Queen SeonDeok

• Lee Yo Won as Princess Duk Man, later Queen Seon Duk
  • Nam Ji Hyun as 15 year old Princess Duk Man
• Ko Hyun Jung as Lady Mi Shil
  • Uee as 18 year old Mi Shil
• Uhm Tae Woong as Kim Yoo Shin
  • Lee Hyun Woo as young Kim Yoo Shin
• Park Ye Jin as Princess Chun Myung
  • Shin Se Kyung as 15 year old Princess Chun Myung
    • Kim Yoo Jung as 10 year old Princess Chun Myung
• Yoo Seung Ho as Kim Chun Chu (Chun Myung and Kim Yong Soo's son, ep34~)
• Kim Nam Gil as Bi Dam (King Jinji and Mi Shil's son, ep21~)
  • Park Ji Bin as young Bi Dam
• Lee Seung Hyo as Alcheon
  • Ho Hyo Hoon (호효훈) as young Alcheon
• Jung Ho Bin as Moon No (the 8th leader of Hwarang Warriors)
• Jo Min Ki as King Jinpyeong (Duk Man and Chun Myung's father)
  • Baek Jong Min as young Jinpyeong
    • Kang San as child Jinpyeong
• Yoon Yoo Sun as lady Ma Ya (King Jinyeong's wife)
  • Park Soo Jin as young Ma Ya
• Seo Young Hee as So Hwa 

• Title: 선덕여왕 (善德女王) / Seondeok Yeo Wang
• Also known as: Queen Seon Duk
• Tagline: The one who secures the people will acquire the world and rule the ages
• Genre: Historical Drama
• Episodes: 62
• Broadcast network: MBC
• Broadcast period: 2009-May-25 to 2009-Dec-22
• Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55

Synopsis

Deokman was born a twin but was abandoned as a baby and sent to a place far away by her father, King Jinpyeong in order to protect her from being killed by an influenced royal court lady, Mishil who tries to snatch away the throne from the royal successor. Deokman was later brought back to the Silla palace, where she joined forces with her twin sister Princess Cheonmyong to oppose Mishil. However, Mishil devised sinister plans to have the two Silla princesses exiled from the kingdom, and in a secretive battle, Princess Cheonmyong was accidentally killed. But Princess Deokman shrewdly enlisted the help of General Kim Yusin and eliminated her archenemy Mishil. She then became Queen Seon Deok, the first female ruler of the Silla kingdom. This drama is about a story of a beautiful queen, who has to give up her love to save the people and thus, leaving behind many brilliant achievements.
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Yeah, so that's the synopsis DramaWiki would like you to have.  You can have it.

Ponder Angst – So much ponder I almost stopped watching the series.  If I wasn't trying to talk my friend into watching Damo, I wouldn't have finished it.  0 points

Love “ – “ Angles – YuShin Loves DeokMan, DeokMan loves YuShin, Bidam loves DeokMan, DeokMan eventually loves BiDam, SeolWon loves Mishil, Mishil loves Mishil.  30 points.

Sizzle – Oh, there was sizzle!  YuShin's "I'll always be by your side" sizzle, and when we find out he always knew DeokMan was a girl?  Whhoooooof.  And then Bidam's amazing charisma that screamed off the screen and right into my face.  Another 30 points, mostly because I loved looking at these two.

Physical Intimacy – Hugs and some intimacy. 20 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – The white cloth of life/death was out in abundance in this series.  Nearly everyone who dies - dies from the scourge of Shilla - the dreaded bloodinthemouth.  You know when you see the white cloth come out and someone coughs?  It always comes up bloody - so you know they are about to die.  When the white cloth comes out to cool a fevered forehead?  They live.  Because...no bloodinthemouth.  But we get bloodinthemouth even when there is no white cloth of Life or Death.  Stabbed in the belly?  Bloodinthemouth.  Stabbed in the shoulder?  Bloodinthemouth.  Arrow in the back?  Bloodinthemouth.  Even Chil Sook dies only -  ONLY when he bleeds from his mouth.  Bloodinthemouth kills more people than constipation; and toward the end, it was literally gushing out of our character's mouths.  10 points just because of that white cloth of death and all the bloodinthemouth.

Tazza Factor – Ahhhhhm, the tazza.  Sorry QSD, you blew it.  You started slow, then Bidam showed up and you almost had me, and then, well, and then the show got dull. 0 points.

Going to the Beach –  There was some suicide, but nothing at the beach.  0 Bonus points.

90 points on the e-mometer, which is way higher than the series deserves in my book.  Well, OK - I'll say that the tragic ending was a tear-jerker and I was most certainly moved.  Moved still to see YuShin still by the Queen's side at the end, just as he promised in the beginning.  

So OK.  I'll let the 90 stand. 

My Princess

“When someone gives you something you thought he could never give, that’s when a person’s heart thumps.” – Seol

Cast

Correlation Chart

• Song Seung Hun as Park Hae Young
  • Choi Won Hong as young Hae Young
• Kim Tae Hee as Lee Seol
  • Jun Min Seo as young Seol
• Park Ye Jin as Oh Yoon Joo
• Ryu Soo Young as Nam Jung Woo
• Lee Soon Jae as President Park Dong Jae (Hae Young's grandfather)
• Maeng Sang Hoon as Oh Ki Taek (Yoon Joo's father)
• Kang Ye Sol as Lee Dan (Seol's adoptive sister)
• Im Ye Jin as Kim Da Bok (Seol's adoptive mother)
• Lee Ki Kwang as Lee Geon (Royal chef)
• Son Sung Yoon as Shin Mi So (Royal maid, most loyal to Seol)
• Hwang Young Hee (황영희) as Hong In Ae (Royal chief maid)
• Lee Sung Min as Lee Young Chan (Korea's president)
• Lee Dae Yeon as So Sun Woo (senator)
• Choi Yoo Hwa as Kang Sun Ah
• Baek Bong Ki as Bong Jae (Park Dong Jae's henchman)
• Heo Tae Hee as Bo Jwa Gwan (senator's subordinate)
• Chu Hun Yub as Yoo Ki Kwang (journalist)
• Min Joon Hyun as Ki Ja
• Park Hyuk Kwon as Lee Han (Seol's real father)
• Park Jung Woo as Park Tae Jun (Hae Young's father)
• Ahn Nae Sang as Emperor Sunjong (cameo)
• Jo Sung Ha as Park Dong Jae's father (cameo)
• Cha Hwa Yun as fashion designer (cameo)
• Jung Suk Yong as priest (cameo, ep 4)
• Joo Sang Wook as Hyun Woo (cameo, ep 9)
• Park Min Woo

