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Open Thread #88

 
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After reading all the positive reviews on City Hall, I think I'm going to have to start watching it sooner than later.

@Jessica #143
I've always seen the Japanese ladies carrying the parasols around here (in Honolulu) and thought they were so cute - they usually are of cloth material and sometimes embroidered/with lace. At my last trip to Tennessee, I bought a parasol from a Civil War store for the reenactments that my husband and I do here. I'm looking forward to using it on July 5 for a reenactment....still not sure if I would like being seen carrying it any other time.

I grew up watching TVB Hong Kong dramas. My parents got me hooked on K-dramas when they were visiting three years ago. Now, I watch J-dramas, K-dramas, Chinese and Taiwanese dramas as well.

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Another pale skinned southerner here. I'm from Texas. Dang the heat and humidity is a killer this year. Of course, I should thank the humidity for preserving my youthful appearance.

I discovered HK dramas in high school but gave it up when I went to college.
It was only a few years ago that my husband brought home the MNKSS boxset pushed on him by a Hispanic coworker (she suspects she must have Korean in her heritage or was Korean in her past life. She LOVES Rain). Needless to say, we were hooked by KSA and Binnie . Yup! My hubs is Samshika...which he can never live down since I gave him a nice pair of pj bottoms which I neatly ironed on "Samshika" :-)

We only watch k or jdramas now with the exception of the Big Bang Theory (I heart heart Sheldon!). We recently turned off our satellite service since we rarely use it. Now we only watch downloaded dramas or DVDs of shows we like.

I'm loving Friday open threads.

@94 huh? Does it matter is WGM is scripted or reality? KHJ as shinlang is adorable. So much better then KHJ as Ji Hoo. I love the Lettuce couple. They make me laugh out loud and feel happy. If it is all totally scripted, then it is one of the best kdramas we have ever watched.

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@ 147 katwoman

totally agree with your last statement. KHJ in WGM is soooo adorable. cried buckets when they left the show.

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# D, bbm

Glad to know they're fellow Malaysians in DB! ^^ Talking about SGB, I'm not sure why...but KBSW has been repeating the episode with Alex and the new emcees quite regularly these few weeks? I was kinda looking forward to the latest episodes, but to my disappointment, they repeated the same episode again this week. I've seen it like 3 times.... I wonder what's the problem?! Maybe the latest episode hasn't been subbed yet?

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@ 146 Jessica

I too avoid the sun as much as possible. Living in the city makes it a bit easier since there are tall buildings all around. I look crazy following every shade I can find -- the light post shade, the moving bus shade, a tall person's shade... People I know call me a vampire or a freak... IDC!

Now the problem is, walking in the park. I have to get me one of those parasols. And since I'm asian too, people can stare and think I'm a tourist and that it's common in asia to use one.

I'll start the trend here in Chicago, I hope people follow suit. Hey, it's not just for fashion, it's the (not so) secret to youthful skin.

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Sharing the DramaFever love - I have 15 invites just sitting here! If anyone would like me to share the addiction, shoot me an email: [email protected]

Hope you guys have a great Saturday! I'm off to do all of my Father's Day errands but hoping to get back early and start City Hall...if I can tear myself away from Dal Ja's Spring, that is.

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@SAMSOOKI

I KNOW IT'S LATE AND AM NOT SURE IF YOURE STILL CHECKING THIS THREAD...

but i checked yesasia, couldnt find the return of iljimae dvd set.... i did write a message to MBC America and asked them about it. Thanks again!!!!

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@ 152 katwoman & 153 D

I totally agree with you guys....shilang and hwang buin were really endearing and I cried buckets when they left WGM. Which only made me wonder how geniune it was but you guys are absolutely right....does it really matter???

