Drama Review: Emperor Of The Sea

Emperor Of The Sea (KBS 2004)
Number of Episodes: 51
Main Cast: Choi Soo Jung, Chae Si Rae, Song Il Kook, Soo Ae, Kim Heung Soo
Korean Wiz link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/at/drama-emperor.html

The historical drama Emperor of the Sea is based the life of Jang Bogo (? – 846), who rises from slavery to dominate the sea and international trade during the Unified Shilla Dynasty (676-935). This fictionalized account of his life opens when he is still a young teen, known as Goong Bok. He was born into slavery and raised working as a ship builder. With his faithful companion Yon, he tries to escape to China by stowing away on a merchant ship, but he is quickly discovered, and the boys are sent back to the shipyards to face punishment for trying to escape. Spared because of their youth, the boys are sent back to work. One day, Goong Bok sees a young man named Yeon Moon performing martial arts in their town, and he begs the teen to train him. Yeon Moon agrees to train him if Goong Bok will show him around their town. However, unbeknownst to Goong Bok, Yeon Moon is a pirate and is working to set up their town for invasion. Goong Bok studies hard to learn martial arts, but his world collapses when their town is destroyed by the pirates, and he and Yon are sentenced to death for colluding with the pirates. They end up surviving, but are sent to live their lives as slaves on a horse farm, where the slightest mistake can mean torture or death. It is here that they grow into adulthood, and where Goong Bok, now played by Choi Soo Jung, meets his mentor, Choi Moo-Chang, a marital arts expert, who trains the talented Goong Bok. Yon and Goong Bok finally escape from the horse farm when Goong Bok gets hired to be part of the personal army of Madam Jami, a noble in Shilla and a lead merchant. Eventually, after refusing to follow Madam Jami’s corrupted ways, Goong Bok and Yon are sent to China as slaves. For sure, nothing is easy for these guys! In China, after many trials, Goong Bok begins his rise to power.

This drama has it all, from major production battle scenes filmed in the China desert to the K-drama staples of a love triangle and unrequited love. Every episode is packed with intense fighting and struggles to survive. Exciting for sure, but at times I found it a bit exhausting. Many episodes I watched literally on the edge of my seat. The drama is basically good vs. evil, and the characters are compelling on both sides of the battle. True to his legend, the very admirable Goong Bok, who later becomes Jang Bogo, never waivers from his strong convictions to fight corruption. I really enjoyed watching his friendship with his companion Yon, also an historical figure. The two survive everything together and are true brothers. As Jang Bogo’s enemy, Yeom Moon, played by Song Il Kook, is a powerful fighter, yet a very pitiful character. From the moment they meet, the two are destined to be enemies, but Yeom Moon can’t help but admire and like Bogo. Yeom Moon longs to be released from his fate of being raised by pirates, but life doesn’t ever seem to offer him a way out. He’s the bad guy, but you can’t help but pull for him.

Historical dramas are a great way to learn about the culture on which modern day Korea is based. However, the scenes can be bloody and violent, and this drama may not be for everyone. The ending of this drama in particular is difficult to watch. However, I thought it was well worth the ride to experience the life of the noble Jang Bogo.

This drama is airing on AZN TV starting on Wednesday, October 18th.

Check out the opening battle scene with this awesome youtube clip. The drama opens with this battle, then takes us back to when the main characters are teens. The actual battle takes place midway thru the drama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R45S0SZf8

Drama Review: Winter Ballad

Winter Ballad (KBS 2002)
Number of Episodes- 20
Main Cast- Bae Yong Jun, Choi Ji Woo, Park Yong Ha, Park Sol Mi
Korean Wiz link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/drama-winter.html

