(SIDE NOTE: Like what I said on twitter, YAWZA on that dress! And yeah, everyone was ‘all-eyes’ on her. So this was a party, yeah!)

Just now, the Seoul Drama Awards 2010, it would be the 5th already, was just held at the KBS Hall in Yeouido. Announcing the winners at the POLL that was held at the internet for international dramas including Korea’s.
It was a star-studded night with top stars from the nominated dramas had graced the event. Images & Winners list below:

WINNERS LIST (KOREA ONLY):

Best Mini-series (HIGHEST): Chuno KBS2
Best Featured Drama (HIGHEST): Queen Seon Duk MBC
Hallyu Drama Daesang: Chuno KBS2
Hallyu Star Male Actor: Jang Hyuk for Chuno
Hallyu Star Female Actresses: Go Hyun Jung (Queen Seon Duk) & Han Hyo Joo (Brilliant Legacy)
Hally Drama Director: Kwak Jung Hwan for Chuno
Hallyu Drama Writer: Kim Young Hyun for Queen Seon Duk
Most Popular Actor: Lee Seung Gi for Brilliant Legacy
Most Popular Actress: Moon Chae Won for Brilliant Legacy

Japanese Idol Group, SKE48

K-POP group 2AM

Cha Ye-Ryun

Joseon X-Files star, Kim Ji Hoon

One of the nominated stars and a winner, Jang Hyuk for the January hit Chuno.

Chuno PD, Kwak Jung Hwan with Jang Hyuk.

Lee In Hye

Oh Ji Eun

Star, Lee Chae Young

Oh Se Joon & Han Ji Min

Choi Soo Jong & Choi Yoon Yong

PD Kwak Jung Hwan wins Hallyu Drama Director

Kim Young Hyun, writer of Queen Seonduk winner for Hallyu Drama Writer

Baek Ji Young sings the OST of IRIS

Lee Seung Gi accepts award for Most Popular Actor for Brilliant Legacy

SOURCE: JTN, NEWSEN [2] [3], UNIONPRESS

(Park Ye Jin strikes a pose for the red carpet of VOGUE’s fashion’s night out)

Okay, you may be wondering if I’m into vogue or fashion or anything. But these are just images of one of the hottest ladies of Korea. haha. I’m weak, so I apologize. Images below shows variety of actresses attending the said event. Without further ado, the hotness ladies.

Yoon Eun-Hye attends the event. She is said to star in a new drama, the remake of Comrades: A Love Story, “Love Song” but reports are now flying around that she backed out and the production team is having problems about it.

K-POP artist, Seo In-Young also attends.

Lee Honey graces the event as well.

Lee Hye Young.

Lee So-Ra

Source: englishnews@chosun.com

So I just came across this really interesting article about the two upcoming dramas for KBS2 & SBS with the titles ‘President’ and ‘Dae Mul / Big Fish’ respectively. Indeed, the last quarter of 2010 will become politically interesting with these two dramas coming in our way to show us the drama behind one of the highest position a country may have. See article on the full post.

August 26, 2010

Drama Tackles ‘Presidency’

A drama is about to tackle the topic of the presidency.

Korean dramas about politics and historical stories had featured the president mainly as a background character so far, but these days the president has been the protagonist of a few mini-series dramas in a row, and the president has suddenly stood out as a “popular job” in dramas.

SBS TV’s new drama “Dae Mul,” which will begin airing from October, and KBS 2TV’s new drama “President,” which will begin airing from December, are stories of politicians who run for the presidency. Both dramas will focus on the process to run for the presidency, and the stories happening after being elected as the president will be unfolded as well. To be specific, the presidential candidate will be the main character, and in the process of running for the presidency, the dramas will portray the job of the president itself and the lifestyle of the president from various angles. The drama “Dae Mul” has cast the actress Ko Hyun Jung as the female protagonist and tells the story of the first female president, and the drama “President” has cast the actor Choi Soo Jong as the protagonist.

(Korean Actor, Kwon Sang Woo part of the cast of upcoming Dae Mul)

• Showdown of Korean and Japanese original cartoons – Is a former human rights lawyer the ideal president? Both dramas will be produced based on the original cartoons.

The original cartoon of the drama “Dae Mul,” which has the same title and was written by Park In Kwon, tells the story of the first female president of Korea. The former prosecutor Seo Hye Rim runs for the presidency and becomes the elected president after a circuitous path. The drama “President” is based on the Japanese cartoon writer Kaiji kawaguchi’s cartoon entitled “Eagle.” Even though the original is a Japanese cartoon, it deals with the election of the US president because Japan has a prime minister system instead of a presidential system. This drama will be about the protagonist named Jang Il Joon who will run for the presidential election in 2012 for the election of the 18th president of Korea.