Also, Sheldon is freaking hilarious on Big Bang Theory....the way he delivers his line...now that's art =P

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@157 MEIKO**** ^-^

http://www.yesasia.com/global/the-return-of-iljimae-dvd-end-first-press-limited-edition-mbc-tv-drama/1019924780-0-0-0-en/info.html

Release Date: 2009-05-22
Language: Korean
Subtitles: No Subtitle
Picture Format: NTSC
Disc Format(s): DVD
Region Code: 3

Orders placed here will NOT ship to the United States and Canada.

LOL. Maybe not such a great idea....

It looks like this is not a good place to buy the DVD set. =) If I see it, I'll let you know.

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@Rifae
I am not a MIT student. I work but I have taken the SPRING session of the MIT class. It started last week and will last for 9 more weeks (after this week on WED) 7-8:30 check out this link:
http://mitkoreanclass.googlepages.com/

You are in luck, this time their is a reading class. I am not that advanced. My listening is pretty good but reading and writing are poor.

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City Hall rocks and whomever wrote he is Darcy ---I totally agree! Still behind on watching #15 and #16 as need subs. I am enjoying DRAMAFEVER and Boys Over Flowers.

Samsooki--I love my stuffed piggy. My sis got me Kim Sam Soon, Samsooki and all the OSTS for Christmas one year from YES ASIA. My sis rocks!

----------------------------------------------
Food AHHHH travel, food and dramas get me going. I have a food blog and have taken tons of food photos when traveling. I even wrote food reviews for some publications. I am the resident foodie amongst my friends. Food is just amazing and good Korean in Boston is hard to come by. I am not an expert but homemade and LA are tops outside of Korea for me.

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Jane Austen is awesome and I loved the PBS special remakes of her novels two winters ago. Yes the Colin Firth Darcy for Pride and Prejudice is my all time fave. He embodies him very well. OOOOH love BBC but no more cable. I loved it.
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Funny, leaving the messages yesterday was my first time participating in the Friday Thread though I have been a long time visitor to this website. DRAMABEANS you rock and I agree I have enjoyed your choice of dramas and your cool analysis and play by play of the scenes.
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I grew up watching TV HK Dramas and love Andy Lau. Then Jdramas after college as the shows were subbed then stopped by International channel. Then Kdramas came into my life thanks to my and Autumn Love with Song Seung Hun and Song Hye Gyo. The rest is history. I tend to like romantic comedies or saeguks. I abhor Chinese dubbed over versions of Kdramas (irritates me). Finding bad subs especially ENG from Chinese is bad. I watched Kim Sam Soon 6 times. Once in Chinese and then ENg (bad Eng) then with excellent ENG subs. My all time fave. Such fun and great escapism!
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@Priki---- I totally agree. OOOOH yeah the little grandson was cute when he would bow and say "grandfather". He totally stole my heart in all the scenes he was in.

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@A. and funkster316...I'm so happy to read from you two that you see some similarities with our Beloved Mr. Darcy and Jo-guk. I was the one that mentioned it before. I thought no-one noticed it, i guess for my love of Mr. Darcy I always compare other lead men to Him . I love anything related to P&P, i even watched that one movie, Bride and Prejudice!! kekeke

OMG! Episode 15 of City Hall is the best! It's got everything! I cried soo much, then it got good, made me so happy ^_________^! Now on to episode 16!

Enjoy the rest of the Weekend everyone!

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Hmm where do I start with this thread....

Firstly am touched *blush* that some have noted my absence in the Open Thread. Hmm do I really rant that much???? LOL But thanks gang! :P Given I have been bedridden with the flu the last 48 hrs and just realised I have a 39C+ temp (WTF?!) I am guarenteed to make less sense than normal. This is my drug therapy of sorts...at least I am sitting up. Then it is back to bed.

@10 new-s totally agree that 'Comrades: Almost a Love Story' is a good recommendation.

Re: Slingshot recap - I had gotten a copy of DVD as could not wait to see how it ended. Of course I should have known that subtitles would made no sense! Am so looking forward to awesome recap.

Re: P & P - Mr Darcy *swoon*. Colin Firth *swoon swoon*. Even liked the guy who played Darcy in the 'Lost In Austen' (which was very clever!). City Hall has a Mr Darcy like character?
Well now I WILL have to check it out.

