Musings of the Obsessive Kind

This is the latest 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 50-41: these are entertaining dramas worth a look: they are flawed but a nice time investment nontheless. All the dramas behind the cut are dramas I like. Some of them I like a lot. Once again, I have either finished these dramas entirely or finished enough to make up my own mind.

( Generals, gigolos, gangsters and gun runners under the cut: my 52-43 dramas )

Until next time, amigas!

Episode 11 of Snow White is just wonderful.

I love the brotherly bonding stuff. This is a rare kdrama where family is awesome.

Also, I am not sure what I love more, Young-Hee and Sun-Woo all giddy and newly dating (when he shakes petals on her, eeeeee!) or Jin-Woo finally realizing he likes Young-Hee (and Young-Hee liked him) and how he spent the whole day trying to find a book Young-Hee wanted (spent the whole night outside the author's house!) and when he tells her he loves her, it's such an awesome confession. I am now deciding I want an OT3!

Also, I have fangirled over Lee Wan elsewhere (short version: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so a brief comment about Yeon Jung Hoon, who plays Jin-Woo: he is HOT. I wanted to see if he was a lead in any drama (aka got the girl) but the only ones he was the lead in are those huge 100+ eps dramas and I won't sit through them even for such hotness.

I am totally fangirling (RPFing?) the fact that he is married to Ha Ga In (the adorable star of Witch Yoo Hee, which I need to finish). They played an OTP in 'Yellow Handkerchief,' which sounds awesome except for being a billion eps long.

Here is their wedding pic:

Episode 11 of Snow White is just wonderful.

I love the brotherly bonding stuff. This is a rare kdrama where family is awesome.

Also, I am not sure what I love more, Young-Hee and Sun-Woo all giddy and newly dating (when he shakes petals on her, eeeeee!) or Jin-Woo finally realizing he likes Young-Hee (and Young-Hee liked him) and how he spent the whole day trying to find a book Young-Hee wanted (spent the whole night outside the author's house!) and when he tells her he loves her, it's such an awesome confession. I am now deciding I want an OT3!

Also, I have fangirled over Lee Wan elsewhere (short version: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so a brief comment about Yeon Jung Hoon, who plays Jin-Woo: he is HOT. I wanted to see if he was a lead in any drama (aka got the girl) but the only ones he was the lead in are those huge 100+ eps dramas and I won't sit through them even for such hotness.

I am totally fangirling (RPFing?) the fact that he is married to Ha Ga In (the adorable star of Witch Yoo Hee, which I need to finish). They played an OTP in 'Yellow Handkerchief,' which sounds awesome except for being a billion eps long.

Here is their wedding pic:

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....Cain and Abel is delayed. Grrrrrrr...I want my angsty mob assassins in love, darnit. Don't tell me So Ji Sub is baulking at dying on-screen again. :D Kim Rae Won's Gourmet about a chef is not the same. Do chefs shoot people and angst in suits? No. BOO.

Has anyone on my flist seen the recently ended (and completely subbed) Lobbyist? It's one of the rare non-romance (though of course it does have a love story) dramas I am interested in, largely because sometimes I like violence/gritty stuff, and because it stars Song Il Gook, who after Jumong can do no wrong in my eyes and can read the telephone book and I will watch. Also, apparently they filmed in Washington DC (lost stalking opportunity! :D) and Kyrgyzstan (!!!!).



The story: Our heroine Maria (Jang Jin Young) grows up in a quiet fishing village with Harry (Song Il Gook). Yes, every kdrama is required to have a childhood love. Through various plot developments, both end up moving to America while children (separately), and both suffer some severe trauma: Maria's father is shot during a mugging, and eventually Maria's bright, driven older sister is murdered and is implicated in the theft of government secrets. Meanwhile, Harry's sister is molested in his new home by an Uncle who has odd notion of family values, and Harry grabs his sister and goes on the run. Can we say both grow up to be extremely tough and self-sufficient individuals?



Fast-forward to adulthood, and both Maria and Harry's paths cross once again, not necessarily smoothly. Maria is now a lobbyist for an international munitions manufacturer and Harry is a prosperous arms dealer. Both are involved in arms-dealing, vengeance and other exciting things. Lots of stuff blows up. There is a love story (duh) but it's not primarily that. I think. You can never be sure, with kdramas.

All I know is, Song Il Gook better not die in this one.

