Dr. Champ

I'm quite sure I'm not the only person that heard of a drama called "Dr. Champ" and didn't immediately post a reminder on her calendar. Because on a more serious note, what kind of name is "Dr. Champ?"

So why did I watch it? Truthfully? Well, I was bored as hell. And even though I don't watch 90% of the dramas airing, I sometimes just lurk in threads. So I lurked on over to the Dr. Champ thread on soompi and saw that msk, a fellow EunSoo-er had seen it and liked it. So I decided to give it a go. It was as simple as that. lol.

I'd planned on watching the first episode then watching the second today but I ended up watching both. Why? Because it was interesting. Plus they ended ep 1 with a major cliffhanger so I had to find out what happened next.

So what's the drama about? Judging from just two episodes, it's about a doctor who refuses to play by the rules (cover up a medical mistake) and ends up paying the price with her once promising career. So in the end, she's forced to get a job working at Taereung National Village (Korean Olympic training center). The others in the love square are a judoka, the medical director and a swimming coach, all at TNV.

Unlike in Coffee House where I jumped on the EunSoo ship in the first episode, after seeing the first two episodes, I'm on no ship. Truthfully, after seeing the first episode, I was looking forward to the love story of the doctor and the athlete since they were both introduced pretty well in this episode but after episode 2, where we got to know the medical director a bit better, I became open to either or both pairings. As I stand (or sit) right now, I'm just looking forward to seeing how the plot unfolds. The swim coach (director's ex-girlfriend) is a very typical second lead female... based on what we've seen so far and I'm not that interested in her.

Other characters introduced to us in the first episode are: Judoka's cute nephew (who helped him get closer to the doctor), his widowed mother (who has some issues with the judoka that are yet to be revealed), Doctor's money grubbing, immature and callous mother (another kdrama staple), Doctor's spineless ex-boyfriend and his annoying girlfriend, Judoka's oppa-loving dongseng (another kdrama staple) and some others.

A big cast and hopefully, instead of the drama starting off well then tanking at some point like many of the previous dramas in this time slot, Dr. Champ will only get better as the story unfolds. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

New shows I tried

Outsourced
It appears that some people are offended by the depiction of Indians on this show. But in all honesty, it's a comedy and those characters could easily have been Americans. They are just "types" and perhaps it's because I'm not Indian but I really don't find them to be particularly stereotypical of Indians. I think it's a comedy and you're always going to have ridiculous characters. And the stuff about the food being too hot or an American being unable to hack it in India, isn't that more about reality than anything else? Regardless, I didn't find the show particular funny seeing as I didn't finish the first episode. lol. But, it might be one of those shows that needs to find its groove. It'll give it another shot at a later date.

Undercovers
I used to be a huge Boris Kodjoe fangirl and I won't say that was why I decided to watch this show - after all, I wasn't a faithful viewer of Soul Food and didn't bother to tune in to his failed sitcom. However, something did make me tune in to this show... and for the life of me, I can't remember what. LOL. Anyway, Boris and his co star are both sexy... so maybe that was it. :D But when I watched it, I realized that while they are sexy apart, they aren't so sexy together... you'd think two hot people would make a very sexy couple but alas, they do not. The chemistry is seriously lacking. Or maybe EunSoo has just spoiled me for all other couples. Regardless, the show was kinda not that interesting and the dialogue was cheesy and boring. But it got better towards the end (and so did their chemistry). So while at the 15 min mark I thought I wouldn't be bothering with any more episodes, at the 40 min mark, I decided to try a few more :D And on the shallow end of things, no offense to my darling Boris but his bald head makes him look like one of those Coneheads. Still love ya, though.

Cougar Town
Okay, not a new show but the season began and it's kinda boring. Or was it always this boring? The show without ads is only about 20 mins long yet I paused it a few times to do other stuff. HMMMMMM

Gyptian's Hold You

This is my current jam even though I barely understand what he's singing about. At first listen, it sounds like he's singing about love but on the subsequent ones, it sounds more like he's talking about sex and when he says "tightest hold" (or tightest hole???) it means, well...