North and South. Richard Armitage. Enough said.

Re So Ji Sub
Samsooki
Ahem slight correction I think I had wanted to check out Mr So Ji Sub's abs &/or chest but butt would be fine too! :P Ain't picky when it is such a fine specimen of a man. As much as I would like to be there for you to capture my touching.... er..molesting ..ahem... MEETING Mr So Ji Sub, I am afraid that Mishane and perhaps Mrs Samsooki will have to be my proxy.

However please remember to take pity on me and share your exclusive footage/coverage with me. And it goes without saying that a copy of the contact details of SJS and pals *you know who especially!*, obtained in the post event k-town drinks between SJS and Samsooki MUST be forwarded to me. Or I might sneeze on you....

mishane
Please add some 'extra' touches to SJS on my behalf. SJS cannot have too much love now can he?

hanjanman
If only what you had suggested was true *sigh* That would be such a better reality! Doubt I would be able to board a plane, survive the lengthy flight time - let alone land in NYC without sparking a biohazard alert. And no it is 'normal' flu not swine (geez if I got paid for everyone that asked me that I would be able to afford a private jet....)

Interesting how in my flu induced haze I STILL managed to watch a lot 'Gourmet' from bed. Drifting in and out of sleep, hence plenty of rewinds but it also made me want to eat - not the raw beef though yuk yuk!. The cooked food looked so yummy - but not so good when one has no energy to get up let alone cook. Shame I did not have a Kim Rae Won handy in my kitchen. He is very tasty just to look at at...

I am TOTALLY a Kdrama junkie.....hard core!

OK back to the drugs and bed...hope to be back soon!

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@ 161 mzpakipot

So, it's you who suggested the Darcy-JG connection, ha ha!

I'd say JG is beyond Darcy - the modern sophisticated version of Darcy. The JG character in City Hall adds a contemporary touch to the Darcy complex which is what makes CH so appealing. It is true that he is cold, arrogant and ruthless in the first half of the drama. However, once he confirms where his heart belongs, he becomes that PERFECT man that any woman could only dream of. His mentoring of and encouragement to MR makes him the ideal partner of any modern day woman. And at the same time he knows MR has taught him something new. I was re-watching Ep 10 - 13 yesterday, you can see how PROUD he is of MR at the end of the mayor election debate. They are such a complementary team.

Honestly, after watching CSW's interpretation of JG, I will have a hard time to find any matching male lead performance in future dramas. In fact, many other hot young guys in previous dramas now look like primary school boys. The wonderful thing is he brings out the best performance from KSA whose MR character is no simpleton as it might initially suggest. KSA gives the role a vivid, layered, and believable delivery of a happy-go-lucky girl empowered to reach her highest potential. I'm onto re-watching Ep 14 -16 now (and what can we say about Ep 15, every scene and every line are just so good and memorable).

For fans living in Southern California, Kdramafanusa has just posted at Soompi about City Hall (english subbed) to start on LA18.1 on June 18th, W-Th from 9:50pm~11:00pm.

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Good luck ladies in NYC!! Please send JiSub my hot-love too!! You gotta meet him in person...he's insanely gorgeous!! Speaking of him have u gals seen Kang JiHwan photoshoots in Esquire???..check him out in his tight whitepants among models of coz...*slurps..*

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1. So we watched through Episode 15, City Hall. In my effort to not give spoilers, let me just say, somebody gets kissed. I'm not saying who gets kissed, or who does the kissing. And it ain't just any kiss. If you have been born and raised on milk and Gerbers with all of the other k-dramas' tepid kissing, then this City Hall kiss is like getting solid food. Wow... so THAT's what meat and potatoes taste like....

As for the drama itself, it just gets better and better, and much like the kiss, the entire series itself is like discovering a whole new class of korean drama. City Hall is just in a different class - not sure how else to put it.

