Musings of the Obsessive Kind

I am in-between dramas due to still 'coming down' from my all-consuming obsession with IRIS.



I also needed a Lee Byung Hun fix (IRIS has left me a veritable junkie when it comes to that man). That means I dug out my All In DVDs for a selective rewatch - it's sort of like a happier IRIS in some ways. All In is a drama I really like - for one, it made an absolutely hellish overnight flight to Rome bearable last year. There are some business/gambling parts I don't find that exciting (they are well-done but I am not much into business rivalries or gambling nitty-gritty) but the love story is so awesome it sort of turns my heart into a ginormous pile of mush. Lee Byung Hun plays In Ha, a former convict who gets a job at a casino after his release. His OTP? Su Yeon (played by the gorgeous Song Hye Kyo) - a former nun. Indeed. In Ha had a crush on Su Yeon since they both were high-schoolers - the rough small-time thug fell for the elegant daughter of a movie-theater owner at first sight. It is to avenge Su Yeon that In Ha commits the crime that lands him in jail - he commits a bit of revenge arson, and unexpectedly, some gangsters die in the fire. When In-Ha comes out of prison, something in him has permanently broken, but whatever changes there are, once he meets So Yeon again, it is clear his feelings for her remain the same. The OTP is epic - neither can live without the other yet they are each other's worst luck. But oh, they cannot stay away. LBH is great at portraying really masculine men who, nontheless, are utterly consumed and destroyed by love - the way he looks at SHK makes me want to turn away, it is that intimate. Whenever they are together, it is always a little as if he cannot believe his luck. SHK is gorgeous and warm and fun and looks so in love you just want to drink it in.

And thus we enter into the world of All In - broken yet tough men, strong women (there are three main lady characters who are all awesome - So Yeon is ladylike but remarkably common-sense, strong and resilient, and there are two secondary girls who are awesome - one is a businesswoman with an occasional yen for the secondary guy and another is a tough bar girl who is in love with In Ha, but who, when she realizes In Ha will never love her back - shockingly moves on and gets an OTP of her own. Woohoo!)

Anyway - here are some caps from ep 13, one of the spells of happiness the OTP is allowed in the sturm-and-drang of the story.

( Bet they didn't teach that one in the nunnery )

Let's leave them there to enjoy themselves, poor woobies - as In Ha is currently employed as a bit of rough work for a big mobster, clearly their future sailing ain't gonna be smooth.

I just realized that So Yeon's Nun Name is Angela - same as Minam's character's Nun Name in You're Beautiful. LOLOLOL Such a contrast between the two. I have a suspicion Tae Kyung would actually need to buy a guide to birds and bees for Minam if he ever wants to get down to business :)

This is yet another in my series of "Dangermousie ranks all the kdramas she has ever seen" posts. (I have seen over 70 kdramas and, being addicted to ranking, have decided to rank them all). For previous posts go here. Below the cut are dramas ranked 42-30: these range from dramas I like a lot to dramas I love. All of them have flaws that keep them from higher rankings but all of them are dramas I would have no hesitation in recommending. Once again, I have either finished these dramas entirely or finished enough to make up my own mind.

( Best friends, warrior princesses, single mothers, and nuns: if you do not like their stories, the heroines of these dramas will cut off your heads and then pray over the bodies )

Until next time :)

This is yet another in my series of "Dangermousie ranks all the kdramas she has ever seen" posts. (I have seen over 70 kdramas and, being addicted to ranking, have decided to rank them all). For previous posts go here. Below the cut are dramas ranked 42-30: these range from dramas I like a lot to dramas I love. All of them have flaws that keep them from higher rankings but all of them are dramas I would have no hesitation in recommending. Once again, I have either finished these dramas entirely or finished enough to make up my own mind.

( Best friends, warrior princesses, single mothers, and nuns: if you do not like their stories, the heroines of these dramas will cut off your heads and then pray over the bodies )

Until next time :)

Finished Spring Waltz. What will I fixate on now?

