she was even more assertive and didn't give him an inch - she's ALWAYS apologizing to him for things that he totally deserved (like leaving him behind at the police station - for heavens sake he's the one with the money and connections, of course he could handle it, not to mention he deserved it). Though apologizing is a bad and constant habit of hers in general.

I'm oddly looking forward to The Duo as well, even though the plot sounds angsty. I've been wanting to see Chun Jung Myung in something for a while.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The plot for Duo could be angsty or wacky - switched at birth usually screams wacky to me.

Re: SG. She fights with him more than she does with everyone else, so there is that.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Ok... the teaser had me in giggles. I was OBSESSED with that song back in the day. Rick Astley, WTF. ;P Cute teaser and it looks like My Princess could be fun so I'll check it out. I've never watched anything of SSH's, can you believe?!

Re: SG - I think this is why I'm drawn to it as well.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I love SG.

Re: SSH. I like EoE, flaws and all. It's like a sexier Giant.

[att123.livejournal.com]

You made my day! This show looks so good, and the little girl inside of me is flipping out over the "long lost princess" angle they're taking.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It does, it looks so adorable!

[ifruity.livejournal.com]

I'm not up-to-date with Secret Garden yet (still going crazy about Gloomy Salad Days), but I totally agree with you about Secret Garden. I've been going mad, trying to find a drama where the man falls for the woman first and the woman is in control, but it's so hard to find a drama like that. It's probably the reason I fell so hard for HYD and all its remakes, even with the flaws the remakes had.

The only other good dramas that I've ever found that kind of storyline in were Tamra the Island (<33333333xinfinity), Who Are You (<333333), and OB-GYN (<33333). I really love that kind of plot.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, I really love those you listed (except OBGYN which I haven't seen). I wish dramas would do that more often.

[lightsjustright.livejournal.com]

It's a really pretty looking drama.

SG dynamics are tricky on the guy's side too, though, since her upper hand is also limited--he only 'needs' her for awhile according to his outburst so if she gets complacent then she's gone. And the look on her face in the last episode ending looked pretty vulnerable, too. So while outwardly she has the emotional power, there still is a tension there.

Well, for now anyway--it'll be fun to see it change according to the preview. But anyway, even though I think the emotional power alters back and forth sometimes, I do agree pretty much that she has it more often--and without even doing that much, which makes it more compelling. XD /end pointless ramble

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, he may claim he only needs her for a while, but we know differently. She may not realize all the power is hers but it is (and obviously yes, she is a bit vulnerable too - she does like him somewhat, but she's not as vulnerable as he is).

I can't wait for it all to be in the open. Plus angst LL)