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Well pinch me if this series wasn't the cutest darn thing I've seen in a long time. Predictable - sure. Kdrama must haves - absolutely. Happy ending - sweet mother, yes. None of that bothered me because I was charmed right through to my little toes with our main characters Park Hae Young and Lee Seol.

QuickPlot: Down on her luck adopted plucky gal, meets astonishingly wealthy, young diplomat fella. Gal turns out to be a gen-u-wine princess, fella is assigned to be her "I will teach you all things royally political" protector. A variety of personal and professional challenges later, he is fatally charmed by her cuteness, and she can't help but fall in love with his diplomatic hotness. 16 cutesydrama episodes later, happy happy happy joy joy joy!

When I said My Princess had kdrama must haves, I wasn't kidding. I actually started looking for them to make my warmth for this series turn in to downright affection. We had palace machinations, hospital scenes with a humidifier, drunk girl getting piggy back ride from rich man, evil girlfriend and an evil sister. We had a forgotten meeting between our two lovers when they are pre-pubescent and while there was no dramatic eye-cancer there was some heart disease. There was also a showing of two of my very favorite kdrama staples; poop jokes and the healing white cloth of life. (My all-time favorite is fatal constipation; you just don't see that often enough).

Kim Tae Hee was the absolute picture of plucky sparkle balanced nicely by Song Seung Hun who went from bewildered charm to captivated delight to head over heels in love. The other characters...meh. I think that Little Chef Gunnie was underutilized - so adorable - we didn't get much of him until the end. I liked Professor Glutton-for-punishment Nam, a guy that needs some serious therapy having deliberately entered back into a toxic relationship with B*tchy McBotoxFace. Come on Jung Woo - you are a smart good looking guy - you can totally do better.

My nits to pick? I have no idea what motivated Yoon Joo (B*tchy). Maybe I blacked out or something; but why so bitter? Why so absolutely hateful to everyone? B*tchy to the only people that had any affection for her – to Jung Woo, to her father, to Hae Young – and then after burning all her bridges, whined “How could you do that to me?” ------- Really Yoon Joo? Really? Was I supposed to care for the character in the end when she lost all of her prestige? I didn’t understand her at all and she was an expressionless annoyance from beginning to end. And she looked like she was 40.

I also thought the last two episodes could have been mushed into one. I didn’t need the agony of a two month absence and then the next episode’s agony of a two year absence. It all started to feel contrived and campy – ridiculous in a fluff piece, right? But I hadn’t felt that throughout the series until the end, having enjoyed the character and relationship development.

Ponder Angst – Not too much of the ponder here. We got some, but it was all going back and fetching some repressed memory stuff that was important to the plot. There was ponder toward the end that started to annoy and I had to ffw. 10 points

Love “ – “ Angles – Jung Woo is in love with Toxic, LS initially crushes on JW, PHY is initially in love with Toxic, but eventually falls for LS who in turn falls for HY. I'm giving out a half a point for adorable little Gunnie's crush all over LS, like a fluffy little brown-eyed puppy. 20.5 points.

Sizzle – Ah, the sizzle. Our main characters definitely had the chemistry set out. It all seemed sweet and genuine, with some really stellar sizzle moments from Song Seung Hun. 15 points.

Physical Intimacy – A good amount of nice kisses, wrist grabbing, and hugging. 15 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Like I said, we have some heart disease, which in its’ strictest sense of the metric would be considered heart wrenching, but it's not stomach cancer, so I can really only give it 10 points.

Tazza Factor – Ahhhhhm, the tazza. Did the series grab my interest like a jealous oppa taking hold of my arm? Did it keep it there, panting for more like a dysfunctional Professor hugging his soulless ex-girlfriend? Doesn’t hit the level of Tazza, War of the Flower, for which this metric is named. This was a nice sweet series that I will recommend to ahjummas everywhere, telling them their nice teenage daughters can watch. I'll give it 10 points.

Going to the Beach – Nothing in the bonus round. We have flashbacks of little Lee Seol on the beach with her Dad - clearly homeless, and he makes it fun, but no suicide. 0 Bonus points.

80.5. Overall, I enjoyed this series and I will absolutely watch it again for some mindless entertainment. Not thought provoking at all, but charming and diverting; and sometimes that’s just what you need. - e

Goong (Princess Hours) : Review

Goong, or "Princess Hours” was a madly popular series in 2006.  I’m guessing that the targeted demographic was 13 – 17 year old Korean girls.  They probably loved it.

Ponder Angst – Not too bad, not too bad.  The art of the backward ponder was done well in this series.  I wasn’t perpetually ffwing.  20 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – A square.  Crown Prince loves Chae Gyeung, Chae Gyeung loves Crown Prince.  Yul loves Chae Gyeung with the heat of 2.5 million stars and the Ballerina Yesoya loves the Crown Prince, who used to love her but doesn’t anymore.  20 points.

