2011 End of Year Reflection -- Part 2

So after reading other end of year reviews from other bloggers who are more familiar with the K-dramaverse, I came to the conclusion that I am really a green newbie in this arena. I'm a whole lot more forgiving about certain drama series than others and I realized that I understand the situation. Where I stand with Hong Kong drama series is the same as where all the veteran K-drama netizens stand with their Korean entertainment -- tired, picky, grumpy, seen that, been there, why isn't there anything more refreshing?, and so on and so forth... It's like there's a want for new blood (or something like that).

HOWEVER, I will not refute the fact that I am a very simple person and that any television viewing experience can easily become entertaining for me. Case in point: I watched Taiwanese Idol drama Brown Sugar Machiatto and actually enjoyed it despite its total lack of a story line or great acting. It was funny, it was cute and it had the element of The Cute and The Pretty. I got out of it what I had expected going into it: A whole LOT of FLUFFY.

I'm not professional enough to determine whether or not Hong Kong drama series are on par with Korean drama series, or if they're better or worse. In my opinion, they are by far NOT as great as the few K-dramas I've watched in the past five months (then again, it could be because of the refreshing new experience I got watching them). I won't a hundred percent say that Korean dramas are worlds better than the stuff that TVB (main HK TV studio) churns out because I HAVE already encountered few series that were somewhat questionable. And as for TVB, it has its moments where a gem is created; this is not a regular thing though. I have in mind a handful of personal favorites from TVB that I loved deeply, but then there is also that ocean of series that really just stunk and survived on loyal viewership. I mean, for the Cantonese speaking population, TVB is really all there is because their competing TV studio doesn't quite make the cut.

And so maybe this is why I've come to my K-drama obsession so quickly -- there are a lot of refreshing plot devices, great actors, beautiful settings, and a whole new culture to experience. The humor is quite different than Hong Kong's humor and, by far, the people are a LOT prettier (men included). TVB has its crop of great actors and actresses (few of which I find attractive, and yes I CAN get superficial), but they are often led astray by crappy story-telling and poor direction. And while I've always loved TVB, I know that they COULD stand on par with K-dramas (the ones what aren't trying too hard to BE K-dramas with their perpetual dramatic cliches or the ones that are more serious than senseless -- yea, lately, TVB has developed a need to try imitating the K-drama trend of angst and makjang, but they don't quite do it right).

Basically what I'm saying is that like the K-drama veterans, I'm a grumpy TVB viewer -- more demanding, less forgiving, extra pissy at the poor quality of recent dramas being produced. I'm not saying that were a K-drama veteran to start watching series from Hong Kong that they would be giddy with excitement, but I'm saying that because of my grumpiness, the fresh new Korean culture has been quite attractive for me, personally.

Nonetheless, I have my few classic favorites that may not be the best series in the world, but they definitely hold memorable places in my heart. This will be left for a later post at a later time wherein I walk down memory lane and recount the various series from Hong Kong which have captured my heart for good (meaning that I would definitely re-watch them again when I'm in the mood and still enjoy them fully). For now, we'll focus on the more significant K-drama obsession at hand and discuss briefly my experiences with K-drama in this year of 2011. First of all, I'll note the few 2011 drama series I've watched for this 'Part 2' of the End of Year Reflection. Because my ramblings have ended up getting rather long, I will follow up with a listing of all the K-dramas (including series from other years) that I've watched and how they rank for me (including the ones from 2011), and then include any other little blurbs about K-drama that might seem significant, for 'Part 3' of my long-winded-ness.

So without further ado on my extremely extended introductions:


2011 Dramas
I will be listing them in order of my viewing of them.


Heartstrings

Following the first Korean drama series I watched in 2011 (You're Beautiful) I followed through quite quickly with Heartstrings (aka You've Fallen For Me). I'm superficial when it comes to romantic comedies or any type of story line based on romance; Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa were charming in You're Beautiful and left me with that aftertaste for more of them. When I find a particular actor or actress who interests me, I search for other projects said actor or actress may have had in the past or will have in the near future (that's pretty much how I roll sometimes). And so imagine my contentment when I found out that they would be teaming up again in another series, nearly two years after their first collaboration. And better yet, I had just gotten into K-drama in 2011, which, omigod, ended up being the year that their newest series was due to be broadcast. A week or so after I officially finished viewing You're Beautiful, I climbed onto the Heartstrings bandwagon like the rabid fangirl that I am.

I've stated before: Heartstrings is really just a simple love story set in a youthful world of a college campus. It was fun and amusing in its own rights and I thoroughly enjoyed the most of it. Being one of the first K-drama series that I touched, the concept was fun and refreshing for me (because I'd just dropped off of a long line of shoujo manga and the like with bubbly, bumbling idiot female protagonists in every corner). Lee Gyu Won (Park Shin Hye) is a young woman who is anything BUT a bumbling idiot female protagonist; she's got zest, sass, ambition, dreams, and most importantly, she's got the charms of Park Shin Hye. And I loved that she was such a practical, down-to-earth type of young woman as the lead of a romance drama.

By all rights, Heartstrings really is as simple as a simple love story with side dishes of youth drama incorporated. The reason why it was fun was because it was about young people. The reason why it was heartwarming was because it showed a nice love line that made you smile at every and all antics. From Lee Shin (Jung Yong Hwa)'s development from jerk-face to perfect boyfriend to the build-up of our 100th Anniversary University Musical Performance, everything was just simple and fun.

And so it's rather unfortunate that the series ended up finishing on a rather lame note. Could it really have been that the production team was strapped for time after that unfortunate accident? Or was the series already starting to decline in its attractiveness? I don't know if there was really a way to tell. But one thing is for certain, the series really ceased to entice after the love line officially got its main couple to pair up; when Lee Shin confessed that he liked Lee Gyu Won, the story seemed to lose all of its steam after that. What was left was the anticipation of how the musical performance would pan out -- but even that ended up settling on dead weight (because we don't even get to see the entire performance).

Heartstrings is an entertaining series if you enjoy youth romance and lots of good music. For the most part, it didn't quite make it to the ending in a tightly wrapped package with a pretty bow on top. A lot of significant side plots were created and then resolved forcefully because it seemed like time was running out. However, as one of the first series I watched in my K-drama viewing experience, it's actually a rather memorable one.


City Hunter

Action, adventure, romance, revenge, justice, comedy (and angst)... With all of these genres packaged delightfully into an entire series, City Hunter ended up being one of my favorites for this year (and overall of most of the K-dramas I've seen total). Based on a manga of the same title, its only unfortunate downfall was advertising that connection as its selling point; because from what I found out among netizens, the Korean drama series itself was nothing like the beloved manga. I'll never know the difference considering I won't be enticed enough to read the original manga, but from what I ended up experiencing off of City Hunter... I'm not sure I really care.

As a series that starts off with suspense, action and a revenge plot to build its basis, City Hunter easily became so much more. I could go on about City Hunter; in fact I'm sure I did and ended up rambling on for far too long. City Hunter was my first Korean drama love. From the heroic and kickass hot Lee Yoon Sung (Lee Min Ho) to the spunky and fearless Kim Na Na (Park Min Young) along with the underappreciated, but beloved Kim Young Ju (Lee Joon Hyuk), this series boasted a lot of great story telling, direction and pacing, beautiful scenery and zippy camera angles as well as deep characterizations. The basic plot of hunting down five different baddies, one after another was also a really intriguing follow along -- although as I had mentioned in my discussion, I think I would have liked it more if the viewers could see the investigation more on Lee Yoon Sung's side, not knowing who the next target would be until he's revealed so that we could play detective too. Nonetheless, this wasn't just a series where you were intrigued by the suspense in the story line and awed by the action sequences; this was also a series where even the characters become relatable in such a way that you become invested in their plights -- even the supporting characters had background and lives of their own.