As both dramas deal with the presidential election, they will naturally discuss the type of ideal president, and it is very interesting to find that both dramas have chosen human rights lawyers as the protagonists. The character Seo Hye Rim in “Dae Mul” was initially a prosecutor who fought against social evils, and she decided to resign from the prosecutor position after taking the responsibility for arresting a “heavy hitter” who had been the de facto power behind political gangs. After that, she starts to work as a lawyer and gains popularity as a human rights lawyer, and she decides to run for the presidency based on her popularity as a human rights lawyer.

The character Jang Il Joon in “President” is the brightest man who had come from an ordinary family and had been accepted by a prestigious university, majoring the law. In the university, he participated in the student movement during the Yushin regime and came to have a new dream. He gained a good reputation as a human rights lawyer and ran for the National Assembly, and finally succeeded in becoming elected as a member of the National Assembly after his third attempt. After that, he runs for the presidency to create a whole new country where there will be no conflict among people with different ideologies, regional sentiments, and social class.

(Korean Actress, Lee Soo Kyung also part of the cast of upcoming Dae Mul)

• “Telling a story about the President is no longer taboo.” – Before these two dramas, the movie “Good Morning President,” in which the actor Jang Dong Gun appeared, had been a hot topic by setting the president as the protagonist last year. In “Good Morning President,” three presidents, played by Jang Dong Gun, Lee Soon Jae, and Ko Doo Shim, presented humane characters with wit. The movie had shown comical stories about the president, but these new dramas will have more of a political tinge by describing the process of running for the presidency, which is actually a “battlefield without gunfire.” That is, those dramas will deal with the president more actively. Production staff members all say that there is no other job as attractive and dramatic job as the presidency.

The production director of “President,” Kim Hyung Il said, “There has been a desire to look at the story of the president closely, and the desire has finally been realized. The fact that we can freely talk about the president in a drama means that our society has become mature.” He continued, “Up until now, any work had been prohibited that dealt with a story about the president, so the president had only been dealt with in documentary programs within dramas set in the Republic era or in stories of unofficial history, but now that has been changed and the atmosphere of society allows any work describing the president, whoever the person is, what kind of worries the president has in mind, and how the president has been living.”

The section chief of the SBS drama, Park Jong, also said, “Our society has become candid enough to allow dramas pick up the subject of the president. Among various incidents, a murder case is the best material to deal with, and among people, the president is the best character to express dramatic settings. For this reason, many foreign movies and dramas have also chosen the president as the protagonist.”

The bellwethers of the change have appeared gradually. In the drama “Lovers In Prague,” the female protagonist, played by the actress Jeon Do Yeon, was a daughter of the president, and the drama presented the humane relationship between father and daughter. In the drama “City Hall,” the male protagonist, played by Cha Seung Won, was a politician dreaming of running for the presidency, and at the end of the drama, the protagonist actually ran for the presidential election. In addition, in the drama “Boys Over Flowers,” actor Lee Jung Kil played a doctor who was once the president of Korea, and enabled viewers to look at the ordinary life of the president after his presidential term. In the drama “IRIS,” the president agonized over the fight against a terrorist organization.

The section chief Park Jong added, “The drama ‘Dae Mul’ will tell a story about the presidential election, but the elements of the melodrama will also be highlighted, so as a whole, the genre of the drama will be the fusion of melodrama and political drama.” In “Dae Mul,” an attractive politician named Kang Hyun Suk and a former Casanova named Ha Ryu will star and be involved in a love triangle with the female presidential candidate, and the love story between them will be covered with much importance.

• “We are waiting for the great president.” – The consecutive appearances of dramas with the topic of the presidency reflect the desire to have a great president. The production director Kim Hyung Il said, “Apart from the party, the leadership of the president is very important as it will decide the fate of the country. Everyone has a desire to have a great president in Korea, and the drama will channel those wishes into presenting an ideal presidential character in the drama.”

Source: KBS Global

That capture is actually from Episode 10, since I was struggling to find a capture from episode 9, I looked for Episode 10 instead. And that image doesn’t represent the emotions brought onto this highlight. It’s the complete opposite of it. On to the Highlight. An episode of Coffee House feels like heaven and a tummy-ache after watching it. Each episode feels so refreshing every after each scene ends, and what I like about it more is that each character grows and develops more. The humor that each line contains is being delivered well, and the expressions and emotions match with it so much. If you’re still at Episode 8 and would like to avoid spoilers, do not see this post. Though it’s seriously hilarious.

Episode 8 left us where Writer Lee Jin-Soo was in the phone booth waiting for her secretary to give him an umbrella, but we suddenly find Representative Seo Eun-Young passing by and saw Writer Lee, they had a little chat, then Eun-Young suddenly went in and dived onto the [most cute, passionate, the best] kiss.