Like cartoons maybe - most other k-dramas is like watching the smurfs and carebears and so on, and then comes Robotech.... where the main character (Rick)'s brother, Roy, is a blond hair blue eyed fighter pilot whose love of his life is Claudia, a black woman (trust me, it was shocking at the time), and then the aliens attack and Roy gets critically injured from battle wounds (internal hemoragging), and rather than spending his last moments in a hospital room, Roy chooses to spend his last moments with Claudia, who doesn't know he is dying, and so Roy chats idly with Claudia, strumming his guitar while bleeding to death, while Claudia is making his favorite dish for him and just chatting away.... going from Carebears, Smurfs and even GI Joe (where nobody ever died, not even the bad guys), to Robotech... is like what it feels like, watching City Hall.

As for the story - the thunder storm clouds have gathered, the plot points are solidifying and coming into focus, the winds have picked up considerably, and the first lightning strikes have already been recorded. Only 5 episodes left for us, I think. Among the most compelling and deep love stories, as I've ever seen, on television. If you can get by the first three episodes... the next 12 episodes fly by.

2. Oh, and we also watched Star In My Heart, the first three episodes off of the DVDs. It is like going to beach for the first time in the summer, and smelling the smell of salt, Doritos, suntan lotion and something cooking... the nostalgia is so strong, all you need to do is breathe deeply once and you'll find yourself back in time. This drama takes me back more than a decade, to a different world entirely. The clothes, the hair styles, the references (cassette tape players in porsches!).... and omg the smoking. There hasn't been a single scene that didn't have people smoking. At clubs, at bars, at the office, at home, in the car... LOL.

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@Samsooki

Boy, you really sold me on City Hall. Now, I can't wait to see it. Since I agreed with your comments about Star in my Heart, and I also enjoyed that drama, I think I will enjoy City Hall.

You have a very nice writing style for critiquing dramas.

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@SAMSOOKI

eY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING THAT UP!
VERY THOUGHTFUL OF YOU...

i CHECKED IT OUT BUT CANT READ HANGGUL...., AND NO SUBTITLES...

WAAAHHHH!!!

BUT THANKS AGAIN SAMSOOKI!!!

ILL WAIT FOR THE MBC'S EMAIL AND SEE IF THEY HAVE PLANS ON DOING A REGION1 DVD....*CROSSING MY FINGERS*

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I have been watching City Hall and right now I just don't get it. Maybe I need to watch more. I love CSW of course--I've always been a fan and I love how he is playing the character but besides him and Director Lee's wife, I don't find the other acting that good including Kim Sun Ah's. Also I think the biggest problem for me is with the writing/directing team. I have never liked their past work and I think this one is suffering the same or worse problems. I'm on episode 8 so I am hoping this will get better. Everyone told me to get through the first few episodes but I haven't seen the light yet and I'm on episode 8!!!

134 
hjkomo--haha yes the tapes made the rounds to everyone. I always wondered how these video stores even made money and now with satellite dishes and internet, I assume its worse for them. I was trying to convince one of the video owners a long time ago to start a netflix-like business for kdramas. I even went so far as to see if this business model was taken.And yes it is and it is called Cinflix. Also incredibly netflix has a lot of dramas including the real hard to find Be Strong Guem Soon.

BTW anyone know where I can watch a show called Screening Humanity? This is a KBS documentry show that I caught on TV a couple of times and I find it to be a such an awesome show thought I imagine the producers must instigate a lot of the drama in the background.

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I remember omo saying she can see my name everytime KSA is being mentioned.
I can't help but post a comment now... but i actually can't find the words to say.
I just want to thank everyone for spreading the CITY HALL love.
And thanks to everyone who will give this drama a try. It's worth it.

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I love City hall and it makes me feel sad to think that this drama will end, 4 more episode to go and I think this drama should have an extension. It`s very rare to have superb actors in one project. Kim Sun Ah and CSW was doing a great job portraying their role. I love the OST, it makes me feel so good while listening to every song in this drama. GUMI couple is the best of the best!