( A bunch of pics, unspoilery )

In other news, apparently Korea finally picked up its own drama Bichunmu (previously shown in China, it was a co-production). I hope they will have original actors' voices as that would be awesome. The version I own is dubbed into Mandarin. Which reminds me, it's an awesome drama, I must finish it. Angsty, and romantic, and funny, and with swords.



( Some Bichunmu pics )

Last but not least, I am through ep 10 of Snow White and it continues to be awesome.

( Thoughts on eps 7-10 )

Still no Kame/Nun. This kills my soul :) Or at least that part of it which fangirls.

Seeing that I am almost done with the lovely Snow White on DVD, and can take MISA only in carefully-controlled doses, on computer (I always split my dramas into computer and DVD (I usually watch one of 'each kind' at the same time...well not literally...), my DVD drama is Hotaru No Hikari, when I finish SW, but my computer drama is...

The Legend.



The Legend is Korea's last year epic fantasy drama. For a Western viewer, the best way to describe it would be as a sort of Arthurian legend, complete with politics, swords, battles, star-crossed lovers, and a brutal medieval version of polo (!!!!).

Dam Deok (played by Bae Yong Joon. It's my first BYJ drama and I think I really get the fuss now) is someone prophesied to unite fourth century Korea when he reaches adulthood. But will he even be able to survive in the cut-throat world of warring clans and court intrigue? Will he be able to fulfill his destiny? Will there be a lot of awesome battle scenes, magic, love, and hot men in armor? YOU BET.

OMG.

You guys.

I just finished the first episode and I am in love. The first episode was solidly backstory and I didn't mind. I usually forward every epic/period drama, but here I remained glued to the screen.

The first episode largely deals with what happened 2000 years before our story takes place as a head clansman tells a famous legend to his ward, an adorably tomboyish scruffy girl named Sujini (our future heroine). For a reason we find out mid-ep, the tribesmen do not want to tell this story to her at all. It is a story of the dawn of mankind, when humans were being enslaved by the Tiger Tribe, which possessed a fierce power of fire spirit, wielded by the Tiger Tribe Priestess Kajin.

Lord Hwangwoong, son of the Ruler of Heaven comes down to Earth in order to put a stop to this destructiveness and to help humans. He largely establishes peace and plenty, brings powerful protective spirits down to help, and is even kind enough to heal Kajin's wounds when he comes across her in battle. He also meets a Warrior Woman Sae-Oh, and well...Gods aren't supposed to fall in love with Humans, but...

Oh heck, it's kdrama, and it all goes to hell in a handbasket. But with awesome CGI.

How is it relevant to our story? Well, Dam Deok is in a way a reincarnation of Lord Hwangwoong and Sujini is a reincarnation of Sae-Oh, but that's not necessarily a good thing...

Normally I wouldn't care about backstory, but this first ep really held my attention. It would make a pretty good dark fairytale in itself.

( Here are tons of screencaps )

( Two MVs )

In other news, i've been haunting the usual places for 1 Pound No Fukuin subs. I need my Kame and the Nun fix. I am going insane.

Seeing that I am almost done with the lovely Snow White on DVD, and can take MISA only in carefully-controlled doses, on computer (I always split my dramas into computer and DVD (I usually watch one of 'each kind' at the same time...well not literally...), my DVD drama is Hotaru No Hikari, when I finish SW, but my computer drama is...

The Legend.



The Legend is Korea's last year epic fantasy drama. For a Western viewer, the best way to describe it would be as a sort of Arthurian legend, complete with politics, swords, battles, star-crossed lovers, and a brutal medieval version of polo (!!!!).

Dam Deok (played by Bae Yong Joon. It's my first BYJ drama and I think I really get the fuss now) is someone prophesied to unite fourth century Korea when he reaches adulthood. But will he even be able to survive in the cut-throat world of warring clans and court intrigue? Will he be able to fulfill his destiny? Will there be a lot of awesome battle scenes, magic, love, and hot men in armor? YOU BET.

OMG.

You guys.

I just finished the first episode and I am in love. The first episode was solidly backstory and I didn't mind. I usually forward every epic/period drama, but here I remained glued to the screen.