Regardless, I'm loving the jam. lol. Not because of the meaning but because of the lovely groove.

Hold up!

So my hubby, Wu Chun, will be starring in a new drama? His co-star is Rainie Yang and it's called Sunshine Angel.

I know Wu Chun gets a bad rap for his acting but I really don't give a crap because he's HOT. But that doesn't mean I'll finish a drama just for his looks... but I'll definitely give it a shot and hope that his good looks and a good plot can keep me watching - even if his skills are sub par. So far, I've seen: Hana Kimi (completed), Tokyo Juliet (dropped), Romantic Princess (dropped) and Hot Shot (dropped). Okay, so it looks like I dropped way too many but to be honest, Romantic Princess and Hot Shot were dropped because the subs were coming out really slowly. In fact, they were on hiatus at some point. And now that they are fully subbed, I just no longer have any interest in them. Besides, I kept watching Hot Shot, not because of Wu Chun, but because of the Jerry Yan storyline (so I guess I really, really, really have a thing for the whole long time friends(or enemies)-becoming-lovers plot).

Moving on... as for Rainie. I've seen ToGetHer(completed) and Devil Beside You (dropped after one episode). One might wonder why I finished the one that's rated much lower by the general masses? Well, I thought ToGetHer was alright and Devil Beside You was just too OTT for me. Anyway, I think Rainie's just okay and not memorable. Regardless, I'll be giving this one a shot for sure.

Some BTS:

4 Gifts - Twdrama

Out of sheer boredom, I decided to try yet another drama. This time, it's "Four Gifts." What is 4 gifts about? You tell me. Cos dramawiki doesn't seem to know either since this is what they have as the synopsis:

Dedicated queens fight hard in the workplace, but how do they find a tough enough man worthy of being their other half?

Makes you want to rush out to buy a television set just so you can tune in, right? 

Luckily, a blogger called zsa86 has done some digging and you can get all the info at her site.

Anyway, I watched the first 30 minutes and have decided to save the rest for another day. lol. From what I gather, it's about four sisters and their love lives. So far, we have the fashion editor sister paired with a difficult fashion designer and the annoying police chief sister paired with a kind hearted police offer.  Is it just me or is that difficult fashion designer somewhat similar to Lee Jin Soo? Not only does he refuse to show up to interviews, he also has the motto that one shouldn't bother fighting unless they know they'll win.

Well, I won't rate it yet as I've only seen 30 mins so far. But it didn't grab me enough to make me want to finish the episode in one go so that must mean something. Oh well.

Sigh

Michael Jackson recorded some beautiful, sexy songs. How I wish we could have focused more on his music in the second half of his life.

I love this song off the Thriller album. It's like a wedding night song.


This one off the Invincible album isn't bad either.

Outnumbered

So over this weekend, I started watching this BBC series called "Outnumbered." It's a sitcom (with no laugh track) featuring a family of 5 where the two youngest kids shine brightest.

I watched like maybe one episode from Season 1, another from Season 2 then five from Season 3 (I couldn't find the last episode). Apparently, it's a scripted show particularly on the parents' side while the kids are improv.

I think it takes a minute to warm up to it since it's very "real" but after a while, it's quite funny and sweet. The children say the darndest things. And the fact that it's improv adds another layer to it. I must say that watching those precocious and unruly kids is fun and entertaining but raising them can be a different kind of hell. lol. And I don't say this lightly at all. Kids like those can send a parent to an early grave.

The eldest kid is kinda normal and does play a rather "straight" character. The middle child is very unruly and stubborn and the little girl has no tact (but she's young) so she has no "appropriateness filter" and can't stop asking questions. lol.

I'm going to try to find the last episode of Season 3 and I think I'll go back and watch the other two seasons. Not a bad way to spend a boring day.

Bromance

I couldn't stand this character but I suddenly like him.