I would be remiss to have a blog introducing people to Korean dramas and not include Winter Ballad. This 2002 drama is one of the leading "Korean Wave" dramas. It was a mega-hit across Asia and gave the lead actors super stardom status. You can even plan a Korean vacation based on the filming sites for this drama! When the drama begins, Yujin (played by Choi Ji Woo) is a happy carefree high school student. Her constant companion is Sang-Hyuk (played by Park Yong Ha). They have grown up together, and while she doesn’t think of him romantically, he is completely in love with her. One day a quiet mysterious new student named Joon Sang (played by Bae Yong Jun) joins their school. Joon-Sang is the son of a famous concert pianist, but she was a single mom and refuses to reveal his birthfather. Joon-Sang has had a difficult life without a father, and he has now moved to his mom’s hometown in the hopes of discovering the identity of his father. All the girls in the school are attracted to this good-looking student, and he ends up in a relationship with Yujin. They are suppose to meet on New Year's Eve, but on the way to meet Yujin, Joon-Sang gets killed in a car accident. The drama then jumps ahead ten years. Yujin is soon to be engaged to Sang-Hyuk when she meets Min-Hyung, who looks exactly like Joon-Sang. Yujin thought that Joon-Sang was part of her past, but meeting Min-Hyung rocks her world. How can this man not be Joon-Sang?

I usually don’t recommend this drama to a first time viewer of dramas only because it is sooo melodramatic that I don’t want to turn off a skeptical American viewer. You have to buy into a memory-loss theme plus Bae Yong Jun’s style (which was immensely popular in Japan) in the drama may be a bit "fluffy" for the American audience. However, that being said, there is something about this one that draws you in and keeps you hooked. I’ve probably watched it at least 3 times now! In addition to being drawn into the intense plot, the winter scenery is beautiful, and the music, which is now symbolic for Korean dramas, is moving. Bae Yong Jun does a nice job of portraying a cool Joon-Sang as well as a charismatic Min-Hyung, and I think Choi Ji Woo is absolutely stunning as Yujin. In addition, as he struggles to hold on to his love against all of Yujin’s memories of Joon-Sang , Sang-Hyuk is a very sympathetic compelling character. So, suspend reality just a little and lose yourself in Korean drama world!

Get a preview by checking out Ryu's Music Video from the OST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIj_zQeFaOY

Drama Review: Sweet 18

Sweet 18 (KBS- 2004)
Number of Episodes- 16
Main Cast: Han Ji Hye, Lee Dong Gun

Sweet 18 ranks as one of the top dramas I recommend to first time drama viewers who want to learn about Korean culture because the drama brings together traditional Korean culture with a modern love story. When the drama opens, the head of the traditional Kwon family agrees to an arranged marriage between his grandson Kwon Hyuk-Joon and his best friend’s granddaughter Yoon Jung-Sook, who has just been born. Shortly after they enter into the contract, Jung-Sook’s family has financial problems, and the family is forced to run away. Eighteen years later, Hyuk-Joon’s Grandfather is ready for him to get married, and he seeks out Jung-Sook to fulfill the promise. Jung-Sook, played by Han Ji Hye, is now a happy-go-lucky high school senior. Her father has passed away, and her mom runs a dry-cleaning business. Her mom pushes her to study hard for college, but she has no aspirations for her future. The complete opposite of Jung-Sook, Hyuk-Joon is now a 28-year-old successful no-nonsense prosecutor. The drama centers around the marriage of this unlikely couple.

I like this romantic comedy for so many reasons. First, it is light and funny and enjoyable to watch. Like Lucy in "I Love Lucy," the immature Jung-Sook is always getting into some sort of trouble after her husband leaves for work. Not only does is she trying to figure out how to be a good wife to Hyuk-Joon, but she also has the added pressure of marrying a husband from a traditional family. All the grumbling elders want to see her be a good traditional wife to hold up the name of the family. Of course, fulfilling this obligation involves intensive studying and practice, not exactly Jung-Sook’s specialty! However, fortunately for Jung-Sook, one of her greatest specialties is winning the heart of Hyuk-Joon’s Grandfather! In addition to the humor, the drama is loaded with traditional Korean culture, thanks to Hyuk-Joon’s family. The scenes that take place at the family home in Andong are a great contrast to modern Seoul where Jung-Sook and Hyuk-Joon live. The ladies of these families are skilled in the fine art of Korean royal cuisine and prepare elaborate meals in the most primitive of kitchens. It is fun to see the ceremony that goes along with this life style. Finally, the drama has a meaningful side as we see Jung-Sook and Hyuk-Joon mature into a real couple. As the couple learns to open up and trust each other, it explores the true meaning of marriage in a very warm and genuine way. This overall message makes the drama well worth watching.

