Musings of the Obsessive Kind

I am all caught up on Doctor Jin and it's gotten quite good by now, with the political intrigue, and the question of who Young Rae is (she can't be some sort of backward reincarnation of Mina, but how does she have Mina's memories as they are from the future?), but you know what I really love? The love triangle. Normally I am quite allergic to the trope but here it actually works because both Jin and Kyung Tak genuinely love Young Rae and put her well-being first. Jin treats her with respect and as an equal, unheard of in these times, but it's Kyung Tak's behavior that really strikes me - however questionable his morals overall (though he's still head and shoulders above his creepy family), there is no question he is a wonderful fiance to Young Rae - he doesn't hold her breaking off with him against her, he rescues her repeatedly, and he even lets an unrelated man (and potential love rival) examine Young Rae for breast cancer, alone (because if he came with her, she'd be embarrassed). In 19th century!

Anywho, I want Jin to get Mina and KT to get YR...




So, who do you prefer?

1. I don't watch that many jdramas any more, but I have fallen under the sweet, cracky spell of Shiritsu Bakaleia Koukou.

I can almost belive that this delightful half-hour a week show is based on some manga I would have been obsessed about when younger (aww, who am I kidding? I'd still obsess over it). The premise is certainly pure shoujo crack - a derelict all-boys school whose students are all dedicated to fighting merges with an upper-class, super-refined all-girls school. Heeeee..



There is a ridiculously cute OTP: she - proper, ladylike, strongwilled head of girls' school. He - scruffy, emotion-driven excellent fighter head of boys' school. There are typical shoujo situations, a spiffy soundtrack, a surprsingly winning cast, and there are the typical jdrama lessons about teamwork and loyalty. The whole set-up - refined, ladylike ladies are needed to tame macho guys who are unkempt, rough, and love fighting - is a very traditional idea stripped shamelessly bare to its bones but it works.

( Caps from ep 2, which is as far as I am into it. I dare you not to like )

2. If this amazing MV by joonni doesn't touch you, there is something wrong with you.



It pretty much encapsulates how perfect the OTP of Queen In Hyun's Man was. QIHM is not my n1. 2012 drama (though it came close), but Hee Jin/Bong Do are certainly my 2012 OTP:

3. In case you missed it, here is the HD preview for ep 5 of Gaksital.



I need this ep in my life ASAP! I've seen speculation that the Gaksital we see here is Kang To, donning the mask to rescue Dan. I would love it to be true (what's not to love? KT strikes me as someone who would put this on to protect someone he cares about - he is capable of immense love for the small group of people he cares for, is impulsive and hot-tempered, and has a certain disregard for rules) but I don't really think so - where would he get the mask - I am assuming they are less popular marketplace items now, with the cops hunting the wearer. And it might be too soon for him to both discover who Gaksital really is AND borrow the stuff from him.

[Poll #1846158]

4. I continue enjoying Dr. Jin for Song Seung Heon's sexy grimy face and his chemistry with Park Min Young. Lee Bum Soo is stealing the show. Jaejoong's character crossed an irrevocable line when he burned the village down (!!!) - I can understand what drove him to it, but there are some things you do not do and I think that would have lost him Young Rae's heart for good. JJ is a decent actor, especially for an idol, but I wish this role had a really good actor because that role has a lot of potential.

Off to watch ep 6 of A Gentleman's Dignity now.

1. I don't watch that many jdramas any more, but I have fallen under the sweet, cracky spell of Shiritsu Bakaleia Koukou.

I can almost belive that this delightful half-hour a week show is based on some manga I would have been obsessed about when younger (aww, who am I kidding? I'd still obsess over it). The premise is certainly pure shoujo crack - a derelict all-boys school whose students are all dedicated to fighting merges with an upper-class, super-refined all-girls school. Heeeee..



There is a ridiculously cute OTP: she - proper, ladylike, strongwilled head of girls' school. He - scruffy, emotion-driven excellent fighter head of boys' school. There are typical shoujo situations, a spiffy soundtrack, a surprsingly winning cast, and there are the typical jdrama lessons about teamwork and loyalty. The whole set-up - refined, ladylike ladies are needed to tame macho guys who are unkempt, rough, and love fighting - is a very traditional idea stripped shamelessly bare to its bones but it works.

