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

Little Bit on Emperor of the Sea

I watched Emperor of the Sea two years ago now, but thanks to a recent re-run, there has been renewed interest in my very first Korean Drama – the one I had so desperately wanted to discuss with someone, but no one shared my fever.

I like my endings happy and it certainly would have been more satisfying if that little pig Yang Kim would have been gotten cut to pieces, and Jang Bogo had grown old with his wife and children, and if Jung Hwa had finally opened her heart to a redeemed Yeom Moon and given his life the meaning he lacked. As a team, Yeom Moon and Jang Bogo would have done great things for the world.

I found that of the little I know about the history of Jang BoGo was that he got a little too involved in politics and Yeom Moon did kill him. So it would seem that the writers were trying to keep that part of the story real. This isn't Hollywood and this tale has all the markings of a Greek tragedy. The bad guys won. Well, sometimes they do. But can we find any positive message in the way our beloved characters died in the end?

I want to tackle this from a little different perspective. BoGo was stubborn to a fault – he expressed that to Yeom at one point. Was he doing the right thing? He wasn't going to compromise himself. It could be said that that unrelenting "morality" was going to bring war upon countless thousands of people. There was going to be blood and a lot of innocent people were going to die. I suppose that in the end, he recognized the risk, his people agreed with him and they were all willing to die rather than live in a world where corrupt nobles bought and sold them like chattel.

Yeom Moon wanted to spare everyone all the bloodshed. I don't think that's a less noble position. He walked into the lions den in order to change BoGo's mind. Just bend this little bit – we can save people – you and your family can still live. You can do more good things if you only live. Brilliant as well, Yeom discerned BoGo's reaction and was prepared for that. He warned BoGo, "If you don't climb off this wall, I'm going to have to kill you." Not particularly admirable to you and me and it tore him up because I think he so loved and admired BoGo. He thought he was doing the right thing though, and he did it.

Yeom did have one guiding principle in his life. His love for Jung-Hwa. He was unable to be with other women because of her, he defied Master Lee because of her and risked his life saving her life countless times. His love of her was the principle that he couldn't compromise. And I think he DID redeem himself in the end – he saved Jung-Hwa, but he also saved BoGo's child.

So maybe more the message is, even if you lose, you win. BoGo and all the inhabitants of Cheon-Hae were slain – but for a brief shining period of time, they lived as they wanted to live. Free and equal. They died for that ideal. Yeom Moon died for his ideal too. He died saving Jung-Hwa and was finally released from his life of pain. Beautiful, conflicted and tragic - he achieved his long sought peace in death. In the end, the good guy didn't win. He doesn't always win in real life either. But I'd like to think that the takeaway is - be the good guy, even if you have to die doing it. There's honor in that.

It's a testament to the writers and the actors of the series that we cared so much about these characters. We loved them and wanted them to win. We grieved when they were gone. The chemistry between Choi Soo-Jong and Song Il Guk was incredible. Song Il Guk is a superb actor – you could feel all the conflict without him saying a word. You pulled for Yeom Moon, you hated Jung Hwa for not loving him, and you wanted so much for Yeom and BoGo to be friends. I don't know how many actors could have pulled that off. Song Il Guk is the one that kept me coming back night after night. Very powerful.

I really hated the ending too – I wanted my Hollywood ending. But the story of these historical characters didn’t have a happy ending either. Since I didn't get my happily ever after, in order for me to make sense of the series I needed to at least come up with some reasons why it was redeeming in the end. I spent countless hours watching it – I had to justify it somehow.

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.

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.

Kingdom of the Winds; Overall Impressions

I really wanted to like this series. As a big fan of Song Il Guk and having been very disappointed in his last effort, “The Lobbyist” I really wanted to like “Kingdom of the Wind”. Other than Song, I was unfamiliar with the other lead actors, but I was excited about the premise. The story followed King Daemushin, third ruler of Goguryeo and grandson of Jumong, the country’s founder. I had so enjoyed “The Book of Three Han; Chapter of Jumong” and we had several characters from that story that were followed through into this one, so as I said, I was excited.