You can find the drama (most of it!) on http://www.youtube.com/ (ep 1 link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxD3FztaHnw). Also, you can rent dramas at: http://www.tigercinema.com/ Finally, you can download the drama at: http://www.silentregrets.com/.

Drama Review: Alone in Love

Alone In Love (SBS 2006)
Number of Episodes- 16
Main Cast- Gam Woo Sung, Son Ye Jin, Gong Hyun Jin, Lee Ha Na
Korean Wiz Link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/at/drama-aloneinlove.html

This drama marks the return to the small screen for Gam Woo Sung and Son Ye Jin, both with very successful movie careers. Son Ye Jin plays Yoo Eun Ho, who works as a personal trainer at a Seoul health club. She is divorced from Lee Dong Jin, played by Gam Woo Sung, who is a manager at large bookstore. The couple divorced after the stillbirth of their first child. Dealing with the grief tore them apart, and only 2 months after the baby’s death, they decide to divorce rather than to continue fighting each other. However, despite their divorce, neither Eun Ho nor Dong Jin has moved on, and their lives continue to be intertwined. They meet every year at the same restaurant on the anniversary of their wedding, they see each other at the same donut shop every morning before work, they visit the grave of their child together, and they still share the same friends. While each feels pressure to move on, it is obvious that neither is ready, and both carry the heavy weight of unresolved feelings over the death of their child. To balance the complex issues surrounding Eun Ho and Dong Jin, the drama includes a colorful cast of supporting characters including Eun Ho’s sister, Ji Ho, who is always ready for her next meal, and Dong Jin’s best friend Joon Pyo, an OB/GYN doctor who has developed a sudden fear for delivering babies. Throw in as well a lady professional wrestler, a gay bartender, the gym crowd, and Dong Jin’s book store co-workers.

I read somewhere that this is the non-Korean Korean drama because it lacks the typical elements of a K-drama, like a Cinderella story or a love-triangle. In fact, when I first started watching the drama, I thought it may be too slow moving for me, but by the third episode, I was completely engrossed. No fancy story lines here- the main characters are average people with normal jobs and normal lives. The misunderstandings that led to their break-up are sad, but very real and understandable. In particular, I found myself so drawn to Eun Ho, who grieves over the loss of her child and in reality, her husband. Each episode is loaded with rich dialog, moving scenes, interlaced with lots of humor. As The Man, a regular on the HI drama board stated: "every scene, every expression, each piece of dialogue, every move, EVERYTHING in this show, sad and comedic (yes, let's not forget the morsels of hilarity in this show; it's half the reason why I decided to order the boxed set) MATTERED; and all that was a mere testament to giving all in love a lesson of sorts. Nothing was wasted." In addition, the cinematography is superb with so many wonderful scenes of modern Seoul. I highly recommend this drama.

For now, the complete drama with subs is loaded on d-addicts. Here is the link to ep 1, part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQyabvLK1Fw

Drama Review: My Girl

My Girl (MBC 2005)
Number of Eps: 16
Main Cast: Lee Dong Wook, Lee Da Hae, Lee Joon Ki, Park Si Yeon
Korean Wiz link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/at/drama-mygirl.html


Along with All About Eve, Kim Sam Soon, Friends, and Sweet 18 (review coming soon!), My Girl is a drama I would easily recommend to a first time drama viewer. This drama centers around Lee Da Hae’s character Joo Yoo Rin. We are first introduced to Yoo Rin, who works as a tour guide, running into the Cheju-do airport begging the airlines to hold up a flight while her partner is frantically driving a tour bus to the airport loaded with tourist needing to catch the plane. When the airline people tell her that they can’t hold up the flight, she throws herself on the ground in tears begging to see her oppa, who is leaving her, one last time. Taking pity on the sobbing woman, they let her on the plane to find her boyfriend. She keeps the charade up long enough for her tourist customers to arrive and catch the plane. We later learn that thanks to her gambling Dad, Yoo Rin, grew up a survivor, living all over the world and fleeing when her Dad would get them into trouble. Consequently, she speaks Chinese and Japanese, and she can pull off a scam when needed. However, her heart is in the right place. While they’ve settled on Cheju-do, Dad gets in gambling trouble again and flees. The thugs are after her to make good on his gambling debts, so she is on the run again. She meets Seol Gong-chan, played by Lee Dong Wook, who runs large hotel in Seoul and in Cheju-do. After a series of events makes him aware of her fibbing capabilities, he hires her to play his long lost cousin, who his dying grandfather has desperately been seeking for, but Gong-chan has been unable to find. Gong-chan wants to use Yoo-rin to fulfill his grandfather's dying wish to see his granddaughter.

