Drama fever posted an article about Korean idol who will enlisting to do their mandatory service. I am so distraught cause my Min Junnie, my Junkay!!! will be going away.... for so long.... I almost wish he could leave us with a scandal like Kim Hyun Joong. No body forgot that dude cause he had all kinds of baby mama drama throughout his service and he will be out on February 11. The list according to drama fever is: 1. JYJ's Junsu 2. Big Bang's TOP 3.Ji Chang Wook 4.Seo In Guk 5.Joo Won 6.Lee Min Ho 7.Jang Geun Suk 8.Hwang Kwang Hee 9. Kim Soo Hyun 10. SJ's KyuHyun 11. 2pm's Taecyeon 12.2pm's Jun. K 13. Yoo Ah In 14 Beenzio Chincha... there are some heavy hitters on this list... as a matter of fact majority of these idols have shaped my opinion of kdrama or kpop in some way. Seo In Guk's role in Reply 1997 (Answer Me 1997) sucked me in further to the kdrama world as this was one that I watched in the beginning of my kdrama life. Lee Min Ho... the man... the legend... so many kdrama beans are probably going into shock. Lee Min Ho is like 1995's Leonardo DiCaprio. Heartthrob to many. For me...Meh... I feel like he has been typecast as the jerk the girl falls in love with and they go through what they go through.... until they can either be together or die. Kim Soo Hyun...what a pretty guy... he was "My destiny" (You sang that didn't you) he played the hell out of an Alien that lived through the Joeson Era who would make horses fly when he was drunk and who get a fever/flu whenever he kissed a girl. We all fell in love with Do Min Joon the alien. Y'all already know how I feel about 2pm member's Taecyeon and Jun. K, well how I feel about Jun. K. How could he leave me!!!! Anyway... I probably wouldn't mind Taec leaving but whether its Taec, Jun, Junho, Chansung or Woo Young it doesn't matter because even though I love Jun. K and I love when he is solo... I love 2pm as one whole group. Now there are a few that I know but I have never watch them in a drama or listened to their music (at least not how I listen to 2pm. Jang Geun Suk also known as Pretty Man had a scandal, but is quiet now and this guy will be living I know there are a many of fans who are sad about this. Any dude who is in a kpop boy band... I know all their loyal subjects are losing their minds... I should know I am losing mind because my 2pm boys.... Ji Chang Wook... I know the name and honestly I though he had already been in the military but I was wrong... he will be entering soon and he just recently had a premier of his movie Fabricated City... in which Jun. K of 2pm was there and later took a pic with Ji Chang Wook, I thought oh maybe they are trying to be friends now so that they can keep each other company while in the military.
A few weeks ago I was able to finish the high school drama I am Sam. I started this drama like two years ago. I am not sure how I got through it, because it was long and dry at times. The reason why I continued to watch it was I needed to see it till the end. The over all theme of this program left me needing the end. Basically we have a grown man who is a teacher somehow became entangled in this bratty high schoolers life. She develops a crush on him and that is pretty normal for young girls to crush on male teachers. BUT it seemed like he crushed on her back. Now I don't have issues with Oppa/Dongsaeng relationships but this went too far for me as in this situation he was a teacher and she was a student. The WHOLE time it is mentioned here and there how bad it looks or would look and they try to appear to not like each other, but they do.
Now I understand true love and I am all for it, but teacher student relationships in America is forbidden. I know what you are saying, but what about the Teacher student relationship in Flower Boy Ramen Shop? There is a difference... The female lead ended up quitting her job as a teacher and since the male lead was 19...he was able to consent. Now in I am Sam I don't actually remember the age of the female lead BUT I can assume she was at least 18 but it still made me uncomfortable. Now there wasn't any "skinship" really, but it was weird that the second male lead played by, T.O.P. never got further with her instead, the show ends with the teacher and the student after like four years had passed, still being much like they were before. It was weird, but I guess 4 years later its ok.... I don't know. I recommend this drama if you are a Lee Min Ho fan and want to see his earlier work, or if you are into high school drama's. I mean I did enjoy watching the plight of this teacher. It's not a horrible drama and it is FUNNY! So give it a chance if you are bored looking for a throw back.
