Kame and the Nun. And Korean Robin Hood! Can life get much better?

[dangermousie]

SQUEE! SQUEE! For I have seen the first episode of 1 Pound No Fukuin and thus have been privy to the sheer funniness, cuteness, and sweetness that is Kame And The Nun. Seriously. So funny and adorable.

Also, how can you not love dramas? Where else can you watch a story where one of the strands of the story is whether a young novice Nun would choose between the lurve of Jesus or the puppy adoration of a goofy, gluttonous, sweetheart of a boxer? Seriously. (By the way, my money is on Kame, not Jesus).

Also, I am pleased to report that Kame has actually had enough to eat by now so I no longer can see ribs. Which is a good thing. Though I still want him to keep his shirt on, unlike with kdrama stars.

This is sheer perfect adorableness.

Kame:



Nun (aka Sister Angela):





Kame’s poster. Makes me think of fans with Kame’s face they were selling in Asakusa :)



Yes, Yes! You don’t look starved. Hooray!



First meeting of adorableness:







Love at first sight:



Now that’s a very wholesome nuclear family ;)



These are here because Kame is pretty:





I am not going to do a huge write-up because the awesome kitsune714 had written the best write-up/picspam of ep 1 ever here and the equally awesome winterspel did a gigantic picspam of ep 1 here.

Mmmm, but as adorable and awesome as Kame and the Nun is, I have to confess that my heart still belongs to Hong Gil Dong as the drama of the season. I just started on ep 3 (didn’t get very far because Mr. Mousie, who insists on watching it with me, was tired) and it gets better and better. I can’t resist the blend of:
a. hilariously slapsticky hijinks,
b. what promises to be a complex and nasty political game, not just the simple ‘let’s restore good Prince to power, with help of noble robber Gil Dong, yay!’
c. more than a dash of Robin Hoodism,
d. a hint of future romance: Yi Nok/Gil Dong. Y/Y? The OTP that steals everything that is not nailed down,
e. plus some awesome fight scenes,
f. and that rare flash of something genuinely heart-breaking fitted seamlessly between the fun-fun-fun jokes: I am really impressed because somehow this drama can put in a scene of Yi Nok giving her hair ornament to a starving urchin with a sick brother, or the mad King lolling on his throne, ‘seeing’ the ghosts of those he killed on his path to power (he is not a good person, but it’s almost as if he is willing himself to be even worse than he is), or Gil Dong off-handedly telling Yi Nok that his mother was whipped to death for the crime of trying to run off with him (they were both slaves), and really make you pause and go ‘whoa’ and dramatically hit you in the gut, while at the same time, a few minutes later, the ep will have some utterly ridiculous, hilarious gag and make it work just as well.

I know HGD is 24 eps long, and normally that would make me groan because I have yet to see a kdrama over 16 eps which did not need trimming (heck, plenty of the 16-ep ones could benefit from trimming as well). But in this case, I am actually excited about the length because they have so much to cover.



I mean, other than ‘will the Prince get the throne back, will the OTP happen, how will Gil Dong grow up’ blah blah.

It’s all so complicated.

We find out that Yi Nok is actually a very, very aristocratic noblewoman, even if she doesn’t know it, the daughter of some really high-up supporter of the former King, who was killed in order to facilitate the coup. Who had him killed? Gil Dong’s father!

Heh, so basically if the OTP does happen, it will be Aristocrat Lady/Slave? Plus, his Daddy killed her Daddy. Heh. Awesome. My favorite. Though I can’t see Gil Dong doing the beloved of kdrama ‘I am unworthy of you now’ maneuver. More like ‘Neat, we can use your ancestry to help our scams.’ Heeeeeee. And that is why I love him. Though of course, you never know. Hong Sisters are really good at making those wacky, hilarious dramas that draw you in with the goofy and then when you are all unwary rip your heart out and stab the remains. My Girl, Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang, I am looking at you (Btw, does Gil Dong make anyone else think of Mong-Ryong in DGCH? The unmotivated, goof-ball guy who is really good at fighting?) But then they give me scenes of sweetness and happiness at the end, so it’s OK.

Also, I like that the politics of this appear murky and complicated, not the simplistic ‘all those on side of good want evil King off and to put Prince on.’

Yeah.

I also don’t see the simple ‘Gil Dong helps the Prince’ scenario. Not only is his father* a prime supporter of the current regime (in which case fine, he can rebel against Daddy!) but both sides are truly nasty: Prince’s second-in-command, the former Maid, is equally as cavalier about human life and was going to get all those thieves killed to facilitate her own plans. And Gil Dong saved the thieves, foiled her plans (inadvertently) and I doubt would warm up to her.