I adored the first 18 and a half eps and loved the sweet ending, but the ep or so in-between I was meh about. It got too kdramaish not in an excellent way.

Still, the OTP was awesome, the design gorgeous etc etc etc...It's definitely going on my favorites list.

( Spoilery comments )

Now I need another icy woobie/spunky girl romance. Someone recommend? PLEASE?

Hmmm, maybe I'll just rewatch that ultimate bad boy/good gal kdrama All In. I mean, he is an ex-convict and she is an ex-nun. Mmmm, I love this MV:



I never really metaed about it properly because I gulped it down in 3 days on the way to Italy and at jet-lagged nights. But suffice it to say I love it and not just because of the insane leading couple chemistry.

Hmmm. I think I will rewatch. Or at least cap the sex scene :D

(I promise to reply to everyone by the weekend)

It's Friday but it's freezing and yucky, so to cheer self (and others who like that sort of thing) up, here is a mini picspam of one of the bone-meltingly awesome kisses from a wonderful Korean drama All In (2003), starring Lee Byung Hun and Song Hye Kyo (the drama narrowly missed being on my Top 25 list). He is a former convict, she is a former nun, there is angst galore, a gambling plot I am not very interested in, and a love story I adore. The chemistry is through the roof (apparently the leads were dating at the time). I really need to do a proper, lengthy write-up about the drama some time. It's such a perfect shippy combo: he is so very tough and masculine (it's a lot more fun to see very masculine, strong men broken by love, then emo boys who weep at the start already) and she is so very gorgeous and feminine and not a weakling. Awesome.





I mean, who wouldn't want to kiss someone who looks like this? I think SHK is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

(I promise to reply to everyone by the weekend)

It's Friday but it's freezing and yucky, so to cheer self (and others who like that sort of thing) up, here is a mini picspam of one of the bone-meltingly awesome kisses from a wonderful Korean drama All In (2003), starring Lee Byung Hun and Song Hye Kyo (the drama narrowly missed being on my Top 25 list). He is a former convict, she is a former nun, there is angst galore, a gambling plot I am not very interested in, and a love story I adore. The chemistry is through the roof (apparently the leads were dating at the time). I really need to do a proper, lengthy write-up about the drama some time. It's such a perfect shippy combo: he is so very tough and masculine (it's a lot more fun to see very masculine, strong men broken by love, then emo boys who weep at the start already) and she is so very gorgeous and feminine and not a weakling. Awesome.





I mean, who wouldn't want to kiss someone who looks like this? I think SHK is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

An ex-convict and an ex-nun. How is that for an OTP?

Is there any question as to why I like Korean dramas? :P

All In, starring Lee Byung Hun and Song Hye Kyo has all sorts of things about gambling, mob, and business. But I confess to ffing past those parts because, let's face it, I am in it all for the shipping.

LBH plays In Ha, a man who went to jail at 18 for arson which inadvertently killed someone. In Ha committed that act to avenge the death of SHK's father, as SHK was his childhood OTP. After 7 years in the slammer he is finally out and eventually his paths cross with those of SHK, who in the meantime became a nun and then left because she did not feel enough of a calling and became a casino dealer. No, I am not making this up.

There is something permanently broken in In Ha after his time in jail (though if you think this is angsty, just you wait till all sorts of other things happen. The guy has no luck at all). And SHK is very ladylike and traditional but not a pushover. And they have psychotic chemistry together. What's not to love?

The caps behind the cut are of my favorite scene in the drama, from ep 7. They are working in the same casino, and she is teaching him foreign languages etc so that he can get ahead. And he flunks the test she gives him and she is all upset because it was so easy and as she is dressing him down, he just swoops in and kisses her, their first kiss. When I first saw it, I sort of gasped because it was so unexpected and brain-melting. Mmmmmmm...

( The scene in question )

Am back and totally exhausted so this will be very quick.

Watched 5 dramas on my trip (long flights and long train rides). Or more specifically, 4 and a quarter as I am still in process of watching the fifth one.