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Anyone watched Night After Night or When Night Comes? With Kim Sun Ah and Lee Dong Gun in it. Is this any good? Trying to follow up on the KSS mood by picking up a serial which has Kim Sun Ah. Can't find City Hall in the dvd shelves for now so Night After Night comes closest. But is this good?

Also, out of curiosity, the singer who sang Inside My Heart on the MNIKSS OST is Kim Jung Eun. Is this the same Kim Jung Eun the actress who starred in Lovers in Paris and General Hospital?

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jumped on the bandwagon and currently on ep 6 of mnikss.

just curious: do you any of you feel the perceived homeliness of samsoon is overblown?

i personally don't think samsoon is unattractive on first glance. in fact, she looks extremely cute in her chef's outfit. add that with the endearing way she wears her emotions on her sleeve, and i think she is the most attractive woman on the show.

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hmm,

so henry kim is hee jin's doctor, and he's trying to start a relationship with her?

crossing some serious ethical boundaries there...

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@ 173 kb

Henry's not trying to start a relationship but he does admit he's in love with hee jin.

When I watched MNIKSS I was also wondering about Henry's purpose in the drama. Why was he there? He was never a real threat in the heejin-jinhun relationship, he was happy to be a good friend to heejin. So what did Henry Kim really bring to the story? Apart from being nice eye candy, I'm not sure what his role/purpose in the story was.

"just curious: do you any of you feel the perceived homeliness of samsoon is overblown?"

KSS is not unattractive, definitely not ugly. I would say she looks like your average Jane. BUT she also does not fit the typical K lead actress mold. Hee Jin on the other hand, looks the part. As Yi Young said in one scene: "Why wouldn't men go for Hee Jin? She's great. She's even great from a woman's perspective!"

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Just finished Hong Gil Dong last night. Okay, I spoiled it for myself by reading Dramabeans' recaps so I was braced for the 'controversial' ending. While I agree with Dramabeans comments on the ending, on a personal level, I did feel sad/miffed that GD and YN died at the end. No happy ending and that took away a bit of the satisfaction for me.

Overall though, I enjoyed the drama. I thought it was nicely layered in parts, especially the interaction between Gil Dong and his father and that scene between Chang Whe and his brother where the Sa Yin sword conspiracy was revealed. The king didn't seem so mad then, and it made you wonder if Chang Whe would also descend into madness now that he knew the truth.

Kang Ji Hwan's expressions during his father's death scene - wow, excellent. He was great throughout and I thought he really carried the role of Gil Dong. Looking for more KJH stuff now - any recommendations?

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@175, mamacat -

I doubt there are many ppl on dramabeans who haven't seen HGD, but for the sake of those few who might not have, you might have put a header on your post that looks like:

**spoilers**

or something like that, to warn people you are about to reveal the ending. Just for future reference. As for the ending itself, I think that a lot of people in America (myself included, actually) get addicted to happy endings - in a more Eastern style philosophy/religion, the point isn't necessarily to a happy ending but to get your life "right" and that means that you do it the right way regardless of what the "ending" is like because in the next life, you will get another shot at it but depending on how you did it, you will get a better shot at happiness. So, the fact that Yi Nok and Gil Dong got it right, and were together at the end, gives a lot of weight to what happens and how their fates will be interconnected in the next life....

As for other stuff, most people would recommend Capital Scandal (a 2007 KBS drama) for the next KJH you might want to take a peek at.

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@172, 173 kb -

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Through the course of watching the drama series, if I had to choose among the various women who worked at the restaurant, Yoo HeeJin, Jang ChaeRi (well played by Lee Yoon Mi) and Kim Samsoon, in terms of just physical looks, I think KSS would probably be in the top 2...? I guess Korea is a lot more weight-driven in terms of how they view beauty..

Yeah, I don't think the writers really had a clear idea of how to handle the Dr. Henry role. Perhaps they should have made him someone other than a doctor. Just a good friend?