So I decided I better go ahead and use my Dramafever premium and I watched Lee Min Ho's big screen "Gangnam Blues." I am so glad to have seen Lee Min Ho in as a character that WASN'T a FLOWER BOY!!! The movie was basically all about gangsters and how politicians used the gangsters to get where they wanted to be politically to build Seoul into a better capitol after the Korean War. I have to say I really appreciated Lee Min Ho's acting in this movie. Of course I am so use to him and his acting so a lot of times when I come to a Lee Min Ho drama I avert my attention from him and look at others. I notice other actors. Lee Min Ho seemed to be a main character but the focus wasn't on him. Basically Lee Min Ho is in the movies and I am sure that help sell tickets but if you really want to see him on screen MORE than watch his dramas. Did I like the movie? Yes. Do I think you should watch it? Yes. Of course. I am all about getting people to watch k drama. I just have one question??? Why no love scene for Lee Min Ho? Seriously this movie had several love scenes because there is a forbidden relationship and the love scene has NOTHING on the love scenes that you would see in America, well I guess that depends on the movie. I really feel like there isn't as much on scene thrusting as there are in foreign films. American movies may have some female on top scenes, but the female is usually covered up. If I am wrong well sorry. American movies with more sexual encounters with nudity get different ratings. Anyway I am getting away from my question. Lee Min Ho did not get a love scene. I don't even think he got a girl. He did kiss a women but I think that was for "reasons" as my brother would say, but no love scenes. I wonder it has something to do with his future career. Because once you do a scene like the other actor Kim Rae-Won
did there is no return to doing High School drama's and let's face it Lee Min Ho has more High School dramas he could do even if you really want him to step away from High school drama and into more adult dramas, but I guess Lee Min Ho is different because his career is greater than high school drama even if he is best known for Boys over Flowers. I wonder if we will ever see him do such a scene... he could always use a stand in lol!!! I decided to do a little research and found out the Lee Min Ho had a sex but it was cut out smh.... http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/68041/20150113/lee-min-hos-bedroom-scene-with-kim-ji-soo-was-edited-out-of-gangnam-1970.htm To be honest I don't think I could handle a sex scene from Lee Min Ho as I stated he is most remembered as Goo Jun Pyo I don't want to tarnish my innocent memory of this character LOL!!!
K-drama friends- I will be participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I know too many people whose lives have been touched by cancer. I
can't sit still and not take action against this disease that has hurt
so many. That's why I'm participating in the American Cancer Society
Relay For Life® movement.
How many times have we watched a K-drama where our favorite character has cancer and we watch as love ones deal with this revelation and we cry with the characters. Luckily it is K-drama and just an actor acting, but so many people in real life are affected by cancer.
Relay For Life is my opportunity to
celebrate the true story of loved ones who have won their battle against cancer, remember
those no longer with us, and fight back against this disease that robs
so many of so much. More than just walking the track, I'm fundraising! Because of the donations I collect, more people in more communities:
Have
the information and tools they need to help reduce their risk of
getting cancer or find the disease early, when it's easiest to treat
Have a place to turn for help 24/7
Benefit from the progress being made toward finding cancer's causes and cures
Yeah I have been gone for a while now...probably since May, but I am back. I have kind of been away from K-Drama AND I miss it!!! A lot!!! The hustle and bustle of first year teacherdom turned out to be pretty crazy!! BUT I think I have it under control now... which means...I am ready to try to get back into the KDRAMA!!!! BUT I have no idea where to go... I haven't finished the Lee Min Ho collection I was working the old drama, I Am Sam, and I started Faith a while ago...Also I haven't seen Personal Taste yet, BUT I am thinking I want to see a new drama. Now Rain was in a drama recently called My Lovely Girl and although he is a fine specimen to look at I am not a fan of Krystal Jung. She did not move me in The Heirs. I feel like I have been away from drama. I have watched a few movies but I really want to take some of my Christmas break and just watch drama all day and all night long... So what should I watch Kdrama addicts! Please help me out!!! Comment and let me know what is the best drama I should marathon!