Absolutely a comedy, this drama is light and funny and never loses its sense of humor. Yoo-rin’s character is good-hearted and very likeable, and you sympathize with her as she gets buried deeper in her lies as the "fake cousin." The serious-minded Gong-chan makes a great straight-man to her antics. In addition, the supporting cast is wonderful with colorful characters and story lines to go along with the main plot. Playing Goong-chan’s close friend and his rival in Yoo-rin’s love is Lee Joon Ki, who stars in The King and The Clown, a recent top grossing film in Korea. Joon Ki is the rage in Korea right now, and he raises the bar on the term "metro-sexual." The drama even pokes fun at him "looking like a girl." A bonus in the drama is fun Christmas time scenes in Seoul and lots of great scenes atop the 63 Building. There is also a great karaoke scene that takes place in the "country" after Gong-chan and Yoo-rin get lost and she scams their way into a local gathering. The drama has a great soundtrack too. Anyway, watch the drama and as Yoo-rin says "You will be blessed." BASHA!!

The entire drama is loaded with English subs on youtube by a user named byako. I linked to page 12 of her video list to get to ep 1.
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=byako&page=12

While I dld this and watched it thanks to d-addicts and fan subs, I want to buy it to add to my collection. YA will be releasing it in September:
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/section-videos/code-k/pid-1004473245/

Finally, it can be downloaded at:
http://www.silentregrets.com/dramas/articles/kdramas/page/3/

Drama Review: All About Eve

All About Eve (MBC 2000)
Number of Episodes: 20
Main Cast: Jang Dong Gun, Chae Rim, Han Jae Suk, Kim So Yeon
Korean Wiz link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/drama-eve.html

This story focuses on the relationship between two women, Sun-Mi (played by Chae Rim) and Young-Mi (played by Kim So Yeon). The show opens with death of Young-Mi’s father after a work-related accident on the construction site of a company owned by Sun-Mi’s father. Sun-Mi’s father takes pity on Young-Mi, who is left an orphan by her father’s death. He offers to sponsor her when she goes to college in Seoul. She has the goal of becoming a TV news anchor. Through flashbacks, we realize that Young-Mi’s alcoholic father abused her and made her life miserable. She is now motivated at all costs to succeed and breakaway from her past. Meanwhile, Sun-Mi is getting ready to start college and has a goal similar to Young-Mi’s. She initially welcomes Young-Mi into their lives, but soon becomes distrusting of Young-Mi’s manipulative ways. In addition, Woo-jin (played by Han Jae Suk), Sun-mi’s first crush, falls in love with Young-Mi. Realizing she has lost Woo-jin to Young-Mi, Sun-Mi heads off to London to study and meets Hyong-Chul (played by Jang Dong Gun). Hyong-Chul’s family owns MBC, but he has stayed away from the family business because of a dispute with his father.

AZN TV says All About Eve is rated one of the top dramas of all time by its viewers, and I agree with that. I love this one. Unlike other dramas, no deep life lessons here other than evil doesn’t pay. It is just a great story line that is fun (and at times, heartbreaking) to watch. The competition between Sun-Mi and Young-Mi is fierce. It is very entertaining to watch them battle it out once they start to work at the TV station. Young-Mi's character is often pointed to as one of K-dramas top villains, and yet you can sympathize with her and pity her. Sun-Mi is adorable, loyal, and innocent, and Hyong-Chul is her prince. This drama is also a chance to see Jang Dong Gun, who is a top movie star in Korea. AZN TV is scheduled to air AAE online in September.