There was so much potential from the word go, reuniting from one of my all time favorites: “Emperor of the Sea” the writing/directing team of Jung Jin-Ok and Kang Il-Soo. “Kingdom of the Wind” was loosely based on a manhwa (comic book) of the same name. I say loosely because it had similar character names and it was titled the same. Pretty much where the similarity ended.

The first episode met with my expectations – the look and feel of the series was more sophisticated than any I’d seen to date and the soundtrack was powerful. I strapped myself in for the ride.

The ride ended at that first episode. Daemushin – which means “God of War” is born as “Muhyul” to King Yuri but the baby is cursed by the gods, the prophecy stating that he will kill his mother, his father, his brothers, destroy his country, drown some cats, piss in the wind, spit in a cup and kick a dog. Better to just kill him now Yuri, he’s a bad seed.

Yuri doesn’t have it in him to kill the boy, so in good Moses-like fashion Yuri puts the baby in a little reed basket, plops him on a river, and hopes he floats. Big brother Haemyeong takes over, brings him to his banished girlfriend and we don’t see Muhyul for 20 years.

Blabbity blabbity, blippity bloppity boo blech.

I watched 10 episodes. Stopped caring. Other than a few sterling moments with Haemyeong, Yuri and Muhyul,the acting was substandard and the plot didn’t impress me. I was ready to walk away. But I felt like I should stick it out – I’ve said more than once that somehow I’m not able to invest in k-drama characters for a good 10 episodes. So I took a break, reluctantly coming back a few weeks later.

Sigh. It heated up to about lukewarm for me, but I was determined to make it through. Song Il Guk’s acting has matured and was consistent overall, without hitting the high notes he had hit in “Emperor of the Sea”. Jung Jin Young was moving as King Yuri, very deserving of his Supporting Actor award at the network awards show. Aside from their performances, nothing stood out for me.

I had a difficult time not comparing the series to “Emperor of the Sea” – some of the scenes were similar, some of the characters smelled the same – without the emotional punch. I don’t like to think the writers were a one-trick pony, but well, there you go. I started to feel like the writers, directors and producers were trying to create the darkness of EotS with the character affection of Jumong and it fell completely flat.

As I was trying to talk myself in to this being a good saeguk, glugging through, forcing myself to watch episode after painfully slow episode, I turned on “War of Flower/Tazza” and couldn’t tear myself away. If I didn’t have to go to mass and walk the dog, I likely would not have moved for all 21 hours. I was gripped, making me realize that KotW just wasn’t that good.

The last two episodes were a deliberate effort to make me cry – which served only to piss me off. One of the nicest characters, with a sweet side story line, was unnecessarily killed off in the 35th episode. It did not progress the story (though we’re supposed to think it was critical) and only embittered me. As if taking the one character I had grown to like a lot and burning him alive was supposed to provide that emotional punch and make me feel like this was a series of some import. It didn’t.

The series was not without its' moments; when Goeyu and Seryu consummated their relationship, Muhyul finding out who his father was, Yuri watching Haemyeong sacrifice himself, and especially the shout out directly to me as they gave me several full seconds of naked Song Il Guk foot.

It doesn’t make up for all of it, but it sure covered a host of sins.

Review up later.

66 Things You Can Learn from a Korean Drama

This floats around a variety of kdrama forums; it's fun and I thought I'd post it, adding a few of my own "Things" at the bottom starting at #51.

1) Hot, rich, younger men love fat, older vulgar women.

2) If you have a best guy friend, he is in love with you. And secretly you are too.

3) You and your boyfriend will always playfully chase each other on an ice rink, at the beach, or in the leaves. And you’ll laugh for no reason and your boyfriend will hit you "playfully" but the force of his push will have you flying across the room. But it’s okay. Cuz you’re still laughing like a crazy person.

4) Brothers/cousin/uncles/nephews will always love the same girl.

5) You’re allowed to make U-turns wherever you want in Korea. And there is never traffic on the side you want to u turn to.