On top of all of that, character relations were quite complicated, but at the same time full of juicy detail and delicious excitement. You became attached to the love line, you "aww-ed" at the Yoon Sung/ahjusshi guardian/son relationship, you held your breath at the father-son struggle and intrigue, you grinned giddily at the potential bromance between secret hero and public defender, and then you cried for the hero's inner struggles and horrific revelations. And on the side, you had fun with all the side characters who lent to the growth of our hero. Everything about City Hunter hinged on Lee Yoon Sung's every action and reaction, but all of his actions were based upon his interactions with the rest of the world.

City Hunter is like crack for the K-drama addict's soul. It's not a perfect drama, but it really hits all the marks perfectly when you allow it to suspend you into its world.


Scent of a Woman

I really don't know what I can say about Scent of a Woman. It was a nice journey, to say the least, but in the end, the beauty of the series can easily be replaceable by any other melodrama masked as a rom-com about a dying woman's journey. Did I like Scent of a Woman? Yes. Will I remember it six, maybe seven months from now? I'm not sure the answer will be a positive one. Was there anything memorable at all about Scent of a Woman? Yes. Did I really care for most of them? Not really.

Uhm Ki Joon was a great asset to the series as the socially awkward, yet loving and caring doctor and friend to our heroine, and in fact, he's the only character who actually stood out among the rest. The beautifully shot scenes and the lovely soundtrack might be a factor that can be noted, but I may not be able to successfully detail why. Lee Dong Wook and Kim Sun Ah had great chemistry with all of their passion and breathtaking sensual-ness zeroed in on their tango scenes. As individuals, however, I'm not sure I would really say that they stand out.

Lee Yeon Jae's refreshing take on a dying woman's last few months of activity was actually rather nice, though. Instead of being melancholic, she chose to face her world and make the most of her life. Instead of waiting out her days until death, she chose to live until she died. There has been speculation about some of her actions: 1) Why didn't she just tell her mother about her cancer? It would have been less of an issue if she had just been honest? 2) Why did she choose to fall in love when she knew she was dying? It was unfair to Kang Ji Wook that he had to go through the pain of losing a loved one. Again.

While these thoughts had crossed my mind as well, I can't a hundred percent say that I'm resentful towards Lee Yeon Jae for all of this. For one, how easy is it to tell your own mother that you're dying; especially after she had already had to suffer through a husband with terminal cancer. Lee Yeon Jae's fear should be understandable; not everyone is a self-less noble who knows immediately what would have been the right actions to take. Maybe it would have been better if she'd told her mother earlier; but we don't know that that's a fact.

Secondly, everyone is entitled to live their life in their own flair until the day they die. Does a dying woman not have the right to fall in love? Lee Yeon Jae was acting selfishly, but she was giving herself a chance to be alive for once in her life. I can't completely condemn her for following her heart. Honestly, people were born to die; today I could get hit by a car, tomorrow you could fall off a building or have a heart attack. This is life. Knowing these things, we all still continue to live anyway. What makes anyone else's lives any different from a dying cancer patient's life? One happens to be shorter than the other, but by how much?

It's a controversial subject, I know, so I'll leave it at that.

Scent of a Woman was one of those experiences wherein it's awesome and exciting and touching, all at the same time while you're in that moment. I will agree that the meddling chaebol device was pretty much frustrating and unnecessary. There's no need for more angst when the main female lead is experiencing a natural angst of her own already. Setting all of that aside, the series itself wasn't too bad. But just as soon as the excitement is over... well, it's simply over. That's how Scent of a Woman felt to me: it came and went and now it's just a distant memory that I may or may not recall when in reflection a long time from now.


Warrior Baek Dong Soo

We all know how I felt about Warrior Baek Dong Soo. So let's make this short and simple because its not the prettiest picture I've ever painted (with words). I love action, adventure and martial arts combat. I love a good Chinese wuxia themed series. I love watching the "incompetent fool" to "seasoned hero" progression. And I love the side plots of romance, honor, brothership and justice. This is what Warrior Baek felt like to me as I cruised through each episode, one right after the other. It was an adventure in a world where there is no full out Black and White and where even the publicly acclaimed "evil" side has its own codes of honor and may not necessarily be the straight up "evil" side.

Baek Dong Soo (Ji Chan Wook) was the arrogant, unskilled brat turned great hero. He had a lot of unique, immature, cheeky moments during his younger (?) intervals of the series. It was one of those devices wherein it's only fun because you get to follow the brat as he matures and "levels up" through obstacles of heart, mind and physical training. These are the things that make up a great hero progression story line. And along the way, you get to meet all of his interactions: a love line, a brother-in-arms, an honor code, a master, an alliegance to a leader...

And it was ALL there in Warrior Baek Dong Soo.

But somehow, the progression hit a nice little snag as well as multiple time skips (which I realize were employed to force a new plot twist and a new story arc per each time skip). The obstacles became mere anecdotes that were never elaborated and the side plots for supporting and/or second main character growth hitched on the side of the road. While we continue to follow the protagonist and antagonist pair, the rest of the world started to simmer slowly until everything just boiled away without a trace and we're left with a scorched pan without even understanding why (the fire was turned off too quickly yet everything STILL disappeared).

Warrior Baek Dong Soo ended up a chaotic mess of "we're not sure where this story is taking itself, but we REALLY want to go from A to Z as we skip around some letters, leave others out and then also include some symbols and double digits." It got REALLY messy. Because as the viewer, you KNEW where the story line was leading, but when it never got to its intended location and instead detoured a few times before getting onto the wrong track or just simply falling off a cliff, things just started going terribly wrong.

I enjoyed Warrior Baek Dong Soo if only for the opening scene and the glory of Yoo Seung Ho's Yeo Woon. The bromance wasn't too bad either, but that's a moot point when the ending came into play. The setting was beautiful, shot with gorgeous background scenes accompanied by a score of wonderful music numbers and insert songs. And to be fair, the direction was also done very exceptionally well. It was the story line that pretty much broke it for Warrior Baek: lost story arc conclusions, incomprehensible build up, strange plot twists that lead nowhere... And the romance? Don't even get me started on the pathetic love lines.

The only reason I would ever rewatch this series, I think, would be for the action sequences (which were merely decent, at best), Yeo Woon, and the great Choi Min Soo. Was it memorable? Yea. Unfortunately it was memorable for all the wrong reasons, which doesn't make it a good thing.


Lie to Me

I am hesitant to talk about this series because I may end up ranting off onto an entire ten pages worth of Lie to Me hopes and disappointments. To be brief, as many would point out, it isn't easy to take an overdone cliche and turn it into a refreshingly unique story. The contract relationship has been done to death already, but we still love this device because (like my favorite cross-dressing love) it has potential to spiral into all sorts of amusing fun and delight.