Sizzle – You know, the boys in this series played achy well.  Joo Ji Hoon, played the part of immature entitled can’t express his emotions well and Kim Jong Hoon’s affection for Chae Gyeung was touching, until it became selfish.  I’m certain the teenagers watching this series went berserk.  The overall chemistry kept me coming back so I’ll give it a 10.

Physical Intimacy – The kissing scenes were sweet.  And due to some nausea at the end we know one couple has conceived.  10.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Dad the King has some kind of wellness issue that keeps him from reading.  I assumed it was some sort of aneurism potential, though it wasn’t clear to me.  Shame he didn’t die…might have made the character more likeable.  Jerk.  0 Points.

Tazza Factor – I was not spellbound by this series, though I did watch an episode or 2 a day.  But this is about my level of excitement for a series and since it doesn’t measure up to Tazza - 0 points.

Bin-Sunah Factor – This metric is about the chemistry between the lead couple, a la Kim Sun Ah and Hyun Bin.  Uhhhhhmmm, they were OK, I liked The Prince and The Poor Girl when they were on screen together, so I’ll give this a 5.

Going to the Beach – Ballerina Yesoya took a bunch of pills in a bid for attention and Hose Bag Yul’s Mom attempted suicide a few times in the series.  While not technically at the beach, she did try to kill herself in her tub, so there’s water.  15 points in the bonus round.

So Goong gets 80 points.  Not bad.  Cute.  I was sufficiently entertained as I watched it.  You’ll really like it if you’re a kid.

Damo; A Review

  Recognizing that my review process is more than a little tongue in cheek, I think it might be difficult to lump Damo in with so many other k-dramas.  I remember feeling similarly about “Thank You” after having watched that show.  Damo has been the only k-drama that I’ve put my head down in my arms and out and out wept wracking sobs.  It was unlike anything I have seen to this point and it almost feels wrong to apply my typical k-drama review formula here. 

But my reviews are my reviews.  Let’s see what I can make of it.

Ponder Angst – There was a lot of ponder angst in this series.  Our characters went back in their minds and pondered over moments of each other pretty frequently.  It may have gotten a little tired, but I never rolled my eyes.  I’m giving it the full 20 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – Woof.  Chae Ohk loves Hwangbok Yoon, Hwangbok Yoon loves Chae Ohk, Chae Ohk also loves Jang Sung Baek, and he loves her back.  Nan Soo, the daughter of the police chief sincerely loves Hwangbok Yoon and another guy really loves Chae Ohk, “Marry me and I will spend the rest of your life making you smile.”  Maybe she should have picked him in the end.  Six angles makes 24 points.

Sizzle – The lead actors in this series Ha Jin Won, Kim Min Joon, and Lee Seo Jin were exquisite from the first scene to the last.  Whenever they were together in any combination, heat came off the screen.  Hwangbok Yoon struggling with his love for Chae Ohk, her desire to serve him and not to love him, her struggle to do her duty as a Damo and arrest Jang Sung Baek or to give in to her growing feeling for him.  Jang Sung Baek and his love of his people.  They all had sizzle and I’m giving them 30 points for it. 

Physical Intimacy – The most we ever get of physical intimacy for any of our protagonists is an embrace.  No kissing, no baby making.  There was enough intimacy when Yoon tended to the wounded Ohk and whenever Sung Baek looked at Damo for me to give this 20 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Not a lot of disease, aside from leprosy, in the series.   There are so many scenes where someone is wounded, infected, bullet-ridden, or slashed with a knife.  The intention of the metric is for cancer, anorexia, or constipation, but I’m giving it 10 just for all the wounds.

Tazza Factor – The Tazza factor is about being spellbound from the first episode of a series, as I was with Tazza.  Tazza, I watched in just over 24 hours.  I was absolutely held in this series’ thrall, though it took me a week to watch all 14 episodes.  10 points.

Going to the Beach – Jae Hui and Jae Mo’s dad offs himself, a bad cop kills himself by butting his head against the wall, a Japanese killer for hire commits hari kari.  If there is more, I’ve forgotten it, but there was no suicide at the waterfront.  15 points in the bonus round for Damo. 

So Damo gets a 129 on the E-scale, the highest any series has gotten to date.  It was a neat 14 episodes, the sound track was at times sad and gentle, at others, filled with energy and action.  The look and feel of the series was wonderful, and even I got some of the more arty and beautiful shots. 

The kung-foo was very “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” but didn’t take me out of the story at all, indeed, was very much a part of it.  Many k-dramas boast a tragic ending, few are as worthy of Shakespeare as this one. 

Will I watch it again?  I just don’t know.  I’ve said no before; particularly to “Thank You” and “Coffee Prince” and I wound up buying the box sets for both those series.  I’ve had to go back already to get a couple of quotes correct and I burst into tears again. 

I’ll have to let you know.

Kingdom of the Winds; Review

I’m really struggling to write this review. I think it’s primarily because I didn’t like this series and I really wanted to – clearly I'm a poor person to write objective reviews. Whatever. It was a shame that I thought it sucked; no, it's a shame the show sucked. Anyway, a review was promised, so a review is what you’re getting.

Ponder Angst – I have to say that the ponder angst in this series didn’t bug the doo out of me. But there was a lot of annoying crap; like all the shots of horses riding in to war, horses riding away from war, horses thinking about riding into war, and horses thinking about what it would be like to get burned at the stake. 5 points

Love “ – “ Angles – It’s a quad. Muhyul loves Yeon, Yeon loves Muhyul, Dojin loves Yeon, Lee Ji loves Muhyul. Maro’s love and devotion to his King and his friend was particularly moving. Though his end was manipulative, I liked the character enough to dole out extra points here. 16 for the angles, 5 more for Maro.

