By the way, that whole diatribe wasn't directed at hjkomo...I was just asking her if Mister X subbed CITC and then I went off on a tangent.

Sorry hjkomo! :-)

@ JB

LOL! It's just that I finished CITC and read samsooki's recap in the same day, which led me to DF to watch the CH scenes again...and was blown away at how bad the subs were. It was like Shakespeare meets See Spot Run...or something.

I actually think Dramafever is a great site, and this is the first time I've ever been disappointed by poor subbing.

@499 langdon813

Ohh, I agree, the DramaFever subs are bad. I only watched a few scenes to see how the subs compare to BON's, but wow. One thing that was upsetting was that they completely disregarded the Hyun Bin reference, of course it'd be hard to explain, but the joke is wasted.

DramaFever

I wasn't going to say this, but my last boyfriend was a real looker.
He used to say that I was tiny and precious like Thumbelina.
"How can you be so adorable?"

BON

I didn't want to say this before, but my ex-boyfriend looks exactly like Hyun Bin. He said that he wanted to put me in his pocket, and carry me around all the time, like Thumbelina. He said how I was so tiny, fragile and cute...

I hope SBS doesn't do the same to the DVD subs.

@ 496 samsooki

Only 11 months? You sound like a pro. :)

@ 497 hjkomo

CitC is only 8 episodes? I can do that in one night! :D Or on the plane ride to Korea. Fantabulous.

@ 498 robotmatsuri

You should start WISFC! The first 2 episodes are all about the adolescent actors. They are brilliant. But of course, Go Soo takes over as soon as he is on screen.

And the hilarious part of it all is that poor Kim Sun-ah's just talking her little head off...and there's nothing happening onscreen. if I had been watching it for the first time I would have been like OMG, what is she SAYING, are you KIDDING me right now? :-(

I know this isn't Dramafever's fault, I feel bad for maligning them, but...man, those subs are just so awful.

Out of curiosity, I just totaled up all of the Kdramas I've finished, and CITC was my 40th. IRIS, Smile, You and WISFC, once completed, will be 41 through 43. I started around the same time samsooki did.

One more hour of IRIS to go...and I'm not in a hurry, because then it'll be over. :-(

@ 506 samsooki

Very well said. I agree and understand that with every language, there are not always English equivalents and vice versa. And the underlying meaning of the word is lost if you try translate things word for word.

Hence, through the power of k-dramas and the wonderful work that the subbers do, I have gained a better understanding of how Koreans converse with one another and also realise that Asian cultures are very similar.

Don't worry about your fobbiness! :D Everyone is a fob when they translate. :)

I'm impressed. This thread sure moves fast!

@cingdoc
Thank you for you words! I also feel the same way. Being here on DB does feel like home :)

CiTC
One more episode to go...will post my thoughts probably on Friday or sometime this weekend...

Reading about Robotech ('tis was before my time since I think the original run was before I was born) made me remember about anime to movie adaptations after reading JB's post on the Robotech movie and the fact that I am WTH about Keanu Reeves playing Spike's role in the Cowboy Bebop adaptation...seriously WTH?

I started watching Otomen (totally marathoned the first 8 episodes when I should've been writing a paper) and started watching Liar Game 2 (ahh...I've missed Shota! I really want to see him an intensely romantic melodrama...actually I wonder how Kurosagi would've turned out if Shota played Kurosaki instead of Yampi....)

All sorts of interesting discussions here and it's already past 500! While I was buried under misc. works for my own business... It's so uninteresting but needed to get done. I have so much respect for all the secretaries in the world.

All the talks about subbing as well. It seems usually, if it's simply conversational translations, it's easier, faster and still able to convey certain degrees of nuances expressed in original languages. Except, I noticed in case of Japanese, because pronouns are skipped very often in conversations(if you are native, it's given and you just know who's what and what's what, Is it like that in Koran as well? It seems they are grammatically similar?), things get translated incorrectly. I was listening/watching Love Revolution(hot guys in their 20th and 30th! ) last night and it's subbed by reputable subbing team. To my surprise, there were noticeable amount of mistakes(thus gets really confusing for viewers, I'm sure).