I also liked Ah Jin so perhaps it's partly due to the plot (although I didn't like him in earlier episodes) and perhaps also because of what appears to be bromance between the actor and KHJ. I saw some behind the scenes clips and interviews and they were very jokey and seemed to get along really well.

Bromance is probably another reason I am now looking forward to Runaway because Rain and the other dude seemed to really get along well in their interview and BTS- constantly teasing and joking with each other.

lol... I don't know what that's about but these k-actors don't seem to have any problems being rather physical with their fellow man. LOL.

It's all good, though. As a woman, I don't know what it is about bromance that interests me but perhaps it's because society kind of encourages men to hide their feelings so it's nice to see men being affectionate and open with each other. It's probably one of the reasons I love some of my favorite films such as: The Shawshank Redemption, Dil Chahta Hai and The King and the clown (even though this had some gay undertones so not strictly bromance).

I'm toying with the idea of a multi-chapter Coffee House fanfic...

... kinda like what I did with My Name Is Kim Sam Soon. The only question is: do I have the time and energy to devote and dedicate to it? The person I was in the Summer of 2006 is different from the person I am in the Fall of 2010. Do I really have it in me to write that much these days? That's the one question on my mind. The plot isn't yet solidified although I do have a general idea of what it will be. Right now I'll say I'm leaning towards it 60/40 but we'll see.

My dramas...

Nikita episode 2 was okay. It gave us more back story on Alex. It was also less interesting than the premiere. But I'm sticking to it for now. I wonder if Nikita and Michael are going to have a showdown in the last five minutes of every single episode of this drama. It's happened twice and is already old. I guess they really are going to make a Nikita/Michael OTP story in this version. BLAH. I loved Shane West in A Walk To Remember, but am not really loving him in this. The Percy guy in this drama is like a caricature to me with this OTT meanness and I think one thing I appreciated about the USA Network version was that nobody was all bad... nor all good. Although there were some characters who were probably morally "superior" to others, in the sense that they rarely stepped over to the bad side, there were still no choir boy characters. And even the "bad" characters were good since the ultimate goal was always counter terrorism. But there was still jealousy, greed and all that other stuff that comes with working in such an organization. Talk less of the immoral routes they often took to reach a moral outcome.

Natsu-Niji... we had the confession in episode 8 and they are now a couple. But I don't really feel their love. You know the kind of couple that makes you feel all giddy when they get together? Like EunSoo in Coffee House, Sena and Minami in Long Vacation and even Hotaru and Buchou in Hotaru no Hikari. This couple just doesn't do it for me. The drama is fine but it doesn't make my heart thump and my belly flip like I feel a really good, touching romance drama should. And while Japanese dramas are understated, I still manage to find nice OTPs in some of them. But not this one. But it's all good. I'm still watching.

Endless Love. Speaking of a couple lacking chemistry, well, not only am I not really seeing the attraction they should have, they are also really bad actors. We had a "cute" episode 4 but I didn't get all giddy. I must say they still have more chemistry than the folks in Natsu-Niji, though. I can see the potential for some really nice stuff when we get in the middle of all the angst, after all I did feel some chemistry in ep 3. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get some gut wrenching angst in this drama... considering the male lead jilts the female one at the altar. That should create some good drama. *sigh* A good OTP with great chemistry can save a drama. Like in Peach Girl. Vanness amd that girl had such amazing chemistry that even though objectively, the drama may have sucked, (I skipped like 3 middle episodes) I enjoyed it. So please Endless Love, give us some great scenes that show the chemistry I think these non-actors can create together.