Sizzle – Song Il Guk had some moments where I was honestly moved by his performance as I was with Yuri and Haemyeong. I can say something really funny about Maro sizzling (HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!) and give it more points, but I’m not. Gets 5.

Physical Intimacy – Technically, we get a kiss between Yeon and Muhyul and they make baby Hodong - 10 points! Goeyu and Seryu are absolutely adorable and we get some nice scenes there - another 10 points! But then we deduct 15 for Maro and Yeonhwa. 5 points

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – I got really tired early on with Muhyul’s death defying illnesses, and Yeon’s white cloth of life that saves him from arrows to the heart, poison in the arm, hanging upside down blappity blah blah. No constipation though, so too bad. 5 points

Going to the Beach – Even though its on a frozen body of water and its gonna take a long time for her to drop, there is a suicide at the beach. And oh hell, Dojin, in the depths of his despair (YAWN) throws himself from the Cliffs of Insanity. Since we get not one floater but 2, count ‘em 2, it gets a 40.

I’m not going to measure the “Tazza” factor yet since I started KotW before I started Tazza.

In total, Kingdom of the Winds gets a 81 on the E scale which is way way higher than it deserves and is solely due (40 points worth) to my curious fascination with beach front suicide. There have been series that I liked more that didn’t even make the scale so KotW lucked out. Had it not been a Song Il Guk vehicle, it certainly would not have made the review, crap – I wouldn’t even have finished watching the frickin’ thing. When an actor’s feet and another actress’ eyebrows are the only things that amuse, the show stinks.

Yeah, and I was delighted when Yeon bit it. “I have a favor your majesty…” (oh for f*ck’s sake). Not ~ “Can I see my son?” or “Will you tell me you love me? “ or “Will you bang me for old time’s sake?” No. It’s, “Can you call me by my name please?” WTF. Uh, yeah – let me use the last of my life’s energy by telling you that was super cool. And I’m sorry I sucked so bad, by the way. Song Il Guk was beautiful during all that crap, if you care. He was beautiful while he told her that she was so awesome with her white cloth of life and how thoughts of her were just bitchin’ when he was having a bad day.

“Heaven has been cruel,” says Yeon ~ (not a sentiment I want to be spouting just before I’m thrust before the gods, FYI), “…but at least I get to see you again…ow, ow, ow, ow”. What? Did she die? I couldn’t tell. She emoted the same way throughout the whole series.

So yeah, happy thoughts, happy thoughts. I liked Maro, I liked Queen LiJi’s eyebrows, I loved Goeyu and Seryu, (aside from the highly amusing and underwhelming, “I must let the whole world know my heart…and date you with pride.” from the pregnant Seryu), I liked Kim Jae Wook (my cutie from Coffee Prince), Yuri, Muhyul and Haemyeoung – terrific performances, and I liked the music. Mostly, mostly, I liked Song Il Guk and I liked naked Song Il Guk feet. Will always have something of a soft spot for him. It’s what kept me coming back.

The War of Flower / Tazza; High Rollers: Review

The War of Flower (Hwatoo) is the story of two best friends and the depths each one descends through the art of being a tazza (sort of a finely honed card shark, who cheats for the beauty of the cheat. Other’s are just cheaters).

Playing the game “Go/Stop” (or Hwatoo) Goni, is passionate, could easily become addicted to the game – he’s the “Go” guy. The other friend, Young Min, is more calculating and has a better instinct for the cards. He knows when it’s time to quit. He’s the “Stop” guy.

Ponder Angst – 20. There was not a single moment in the series that I sat there and thought, “Oh for Pete’s sake, get on with it already!” This series was so fast paced and smart – we had moments of the ponder, but it was pointed, we got to see how a cheat was done, we got the Aha! moments and I enjoyed it. I may have to go back and check the ponder meter; I don’t know if any other series got all 20 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – It’s another 20. Goni loves NanSook. NanSook loves Goni. Young Min loves NanSook. Madam Jung loves Young Min. It was pretty clean as the angles go.

Sizzle – 25. The only place that Tazza would have lost sizzle points was in the relationship between Goni and NanSook. Romantically, these two never got out of high school (except at the end, you figure they’re hooking up). The kisses were modest and chaste, but I wanted a little more desperation. The sizzle we get comes from the separate character performances, the cheats and stings, the writing and the atmosphere of series. And woooof - Jang Hyuk and Kim Min Joon. Both hot with a smoldering sexiness that oozed off the screen.

Physical Intimacy – 5 – we had those chaste kisses I spoke of, and a little bit of couch time with Young Min and Madam Jung. I'm not looking for full frontal or anything – but the connect could have added another layer of punch to an already great series.

Tragic Heart wrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – 20 – We got a few murders and one Grandma death from natural causes that catapults our protagonists down this path of greed and twisted desires. It is to be expected in the life of the high roller. We did get sacrificial main character death which upped the pointage here. The heart wrenching part was watching Goni’s face as he deals with all of the pain. Jang Hyuk is exquisite.

Going to the Beach – 0 – there was no beach trip in Tazza. It’s ok. I loved the series without it.

I’ve already mentioned the really superb performances here with Kim Min Joon and Jang Hyuk; JH with his beautifully expressive face, KMJ with his wonderful Shakespearean neuroses. But the supporting cast was all top notch too. Madam Jung, Aghui, Aghui’s toady, Goni’s prison friends, his mentor Pyung Kyung Jang, the little guy I called Moe Howard since he looked like Moe from the three stooges. As with other k-dramas I’ve watched, the really good ones invest me in the characters – all of them, good and bad. Tazza, in only 21 episodes, did this for me beautifully.

