nine (korean drama)

Nine (Otherwise known as Nine: 9 Times Time Travel / Nine: Nine Time Travels) (2013)
Director: Kim Byung Soo
Starring: Lee Jin Wook (Powerful Opponents), Jo Yoon Hee

Synopsis, found here:

Anchorman Park Sun Woo (Lee Jin Wook) is consumed by a family tragedy that haunts him to this day. One day, he stumbles upon a mystical gift of nine incense, each with the ability to send him back into time. Sun Woo begins to weave in and out of history, creating shockwaves that unravel the fabric of time. Meanwhile, his brother Park Jung Woo (Jeon No Min) is revealed to be at the center of the tragedy. Can he avenge his family and win back the love of junior reporter Joo Min Young (Jo Yoon Hee)? Only time can tell in this thrilling adventure of possibilities.

Trailer:


I was surprised how little fanfare this drama got. It actually slipped right by me with barely a flicker. Perhaps I was not in the right place at the right time. I discovered the drama after the fact by searching for action/ adventure dramas on DramaFever. To be honest, the description put me off slightly, with such a sheepish premise.  Incense stick time machine?! However, since I had really liked Lee Jin Wook in Powerful Opponents (2008), I put it in my queue and forgot about it for months.

As happens, I reached my tolerance threshold for cutsie romantic comedies, and went looking for something serious and intense. I'm really glad I gave Nine a chance, because it's my favorite Kdrama of 2013, hands down. Despite what you'd expect from the description, I found it to have a unique story, and to carry both emotional and intelligent elements with finesse. The pacing was a bit slow for me, as always with Korean dramas, but less so than many I've seen, and it wasn't bad enough to prevent me from watching the entire show in a single weekend. Shit, was I a wrung-out dish towel at the end of that stint.

Park Sun Woo, main male lead, is a news anchorman who just
learned he's got about 3 months to live. 

Park Sun Woo (played by Lee Jin Wook) was a very compelling character. So were his ears -- you could always tell things were getting emotional when they started popping up and down. Pretty fascinating stuff.  He was very well-rounded and engaging, nothing over-acted and always sympathetic.

Park Sun Woo's best friend and doctor, Han Young Hoon, was a great character. The actor they got to play him as a teenager was a perfect piece of casting. Young Hoon provided comedy and an emotional foil for Sun Woo; he grounded the show. While Sun Woo flipped around to past and present, plotting to save his brother, save his father (everyone but himself), Young Hoon kept him and those of us watching grounded in reality. Even while he raved about God and Devils. 

Park Sun Woo and his friend, Han Young Hoon

Han Young Hoon (teenage version)

Beside an overacting villain, the only ho-hum part of Nine was the female lead, Joo Min Young, played by Jo Yoon Hee. I found her character surprisingly boring. I wondered why anyone would suffer such flaming passion for such a boring person. I don't know if it's the writing of the female lead or the actress. She wasn't unconvincing, emotion-wise... simply not compelling.  Especially lined up against Park Sun Woo.

After the emotional roller coaster of episodes 1-19, the final episode (20) wrapped up the show in such a perfect way. I'm too used to the last episode of Korean dramas absolutely ruining the show for me, so this is worth mentioning. (See Iris, A love to kill, I'm sorry, I love you, Chuno and so many others...) But Nine ends ends on the perfect note.  This almost never happens. Bravo.

My husband and I are still trying to pinpoint what implications of the very last scene are. He believes one thing... I see it as being somewhat open for interpretation. :)  What do you think it meant?

city hunter (korean drama)

City Hunter  (2011)
Director: Jin Hyuk

Starring:  Lee Min Ho (Boys over Flowers), Park Min Young, and Lee Joon Hyuk (Secret Garden and The world that they live in)

Synopsis, found here (with a few updates by me):

The story started in 1983 when a bomb exploded while the South Korean President and his delegates were visiting Myanmar. The explosion killed some of the high ranking officials but not the president. To strike back, 5 high-ranking officials of South Korea planned for an underground operation to go to North Korea and kill North Korean agents. With the South Korean President unknowing, Lee Jin-pyo (Kim Sang-joong) and Park Moo-yul (Park Sang-min) who work as bodyguards for the Blue House, organized the 20-men troop who would execute the plan. During the plan's execution, the 5 high-ranking officials changed their minds and aborted the plan.