( Caps from ep 2, which is as far as I am into it. I dare you not to like )

2. If this amazing MV by joonni doesn't touch you, there is something wrong with you.



It pretty much encapsulates how perfect the OTP of Queen In Hyun's Man was. QIHM is not my n1. 2012 drama (though it came close), but Hee Jin/Bong Do are certainly my 2012 OTP:

3. In case you missed it, here is the HD preview for ep 5 of Gaksital.



I need this ep in my life ASAP! I've seen speculation that the Gaksital we see here is Kang To, donning the mask to rescue Dan. I would love it to be true (what's not to love? KT strikes me as someone who would put this on to protect someone he cares about - he is capable of immense love for the small group of people he cares for, is impulsive and hot-tempered, and has a certain disregard for rules) but I don't really think so - where would he get the mask - I am assuming they are less popular marketplace items now, with the cops hunting the wearer. And it might be too soon for him to both discover who Gaksital really is AND borrow the stuff from him.

[Poll #1846158]

4. I continue enjoying Dr. Jin for Song Seung Heon's sexy grimy face and his chemistry with Park Min Young. Lee Bum Soo is stealing the show. Jaejoong's character crossed an irrevocable line when he burned the village down (!!!) - I can understand what drove him to it, but there are some things you do not do and I think that would have lost him Young Rae's heart for good. JJ is a decent actor, especially for an idol, but I wish this role had a really good actor because that role has a lot of potential.

Off to watch ep 6 of A Gentleman's Dignity now.

1. The preview for ep 5 of A Gentleman's Dignity promises me this: ( Warning: hyperventilation territory ahoy )

2. This trailer for ep 3 of Bridal Mask (thanks, anon!). Cannot. Breathe.



3. Despite for my love of Jin/Young Rae, I actually found myself alternashipping her with Korean Edward Cullen in ep 4. I mean! He saves her from murderers! There is comfort hugging! Etc! I think she should alternate...



( Caps from scene and youtube clip of same )

4. To my complete and utter shock, I actually adored the first episode of Big, the Hong Sisters' drama starring Lee Min Jung and Gong Yoo. I only checked it out of sheer boredom, expecting to hate it (I normally cannot stand Lee Min Jung and I used to love Hong Sisters a long time ago but all their recent dramas made me want to bleach my eyeballs with acid), but perhaps because my expectations were low, I found it lovely, lovely lovely.



Tbh, if I didn't know Hong Sisters wrote this, I would never peg it as a recent drama of theirs - the frenetic pace is absent, the zany brittle preciousness (that their fans find wonderful but grates on me) is absent, nobody is walking around like a cartoon on steroids (I am looking at you, Dokko Jin, who best belonged in a Bugs Bunny cartoon), and the characters actually feel like people that might exist in real world. It is even more mellow than their early works, let alone their latest stuff. (Not to bash frenetic - when done right, it's great, but I don't think they've managed to do it right since Hong Gil Dong).

I am also shipping our 24-yr-old teacher heroine with our 18-yr-old student (who ends up in Gong Yoo's body) like mad. In fact, this drama feels like nothing but a supernatural twist on Biscuit Candy and Star Teacher (also starring Gong Yoo :P) or Romance or (a very very light take on) Majo No Jouken. Color me shocked.

Now, I am not sure how it will turn out - the moment wacky OTT kicks in, if it does, I am out. But for now, what a lovely lovely surprise.

( Some caps )

I am not sure if the drama is objectively getting better or I have just been drawn in, but I thought ep 3 was genuinely good, and not just 'cracky cheesy entertaining.'

For me, it is still about the OTP - Jin and Young Rae are pretty much everything I want in an OTP - grown-up, functional (with angst too), dedicated and competent, and she's ladylike but constrained by her times and with a will of steel and he's just so decent...