Anyways, so it's a constant decision making process of how to relay the essence of conversations/ thoughts and so on. Then, when it gets technical, OMG! so much time spent looking everything up and verifying... That's why I had to stop volunteering. My hats off to subbers.

I'm just rambling with my exhausted brain from afternoon worth of office work.

Now back to DJG to sooth my heart...

@ crzycpl

CITC is only 8 episodes long, but the director's cut eps are extended to about 1hr.15min. each...and they are densely packed. If you don't know the history, the early eps may take you longer to watch (I found myself rewinding to really absorb everything). Also, I watched 8 Days before watching CITC and read up on the history, so I was familiar with the story's setting...but when I started CITC, I still found myself reading dramaok's blog recaps & X's reviews, and checking up on the historical references. This is how I watched CITC - I started with eps 1&2....then got busy for a couple weeks....then, finally had a chance to do a marathon - rewatching ep.1 again and then eps 3-7. I would've rewatched ep2 again, but I calculated that I wouldn't have time to finish by morning if I included 2. By 5am, I finished ep.7 (w/o a moment of sleepiness all night), but I decided to go to bed anyways, lest I should get tired during the final episode. The next afternoon, I finished the last ep....and you all know how I was stunned and speechless afterwards (like robotmatsuri).

@ langdon813

Yes, Mister X subbed CITC...and guess who's subbing Chuno? That's right.
I don't know if he (or withs2) will be extending his generosity to Jejoongwon or Dong Yi, but as long as Chuno's covered, I'm happy.

@ Samsooki

I also find that my translations to veer on the literal side...but the more I translate, the more I find that some things shouldn't be translated too literally. Of course, there are words/phrases that should be translated more literally to avoid losing the meaning of original dialogue, but I've found there also those that sound better with English prose in which the content is not lost in translation, either. The more I translate, the more I am noticing the latter. And I agree with JB - good translations should not be more or less meaningful than the original dialogue.

I have no idea how many kdramas I've watched. Maybe, I'll count them later.

Oh, and someone somewhere above talking about Tokyo dogs! Welcome to the club!

Since I missed the real time TV version of it in Tokyo(fell as sleep), I've downloaded it to my hard drive and I'll watch it later tonight!

Oh, another one. I have a question for my fellow Asian OTers. What brand of Jeans do you wear? or which one is your favorite? I, being typical Asian, have flat behind and a big waist line. It's so hard to find a good fit. Plus since i"ve gained some weight, I've moved up on size from 0 to 2... waist is 25? 26? somewhere around there. Any good recommendations? I'll be eagerly await your suggestions. Thanks!

@serendipity/crzycpl -

I'm here till tomorrow and flying out on continental so I fear not the BA strike of evil though everyone is talking about. The snow seemed to have stopped everyone in their tracks though. No one went home and everyone was at the pubs. You could not find s seat anywhere for drinks or food.

@serendipity
" I like hanging out in museums and galleries all day, ducking into warm bookshops in between, and gazing out at London from the top of a double-decker bus, i-pod stuck in my ear."

ok you are really freaking me out NOW. I was on a train going to the outskirts of london for a meeting and looking about the window watching london go by and listening on my ipod to of all songs "Come on Through" the song from "Soulmate." So weird, I really feel like we are doing the same things and thinking the same thing.!!

"You sure you have to go to *meetings* today?!"

I briefly thought of playing hookey and going to the Ritz for afternoon tea but the meeting was pretty important so I went to the meeting but I was thinking the whole time it would be cool to have tea instead with Serendipity and have tea cakes, tea sandwiches, tea of course and talk about kdrama for a few hours in a warm place.

@cingdoc/serendipity/lb_tmi
Totally Loved serendipity's soulmate kdrama and I think we might have the same weird humor. Yes looks like I've finally met my twin. Just wear 1inch lifts in your heels to be a grand total of 5'8 and we can debut as a siamese dancing sideshow.

@celestialorigin -
"Well, you can always get another beautiful scarf at Liberty(my favorite store) on Regent or Selfridges on Oxford St!"