Lie to Me had two great things going for it: Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan. In fact, I considered watching this series only because of Yoon Eun Hye and finally picked it up and sat through it because of Kang Ji Hwan. And so, as I have mentioned time and time again, I really, really, REALLY tried to like this series. I kept giving it more and more chances and I kept making up excuses for it.

Fact was, when all a series has is a premise without a well thought out story line, you end up like all the unfinished rom-com stories I have ever started writing -- you lose sight of where it is you SHOULD be going and come to a road block. But in the case of Lie To Me, we climbed over that road block and tried to force our way through the unfinished construction so that we can get to the other side of the bridge. And so you see only the road leading into the mess and the small strip of concrete on the other end. In the middle, it's just chaotic and unconnected and you wonder why you even bothered to travel this disheartening distance that the workers have no intention of fixing.

And THAT was Lie To Me in all its disappointing glory. On the off chance that such a series had been created for a two-hour movie and had cut out all of that awkward mess of scattered plots in the middle, I think the story would have fared a whole lot better and we would still be able to get out of it the fluff piece with Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan, but with more optimism and more forgiveness. I'm more forgiving when it's a movie with time restraints that creates the excuse of having no time for development of more plot -- Lie To Me could have totally used something like that.


Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

This is the newest drug on the market; it's like crack boiled into the soup base of its ramyun delicacies.

I'm not quite sure that I can completely give justice to the greatness that is Flower Boy Ramyun Shop without taking up five or six separate posts (just like I've been doing for the entire month). There is just so much about this series that makes it such a symbolic, unpredictable, unique piece of work filled with what javabeans likes to call the "Trifecta" of great drama creation: story, direction, and acting.

I've been in awe of the editing, the pacing and the smooth transitions from one mood to another from the first episode onward. There has been over-the-top hilarity which eventually slides into more melancholic mood swings which then throws us for a loop with some heartwarming moments. And never once have I ever felt awkward watching these scenes play out; okay, maybe once, but it wasn't really a big deal and it still worked even if it was only slightly awkward. But for the entirety of Ramyun Shop's greatness, I'm willing to overlook a few flaws here and there.

As for the story and the writing -- I don't remember the last time I've been this satisfied with every direction that a series has been taking since day one. My true love of this series has mostly to do with the fact that, while it employs a lot of common tropes and cliches, it doesn't drag them out into exhaustion. We start up one plot device as a short story arc and then we resolve it within two episodes (or less) and then we move onto another one. And as most would have never believed possible, each little story arc helps to progress the main story line forward as we watch the series' characters grow. On top of that, the attention to the smallest, most trivial details had me so impressed: from Ba Wool and Eun Bi's Coca Cola substituted for soju drinking scene, to that darn Pororo blanket that Daddy Cha ended up becoming jealous about, and also Chi Soo's continued vanity for his physical appearance.

I will admit that the main basis of the story line isn't exactly readily picked up by viewers who don't fall into Ramyun Shop's addictiveness immediately. Is it about a makeshift family banding together to run a little ramyun shop? Is it about a noona-dongsaeng romance? Is it about our spoiled, rich brat's development into a more normal, compassionate human being? Or maybe we're actually following the self-discovery of our main female lead as she learns to accept herself for who she is. Ramyun Shop is all of these items mixed together, I would say, and so, so much more. It might sound like a chaotic mess of a story line, but when it all comes together, everything falls right into place.

What takes the cake for Ramyun Shop is one factor whom I've been doting on since the moment he started becoming a temper tantrum of immature man-child: Cha Chi Soo played by the ever awesome Jung Il Woo. To talk about this guy, both actor AND character could take days because there is just so much love going into my impression of him. But there is no doubt at all that, if City Hunter was the crack that started me in on my K-drama addiction, then Jung Il Woo's Cha Chi Soo will be the supplier who's giving me the means to continue my addiction -- and happily at that. Of all the 2011 series I've seen (which are few) Cha Chi Soo is definitely my pick for favorite character, hands down.

I think the only unfortunate set back about this series (as if there really were a set back) is that in order to love it, you have to be sold on its comically created over-the-top world. Once you've entered it with all the love you have, there is really no turning back.


Me Too, Flower!

There was a quirkiness to Me Too, Flower! that had drawn me into it. It could have been the non-standard character roles of a cheeky and easily tempered heroine, a sardonic and also cheeky hero, or even the asshole of a shrink (also cheeky) who was delightfully likeable at the same time. Maybe it was The Pretty (a Yoon Shi Yoon young'un trying to act like an ahjusshi who's pushing thirty with all of life's experiences and who drunkenly points at little Jo Maru and calls the kid "Baby" when obviously he's the one with the eternally baby-looking face). It could have been the well-written recaps at Dramabeans by orangy911 which allowed me to understand the premise of the series before I even started watching it.

The idea of the female protagonist NOT being a bubbly dimwit, but on top of that having an easily tempered personality and possible mental instability was attractive -- her depression and sense of self-worthlessness is also a nice area to explore since all rom-com female leads have always been the standard bubbly, cheerful type of bunny sunshine optimism. The male protagonist with a dark past is an overdone cliche in a lot of stories I've read, so that part wasn't as intriguing -- however, the willingness of Seo Jae Hee to break down and show his weakness to Bong Sun was a refreshing concept from most recent episodes.

No matter what it was that had me watching Me Too, Flower! doesn't matter anymore. What mattered to me was that I was sold and I was hooked. Of course, I DO admit that the extremely non-standard hot kissing scene (though forced into the story line) did sort of motivate me to start watching the series from beginning to its current status.

To be honest, everything about Me Too, Flower! had been going alright -- in fact, I might be brave enough to say that this series is one of the better ones I've seen in a while. There were a lot of obvious editing issues when certain sequences ended up presenting a bit awkwardly (such as the forced kisses, which were also forced kissing scenes) but they were happily overlooked for the bigger picture. There is a lot to explore concerning the human mentality of emotions, and when your biggest enemy or rival happens to be your own self-conscious, it gets a little more enticing. I mean, who needs actual, physical human love rivals when Cha Bong Sun's own emotional instability starts rearing its ugly head against her chance at a happy love line? Of course, I will admit that I'm very forgiving in my drama series viewing (just like I've been quite forgiving about Seo Jae Hee keeping secrets even though I know that Bong Sun has every right to be upset with him for a long time to come).

The only unfortunate turn out of this series so far, however, is that it's starting to fall into a more standard rom-com progression, utilizing all the frustrating cliches that we love to hate. Noble Idiocy takes a swing, and even though it didn't last long, it still hurt. And now we're seeing the rise of the "evil female love rival" who'd been simmering in creepy possessiveness from Day One of the series and then subjecting one of the more potentially likeable side characters into that resentful chess piece position. We have a "Project: Break-Up the Happy(?) Couple" on the horizon (and I use the term "happy" loosely just because this couple really has more inner demon struggles than even any love rival can supply). Why another standard cliche that will only end badly for everyone involved? And then the other issue of our psychiatrist making the moves on his patient; while I like seeing the main male lead get all worked up and jealous over his girl, I really hope that our lovely Dr. Park will only remain as a good friend and lend an ear rather than try to worm his way into the fluffy romance.

And now finally the all aggrieved BIG MISUNDERSTANDING plot device, which leads into more little misunderstandings, which eventually build into "all the reasons why our main couple cannot be together even though they're hopelessly in love".

Needless to say, I'm getting frustrated, but I still want to see how the rest of the series pans out.