I liked the ending and thought it was appropriate. Early on, Goni’s uncle (a tazza as well) could read him and he knew instinctively that Goni was a guy that wouldn't be able to stop, indeed, Aghui could read that too which is why he chooses Young Min to be his apprentice. That, and the fact that Young Min shows he can be ruthless if he has to. Goni shrunk at conning a palsied man. Young Min has no problem.

Eventually Goni breaks that ugly cycle of “revenge breeds revenge, cheats breed cheats”. Taunted throughout the series that he’ll never be able to give up the exciting and lucrative lifestyle, Goni understands better than anyone the excitement and the tingling that gambling offers. But in the end he says to a woman who is concerned with her son’s card playing; "If he can stop when he should stop, then nothing bad will ever happen to him." He has found peace and contentment.

Annoying tics? Throughout the whole series, Goni’s woman NanSook was not a favorite of some viewers. She didn't bother me. I was pretty apathetic really. That was until the last 10 minutes of the finale when she kept nagging at Goni not to shoot Aghui. Nag nag nag "don't do it Goni!" nag nag nag "Goni!" nag nag "Goni" NaGoniNaGoniNaGoni. I just wanted him to shoot her and shut her up and then shoot Aghui. That last ten minutes totally ruined the character for me and now I hate her. If I watch this again, I'm going to hate her through the whole thing and pretend he hooks up with someone at the fish market in the end.

So Tazza scores 90 out of 100 on the E-scale. This series should have gotten more kudos than it did. Highly recommended.

Winter Sonata

Every once in a while, I get in a mood, thinking that there are certain movies that I have to watch. You know, iconic films that have so entered the lexicon of the culture that you feel like less of an American for not having seen. Brando's "On The Waterfront" ("I coooduh beenuh contenduh!") or "Annie Hall" (Woody Allen....shudder). Can you believe I've never seen Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"? Don't get me wrong, I know what the movie is about, I've seen the shower clip (who hasn't?) and I've heard the loving thousand wax poetic. I really don't need to see it...but yeah, I need to see it.

There are some Korean dramas/movies that I think are the same. Last year I watched the canceriffic drama "Stairway to Heaven".... (eh...not so much) and "My Sassy Girl" - which I thoroughly enjoyed. At the time I watched it, I had no idea that "My Name is Kim Sam Soon" was allegorical as well.


Last night and today - I finally watched the much ballyhoo'd television blockbuster "Winter Sonata" starring Bae Yong Joon as the tragic Kang Joon Sang / Lee Min Hyung and Choi Ji Woo as the impacted by loving Mr. Tragic Jung Yu Jin.

Maaaaaan, was this one crazy convoluted complicated boat ride. An attempt to sum up would take pages. But I'm game! BFF loves Angel Face, Angel Face thinks of BFF as a brother. Seriously Depressed Lonely Boy meets Angel Face, Angel Falls in love with Lonely, BFF is pissed. Hair is blown in slow motion, snow folk kiss, bicycles are ridden, angst is shared. BFF is pissed.

Lonely dies, Angel weeps, BFF comforts. Lonely's Doppleganger shows up, with freshly washed highlights in his hair, on the eve of Angel's and BFFs engagement, throws Angel into a tailspin of angst, depression and girly pain. Doppleganger is confused, Angel is a weepy mess, BFF is pissed.

Twists worthy of palace machinations offer swooning, magical hypnosis memory inserts, a car accident, a bus accident, a construction accident, brain aneurysms, maybe-incest, paternity tests, insane mothers wanting to believe the baby they had out of wedlock was the fruit of her love with her forbidden when really it was the illegitimate seed of his best friend, obsession and true "will always remember you because I wasn't stricken with amnesia" love and the inevitable blindness. Blind Guy living ironically in a very real "Land of Shadow" on the continent of the "Perpetual Winter Coat". I don't think BFF is pissed anymore.

Perfectly clear. Let's get on with the review, shall we?

Ponder Angst – The ponder angst killed me. I've never hit the ffd button so much in my life. I don't think the letters are on the remote anymore. I even started speed reading by ffding x4 so I could get through the slow dialogue. WS loses points - first time ever - we got a -10.

Love “ – “ Angles – It's a square of love. Doppleganger loves Angel, Angel loves Dopplganger, BFF loves Angel and B*tch Scag loves Doppleganger. 16 points

Sizzle – The only sizzle in Winter Sonata was when some soju spilled on a grill in a restaurant. Kidding...Sorta. Bae Yong Joon provides the only sizzle the show has. A gifted actor, his man-pain made my chest hurt. His stop dead in the snow "I think I'm falling in love with Angel" moments were wrenching. Some people got it, BYJ's got it. I'll give WS 20 points just because I liked BYJ.

Physical Intimacy – Sweet kisses, lots of hugs. Not a whole lot going on here, but gently typical of k-drama. 10 points

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Mmmmmm, constipation quotient. Like I said, swooning, aneurysms, amnesia, packed with depression and obsessive behavior, Winter Sonata was a pantheon of medical intervention. I'm giving it 25 just for the heartwrenching, loss of balance causing brain haematoma requiring immediate surgery, forcing Doppleganger to sacrifice his love on the altar of medical martyrdom resulting in his eventual and complete blindness. 25 points. Oh, if someone could tell me why he needed glasses after he LOST HIS FRICKIN' EYESIGHT I'D APPRECIATE IT!

Going to the Beach – There was sadly, no real suicidal ideation in the series (unless I ff'd past it) and though beaches were plentiful, no one decided to utilize the ocean as a blessed release from this mortal coil. No bonus.

I will, however, give myself 10 points for recognizing Sam Sik's Buddy from "MNIKSS" and for identifiying the eunich from "Jewel in the Palace". So padded, Winter Sonata gets a big 71 points. I think this will disappoint fans of the show - from what I read, it's well loved. The music was beautiful, made extra special by the Bee Gees "How Deep is Your Love" playing in the background during one scene. (Yeah, that's how much I was paying attention the action and dialogue).