Speaking of chemistry, I hope Ethan and Cheryl can do another drama together. My Queen was so good for the first 12 episodes before they decided to draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag it because of the good ratings. Regardless, I tried to rewatch some nice parts but it looks like the subbing team quit at episode 11. Oh well :(  And the viikii page is all screwed up and I can't watch there. Truthfully, I stopped watching at ep 18, when they got together and recently decided to watch the last three episodes and lo and behold, no luck :( Someone should save me and sub the drama. LOL

Anyway, back to my dramas. I just finished Playful Kiss eps 5 & 6 and am no longer on the OTP ship. I now ship Joon Gu with Joo Ri. I ship Ha Ni with any other guy she meets at college and ship Seung Jo with a life of loneliness. *sigh* I know this dream won't come true but I hope in this version they do put Joon Gu and Joo Ri together. That kind hearted guy deserves happiness. It's a shame he's all fixated on the wrong girl. And Seung Jo is an ass for publicly humiliating Ha Ni like that. Why does he use her feelings against her? So pathetic and annoying.

Two dramas I am looking forward to

Dae Mul


Runaway


I only got interested in Runaway after seeing that trailer. I'm somehow not interested in Athena.

Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack

Truly one of the best albums of the '90s. I really miss the days of amazing soundtracks that were almost always better than the movies. lol. I was bored and randomly watching the end of "Two Can Play That Game" when a song by "For Real" came on and that got me into playing my faves off this album. The album has a song for every stage of a relationship - beginning, middle, end, years later, first kiss, cheating etc etc. Anyway, these are some of my faves of that album:

Don't you go breaking my heart... don't run away from these arms. Something I need you to know. love will be waiting at home.


If we meet in the street, you should not even bother to speak... 


I can't believe it's real, I can't believe it's you. I can't believe it's happening, I can't believe it's true. And I can't believe that you are here with me.. And I am here with you... Kissing you. 


Never again that's what I said to myself. No, I never wanna feel your kind of pain again no, Just when I think it's over, just when I think it's through, I just find myself right back in love with you


You can melt in my body and I will slowly melt onto you. Caress your face in my valley (LOL), let me feel the sweetness of you. Baby you know I'll keep it special each and every time...

I can't help loving my Usher boo.

I am indifferent about the man himself but I've been a fan of his music since the first album. I don't care what people might say about his latest work because I always fall in love with some songs on each of his albums. Like these ones on Raymond v. Raymond:



I just love the chorus of this song

So the Entourage Finale...

... yeah, this season was trash. The end didn't make me feel like tuning in next year - unlike last year's finale. Oh well... will probably still tune in anyway :D

I saw the first episode of Nikita. I was a huge fan of La Femme Nikita so I didn't want to go anywhere near this remake. Anyway, some good reviews made me give it a shot and it wasn't completely crap. It's different enough and I'll keep watching to see if it stays interesting. I do not, however, want a Nikita/Michael relationship in this version. I feel I won't be able to stomach it. Cos Nikita/Michael in the other version was like the OTP of all OTPs... I mean, their chemistry and relationship was just crazy and I doubt these fakers could even compare. So they should spare me. lol.

Have I lost interest in my Taiwanese drama, Endless Love? I think they are being way too cutesy and I need the drama ASAP. Since they already told us he's going to jilt her at the altar, that's all I'm waiting to see... so all this falling in love crap is freaking boring. Can we get to the good part already?

Playful Kiss is as cute as cute... but not compelling enough to make me think of it all week but cute while I watch it. So it's like my weekend drama.

It looks like it was a good idea to hold off on watching I am Legend cos it seems to be dragging and not as fun (based on comments I've read so far). I really hope I can find a drama to draw me into its world the way Coffee House did. Kang Ji Hwan and Park Si Yeon, please freaking do another drama together. For my sake. PLEASE!

Now I've begun to watch a British series called Married Single Other. I do like British relationship series like Coupling (probably my favorite sitcom of all time - at least top 3 for damn sure) and Cold Feet. So far, it's okay. I've only seen one episode but we'll see how the other episodes are. Ages ago, I watched another series called Ny-Lon starring Quincy Jones' daughter and the dude from True Blood. It was nothing special, not very realistic and had no ending. Or an open ending. Well, me no like open endings. At least give an open ending that's not so wide open.

Entourage ends tomorrow...