The first episode largely deals with what happened 2000 years before our story takes place as a head clansman tells a famous legend to his ward, an adorably tomboyish scruffy girl named Sujini (our future heroine). For a reason we find out mid-ep, the tribesmen do not want to tell this story to her at all. It is a story of the dawn of mankind, when humans were being enslaved by the Tiger Tribe, which possessed a fierce power of fire spirit, wielded by the Tiger Tribe Priestess Kajin.

Lord Hwangwoong, son of the Ruler of Heaven comes down to Earth in order to put a stop to this destructiveness and to help humans. He largely establishes peace and plenty, brings powerful protective spirits down to help, and is even kind enough to heal Kajin's wounds when he comes across her in battle. He also meets a Warrior Woman Sae-Oh, and well...Gods aren't supposed to fall in love with Humans, but...

Oh heck, it's kdrama, and it all goes to hell in a handbasket. But with awesome CGI.

How is it relevant to our story? Well, Dam Deok is in a way a reincarnation of Lord Hwangwoong and Sujini is a reincarnation of Sae-Oh, but that's not necessarily a good thing...

Normally I wouldn't care about backstory, but this first ep really held my attention. It would make a pretty good dark fairytale in itself.

( Here are tons of screencaps )

( Two MVs )

In other news, i've been haunting the usual places for 1 Pound No Fukuin subs. I need my Kame and the Nun fix. I am going insane.

Does Lee Wan somehow get more gorgeous with each ep or am I just ODing on his hotness and losing my mind?

Because that scene where Minako asks for 'his arm' and they fall asleep on his bed, I nesrly died.

Speaking of Minako, I adore her. She is a somewhat infantile, very sweet and hilarious girl from Japan who is Lee Wan's ex. She tracks him all the way down to Seoul and invites herself to move in with him and Heroine. And I still adore her. Maybe because she is so fun, or just so amusing, or just a girl who means no harm at all. And she does realize eventually that Lee Wan meant what he said about not wanting to get back together, and stays around only to help his friends out of a bind. I really like what we learn of Lee Wan's character through his interactions with her: he is genuinely a good guy, and when he looks at her and interacts with her, you can tell the complexity of his emotions: Minako is someone he likes, though only as a friend, and he doesn't want to hurt her, and he can understand her deep loneliness (he was the first friend she made).

OTP interloper that rocks. How odd is that?

And speaking of interlopers who rock, I adore Lee Wan's older brother. Not only is thr actor hot, he is just awesome with the Heroine. He doesn't know she has a thing for him (he is a boy, and therefore dense) but he does treat her as a Best Friend. And is so fun. And awesome. I love it when he felt bad she didn't get his message about not being able to go to a movie, so he rented a private screen, OMG. If it wasn't for Lee Wan being even more awesome, I'd be rooting for him.

And speaking of the OTP, they are getting there, baby steps. Did I mention he is an awesome musician btw? I love the bit where she comes in and sees him sleeping in same bed with Minako and jumps to conclusion and is sad and lonely. Or when she doesn't come home at night because she is out with his brother and he is miserable and restless all night and then when he sees her next, he is so jealous. OMG, the way he looks at her then!

Character I don't like? Lee Wan's brother's gf. She is disgustingly fake and I want someone to run her over with a truck. She is not an OTP interloper, but I loathe her anyway.

ETA: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! She just confessed her love for Jin-Woo finally. And kissed him. Only it was dark and she was mistaken and she did it to Lee Wan. OMG the way he looked at her OMG. Nobody does angsty piercing stare the way Lee Wan does.
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One of the main characters in Gundam Wing is, I kid you not, a teenage, clown in the circus, pilot of super-powerful miltary machine. People who wrote this were on crack.

I have started the first episode of Hong Gil Dong as the subs are out.

I fell in love with it about two minutes in.



It's Robin Hood only WAY cooler. It's Robin Hood with wuxia. And this Marian with ribbons in her hair sword-fights like mad. And Gil Dong (Robin Hood) not only looks like Kang Ji Hwan (thus impossibly awesome), but has those tiny, Vash-like sunglasses. And is the best fighter evah. And fights in unison with Maid Marian girl (no idea on her name yet). And his team teases him for showing up late (to save them all) because he overslept or because he wants to get attention.

Not to mention that after a few minutes of such awesomeness, we flashback to some years earlier, and Gil Dong wakes up in a brothel, world's worst hangover for mixing soju and wine, and on seeing one hooker goes 'Y, why are you here, I thought I went to bed with X' on which another lady pokes the head out and goes 'X is here too.' 'And so is Z' chimes in a male and poor Gil Dong goes bug-eyed.