Winter Sonata was OK - which made me sad - I wanted and was ready for another "Thank You" to love.

It's ok. Maybe I'll watch "Psycho" next.

KDrama Review: In Soon is Pretty

“Are accidents really looking for me? Or is it that everything that
happens in our lives beautifully appears searching for us when we truly need it?”

I truly did not need In Soon is Pretty. I was not enamored. In the end, the love story between In Soon and Sang Woo was sweet, but it took too long to get there and too many of the ancillary characters annoyed me.

However, the series has given me a new marker on my kdrama scorecard and that’s “Chemistry” or the “BinSunAh” Factor. (For my readers that have never watched any Korean Drama – Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah starred in “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” – possibly my favorite kdrama ever. The story was good, but the chemistry between HB and KSA was electric. You felt it in every scene. You felt it watching the outtakes. As far as I’m concerned, it is what made the show so successful.) You can have a mediocre story, but when you have leads that connect, it transcends everything.

On to the review.

Ponder Angst – Very little ponder angst in In Soon is Pretty. They get the full 20 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – There are really no angles here. Sang Woo loves In Soon. In Soon “thinks” she is in love with her teacher, but he never gives her any encouragement – to the contrary, he’s very clear that it’s not happening, so I’m not counting it as an angle. 10 points.

Sizzle – I’m sorry but I got no sizzle out of ISiP at all. Sang Woo was good looking but some of his behavior was annoying. SW and IS had a nice kiss at the end, but…it was at the end. Geun Soo was attractive, but I kept wanting to brush his bangs out of his eyes. I will give it 5 points for having some longing looks from Sang Woo toward InSoon which made my belly flip. 5 points.

Physical Intimacy – Sigh* Nothing. If my boyfriend for whom I have declared my love and affection came back from overseas unexpectedly, I would have run headlong into his arms and squeezed hard. In Soon timidly opens her arms, almost apologetically really and there is an awkward hug. I have to give it something, sort of like a pity grade: 5 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – **Spoiler Alert** Mom didn’t take an eternal float in the ocean as I had hoped. No…SHE lived. Geun Soo died - complications arising from leaving the hospital AMA before his thug incurred stab wounds had a chance to knit. (We also learn that In Soon sleeps the sleep of the dead, since she had fallen asleep prone across him, and GS managed to get up, detach a variety of tubes and hoses, put on his clothes and walk out without waking her up). Geun Soo did reach a level of redemption and experienced personal peace before he arose from this mortal coil. More pity points here – even though its not constipation or anorexia - I’ll give it 20 because I didn’t want GS to die. Then again, if Mom had died, I’d have given the show 50 points just for having the courage to get rid of that waste of humanity.

The BinSunAh – “Chemistry” We had 2 attractive leads with a powerful story line. A story about loneliness, fear, how the media manipulates the public and how the public feeds in to the manipulation. Unfortunately, while the love story between SW and IS was sweet and really endearing, in the end when they finally came together as strong independent people, it was not enough to make me rush to KBS.com or to YesAsia and buy it (I own Coffee Prince, Thank You, Kim Sam Soon, Jumong and Emperor of the Sea...I'm doing my part to keep the kdrama business afloat). Can’t mess with the science, and In Soon is Pretty didn’t have the test tubes touching.

Going to the Beach – As I said above, we had lots of talk of suicide, but none came to fruition. 0 Points.

60 points. Not so good, but not so bad either. I can offer the only perspective I have – which is I couldn’t even bring myself to review Hello! Miss! or Joyful Girl’s Success Story. Those were just awful shows with no redeeming value whatsoever – Joyful Girl’s Success Story was Jang Hyuk pre-Army and, well, let’s just say he developed some kinda hottie muscle in the military that he didn’t have before. I can’t take my eyes off him now, but back then, Hyuk was yuk. Anyway, In Soon is Pretty at least made the meter.

KDrama Review: Emperor of the Sea

“Emperor of the Sea” is based on the Choi In-Ho novel of the same title. The drama focuses on the life of Jang BoGo (? – 846) who dominated the East Asian Sea and international trade during the Shilla Dynasty (676 A.D. – 935 A.D). The drama features Jang BoGo’s growth from slave to Ambassador of Cheong Hae-Jin.

Ponder Angst – I was very frustrated with the amount of lonely staring that went on in this series. Maybe it was just because I had never been exposed to Korean Ponder Angst and it was a culture shock for me. Jang Bo Go looks out at the ocean. Jung Hwa looks out at the ocean. Yeom Moon looks out at the ocean. Master Lee looks out at the ocean. Madame Jami looks at a wall from her table of doom. Awful. 5 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – It’s a Quint. Jang BoGo loves Jung Hwa. Jung Hwa loves Bo Go. Other chick loves Bo Go. Yeom Moon loves Jung Hwa. Bo Go has baby with Other chick and feels a great deal of affection. 20 points.

Sizzle – Song Il Guk as Yeom Moon not only sizzled in this series, the man was on fire. He lit up the screen for me. I woke up in the middle of the night to watch the next installment of the series just so I could see what would happen to Yeom Moon next. Song Il Guk is solely responsible for my k-drama obsession. I have yet to find a character that entranced and captured me the way the tragic Yeom Moon did. 50 points. Yeah, that's right, I said 50. If you say anything, I’ll give it 10 more.

Physical Intimacy – Well, again, since my k-drama cherry was popped on EotS, the lack of physical intimacy made me nuts. I have since gotten used to this really endearing quality in my Korean dramas. This time though, I wanted something more than hands to touch, and I barely got that. Jang Bo Go’s and Jeong Nyeon's wives get pregnant, so we know that at least 2 couples consummated their relationship, so I give it 10 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – If I go into all the heart wrenching tragic death on this series, I’ll start to cry and spoil the whole thing for anyone who hasn’t seen it. This series devastated me even though I had read all the spoilers and I knew what was going to happen. 20 points

Going to the Beach – Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding! Bonus Round! The e-ville Madame Jami kills herself by walking into the ocean. Yessssss! 15 points!