6) There is a super quick payment device that allows you to pay a bill quickly enough for a guy to run immediately out of a restaurant after his angry girlfriend storms out.

7) Everyone has cancer.

8.) If you’re sick, all you need is an IV to make you feel lots better.

9) There is vomit and urine all over Seoul at nights.

10) Fighting at a pojangmacha with a random stranger is merely part of a normal night’s event.

11) Soju must cost 10 cents. Everyone drinks it everyday all the time, especially the poor people.
12) If you’re rich, you’re a jerk.

13) If you’re poor, you’re an angel.

14) Women sleep and wake up with a full set of makeup on.

15) You’re not studying hard enough unless you get a nosebleed.

16) If you have a nosebleed, you most definitely have cancer. And you have no money to pay for the surgery that will save your life. And your liver is missing. We’re not sure where it went, but it’s making your cancer progress faster.

17) If you work in a sool jeep, you have massively curly hair and wear flashy colors from the early 90’s.

18.) You always order orange juice or coffee at a cafe. And you never drink it. EVER.

19) You will always call your boyfriend by his job title. Or simply sunbaenim. Never his name. Never. He doesn’t have one.

20) If you TRULY love each other, you must die together in the end. Frozen outside instead of finding shelter like sane people. Just frozen….

21) You go to America you come back miraculously successful. You go to England you come back amazingly fashionable. You stay in Korea the only thing that changes is your hairstyle.

22) And if you come back with no apparent reason then it’s because you have cancer.

23) Everyone always goes to the same hospital no matter where they are.

24) If you stand out in the rain for more than five minutes, you’ll end up with a fever and vertigo and people will rush you to the hospital to get some magic IV. And instead of taking an ambulance or driving they’ll race you on their back.

25) Even if you’re poor and can’t eat, you never wear the same clothes twice.

26) If you play a poor kid, you always have dirt on your face and your hair is always messy.

27) If you’re saving someone from being hit from a car, you’ll push them out of the way and wait for the car to hit you instead. Big Smile Couldn’t be more true, they’re like a deer in the headlights.

28.) Everyone has a long lost sister/brother/twin. Usually one they didn’t know about.

29) If you don’t want to answer your phone, you can’t just turn it off. The battery needs to be taken out.

30) All Korean men can drink hard, smoke long, sing well and play piano. Usually all at the same time. And at the same restaurant that has a piano that they let anyone use.

31) If you’re in a relationship, you must at one point leave and have your lover tearfully come RIGHT before you board the plane (vice versa applies as well. You can be the chaser). 60% of the time you see each other, the other 40% you’re roaming around in circles and pass each other about six times, but miraculously never see them.

32) If you’re getting off a plane, you’re ALWAYS wearing sunglasses. ALWAYS.

33) All guys wear hideous tracksuits zipped up to their neck. Even if all they’re doing is jump-roping.

34) Girls will always storm off because they’re mad and the guy will stoically grab them by the arm and swing them back—and by magic, not dislocate their shoulders.

35) Guys always look like they’re 6 feet tall, even if they’re only 5′10. Thank you, camera angles.

36) Guys like to wear foundation, eyeliner and sometimes a smudge of lip liner.

37) You always get stuck in an elevator with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. Even if there are six different elevators, you’ll always be stuck in the same one with that bastard you hate (or just fought with).

38.) Unless you’re fabulously rich, your in-laws will always hate you.

39) So will your sister-in-law.

40) Your brother-in-law might be pining away for you.

41) There are only 2 ways to kiss. You either press your lips against theirs with your mouth completely shut, and just press away for a very long and uncomfortable time. OR you devour the other person and suck out their soul. In both instances, the world spins.

42) A guy will always get the right size ring, even if you’re never held hands.

43) People stare off into space and ponder a lot. They’ll just stop in the middle of the road and watch a leaf on a tree for a good three minutes, and just ponder.

44) You’ll get pregnant the first time you have sex.

45) You’ll get pregnant if he kisses you on the forehead.