My thoughts? One very good, two not as good as they could have been, one very disappointing, and one giggly-giddy delight.

1. The very good one is All In, starring Lee Byung Hun and Song Hyo Kyo (who apparently temporarily hooked up after this drama. I can see why, they have psycho chemistry). All In will get its own write-up, caps, the works. Mmmm...

2. The giggly-giddy delight is the Chinese wuxia drama I am currently watching (am on ep 9), Big Shot (Da Ren Wu). It will also get its own write-up, but for now suffice it to say I adore the sword battles, the hero and the heroine, the secondary OTPs, the mysterious lost memories and the hint of huge angst to come.

3. One of the 'not as good as it could have been' dramas (the better one of the two) is Sister In Law is 19, which was pretty fun, actually. I am going to cap a bit, mainly because the premise of a girl in love with an idealized guy but ending up with the possibly less glamorous but always-has-her-back best friend (played by the scrumptuous Yoon Kye Sung), who will do anything for her happiness and is (to make me squeal in delight) a math geek is something tailored exclusively to me. Plus, I did not hate a single character. I wasn't that keen on the (happy, don't worry) ending, with some things not really addressed and no smoochies, but my biggest problem was that it never hit that big pay-off moment of drama for me. It didn't help that the lead actress, while charming and cute, didn't make me really love her and be in her skin the way some kdrama actresses do, and that this was YKS' first drama and while he is competent, the difference between this and e.g. Crazy for You is startling. Kim Jae Won, who played YKS' older brother is super-adorable btw.

4. The other 'not as good as it could have been' drama is Stained Glass which had some positives: Lee Dong Gun being absolutely marvelous (but when has he not been?), and playing a character which is very irresistable, the heroine who is not a dishrag, some swoonily romantic moments (including a kissing in the snow scene), and a lot of emo plot stuff I love. But it was too corny even for me (enough corn to feed the entire state of Michigan, in fact. When LDG referred to heroine as 'Rose of the Lord' I nearly choked), the secondary guy made me feel such blistering HATE I wanted to stab him in the face with a rusty screw-driver and the ending was...WHAAAAAAAT? 18 hours of stuff for this sort of ending? How? Why? Did they just run out of ideas and stop? The ending made the ending of Powerful Opponents look like a masterpiece of coherence.

5. The sheer disappoinment drama for me was Fantasy Couple. Before I started it, I would have never thought so. It's based on the charming 1980s movie Overboard which I like and it's written by the Hong Sisters, three other dramas of whose are all in my Top 10 kdramas (My Girl, Chun Hyang, and Hong Gil Dong). But perhaps Overboard should have stayed a movie: it was good enough and full of story enough for an under 2 hours flick but for a 16 hour drama? Yikes. Both the leads were adequate enough and I didn't hate their characters or anything but it all felt 'so what' and blah to me...the script really felt off and never gathered my interest, and I don't think that the director was good enough to elicit a performance to overcome that huge huge flaw out of Oh Ji Ho or Han Ye Seul (and neither of the leads, even if competent, strikes me as good enough to do an amazing performance without guidance). The most I got of this was mild boredom and I watched all of it through sheer stubborness, boredom of a train ride and a lot of very agressive fast-forwarding. Oh well, even the best have an off say, I suppose...

Am back and totally exhausted so this will be very quick.

Watched 5 dramas on my trip (long flights and long train rides). Or more specifically, 4 and a quarter as I am still in process of watching the fifth one.

My thoughts? One very good, two not as good as they could have been, one very disappointing, and one giggly-giddy delight.

1. The very good one is All In, starring Lee Byung Hun and Song Hyo Kyo (who apparently temporarily hooked up after this drama. I can see why, they have psycho chemistry). All In will get its own write-up, caps, the works. Mmmm...

2. The giggly-giddy delight is the Chinese wuxia drama I am currently watching (am on ep 9), Big Shot (Da Ren Wu). It will also get its own write-up, but for now suffice it to say I adore the sword battles, the hero and the heroine, the secondary OTPs, the mysterious lost memories and the hint of huge angst to come.