To put it simply: I'm a sucker for fluff. I know that the current angst and frustration is anything BUT fluff, but by golly if the main couple didn't have such crazy, goosebump inducing fluffy romance montages when they were happy together! I haven't been this giddy about a lovey-dovey couple in a LONG time, and at the risk of turning the series into a monotonous dribble of cute, lovey-dovey fluff and nothing else, I am really, really shooting for seeing more of Seo Jae Hee and Cha Bong Sun just amping up the adorable sweetness. In all honesty, this is what's keeping me glued to Me Too, Flower! right now: the rekindling of the love line after a frustrating non-break-up and The Cute factor. Jae Hee and Bong Sun just seem to fall into place together after they could finally admit their feelings for each other; it's only unfortunate that they suffer from a common relationship cancer (of sorts) called "Lack of Communication" thus leading to "Lack of Honesty" which will eventually develop into "Lack of Trust." If only they could climb over that barrier and be The Cute that this couple can manage, then I'd be extremely ecstatic.

What I wouldn't give to have a female lead NOT have the heebie-jeebies whenever her boyfriend gets force-kissed by a persistent home-wrecker. Then again, it wasn't like Jae Hee was trying that hard to resist; I mean, how much of a force is Kim Dal anyway? It also doesn't work in his favor that he's currently 2 for 3 on secrets kept and NOT revealed by himself to his girlfriend -- can't expect a girl to give you trust if you haven't exactly been very convincing.

Looks like this ended up becoming an update on my opinions of this series... Must learn to shorten ramblings in the future. My apologies... With few episodes left for me to watch, I've been struggling about writing more discussion articles to follow along with Me Too, Flower!'s progress.

On a side note, I'm not opposed to getting rid of the string puppeteer, Miss Creepy Possessive Representative, which would solve so many problems, so that our couple can focus on working out their own inner demons (which will probably take another five extra episodes to fight about) to bring the originally quirky and non-standard story line back on track.


Girl K

What can I say about Girl K? It was action-packed, it was dark, it was moody, and it really was just an adrenaline rush of excitement. It was carried by great atmosphere and acting and housed a spectacular break out performance by Han Groo in her first ever role in a drama series. It was everything you could have ever asked for in a story line following a teenage assassin. For all its brief glory, Girl K was an absolutely addictive watch carried from beginning until the end in fast-paced action and the strength of raw emotions.

And to be totally honest, I see Girl K more as a three-part extended movie rather than a three-episode mini-mini-series. Because Girl K reminds me of the action-packed, young girl kicking ass as an assassin movies (none of which I can recall right now). And I think its success is truly the abruptness of its crammed story arcs. And so I disagree with a lot of netizens that Girl K should have been a lot longer in order to elaborate on the little side plots that revealed themselves: the could-have-been cute high school love story, the revenge plot, the high school girl moonlighting as a trained assassin basis...

As it is, it gave you small bits and pieces of temptation and then left it there for you to interpret as you liked it. And it concluded rather nicely without too much dead space filled with unnecessary detail.

Because essentially, Girl K follows, more than anything, the revenge-motivated actions of our teenage assassin; once that's over, there's nothing else left for her. From the moment that she is set on avenging her mother, she has been able to see nothing else and so I'm almost too glad that her revenge was executed early and we give her a chance to rekindle a reason for continuing on with her life in the form of the BIG BADDIE, her biological father. This was a story arc that gave her reason and allowed her to continue on as well as allowing the viewers a hopeful open ended conclusion to Girl K's short three episode run.

There is one thing I DO agree with, however, and that is that it would be nice to see a sequel which would utilize our Girl K and her skills for some other reason. Maybe these three episodes could have been a prelude to a longer running episodic drama series in the near future, setting up Yeon Jin's training and knowledge of the darker aspects of the world, and then catapulting her into a young high school (or college, I guess) student moonlighting as an agent of some form.

I can see that happening and I would jump on that bandwagon pretty quickly.


Protect the Boss

I first picked up this series right after I completed Heartstrings. I watched the first episode and then I dropped it because it didn't quite pull me in. In fact, I never even really finished the entire first episode those few months back. After watching a movie that had Choi Kang Hee, I considered picking up Protect the Boss once more, but that was merely a flitting thought. And then I read about the raving of Kim Jaejoong's break out performance and saw a lot of the hype going around about how Protect the Boss was such a great series. It even got an extension (which doesn't always mean it's a good thing) but which means that the series was so popular that the production staff felt inclined to continue the hype by tacking on three more episodes.

So far, I've finished the first three episodes, and I must say, I'm quite sold on this world. I think I've been hovering around so many formulaic rom-coms in recent years that I grasp onto any chance that a drama series is NOT a typical romantic comedy with all the typical romantic formulas. I'm also a sucker for kick ass strong female leads, and so when No Eun Seul opens the series with a "gang fight" during her high school years, I wanted to like Protect the Boss. Why it didn't hook me in the first time around, I don't know. But I'm certainly intrigued by it now and am willing to sit through it despite all the mixed feelings that netizens are harping on about.

So far, I'm sold. Every character is so non-standard (ever since Me Too, Flower! I've been using this description too much, methinks) that it's actually pretty refreshing. Everyone seems to have an awkwardly insane (term used true to definition rather than for sake of slang complimenting) quality about them. No Eun Seul is already quite plucky as the fighting, easily tempered female lead with half a brain; Cha Ji Heon is the typical arrogant second (or third, I guess) generation chaebol son who has his OCD-laced, child-like tendencies of immaturity wielding the other half of that brain. Then there's Cha Moo Won who is like the omnicient gentleman, confident and reliable, but strangely turns sixteen years old in mentality at all the right(?) times when faced with Cha Ji Heon's own immaturity. Finally, Seo Na Yeon... well, let's just say that she's not that refined and classy young lady with that true to form holier than though attitude that most female love rivals are known for (nor what I'd expected). Instead, she's still the arrogant rich chaebol daughter, yet houses a much more comedic and screechy (causing my WTH blinkiness) unstable personality of a twelve year old brat who must resort to telling herself that she is "an educated person" so that she won't rush across the room and rip another girl's hair out.

Current impression of what I've seen so far: I'm liking it. I will continue to watch it. Because as outrageous as these characters seem to have been created, I kind of like the dysfunctional world they encompass. Cha Ji Heon's family also gives me that WTH vibe as well, but in a good way.

At risk of being flamed by JYJ fans, however, I DID want to mention that I'm not quite seeing the "breakout performance" of Kim Jaejoong -- yes, he performs decently, but it doesn't really seem as outstanding as everyone is making it out to be. Maybe I'm just not seeing that charm, or maybe he's being overshadowed (severely) by Wang Ji Hye's Seo Na Yoon, whom I am extremely loving as opposed to her role as Kim In Hee in Personal Taste.

***

And so there you have the 2011 K-dramas that I managed to watch within the past five months. While Me Too, Flower! has recently finished airing, I haven't had the chance to finish it yet, but I will be looking forward to the end (and hoping that things turn for the better). I will finish watching Protect the Boss fairly shortly as well as I'm quite enjoying the strangely weird characters; unless something else comes around to entice me, this will be the next series I finish. I make little mention about Tree With Deep Roots only because I haven't been following it even though I saw the first episode; everything I wanted to say about that first episode is included in my first impression post, so I would just be on repeat if I talked about it here too.