46) Hell—you’ll get pregnant if you hold hands.

47) If you overcome great obstacles to be together, one of you must die. Probably due to cancer.

48.) One Korean man can kick the butts of 6 gangstas. Especially when they all stand in a circle and attack the guy one by one. Then when each of them get their butts OWNED, they wise up and attack the guy at the same time. Then the guy will get pulverized and bleed out onto the dusty concrete floor of the empty warehouse they’ve found to fight in. There will be a fire in a trashcan somewhere. And the girl will have watched this the entire time, screaming in horror. Instead of calling 119, she’ll just watch and cry. But it’s okay. Cuz the next day the guy will be fine with a few random bandages and a few face scars. But never a black eye.

49) It ain’t a real fight unless the gangstas fight dirty with a stick or switchblade.

50) If you study in the states (preferably Harvard), you are one of the top students and can speak perfect English (as assumed by the reactions of those around you). Why the rest of the world OUTSIDE of the TV can’t understand a single word uttered out of your melodramatic mouth is beyond me.

Taken from a forum post in http://www.crunchyroll.com/drama

My additions:

51) No one had cancer in the Joseon era. People died of constipation, a sword to the heart, or from lack of salt. Ginseng cured everything. Except for constipation. Nothing cures constipation.

52) A damp white cloth is a time tested medical intervention for a) wiping sweat off a comatose person's forehead waking them up b) bringing down a fever and waking them up c) sopping up face blood waking them up. It's not much help with constipation.

53) Whenever some manly kung fu fighting is occurring, a swift kick to the chest results in dust wafting up from the victims clothes. I have come to the conclusion that Korean people have very dusty torsos.

54) Bad guys will always fall in love with good girls. Good girls fall in love with good guys and then get eye cancer. The bad guys will then dig out their eyes so their cancer riddled girlfriend can see their beloved, albeit blurrily, for 17 seconds before it all goes black again.

55) Everyone meets their beloved when they are 11 years old and they fall in love. Upon giving their beloved a necklace, one of them has to move to America to become a captain of industry. When they return to Korea 17 years later, they are still wearing the necklace.

56) Fingering necklaces given to you by your 11 year old friend immediately conjures up vivid images of the last time you saw them (often as their father was ripping them out of your arms.) Somehow you always finger your necklace when they are in the same restaurant as you ~ however, you don't know it. No, you don't know it, but you sense....something....

57) Doctors cry a lot.

58) At some point in the drama, one main character will get very intoxicated and walk eight miles home. The other main character will walk behind them to make sure they get home ok.

59) Grandmothers always hate poor girls. Conversely, Grandfathers always love them.

60) Americans are all cowboy hat wearin', wife beatin', booze drinkin' ranchers that become enraged at seeing necklaces from 11 year old boys on the throats of 11 year old girls.

61) If you are a nice prince, you always have at least one cousin and an aunt who think you are a fool and want you dead. They will eventually kill your mother.

62) Nice princes always train in secret with a dungeon prisoner who is even more secretly, their father. However, if he isn't your father, minimally he gave your mother a necklace when she was 11. Which she still wears, unless your cousin and aunt killed her. In that case, you carry the necklace on your person.

63) If you are a mean prince, you are usually hot.

64) Mothers of mean princes spend a great deal of time sitting at tables in their bedroom plotting the demise of the royal family. With her brother.

65) A bowel movement is always preceded by a gurgling stomach, a dash to the bathroom on tip toes, doubled over, and clutching the stomach. This presumably holds the poo in until a bathroom is reached.

66) The bathroom reached is generally that of the opposite sex and the person you gave a necklace to when they were 11 is sitting in the stall next to you.

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.

In Soon is Pretty - The Characters

After watching one k-drama, I'm never sure what else to watch. There's a lot out there. Fortunately, my friend dramaok has a page with recommendations. I have so far made my way through "White Tower", "Legend", "Thank You", and "Coffee Prince". I started "Que Sera Sera" but I didn't find myself investing enough in the characters and stopped watching. Possibly unfortunate, since dramaok has been pretty right on in her assessments of the shows that I've watched.