I was sold from then on.

I think the story will be about how he went from the ne'er-do-well of this to the awesome dude of the beginning.

I usually can't get past most Korean historical dramas because they are very long and soooo serious and rather stuffy. This promises to be awesome though.

( Screencaps from first ten minutes )

Btw, after I finish Snow White, it's Thank You. Oh, and filmi_girl and I had a blast watching more Capital Scandal. It's even better the second time around.

One of the main characters in Gundam Wing is, I kid you not, a teenage, clown in the circus, pilot of super-powerful miltary machine. People who wrote this were on crack.

I have started the first episode of Hong Gil Dong as the subs are out.

I fell in love with it about two minutes in.



It's Robin Hood only WAY cooler. It's Robin Hood with wuxia. And this Marian with ribbons in her hair sword-fights like mad. And Gil Dong (Robin Hood) not only looks like Kang Ji Hwan (thus impossibly awesome), but has those tiny, Vash-like sunglasses. And is the best fighter evah. And fights in unison with Maid Marian girl (no idea on her name yet). And his team teases him for showing up late (to save them all) because he overslept or because he wants to get attention.

Not to mention that after a few minutes of such awesomeness, we flashback to some years earlier, and Gil Dong wakes up in a brothel, world's worst hangover for mixing soju and wine, and on seeing one hooker goes 'Y, why are you here, I thought I went to bed with X' on which another lady pokes the head out and goes 'X is here too.' 'And so is Z' chimes in a male and poor Gil Dong goes bug-eyed.

I was sold from then on.

I think the story will be about how he went from the ne'er-do-well of this to the awesome dude of the beginning.

I usually can't get past most Korean historical dramas because they are very long and soooo serious and rather stuffy. This promises to be awesome though.

( Screencaps from first ten minutes )

Btw, after I finish Snow White, it's Thank You. Oh, and filmi_girl and I had a blast watching more Capital Scandal. It's even better the second time around.

Because filmi_girl is so awesome, she brought me a Shahrukh Khan doll from England. *dies*. Which various outfit changes. LOL. Almost as awesome was Mr. Mousie's reaction on seeing it.

I was amused to note that they definitely made his nose much smaller. Now, all I need is a Kajol doll (which they do make) and I can have my own RPF. Or a Hrithik doll (also in existence) and we are set for RPS.

LOL. I am going to take pics of the doll and post them.

I have finished ep 2 of Jotei and I give up. No more Jotei for me. Guys, I have finally found a drama that broke my WTF meter. I never thought it could happen but oh God, I can actively feel myself losing IQ points with every minute I watch this. I am afraid if I continue, my LJ writing will degenerate into 'me see drama, me cry from badness, me mock outfit.'

I spent vast majority of the two eps agog, and with a 'they can't be doing/saying what I think they are? It can't be this ridiculous and bad and WTF, can it? Is this for real?' surreal feel.

Highlights are the 'acting' of our heroine's evil hostess rival, Reiko (I am amazed this had any scenery left considering how the actress chewed it like it was her last meal ever) and our yakuza hero Naoto, nobly supporting and cheering on our heroine to sell her first time to the highest bidder and to in general become best 'oldest profession participant' ever.

So inspiring. Now that's a goal anyone can get behind. Or in front. Or sideways.

Maybe I could buy the love story if every scene with the yakuza guy and the heroine didn't make me laugh and goggle in 'this can't be real?' way simultaneously. But then, to be fair, this is true of everything in this drama.

There was only one serious emotion inspired by this: Matsuda Shota, for the love of God, eat something!!!! You are not even in JE, why are you trying to claim the title of 'skinniest star' from Kame, who finally bulked up to the point I can no longer see his ribs (thank God).

I mean, what kind of a yakuza is he? He looks like a pidgeon could drop-kick him. I buy Dylan Kuo as a gangster in The Outsiders. I buy Lee Seo Jin as gangster in Lovers. I buy Lee Wan as gangster in Tree of Heaven. If they cast Yamapi or Oguri Shun as a yakuza, I could buy it. I do NOT buy Matsuda Shota in his present emaciated state. What I would buy is a plate of food for him, though.

This weekend, it's Capital Scandal (which is still best thing ever) with filmi_girl and more of delightful Snow White on my own.