As the troop swims to the submarine, which would take them back to South Korea, a sniper (at the behest of the 5 high-ranking officials) came out from the submarine and started shooting each troop member. With Lee Jin-pyo as the only survivor of the ambush, he swam back to South Korean shore.

With a promise of revenge to his fallen comrades and his best buddy Park Moo-yul, he snatches Moo-yul's newborn son and took him to the mountains of Thailand. There, he taught the child combat skills to become an elite soldier. After an attack on their village in Thailand, Lee Jin-Pyo confessed to the child, Lee Yoon-sung (Lee Min-ho), about his long-term goal of revenge.

7 years after the confession, with an ultimate plan to take revenge, Lee Yoon-sung comes back to South Korea and enters the Blue House (presidential palace) as an IT expert under the National Communication Network Team. Warned not to fall in love, Lee Yoon-sung will meet Blue House bodyguard, Kim Na-na (Park Min-young). Then the story of love and revenge begins.

Not mentioned in the synopsis is what a hard, ruthless man Jun-pyo is. And of course, the fact that nothing is what it seems.

From left to right: Jin Soo Hee, Kim Young Joo, Kim Na-na,
Lee Yoon-sung & Choi Ha Dye

Also not mentioned:  Lee Joon Hyuk plays a prosecutor, Kim Young Joo, who is dedicated to finding out the identity of the City Hunter, while at the same time, slowly developing a respect and trust for the work the man is doing. All the main characters were well-played, and the characters were 3-dimensional and believable. Lee Yoon-sung was played by Lee Min Ho, who also starred in the extremely popular show "Boys over flowers".  I didn't care greatly for Lee Min Ho as an actor after that show (though Johnny liked him), but have since changed my mind on that score. :)

An appealing fact about the show is that the main female lead, Kim Na-na, is hardly the wilting-flower type, but one of the presidential bodyguards who frequently makes the main male lead's life difficult. And I do mean painfully difficult (see video below.) You go, girl.

Spoilers of the first episode ahead

The production value and action scenes in the show were of great quality.  Here's a sample of pictures from the first episode, found here.

Lee Yoon-sung, a motherless boy growing up among druglords
in the mountains of Thailand, yearns for motherly affection and
forms a bond with a woman in the village.

Grown now, Yoon-sung saves the life & adopts into his
"family" a fellow Korean man, who tells him stories of his
mother country and has a picture of a young girl
(about whom he is very cryptic).

Their village is attacked in retaliation for Yoon-sung snatching
away the Korean man...

...and Yoon-sungs "mother" is killed. Enraged, he chases them
through the fields surrounding their village...

Where Yoon-sung's hot-headedness lands him on a landmine
from which Jun-Pyo, his "father", saves him.

At the cost of Jun Pyo's leg.

While the doctor worked to save Jun-Pyo, he told
the remorseful Yoon-sung about his real father's betrayal &
death, and the revenge they must effect together.

Yoon-sung learns that his mother is not dead. However,
Jun Pyo told him that he was abandoned by his mother
instead of the truth: that Jun-Pyo had snatched him from her.

Seven years later, Yoon-sung arrives in Korea for the first time,
an MIT graduate and primed for revenge.

I actually truly enjoy the soundtrack to this series, specifically "Suddenly" by Kim Bo Kyung:


Here are a couple MVs that represent the feeling of the show:

where education actually matters

"Robosem" classroom robot from Yujin.

Between this and this, South Korea has got it going. I've been known to snicker during certain South Korean dramas when the actors passionately declare their country's technological leadership (see: City Hunter) -- but from what I can tell, they've reason to be proud.

As someone who's so very ambivalent about American public schools that my partner and I have home schooled both of our kids on a regular basis--when they've said they want to be--this interest and actual investment on the part of the Korean government into their people's education is a little bitter. I wonder what kind of revolution it would take for American politicians to at least pretend to care about the experience of our children in public schools. (Bitter much?)