Believe you me, I thought of buying myself an entire wardrobe using the cold weather as an excuse like I did in Italy but I really had no time in my meeting packed day. I also wanted to go to Harrods and do some christmas shopping and check out some chaumet jewlery which is not available in the states but again I had no time :-(

@simplesim
"Still in YB withdrawal mood so here’s some YB trivia from OT#112"

How about "Your not fugly"
Has a certain ring. no?

@hjkomo
I can't see Mr. X subbing Dong Yi since I've heard him complain about PD Lee Byung-hoon's last two dramas on thundie's or somebody's site as well as not being happy w/the casting per say. And the same w/Jejoongwon(though not b/c of the cast or PD)...someone asked him about subs or about WithS2 doing subs...and I think he said he didn't want to deal with SBS possibly cutting the series if it didn't get ratings (similar to Ja Myung Go? Did that air on SBS?) Anyways I could be wrong...but most likely no subs for Dong Yi since his comments on the PD Lee's work after DJG have been pretty harsh (I think he mentions this in the CiTC review too). Definitely a bummer about both, but especially Jejoongwon since it might be really interesting...and WithS2 subs would've been awesome

Agreed. Don't see him subbing Dong Yi unless WithS2 really has nobody willing. I don't think he can take another of Lee Byung-hoon's tourist cosplay trendies (which I love!!!!)

(I uhhhh actually love PD LBH. His visual style and relaxed approach to scenes. Also, Yi San has one of my all-time favorite sageuk soundtracks -- it's like Sangdo, part 2 . Can't wait for Dong Yi!! :D )

(similar to Ja Myung Go? Did that air on SBS?)"

Yeah, but Ja Myung Go had to be cut. Foolish to hemorrhage money over a 50-episode sageuk with single digit ratings, unless you really believe in it as art (see MBC sticking behind Shin Don.) I fully supported SBS's move.

It would be a big strain for anybody to sub two concurrently running sageuks. Chuno is the big fish.

@belleza
True about the Ja Myung Go and spending money on it would have been a bad business decision technically, though I haven't seen JMG so can't comment on the quality...but Shin Don is considered one of the best sageuks in recent times according to him and so I can see why he wouldn't want to do a drama by a network that wouldn't stand behind the series even with low ratings.

Though doing two long sageuks at a time would also be painful. Am glad Chuno is the one getting subbed. And I'm sure since PD Lee is popular enough that Dong Yi will get subbed somehow...Jejoongwoon might not but maybe it'll be picked up by people on viikii or somebody at d-addicts. Or if it's good enough and if there's interest, it could get picked up by WithS2 later like Tamna

hi again fellow OT-ers, just return to work after 1 day rest (well, not really resting coz i went to get a haircut yesterday :P), still a bit dizzy, but sooo much work to be done!!

@QSD, one of my local channel also had QSD, dubbed in Bahasa, Ducky's dubbing voice is as bland as LYW herself, lol... but apparently, many parents love this show, my parents never missed an episode... for working people, it's nearly impossible to watched it on TV coz almost all of us still working or still caught in traffic, so only old people or students can watched it...

@515 celestialorigin,
sorry i can't help you with the jeans thing, coz although i'm asian, all women in my family inherit big butts and waist line, lol... what brand have you tried?? Or you could look up for a great tailor and made one just fit you nicely, there are many jeans tailor in my country, you can design your own style with them, but you still need to look for a good quality one...

"why he wouldn’t want to do a drama by a network that wouldn’t stand behind the series even with low ratings. "

SBS tends to be 3rd wheel when it comes to sageuks. Still rare that you see a SBS sageuk or fusion-sageuk come out with blockbuster ratings, even though they're usually 1st in everything else. That Iljimae did as well as it did reflects Lee Jung Ki's star power.

My bias is toward Jejoongwon. It should be SBS's 2009 Painter of the Wind, the best SBS show of the year. That they've gone out of their way to move into the new timeslot demonstrates their willingness to protect this property. Give them a lot of credit for that.