Soon will be Part 3 of this End of Year Reflection. It is unfortunate, however, that there's a possibility it won't be posted until after the new year. This is what happens when I'm drowning in ramyun, flowers, and laziness.

2011 End of Year Reflection, Part 1

It's kind of stupid for me to be doing an "End of the Year" reflection piece, really. I haven't even had this blog for that long and my K-drama obsession has really only been less than half a year long. And while this blog is mainly for all things Asian drama and entertainment, let's face it, K-drama has been dominating for the most part. Before August, I was happily fulfilling my empty brain with finicky Taiwanese Idol entertainment.

But it's not like I didn't enjoy myself.

I spent around two months in the time right before K-drama immersing myself with the likes of Mo Fan Bang Bang Tang (模范棒棒堂) and Wo Ai Hei Se Bang Bang Tang (我愛黑澀棒棒堂), and other things TW Idol entertainment. I slept through a lot of it since TW Idol drama series run the same formula back and forth. So it's not like the beginning of the year was really THAT exciting outside of some time spent convincing myself that this old woman wasn't too old to enjoy some young teenage fluff of TW Idols. And so there will be mention of a few of the TW drama series I actually enjoyed and found wholesome rather than just full of pretty flower vases.

Plain Love II -- one of my favorite TVB productions from years past

In keeping with my fully Asian drama and entertainment oriented blog, I will also make mention of anything TVB (Hong Kong) related as well. I know that I've at least watched one Hong Kong drama series this year (but of course, I had to actually look it up since I wasn't sure if it was this year or last year) and have tried to start watching about three of them (with no success). I'm still a TVB hopeful, seeing as how I AM Chinese, I speak Cantonese, and I grew up watching TVB productions for as long as I can remember. So I after I ramble senselessly about the K-drama obsessions and whatnot, I'm going to also give a short span for TW Idol dramas as well as those HK dramas that I managed to look at for 2011.

This End of Year Reflection piece will be a two part, maybe three part article with this first article detailing more of my 2011 experience with Asian drama land.

And since K-drama was what ended up spicing up the end of 2011 for me with the likes of Lee Min Ho in City Hunter, CN Blue music with gorgeous Jung Yong Hwa leading them, Park Shin Hye's charming Heartstrings presentation, Lee Seung Gi and his music, and so on and so forth, the bulk of my reflection will include Korean entertainment. Because in the end, I really only have been keeping track of what K-dramas I've been watching; I don't even remember what TW dramas I've touched this year outside of a few of the 2011 ones (none of which I've managed to finish -- I'm so sorry to Love Keeps Going!!)

Excluding Coffee Prince, which I watched nearly a year before, I've totaled 18 Korean drama series that have been completely viewed and finished. Notable mention include such series as City Hunter, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Hong Gil Dong, You're Beautiful, and Girl K, which rank among my most memorable. Then there were also the classics like Goong, Brilliant Legacy, Delightful Girl Choon Hyang and My Lovely Sam Soon, which were all good in their own ways. And then there were those I like to call sleeping dramas wherein you're not really paying much attention because very little is going on, but you still want to finish the entire show: Hero, God of Study, and the last half of Heartstrings.

My list could go on, but if I just keep throwing titles out there, what is there left of my rankings and listings later on? Well, it would cut short this incessant rambling, I guess, because, let's face it, I love to write until it gets a little (read: very) out of hand. There will be a proper listing of which of these 18 series I found better than the rest and so on and so forth.

Anyway, my list is not as many as others probably get through, but that's still quite a bit for five months of time considering other netizens get quite worked up over having watched around 20 or so within the year. And I'm thinking that I probably would have been able to squeeze some more into that list as well, but I dilly-dallied between series, not quite knowing where to begin my next journey. I haven't quite chipped the bulk of the 2011 drama series like the majority of K-drama elite viewers have done: Thousand Days Promise, Man of Honor, Dream High, Baby Faced Beauty, Sign, The Princess' Man, and so, so many more that, when I look at the list on AsianMediaWiki, I balk.

Have people actually managed to go through a lot of these?

I had even intended to try watching some series so that I could have it finished before the end of the year; sadly, I don't think that's going to happen.

I've considered watching Dream High, I've started on 49 Days, I've checked out Protect the Boss, and I've even stared at the poster for Thousand Days Promise multiple times. Instead, I ended up testing out OTHER drama series which didn't land in the year 2011 category.

And then that led me into the list of 13 drama series that I started watching, but never got around to continuing or finishing -- and for the most part, only two of the 13 have actually managed to get me passed the first episode: Damo (Episode 2) and Exhibition of Fireworks (Episode 8). Both of these series were incomplete for two VERY different reasons and only one of them will actually be finished (or neither, cause that conclusion is still up in the air).

5 of the 13 series I began never even got me to finish the first episode, but not all for the same reasons. The curiosity series include The Return of Iljimae, 49 Days, and Coffee House of which I DO plan on finishing. I watched the first ten to twenty minutes of these three episodes just to check out the subtitle quality as well as to see what type of setting or mood the series was going to convey. These three series I DO hope and plan on continuing to watch soon. The other two of this little group would be When It's At Night and Chuno (yea, I know) wherein I managed to get through the first ten minutes of both and then had to call it quits cause somehow, I just wasn't really figuring it out. We may or may not revisit When It's at Night in the future since I've grown an attachment to Kim Sun Ah. Chuno is a different story altogether and unless I end up growing a passionate love for Jang Hyuk's handsome wonder, I probably won't touch it again.

The rest of the 13 were the one episode curiosities, all of which I have the intention of continuing, but few of which I might actually do so: Secret Garden, Iljimae, Full House, Once Upon a Time in Saengchori, Protect the Boss and Joseon X-Files. I know for sure that I want, dearly, to finish Joseon X-Files and I also know that I'm 90% close to just giving up considering Full House. I also know that Secret Garden is a sure in for watching, but there's no telling WHEN I'll get around to it because it's just not enticing to me at the moment. As of the publishing of this article, I have already managed to jump into Protect the Boss, reaching Episode Three; I continue to be curious about Once Upon a Time in Saengchori.

Finally, the list of 18 Korean dramas viewed within these past five months doesn't even include the two that I've begun watching and are still ongoing: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and Me Too, Flower. Both of these series, I will address at the end of the K-drama reflection (Part 2 of these articles). There's also Tree With Deep Roots, which could go under the category of the One Episode Curiosities, but since it IS still ongoing, I might end up watching the rest of it, notably for the first few episodes of Song Joong Ki, as well as to check out the wonders that netizens have been raving about concerning this series.

The only unfortunate aspect about me watching a historical Korean drama series is that the term "lost in translation" becomes a bigger barrier than if the series were more modern. Tree With Deep Roots is a thriller and mystery surrounding the creation of the Korean alphabet system, which I'm sure will involve a lot of language knowledge that may not carry over into English. Joseon X-Files is ingenius and deep, which has so far managed to lose me a few times within the first episode alone; it's intriguing and I WANT to watch it, but I'm worried that I may not understand its glory just because I don't understand the language. Series like Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Hong Gil Dong, The Return of Iljimae and Iljimae were more fusion with modern characteristics and so the language doesn't bother me. As for Chuno... well, it DOES depict more action and adventure than politics and the like, so it wouldn't really bother me either.