* I have to say I love the whole thing with Gil Dong’s father. Because he is a horrible person: a traitor, a murderer, and someone who had the mother of his son whipped to death because she dared to try to run away with the kid because she thought his life would be hellish. But he is also not corrupt, and while he didn’t let Gil Dong study for civil service or military, in a rather harsh way, hey, it’s just the law anyway. And he does let him roam about and does seem a bit wistful about him. So basically, nasty, but not mustache-twirling.

And yes, I do promise my own screencaps later. The drama is too pretty not to cap.

But for now, caps from soompi.





These are gorgeous:



























Stop looking so vulnerable! It makes me want to hug you, during which you will undoubtedly pick my pockets!





Two men enter! One man leaves! Two men enter! One man leaves!









I am not a Prince fangirl (yet), but everyone benefits from some h/c:



Everyone:















Teeheeee:











Swooooon. Fix his hair already, please! To this, pre-flashback hair!





Cute gifs:









Prince Dude:









Tee-hee:



Also, I am beginning to recognize secondary character actors, which is scary. Not only is the Umbrellas of Cherbourg (My Girl) guy is in this one as dad of Creepy Goth Girl, but Gil Dong’s dreadful and wimpy younger half-brother is also played by the actor who played Lee Jun Ki’s emo brother in Time Between Dog and Wolf, and So Ji Sub’s unquestionably lame brother in MISA. That poor actor, specializing in playing wimpy annoying characters in dramas with violent emo male leads.

Note to self: Make list of Top 10 kdramas/fave kdrama moments a weekend project.

Comments

[grey-fuzzy.livejournal.com]

Kame and the Nun are super cute (though I got annoyed with 'Sister Angela' for not acting like Audrey Hepburn in "The Nun's Story", my only nun movie to date.)

This Korean Robin Hood thing. Wow. It is extremely pretty. I think I might have to put aside my mild aversion to kdramas and try it...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Korean Robin Hood thing is very unkdramaish. The thing it reminds me most of are Stephen Chow HK movies.

[kitkat-cat.livejournal.com]

Ok, let's just say that my recent going-off-the-boil interest in kdramas just got completely reignited by the pics of the korean robin hood! the bloke doesnt do anything for me, but Sung Yuri looks awfully pretty and the Hong sisters are enough to tempt me back into the fold!!!

Also, there is that other girl in snow queen in it too...seriously wonders what Hyun Bin would look like in period wear...probably not too good... doesnt quite look rustic or classical enough maybe.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Re: Hyun Bin. I dunno. He can look very different (his look in SQ is miles away from KSS). Hmmm.

the bloke doesnt do anything for me

Te lead is Kang Ji Hwan, my newest favorite thing about kdramas (he was the star of Capital Scandal) but even such a mad fangirl as I must admit that the Domyouji-ed hair does him no favors. I live in hope of them reverting to his normal hair:

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!! You know, when I first heard of "1 Pound.." and that the story is about a boxer with eating problems and a nun with Kame in it I was sure that "eating problems" is anorexia and he is " a dying boxer who can't fight no more because he is weak, so weak. And she saves him and he teaches her that leaving the world is not for her. At least not when the world has him in it". :D HEEEEE! Silly me! But I 'fess that seeing Kame (even though he put a couple of pounds on) still doesn't fit in my view of one overweight boxer. Is it meant to be a joke or are they seriously saying Kame is overweight????

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

It's not that he is overweight. It is just that there are different weight classes in boxing and the fly weight is the lowest weight class. Kame's character needs to stay in fly weight as he has not the stamina/power to withstand a boxer of the next highest weight class.
Of course the old boxer in the first ep is definitely NOT fly weight - the inconsistencies of Jdrama world :D

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know! My cousin used to do fly weight as he was quite not-tall. But they still were quite "big" guys (if think about it proportionally).. Here, for example is a picture "DETHRONED world flyweight champion Vic Darchinya"



I am kind of used to crackstatic-ness in doramas but still.. It was just so silly of me to presume a different thing. :D I am not trying to criticize.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

This guy could eat Kame (no pun intended) for breakfast. I don't think there are many jdrama guys I could buy as a boxer.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I rather liked Rain in ALTK. :D Too bad - when they get too popular they don't make dramas anymore..