I was wondering about the quality of subs on official boxsets. Are most like the official City Hall subs on DF? I would have missed the whole Hyun Bin convo because I decide to watch the CH in HQ on DF instead of on AZVN (figures it would be that one episode), thank God for samsookie's recaps! I'm ordering the YB d-cut whether or not the subs the best, but I'm just curious...

@ 515 celestialorigin

Hi sweetie, for the lovely Asian woman of petite stature (I'm assuming you are under 5'3"), I recommend the Joe's Jeans Provocateur style (it comes is a variety of washes).

http://www.joesjeans.com/shop/product.php?productid=630&cat=2

If you are normal sized instead of elf-sized like me, I would go with the Socialite cut, also by Joe's. JJ is the best branded jeans on the market IMHO, with a style for every shape.

You can find great deals on ebay or on sale at Nordstroms. Happy jean shopping! And no, I don't work for them, I really do love their jeans, and I have an absolute jeans fetish to go with my shoe fetish, handbag fetish, chocolate fetish,....well, you get the picture.

@belleza
And I agree that trendy sageuks are fun...and I loved DJG! As long as PD Lee stays away from what happened with QSD, I'll keep watching. Besides I kind of *heart* JJH in sageuks...he really is attractive as a naueri. But I feel ambivalent towards Han Hyo-joo. Yes all her dramas have been a hit, but for some reason I'm just not that impressed. In Brillant Legacy, I thought she did a decent job but felt she was overshadowed by Moon Chae-won, who I thought did an awesome job as Seung-mi. And I'm looking forward to see Kim Kang-woo again in a drama. I kind of feel the same way about Jejoongwon, ambivalent towards Han Hye-jin, but looking forward to seeing Park Yong-woo. Chuno on the other hand, excited about everything :)

@belleza
On Iljimae---I really really tried to like it, but just couldn't get through the first couple of episodes. Lee Junki's star power is impressive stuff, because that's the only thing that can explain why the ratings were so high. It was seriously agonizing to watch (and as much as I love LJK...Iljimae is definitely not his best work). Painter of the Wind I still have to see...maybe over the holidays.

"But I feel ambivalent towards Han Hyo-joo. Yes all her dramas have been a hit, but for some reason I’m just not that impressed."

I like Han Hyo Joo a lot, but I mostly prefer her film work. Her weakness is that she doesn't have a strong relationship with the camera, so she can't simply convey subtle feelings through facial expression; she has to emote it through body language, line delivery, etc. (It's just something a lot of actresses have or don't have.) However, her strength is that she's at heart a method actress. She wants to really get into the head of her characters, and she wants to create something internal. She's the most melancholy, misfit-ish of her peers, and she's great at locating that in each role. I don't think she's ready to carry a real sageuk.

Moon Chae Won's kinda the opposite. Her relationship with the camera is so strong that I've often said she looks like Kim Hee Sun, but her eyes burn and linger like So Ji Sup's. And she's great at brooding, which she did to nice effect in Painter of the Wind and Brilliant Legacy. However, at this point in her career, she's still a bit raw at interpreting character, which reflects her current experience. The talent is definitely there, and I'm glad she hasn't been pushed into a lead role yet.

"On Iljimae—I really really tried to like it, but just couldn’t get through the first couple of episodes."

Yeah, I was kinda like that with Hong Gil Dong. I ended up enjoying Iljimae more, because I started to treat it as the sageuk version of Batman. As in 1960s Batman. nanananana!! If Batman was played by Naruto. :D

@ ockoala

How is A New History of Korea? Have you started reading it?

You once mentioned going to the Discovery Museum. How is that? Is it different from the Discovery Science Center?

I'm still thinking of ideas for next week. We're already going to see The Grinch Musical...and maybe ice skating at Anaheim Ice (care to join us?). Any other ideas?

As in 1960s Batman. nanananana!! If Batman was played by Naruto.

Now that's a thought I should've had when I was watching it :) Well if there's ever a Naruto kdrama version we all know who should be cast as Naruto...

The talent is definitely there, and I’m glad she hasn’t been pushed into a lead role yet.