Drama Review: Friends

Friends
Number of Episodes: 4
Main Cast: Won Bin, Fukada Kyoko, Lee Dong Gun, Park Hye Jin
Koreanwiz Link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/at/drama-friends.html

This 2002 MBC drama was a joint production between MBC and the Japanese station TBS. The drama opens in Hong Kong, where Korean college student Kim Ji Hun (played by Won Bin) is taking a break from his studies to explore Hong Kong and work on his films. He has a goal of becoming a movie director, but it is soon clear that he is facing big pressure to return to his hometown where his very traditional Korean family expects him to take over the family business. While in Hong Kong, he meets Asai Tomoko, a Japanese girl on vacation who mistakes him for the purse snatcher that took her purse. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, a relationship develops in their short time together, but alas, the vacation ends, and they must separate. However, with email and a little help from Ji Hun’s Japanese speaking roommate, they are able to keep in contact with each other.

The drama centers on the love story between Tomoko and Jin Hun and how they must overcome the challenges of both a long-distance relationship as well as dating someone from a different country. However, a big part of the drama is the growth of each character individually. Despite wanting to purse his dreams of making movies, Ji Hun must first come to terms with his responsibility to his family. In Japan, Tomoko is a high school graduate working at a dead-end job in a department store. Unlike Ji Hun, she lacks any kind of dream at all. In addition, her mother is a successful business woman, and Tomoko feels guilt that she can’t match her mother’s accomplishments. Her mother is aware of her daughter’s struggle and longs to support her, but is afraid to push too hard. At first, Tomoko wants to learn about Korea for Ji Hun, but eventually, her love for Korea and learning the Korean language ends up fueling her own dreams. For me, one of the most moving parts of the drama is watching Tomoko blossom and seeing the growth of her relationship with her mother.

Visually, this drama is loaded with wonderful scenery of Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea. The fall scenery filmed in Seoul is beautiful, and the scenes of Ji Hun’s military training are intense. Also, because of Ji Hun’s family, the drama gives a glimpse into more traditional Korean culture. Again, I really loved the way Tomoko’s character fell in love with Korea. To me, her character is a glimpse of what it will be like if my children would ever choose to immerse themselves in their birth country and live in Korea. I highly recommend this short drama.

I’ve seen this drama loaded on youtube with subtitles, but this could always change! For now, here is the link to part 1 of episode one. If you run this, you will see the other episodes in the "related links."

Ep1 (part 1 of 6) uploaded by h0pezz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-9DKIjA9S4&mode=related&search=

This can also be downloaded at:

http://www.silentregrets.com/dramas/friends-2002/

Drama Review: My Name Is Kim Sam Soon

My Name Is Kim Sam Soon
Number of Episodes: 16
Main Cast: Kim Sun-Ah, Hyun Bin, Jung Ryeo Won, Daniel Henney
Korean Wiz Link: http://www.koreanwiz.org/at/drama-kimsamsoon.html

One of the things I wanted to do with this blog is share drama reviews. For sure, this 2005 MBC drama goes at the top of my list of dramas to check out. The drama is about Sam Soon (played by Kim Sun-Ah), a feisty pastry chief, who gets dumped by her longtime boyfriend on Christmas Eve. About to turn 30, she is unmarried, overweight, and finds the chances of meeting someone to marry growing dim. In addition, she is strapped by the name Sam Soon, which in Korea is considered a "country bumpkin" name. In fact, one of her life goals is to change her name to Hee Jin. She takes a job as a pastry chief for a restaurant owned by Hyeon Jin-Heon (played by Hyun Bin). Jin Heon is the rebellious son of a wealthy hotel owner, who is angry that her son chooses to run his own restaurant rather than work for her hotel. Jin Heon, cocky and arrogant, is aloof and sarcastic towards women and his mother’s repeated attempts to find a wife for him. However, it is clear that his still harbors unresolved feelings for his first love, who suddenly left Korea for the United States without explanation three years ago. While Jin Heon is cool towards the idea of marriage, Sam Soon still hopes for the chance to meet someone and marry. As she explains, "Life is like crossing the ocean in a row boat and it is too difficult to row by yourself."

Sam Soon is such a wonderful character- average looking, middle-class, and easy to admire and relate to. She is strong, tough, and committed to her work, yet still vulnerable when it comes to matters of the heart. And, as most women can relate to, she is always worried about her weight and is always trying the latest diet, but can’t resist ordering extra syrup in her latte and sneaking a late night snack! For first-time drama watchers, this drama is vogue and still packed with classic Korean culture issues, like getting the parents’ approval for a relationship. The drama is smart, funny and packed with great dialog and banter between the main characters. It also carries a great overall message about having love and respect for yourself. The drama was very popular in Korea, with a rating of over 50% for the final episodes. In an adoption related note, Daniel Henney, who plays an American doctor in the drama, is the real life son of an Korean adoptee. In the drama, his character is also the son of an adoptee.

**Currently, this drama can be watched online on AZN TV.

Book Review: Korea: The Land of Miracles

I recently wrote this review for the Hawaii drama board, and I wanted to post it here as well:

When I was getting ready for our trip to Korea last fall, I kept checking our bookstore for Lonely Planet Korea and Lonely Planet Seoul, but had no luck (ended up using amazon.com for them). However, in the travel section, they had stocked this book by Simon Winchester called Korea- A Walk Through the Land of Miracles. At the time, I was irritated by this because I was looking for practical information like a map of the subway system, but one day, while letting the kids browse the children’s books, I picked up the book and read the preface. I was so drawn in that I had to buy the book.

The book chronicles the journey of author Simon Winchester as he travels by foot in the late 1980s, just prior to the 1988 Olympics, from the very southern tip of Cheju Island to the DMZ. His journey of Korea was forced to stop at the DMZ because he could not get permission to travel into North Korea. He patterned his journey after the crew of the Sparrowhawk, a Dutch merchant ship, which crashed on Cheju Island in August of 1653. The crew was captured by the Koreans and sent by the Governor of Cheju to Seoul to go before the King and his court. They were brought by ship across the Strait of Cheju and then transported north “by horse and foot”. Ultimately, the crew was exiled to the southwest corner of Korea until they managed to escape to Japan via a stolen fishing boat ten years later. The ship’s secretary Hendrick Hamel recorded the crew’s journey, and as he mirrors the crew’s trek into Seoul, Winchester begins each chapter by quoting from Hamel’s book “the Kingdom of Corea.” On a side note, Hamel’s book, published in 1668 is thought to be the first European account of Korea.

I confess that when I started this book, I really knew very little about Korea’s post-war environment. To me, Korea was the Korea I saw on dramas like Kim Sam Soon- hip, modern and westernized. So, I was immediately taken back when he wrote in the author’s note: “In a while, with good luck and a fair wind, the people of South Korea will enjoy a high degree of human rights. But for now it is a sad reality that they do not.” Granted, this was written in the late 1980’s, but to me, Korea seemed to enjoy political freedoms similar to the US. This book made me appreciate the tense environment in Korea, living in a state of war with the North, always on the look out for invasion from the enemy. He gives a vivid overview of the Massacre of Kwangju from both sides of the issue (Massacre or Uprising?) and discusses in detail the political fallout from the event. He also spends time with “the Peacekeepers” on one of the US military bases. The disrespectful behavior towards Korea of some of the soldiers he spent time with will make you cringe for sure.

Apart from the political stuff, he gets into vivid descriptions of the beauty of the Korea, its people, and his admiration for the work ethic of the country. He gives great accounts of things like going to a bathhouse, playing cards Korean-style, and drinking soju…all things drama fans can appreciate. He also details the logistic difficulties of making the trip by foot. I must say, as a fitness junkie, part of the intrigue of the book for me was the fact that he made the journey by walking. I found myself immensely jealous of the ability to take on a month-long adventure like this both because of my love for Korea as well as the physical challenge of the trip. A caveat I will add is that the book is written by an Englishman, so it is a outsider’s view of Korea. That is the one thing I like about learning about Korea through the dramas- it is learning the culture first hand rather than through a westerner’s perspective, which can make it feel distant and unfamiliar. Overall, I recommend this book as a great way to get a feel for the post-war Korea and the challenges that it faces.