Like a regular awkward moment after the kiss, we obviously don’t have the typical reactions. Like a slap maybe? That can’t be possible since the lady was the who does it usually but in this particular scene, the lady was the one to initiate it. Instead the talking came from Writer Lee asking if all of that was still part of the plan? And it was too much of a birthday present. Eun-Young just left without any reply. Let’s now fast forward a little to wherein we have Seo Eun-Young’s staff party and birthday party of Lee Joon-Soo would be held together. The employees isn’t aware of what had happened with the two, so they kept on asking them to do some awkward things. This part was very funny and the two are like kids! Then after being suggested to blow the cake together, we have dearest Eun-Young thinking of an excuse on what happened earlier, at the restroom. Then suddenly Joon-Soo enters and shoves off that it was the men’s room, making it once again uncomfortable for the two. Like in any regular awkwardness, they start bursting into too much laughter with no sense at all. Picture Spam!!

The fact that this drama is predictable is what makes it so funny! The previous captures showed an awkward elevator scene between the two when they tried to escape, but ended being still together. They start laughing, and thought that it would be more awkward if the elevator were to stop, well wish come true, since it did suddenly stopped functioning. With no hope how to get out, they start talking about what happened and tried to fix it. But that conversation didn’t help at all, as the problem became bigger. Then the elevator was starting to work again, but they still have some unfinished business so they went to the rooftop and sort things out there. [That's where the mellow part of the episode started, and I sort of didn't enjoyed it, it broke the ice.]

I find those scenes to be a good follow up for a kiss scene. I watched several kiss scenes already some was not able to maintain the intensity and it was a waste already. This, on the other hand, was a great follow up. It was like the tone of this drama as always to be goofy and silly. I look forward for more awesome scenes such as this. And the chemistry between Kang Ji-Hwan and Park Si-Yeon is just oozing with it.

So far, how was the 1st & 2nd quarter of 2010 had treated you? Were one of your all-time favorites aired last two quarters? It’s such a surprise that we’re already at the mid-year of 2010 and we’ve left so much 2010 dramas already. And the list of the scheduled dramas to air for the 3rd & 4th quarter had given us a glimpse already on what they will air.

To sum it all up, this post will contain all of the new dramas that’ll be airing that covers this July~November, not yet confirmed but this is a press release only and changes may be made causing delay of filming, casting and some dramas with no schedule on when to air as well. Let’s wish this 3rd & 4th quarter would bring us more great dramas and better storylines, don’t we all wish that?

July 2010 Broadcast date dramas: “Gumiho: Fox’s Child <구미호, 여우누이뎐>” & “GLORIA <글로리아>”

Gumiho: Fox’s Child had already aired last Monday and had did pretty well in the ratings battle by being able to rate more than usually its timeslot receives. This drama features the story of a Korean folk-tale character, Gumiho or a Nine-tale fox who has to protect her daughter from the people at the village as it develops it powers as a full Nine-tale fox. And this drama will serve as a summer horror delight for the people. It stars Han Eun-Jung, Kim Yoo-Jung & Seo Shin-Ae. It currently airs in KBS2 during Mondays & Thursdays at 9:55PM (KST).

While at the MBC weekend drama block, we have GLORIA to take over Dandelion Family’s position this 31th of July and will show us the story of a sister that will do everything to be able to survive with her sister who is autistic, of course, we’ll also witness her love story as she tries to pursue her dream. This will be a all-star cast featuring Bae Doo-Na, Seo Ji-Suk, Lee Chun-Hee & So Yi-Hyun. This will be directed by PD Kim Min-Shik of Still, Marry Me & Written by Jung Ji-Woo of Wish Upon a Star.

I’m hoping that I can catch the first episode of Gumiho soon as I want something scary and I hope this would fit my taste, plus Seo Shin-Ae is just cute in whatever she does. I hope she won’t grow up. As for GLORIA, yes, I’m anticipating it very much because of the cast and production staff, let’s just wish that it would do well and won’t be draggy. 50 Episodes can sure do so much.

August 2010 Broadcast date dramas:  “What Do You Really Want? <니가 진짜로 원하는 게 뭐야>”, “Mischievous Kiss <장난스런 키스>”, “I Am Legend <나는 전설이다>”, “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho <내 여자친구는 구미호>” & “Conditions of Happiness <행복의 조건>”

MBC will be airing first a two-episode drama featuring Lee Shi Young of Birth of a Rich, titled, What Do You Really Want? and airs after war [probably love story] drama, Road No.1 retreats this August, After the whole frenzy the production staff of this drama had given us, they have finally announced their male lead for this drama, and it would be Kim Hyun-Joong. I’m talking about Mischievous Kiss, this drama has still not announced their female lead so the anticipation is still not over, well to some, they have given up on this because of the male lead casting. So let’s see once again the power of idol stars, huh? This’ll be a Korean-remake of It Started with a Kiss or Itazura na Kiss. It’ll air after the two-episode drama of MBC.