Honestly, the doctor role didn't really suit Daniel - I think he would have done better for this early role in his career as a normal guy who happens to have enough money and time to spend it trying to take care of a woman with whom he has fallen in love.

Either way, not a really big part of the story...

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i planned to watch hong gil dong some time down the road, and so whenever there was a discussion about it, i quickly skimmed it, just to avoid hidden spoilers.

that all came to naught when i found a MV for 'if' and essentially saw what appears to be the ending. i still remember my reaction, 'WHAT THE...?!'

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samsooki,

yeah, i don't understand the weight issue. i think her weight is perfectly fine.

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kb -

HGD is worth watching, and, there is serious debate as to what the ending really means. For what it is worth, the question for any love story is, "will they be together in the end" and the answer to that question is decided in the last episode.

I don't think the ending is "controversial' although some people find it to be so. I think the ending is a little bit ambiguous, but however you interpret it, HGD as a series pretty much rocks.

In the case of Hong Gil Dong, the ending itself isn't what makes the drama. I think the drama is just great throughout, and regardless of the ending, however you interpret it, I think it will be nice if you saw it.

For an altogether different interpretation of how korean dramas and love stories should end, perhaps you should watch "Super Rookie" with Eric Mun, Oh Ji Ho and Han Ga In. I highly recommend it. :)

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samsooki,

i will definitely watch hong gil dong. your enthusiastic recommendation notwithstanding, that song was the clincher.

i know the ending for mnikss, but i'm still enjoying it. doesn't take away from the experience at all.

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Finished Dal-ja's Spring last night and I loved it so much.

*spoilers*

Boy, did I ever cry over the dinner table scene and subsequent breakup scene! I don't know why, but those scenes just really hit me. I felt so sorry for Dal-ja, thinking that Tae-bong's mother had invited her to dinner to humiliate her by showing her support for Soo-jin, when in fact the opposite was true.

I absolutely LOVED the ending. It made such perfect sense for the characters, because while they truly loved each other, they also loved their careers and truly valued what their jobs brought to their lives. In the end, nothing had to be sacrificed for love. I was so relieved that there was none of the "our parents once loved each other so we can never be together" silliness involved in this story! They stayed together in spite of parental objection, broke up in spite of parental support, and reunited in spite of having chosen to follow their own personal paths.

LOVED IT.

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@182 langdon813 -

"They stayed together in spite of parental objection, broke up in spite of parental support, and reunited in spite of having chosen to follow their own personal paths."

That's pretty good analysis and very thoughtful... thoughts (where's my vocab)? I really, really enjoyed DalJa Spring, through-out. It was extremely well-done. And I thought Chae-Rim was such a hoot. Lee Minki... another standout.

I wasn't quite happy with the ending, I think there was some confusion at the end in terms of the writers (honestly, I spent the last 30 mins trying to find where I had read it, but somebody on DB replied back to me and said that the reason why it seemed rushed at the end of DJS was because they were going to go from 22 episodes to 24 episodes (this would be the second extension), but Chae Rim said no, and so they had to hastily end it.). I don't know if that's true, but I still felt a little bit like they ended DJS very abruptly.

BTW, Chae-Rim is currently in a 50 episode drama called Good Job Good Job (잘했군 잘했어!!), and in the beginning, I didn't recognize her at all. She looks incredible, and 10 years younger in Good Job than in DalJa Spring. I am watching it, but so far I am not loving it. The production values are somewhat limited (since it is a 50 episode drama), and the story line is fairly predictable at this point - Chae-Rim as the irrepressible and talented single mom Kang Joo... you can sort of afford to miss an episode here and there and not really lose anything.

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@183, Samsooki

I definitely get what you mean about the ending being rushed, but I've found that to be the case in many of the dramas I've watched. Seems like the last episode always goes at warp speed, especially the really great ones that you don't want to see end in the first place! ;-) I was just happy with where they ended up (and my love for Lee Minki is even stronger).

Chae-Rim really is the cutest thing ever, and I may watch Good Job Good Job one of these days (but wow, what a commitment! 50 eps? Jeez.)