So it was time to watch another one and I picked "In Soon is Pretty". Not quite finished with 2.5 episodes to go. It's the story of Park In Soon (IS), an orphan whose parents allegedly died when she was 100 days old, cared for in her youth by her Grandmother. While still in high school IS was jailed for (what appears to be 10 years) accidentally killing a girl.


We meet In Soon as she trolls Seoul looking for work upon her release from prison. In Soon; homeless, friendless, and jobless decides to end her life by stepping out in front of an oncoming train. It is at this moment her old junior high friend Yoo Sang Woo (YSW) recognizes her on the train platform and calls her name.

Brought back from the brink of death, we continue watching In Soon try to push on. There were few people who believed in her while she was in prison; one was her Gramma and the other was one of her junior high teachers. Gramma dies while In Soon is in prison and In Soon falls in love with her teacher. Transferrence at its best. Her teacher however, recognizes this for what it is and consistently pushes In Soon away. His kid is cute though.


Her Aunt and Uncle. Wooooof. The Uncle is a nasty brute who drinks wine like koolaid and knocks his wife down for sport. The Aunt has supported In Soon throughout but isn't above taking pot shots and playing the "You have ruined our lives" card, nicely adding to In Soon's burden of guilt. In what I considered to be a purely selfish act (she just didn't want to have any responsibility for IS any longer) she drops a bombshell on IS - her mother is still alive. Niiiiiiiice. I'm not liking any of these people.

Mom is an actress ~ Lee Sun Young (LSY). LSY is supremely, no, MONUMENTALLY self absorbed, not getting the roles she wants any longer and so she pushes her other daughter, Jung Ha, to go on auditions. Mom starts to see her own star fading and to keep herself in the spotlight, longs to get her daughter involved in the business as well. Jung Ha has no interest and could probably benefit from a run on the Prozac train quite frankly.

Yoo Sang Woo has loved Park In Soon his whole life. He was a geeky kid, not smart, not athletic, kinda goofy looking when they were children (yeeeesss, we get the obligatory childhood love flashbacks all through the show) and he finds himself attracted to her as an adult. Born to irresponsible parents, we see a flashback of them fleeing to Canada in the middle of the night to escape their creditors. This may have been a viable option in the 1980s, certainly a penniless Korean family carrying plastic garbage bags full of their life's possessions out of Korea and into Canada wouldn't have caused any raised eyebrows. Nooooo sir.


YSW has done well for himself. Shed his geeky image and grew into a fiiiine lookin' young man. Finished school, went to college, and is now a successful reporter with KBC television. Personally, I think his success can be argued, or at the very least it can be determined that he has a lousy research department, since he has no idea what happened to In Soon since he last saw her. He further condemns himself when he claims to have searched the internet to no avail to try to find information on her. I decided later on in the series that he was hired solely for his cool good looks - Hey! Sang Woo! Google dude. Google.

YSW's dad seems to be going through a mid-life crisis, as he becomes obsessed with In Soon's Mom, Lee Sun Young - he has several mugs on his office desk sporting her in a variety of roles, photos are pasted on his office walls. If this was CSI and LSY were dead, we'd be looking for a lock of hair and her liver in a jar at this point. However, LSY revels in the attention and actually meets with her stalker. He's falling in love, she's looking for someone to remodel her house on the cheap.


YSW's mom ~ next to In Soon, I feel saddest for her. Here this woman keeps a lovely home, takes care of her family, stuck by that pig of a partner of hers when they spirited off to Canada after he failed in business and now that she's older she's no longer attractive to him anymore.
She's ignored by her husband - indeed, the only time he deigns to speak to her it's to abusively criticize. Sang Woo does little to ease the tension - after a long hard day of chasing In Soon around Seoul, he comes home ignoring his mother's attempts at communication with little more than grunts and goes to his nicely appointed room.