SBS will be busy for this month as it changes its morning daily drama timeslot, 8PM Mon~Tue slot & Wed~Thur slot. I Am Legend will be taking over Coffee House and features, a ahjumma band. And will center on Jeon-Sul a divorcee woman that’s part of a BAND and will find the person she will end up with after all. It’ll star, Kim Jung-Eun, Lee Joon-hyuk, Kim Seung-Soo & Jang Young-Nam. Directed by Kim Hyung-Shik & Written by Kim Yoon-Jung. While we’ll have another Hong Sisters drama this August! It’ll be starring Lee Seung-Gi & Shin Min-Ah, directed by Boo Sung-Chul. This drama will be My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and be taking over Bad Guy’s slot and it’ll be about a loser boy who accidentally gets entangled with a Nine Tail-fox in the form of a very beautiful lady. While morning daily drama, Daring Woman, will be replaced by Conditions of Happiness featuring Go Se-Won, Kim Ji-Ho & Im-Ho.

To put it all of, I’m super excited with this new Hong Sisters drama and Lee Seung-Gi’s comeback drama. Let’s see if the so called, “Seung-Gi’s charm” would work when it’ll be facing off with current first placer, Baker King, Kim Tag Gu in the ratings battle.

September 2010 Broadcast date dramas: “Queen of Tears <눈물의 여왕>”, “Fugitive <도망자>”, “Secret Garden <시크릿가든>” “A Woman Only Loves Once in a Lifetime <여자는 일생에 단 한 번 사랑한다>” & “Sungkyungwan Scandal <성균관 스캔들>”

MBC was able to do a Season 2 of the 2009 hit drama, Queen of Housewives, and will be entitled as Queen of Tears. Not much synopsis is available only casting issues. The production team was able to get Kim Nam-Joo but is trying their best to get the whole cast as well. It’s eyeing to air after Dong-Yi on the MBC Monday & Tuesday timeslot. While the weekend sageuk at MBC, Kim Soo Ro may possibly be replaced with a 50 episode family drama entitled, A Woman Only Loves Once in a Lifetime, and also stars Kim Nam-Joo, Park Shin-Hye, Yoo Seung-Ho and a few veterans.

Meanwhile, Rain’s new drama at KBS that will be produced and written by the same production staff of Chuno. Kwak Jung-Hwan & Chun Sung-Il entitled, Fugitive. This will be a comedy, action series and will be a modern drama also. It also stars Lee Na Young. While Sungkyungwan Scandal may air on the Monday & Tuesday timeslot of KBS replacing Gumiho: Fox’s Child. This will be about the Joseon-F4. Let’s call this a mixture of Boys Over Flowers & You’re Beautiful [without the music, obviously.]

SBS is also cooking up their replacement drama for Life is Beautiful which would be titled, Secret Garden and may possible serve as a comeback drama for Jang-Hyuk. Not much information on the synopsis is still available. It’ll be worked on by the team of Lovers in Paris & On Air.

October~November 2010 Broadcast date dramas: “Athena: Goddess of War <아테나:전쟁의 여신>”, “Dae Mul <대물>”, “Faith <신의>”, “Smile, Mom <웃어요 엄마>” & “President <프레지던트>”

The Spin-off for the huge drama, last year, IRIS entitled, Athena will be making its entrance on SBS with still no definite timeslot. But stills, casts and synopsis has been available already. They are filming on different countries as similar to IRIS. It’ll feature Cha Seung-Won, Jung Woo-Sung, Lee Ji-Ah, Soo-Ae & Choi Shi-Won. Dae Mul is also back on SBS and is eyeing to air after My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and stars the original leads as before, Kwon Sang-Woo & Go Hyun Jung. While the planned medical-fusion-sageuk drama, Faith may take over I Am Legend’s timeslot if the upcoming Dr. Champ wouldn’t be true. It stars Kim Hee-Sun & Lee Philip.

We also have some dramas with no available synopsis and cast also. President in KBS may take over Fugitive’s timeslot possible mid-November or start of December. While Smile, Mom may possible replace weekend drama, Definitely Neighbors on SBS and will be on the hands of the creator of Temptation of Angel & Temptation of Wife.

2010 upcoming dramas with no definite airing dates & confirmed cast: “Birdie Buddy <버디버디>”, “Paradise Ranch <파라다이스 목장>”, “The Musical <더 뮤지컬>”, “What’s Up? <왓츠 업>”, “My Princess <마이 프린세스>”, “Dr. Champ <닥터 챔프>”, “Love, Hurt & Showers <연애, 상처 그리고 소나기>” & “Love Song <러브송>”

source: (STAR NEWS)

We’ve got some new stills for the upcoming dramas, The Musical, Sungkyungwan Scandal & GLORIA. The three dramas have different blends, genres from each other. The Musical’s stills showed Goo Hye Sun & Ok Joo Hyun filming, Sungkyungwan Scandal’s new stills shows the looks of the cast & GLORIA showed the image Lee Chun Hee will be portraying for the show.

