dangermousie | Jul. 17th, 2011

Jul. 17th, 2011

Finally got around to watching Heartstrings ep 5 properly with subs and, surprisingly, despite all the problems with the drama that I can admit, I still really like it. A lot of it is due to the PD - the mellow, off-beat vibe permeates the drama no matter what is going on and it feels as pleasant as taking a cool drink of water on a hot day. It makes a relaxing interlude from the intensity of City Hunter, Miss Ripley, Warrior Baek Dong Soo and (in a different way) Myung Wol.

Also, and completely independently of how much I like or not the characters, they all feel so very real. For example, I wish Shin would stop obsessing over Ballerina and chasing her, especially since she repeatedly made clear she doesn't have any interest in him, but his pushiness and sulkiness feel very real - the whole dramatic "everything is extra-vivid, the world will end" feeling you get at this age is pretty clear in my memory. Ditto for Gyu Won. I wish she'd be more in-your-face with Shin but the way she is reacting is very realistic. All their interactions in this ep, from teasingly adorable to painful and mean feel very spot-on. I don't think this drama can sell me on them being soulmates who could not function without each other (if you want that, City Hunter is on Wednesday/Thursday and Princess' Man starts this week) but, to be fair, it is not trying to do that. I am willing to buy that they can eventually fall in love and be happy, in a realistic young college students way.

In any event, whatever, don't care about their bliss or lack thereof. This is my ship of choice - Gi Young/Hee Joo. Make it happen, drama! He's the only one to whom the prickly Hee Joo is genuinely nice to (and actively seeks out to encourage!). Plus the rumor is she hates him which is clearly not true so...Mmmm. My shippy radar is tingling like mad.

In fact, I really wish is that this drama was about Gi Young - his struggle, his past (clearly, something traumatic happened to cause him to have crippling panic every time he's near a stage as this ep shows he wasn't this way before), his possible romance. Every time he appears on screen, he steals the drama from everyone else. I've never seen Lee Hyun Joon in anything else but he needs his own drama asap. Next to him, Jung Yonghwa, who is admittedly gorgeous and has a decent on-screen appeal, pretty much fades into wallpaper - LHJ has the ineffable star presence and it just consumes everything in its vicinity.

Plus, seriously! Look at Hee Joo when he overcomes his fears and actually kills a song in the nightclub (seriously, I want to roll in that voice).

OTPOTPOTPOTPOTPOTPOTPOTP. Please, drama. I am owed for having to put up with Weepy and Creepy and their boring adult idiocy.

P.S. Sorry, Shin! You have all those CN Blue fangirls to comfort your pretty emo self!

I've got my OTP for Warrior Baek Dong Soo:

He's going to be an assassin! She's a noble lady whose clan is dedicated to protecting a secret book I am sure assassins are going to want and is supposed to be the Crown Prince's woman! Ahhhh.

Sadly, I bet they will be uncanon/one-sided because I can just tell the drama is setting her up with Dong Soo.

That is actually pissing me off because (1) Yeo Woon >>> Dong Soo as far as interest goes, for me and (2) Dong Soo should be with awesome archer girl if he has any brains.

She's his BFF and she is the one who saved both his and Yeo Woon's butts and (3) court lady is the 'pure and preachy' type that annoys me to no end. That would make her an awesome pairing for angsty assassin but outside of that I'd be happy if she was never on my screen.

I think they are going for Emperor of the Sea again, in which almost nobody preferred the heroine with Jang Bogo and everyone wanted her to return the love of angsty pirate Eom Moon. (For the record, I'd have preferred her with EM too, but I was fine with her love for JB).

Oh well. This is pretty much live-action anime in which Prince Sado fights ninjas, so I shouldn't take it so seriously.

Mmmm, Prince Sado. So sexy. Never in a million years did I think I would ever have occasion to type that sentence.

Oh, and then there is Sword Saint, the type of guy who likes doing one-handed pull-ups off the edge off a cliff, and is probably Joseon's answer to Chuck Norris.

So much ridonkulous fun! Preview finally promises me adult versions - about time, I am getting a bit antsy.

I've got my OTP for Warrior Baek Dong Soo:

That is actually pissing me off because (1) Yeo Woon >>> Dong Soo as far as interest goes, for me and (2) Dong Soo should be with awesome archer girl if he has any brains.

Mmmm, Prince Sado. So sexy. Never in a million years did I think I would ever have occasion to type that sentence.

Oh, and then there is Sword Saint, the type of guy who likes doing one-handed pull-ups off the edge off a cliff, and is probably Joseon's answer to Chuck Norris.

So much ridonkulous fun! Preview finally promises me adult versions - about time, I am getting a bit antsy.

I've got my OTP for Warrior Baek Dong Soo:

That is actually pissing me off because (1) Yeo Woon >>> Dong Soo as far as interest goes, for me and (2) Dong Soo should be with awesome archer girl if he has any brains.

Mmmm, Prince Sado. So sexy. Never in a million years did I think I would ever have occasion to type that sentence.

Oh, and then there is Sword Saint, the type of guy who likes doing one-handed pull-ups off the edge off a cliff, and is probably Joseon's answer to Chuck Norris.

So much ridonkulous fun! Preview finally promises me adult versions - about time, I am getting a bit antsy.

So, I've been spending the evening of working through my Miss Ripley backlog.

You know, a lot of people have said that even though they like MR, they can't really root for anyone, but I root for Miri to the inevitable dead end - sure she is broken, manipulative, scary but she has been so abused by the world and is so desperate to escape her true self, I cannot help but want her to get what she wants. And I genuinely ship Miri/Yuhyun, though chances of them ending up happily together is approximately 2%.

( Also, I am at a loss how Miri/Yuhyun scenes can look so romantic on the surface and be so terrifying under it )

And a MV: