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dangermousieFirst off, can I get a rooftop apartment with an awesome rocker boy as a neighbor?
I haven't fallen this fast for a drama since forever. It feels real and heartfelt and reminds me that I don't hate all youth dramas, it's just that most of them are so shabbily done. When one is done right, like this one, nothing can be better and I want to thank SUFBB for reminding me of that. It pretty much restored the whole genre to me. So far (and yes, I realize we are two months into the year) this is the 2012 drama to beat, for me.
And Ji Hyuk! Practical, loyal, kind, lost Ji Hyuk. He reminds me of what it is to have a fictional crush and adore a character so thoroughly. I haven't fallen for a protagonist this hard since City Hunter, almost a year ago. I remember being very unenthused by Sung Joon who was deadly dull playing an appallingly badly-written character in Lie to Me (but then that whole drama was a disaster) but here, he's blowing me away. But all the boys are wonderful - by the end of ep 3, I couldn't believe that earlier I couldn't tell any of them apart except for Ji Hyuk and Do Il. All of them have their distinct personalities, their pasts, and their friendship is just - I don't know, it doesn't feel like the unreal drama friendship often shown. Their horseplay, teasing, shared grief and rage and goals - they feel like real people and make me vaguely nostalgic for my own schooldays in Russia (American schools are quite different from this, but Russian schools, not so much).
And I adore Soo Ah, a rare heroine who's neither childishly quirky nor a plaster saint, but a real girl who is that rarity - an unostentatiously good person, who has doubts and weaknesses but never whines. I love that JH and she share something she doesn't with any of her 'friends' - the truth of her situation, and that their relationship is so functional - if there is a fight (when he blew up at her after Byung Hee's death) - there are apologies and no silly misunderstandings or martyrdom. I can't believe I am going to bring this up, but their rooftop interactions remind me a bit of Mars, though neither is as damaged as the protagonists there. And I think he's a much better choice for her than the late Byung Hee, the impractical, the dreamer - she is where she is because her father was not practical enough. JH may be a rocker bad boy, but he has a strong streak of practicality and his role is a caretaker of his wilder friends - just what she needs. And she's caring without being dramatic, low-key and cheerful - just what he needs.
Ji Hyuk grieving for Byung Hee. Honestly, after this, I simply must check out Sung Joon in White Christmas.
When the short Busan guy (whose name escapes me, but whom I love) put his jacket on Byung Hee's picture because "BH hates being cold", I about lost it.
OK, this is Mars-like. Some thugs show up to the pool hall the boys frequent to start shit and joke about BH's death and the head thug grabs a bottle as a weapon. And JH walks up to the guy, breaks the bottle with his hand and wraps his bare hand around the remaining fragments. Holy frell.
I know L is famous but I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised - an idol that's acting well! I love his character, tbh, here glaring at the mobster.
Do Il! Seriously, this guy's gorgeousness is unreal. On a less shallow note, I love how he quietly says he was the one who took the thug apart and the mobster backs down because it turns out Do Il's daddy is some super-fearsome important gangster. That explains a lot, like why Do Il never sleeps at home.
Darling boys! I just want to buy them all a meal!
Here for the pretty.
Oh, Ji Hyuk, you break my heart. Of them all, he was the closest to Byung Hee (they lived together) so this hit him the worst.
Here for the pretty as well.
I loved this scene, the guys lighting up fireworks for Byung Hee and Soo Ah peeping, relieved, to see Ji Hyuk, because she was worried for him.
This was such an ugly scene, where he lashes out at her because if he wasn't talking to her, he'd have picked up the phone when Byung Hee called and BH wouldn't have been dead. It's not really either one of their faults, of course, but he feels so much grief and guilt and needs to lash out. I love that this doesn't get dragged out and that JH is not high maintenance - he apologizes later (during the ramyun scene by telling her it wasn't her fault, and even before on the bench), not like many a drama hero who nurtures his angst like it's his first-born. And I love that Soo Ah is sad, but not angry, because she understands how much he's hurting right now.
Boys, minus JH, take Pyo Joo the slimebag, for retribution. I hope he gets to feel what it's like to have an aluminum bat go against his skull.
I love them!
He's evil and whiny but kinda hot. I do find the leader of the rivals interestingly ambiguous - he clearly hid this guy's wrongdoing, but he has some integrity, getting him to drop charges.
She smiles hearing he's OK.
If this isn't manga, I don't know what is.
She hears BH's message and feels guilty and he tries to tell her it's not her fault. Awwwwwww. "Sorry, Byung Hee, I made your muse cry" is what he says after she leaves, and my heart breaks a little. That's an interesting question, actually. JH's defining characteristic is loyalty - how will he feel when he realizes he's falling for the girl his dead friend liked?
OMFG seriously I couldn't breathe! JH kneeling to the rival leader, asking him to have charges against JH's bandmates dropped, humbling himself like this, because it was BH's last dream for them to play in a festival competition and they need to stay enrolled and not kicked out of school for that. Oh, Ji Hyuk.
This was so adorable, I have no words.
My favorite scene hands down. He overhears loansharks after her and helps her escape - always so practical. Love him. And then he cooks her ramyun (and I love how she's not freaking out about loan sharks, or her loss of money or status, or anything, really) and tells her not to blame herself for BH's death and just - honestly, these two are beyond perfect (and I love how earlier she was standing up for him and his friends to her awful 'friend' - not motivated by liking, even, but by her strong sense of justice). And I love that she falls asleep as he washes the dishes (seriously, the boy is so practical) because she feels safe there, and he lets her sleep, covering her with a blanket and putting her on the bed, and sleeping on the floor. And I love even more when she returns the favor, tucking him in. Way to kill me with your awesome caretaking, OTP! I just love that none of it is big gestures but they show consideration more than any big gesture would.
Awww, drummer boy likes WK! I hope she realizes this and stops chasing after Ji Hyuk, who is not interested. She's awesome and deserves to be loved back. Plus, she's hyper and very extraverted, so I think quiet Do Il is the perfect fit.
And now I have to run, but I cannot wait to watch more! On, and cinematography is fantastic. Why is the whole world not watching this?
I haven't fallen this fast for a drama since forever. It feels real and heartfelt and reminds me that I don't hate all youth dramas, it's just that most of them are so shabbily done. When one is done right, like this one, nothing can be better and I want to thank SUFBB for reminding me of that. It pretty much restored the whole genre to me. So far (and yes, I realize we are two months into the year) this is the 2012 drama to beat, for me.
And Ji Hyuk! Practical, loyal, kind, lost Ji Hyuk. He reminds me of what it is to have a fictional crush and adore a character so thoroughly. I haven't fallen for a protagonist this hard since City Hunter, almost a year ago. I remember being very unenthused by Sung Joon who was deadly dull playing an appallingly badly-written character in Lie to Me (but then that whole drama was a disaster) but here, he's blowing me away. But all the boys are wonderful - by the end of ep 3, I couldn't believe that earlier I couldn't tell any of them apart except for Ji Hyuk and Do Il. All of them have their distinct personalities, their pasts, and their friendship is just - I don't know, it doesn't feel like the unreal drama friendship often shown. Their horseplay, teasing, shared grief and rage and goals - they feel like real people and make me vaguely nostalgic for my own schooldays in Russia (American schools are quite different from this, but Russian schools, not so much).
And I adore Soo Ah, a rare heroine who's neither childishly quirky nor a plaster saint, but a real girl who is that rarity - an unostentatiously good person, who has doubts and weaknesses but never whines. I love that JH and she share something she doesn't with any of her 'friends' - the truth of her situation, and that their relationship is so functional - if there is a fight (when he blew up at her after Byung Hee's death) - there are apologies and no silly misunderstandings or martyrdom. I can't believe I am going to bring this up, but their rooftop interactions remind me a bit of Mars, though neither is as damaged as the protagonists there. And I think he's a much better choice for her than the late Byung Hee, the impractical, the dreamer - she is where she is because her father was not practical enough. JH may be a rocker bad boy, but he has a strong streak of practicality and his role is a caretaker of his wilder friends - just what she needs. And she's caring without being dramatic, low-key and cheerful - just what he needs.
Ji Hyuk grieving for Byung Hee. Honestly, after this, I simply must check out Sung Joon in White Christmas.
When the short Busan guy (whose name escapes me, but whom I love) put his jacket on Byung Hee's picture because "BH hates being cold", I about lost it.
OK, this is Mars-like. Some thugs show up to the pool hall the boys frequent to start shit and joke about BH's death and the head thug grabs a bottle as a weapon. And JH walks up to the guy, breaks the bottle with his hand and wraps his bare hand around the remaining fragments. Holy frell.
I know L is famous but I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised - an idol that's acting well! I love his character, tbh, here glaring at the mobster.
Do Il! Seriously, this guy's gorgeousness is unreal. On a less shallow note, I love how he quietly says he was the one who took the thug apart and the mobster backs down because it turns out Do Il's daddy is some super-fearsome important gangster. That explains a lot, like why Do Il never sleeps at home.
Darling boys! I just want to buy them all a meal!
Here for the pretty.
Oh, Ji Hyuk, you break my heart. Of them all, he was the closest to Byung Hee (they lived together) so this hit him the worst.
Here for the pretty as well.
I loved this scene, the guys lighting up fireworks for Byung Hee and Soo Ah peeping, relieved, to see Ji Hyuk, because she was worried for him.
This was such an ugly scene, where he lashes out at her because if he wasn't talking to her, he'd have picked up the phone when Byung Hee called and BH wouldn't have been dead. It's not really either one of their faults, of course, but he feels so much grief and guilt and needs to lash out. I love that this doesn't get dragged out and that JH is not high maintenance - he apologizes later (during the ramyun scene by telling her it wasn't her fault, and even before on the bench), not like many a drama hero who nurtures his angst like it's his first-born. And I love that Soo Ah is sad, but not angry, because she understands how much he's hurting right now.
Boys, minus JH, take Pyo Joo the slimebag, for retribution. I hope he gets to feel what it's like to have an aluminum bat go against his skull.
I love them!
He's evil and whiny but kinda hot. I do find the leader of the rivals interestingly ambiguous - he clearly hid this guy's wrongdoing, but he has some integrity, getting him to drop charges.
She smiles hearing he's OK.
If this isn't manga, I don't know what is.
She hears BH's message and feels guilty and he tries to tell her it's not her fault. Awwwwwww. "Sorry, Byung Hee, I made your muse cry" is what he says after she leaves, and my heart breaks a little. That's an interesting question, actually. JH's defining characteristic is loyalty - how will he feel when he realizes he's falling for the girl his dead friend liked?
OMFG seriously I couldn't breathe! JH kneeling to the rival leader, asking him to have charges against JH's bandmates dropped, humbling himself like this, because it was BH's last dream for them to play in a festival competition and they need to stay enrolled and not kicked out of school for that. Oh, Ji Hyuk.
This was so adorable, I have no words.
My favorite scene hands down. He overhears loansharks after her and helps her escape - always so practical. Love him. And then he cooks her ramyun (and I love how she's not freaking out about loan sharks, or her loss of money or status, or anything, really) and tells her not to blame herself for BH's death and just - honestly, these two are beyond perfect (and I love how earlier she was standing up for him and his friends to her awful 'friend' - not motivated by liking, even, but by her strong sense of justice). And I love that she falls asleep as he washes the dishes (seriously, the boy is so practical) because she feels safe there, and he lets her sleep, covering her with a blanket and putting her on the bed, and sleeping on the floor. And I love even more when she returns the favor, tucking him in. Way to kill me with your awesome caretaking, OTP! I just love that none of it is big gestures but they show consideration more than any big gesture would.
Awww, drummer boy likes WK! I hope she realizes this and stops chasing after Ji Hyuk, who is not interested. She's awesome and deserves to be loved back. Plus, she's hyper and very extraverted, so I think quiet Do Il is the perfect fit.
And now I have to run, but I cannot wait to watch more! On, and cinematography is fantastic. Why is the whole world not watching this?
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 03:52 pm (UTC)AND YES THIS DRAMA IS SO GOOD. I totally agree that Byung Hee would have been a terrible match for Su Ah and Ji Hyuk is much better. Woo Kyung annoys me a little because she kind of acts like Ji Hyuk's her boyfriend and it's clear he's not interested. But it's also clear that she's kind of aware of this on some level, and then I feel bad? Flip floppy feelings, lol.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:32 am (UTC)I like WK. I think she's just hoping her sheer pushiness will turn his heart towards her. Go for the drummer, girl!
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Date: 2012-02-20 04:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 02:19 pm (UTC)(by the way: "Актуальный блог, свежая инфа, почитываю" what does this mean!)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 02:32 pm (UTC)That means 'timely blog, new info, I keep reading' - it's a bizarre form of spam, I've been getting it.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 02:55 pm (UTC)lol, the lj experience would be incomplete without a bit of russian spam!
no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 05:14 pm (UTC)I adore all the kids and just want to squish them and feed them. Damn if they don't meke me feel all maternal and protective. XD Ji Hyuk.... that boy is just plain AWESOME!
LOL! I just made a bunch of caps myself today (I'll probably pinch some of yours as well) so I could start making some icons. Whatch 'that' space. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:33 am (UTC)And JH - I find I get 'crushes' on characters less and less but I certainly did here.
Eee, icons!
no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 08:20 pm (UTC)Also, the rival guy, isn't it the bloody guy from Boys Over Flowers? You know, the one that commits suicide in the first episode but Jandi stops him.
Anyway, nice screencaps XD.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:34 am (UTC)Yup, he's the abused kid from BOF. He's come a long way :)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 09:16 pm (UTC)Just wanted to correct myself also.
I learned from an interview that Lee Hyun Jae (the guy that plays Do Il) is not half, but one-quarter. His grandfather was not Korean.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:34 am (UTC)LHJ = yum, whatever his makeup :)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-19 10:54 pm (UTC)i love everything about this drama right now, the boys and their friendship and of course ji-hyuk/soo ah are killing me with their cuteness and chemistry and i totally agree about the cinematography. it's a really nice drama to look at as well.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:35 am (UTC)And mmmm, soundtrack.
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Date: 2012-02-20 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-21 05:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-20 09:13 pm (UTC)Now I got to get my Manga loving son into this. The writing is really tight too, and I can't complain about this. Unlike CH where I felt like expanding on the ending etc. this so far is leaving no openings for that type thing. Also can someone explain to me why MORE folks aren't talking about this show? I tried Soompi, but the message board isn't jumping like I imagined it would be.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-21 05:20 am (UTC)The whole show is pretty much damn perfect.
I was fine with CH ending but this is undoubtedly, ridiculously tight writing.
And Ji Hyuk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2012-02-21 02:24 am (UTC)---leaves 45
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Date: 2012-02-21 05:15 am (UTC)Yeah, they bring out my inner fangirl like crazy.