Yeah, I agree with that. Hmm, who does she remind me of? Maybe JGS in HGD? Not sure

For me, I liked the secondary leads acting over the main leads in BL, but I still loved the Eun-sung/Hwannie story and both HHJ and LSK were cute, especially all the awkwardness! But b/t Bae Soo-bin, Moon Chae-won, the actress that played the stepmother, the grandmother, and even the boy who played Eun-woo (he was really good), the main leads felt a bit underwhelming in comparison at times.

@520 bbm

You are the lucky one... Where do you live? Thank you so much anyway. I wish I can fly over there and have them ordered, right now. In the meantime,

@523 ockoala

Thank you! I'll go to Nordstroms and see the fit. Yes, I'm just about 5'3''. It'll be nice to be able to wear something complements my overall flat everywhere figure...

Now, where can I watch Conspiracy in the court,please? Sorry, it's somewhere in OT, I recall... With this many comments lately, it gets a lot more difficult to search for it... I'm about to break "one K drama at a time for now" rule and do 2 K-dramas at a time since I've been working so hard... So, then, Iris, it should be... Episode 10, here I come!

@celestialorigin
If you want to d/l then you can get the files from aja-aja.com with subtitles from withs2.com or if you want to watch it streaming, you can watch it on http://www.aznv.tv

Hope this helps!

@ hjkomo

I read the title of Chapter 1: The Communal Societies of Prehistoric Times. Sounds like a Family Outing episode. ;-)

I soompied you. I am operating of fumes and sheer mommy will power right now, so sorry if I'm not my usual chatty self. Miss you all crazy peoples, and serendipity and nycgrl in London, my fave city, soooooo sending you two lingering glances from across the pond.

@ momosan
"I have no idea how any of you marathoned this thing."

Well, I just couldn't stop. It is THE CRACK. I don't even think I stopped for water.

@ celestialorigin

streaming - http://aznv.tv
download - http://aja-aja.com/regular/conspiracy-in-the-court

oops, Taohua already got it.

@531 Taohua @533 hjkomo

Thank you! Thank you!
aznv. Oh, I have to get my laptop out for this since my desktop is vista...

I'll check aja-aja.com as well. Are all files in the same name?

@334

belleza, you are so right! You hit everything spot on with your comments and I just love reading them. *joins belleza fanclub* The only reason I even watched Full House (on fastforward) was because of Rain's NPWs. Everytime I was about to drop that drama he'd flash his smile and I'd be sucked in for another good hour...

I just finished watching Bad Family (wonderfully addictive), and was wondering if anyone could tell me the title and musician who play that song "I love my brother, I love my sister..." followed by some rapping.

@503 crzycpl

I gave in and just finished the 3rd episode of WISFC, with the help of JB's recap. I like it so far and I can't wait for more subs to come out... thanks for the push~ :D

@ nycgrl

Argh! Damn. How fun it would have been to meet for tea and talk k-drama! Some place warm, as you say.

When I was preparing for my trip to London, I wondered about my ipod selection. I usually listen to Asian pop music when I travel (thanks, JB! You've smoothed over many an annoying airport layover for me!). I thought that might be weird in London, so I uploaded more high-brow culturally-appropriate stuff, e.g., Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. But you know what. K-pop works just fine, even in the V&A!

Well, since we can't meet (Damn, again) we'll just have to continue to do this virtually. I've only been on OT for a couple of months, so I don't have a complete picture of everyone and what they like or what they are like, yet. I'll start, and talk about myself, as we do, in k-drama terms:

I've been thinking about what I like in my k-drama (which I've been watching for a mere two years). Pace is quite important. Decent acting and plot, of course. A sense of humour helps (though is not essential - my favourite is probably Mawang/Devil, which is not at all funny). I don't cope well with stupid. Suspense, the realistic, fear-inducing type, is good (see Mawang - I was gripped by its sense of doom). And I find logic failure hard to forgive - not impossible, but hard.