If you thought Cinderella's step-mother was the worst, KDrama moms make her look like Mary Poppins. I re-read that sentence and thought: "Am I exaggerating," and realized no I am not.
First let me just state this, starting this blog and attempting to work on it the way that I really want to made me realize I haven't watched enough Kdramas. I am trying to figure out how I can watch more so that I can provide better examples, because one day we will all be tired of references to "Boys Over Flowers."
SIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah Right "Boys Over Flowers give Drama-addicts life!
So let's start there:
Goo Jun Pyo's (Lee Min Ho) mother... Kang Hee-soo aka President Kang. Seriously this woman is known for some of the most down right awful situations. Her son Goo Jun Pyo, the rich boy, meets Geum Jan Di, the poor (I would say middle class because they were making it, to me I think it is ok for a teen to have a job, makes for good work ethic skills, regardless she was quite poor for the likes of President Kang). Kang was very controlling of Goo Jun Pyo anyway, but then he had to go and fall in love with the poor girl. Mother couldn't have this. She put so many obstacles in from of Goo Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di, like how about the time she had her kidnapped.Or the fact that she had kept her husband who was in a coma but alive in a secret place, but told everyone include her children that he was dead, which really drove both of her children to literally hate her. As the K-Drama audience we kind of hate her, but it it wasn't for her the main characters really wouldn't have any obstacles that literally make the show worth while (aside from the sexy F4).
2013's drama That Winter The Wind Blows (starring the super handsome oppa Jo In Sung and one of our beloved F4 members Kim Bum), is another drama with an Evil Matriarch.Wang Hye-ji – Officially a secretary, she runs the company and is Oh Young's caretaker. She is not really her mother but step's into the role after years of being in an affair with the father. Of course Oh Young was sort of a "bitter blind b*tch" as she wasn't very kind to this secretary, but Ms. Wang deserved it as she knew the condition Oh Young was in with having something on the brain causing her blindness but never had it taken care of with a simple surgery. This made Oh Young rely on Ms. Wang even though she didn't fully trust Wang. That's a pretty difficult life to live to be blind and know the person caring for you is the reason you are blind and behind the divorce of your parents.
We see evil mothers and step mothers but how about grandmothers? In Moon Embracing the Sun, there was, Queen Dowager Jung-hui,
Mother of King Sungjo and Grandmother of Lee Hwon (Played by Kim Hyun Soo who was in the recent hit "You Who Came From the Stars") Talk about Bad Grandma...this lady put a hit out on the girl her grandson had fallen for, because of political reasons. Luckily the "shaman" who was ask to take the little girl out had been asked by her late sister to keep the girl safe. So instead of killing her she made it seem like the girl died then hid her for many years. But Karma is can be a bigger b*tch than these evil mothers. Let's just the Queen didn't fair so well in the end.
Other mothers aren't evil so much as they have just made poor decisions or good decisions that their son or daughter mistook for a poor decision such as in the drama Padam Padam, where we the character Yang Kang-chil, played by sexy Oppa Jung Woo Sung (go to Netflix and watch his movies you laugh, you will cry, and you will fall in love with him) calls his mom for help and watches her basically hang up on him. He took it as his mother didn't love him and abandoned him, come to find out his mother only didn't want him around as there was a detective that came around looking for him and mom was trying to protect him.
There are MANY other evil mothers, but this sort of gives you a clue about the evil mothers of Kdrama. We hate them but let's face it without them we wouldn't have the obstacles that out beloved main characters must get thru during the storyline.
If you are a veteran K-Drama viewer than you are familiar with the Male Lead on a K-Drama. If you are a newbie than you need to get familiar with him.
First understand that there are actually two types of the Male Lead. Type A and Type B, right now let's focus on Type A.
The Famous Goo Jun Pyo total type A!!!
Type A is the most arrogant, and cruel jerk that the female lead will always fall for eventually if not immediately.
