Skip to main content

Taking stock and passing judgement

Now that there's a lull in the K drama scene for me, let me take stock of what I've watched and pass some biased judgement on those shows.

Shows watched so far
(For most cases, the number of episodes watched roughly tallies with how much I enjoyed the show)

Watched fewer than 5 episodes
All About Eve (MBC)
All In (SBS)
Love Story in Harvard (SBS)

More than 5, fewer than 10 episodes
Memories of Bali (SBS)
Dalja's Spring by KBS (liked this but discovered it late in its run)
Dae Jang Geum by MBC (interesting but too slow-moving and too long for me)

Watched the whole or almost the whole series
My Name is Kim Sam-soon (MBC)
Goong (MBC)
Wedding (KBS)
Foxy Lady (MBC)

The links are to this Korean tourism site which gives synopses along with the filming sites, just in case anyone wants to go on a K drama tour ;-).

My biased conclusions
Best network: MBC

Most beautiful actress: Choi Ji-woo (from Winter Sonata – peerless, right? Though she and Bae Yong-jun SO do not look like high school students) Cutest actress: Yoon Eun-hye (Crown Princess in Goong) Cutest actor: Hyun Bin (from Sam Soon; please note ‘cute’ means different things for males and females, ha ha) Best actress: Kim Sun-ah (Sam Soon – natural in funny, romantic, sad, thought-provoking scenes) Best actor: Lee Dong-wook (from My Girl - could act being boring, deep, emotional and funny all in one character) Best friends: the 3 girls from Goong (supportive friends, not too nonsensical, though one is rather annoying) Best chemistry: Yoon Eun-hye and Joo Ji-hoon (Crown Prince and Princess in Goong, who do look like high school students) Could have been ‘best chemistry’ couple : Lee Da-hae and Lee Joon-ki (from My Girl, they were just friends but they really clicked on screen) Most over-rated drama: Full House (entertaining but too much to-ing and fro-ing among the characters, characterisation and plot rather shallow on the whole)
Most ‘sway’ spurned lover: So Ji-sub in Bali (really liked the girl, finally got to run off with her to Bali… BUT… the girl admits she likes the other guy WHILE they are in bed, mind you… AND THEN, they both get shot, while still in bed…)

Pictures from hancinema.net

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have only watched two korean tv series so far, Da Chang Jin and My Name is Kim Sam Soon. And I am watching Da Chang Jin for the second time because my daughter has started watching it! I really like it, though it is really long. By the way, if you were to ask me, my pick for most charismatic, elegant male lead must be Lee Jang Jae. the only movie i have watched him in is called "Typhoon". He is soooo gorgeous! will be appearing with Choi Ji Woo in a new tv series (plot revolves around the airport I think). X-Tongfang
2:49 pm
Anonymous said…
I think the actress in Love at Harvard is still the most beautiful lah... haha. First saw her as evil step-daughter in Stairway to Heaven acting opposite Choi Ji Woo..

http://female.thedailymodel.com/kim-tae-hee/

Bear Hugs
11:49 pm
Anonymous said…
Aha, my friends, I see what kind of topic motivates you to comment... ha ha...

X-Tongfang, I've never watched Lee Jang Jae and the only one of his shows I've heard of is Il Mare. He does look suave in some pictures. I thought you watched Winter Sonata too? You know there's a comic version of DCJ at Popular? Your daughter might like it.

Bear Hugs, I agree that Kim Tae-hee is pretty. And not overly skinny, though I suspect her BMI is below normal.
10:39 am
Anonymous said…
In fact come to think of it, I have watched Summer Scent too, apart from Winter sonata, although not all the episodes. winter sonata was really too melodramatic toward the end.

you may be interested to grab a copy of i weekly as they have this writeup about "cute yong things" - cute actresses from the region including the princess hour one.
4:42 pm
Anonymous said…
hmm... i will think about getting the i weekly because it will take me forever to read in chinese.
10:03 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A lesson in love

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. -Mother Teresa Most of the time my eyes just glaze over when I see article upon article of football news. One caught my glazing eye over the weekend, though - 'De la Cruz - Mother Theresa in boots' , because of the familiar name. Mother Teresa, that is. It was the first time I’d ever heard of this de la Cruz guy, an EPL player who hails from Ecuador (GNI per capita US$2,630; as a comparison, Singapore’s is US$27, 490 – source: BBC country profiles ). His is a great story to illustrate that famous Chinese saying about not forgetting your roots. According to the article, ‘Each month a proportion of that salary (about S$150,000) Reading pay him - be it 10 per cent in January or 20 per cent in February - goes direct to the village’ (where he grew up). (Picture and profile from here ) Here's what he has been credited for: 1. 'The 2002 World Cup,' de la Cruz reflects, 'finan
4 comments
Read more

True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the
3 comments
Read more

When the best man doesn't win

Speaking of 'sway' spurned lovers, the latest one I've come across is in Love Revolution ( only 12 episodes!), a J show I recently watched. Heroine of the story is pretty, 30-ish Smart Doctor, who is dying to fall in love and get married. She meets Aspiring Actor and Broadcast Journalist (right). She falls for Broadcast Journalist like a ton of bricks. It's obvious from the start (to the audience but not to her) that Aspiring Actor is nuts about her. But... she has fallen for Broadcast Journalist like a ton of bricks already. No doubt, Smart Doctor and Broadcast Journalist must be given credit for their love that stands the tests of time, separation and misunderstanding, but the one who loves most in the show is undoubtedly Mr Aspiring Actor. What he does/does not do because of his undying love for Smart Doctor: Y does not pursue her at first because he is still struggling to survive in this small-time drama group and he knows he doesn't have much to offer Y resp
Post a Comment
Read more