And by the way, congratulations to South Korea on winning the 2018 Winter Olympics bid!  

Photo credit: Singularity Hub

full house (korean drama)

Full House (2004)
Director:  Pyo Min Su (who also directed The World That They Live In)
Starring:  Bi (A Love to Kill, Fugitive Plan B, I'm a cyborg, but that's okay), Song Hye Kyo (The World That They Live In, All In)



Edited January 2013:  NOT to be confused with "Full House Take 2", which was a complete waste of time as far as I am concerned.

Synopsis, found here:

Han Ji-eun's house, built by her father

Han Ji-eun lives alone in the house that she inherited from her parents. Her parents named the property 'Full House.' She has two close friends who end up selling the house behind her back to Lee Young-jae. Through a series of incidents, the two make a contract to marry, so that Ji-eun can stay in the house that her parents built. Although not in love with each other when they marry, a love between them develops slowly over time. The feelings of love are constantly interrupted by Gang Hye- won, Young-jae's love interest for quite some time and by Yu Min-hyeok, a man that Han ji-eun likes.

I'm not sure why I enjoy so many Korean comedies, when I really have a hard time striking up any interest for American comedies.  I suspect my sense of humor runs more to slapstick, which would explain a lot. I've watched Full House (the Korean drama, not the American sitcom) three times through -- sharing it with both my daughter, when she was 13 or 14, as well as Johnny, last year. It was a huge hit, and not just because of all the rowdy fun we had poking at the male lead's wardrobe choices (can you say 'matronly'?!)

Like the best Korean dramas, this show was both hilarious, touching and sweet, in good measure. It had one of our favorite ahjumas ever, in Young Jae's grandmother.  Johnny thinks the female lead, Song Hye Kyo, is just about the hottest thing that's come out of Korea in the last decade, and once again, my daughter thinks the same of the male lead, Bi.  But what the show didn't have going for it was good secondary characters; I found Kang Hae Won to be utterly abrasive, and Yu Min Hyuk unrealistic.  However, you can't have it all, and the main characters were admittedly pretty steep competition.

Funny moments:

On their tumultuous "honeymoon" as a contracted couple,
a single bed in the suite causes a singularly immature spasm.

When introduced to Yong Jae's parents and grandmother, Ji-eun -- with no parents of her own -- tries in her own way to impress the new in-laws. To Young Jae's horror.  Found here.

 And when rumors arise that their "marriage" may be an unhappy one, Ji-eun brings home-made sushi to her actor husband's shoot to prove what a great couple they are:



For a 2004 drama, its dated fashion almost becomes another spicy and unexpected character, adding flavor. Also, and this is unverified rumor, but I've heard that this show may have been the source of the phrase you will now hear at least once during almost every Korean drama: "Fight-ing, fight-ing!"  Or, hwighting! Don't hold me to that one, though.

Watch the full trailer here.

fugitive plan b (korean drama)

Fugitive Plan B (also known as Runaway: Plan B)  (2010)
Director: Kang Jung Hwan
Starring: Bi (Full House, A Love to Kill, I'm a cyborg, but that's okay), Lee Na Young, Lee Jung Jin, Yoon Jin Seo, Daniel Henney (My Name is Kim Sam Soon, Spring Waltz)

Synopsis, found here:

During the Korean War, a vast amount of money disappeared. Now, some 60 years later, the money has reappeared, leading to a frantic chase across the globe. Jin Yi (Lee Na Young) is a seemingly innocent woman who has hidden motives for approaching Ji Woo (Bi). Her plans are complicated by an unexpected romance developing between them, as well as the numerous pursuers hot on their trail. Kieko (Uehara Takako) is a famous Japanese singer who also gets tangled up in a relationship with this man. Little do they know that her father Hiroki (Takenaka Naoto), apart from being a business man, is a powerful yakuza. In this love triangle, who will finally win the love of Ji Woo?