Mom eventually finds out that Dad is having an affair (which in k-drama fashion = going to a play together...it's as good as a hug) and she packs his bags and throws him out. When she calls Sang Woo to tell him what's going on, he ignores the pain in her voice and is dismissive to her so ~ good on her ~ she says she's on strike. Tells him she's not cooking or cleaning or doing his laundry any more. "Hey Oma, is something wrong?" Ohhhhh, NOW he senses she's upset. My boys ever treat me like that, they're gonna get an earful.

Couple of minor characters - Jung Ha and Geun Soo. Jung Ha - as I mentioned before is In Soon's half sister and Geun Soo is her adoptive brother - it's amazing how complicated these shows get. JH falls in love with GS - GS is a ne'er do well, a grifter, who owes the mob money. He has women shoving all sorts of money at him - you know, I don't even know if he pays the thugs off, but he has no problem taking the money. A tortured lonely soul, I think GS's measure of love is non-abandonment, stemming from when his own mother left him at a bus terminal telling him she'd be right back. Mom abandoned him, IS in an act of tough love tells him she's done with him. The only one who sticks is JH who follows him through the streets of Seouls and further. He can't shake her. And he's starting to need her.

Jung Ha, for all her money and privilege just can't stand her mom and like all good girls looking to rebel, falls for the baddest boy that comes in her line of sight. I think she really understands him though, inasmuch as her life experience has been sheltered.

Lonely. All these characters are lonely. Even after becoming a media darling, In Soon is still empty, her mom with her one fan is lonely, YSW with his successful career is lonely, all lonely trying to make it work. Loneliness and sadness permeates this series, but the sweet thread running throughtout is YSW's love for IS. We get to see it when they are young when it's pure and sweet, and now we watch as it matures while they are hefting all their baggage from the intervening years and trying to sort through the baggage of those around them.


I think this will end sweetly and I hope happily for all the characters. Except for In Soon's Mom. We still haven't had a good solid trip "to the beach" yet...but I'm hopeful.

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.

Quiet

A good day today. The weather is in the mid 70s in Northern VA. I was up early as usual; walked my dog, as usual, showered, as usual, went to church - - - whoa! Not usual! But it was flea market day; all proceeds going toward our new church and I was to help set up and man the "Catholic Table".

A goooood flea market by the way. They don't sell junk. Well, maybe some junk, but some exquisite furniture. I'll tell you right now, Father is quite the salesman - offered to sell a television cabinet to me for half price - it was marked $50, he'd give it to me for $25. Had it fit in my car and/or living room, I'd have bought it. Just because he's my priest. :) I saw probably 16 strollers - in nearly new condition, television sets, lamps, microwaves, electronics...but my favorite was the book aisle. Last year, I bought 2 bags full of books - every Nicholas Sparks book I could find for my daughter and some fine reading for me, particularly a book on my hero Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. This year I was more conservative; I only spent $10 in books, Shakespeare's complete works; two biographies; and huzzah! "From the Angel's Blackboard"...the best of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen! Whoooo! SCORE!

Manning the Catholic Table is fun; everything was free, rosaries, medals, books, magnets, prayer cards. One of the ladies would advertise "FREE RELIGIOUS ARTICLES!" I was a little more sly; "We're in the shade!" And as they got closer I'd move in for the kill; "Everything on the table is for free! FREEEEE" I have no shame.

I was finished by 10:30 am, came home. I could have cleaned, but didn't want to spoil a fine day and decided to start watching my new k-drama (new to me, old to South Korea) "Legend / The Story of the First King's Four Gods" starring Bae Yong Joon; immensely popular in Asia for a number of projects, not the least of which is "Winter Sonata". I'll write more about it later; starting a little slow for me ~ those Koreans sure like to take it back - this one started 2000 years before the main characters were born, there's reincarnation, Turtle, Phoenix, Dragon and Tiger guardians, lots of biblical imagery, it's pretty loaded. But later, later.

I just got back from confession and feeling pretty good. I could clean...but don't want to spoil a fine evening. Maybe in a bit...in a bit.