Emperor of the Sea gets 120 points and for me, that was really on target. I watched this series out of boredom and on a whim. Figured I’d give it an episode. I fell in love with all the characters in the series; I rooted for them and I cried for them. The end devastated me.

I haven’t watched the series full through since though. It’s not the kind of drama where you get a warm fuzzy feeling; there is dread throughout now. What the show did do was to introduce me to a fascinating culture, it put me in touch with people I otherwise never would have met – I’ve made friends all over the world because of this series and it’s characters.

I think that’s what has made this series the most special for me.

KDrama Review; Legend: Story of the First King's Four Gods

A review:

Ponder Angst – Plenty of pondering, but not too bad. I fast forwarded more through the spectacularly dull talk-o-war / lead-up-to-war/plan-for-war / cleverly-avoiding-war / war-tents / war-smoke / war-horses / war-ships/war-map-scenes. The guys watching the show may have been fascinated by the testosterone soaked war rooms but as a chick…not so much. And what the heck? We had to have five minutes of exposition at the beginning of almost every episode. Sheesh. Afraid it gets a 5.

Love “ – “ Angles – Dam Deok loves Kiha, Kiha loves Dam Deok, Hogae loves Kiha, Kiha never loves Hogae, Sujini loves Dam Deok, Dam Deok eventually loves Sujini and Dam Deok loves his people (he’s a good king). Blue Diamond, I mean, Dragon, loves Sujini, but I’m not counting that because it goes no where except offers a few anguished looks from our quiet long faced dragon man “Legend” gets 24 points.

Sizzle – Bae Yong Jun is a very hot commodity in South Korea. The women apparently go ape over him. My money is all on Hogae though. He was just burning up the screen with that sweaty, “I’m the doomed character” thing going on. That guy was…hot. In fact, he gets all the points since I thought he was the best looking actor in the series (Park Jung Hak as General Go comes in second, and Dam Deok comes a distant third since he didn’t do anything for me until he grew his beard the last couple of episodes) So 15 points for hot hot Hogae.

Physical Intimacy – In good kdrama fashion, no lips were hurt in the making of this series. There was more sizzle between sweet sweet Jumuchi and Dalbi – and THAT took 4 years. We know that at least 2 couples were intimate, since both Kiha and Dalbi get pregnant. Even after Dalbi is large with twins, she seems shy and reserved around her funky-haired man when he wants to snuggle. A chaste movement toward each other’s mouth was all we got for intimacy. Well, other than Kiha and Dam Deok waking up in each other’s arms. 5 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – I wasn’t going to give “Legend” any points for this one until I went back and read my definition that includes “arrow/sword/dagger to the heart or eye ball”. There’s no anorexia or cancer, but people get stabbed to the heart in this thing left and right (it’s all that war they keep engaging in). Kids get cut, poison is administered, mothers bleed from their mouth, lots of daggers / javelins to the heart – LOTS of those. I have to give 20 points – this series was just stinking with death.

Going to the Beach – And mommy, did we have SUICIDES! Hogae’s Mom, Hogae’s Dad, Dam Deok’s Dad, several royal elders slit their own throats, a few attempted suicides. Sadly none happened at the beach. I’m going to give 20 points.

All in all, "Legend" gets a respectable 89 points on the E-Scale for Kdrama.

First Shop of Coffee Prince

You’ve heard it all before. Guy meets girl. Guy thinks girl is guy. Guy employs girl thinking she is a guy. Girl needs job and so girl allows guy to continue thinking she’s a guy. Guy starts to develop attraction to girl he thinks is a guy so guy thinks he might be gay. Girl develops feelings for guy who thinks he might be gay but fears guy might find out she’s a girl and reject her…him…her…whatever.

Our characters:

Go Eun Chan (GEC) – tomboy girl, heroine

Choi Han Keol (CHK) – Rich guy, hero

Choi Han Seong (CHS) – Rich guy’s cousin, sweet, cute

Han Yoo Joo (HYJ) – Other girl, nobody gives a sh*t

Ponder Angst – 20 points. The ponder angst in “Coffee Prince” was blessedly minimal. When there was angst, it was charged with emotion and struggle and you felt it. It was appropriate and good.

Love “ – “ Angles – Uhm, wow. OK, we actually have 7 angles here. GEC originally falls for CHS, CHS loves HYJ but HYJ broke his heart when she left him for DK (he doesn’t count, pay him no mind). Once GEC realizes CHS loves HYJ, she grieves and heals, but becomes attracted to CHK. HYJ comes to her senses, leaves DK for CHS. CHS decides to give the relationship another try, but has lingering feelings of mistrust and anger. CHK has secretly loved HYJ for years but out of love for his cousin, worships her from afar. CHK eventually becomes attracted to GEC, but struggles because he thinks she’s a he. CHS becomes confused after finding out that GEC had feelings for him and he begins to develop feelings other than friendship for her. HYJ despairs because everyone is attracted to tomboyish GEC, and no one likes her. She considers going back to DK. I’m not sure how I get 7 out of that, but that’s about all my brain can handle. Coffee Prince gets 28 points. It’s a crazy heptagon of love.

Sizzle – I’m going to give this a 17.85 for sizzle. The CHK man-angst and his struggle to fight the attraction he feels for GEC really heats up the screen. You ache for him when he finally gives in because he loves her so much AND because you know it’s only going to go bad when he finds out “he’s” a she. I don’t give it a full 20 because once our protagonists hook up, it can be compared to when Jeannie and the Master got married. I’m like, eh. Whatever.