... which marks the end of my American summer shows. I watched Drop Dead Diva (an okay season), Psych (sporadically so no review yet. But better than last season so far) and Entourage which ends tomorrow.

I'll say the current season of Entourage is definitely not the best but the guys are still funny even if Vince is completely boring and the entire Turtle storyline has proven to be pointless. Eric is normally boring anyway but Drama was funny to me till the last two or three episodes when his storyline stopped moving. Ari was fun this season except for the stupidity of the last episode. Ari has a crazy temper but he's not foolish. In the last episode, he acted like a fool. Truth be told, this is probably one of the worst seasons so far but I just like these guys so I don't mind watching them for 20 minutes once a week. 

And who in the hell takes a hiatus right before the final episode? But whatever. I hope the finale will make me want to watch the final season next year.

Since Fall has begun, I guess we're going to be going back to our regular programming. I started off last year with three shows: Cougar Town, Gossip Girl and Bones. However, by the time May rolled around, I was only watching Cougar Town.

So now, I'll start off this season only watching Cougar Town. Let's see if I'm still watching it next year.

On the Asian drama front, I am still watching my Japanese drama, Natsu-Niji. It's not something to get all crazy over but it's cute enough. I am also watching Playful Kiss which is another that's cute enough but nothing special. But how often do we get "special" dramas anyway? The third I'm watching is a twdrama called Endless Love. So far, so okay. It's Cliche Central with a spoiled, little rich girl and a noble poor boy. Except the girl isn't so spoiled and the guy is not as noble as he initially appears. Then we have the oppa the girl is in love with who doesn't give her the time of day. But you know how that goes... once she starts to like the poor guy, oppa begins to notice her. He's already getting on my nerves so I am sure he's an annoying character. There's also a fourth character a.k.a. second lead girl but she hasn't appeared yet. The synopsis says the poor guy will jilt the rich girl at the altar at some point... lol. So I'm looking forward to that. The first three episodes are about the meeting, initial dislike and now the journey to love. I hope the drama ends up not being a waste of time. It's funny how the lead actress has won two awards for previous roles yet she comes off quite terribly in this drama. I wonder if her family owns the organization(s) that gave her those awards.

So with only a few shows to watch, I guess I better learn to kill time in more productive ways.

Possible new fic?

Sometime last year, I kicked around this idea of a girl in a love pentagon. It would be girl, three guys: one from match.com, a co-worker, I can't remember who the third would be (I think an ex), and her best friend. Then there was going to be something about her wanting to become a singer and I think getting gigs through her ex. The best friend also helps her professionally... but I can't remember what his job was but I think he was supposed to be a very silly type.

Anyway, since I got sick of writing, I threw that out (especially as I had two unfinished fics lying around). Now that I've decided to finish this other fic... I'm now rethinking the idea. But instead of a love pentagon (lol), how about a love triangle? :D The truth is I don't really have firm love triangles in my stories. I figure a couple can have a lot of drama without adding a third person. However, I think it's nice to at least mention that there are other people attracted to my protagonists. 

And I also noticed certain things about my writing:
I love dance scenes. If it's not a club, it might be dancing in the living room.
I like my characters to have history. Even in Femi's Diary where she met the guy in like chapter 3, the first relationship explored was with her ex and the relationship with the new guy wasn't explored till much later when she met him by chance in another city.
I used to like open endings. But now I've stopped that since I freaking hate open endings myself. I like to write open endings but hate to watch or read open endings. How weird is that? LOL
I like the guy to love first and harder. I tried to make the girl love first once but it was a total FAIL.
In all my stories, the couple doesn't get together till the end of the damn story.

So I've decided to try something different with this story (if I ever write it). It's still going to be romance with humor (like I can write anything different) but instead of the couple getting together at the end, the couple will get together at the beginning. Then another man will show up. And I think for the first time, I will have a real love triangle.

