![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rodoSo, I’ve been watching dorama again. This isn’t the first time, but this time I’ve actually managed to finish more than one series because I didn’t have to rely on my ex-flatmate to supply me with new material. She always gave up on everything after the first couple of episodes. Memory like a goldfish, attention span of a fly.
Anyway, after a few tries, I found out what I disliked about the dorama that I watched a few years ago. Many have love triangles or – if the authors feel like it – love dodecahedrons, and for some reason I almost always dislike the main guy that eventually ends up getting the girl. The second male lead is nice, far more attractive and really awesome, while the male main character is an asshole that treats the female main character like shit. Yeah, not so much my thing. Some series can make it work for me, but most can’t. I don’t think I’m the only one with this problem, so here are a few dorama recs from me:
1. Coffee Prince. I know almost everyone will have seen it by now, but I rewatched it and still love it, so I’ll rec it for those who haven’t seen it yet. Go Eun Chan pretends to be a boy to work at a coffee shop with an all male staff to support her family. The manager Choi Han Kyul doesn’t really like her to begin with, but they soon become friends – until Han Kyul finds that he’s more attracted to his “male” friend than he should be, while still struggling with his love for his cousin’s girlfriend. What makes this dorama awesome instead of good is, in my opinion, mostly the supporting cast: the other princes and Eun Chan’s and Han Kyul’s families. Each character has his or her own story and the series does tell them all.
2. Hong Gil Dong. Hong Gil Dong is the illegitimate son of a noble, who always told him to do nothing despite his talent, so he did nothing. Heo Yi Nok – the perpetually hungry and slightly stupid granddaughter of a medicine peddler – just arrived on a ship from China. Chang Hwi was on the same ship and he came back to Joseon to fight his brother for the throne. Together they try to change the world around them and fight injustice – Gil Dong by becoming a Korean Robin Hood of sorts. A warning, though: the series goes through a major tonal shift, heaps intrigue upon intrigue and while that is part of what makes it great, it can be a bit depressing at times, while the comedy might be annoying at others.
3. Powerful Opponents. You really should give this one a shot. At first it seems like a normal one-girl-two-guys set-up: Cha Young Jin comes from a family of deadbeat men. Nevertheless, she managed to become a presidential bodyguard. In training, she met Yoo Gwang Pil and it was hate on first sight. Together, they are assigned to protect Kang Su Ho, the son of the president, whose only hobbies are getting in trouble and annoying his bodyguards. And to top it off, Young Jin has to deal with the prior rivalry and resentment between the two and their developing love for her, while the secrets that they kept for years slowly begin to unravel. This series really didn’t end like I expected, which makes it all the better. To spoil you: Neither of the guys gets the girl (who instead chose her career for the moment) and the two former rivals raise a daughter together!
4. Strongest Chil Woo. First of all, this series is silly. The costumes, the music and some of the plots are really rather silly. However, I find all the main characters really loveable and the case focussed episodes are good for a change. In fact, this series is a lot of fun, which it failed to advertise properly. The main character, Chil Woo, has been through a lot in his life, so when his sister is murdered, he avenges her death and becomes an assassin who helps to bring justice to the poor. It reminded me of Zorro – for obvious and less obvious reasons – but it also has elements common in other historical K-dramas.
5. Sungkyunkwan Scandal. I already mentioned this one and said it is adorable. It truly is. The plot: Kim Yoon Hee pretends to be her brother to enter Sungkyunkwan University. There, she meets the idealistic Lee Sun Joon, the loner Moon Jae Shin and the flamboyant Goo Yong Ha. From there on it’s mostly like a pre-modern high school story with added kings and conspiracies. I do like the second male lead more, but in this series they made it work. And as a consolation prize for the slashers: if I remember correctly, the third guy admitted to having a crush on him, although knowing Goo Yong Ha, he might have lied. You never know with him.
Anyway, after a few tries, I found out what I disliked about the dorama that I watched a few years ago. Many have love triangles or – if the authors feel like it – love dodecahedrons, and for some reason I almost always dislike the main guy that eventually ends up getting the girl. The second male lead is nice, far more attractive and really awesome, while the male main character is an asshole that treats the female main character like shit. Yeah, not so much my thing. Some series can make it work for me, but most can’t. I don’t think I’m the only one with this problem, so here are a few dorama recs from me:
1. Coffee Prince. I know almost everyone will have seen it by now, but I rewatched it and still love it, so I’ll rec it for those who haven’t seen it yet. Go Eun Chan pretends to be a boy to work at a coffee shop with an all male staff to support her family. The manager Choi Han Kyul doesn’t really like her to begin with, but they soon become friends – until Han Kyul finds that he’s more attracted to his “male” friend than he should be, while still struggling with his love for his cousin’s girlfriend. What makes this dorama awesome instead of good is, in my opinion, mostly the supporting cast: the other princes and Eun Chan’s and Han Kyul’s families. Each character has his or her own story and the series does tell them all.
2. Hong Gil Dong. Hong Gil Dong is the illegitimate son of a noble, who always told him to do nothing despite his talent, so he did nothing. Heo Yi Nok – the perpetually hungry and slightly stupid granddaughter of a medicine peddler – just arrived on a ship from China. Chang Hwi was on the same ship and he came back to Joseon to fight his brother for the throne. Together they try to change the world around them and fight injustice – Gil Dong by becoming a Korean Robin Hood of sorts. A warning, though: the series goes through a major tonal shift, heaps intrigue upon intrigue and while that is part of what makes it great, it can be a bit depressing at times, while the comedy might be annoying at others.
3. Powerful Opponents. You really should give this one a shot. At first it seems like a normal one-girl-two-guys set-up: Cha Young Jin comes from a family of deadbeat men. Nevertheless, she managed to become a presidential bodyguard. In training, she met Yoo Gwang Pil and it was hate on first sight. Together, they are assigned to protect Kang Su Ho, the son of the president, whose only hobbies are getting in trouble and annoying his bodyguards. And to top it off, Young Jin has to deal with the prior rivalry and resentment between the two and their developing love for her, while the secrets that they kept for years slowly begin to unravel. This series really didn’t end like I expected, which makes it all the better. To spoil you: Neither of the guys gets the girl (who instead chose her career for the moment) and the two former rivals raise a daughter together!
4. Strongest Chil Woo. First of all, this series is silly. The costumes, the music and some of the plots are really rather silly. However, I find all the main characters really loveable and the case focussed episodes are good for a change. In fact, this series is a lot of fun, which it failed to advertise properly. The main character, Chil Woo, has been through a lot in his life, so when his sister is murdered, he avenges her death and becomes an assassin who helps to bring justice to the poor. It reminded me of Zorro – for obvious and less obvious reasons – but it also has elements common in other historical K-dramas.
5. Sungkyunkwan Scandal. I already mentioned this one and said it is adorable. It truly is. The plot: Kim Yoon Hee pretends to be her brother to enter Sungkyunkwan University. There, she meets the idealistic Lee Sun Joon, the loner Moon Jae Shin and the flamboyant Goo Yong Ha. From there on it’s mostly like a pre-modern high school story with added kings and conspiracies. I do like the second male lead more, but in this series they made it work. And as a consolation prize for the slashers: if I remember correctly, the third guy admitted to having a crush on him, although knowing Goo Yong Ha, he might have lied. You never know with him.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 03:47 pm (UTC)Now I think I'm going to scurry off to put Sungkyunkwan Scandal on my watch list, to finish before the end of June. *waves*
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 11:41 am (UTC)Sungkyunkwan Scandal is very adorable. I couldn't stop watching once I had started. Just as a warning.