Since the year is yet to be over, there are still new series beginning that I haven't had the chance to touch yet. For one, I am totally going to start watching Color of Woman, which just began airing not long ago. I'm becoming more and more curious about Vampire Prosecutor if only because I love the case-by-case criminal investigation types, which from what I've read about it, is what Vampire Prosecutor is going for. But other than that, I haven't quite established what other series I'm going to be watching as well within that pile of Completed K-dramas that I've been considering since I fell into the obsession in July (Yes, the blog began in August, but that's after a month of viewing and planning).

In fact, I currently have a slight conflict concerning two pretty boys and which one of their recent projects I may pursue as my next watch. Being that I'm currently basking in the delights of Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and Me Too, Flower!, I've come to fall for both main leads in both of the series. Jung Il Woo is cute and wonderful with his vast range of emotion and expression concerning Flower Boy Ramyun Shop's Cha Chi Soo. I'm pretty much in love with that spoiled brat in spite of all of his abnormal qualities. Yoon Shi Yoon plays a character who is almost the opposite of Cha Chi Soo, a young man named Seo Jae Hee who has spent his life building an empire of business with his talents while struggling through his past horrors to survive. His range may not be as vast as Jung Il Woo's, but his emotions are still conveyed really well through his actions, his expressions and ESPECIALLY his eyes. I love a man who has sharp eyes that emote like there's no tomorrow (Lee Min Ho happens to be one of those). And so without even needing words, Yoon Shi Yoon brings a story to the screen.

It's only unfortunate that while one character has depth and unpredictable goodness, the other is starting to fall into a more standard male lead type than what I'd been expecting. Nonetheless, I've still come to like both of these actors for superficial reasons (The Pretty) as well as more "professional" reasons (The Acting).

And so I'm stuck on the decision for my next watch. Will it be 49 Days or The Return of Iljimae for more Jung Il Woo goodness? Will I try my hand at my first ever Korean makjang series with Baker King Kim Tak Gu for Yoon Shi Yoon's expressively hot eyes? On a completely off-subject side note, I DO find Yoon Shi Yoon's adorable, pretty and cute look more attractive than Jung Il Woo's more refined, handsome and hot look. But that's not really going to sway my decision on which way I end up going... so it's a moot point. I just wanted to be superficial for a few seconds, so let's continue on.

At the finish of this article, I've already given the first episode of Baker King a glance at for ten minutes and HOLY darn if I don't understand the makjang concept yet! Within that first five to ten minutes, I already figured out exactly what was going to happen just because the devices are so, so, SO standard. And so what did I do? During the entirely serious plot building device of those first ten minutes, I was laughing my ass off at the predictability of the entire situation and I understand what the equivalent of Korean makjang is to Hong Kong's "Grand Production" series is now.

I totally thought of TVB series Heart of Greed when I  saw Baker King's poster.
The "sequel" spin-off to Heart of Greed called Moonlight Resonance also uses the same poster set-up, but let's just leave it at that.

Hong Kong TVB is totally guilty of overdoing the typical cliches for the most dramatic effect in a lot of their Grand Production series; I don't even know if we have a word for it outside of Grand Production (maybe 争鬥; zang dau in Cantonese, which means struggle or war; in this context it depicts the power struggle among family which is the most common plot device employed in these series). In truth, Grand Production is typically used as a term to describe the series that TVB dumps a ton of money into (including gathering some of the most high-dollar actors and actresses in the company) in order to create an outstanding, highly anticipated series (but for the most part, high dollar productions does not equal great drama series). Grand Production always associates with predictable story lines though, that stem from predictable plot devices running on predictable cliches for twists and turns in the telling (for example: birth secrets, secret affairs, half-brother power struggles, over-powered mistresses, poor family daughter or son with a passionate desire for revenge against the rich family for tearing his or her family apart, rich and poor sons switched at birth by a manipulative mother, stealing of children to use against social enemies... I could go on).



I long ago stopped watching these TVB Grand Productions just because I got tired of the standard power struggle cliches. I think the last one that I actually watched and enjoyed from TVB was Cold Blood Warm Heart (天地男兒) in 1996. After that one, the following Grand Productions began to twist their logic and endings to ways that I was never able to accept. These types of series really aren't for me, I found out.

And so basically what I'm trying to say (after a long detour) is that if I'm going to watch Baker King, it will one hundred percent be for the sake of Yoon Shi Yoon. Yes, I can guarantee that I will love him THAT much to go through that; much like I would sit through more makjang for Yoo Seung Ho's Flames of Ambition (although I've heard that this one's actually not bad and so we've got another dratted series thrown onto my list).

On top of these two Pretties, I've even also chosen two other series that I would like to watch as well. I'm being drawn closer to Protect the Boss (by continuing it) just because it's been hyped about and Ji Sung is good looking and Choi Kang Hee is rather cute and I'm intrigued by Kim Jaejoong's break-out performance... And then there's Dream High for some giddy, teeny-bopper-ish crack-like fun that people are also raving about (I'm not really a fan of 2PM, so it's not really like I'm in it for Taecyon, so there goes the Pretty reasoning out the window).

And so I think these past five months of K-drama viewing have been pretty good. The next couple months of K-drama viewing will be even better (which tells me that I've fortunately made it passed a five month mark and will continue this obsession, unlike my manga and anime plight).

Not all of this five months had been spent watching just drama series, though. There's also the massive amount of time I spent watching 53 episodes of Running Man variety program and 20 episodes of Strong Heart talk show. I've also spent some time perusing K-pop like I've always been interested, and had taken a break from drama to finish reading two non-Asian media related books. I spent a lot of time reading recaps and Korean entertainment news from various sources and I've also spent a lot of time writing my own discussion articles, summaries, random thoughts, and then screen capping the heck out of drama series for all the pretty pictures to share.

These past five months in K-drama land have been quite productive, I will say. There have been moments where I've gotten so lazy that I just don't care anymore, but then one or two drama series just manages to hook me right back in. I end up forming opinions, I end up writing it all down, and when the article is done, I go on ahead and collect my screen caps and finish up the article while I'm on a roll. Unfortunately, there are currently around ten or so articles I've already finished writing. They aren't being published any time soon because I've been too lazy to collect my screen caps for them; these are older series that I keep telling myself can wait another day or two or thirty.

And so thank goodness for all the great series I've been coming across that are currently airing. If not for Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and Me Too, Flower!, December would have been pretty quiet. If not for Warrior Baek Dong Soo, October would have been a rather uneventful posting period. And I don't even know HOW I got through November, but I did, so it's all good.


As a conclusion to this first part of my End of Year Reflection, I might go ahead and include some outlook for 2012. Now that I've sort of gotten a good foundation down for the drama zone, I'm planning on slowing my postings down quite a bit. I've got a lot of articles that need to be finished, but I've come to the conclusion that the more I force myself to finish something, the more I rebel against myself. The currently airing series are typically more attractive to me and motivate me to get discussions written and out there just because of the ongoing current status.

Since I ramble on uselessly for the most part, what started off as an introduction to my End of Year Reflection turned into an entire article post (it's probably long enough to be a post on it's own), so I won't drag it out by including my view on specific series as well as listing my favorites of 2011, my favorites of all 19 K-dramas (which includes Coffe Prince, if anyone is wondering) I've seen so far, and any other Korean entertainment indulgence I might have had.

This reflection will be a three part article only because of this introduction piece, followed by my opinions on my first "year" of K-drama obsession, finally ending on a more thorough reflection to my growth and development with Hong Kong drama series.

