This week’s 5 Things comes to you all en route to my family’s annual summer camping trip. With my current addiction to City Hunter and You’ve Fallen For Me if our camping spot doesn’t have any internet access… it’s not gonna be pretty. The Boy who would be King, in the fields with 1N2D, in the rain at the 20’s, a grasshopper gets a cone, and This girl is really cool. These are the 5 Things that happened in Kpop last week that I think were a little bit more special than the rest.
The Boy who would be King
He immediately stole the show as soon as appeared on screen, Lee Hyun-jin‘ s portrayal as Hyun Ki-young, the talented musical actor hopeful whose stage fright led to him to give up on his dreams. Good for him that his former teacher Seok-hyun (Song Chang-ui) and friend Lee Soo-myung (Jang Seo-won) won’t let him give up. Check this out.
Oooh, chicken skin (Hawaiian way of saying goose bumps inducing). Ki-young‘s story is playing out to be a nice little side line to the main love story of Shin and Kyu-won, I hope it doesn’t just fizzle out.
You’ve Fallen For Me isn’t perfect, but you know sometimes there’s just something about a Kdrama that makes it okay even still? That’s You’ve Fallen For Me to me- it all just works somehow. Also, I’ve never been such a fan of Post-it notes until now.
Ah, the things we do for love.
In the fields with 1N2D
I’m a big Kvariety show fan and although I tend to be in the Yoo Jae-suk camp, I also like Kang Ho-dong and try to watch 1N2D when I can. I really enjoyed this week’s episode which started off as a nice celebratory luncheon for the show’s 200th episode. Of course nothing is as easy as a relaxing lunch on 1N2D and the boys quickly find out that everything isn’t as it seems (if it were me, I would have wolfed down the food as fast as possible, come on guys!). One by one, the boys get extracted from their party and sent out to the fields to work.
It was really just a simple episode, but what I enjoyed about it is the earnestness and appreciation that the cast and crew showed while working in the fields with the halmonis and harabajis. Although they are Korean variety super stars, Lee Seung-gi, Kim Jong-min, Eun Ji-won, Lee Su-geun, Uhm Tae-woong, and Kang Ho-dong took their assignments seriously and it showed the respect and appreciation they have for these hard working farmers.
I also enjoyed seeing them interact with the farmers and enjoy having a humble meal with them and the fruits of their labors.
I know it could all be an act, but it didn’t feel that way. 1N2D promises us “Real wild road variety,” right?
In the rain at the 20’s
Everyone at the Mnet 20’s Choice Awards that stuck it out through the rain deserves an award, but no matter what the show must go on, right? The Greatest Love showed it’s impact with Cha Seung-won and Gong Hyo-jin both winning two awards making them the big winners of the night along with f(x). Loved the white ukulele awards although they kind of reminded me of the toy type they sell at the swap meet here.
There were some great performances at the awards show including the first live performance of M&D, Heechul and Jungmo‘s special project with the song “Close Your Mouth.”
My favorite performance Kim Hyun-joong‘s performance of “Break Down”- it had to be one of his BEST EVER, even though I don’t care for the song.
Please excuse me for my most superficial of 5 Things, but the boy is FINE. It happens to the best of us.
A grasshopper gets a cone
As I’ve said many times before, Yoo Jae-suk is one of my fave Korean celebrities- he just seems like a really great person. And, he always works hard and is just so dang funny. The second episode of Running Man in Thailand aired last week and it was another entertaining watch. My fave bit of the show… when Jae-suk stopped for an ice cream cone.
Ah, I can always count on Yoo Jae-suk for a good laugh although technically he wasn’t the one being funny. His love of ice cream has also made me addicted to those Jaws bars (a type of Korean popsicle) he always ate on Family Outing. They’re so good and whenever I go to one of the Korean markets here I just have to buy one.
This girl is really cool
Kim Nana of City Hunter has got to be my Kdrama heroine of choice. Tough, honest, and fearless when it comes to expressing her love. I just love how she keeps telling Yoon-sung how much she likes him- catching him off guard all the time. Her coolest speech so far when they get back from the market after their run in with psycho dad, his motorcycle, and his gun. Yoon-sung is pissed about the situation and the fact that they fought in the car when he told her that he would protect ahjushhi, his mom and Nana and she told him to promise her to not protect her again because she hates it when he is in danger because of her. They get home and she confronts him in his bedroom and he tells her how could he ignore it if she was in danger and she says this:
I know better than anyone that each day is hard for you, and that you’re in pain. How can I just lean on you? How can I ask that you protect me too? I’m going to become someone that you can lean on. I’m going to become stronger. So that I can protect you… Just now, you thought, ” This girl is really cool” right?… Right now, you just thought, “I have pretty good taste in girls” right?*
That’s not all, she even goes to confront psycho dad who of course doesn’t fail to be totally terrifying, but she doesn’t even flinch.
I still think that Park Min-young is doing a great job as Nana, but again it could be my rose colored glasses. And this, this is why Lee Min-ho should be winning some awards later this year.
Although I don’t mention them much, the rest of the cast have also been doing a stellar job, especially Kim Sang-jung (psycho dad), Lee Jun-hyuk (Prosecutor Kim Young-ju), and Kim Sang-ho (Shik-joong ahjusshi). I also think the direction and cinematography of the drama are excellent. I already got City Hunter down on my list of best Kdramas of 2011, and so far… it’s at the top of that list.
Those were the 5 things that I LOVED in Kpop last week, were they yours?
(MyStarNews, LiveKPopHD, reilasj2,*translations from the Perverts @Viki)