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One more comment, after which I will probably have officially killed this thread: ;-)

I started watching City Hall tonight and just had to come post something somewhere about it! I've read all the comments about getting through the first 3-4 episodes before it starts getting really good, so I was prepared to settle in.

What I wasn't prepared for is that I would fall in love with it before I even finished the first episode!

Kim Sun-ah owns me now. From here on out, please just refer to me as "Kim Sun-ah's Slave for Life".

Now, back to my regularly scheduled programming.

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@ Samsooki

Job Well Done started out interesting.....then the writers went all crazy and makjang (in a not-addictive sort of way)...enough said.

And thanks for the Robotech nostalgia. :D

________

Someone in the Ask Javabeans thread mentioned True Blood, and I had meant to ask if anyone else was watching it. Stephen Moyer's delectable (much more than his Ultraviolet days), and Alan Ball's always up to something good.

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@186, hjkomo

I'm definitely watching True Blood and definitely agree about Stephen Moyer! I'm a big fan of the books and I think all of the casting for the show is pretty spot-on. I'm having to treat them as two entirely different things though, since the show is starting to bear zero resemblance to the books!

Alan Ball is a genius; I still miss Six Feet Under.

2 eps into City Hall, heading into the 3rd!

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@186 hjkomo -

"Job Well Done started out interesting…..then the writers went all crazy and makjang (in a not-addictive sort of way)…enough said.

And thanks for the Robotech nostalgia."

Job Well Done.... I honestly can't figure out any of the characters. They are from Planet Mitchissuh. I love Jung Ae Ri (Temptation of Wife) as Seung Hun's mom and of course Chae Rim rocks, but everybody in this drama is taking crazy pills and I can't understand anyone's motivation.

Ahhhhhh Robotech... first love triangle I ever saw ..... Lisa Hayes, Min Mae and Rick Hunter.... LOL! Robotech should be remade into a Korean drama.

Lisa Hayes .......... played by Han Ga In.
Lynn Min Mei ...... played by mmm.... Yoon Eun Hye.
Rick Hunter ......... played by Yoon Kye Sang.
Roy Fokker .......... played by Hwang Jung Min
Admiral Gloval .... played by Choi Il Hwa

hehe

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LOL. Robotech was probably one of my earliest drama addictions...and I say drama, yes, because it had everything you'd look for. Damn, my brother and I were glued to the TV for all three seasons.

A kdrama remake would be TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

But I'm surprised you wouldn't want Kang Ji Hwan as Rick Hunter. o_O
And how about Son Ye Jin as Claudia?

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Excuse me?

THERE IS A ROBOTECH DISCUSSION AND I AM NOT A PART OF IT?!?!?!

Ahem. Might I direct you all to this? http://www.dramabeans.com/2007/09/excuse-the-squealing-nine-year-old-girl-blame-anime/

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Okay, jumping in the fake-casting thing:

Rick has to be impulsive and reckless and immature, so give it to an idol star like Choi Siwon who would totally go for the selfish starlet before realizing his noona Lisa is where it's at.

Roy has to be older, "bigger" than Rick in maturity and in physical presence, so someone like Yoo Ji-tae.

Lisa has to be believable as the cranky noona and very perfectionist but lonely inside, so she's got to be an older, more seasoned actress like... a really dressed-down Kim Haneul?

Minmei has to be super young, selfish, cute, flighty, love-to-hate her -- so a bubbly idol star like Tae Yeon would be perfect!

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Ah...JB, I remember squeeling when you made that post (but that was back in my lurking days).

Choi Siwon would make an EXCELLENT Rick Hunter!
And I could definitely see Yoo Ji Tae as his older brother...but who would be his Claudia?

Hm...Kim Haneul...lonely inside - yes...but cranky noona? She wasn't really cranky with Kim Jae Won in Romance.
Maybe, Son Ye Jin? I could see her cranky. ;)

Any word on the remake?