Also as the meme above says they are ridiculously rich. For instance K-Drama god, Goo Jun Pyo, Male Lead Type A of Boys Over Flowers, was the Heir to the Shinhwa Group, a huge conglomerate.
And of course as mentioned before Cha Chi Soo was another arrogant Richie Rich, who was the Heir of the Cha Group.
Even Lee Yoon Sung from the action romance thriller, City Hunter, was arrogant and rather rich, even though his storyline and reasons for existence are tad different from the flower boy characters above. (Lee Yoon Sung actually got his hands dirty).
Through the course of the drama the Type A will eventually learn to be kind and that money doesn't define him or love. He will only care about the female lead's well-being and making a way for them to be together, whether that means going against parents orders (that is another big theme) or going against another male lead (best known as the second male lead another theme) or they have to get over themselves, such as the biggest jerk (to me) Baek Seung Jo of Playful Kiss. It took 15 episodes for him to get over himself and tell Oh Ha Ni how he really felt. AISH!!!! Thinking about it angers me. I love Kim Hyun Joong (obviously) but that character AIGOO, he infuriates me (ok so he reminds me an ex no need to re-hash). Even after he expressed his feelings he still doesn't treat poor Oh Ha Ni very well, I mean his lines before their first time was not very caring.
Do Min Joon Saving Cheon Song Yi
The Male Lead that we don't usually talk about (probably because we lump them in one catorgory) is what I will call Type B. He is of course gorgeous just as his counterpart. Type B may or may not have money. If he is rich than having the money is no big deal, in other words it doesn't define him. Sometimes the female lead (who they have fallen for) has money. Type B is often not as big of a jerk as Type A. He may be a jerk, but this maybe due to different circumstances, than having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Take the current drama "My Love from Another Star" and the male lead, Do Min Joon. He tries to be uncaring towards Cheon Song-yi, but just in words and not in actions. Many times Type B has a mysterious or reckless past. For instance, Kim Tan, male lead from the recent hit K-drama The Heirs, was sent to America, because of his illegitimate status as a son/heir. Although this character is similar to Goo Jun Pyo, Kim Tan is not a jerk toward his love interest. Also in My Love from Another Star, Do Min Joon just so happens to be a 400 year old alien, and has watched Korea develop over that time, of course this means in order to keep people from being suspicious he's had to have false deaths. Then there are those who have a reckless past such as the male lead in "When A Man Loves," Tae-sang, who was once the right hand man to a mob boss, is able to turn his life around and becomes a successful business man, pining for a young girl's heart. Similar characters can be seen in Jung Woo Sung's "Padam, Padam" and Jo In Sung's "That Winter That Wind Blows" where the male lead ha been a thug or is seen as a thug but is very caring and is trying to live differently. There is also the unknowing type B lead. This can be seen in 49 Days with the characters, Han Kang and The Scheduler (who although is not the male lead is a huge presence and deserves to be mentioned.) In both situations they seem unknowing of what's really going on. Especially poor Scheduler. (Oh how I could cry.)