3. One of the 'not as good as it could have been' dramas (the better one of the two) is Sister In Law is 19, which was pretty fun, actually. I am going to cap a bit, mainly because the premise of a girl in love with an idealized guy but ending up with the possibly less glamorous but always-has-her-back best friend (played by the scrumptuous Yoon Kye Sung), who will do anything for her happiness and is (to make me squeal in delight) a math geek is something tailored exclusively to me. Plus, I did not hate a single character. I wasn't that keen on the (happy, don't worry) ending, with some things not really addressed and no smoochies, but my biggest problem was that it never hit that big pay-off moment of drama for me. It didn't help that the lead actress, while charming and cute, didn't make me really love her and be in her skin the way some kdrama actresses do, and that this was YKS' first drama and while he is competent, the difference between this and e.g. Crazy for You is startling. Kim Jae Won, who played YKS' older brother is super-adorable btw.

4. The other 'not as good as it could have been' drama is Stained Glass which had some positives: Lee Dong Gun being absolutely marvelous (but when has he not been?), and playing a character which is very irresistable, the heroine who is not a dishrag, some swoonily romantic moments (including a kissing in the snow scene), and a lot of emo plot stuff I love. But it was too corny even for me (enough corn to feed the entire state of Michigan, in fact. When LDG referred to heroine as 'Rose of the Lord' I nearly choked), the secondary guy made me feel such blistering HATE I wanted to stab him in the face with a rusty screw-driver and the ending was...WHAAAAAAAT? 18 hours of stuff for this sort of ending? How? Why? Did they just run out of ideas and stop? The ending made the ending of Powerful Opponents look like a masterpiece of coherence.

5. The sheer disappoinment drama for me was Fantasy Couple. Before I started it, I would have never thought so. It's based on the charming 1980s movie Overboard which I like and it's written by the Hong Sisters, three other dramas of whose are all in my Top 10 kdramas (My Girl, Chun Hyang, and Hong Gil Dong). But perhaps Overboard should have stayed a movie: it was good enough and full of story enough for an under 2 hours flick but for a 16 hour drama? Yikes. Both the leads were adequate enough and I didn't hate their characters or anything but it all felt 'so what' and blah to me...the script really felt off and never gathered my interest, and I don't think that the director was good enough to elicit a performance to overcome that huge huge flaw out of Oh Ji Ho or Han Ye Seul (and neither of the leads, even if competent, strikes me as good enough to do an amazing performance without guidance). The most I got of this was mild boredom and I watched all of it through sheer stubborness, boredom of a train ride and a lot of very agressive fast-forwarding. Oh well, even the best have an off say, I suppose...

Shall you be a Nun and serve the Lord or shall you travel via a gilded boat on the river of sin with a former convict for company?



Obviously the latter.

Don't any of you talk me out of it. My next bingy kdrama is All In starring Lee Byung-Hun and Song Hye Kyo.

I mean, how could I resist! In addition to the usual childhood love stuff, he is a former convict! And she is a Nun who gives it up to become a Las Vegas dealer! And there is Engrish!

So, yes, we have a heroine who goes from this (left) to that (right):



Is it for the love of this?



Well, at least men in prison get great arm muscles:



And she can get this, which is probably not something she can get from Jesus:



lesbiassparrow got annoyed with the hero, I remember, but I have a much much higher tolerance for bastardy in a hero than she does (I loved QSS). Yesssss...my precious, I shall enjoy you.

There are even, apparently, cowboy hats. And Han Ji Min (Capital Scandal!) plays the younger version of SHK's character and Ji Sung (my newest crush) is in it as well. I shall ogle him as he plots his evil deeds. What could be better?

Please, someone, tell me there is amnesia and a happy ending.

Of course, if my Lobbyist DVDs arrive, all bets are off. I am yearning to see 'Song Il Gook gets beaten to a pulp for the love of a woman' with such a degree of fervor that it probably says something really unhealthy about me. Not that I care.