Stay tuned...

thoughts: Me Too, Flower! (Korean) -- to whom it may concern

In keeping with my recent need to blog about these K-drama series in the (freakin') middle of broadcast, here is yet another post. Episodes Nine and Ten really DID seem to slow all the way down upon hopping into the "let's reveal secrets all around" bandwagon, in connection with the "evil love rival set to action" cliche. I seriously swear that I've got too many thoughts floating around in my head sometimes. I guess this is at least making my initially expected December somewhat more exciting. AND I didn't have to resort to randomly publishing intro info articles for older drama series.

We've got spoilers and some ranting, so move in carefully.

First note:
To Jae Hee,

Thank you so much for not being the typical male lead. (Aside from the constant man-handling of our main female lead, you're perfect; we'll let it slide just because you're so Pretty and this IS K-drama after all, not that it makes it okay. We'll talk later about that.)

First of all, I appreciate that you stood there silently (at the beginning of Episode Ten) and took the scolding like you deserved, because you SO totally deserved a verbal lashing from Bong Sun (you looked like a child guilty of stealing a cookie when Mom said no, so that was cute and I liked it). Unfortunately, that spell didn't last long and you seem to be under the impression that all would be well if you just apologized and explained the situation. But I'm not asking for much, so AGAIN, we'll let that slide (am I maybe too forgiving?).

Secondly, thank you for being so persistent, because since Bong Sun still loves you, persistence WILL pay off in the future. This brought a smile to my face to watch you continue to try getting Bong Sun to come back to you. I was almost worried that your history of misery and distrust would make you lose hope too quickly. Or that you would pull the standard: "If she won't forgive me, then there's nothing I can do about it but let her go," big man action. I would have really also hated it if you decided to be a Noble Idiot again and choose to give up on Bong Sun because of the misunderstanding as well as that dormant feeling of self-worthlessness that you've been carrying around all these years. And I'm glad that you've recognized that she's important enough to you that you don't want to lose her (at least this is the vibe I'm picking up, so don't make me believe otherwise).

Thank you for not easily forgiving that evil scheming piece of work who calls herself a friend; Park Hwa Young doesn't own you and, yes, she was totally at fault for ignoring your personal decisions just to get what she wants. I understand that you must still feel obligated to take care of her, but the sympathy can stop at that. There is no need to treat her like a friend anymore and your coldness towards her, maintaining a "business only" relationship is much appreciated. Please continue your upset and draw that line where it matters most. I'm sensing a slight bit of softening towards her though and it's worrisome, because I know that you still see her as an important person you must protect. However, sooner or later you'll have to cut ties, because two sassy women in your life is NOT going to help your survival rate. As we can see, Miss Representative is fully capable of taking care of herself (if she can pull a lame stunt like that and scheme to break up a happy couple, she's capable of surviving on her own, case close).

As for the man-handling, please stop it. Just because you are in a K-drama doesn't mean you must follow all of their rules; I had figured your non-standard male lead type to be better than that (or at least I was hopeful). The wrist-grabbing must stop. The yanking Bong Sun out of cars and forcing her to talk to you must stop. The forcing her onto your little motorbike and practically kidnapping her must stop. The demanding tone you take with her must also stop. And thinking that she'll forgive you easily... well, let's just say that you and I both knew that she wasn't going to be all giggly "Oh my boyfriend's actually a billionaire" about it. Buddy, she's GOING to remain angry at you for a while, so we'll just have to accept it. You have a ton of groveling to do, so let's get started and realize that you were at fault for keeping secrets. It's not easy to trust someone when you find out he's not being completely honest with you. Especially with Bong Sun having trust issues already.

Does that look like a happy girlfriend to you right now?
That's just a prettier, more saccharine version of the'WTF' look.
But it's NOT a good WTF.

And so becoming a puppy and following her around with hopes of reconciliation wasn't a bad move. HOWEVER, be careful that your joking around doesn't end up blowing her fuse. We all know that Bong Sun has a very short one and may try to pull a gun on you once again. Throwing your glove at her like a jilted child while sporting an insipid grin probably won't win you any points (even IF I found it kind of cute). Bong Sun is a LOT less forgiving and you should know better than to act like a five year old around her. Also, don't play around with guns by pointing loaded ones at your head just to make a point; you and I both know that you wouldn't have done that if you knew Bong Sun would really shoot you. Still, guns are not toys and accidental death really isn't the way to go if you wanted to make an unnecessary over-dramatic statement. Let's be adults about this (even though you look like you're pushing twenty, you're role is supposed to be closer to thirty).

Finally, thank you for coming clean with the most significant secret in your life (we will overlook the fact that your other secrets were NOT revealed by you in a timely fashion, which pretty much forced you to speak up about the last secret; okay, maybe I AM too forgiving). Now that you've put all your cards on the table and have made all your steps in apologies and reconciliation, the decision is in Bong Sun's hands. I only hope that this will finally help lead you two back into love-dovey territory, however, since there are still about five episodes left, we might not be through with the rom-com "angsty tropes built to keep couples apart until the last dire minute" yet. If we employ a time skip, I might have to abandon ship (though it might be too late by then). (Of course, this aspect took place at the beginning of Episode Eleven and I got a little confused, but it's still an appreciated gesture, so can we overlook my mistake? I don't want to completely delete this paragraph from my note.)

P.S. I really DO appreciate the range of emotions presented here, because it at least helped me to understand exactly what you're feeling without even hearing you utter a word. (In which case, kudos to Yoon Shi Yoon, cause you're awesome! Kid emotes really well.) Oh yea, about that perm: I'm getting used to it, but I'm still not liking it.

Second note:
Okay Bong Sun, I understand that you're angry. I would be too. As I said before, "Too many lies and too many secrets does not a lasting relationship make." You have every right to be angry and shocked and betrayed. I also understand that you've also grown up in a melancholic environment where Mom left, Dad left, and now you're fending for yourself as Mom tries to wriggle back in with her new daughter and Dad just keeps criticizing and criticizing. It's enough to make anyone crazy and require the expertise of a shrink. I'm also quite proud of you for not immediately forgiving Jae Hee after the first apology... or even the second. You need to stand your ground and let him know that he can't always have what he wants -- this is certain since the kid's been jerking you around for a while already.

But I also think that it's time to stop being stubborn and start thinking with your heart. After the third apology (done by a playful Jae Hee with an insipid grin) I started to soften, but that's beside the point. What you are doing is simply hurting yourself and hurting Jae Hee. And for what? Because now Jae Hee lives in a world you don't understand filled with wealth and riches and expensive designer hand bags? And so now you feel like the two of you don't have anything in common and won't be able to live in the same world together? You're putting yourself down and not trusting that it'll work out just because statuses are suddenly publicly different. Don't you think that HE already knew all of this when he first fell for you? Is your sense of such self-worthlessness still lingering around only to be saved by someone who's NOT a chaebol prince? His true identity doesn't change his person and he is still the same Seo Jae Hee who confessed that he wants to be with you. What happened to not caring who he was because you liked him as a person? It was much easier to say when you thought he was at the same financial status as you, right?

