Real Clothes is good.

Dae jang geum is addictive. I'm worried if I'll be up till tomorrow morinig with another DVD having arrived.

Oops, my edit in post #100 was placed before the last line.
The NyQuil effects pertained to my strange JWS dream.

And, of course, like cingdoc predicted...
I must comment on Samsooki's claim that he's "waaaaaaaay weirder today than normal" ->
Samsooki, who are you trying to fool???? o_O

@fizzle,

"Alone in Love is FANTASTIC. I have nothing but good things to say about that drama."

It's a genuinely, genuinely great drama. But most ardent AIL fans kinda miss the real genius of the show, because they don't fully understand the source material.

Son Ye Jin's character has undiagnosed depression. Alone in Love is about living with it.

If you rewatch the show with that knowledge (it's like the movie "Sideways" -- the lead character is a alcoholic but it's never mentioned in the show), a lot of what she says (and the difficult nature of their relationship and her family) becomes brilliantly clarified.

@hjkomo,

"The NyQuil effects pertained to my strange JWS dream."

hjkomo loves the sizzurrup? :D

@200 hjkomo

AND ockoala (in post #124) left out an important subset of the BORA MUST DIE!!! faction -> those who feel Bora cannot and should not be save because ,i>the drama itself could not be saved.

Yep, yep!

and some delayed responses...

@115 Samsooki

LMAO!

@169 langdon813

Whoa, I'm convinced that I haveta see the movie!

@196 cingdoc

What is CITC, please?

@152 Yen

Kyaaah, Kawaiii!

@celestialorigin,

Hey celeste -- where you in Dae Jang Geum? Is she studying under Madame Han yet? Isn't she like the greatest mom ever? :D

"What is CITC, please?"

Conspiracy in the Court. Rated the best K-drama of 2007 in a formal critics poll, ahead of White Tower.

@ belleza
"hjkomo loves the sizzurrup?"

Gelcaps, baby. I'd rather drink bad wine than the sizzurrup. No wait, do I really have to choose? Bad wine vs. sizzurrup.....oh, hell, just throw me off a cliff instead.

@ celestialorigin

CITC is short for Conspiracy In The Court. PD Kwak Jung Hwan's brilliant 8-part fusion sageuk set during King Jeongjo's (Yi San's) reign. His next work is....
CHUNO :D

Oops, This Belleza's too quick for me. ;)

CITC may have been the last time Mr. X was not grumpy. That's worthy of recommendation alone. ;)

@205 belleza, @206 hjkomo

Thank you both for your timely answers.

Dae Jang Geum, I'm on Ep.11. Yes, Madame Han is like a mother hen to Jang Geum and I'm loving witnessing it. BTW, all the treacheries, back stabbing and commotions going around in the court make me want to get away from it and here I am. I don't know how they could live in that kind of environment.

So now, Conspiracy in the court is added to my list as well.

i'm currently watching HONG GIL DONG...i know i'm late but GOD jgs know how to rock LONG HAIR...

gah....can't get enough of him
JGS=love!!!!!!

hey i'm still about the GLEE thing..it's worth a watch

"BTW, all the treacheries, back stabbing and commotions going around in the court make me want to get away from it and here I am"

Welcome to the wonderful world of court intrigue. Before sageuks, This Belleza loved flowers. After . . .well, BORA MUST DIE. :D

Adore Madame Han and Jang Geum. Almost made me like filial piety. Almost. ;)

All,
if any kind soul knows where to download CITC (with subs preferably), i'll be most grateful... i tried everywhere, i just couldn't find it... i need my Jin Yi Ha... :P

And all the Jang Geum talk reminded me i have to download another 48 episodes of JITP... PATIENCE!!!

"And all the Jang Geum talk reminded me i have to download another 48 episodes of JITP… PATIENCE!!!"

I think why I love Jang Geum so much is that the show is really ALL about a mother's love. In particular, an [I]Asian[/I] mother's love. It's like the Joy Luck Club of sageuks. ;)

@ bbm

You can download the Director's Cut of CitC at
http://aja-aja.com/regular/conspiracy-in-the-court

with subs by Mr. X at withs2.com

Enjoy! :D

@ samsooki

you seem to be slowly gaining followers for your Save Bora!! faction :)

@ langdon813

"And last but by NO means least, TOP, who rivals The Voice for being the vocal equivalent of a hot fudge sundae."

i love hot fudge sundaes. and MY TOP is one deliciously addictive dessert. did i mention... i loooove dessert? :P more please, kthx.

has anybody seen TOP's new CF for the LG Cyon Crystal? i love the way he says 'Cyon Crystal'. oh yeaaaa. smex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf2oBjZTPsc

@210 belleza

Almost made me like filial piety. Almost.