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

And Hyun Bin was good as a fighter in Snow Queen. I could also buy Lee Jun Ki in Dog/Wolf. It's just the Japanese stars are way too skinny.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

about a boxer with eating problems and a nun with Kame in it I was sure that "eating problems" is anorexia and he is " a dying boxer who can't fight no more because he is weak, so weak. And she saves him and he teaches her that leaving the world is not for her. At least not when the world has him in it".

I confess that when I read that I literally LOLed and LOLed and LOLed. I was walking and LOLing to myself. I bet people thought me very odd.

But yes, a lot of suspention of disbelief is required as I think I myself could break Kame in two.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Hee! I think I have been watching too many kdramas for my own good. :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

There is no such thing! :)

[fivil.livejournal.com]

I guess channels have package deals with character actors since the guy who was Chief in Capital Scandal and friend-of-the-family in My Girl is dad of Creepy Goth Girl here - and all dramas in question are KBS dramas. I also noted his OTP from My Girl is the scar-faced evil lady in HGD. I secretly want them in a scene together. My Girl over all else. :D

I have yet to see ep 3 with subs so I'm not sure if I'm fully hooked onto the plotness of this, beyond the general HGD-becoming-a-hero thingy which excites me greatly. But yeah, I'm still about iffy about 24 but then, I did survive Goong so why not. Unless the OTP starts lacking for whatever reason, I can hang on.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

channels have package deals with character actors

Totally makes sense.

I'm still about iffy about 24 but then

I looked up the original story on wikipedia and if they decide to stick to the book, they need 24 eps at least :) as there is a lot of stuff that happens. I think the rule of '16 is best' for kdramas gets a lot looser with period kdramas. Jumong was a honking 80+ eps, and I didn't find it particularly slow (not that I finished it yet, but what I saw so far) and Bae Yong Joon's epic fantasy one, Legend, was 24 eps and I don't recall anything thinking it dragged. So maybe swords automatically equal more eps? :)

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

yeay kame's drama looks promising...

and HGD...... is just awesome i love the interaction between all the characters

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

HGD is totally making me squee in mad glee.

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

its just soooo good

[angelajewell.livejournal.com]

I completely understand your excitement!! As much as I loved the first episode of One Pound Gospel, my love was quickly displaced as I started up episodes 3 and 4 of Hong Gil Dong. I'm going crazy waiting for new episodes, and I fear this may be one of those series where I say, "forget it" and watch them raw. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here! And I'm LOVING Yi Nok/Gil Dong. ^_^

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am getting totally obsessed. And YN/GD amuse me to no end!

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

1 Pound no Fukuin is, for me, this season's crack. It's like my must-watch drama of the season -- I mean, what more could I want? There's comedy and Kame and a NUN and gratuitous shots of delicious food! And plus, the mangaka is one of my favorites, so I know the plot won't disappoint.

I'm peripherally following Honey and Clover too, and thinking about Takeuchi Yuko's new drama, but I know I won't be able to handle more than two dramas, tops, at a time. So many good things at once this season!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

All the food just made me deliriously hungry. It all looked so good. Though I still get a residual 'no, no, don't discourage Kame from eating! Give him more food!' reaction.

1 pound is going to be, most likely, the sole jdrama I am following this season. What with mainlining Hong Gil Dong, and trying to keep up with both Bull-Fighting (so stupid, but so fun) and They Kiss Again, as well as trying to catch up and start on Robbers, I have no room for more. But except for HGD, 1 pound it is, as the drama for me. Asian drama seasons are always murder because there are too many things I want to watch.

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

Dude, me too! Ichipon is totally my drug of choice. It's sort of awesome to think that the person who plays this piggy, adorable glutton is the same person who played Hiroto, and Shuuji, and Yuya. I don't know if I can handle any more after Ichipon and maybe Honey and Clover, but...well, I haven't even seen if there's anything else remotely interesting on Korean TV.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Re: kdramas. I am currently obsessing over Hong Gil Dong. It's by the Hong Sisters, and is very funny...*tempts*

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

The Hong Sisters of "My Girl" and "Delightful Girl Choon Hyung" fame? Ooh. Now I really AM tempted.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, them.

And it's pure crack.

First four eps are out with English subs, and first 6 with Chinese.

[lilithiasonata.livejournal.com]

She's too pretty to be a NUN!! DX

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Probably won't be a nun for long :)

[lilithiasonata.livejournal.com]

With a hottie like him, no way LOL.