You and Samsooki should just write the kdrama version. :D
'Cause who knows when Jajangmyun Space Odyssey's gonna get off the ground... ;)

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hjkomo! oohhhhh, so unfair! :)

i have a Soompi recap project going on, I got Star In My Heart (still only on Ep 3 because I grow tired of the poor orphan girl who gets beaten down by rich step sister in law story line, even if it is the O.G. of story lines), City Hall to finish, Partner to start, Friend: The Legend to start, 2 Outs In The Bottom of the Ninth, a ton of billable hours to make up, I got a wife who wants to go to IKEA but I really don't want to go.....

JB,

Yes, you are right about the casting. I wasn't really thinking too hard about it. Sort of lazy in terms of who I chose. hehe, i apologize for the bad casting, but i still have to say that I adore (present tense) Robotech.

AND I will say, I have the collection of Robotech. It cost ... well, more than I care to admit because there were so many episodes, but it was worth it. When I was sick a few years ago, I had a 3-4 day binge and I just ate slept and watched my series - drove my wife crazy and she decided to go shopping every day as revenge against me taking over the TV.

Robotech really was the original Korean drama series.

It wasn't about robots, or technology, or advanced weaponry (although it had transforming robots that was unbelievably cool). It was about whether warring peoples could find a way to live together. It was about finding peace during war. It was about breaking boundaries between races, among ethnicities. It was about young love, and about mature love, about family and sacrifice and dreams.

Robotech was about finding your identity (remember when Marlene was injured during a battle with the Invid, and she found that her blood was green (meaning that she was actually an Invid) not red, and she was devastated because all of her adult memories were of fighting the Invid and hating them.... and then finding out that she was actually an Invid spy whose mission had to be scrubbed when she lost her memories....) That kind of storyline just BLEW my mind as a kid. It was like they invented mature story lines with transforming robot fighter planes and mecha. I was soooo stunned by that development and I spent days trying to think about what would happen if I was battling the Invid and then I found that my blood was green too? Would I switch sides? Would I still fight against the Invid? Would I just cry and lose my mind? What to think?

....while all other cartoons were like Tom and Jerry, or Smurfs, or even GI Joe (which made no sense) or even Voltron (which made a little more sense, but still, like, so unrealistic), Robotech was dealing with racism, classism, sexism, love triangles, answering questions like who is family, what is the meaning of love, how do we get to peace when everybody wants war. And the OST. And the battle scenes. Can you even compare it against any other cartoon ever?

Robotech was the original korean drama series. I loved it then, I love it now, THIS is why I love korean dramas - it is the same thing.

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Wow, Choi Siwon .... he even looks like Rick Hunter. Great pick.

Yoo Ji-tae, I am not sure. Roy is the "hyung" or "big brother," but doesn't have to be taller or physically larger. He just has to have the personality, the wisdom, the skill, the knowledge, patience, discipline and love to be the older big brother. He's sort of a static character though. Him and Claudia, the template for all happy marriages which end in tragedy as Roy gets mortally wounded in a battle against the Zentradi aliens and chooses to spend his last moments with his wife rather than in a hospital room.

The death scene would be just incredible. Roy, every now and then, wiping blood from his mouth surreptitiously, in the other room, just lightly strumming a Spanish instrumental love song on his beat up guitar while Claudia chats away, talking about this and that, making a pineapple salad (Roy's favorite), and the Roy smiles slightly, tears streaming down his face as he watches Claudia happily making her dish, then Roy's eyes close and the guitar stops, and Claudia doesn't realize it right away.... and then she does.... omg.

Kim Haneul sound about right for Lisa Hayes. She got that lonely insecure perfectionist role down pat.

Oohhh, and Tae Yeon (SNSD) as Minmei .... just about perfect. She has the voice, the moves, the face and personality.

Great choices!!

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Damn. I gotta get me the dvds.
But then, I'd need to find a way to hole myself up for a couple weeks. ;)

Haha...IKEA....avoid it like the plague. :)

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