Scheduler and Song Yi-kyung (not the main couple but still male lead worthy to be discussed
No matter the circumstance the Male Lead, type A or type B is really just sort of a tragic hero (he just usually doesn't die). He starts as a person we really don't like at least we don't like his personality. This is his flaw. Then something happens to him and this evokes pity (or in the case of a K-Drama fan, love). Unfortunately its been a long time since my High School Honors English class and also a long time since I studied Aristotle so all I can say is in the end the female lead (and us) fall madly in love with the Male Lead. We fall in love because of all of the above. NUMBER ONE these guys are like way HAWT!!! I mean come on they are usually gorgeous. Oh yeah and he has money DUH!!! Now I'm not saying I'm a goldigger, but look at all the fancy trips they take (usually to JeJu Islands), the cars they drive, and the make-overs they give (to the female lead). In addition to good looks and money, once the male lead is in love with the female lead he does anything he can to have her. Goo Jun Pyo couldn't swim, but learned to swim for Geum Jandi. Why? Because he never wanted to have to see another man save his Jandi. Cha Chi Soo, gave up the Cha name, lost his inheritance and went AWOL from the military to have his Eun Bi. Eventually we have no choice, but to fall in love with The Male Lead, that is if we don't fall head over heels for the Second Male Lead. (Yoon Ji Hoo Saranghaeyo)
"kkonminam" or The Flower Boy has become a staple to Korean Drama. He is good looking, rich, arrogant, metro-sexual, tough, tall, slim, snobby, and did I mention good looking? I mean he is what I call a pretty man. The funny thing is up until I found Korean Dramas I had always liked the appearance of a good-looking guy with lots of muscles. I was the girl that liked the big football player type with a beard who was more like a bear than a flower. After Korean Dramas my tastes fell for the flower boy. It actually made me feel funny about myself as these flower boys are pretty like women. (As in prettier than me). Although there have been many flower boy icons the best examples are the beloved F4 from Boys Over Flowers. Now I don't want to go into detail about Boys Over Flowers right now, but these guys are the ultimate example of the flower boy. Unfortunately this wasn't my first drama, but I am glad it wasn't because I would probably have more issues than I do now as this show was amazing. These guys are rich, drive NICE cars, will also kick someone's a$$ if they have to and, they do what they want and are all in high school. I didn't know any flower boys in high school, but let's get back to my previous comment: they are pretty like women. When I talk to non-drama fans about K-Drama, I usually show them the picture above as an example of flower boys and they usually point to my bias, Kim Hyun Joong (if you aren't familiar he's the one with the auburn hair) and they say: "That's a boy?!?!" and I usually say: "Yeah isn't he gorgeous?" LOL!!! He is quite gorgeous. I was looking at pictures of Kim Hyun Joong from a few years ago and I said out loud: "He's a pretty man."
He's pretty and that's hot!
I tell you what I don't know if its the fashion (as I would wear that fur collared coat Lee Min Ho has on) or the hair (I love the auburn on Kim Hyun Joong and I love the curls on Lee Min Ho) or if its that they are rich (when I say they own the school I mean they literally own the school) all I know is that I could just "eat them up." I laugh at myself because in America we don't really appreciate a pretty man. We have good looking guys, for instance back in his Romeo and Juliet days, Leonardo Dicaprio would have been called a flower boy, and back in the day George Clooney had women pining over his good looks (I never got it). Today there are the big stars of Twilight, Robert Pattinson
Channing Tatum
and Taylor Lautner. Channing Tatum is good looking, but his body is
not like that of a flower...boy, but then again there is Song Seung Heon
and he has nice body and pretty face. Wait what was I talking
about...oh yeah but in America we
Song Seung Heon
want our men to be tough guys and roughed, even the pretty ones, being pretty is ok, but being effeminate is a no- no and although the flower boys of Korea are tough guys at times, they have many effeminate tendencies that make some people raise an eyebrow.Like there is a scene in Boys Over Flowers where we see Goo Joon Pyo (Lee Min Ho) get his hair curled. Now I mean the reality is how else would he have those beautiful curls, but in America beauty rituals are for girls. According to a few article Korean men weren't always in to the flower boy trend, but now days, having good skin and a nice appearance is good for... well... business. So just as women the men have beauty rituals and they wear make-up. (Korea is the male make up capital of the world apparently)
Lee Min Ho sponsors make-up products
Being American and knowing our views on such ideas I always felt slightly odd for being attracted to these pretty Korean men, but I am sorry, I am going to have step over the silly ideas of society and go with the flower boy. I have always liked a pretty face anyway. And if that pretty face comes with random trips to the Jeju Islands than all the more merrier. For more flower boys watch, The Flower Boy Next Door,Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs, Flower Boy Ramen Shop, Pretty Man, Nail Shop In Paris. For more Song Seung Heon check out: When A Man Loves and My Princess.
What do you think about men being "pretty"? What do you think of men using make-up? Would you want to date a flower boy (yes probably)? Who is your Flower Boy bias?