Okay, I am lying. I wrote Consequences in 07 (stopped at 5 chapters to go... must try to finish it) and it had a love triangle involving a girl in a long distance relationship, her boyfriend, and the guy she met in the new country. So that's a story where the girl was already in a relationship. Hmm.. but this one will be different because it won't involve an already established relationship.

Anyway, we'll see if I have the energy to write this. Loads of ideas float in my head but I'm just to lazy to actually do anything about them. lol

P.S. I am most likely going to write a short Coffee House fic simply called "Christmas Eve" :) 

The Psychology of Coffee House (Final Part)

So why do we watch kdramas?

I think most kdrama viewers are romance fans, seeing as regardless of genre, romance generally plays a huge role in the plot. I don't know if it's because of precedence already set in this genre or just the nature of it, but most of us like to know who the ultimate pairing it.

Kdramas, particularly the miniseries, differ from American dramas in that there's only one OTP. So unlike in American television where you can watch a character embark on a number of relationships over a series of years, with kdramas, it's usually limited to one relationship over the course of 16-20 episodes. So the audience, in general, needs to know who the OTP is so we can know which characters to emotionally invest in.

Because Coffee House decided to have a pair that followed the usual kdrama patterns even though they weren't the OTP, many were misled into thinking that they were and ended up emotionally investing in the wrong couple. Now, I don't know what was in the director's or writer's mind but I don't think that these people were intentionally misled by the drama. I think many allowed their preconceived notions of what a kdrama is cloud their judgment. So instead of focusing on the real story unfolding, they were fixated on following kdrama paths that would lead to their preferred ending.

As many say, Coffee House twisted a lot of kdrama cliches. And as someone who's seen enough romantic stories from all over the world, I think it's fair to say that I'm pretty much familiar with every romance cliche out there. Once Dong Wook was introduced, I pretty much believed that the final pair would be Jin Soo and Eun Young with an open ending for Dong Wook and Seung Yeon. This was way before the kiss and what not. But the journey to this predictable ending wasn't as smooth as I expected. I'd predicted that the JS/EY contract would be nullified and for JS to come begging for it to be reinstated. But I didn't expect for him to get nutso and insist that it was later on. I'd expected Grandpa to set EY up with Lawyer Park so that Jin Soo would die of jealousy and while Grandpa did set EY up with the dude, he turned out to be a very lame, possibly gay, Jin Soo fanboy. LOL. Now, did I appreciate my cliches being turned upside down? Well, while watching, instead of appreciating the twists, I was frustrated that the story wasn't going the way it should - the way I wanted it to.

Now, Coffee House isn't a perfect drama, however it followed its own internal logic that made sense. While it might have taken the usual kdrama path, in a few instances, it led somewhere else. So doesn't that mean that we should all be grateful for this freshness?  Well, it depends.

I think a lot of us want to know what to expect when we start watching a drama. If a story is billed as a romantic comedy, I don't want to start watching and find out that it's really a horror movie. Now, depending on one's personality and how open minded and easily adaptable they might be, one might deem that movie to be the worst they've seen even if objectively, it's a great film. As we all know, a huge part of enjoying a movie or a drama is based on one's prior expectations. Hype can kill a movie while low expectations can make an otherwise average movie quite enjoyable.

So watching a drama for 18 episodes only to discover that a couple you were convinced were the OTP doesn't end up together can turn an objectively good drama into the stupidest thing you'd ever seen. Suddenly, you feel like you've been taken for a ride, misled and/or betrayed. That's a huge difference from rooting for a couple you knew weren't the OTP like say Shin Woo Hyung and the chick in YAB. Even if you thought they looked cuter together or that he'd be better for her, seeing her end up with the main dude doesn't offend you because always knew it would be the case. So that fact doesn't turn a good story bad because, the story followed the path you'd always expected it to. And ended right where you knew it would.