Plus, PMY and SSH both look so pretty in period clothes and have such lovely chemistry.

( Cappy cappy caps )

I am not sure if the drama is objectively getting better or I have just been drawn in, but I thought ep 3 was genuinely good, and not just 'cracky cheesy entertaining.'

For me, it is still about the OTP - Jin and Young Rae are pretty much everything I want in an OTP - grown-up, functional (with angst too), dedicated and competent, and she's ladylike but constrained by her times and with a will of steel and he's just so decent...

Plus, PMY and SSH both look so pretty in period clothes and have such lovely chemistry.

( Cappy cappy caps )

Guess which first episode I just watched and liked? Here is a hint:






I genuinely enjoyed the first episode of Dr. Jin, thus (if the blogs are anything to go by) placing me in a solid minority of one. But I very much enjoyed it and I stand by my opinion.

This is not drama-as-art the way the Japanese JIN (at least first season, I never did watch the sequel) was. And this is undoubtedly cheesy. But it is also entertaining and, let's face it, I think at least 80% of dramas are made of enough cheese to double as a dairy farm in Wisconsin. (Frex - King 2 Heart and Rooftop Prince, very entertaining, pure cheese).

Part of my fondness is that fusion sageuks are my favorite genre and time-travel my favorite device. Part of it is my enormous fondness for Song Seung Heon, Park Min Young (who has gorgeous chemistry with SSH), Lee Bum Soo (who is stealing the show), Jaejoong et. al. But a lot of it is that it's just cheesy yummy fun. If I want a fusion sageuk I consider genuine quality, this will never be it (that crown would probably go to Chuno) but as far as a great way to spend a couple of hours - oh yes, sign me up right here!

In conclusion - I was very pleased to note that Edward Cullen is alive and well in Joseon Korea:



Here he is, minutes before his even eviller Daddy randomly shoots a horse. Just because. Evil.

He's so very pretty! And actually not in a drama which makes me want to stab self in the eye (I am looking at you, Sunao ni Narenakute!)



I really hope he won't chase after heroine but instead have an awesome secondary OTP with Wang Ji Hye. I do wonder wtf is wrong with him to feel jealous of and want to one-up Ji Heon when JH is a screw-up who can't get anything right and he's the golden boy. That's like beating on a puppy - pretty pointless and kinda mean.

Speaking of JH - three eps, and my impression of him is that he's basically this overgrown kid - impulsive like one, scared like one (he can't sleep without lights on!) and clingy and emotionally vulnerable like one. He and heroine have a pretty adorable, interesting dynamic. She almost mothers him, but not in an icky Oedipal way. There are hints he used to be normal until something happened (I wonder if it was the death of his brother or maybe something else - there is a flashback at the airport with WJH's character where he was going to meet her but then got a phone call, freaked out and got his panic attack in a crowded place - maybe that is why he has agoraphobia, he associates it with whatever he found out on the call). Hmmmm.

1. OMG preview of ep 12 of Miss Ripley.



It looks like Yoo Hyun finally found out the truth and he is scaring the crap out of me - you could sense the hidden steel and coldness underneath his 'nice boy' manner before, but now Miri's lies have brought it to the surface and I am honestly terrified. It's interesting, because the initial feel was "Myung Hoon = stern businessman, Yoo Hyun = unworldly idealist" but by now you realize that MH would forgive Miri anything and would be like putty in her hands and Yoo Hyun is scary dangerous. Also, am I hallucinating or is YH's stepmom Miri's birth mom? Eeeek, ILY drama.

2. I know it is tragic, but City Hunter is bound to end, and the drama that replaces it is Protect the Boss with Ji Sung and Jaejoong.

( A few promo stills look wacky and cute )

3. Of more interest to me is my discovery of a TON of Myung Wol the Spy stills, the upcoming drama in which a North Korean agent, Han Ye Seul, is ordered to kidnap a Hallyu star, Eric, with the help of the sexy sexy agent Lee Jin Wook. The stills make me salivate like there is no tomorrow - they look funny, sharp, and hella sexy.



( A ton of stills )