I barely know how to address that synopsis, because it just... so doesn't describe what the show was about. The romance was secondary by far to the mystery and action... and Keiko, the random Japanese singer? Her character just dropped halfway through the show, with barely a footnote.  Fugitive Plan B was in no way about two girls fighting over Ji Woo's love. It was about staying alive long enough to solve a mystery of lost gold, leading--of course--to rich, corrupt men in power.

Kai (Daniel Henney), Jin Yi's fiance

As is the case with many of my favorite Korean shows, the viewer is exposed to a lot of beautiful scenery, as they shot on-site in Korea, Japan, Shanghai and Macau. A lot of chase scenes covered a lot of territory. There were some funny moments, but many were too overplayed to engage me. I know the actor, Bi, can do comedy, since I enjoyed Full House quite a bit. But in Fugitive Plan B, it felt at times like watching someone with dissociative identity disorder bounce back and forth from dead serious to horsey bray of a laugh. The frequent and sudden swipe of his long and pointy tongue around his face, like a dog in a cartoon, just begged projectile vomiting. When he made that moist Pop! sound with his lips? I wanted to hurt someone, preferably him.

It was the typical fashion of setting up a shallow character that you question at the start, so you can watch them experience the full spectrum of human emotions and depth later through many trials and tribulations. But I never understand why they have to throw the absolute worst at you in the first episode. I swear some of the first episode could have come straight out of a Van Damme movie from the 80s. We almost stopped watching, like so many shows before, just because it was so "ick!" Here's just one example of what I mean; not the worst by far, but one that I'm willing to actually feature on my blog. The worst one is the last in the string of photos found here. Peruse at your own risk.

Ewwww

The strongest impression I got off the lead female character is that she kept reminding me of Ashley Judd, which probably isn't the desired response. But she just left me a bit cold. 

Chief detective Doo So and So Ran

The Korean cops trying to catch the outlawed Ji Woo, particularly Do Soo (Lee Jung Jin) and So Ran (Yoon Jin Seo), were just about the best feature of the show. Their quirky relationship with each other, and eventually Do Soo's relationship with Ji Woo, stood out as the most appealing parts of the show for me.

 

To be honest, it was fun watching their fight scenes in the beginning half of the show, because Do Soo was so butt-hurt about having been shot (though he was wearing a bullet proof vest) by Ji Woo during one of his past escapes from the law. So Do Soo is nothing but enthusiastic in the chase, and Ji Woo would totally transform during those chase scenes from deadly serious to prankster little boy. Not that he wasn't honestly trying to escape, but that he just enjoyed teasing Do Soo... just a little too much. It was obvious from the first or second episode that Ji Woo actually had a reluctant affection for his bulldog pursuer. Here are some pictures, but that and many more can be found here:

Yeah, Jiwoo eventually lost this fight ;)

As usual, it was a long and complicated story line that I won't go into depth on.  But overall, despite some really aggravating parts, the takeaway was that we enjoyed the series.  There was a definite focus on quality of action over quality of character, a trait I usually avoid.  But I was ready for a light, fun show, and Fugitive Plan B delivered that and more.

Below is a trailer, which also shows that really embarrassing Van Damme moment at the very end.  :P

my girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox (korean drama)

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox (otherwise known as My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) (2010)
Director: Boo Sung Chul
Starring: Lee Seung Ki, Shin Min Ah (A Love to Kill) and No Min Woo

Synopsis, found here:

Cha Dae Woong (Lee Seung Gi) is a cowardly and extremely immature man who accidentally set free a nine-tail fox (Shin Min Ah) who was imprisoned for 500 years. The fox began to take the form of a beautiful woman who follows the man who set her free around, causing misunderstandings that she is his girlfriend. Although the man enjoys the attention and envy that people around him is giving, he is also always in extreme fear that the Gumiho may want to feed on his liver to become human. But when both of them falls for each other as time goes by, the Gumiho’s enemies appears causing an unexpected twist in their lives.

I will start off with a quick explanation for a nine-tailed fox, being a mythological character unfamiliar to most Americans.  According to wiki:

The kumiho (literally "nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea and are akin to European faeries. According to those tales, a fox that lives a  thousand years turns into a kumiho. It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver. 

