Musings of the Obsessive Kind

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 :)

(I know replies are piling up - I promise to reply asap).

Finished Robbers and ep 16 just about made me melt in my seat. So good.

This drama is going onto my faves list, not the least because that scene at the end of 14/beginning of 15 - when she finds out the truth and comes looking for him and he walks away, leaving her crying, but then you see him come back and they hold on for dear life, i going on my all-time fave romantic scenes list.

This was SO GOOD.

And such a lovely, kind ending too. With the shopping, and the three of them being a little family, and kissing, and "see you tomorrow" and other adorableness. And it wasn't a grand explosive thing, how they finally got together, either - it's just he loves her so much, he couldn't deny himself forever and she loves him so much, she can convince him she will be happier if he came home with her.

(I did love that nothing got straightened out with his noona - past a certain point, he HAS to give up - he's tried to get her away from her abusive husband about 6 billion times (which is why he ended up in this mess to start with), but if she always keeps going back to him, there is nothing he can do).

I am back to my earlier opinion btw - if Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae aren't the OTP of Chuno, I'll burn something or similar - their characters in Robbers became one of my hugest OTPs and I refuse to see the chemistry wasted by not appearing again.

Yup, am through ep 13 - quite a marathon.

So good.

It's not an earth-shaking drama by any means but what it does, it does so well.

It's pretty darn depressing now, I must add, and if it wasn't for selective fastforwarding, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the misery but as it is, it works really well.

Also, the chemistry between Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae (who has the most perfect skin I've ever seen btw) continues incredible.

I do admit that poor Oh Joon is about the most nightmare matrimonial prospect out there - no family except for a sister married to an abuser; poor as a church mouse, no real job skills (he can run a gym but that doesn't pay super well), a former reformed gigolo swindler (!!!), and and did I mention the whole potentially dying from a fatal disease bit?

Good Lord.

If I were Dal Rae's real-life friend, I'd stage an intervention!

But as I am not, I really want them together so badly - he really really needs her and her adorable little family and she is so loving and fun around him.

Yup, am through ep 13 - quite a marathon.

So good.

It's not an earth-shaking drama by any means but what it does, it does so well.

It's pretty darn depressing now, I must add, and if it wasn't for selective fastforwarding, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the misery but as it is, it works really well.

Also, the chemistry between Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae (who has the most perfect skin I've ever seen btw) continues incredible.

I do admit that poor Oh Joon is about the most nightmare matrimonial prospect out there - no family except for a sister married to an abuser; poor as a church mouse, no real job skills (he can run a gym but that doesn't pay super well), a former reformed gigolo swindler (!!!), and and did I mention the whole potentially dying from a fatal disease bit?

Good Lord.

If I were Dal Rae's real-life friend, I'd stage an intervention!

But as I am not, I really want them together so badly - he really really needs her and her adorable little family and she is so loving and fun around him.

I was craving an intensely romantic kdrama and I definitely got it and more.

Episodes 9 and 10 of Robbers were some of the most perfect stuff out there. Seriously, he intensity was INSANE. Especially in the scene in the beginning of ep 9 where they confront each other once she found out the truth about his former profession - I was so taken in by their faces and by the raw emotion that I literally forgot to glance down at the subtitles and had to rewind to watch it again to see what they were saying.

But the scene at the end of episode 10 with her proposing to him, in jail? That was almost as good.

My God - I don't think I've seen such an extreme hothouse of emotion for a while.

Watching this really does make me think I don't care whether Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae are the otp in Chuno or not - either way, even if they are in the same scene, the chemistry will be insane (I have rarely seen such chemistry as they have in Robbers) and I feel so grateful I got to see them as the otp in Robbers, I really can't complain whatever else happens.

Plus, nobody is as good at pining after a pure woman who gives your tattered life its sole meaning and is your one hope of redemption as Jang Hyuk. MMMMMM.

I have to say, I am so impressed by Da Hae's character for taking Jang Hyuk's character back. Not because of a former swindle but because it would be incredibly hard to be with someone for whom you are the sole source of happiness and connection to normalcy. That's just so enormous and needy - I couldn't deal with it.

OMG, Dal Rae has just found out. (((Hugs her)))

And Oh Joon comes to confess his sins to her but of course she already knows. This is going to be a TRAINWRECK.