The Musical will feature the story of aspiring stars to be part of a musical. And it features top star, Goo Hye Sun (Boys Over Flowers), Daniel Choi (High Kick Through the Roof) & Ok Joo Hyun. While Sungkyungwan Scandal will feature the story of the ‘F4′ of the Joseon days, sageuk style. It’ll be featuring newbie Micky Yoochun of TVXQ, Song Joong Ki (OB & GYN). Yoo Ah In (He Who Can’t Marry) & Park Min Young (Running). And MBC will be airing their newest Weekend drama, GLORIA and it’ll be about the hardships Na Jin Jin will be facing to be able to survive with her handicapped sister, Na Jin Joo. An all-star cast for the drama with Bae Doo Na, Seo Ji Suk, Lee Chun Hee & So Yi Hyun. All came out from new dramas last 2009 and just recently, this 2010.tills

The moment I saw the name of Goo Hye Sun & Choi Daniel as possible lead candidates for this drama back then, I couldn’t wait already, and the title was already to expect for. It’s a different kind of drama once again, plus it features, GOO HYE SUN! A great comeback for her indeed! My expectations are up so much. Production staff for the drama is still unknown, but we’ll see further developments. Stills for the upcoming drama, The Musical.

Next on the list would be the upcoming sageuk-idol drama, [is that nice to hear?] Sungkyungwan Scandal. The stills doesn’t show anything yet though. I’ll be keeping my eye on this, but I just wish some decent acting would be attached on this. I’m not a fan of Yoo Ah In, but I watched both of his previous dramas, his performance was so-so, but in Strongest Chil Woo it was probably, okay? While, Song Joong Ki is one of the cast I’m looking forward for. And I just wish I won’t cringe on the newbie Micky Yoochun’s parts. As for Park Min Young, let’s see. Stills for the upcoming drama, Sunkyungwan Scandal.

The next up is GLORIA from MBC. Let me repeat this, I’m looking forward for this show. PD & Writer are okay, the cast is lovely and to look forward for. If it only isn’t 50 episodes I wouldn’t have doubts with it. but let’s have hope, shall we? I’ve heard some good reviews for Family Honor. Stills for the upcoming drama, GLORIA.

(KBS2, Gumiho: Fox’s Child)

I find it very rare to see all 4 dramas to be included in the Top 20 whenever one drama reaches the 30% mark. Remarkably, we have the new drama, Gumiho: Fox’s Child to be able to reach single ratings but considering the state of it’s predecessors it’s pretty decent. So we now have 1 contemporary drama, 2 sageuk dramas & 1 period drama for the Monday-Tuesday timeslot from the 3 big stations.

Which are still [in order] Dong Yi 동이, GIANT 자이언트, Gumiho: Fox’s Child 구미호여우누이뎐 & Coffee House 커피하우스. Here are the ratings for last Monday & Tuesday, July 5 & 6 of 2010. According to TNS Media Research for the whole Nationwide results & Seoul results as well.

MBC’s Jewel, Dong Yi has been consistent with breaking the 30% mark. And gave what the viewers had finally wished for, for it’s episode last Monday & Tuesday with the King & Dong-Yi finally kissing.

Episode 31 with 30.8% & 33.3%
Episode 32 with 31.3% & 33.8%

I’m at Episode 30 already, and still the drama has nothing to be fond of. It’s very typical, the secrets, mysteries being revealed aren’t to expect for. The only thing that’s interesting is the relationship of the King & Dong-Yi.

SBS’s 10PM timeslot with GIANT owning the 2nd place, with a stiff, consistent, 13%~15% and is on a head-to-head battle with Dong Yi. Comparing this series to DONG YI, I’ll pick this instead of the latter, why? GIANT is interesting in terms of its plot, but the characters aren’t much to look forward for. There’s no chemistry, for short.

Episode 15 with 13.8% & 13.2%
Episode 16 with 15.0% & 13.8%

KBS’s new thriller drama, Gumiho: Fox’s Child had a better start comparing the other KBS dramas, being able to reach the Top 20. And was not below 5% as well. I’ll be looking forward for this show. It’ll be the newest thriller installment in place of the Hometown Legends.

Episode 1 with 8.7% & 8.7%
Episode 2 with 8.8% & 8.5%

SBS’s 9PM timeslot battling against the news, had not been doing well. It’s in last place, but this drama is sweet and very funny. I truly recommend this show, a totally different blend of characters and a mystery on who the lead may really be. It’s so exciting and I just love this show so much. Sadly, the ratings and people of Korea prefers to watch the news on KBS1. But gladly it was part of the Top 20 list.

Episode 11 with 8.4% & 8.7%
Episode 12 with 8.0% & 8.2%

I’m so looking forward for next week’s results if it will still remain as all 4 dramas in the Top 20. or will Dong-Yi reach more or be consistent still?

(MBC, Mischievous Kiss; Korean remake of It Started with a Kiss)

So the whole K-entertainment world, including twitter, news portals, english blog sites had been wondering already on who will be play the leads on the most anticipated, Mischievous Kiss which will start very soon after Road No.1 on the Wednesday-Thursday block of MBC. The series has been popular from it’s original series, It Started with a Kiss. Now, it’s Korea’s time to fly. After the big success of Boys Over Flowers, Group 8 is back once again to produce this remake. And now, names are already flying around on who will play the male lead and female lead roles. And speculations are also here on who may take the role. Let’s see the names being attached. And who I want to see.

(From above; left~right: -Current SS501 leader, Kim Hyun Joong & Current CN BLUE leader, Jung Yong Hwa
From below; left~right: -KARA’s Seung Yeon, Park Bo-Young & Park Shin Hye)

So basically, we have mostly, all from idol groups. [Which I wish it won't be full of them, please!] And it may be possible for SS501 leader, Kim Hyun Joong after his successful [can I say that?] role in Boys Over Flowers, plus he has already announced that he will leave his band mates, and had signed onto Bae Yong-Joon’s agency to focus on acting.

He’s kinda okay for the role? He didn’t do much in his previous drama, but be pale and be the silent type and all that. Here’s an article about his possible comeback for this drama (source):

Kim Hyun-joong in talks to star in new TV series

Korean singer and actor Kim Hyun-joong of idol group SS501 is rumored to star in an upcoming TV series based on popular Japanese comics “Itazurana Kiss.”

According to various media reports, the singer is currently talking with the show’s producers to play the male lead, who is smart, athletic and perfect in every way but has a cold personality.

But an official at production company Group 8 downplayed the rumor, saying “We are discussing it but nothing has been set.”

“We are in the final stage of negotiations but we cannot say anything at the present time. A decision will be made soon,” he added.

The original comic series “Itazurana Kiss,” which sold over 27 million copies in Japan, has been made into animation and TV dramas in Japan and Taiwan as well, where the local TV version scored the highest viewership rating for the year.

The local TV version will be helmed by Hwang In-roi, who previously directed “Goong” (MBC, 2006) and “The Return of Iljimae” (MBC, 2009), and adapted for the small screen by noted television writer Go Eun-nim.

The romantic comedy is scheduled to air on MBC after war drama “Road No.1″ ends its run.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

Jung Yong Hwa another so called actor, has his name lifted on the possible candidates. But had already started denying to take up the role because of his busy schedule with the band and other commitments. It’s also possible that he won’t take this because he’s very focused on CN BLUE now. Comparing it to the You’re Beautiful days wherein his band wasn’t as popular as it is today. I wouldn’t wish him to be part of this. He has more to focus on, on his music career on my part though. (source)

Jung Yong-hwa being considered for numerous acting roles

Korean rock band CNBLUE’s leader Jung Yong-hwa is being considered for roles in upcoming dramas, movies and musicals, according to his agency FNC Music on Wednesday.

FNC announced in a press release that Jung has been offered five roles each in dramas and musicals, as well as two movie roles.

However, Jung is planning on focusing on his music career, promoting their latest release overseas through events in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, China and other countries in the Asia region.

“Jung is thinking about making a decision on choosing a drama or movie in the latter half of the year because he wants to focus on his activities overseas right now,” an associate from FNC explained.

Jung, who gained popularity through his role in SBS hit TV series “Minamishineyo” last year alongside Hallyu stars Jang Keun-suk and Park Shin-hye, is the frontman for the boy band CNBLUE.

They recently released their second mini-album “BLUE LOVE” featuring the title track “LOVE” which has topped numerous online and offline music charts since its release in May 19.

He is currently appearing as a make-believe couple in MBC’s reality show “We Got Married” with Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun.

Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

We also have Lee Min-ho mentioned. But he had immediately denied that he will not take part in it. [Which is a good thing, his spotlight had already started, it's good that he's giving it to another person to have his own break.] [ARTICLE]

For the female lead issue. I just wish someone who’s cute would act for the role. And yes, I want to Park Bo Young to take part in this, Speed Scandal was so cute because of her as well. Plus she has acting experience comparing it to KARA’s Seung Yeon which had also denied taking part in it. But still no news if ever Park Shin Hye has given her side of the story also.

I wouldn’t trust on the statements of these people really. Whenever they are rumored to be casted, they’ll immediately announce that they won’t take part in it, then after a while, they confirm themselves. Which is pretty weird.

So, yeah, I watched the first episode of the new Weekend Drama, Please Marry Me or All About Marriage. I have to say, the first episode was cute, refreshing and I find the plot to be the same as every weekend series but with a little twist or something different. Usually in family dramas a mother-in-law would bring hell to their daughter-in-laws lives but this time it’s the father-in-law who is obsessed with his eldest son. [Which is quite scary when you look at it.] Since I liked the first episode, i’ll be giving this drama a chance to prove itself more worthy. Here are screen captures of the first episode.

[Please note that the screen captures were done by me using the regular 700 MB video. I have re-sized it to 355x200 from its regular size, 624x352. Please do not hotlink these images! Upload on your own site!]

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:

If you are one of my followers in twitter I guess you would be aware of how much I’m gushing over this weekend drama. And it’s a delight that I jumped right onto the wagon and watched it even though it aired 2 years ago and it’s extremely long, I have to say so far, it’s worth it and I’m glad I’m watching this two years after for me to be able to marathon it in consecutively boring days and to replace the drought the 2010 airing dramas has given me so far. Let’s place a little simple & brief introduction about what this drama is all about first.

[Please note that the coverage of this review will only be for Episodes 1-29, as I have a lot to rant about this long long weekend drama.]

Introduction:

This 2008 Weekend drama with 58 episodes entitled, Happiness / I Am Happy  행복합니다, shows a story about two families who are in a different society, they have their fates meet up as they all get entangled up on each other. Here are some of many examples. The eldest daughter of one of the top companies of Korea, SJ Group, has been working as a regular employee and dating a Representative who isn’t aware that he is dating the eldest daughter of the President of the company. This will show the different societies we have now, the eldest son and the youngest daughter will also be part of a love affair with regular people, poor, middle-class, not as rich as them kind of people. For short, your typical Korean Drama neighbor.

The history:

It’s pretty dramatic why I had to place the title to be that way. (hehe.) Like what I said before, I’ve been dead tired on how much the weekend dramas I have watched or for short, the 50 episode drama, had gave me a bad experience. I’m glad that I took a break on these dramas for like 5 months or so. Why? This heaven-sent drama had just fallen right under my arms and pretty much told me that there’s still some life and will power on those kind of dramas. I don’t know why I had suddenly thought about this drama, I knew about this long before, October 2008, maybe? The 50th episode was one of an editing test when I wanted to join a subbing team, then like after a year and a half, I suddenly found myself in the page of the download links of this drama, posting up in twitter how much about it, looking up on comments, reviews about it, a background check on the PD and Writer, then I had to click the download button on the first episode until it suddenly went on and on. I have to say that I’m once again watching a drama in which I have no idea what was it about, it’s just sudden.

The Happiness.

To keep it short in context, the first half of the drama showed indeed Happiness, strong & interesting characters, intellectual dialogues, delivery of emotions is well brought up and the twists aren’t like a chain in some dramas it has a different kind of twists that can be solved.

To put it off simply, Happiness is indeed a delight. Most people check on first impressions, a drama must have a strong impression for it to be continued, luckily this drama was able to exhibit a strong first impression on its first half. It’s very safe to say now that this drama was able to achieve the viewers heart and including mine 50% and that percentage will remain. To say it shortly, if I were to encounter some unwanted scenes in the second half, I would still be delighted that I watched this, I wouldn’t be hitting my head on the walls regretting why I spent my time watching this, those kind of situations. It’s safe to say that, ‘I’m glad I watched this, I had fun and you left me good memories I would never forget.’

To be able to put up more liveliness on the plot a writer must be able to show the characters strong and weak points properly. The first half was able to show a strong sense on its characters, though not all has came out on their shells yet but the second half will explain more, a very interesting history and how they were able to develop as well. If I were to describe it, I couldn’t possibly say that it looked a little forced or like just to have some screen time for that character they placed him/her into such situation. A big NO to that, the characters are definitely interesting and showed some good sense about the story develops as well. Props to the acting of all these artists, if I could remember, I think I had no negative comments about the way they act while I was watching. The scenes are very brought up that’s why you won’t be able to care less about it. Also, why I love the characters, this isn’t the stupid like drama, I always love a character who is straight to the point, it’s as if they really knew everything and isn’t naive. It was favorably more lovable because it showed that kind of trait.

The scenes of the show are very rare to be found on a weekend drama so far. The secrets wherein you would think that it would take a millennium for it to be discovered were not there. The twists and secrets were revealed in the proper time, manner and it didn’t become too draggy at any point. An example may be was the secret of Seo Yoon to Joon Soo about her being the president of the daughter. The secret of Ji Sook that he has a son with Sang Wook. [Since we're talking about the first half, this only covers being revealed to Sang Wook and the wife of Sang Wook, Ha Kyung, which is considered as fair already.] The relationship of Ae Da and Kang Seok. [I have to admit a little that I felt uncomfortable with that relationship because of them hiding and Ae Da's continuous lies upon going to practice, sneaking out during the night despite the continuous threats of Butler Lee.] The very cute love story of Mrs. Ahn and the Lee brother’s father. [Though this story will be fully bloomed on the first part of the second half, still it was also revealed to some that they are interested with each other.] About the twists and secrets of the whole drama, I have said that it isn’t like a chain, comparing it to some dramas wherein we find some difficult situations which are hard to handle as a viewer, this drama was showing a light yet heavy kind of twists. The situations are like beyond-mankind. Unlike some which I think can only be solved by the gods?! If I were to put it simply like that.

The Sadness.

This drama was indeed unexpected for me. But still, I can’t help but be irritated on some of the characters and scenes that are happening. Not all dramas has all the strong points, a viewer will for sure have found some weak points for it as well. Sadly this drama falls mostly on the weak points for its characters. I loath very much Ji Sook for being very stupid and falling for that gross and stupid, Sang Wook. I find Ha Kyung [who is becoming more and more evil on the second half] to be more interesting and I dig her character very much for being a secretive type of doing plans.

Plus the two brothers, Joon Gi [a ARTIST bum] and Joon Young [the hopeless student] are like blood sucking people. Well, gladly the two will improve more on the latter half and will show more developments about the story related to them. [I'm still on the part of development for Joon Gi while Joon Young I'm on the part of Joon Young had fully matured, which has been a great development.] And also, Seo Yoon’s gangster side had been shown on the first half as well which will badly damage the relationship of the married couple. Let’s just consider this as a side-story since the story on that part wasn’t much focused on them because of Ae Da and the affair of Sang Wook. But like what I said the ones which I hated mostly on the first half would be off good use on the second half and have a wide development of them.

The impossible is possible.

We’re all humans, that’s what they wanted to show. I love it how it portrayed that, the President of SJ Group can once in a while drink soju with his in-law in a not so fancy place where they normally should be, the Madam of SJ Group has always found soju to be more tasty than the ‘for-rich-drink’, wine & expressed how much she loved Pig Feet, the biggest was the marriage of a high-class person and a normal employee and the most cute, I can say was the relationship of the housekeeper & the in-laws of the housekeeper’s boss. Fair is fair, people are people. A very indirect statement which was what the writer was deeply developing and showing all along. If in old children stories we have our ‘lesson learned’ well, this show had it as well.

We all love supernatural things, don’t we? Surprising happenings that would make us stand up on our feet and just scream how awesome it is. Thinking that this drama didn’t feel like very long just watching the first half was a big amazement for someone who was failed numerous times or fooled by long series. It felt like I was just watching some short drama wherein everything is moving so fast, developing well and is a delight to watch. It was seriously amazing and I’m fond of it already.

I Am Happy, Happiness.

What more can I say to show that I’m very pleased on what this drama had in store and had showed me especially for this first half? It was very strong, funny, witty, heart warming and a more pleasant feelings I can express. If I were to point out the very strongest batch of episodes for this show, I would point out that the strongest which portrayed very much emotions and made me smile after each episodes, the first 14 episodes was a wow to watch and a must seen as well. This weekend drama had given me a much better hope to continue on a long series and made me trust on people’s judgment as well. 58 long episodes, approximately an hour for each episode making it 59 hours can make you do very much, gladly the 29 hours of this drama was well worth it and I’m expecting more from as it blooms much more and shows more sides of it. It was seriously a very refreshing first half, a great start, it’s lovable all through out.

Commenting on each characters, Jjong Ah has some very very cute scenes, her frank dialogues and funny antics is one of a kind. Director Lee, the mother of Seo Yoon, is a very cute and upbeat kind. She’s selfish and expects for her children to listen to her only, but she has both sides as well, a evil one & a jolly kind as well. Ji Sook was one of the most stupid if I have to say, her character has loved a stupid man, her escape door was already shown to her yet she took the long and difficult route to take and her life is seriously messed up now. Seo Yoon was fierce and strong, but surely she would be the most I would miss if I were to end it. She’s sincere and shows only her true side. She can sacrifice little but she must do what she wants to do. These are just part of the jam-packed cast of this show. And I will surely miss them if I were to part ways with them. I’m glad I’m watching this long series but sad as well it’s nearly reaching the finale. Here’s one thing for sure, this long drama will be staying in my HDD despite taking up 35.3 GB off my space, I mean, it’s worth it and I’m glad I can play it anytime I want and just have a short time laughter of memories.

Since I love this show oh so much, here are more captures of some juicy and cute scenes:
(If you want to see it in full screen, drag the image to your tabs or copy the link then enter.)