To cut a long story short, I think many people who watch romances are comfortable with all the cliches. I don't know if this is the culture that evolved over time or shared characteristics between fans of the genre but many people like to watch a romance drama knowing exactly what to expect. This differs from those who like mysteries or thrillers. So when the drama starts to take unexpected turns, turns that make sense for the story but not necessarily follow the usual romance patterns, it can get uncomfortable.

Personally, I don't think Coffee House was really that unpredictable. When that guy disappeared for two years, I expected Eun Young to be engaged when he returned. But to Ji Won of all people? Come on! Even though her explanation made sense as she couldn't be with the one she loved so she just chose to be with the one who loved her (and she couldn't find anyone better)... and it makes sense in their world and even the real world, it was very annoying for me as a viewer. So does my dislike deem this bad writing? I don't think so. And what is bad or lazy writing as many accused Coffee House of when the story didn't flow the way we wanted it to? Well, that's for another day's discussion.

I'll end this by saying, while I enjoyed the drama, the whole culture that evolved while watching it was very interesting to me. Shipper Wars aren't new to me but I'd never seen any this intense in an Asian drama and I think this was due to never having a case where both camps were convinced theirs was the OTP. In addition, reactions and reviews have also piqued my interest. I've noticed that most reviews by those who began to watch the drama after it aired in its entirety have been  positive. Is this because those who watch now know who the OTP is? Probably. And I also think that there's far less time to spend predicting the future episodes so there's far less disappointment on that front. 

What have I learned from all of this as viewer? I think the most I've learned is I should just sit back and enjoy my dramas :D lol... if I think it sucks, turn it off. If I enjoy, then I should just sit back and enjoy whatever story is being told to me instead of expecting too much or waiting for different plot points I expect to materialize in some future episode.  If I'd written Coffee House, there'd be no episode 12 disappearing act and it would have been a lot more focused on the journey of a couple from being friends to lovers. That's probably why I enjoy the beginning of episode 9 so much because it was what I hoped the drama would be. Instead, we got a time skip, a marriage plot and a love triangle. But even though that wasn't what I'd hoped for, it still had its own merit.

What can a kdrama writer or director learn from this? It's not that easy to create a new genre. Having a character with so much screen time not participate in the main love story is confusing.  The audience is not a clean slate and will always expect your drama to do the same dance others are doing. If it's not, some might consider it a "flaw" or think it's senseless even if it's not. Make the OTP clear (although I think they actually did during the promotion of the show). And if you decide to follow your own rules, understand that you might be sacrificing some of your commercial success.

Yori Yori by Bracket

This song was popular last year and I really like it. Anyway, looks like they've recently released a remix. But who releases a remix over a year after the original? How about a new song instead? lol. I still prefer the original although the remix is quite nice too. But what's going on with that one girl's weave in the remix? It looks like something the cat threw up.





Hmm... actually, after listening to both versions again, I'm wondering if I prefer the remix now. LOL

This chick needs to back off!

What color/print are his pants? lol.

lol... this pic is both sexy and hilarious. Honestly, what's going on with the clothes?

All I can say here is: Lucky B****!























Source: Tumblr.

Playful Kiss is not bad

Frankly speaking, IMO, it's already better than that crappy Boys Over Flowers but perhaps it's not exciting enough with people getting beat up and other craziness that some say it's boring? The tone is different - actually quite jdrama-esque so perhaps some just don't like that. Plus it's slice-of-lifish.

I didn't find Kim Hyun Joong's acting to be terrible as his interpretation does fit the character and he had chemistry with the female lead. It's not the kind of show you watch and spend all week wondering what will happen in the next episode but it's like the bowl of popcorn you have while watching a movie - something that isn't there to quench your hunger but is nice, anyway.

I did skip the first half of episode 1 because I figured it would bore but from ep 1.5 through episode 2, I enjoyed it. The leads have a cute chemistry plus the lead is not as annoying and stupid as Ariel was in ISWAK.  So far, not bad.

How cute is this?

Granted, we don't need all men to go this far but how nice it must feel to have someone who'd put in so much time, effort and even money into making you happy. I wish them a happy life together.