More information can be found here.

I was happy to add this show to our list of all-time favorites. It had it all, as far as Johnny and I are concerned:  highly lovable characters (including the requisite irascible grandfather who communicates so much rage and frustration without the need of a single word), extremely funny at times and heart-breaking at others, a real plot that doesn't hinge completely on character-development, cliffhangers and a fun soundtrack. It even had an interesting villain-who-wasn't, not to mention that he wears more make-up than I. (Gotta give credit where due.)

Sheltering from the rain

I think I started to love this show during the first episode, when it showed Cha Dae Woong (extremely irritating male lead) sheltering from a storm under a leaf like a fairy. Usually I never love Korean, Taiwanese or Japanese shows from the first episode--it takes up to three episodes to begin working their charm for me. But I howled with laughter watching the scene where the gumiho terrorizes silly Dae Woong into freeing her from the painting she's been trapped in for 500 years. A phone ghost.  I adore how frequently they can laugh at themselves; so tongue-in-cheek.

Dimples

Mi Ho, played by Shin Min Ah, was brilliant in her role as a nine-tailed fox. I loved her in her previous role in "A Love to Kill", but John really, really didn't. (For one thing, he doesn't like dimples on girls, probably because his brother has dimples, and it just doesn't look right to him. Another was the fact that it was a depressing tragedy.)  Anyway, this show completely turned his opinion of her around. She is extremely naive after 500 years trapped in a temple, and would love nothing better than to eat cow for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She has a cute "meat" dance that reminded me of an adorable 2-year-old I know with a similar "coffee dance." Being a true fox at heart, hilarious moments were inevitable. Like when she saw a "chicken" riding a motorcycle and gave chase:

A fox in the henhouse

the world that they live in (korean drama)

The world that they live in (aka: Worlds Within) (2008)
Directors: Pyo Min Soo, Kim Kyu Tae
Starring: Hyun Bin (Snow Queen and My Name is Kim Sam-Soon) and Song Hye Kyo (Full House and All In)

Synopsis, found here:

Joo Joon-Young (Song Hye-Gyo) and Jung Ji-Oh (Hyun Bin) are insatiable PD's at KBS and want nothing but perfection in their work. Unfortunately, this perfection doesn't stretch very far especially as they watch each other's love lives fall apart. While the two once dated each other it's clear that their current focus is on their work... until they grow closer after their break ups. Will they give their love another chance?

Unlike other dramas that focus on a devious plot, the characters in this drama will take center stage as they try to balance their life, work, and possibly love for one another.

As an American watching this series, the synopsis made me truly wonder if I would find anything of interest in it. It was also a bit of a sell to John.  However, it is pretty fast-paced (qualification: for a K-drama) and something of a shocking glimpse into how different television broadcasting is handled in South Korea.  It puts one on the edge of your seat, for sure!  Production is good, the characters are plentiful and diverse, and the acting (for the most part) is satisfactory.

The only complaint I would have is the romance between the two main characters... was it too realistic? Is it that the male character was too immature? I wanted to smack him several times.  While wanting to smack the male (or female) lead is almost a prerequisite for K-dramas, it is usually confined to the beginning of the series, rather than the end.  It's a process, a growth... maturity in the making.  But this was probably the first one I've seen where I felt like he was more of a jerk at the end than the beginning. ^__^;;

Regardless, it was good enough to watch more than once.

hell yeah!

Check out Hubo2 from the Korean company Hubo Lab!

Follow this link to see Hubo2 running... or Hubo Finger Motion (ho ho ho!), or better yet, keep watching to witness the amazing sight of Hubo doing T' aichi! (Woah, watch your head there, Hubo2! You're lucky they didn't give you a real sword, or hair for that matter.) 

I suspect that there are few countries indeed in which one of the first programs created for a robot would be an ancient martial art meant to promote good health, emotional balance and self control. 

Perhaps it's supposed to be ironic?

I care not. Hubo2 is awesome, I will definitely have to keep an eye on future developments over there.

(He looks like he has something to say. Maybe he's looking for a moon to walk on...)