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.

Go mab seub ni da!

Jang Hyuk from “Thank You” fame previously mentioned. Just finished wrapping up his new movie “Dance of the Dragon” with Fann Wong and Jason Scott Lee. Due to release in the US in early 2008.

For my very Caucasian friends go mab seub ni da means "Thank You" in Korean.

Thank you, Jang Hyuk!

More Jang Hyuk and a Movie

Bee Gees Song of the Day: Run to Me

Run to me whenever you're lonely. (to love me)
Run to me if you need a shoulder
Now and then, you need someone older,
so darling, you run to me.

Earlier this month, I reviewed "Thank You", a Korean Drama full of romance and pathos. I liked it a lot at the time and gave it a 92 on the scorecard.

Since then, I spent some time in the dentist's chair and have had a couple of pretty painful days and while recuperating, decided to re-watch this series. It was showing on AZN and the translation was better than my dvds. I was captivated by Jang Hyuk all over again.

I found and watched one of his earlier series, "Bright Girl's Success Story". Unfortunately, I was so disappointed, I'm not even going to review it. The most notable thing was it had a Love Angle of 6 - what do you call a shape with 6 sides? I don't even know. It's the math.

Anyway, I will say that in the two and a half years Jang was in the mandatory Korean military he matured...and nicely. I don't know if he took his critics to heart, but his acting is infinitely more refined and moving in TY. I'm planning on watching a few of his movies - "Windstruck" and "Volcano High" just to continue my comparison. It won't hurt if I get a beefcake shot out of it either. :)

I don't know how popular his singing is in Korea, but I watched two of his music videos and found them entertaining. He's got a wonderful searing look...very intense and focused. You just want a guy to look at you like that.

Hyuk Hyuk (as my friend and I call him) is currently filming a movie with Fann Wong (HA! Of "Heroes in Black" fame...she's been in much more mainstream stuff - like "Shanghai Nights") called "Dance of the Dragon". Am looking forward to it.

I also re-watched "The Lakehouse". I just love that movie. When I realized that it was a remake of a 2000 Korean movie called "Il Mare", I had to see the Korean version. "Il Mare" was more beautifully and artistically filmed than "The Lakehouse", but "The Lakehouse" had a better payoff in the end. I love the tension between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. At the end of "Il Mare" our male protagonist meets his love before she knows who he is, has her letters in his hand and asks her indulgence in believing a magical tale.

I prefer the hot kiss at the end of "The Lakehouse".

K-Drama: Jumong

More to come on the beach saga next week.

But today is video Friday and I have been very wistful for Jumong. I loved this series. No, let me amend; I loved these characters. I became invested in their successes and failures. I wanted Jumong to grab and plant a hot heavy kiss on Soseono, I wanted him to hold his baby in his arms. I wanted to see Hyeppobo and Sayong together. I loved, hated and pitied Gemwa, almost all at the same time. I was choky when Jumong kowtowed to his mother and Song Il Guk squeezed his 6' frame into a tiny little ball. I wanted to see Daeso's b*tch of a wife get her due. I ached for Haemosu and the years lost, I wept with Jumong when he realized Haemosu was dead. I wanted Yesoya happy. I wanted Oyi to find Buyeong and marry her.

It is a credit to the writers, the actors, and well, to everyone iwho worked on the series that they made me love the characters to the point that I miss them still.

This first clip is the end credits. It was moving to me to see the still shots of the actors either fully in character, cracking up together or mugging for the camera.



The next clip is one of my favorites from the series. A tiny little lead up; Jumong was the whiny younger brother. The older brothers hated him and actually tried to kill him on more than one occasion. After being trained secretly by Haemosu, Jumong enters the archery contest against his brothers. Older brother (in blue) does well, quite fully sighted, middle brother (in green), not so much, also able to see the targets, then Jumong comes in and blindfolds himself. It's all much more complex than that, but I just wanna watch the video.

BTW, Song Il Guk admitted in an interview that he accidentally hit the bullseye while blindfolded.