For once, I can't glee in the angst at all because these two people are so beaten down by life already, I just want them to find some peace and happiness (btw - Oh Joon seems to spend half his time literally beaten down - guy doesn't need a girlfriend but a hospital).

Oh, and am I insane or is Mandu, Oh Joon's friend, secretly in love with him? That's got to be the first time I've seen a gay character in a contemporary drama.

Anyway, Robbers is SO GOOD.

But maybe I am biased because I melt into my seat at the way Oh Joon looks at Dal Rae. My God.

OMG, Dal Rae has just found out. (((Hugs her)))

And Oh Joon comes to confess his sins to her but of course she already knows. This is going to be a TRAINWRECK.

For once, I can't glee in the angst at all because these two people are so beaten down by life already, I just want them to find some peace and happiness (btw - Oh Joon seems to spend half his time literally beaten down - guy doesn't need a girlfriend but a hospital).

Oh, and am I insane or is Mandu, Oh Joon's friend, secretly in love with him? That's got to be the first time I've seen a gay character in a contemporary drama.

Anyway, Robbers is SO GOOD.

But maybe I am biased because I melt into my seat at the way Oh Joon looks at Dal Rae. My God.

I haven't watched Dollouse yet. Boo. Will hulu it. Isn't Jamie Bamber supposed to be on it? YAY!

In other news, I am sure you've seen my drama slump lately. I am, however, out of it - no airing drama rescued me but I restarted my interrupted watch of Lee Da Hae and Jang Hyuk's Robbers yesterday after it having been nowhere near my laptop or dvd player for months (I liked what I saw earlier but got sidetracked). I am now through ep 8 and I love it to bits. While the story itself is well-done, that is not what really makes me rabid - LDH as an unworldly, sweet widow with a small child and Jang Hyuk as a gigolo-conman who desperately wants to be a new person are the real obsession grounds for me. They both act very well but also - their chemistry is ridiculous. The scene where he was whispering into her ear in ep 7 (??I think it was 7) - I thought I was going to combust. And then the kiss he pulls her into. AHHHOMG.

When is Chuno coming out argh now want it now. Though even if Jang Hyuk and LDH won't end together in Chuno, I won't carp because I still can't believe Robbers gave us a happy(ish) ending.

And Da Hae's drama daughter is so adorable!

Speaking of Chuno, a poster for it is out:



( Larger and without text )

I cannot wait.

In having its protagonists be people at the margins of society, it's making me think of Damo and even Hong Gil Dong - and I loved Damo and HGD with ridiculous love.

In-between doing things like reading a book on Mughal Empire, going for a walk with Mr. and Baby Mousie etc etc, I watched a couple more episodes of kdrama Robbers, 2006's drama with dangermousie favorites Jung Hyuk and Lee Da Hae. Robbers is a drama I enjoy but watch very slowly, because the protagonists do have rather miserable lives and it can be gritty and desperate and sordid kind of miserable as opposed to prettily-lit.

Oh Joon (Jang Hyuk) is a gigolo conman who seduces his marks and then tricks them out of their money. His latest target is eccentric, fragile Dal Rae (Lee Da Hae), a widow with a five-year-old daughter. He needs the money to repay loan sharks who are after him and Dal Rae just happens to have the sum that he needs saved up...

Normally what would happen next is a destitute woman, a court case, and a nice jail sentence for the guy in question. However seeing that Oh Joon is played by Jang Hyuk, who specializes in playing bastards with a (rather hidden) heart and Dal Rae is played by Lee Da Hae, surely one of the most adorable kdrama actresses, you can tell the story is going to go rather differently.

The reason I really like this drama, even if it does seem like quite an angstfest?

The protagonists are grown-ups. Dal Rae acts like a woman with a child, not some sort of an overgrown teenager. She is somewhat sheltered and unworldly but quite strong and adult in her approach to emotions. And the drama never minces its approach that Oh Joon is a bastard who knows he is one. He might be salvageable, he might be pushed into his path by a bad situation but the fact remains he is almost unredeemable. Oh, and I adore Dal Rae's little daughter - she is not a sweet idealized child, but a real five-year-old who can be bratty or throw tantrums...

Plus, happy ending!

Cute MV