My 2 cents worth on Kdramas
So, earlier this year (2018) my 12-year-old granddaughter turned me on to Kdramas.
Started out with āBoys over Flowersā in January and weāre still arguing about which one of the guys Jan-Di should have ended up withā¦.Gu Jun-Pyo or Yoon Ji-Hoo. Since Iām a sucker for the whole Soul Mate thing (been married to my own soul mate for over 30 years) and Ji-Hoo became my favorite right from the start, I actually wasnāt too happy with the way things turned out in the end.
But thatās all beside the point and the only thing that matters is that it only took this one series to get me completely and absolutely āhookedā on Kdramas.
Since Kim Hyun Joong became my first favorite as Ji-Hoo, I started looking up other parts he starred in and came across 'Inspiring Generationā. Wow! What a difference! The character of Shin Jung-Tae is just about as opposite of Ji-Hoo as it can possibly get. But I guess thatās what makes a truly great actor, and Kim Hyun Joong was simply amazing playing the partā¦.even though it bothered me to see that handsome face getting beat up way too much.
But then it was also 'Inspiring Generationā where I found what would become my next favoriteā¦Song Jae Rim, in the character of Mo Il-Hwa.
I canāt quite pinpoint what it was that endeared me to that part, but of course I had to once again look for other Kdramas, featuring Song Jae Rim. And thatās when I came across 'Moon embracing the Sunā with Song Jae Rim as the Kingās swordsman, Woon.
Absolutely loved Jae Rim in that part and still do, even after having watched the entire series about a dozen times by now. I also liked Song Jae Rim in 'Goodbye Mr. Blackā, even though his wasnāt a main character role, but didnāt care much for the part of a hitman/killer Mr. Kim he played in 'Two Weeksā since I really donāt like my favs playing ābad guysā. Of course, watching 'Two Weeksā made me find another new favoriteā¦Lee Joon Gi
Okay, so I just said I donāt like my favs playing ābad guysā, but the main character, Jang Tae-San, isnāt really a bad ābad guyā and if that story doesnāt tear up your heart, then you better check if you still have one.
I actually had to do something I usually NEVER doā¦about half-way through the series I had to watch the final episode to see how it turns out, just so my old nerves could take watching the rest of the story. Yeah, I knowā¦terrible, isnāt it? Donāt worry, I got more than an earful about it from my granddaughter, and I promise to never do it again! ;)
But while I thought that it could not possibly get any better than Lee Joon Giās performance in 'Two Weeksā, I quickly found out that I was wrong when I watched 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeoā next. OH, MYā¦!!! Not only is Joon Gi with long hair pure eye-candy (to me at least), but he absolutely nailed the part of Prince Wang So.Ā
Ladies, how many of you were ready to strangle Wang Soās mother with your bare hands. I definitely was! And whatās the big deal about that scar? I guess itās because Princes had to be āperfectā, but come onā¦ Ā Scars are just proof that you were stronger than whatever or whoever it was that tried to kill you. And apparently back then the phrase āchicks dig scarsā was unheard of. And also apparently Iām not the only one who wasnāt happy at all with the way the story ended, considering there are numerous fan videos on YouTube with different, happier endings. I got more than just a little upset with Hae Soo for leaving Wang So. How could she not see that he was trying his best to NOT become some blood-thirsty tyrant??
Anyway, after only about 3 days of some serious editing work, the final episode in my own DVD collection of 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeoā has a much happier ending nowā¦many thanks to Daria Zyuzina who created the wonderful fan video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0r9zE5Le8) where Wang So finds Hae Soo in the future. And like so many other fans, Iām also still hoping for a Season 2 with this kind of scenario.
On another note to 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeoāā¦ aside from the despicable character of Queen Yoo (Prince Wang Soās mother, who treats him like s**t), my other least-favorite character is Prince Wang Yo (Wang Soās biological brother, and also a son of Queen Yoo). However, while I hated the character, actor Hong Jong Hyun did an excellent job portraying the mean, spiteful, conniving 3rd Prince. But if youāre like me, you would much more enjoy seeing Hong Jong Hyun in the role of Wang Rin in 'The King in Loveā
or, even better, as Seo Chan Hwi, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard in 'Jeon Woo Chiā
(that is, if you can get into things like wizards and magic and tolerate some occasionally slightly over-done special effects of people flying through the air and suchā¦BUT at least in 'Jeon Woo Chiā ONLY the wizards have that ability, unlike in some of the Chinese dramas where seemingly anybody can have such super-human abilitiesā¦if you ever watched 'General and Iā, you might understand what Iām talking aboutā¦ I couldnāt make it past a trailer that had a fight scene between Chu Beijie and He Xia, but thatās just me, I guess).
As far as wizards and magic are concerned, however, I did very much enjoy the ones in 'Mirror of the Witchā aka 'Secret Healerā and my favorite character there ended up being the Taoist Yo Gwang, played by Lee Yi Kyung.
Donāt ask me why, I just found him adorable (maybe because he was so awkward, dealing with the girl Ā Soon Deuk who clearly has a crush on him). SPOILER ALERT ā 'Mirror of the Witchā has a rather bitter-sweet ending!
I want to get back to Lee Joon Gi for a moment since I just finished the 'Lawless Lawyerā seriesā¦.which is an excellent nail-biter and I had to seriously restrain myself NOT TO watch the final episode first again. If youāve seen it, tell me is it just me or did you think too that Joon Gi looked too skinny in that series? Donāt get me wrong, Iām not saying at all that he looked ābadā in any way and his performance was awesome as usualā¦I just felt that he looked like heād lost a whole bunch of weight and ācelebrity lifeā was taking its toll on him. Kind of worries me, because I would definitely like to see him in many more future performances.
I still have some Lee Joon Gi binge-watching left over for now, since the only other movies and series I made it through so far were 'Iljimaeā, 'Arang and the Magistrateā, 'Gunman in Joseonā and of course 'The King and the Clownā (which was way too sad for my taste). But most likely 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeoā will always be my absolute favorite and Iāll keep hoping for a 2nd seasonā¦even though that will probably just remain wishful thinking for myself and many others, but we can always hope, right?
Some of my other favs Iād like to mention would be Kwak Dong Yeon as swordsman Kim Byung-Yeon in 'Moonlight drawn by Cloudsā aka 'Love in the Moonlightā
and he also played an excellent part as young Shin Jung-Tae in 'Inspiring Generationā.
Then there is Seo In Guk for his outstanding performances as Prince Gwang-Hae in 'The Kingās Faceā
and also as Lee Hyun / David Lee in 'I Remember Youā aka 'Hello Monsterā.
An excellent yet unfortunately somewhat overlooked performance of Kim Jae Young as Moo-Yeon in ā100 Days my Princeā
And last (for now) but certainly not least is Jung Il Woo whose sad role as Prince Yang-Myung in 'Moon embracing the Sunā cost me plenty of tissues,
but required even more of them in 'The Return of Iljimaeā (even though it has a happier ending for Jung Il Wooās character)
Iāll probably get āyelled atā for saying this, but I honestly have a hard time deciding whom I liked betterā¦Lee Joon Gi as Iljimae in 'Iljimae: The Phantom Thiefā, or Jung Il Woo as Iljimae in 'The Return of Iljimaeā. (Sorry, Joon Gi, but be assured that youāll still always be my #1 fav).
So, thanks to my granddaughter, back to some more binge-watchingā¦hey, I got to blame someone else for things not getting done around the house, right? ;)
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