Physical Intimacy – They get all 20 points here. The kisses were passionate, the intimacy was more than alluded to. There’s slam-er-against-the-wall passion, and a baby out of wedlock. No guessing is going on.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Our constipation quotient (I just loving typing that). Amazingly, Coffee Prince only gets 5 points in this category. None of the main characters die, but someone does have a miscarriage. Gramma has cancer, but she beats it.

Going to the Beach – No bonus points. No one tries to commit suicide, no one even contemplates it. I was almost disappointed.

Overall, Coffee Prince gets an 90.85 out of a possible 100 points. And that’s about right. There was a great deal about this series that I liked. The honesty between all of the main characters was a big one. There were no palace machinations, no e-ville girlfriend on the make to get the rich guy. Even during the whole labyrinth of he likes her and she likes him but then falls for he/she, the characters were honest about it.

I was moved by CHK’s struggle with his attraction toward GEC. He fought it by trying to maintain a simple friendship, but his feelings were too powerful. When he tries to cast her aside, you could feel the pain that emanates from him. When he finally gives in, you could sense that he is at peace. It was all very well done and was very touching.

I’m such a tool of western television; once the protagonists declared themselves, some of the delight went out of the viewing. I thrilled that all the characters had happy endings; we came full circle for each one of them and the closure was lovely. Nice series. Will I watch again? Probably not.

K-Drama: Thank You

Really good. It’s a little hard for me to be glib about this drama since I just finished it and was very touched. I can say overwhelmingly that Jang Hyuk as our male protagonist was incredible.

I was not immediately captivated by JH. But as the series continued, I got lost in the character of Min Ki Seo. The change from cold, hard and embittered gradually melted into warm, giving and beautiful.

Quite briefly, it’s the story of a whole village of flawed individuals primarily motivated by fear. Fear of AIDS, of being alone, of loss, of life, of death, and love. While the finale was left open ended, I like to imagine that it ended happily ever after. Just like I like ‘em.

Repeating themes: People who sleep in cars, eat chocopies, and run away. Every other day.

Now that I’ve moved a little away from some of the emotion, let’s get to the review, shall we?

Ponder Angst – 15. We had ponder angst. By the ocean, in their cars, during the ferry ride (when they weren’t vomiting something white), after the ferry ride. But it did not annoy me this time. Had I not been forced to ffwd through some of the angst, it would have gotten a 20.

Love “ – “ Angles – 12 – A triangle. Choi Suk Hyun doesn’t know he’s little Bom-ah’s Dad. Figures it out, wants back in, just in time for our hero Min “I will never practice medicine again” Ki Seo to enter the picture sewing people up. They both fall in love with little Bom-ah as well as her mom Lee Young Shin. Young Shin is conflicted and pulled in like 7 different directions. It’s messy for just the triangle.

Sizzle – 15 - You know, the leads had some chemistry, but not a lot of sizzle. All the heat goes to JH for being so darn achy and beautiful. I was impressed and loved it when he was on the screen. When he wasn’t on the screen, I wanted him back. Oh, ummmmm, Jang Hyuk in the shower? Six pack? Szszszszszszszl baby!

Physical Intimacy – 10 – we had actual kissing (no tongue), inferred sex and hugs.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – 20 - Holy cow! This series started off with cardiac arrhythmia, graduated to pancreatic cancer, AIDS, and a severed femoral artery which led to amputation. We had Alzheimers, depression, fainting spells, pneumonia, near-death internal bleeding, blood transfusions, physical and emotional breakdowns. Had they included constipation and anorexia they just would have been showing off.

Going to the Beach – I gotta give 10 in the bonus round. There was a suicide attempt, ”at the beach”. Depression wanted out of this mortal coil. Alzheimer tried to stop Depression by offering to kill himself, also via ocean. Depression pushes Alzheimer down in an effort to complete her task, rendering Alzheimer an immediate floater. Depression starts screaming, someone saves Alzheimers, however, he dies in his sleep the next night after delivering chocopies around town to make everyone happy. Depression lives, much to her chagrin.

Annoying tics? Well, we had another Dr. Whiny Crybaby, a la White Tower, which was tolerable, but the effing nurse! Not a patient walked into their clinic that she didn’t throw herself across their prone chest and scream “What are we going to do?” Just slap her already. I also thought someone should have just chained little eight year old Bom to a wall. She ran away countless times, once causing her mother to collapse from exhaustion and pneumonia. Another time, a limb or something fell on Momma causing internal bleeding that nearly killed her. AND THEN THE BRAT RAN AWAY AGAIN. Nail the kid’s shoes to the floor. Someone. Please.

I was also disappointed in the subs. I’ll say up front that I have nothing but respect and gratitude toward those who take their precious free time to translate these shows so dopey anglos like me can watch kdrama. And up to about episode 8, I thought the subs were fantastic. After that, I think names were spelled with a Chinese flair and the translations were quite poor. Toward the end, I was certain I was missing significant aspects of the program. My friend dramaok’s name was mentioned as having translated a song. That made me happy.

A score of 82 just isn’t enough for this series. I’m giving it another 10 points for the emotional impact (What? It's my review. I can add points if I want.). I found “Thank You” to be well written and well acted. JH expressed more with his eyes than words could have transmitted. When her neighbors stopped YS from moving to Seoul, I cried. When JH looked at YS near the end, his face full of love and yearning, willing to accept what she was able to give, I wanted someone to look at me like that.

So “Thank You” gets a 92 on the E-score. I don’t think I’ll watch it again in full just because it took so long to get to happy. I was captivated though and was sorry when it was over. I won’t look at chocopies the same way (the Korean brand for Moon Pies ) and I think I might say thank you a whole lot more.