I'll not mention my more normal preferences, e.g. enjoying the Hong Sisters and loving MNIKSS. But I'll put myself out on a limb and confess my more controversial opinions:- I didn't like Dal Ja's Spring much. I thought Coffee Prince was just ok. For all its logic-fail and bad acting I have a soft spot for Goong - I think its artistic sensibilities and sense of yearning got to me. I never managed Winter Sonata, and couldn't stand A Love to Kill. I liked Soulmate, but felt it was a bit pretentious; and in the end it didn't get to me as much as, say, Last Scandal of My Life (a whole lot less pretentious) did. I thought The Return of Iljimae was beautiful and well-done and all that - but while watching it I often felt bored. Oh, what a lot of confession! Don't stone me, please, everyone!

@serendipity

Can't reply in detail since have to run off to a breakfast meeting but we have very similar tastes except for Goong (disliked) and add Resurrection as my favorite and mawang as my #2. Soulmate I liked but didn't love. I had problems with plot devicest and the lead actress though I liked her better in lawyers of korea.

I fly back home today after some meetings so see all of you back when I get home in NYC. I know I'll get teary when I see the NYC skyline.

@Taohua,

"But b/t Bae Soo-bin"

Bae Soo-bin entered into the Hall of Oppa Fame for his performance in Brilliant Legacy. While he didn't get the girl, he was rewarded with his domestic James Bond turn in Angel of Temptation.

Letting this sexy beast be sexy. Is unfair. He had me at first glare. Sigh.

"Hmm, who does she remind me of? Maybe JGS in HGD? Not sure"

Yeah . . . in a bad way. It started coming up during My Fair Lady, but I think Moon Chae Won defaults into a kind of frown/scowl (much like Jang Geon Suk pretty much everything after Hwang Jini) without maybe realizing it. It's what I call the Tom Cruise Scientology gaze. :D

Favorite MCW bit in BL happened with the 1st or 2nd episode. She's watching Han Hyo Joo move out, and there's this intense realization that her family as she kniw it has just been torn asunder.

Dear all OT-ers,
i was wondering if any of you could help me... this is no drama related, so please excuse the foolishness
me and my sister is a bit confused with the word 하나 and 일, they were both stand for 1 (one) in korean right?? but why is there 2 words representing one?? or are they for different use??

Dear Santa,

Can I have a half-naked Go Soo in my stocking this Christmas? Pretty please?

I'll even bake you a pie, an apple pie!

Poor Bidam ,
This Belleza

OMG. First 5 minutes of Episode 5. Go Soo. Eyes. Marry. Me . . .

@belleza

I agree with everything you said, except I want Cha Seung Won or Gong Yoo in my stocking. lol. Darn, I'm going to need some huge stockings. ;)

And the beginning of episode 5! Oh my heart...

so 하나, 둘, 셋 are the pure korean word, but i never heard them said these besides on the start of a race or something like that
and if i want to say 81 in korean, would that mean 팔십일, not 팔십하나??
yes the 하나, 둘, 셋 vs 일, 이, 삼 is the one that make me confused...
i get the 일, 이, 삼 from XMan, mind you... :P
Sorry if i sound so dumb, and thank you for the explanation JB...

@ bbm

Yes, the different counting methods are used for different purposes.

An unusual mix of the two occurs when you tell time -
the hours are stated in 하나, 둘, 셋...
whereas the minutes are stated in 일, 이, 삼.

@ JB

Isn't the 하나, 둘, 셋 method generally used for age? I don't think I've ever heard it the other way.

@JB, hjkomo...
oo... thank you for eplaining. so it's different method for different use...

(still cofused though, i need to learn more)

tomorrow (friday) is a holiday in my country, so it's a long weekend for some, but not for me, i still have to work on saturday TT

Another trip down memory lane. Move over Harry Hamlin...

Clash of the Titans trailer -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hmu8pcDBpI

Oh, and here's a new Chuno teaser -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seXHP99mxrQ

@ bbm

If you wanted to use the 일, 이, 삼 way to say 81, you would use 팔십일, not 팔십하나.

일(il =1), 이(yi=2), 삼(sam= 3), 사(sa=4), 오(oh=5), 육(yook=6), 칠(chil=7), 팔(pal=8), 구(gu=9), 십(ship=10)

so, 81 would be 팔십일 pal-ship-il -> (8 10's +1)