Now is NOT the time to be falling into that low self-esteem pool filled with self-loathing. What you have begun to convey are hints that you think someone of his financial standing will soon get tired and leave you and so you chose to leave him first. It's fine that you don't want to be a Cinderella case; it fits your personality. But does the rest even really make sense to you? I understand the anxious feeling of possible abandonment. Having been abandoned by the two people who are supposed to love you the most in this world probably didn't help secure your self-esteem. However, you are only reinforcing that dratted line drawn between a modest working woman and a wealthy chaebol prince; you are outright admitting that you couldn't possibly be good enough for his standards. In doing so, you are also telling Jae Hee that you doubt his love and you cannot trust that the two of you can have a happily ever after. And that's upsetting.

Because in reality, the more someone chastizes herself, the more irritating it is to hear about for other people. (I would know. I've always been the depressing "woe is me, I'm not good enough" type of person and almost ALWAYS got eye rolls and awkward silences when I'm negative about myself.) Because, sure, they feel sorry for you, but they don't know what to do for you besides remain silent. I only hope that you can finally pluck up the self-confidence to love yourself enough so that you can trust that Jae Hee won't change his heart.

Don't get me wrong. You're a very plucky person and I sincerely admire your out-of-the-ordinary temper and sarcasm. So maybe at some point in time you'll be able to pick yourself up, as I have all the confidence that Cha Bong Sun is strong enough to survive against the world.

And also, it's not like Jae Hee has always been wealthy since the boy actually started out at poverty level before making it where he is today. You two aren't living in different worlds just because your current statuses are a bit different. And if we really WANT to get technical, it's not like Jae Hee has a foundation of inherited wealth to back him up if business goes awry. Miss Representative could do a one-eighty and withdraw her financial padding if she gets pissed off enough, which would land Jae Hee back into the penniless category (in fact, this might make a pretty interesting turn of events, so file that cliche away and present it to the production staff when you get a chance, thanks).

Besides, all of this stubborn refusal to accept Jae Hee back into your life is EXACTLY what old Miss Evil Scheming Witch wants and THAT is ONE satisfaction I am unwilling to give her (yes, I am seriously NOT liking the love rival for more reasons than just because she's meddling). So you get yourself together and show that immature brat (both of them) that you can't be pushed around. Plus, the drunken puppy dog look in Episode Ten sort of won me over already -- I mean, how silly sweet is it that being completely smashed he still has the nerve to demand that Officer Cha come pick him up? Others may not think so, but I found it kind of amusing and cute -- I'm strange like that. And I know that we've established that I'm probably a LOT more forgiving than you are, if only because I don't have the same depressing history that Cha Bong Sun had AND I already knew the big secret and wasn't taken by surprise (one of those advantages of being a viewer, right?).

P.S. Don't let him off the hook that easily even if you take him back, though. Lay down the law that you're still mad at him. It IS okay to remain unforgiving and angry and still stay together as a couple. Stay mad at him if you want, but also get back together since that would TOTALLY throw Miss Representative into a frenzy (which is what I want to see as long as she has no more control over your happy couple relationship). It's called "a difference of opinion leading into cold war negotiations" and ALL couples do it at some point in their relationship. Love can't always sail smoothly like a fairy tale, you know. Boy needs to be put in his place, really.

Third and Final Note:
Dear Drama,

Please lay off on all these frustrating cliched devices -- as if it wasn't enough that Park Hwa Young gets to play string puppeteer with everyone, now we're also pulling Dal into this mess? The old cliched "She's not good enough for him so I need you to break them up" secret mission usually leads nowhere good. And then to also tell Dal that she can be made into a real life Cinderella sans Prince Charming? Yea... I'm sure Miss Screechy Materialistic Model would totally go for that. And this only continues to make Hwa Young seem meaninglessly pathetic in her childish attempts to keep Jae Hee by her side. She sounds like a catty future mother-in-law, but worse because Jae Hee isn't even her son; I don't know if she's noticed, but she DOESN'T really own him. I had a feeling that Hwa Young would end up becoming the crazy possessive uber bitch, but to top it off with an immature "Even if I can't have him, no one can take him away from me either," spiel? Once again lady, you don't own him, so technically you have no rights to keep him. Dear Drama, please allow SOMEONE to realize that Park Hwa Young cannot continue on her power-trip like this; our main leads have enough emotional baggage keeping them apart to create angst without you adding a potential main villain into the mix.

Episode Nine dragged out after a major unveiling event. While I feel like it was high time that Jae Hee's identity be revealed, what about that deflating mess following it? What happened there? Everyone is just parading around being angry or betrayed or angry or betrayed... It got frustrating. Episode Ten didn't fare any better either, although as I've already told Jae Hee, I DO appreciate his sincere initiation of the persistent apologies as well as his final confession about the accidental death of Hwa Young's husband seven years ago.

Anyone else find this "Pretty Woman"-esque make-over scene a little awkward?

What I DON'T appreciate is making Dal into a complete moron, accepting Hwa Young's deal and not realizing that her fortune can just as easily be taken away as it had been given. I thought Dal would be a bit better off in this chaotic mess (because I love Seo Hyo Rim) but she's falling right into Hwa Young's traps as a chess piece. She's totally unable to recognize that her own cattiness isn't enough to fight against Hwa Young's evilness. I'm pretty sure that Park Hwa Young isn't above finding a way to break contract if Dal pisses her off enough -- which I'm sure Dal is bound to do because she wants to be Cinderella WITH her Prince Charming, not according to Miss Representative's plans. These two may fight each other to the death for all I care, but I'm sure that Dal will just end up as collateral damage and Hwa Young will come out of it with few bruises.

HOWEVER, with this new twist, I AM quite interested to see how Dal will react when she finds out who she's scheming with Hwa Young against. Even though the step-sisters aren't exactly snuggling and telling each other stories about their first crush while eating ice cream together, it seems that they've learned to tolerate each other to some extent (almost like real sisters tend to do). We can see that Bong Sun has grown into that nagging elder sister figure already and I only hope that Dal has as much care for Bong Sun as Bong Sun seems to have subconciously developed.

And so, Drama, as I have told Jae Hee already, now that all the secrets are out and we have no more reason for misunderstandings, it would be nice if you don't take the series into the standard inanity of dramaland. I would like for Jae Hee and Bong Sun to step over the barrier that defines both of their depressing personal histories so that they can work together to make it through their relationship. I would like for Hwa Young's scheming to amount to nothing in the face of a strong loving couple. I would like for Bong Sun to realize that Jae Hee's confession about his most fragile memory is indication that he wants to share his world with her so that she can trust him not to abandon her. And I would like for Jae Hee to continue leaning on Bong Sun for strength and hopefully not try to pull another Noble Idiocy ploy again to push her away which would totally continue to fuel those feelings of possible abandonment that Bong Sun is anxious about.

Of course, then I'm not quite sure how to bring this chaotic mess to an end, so at this point in the series, Drama, I am willing to trade off one trope for another if we can wrap everything up neatly. I would like for the main characters to retain their unique-ness as the less than standard male and female leads, at the very least.

Oh, and please give Dr. Park a good conclusion as well; I've really grown fond of him despite the inappropriate "doctor/client" snuggly bits that managed to worm its way into the story line.

Sincerely,
You're Hopeful Viewer

P.S. More cute lovey-dovey couple montages with some more hot kisses would be much appreciated if we can find a way to fix this angsty separation issue. I'm not above too much fluffiness.

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Related articles:
first impression: Me Too, Flower!
thoughts: Me Too, Flower! -- mid-series

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