Why almost?

@212 belleza

Yeah... my mom raised my son for 2 years while I was in college... Boy, I'm suddenly reminded of this, not that I'd ever forget it or anything...

DJG's hook on me was that arc on the duck. It was around this time of the year back then, and I was delegated to bake a duck a l'orange for Christmas dinner, and I could not take my eyes off how they prepare for that duck battle, totally smittened, I was this close to just follow it as a recipe. I think it was ep 30ish by then already, I marathoned all the prior episodes in record time.
I miss Madame Jeong, the character really reminded me of the all-anchoring grandmas, not too physically affectionate, but strong and all-knowing... (RIP).

and speaking of duck......BORA MUST DIE!! Seriously all SQ lovers, u had watched and enjoyed ep14 right?! And u fondly rem u were watching a K MELODRAMA, huh?! When our BORA was all sweet and WORKING (at a boutique as a salesgirl) there's no bigger 'uh-oh... BORA MUST DIE.. sobsobsob'

@214 lovenyc52

OMG! He's soooo hot. I can't believe I can get this excited about a CF... My bed time coming up soon...

@hjkomo, thank you thank you thak you...
i've looked at the files, OMO... 1.29 GB!!! MU files!!! i don't have MU premium, so i'll have 1 ep downloaded in maybe... one whole day??!! well, worth the wait for my Jin Yi Ha... i'll just harvesting my farmville while waiting for the download to finish :P

@DJG mommy love, i have to remember to call my mother tonight...

@BORA factions, seriously people, you all make me LOLed for the past... ermm... 4 hours re-reading last week OT

@celestialorigin,

"Why almost?"

The American side of me rejects it as a source of great emotional pain during adolescence/high school. It's just that rite of passage every 2nd generation Asian American goes through, trying to fulfill their parent's wishes as well as find themselves and their own happiness. For some, it can be painful and scarring in a way that, well, suburban white folk can never really understand. It's partially why Asian Americans have the highest suicide rate among all Americans, even though as a demographic, AAs are affluent and well-educated.

However, the Asian side of me says that filial piety is also a great source of love, incredible humble love. And that is where Jang Geum comes in. The reason why DJG become such a monster, monster hit in China/Taiwan/HK is due to its beautiful, beautiful expression of filial piety. Jang Geum is the "Perfect Chinese Daughter", and Madame Han (who's more popular in China than Jang Geum) represents all the all-suffering, all-patient, stern but loving virtues that all Chinese moms aspire to have. Dae Jang Geum shakes my Chinese core in a way no other Asian show really touches. I just go into goo over this show. :D

(And I mean this honestly -- that show did wonders for me working out old issues with parents. I mean, it's like now I understood how much my mum loved me from this single bloody show!! And, yeah, Dae Jang Geum is my mum's favorite show of all time, be it Chinese or Korean.)

The reason why I love K-dramas is that the majority of them are based around family (and often familial bonds are a source of great misery as well as humor in K-drama), and because aspects of Confucianism (albeit Korean Confucianism) is almost always there in the background. It's just there, often dormant but still affecting, and how it influences your romantic views is just there too.

@ 179 kgrl:

Hmm...
1. Awesome lead acting and chemistry
2. Devoid of cliches (i.e. 9 Ends 2 Outs, Smile You, etc.)
3. Non-melodramatic (no AC, TOAA or LY1000x please)
4. Something I can marathon within 2 days

I'd recommend Que Sera Sera and the japanese HYD.

@219 belleza

Thank you for sharing this with me and others on OT.

The American side of me rejects it as a source of great emotional pain during adolescence/high school. It’s just that rite of passage every 2nd generation Asian American goes through, trying to fulfill their parent’s wishes as well as find themselves and their own happiness. For some, it can be painful and scarring in a way that, well, suburban white folk can never really understand. It’s partially why Asian Americans have the highest suicide rate among all Americans, even though as a demographic, AAs are affluent and well-educated.

Above part reminded me of my son and his journey. Re-membering who you really are itself is a life lesson, isn't it? I have to respect his independence/individuality and be here when he chooses to seek assistance... Believe me, it's not for an Asian mom to hold back... I'm learning...

For me, when my son was born, suddenly I realized my parents had lived only for their kids. All their dreams and hopes were for us, and not really for themselves.

I don't know I'm just going off the tangent, Your writing brought tears to my eyes... Yeah, it's past my bed time, I'd better get some sleep.

@celestialorigin,

"For me, when my son was born, suddenly I realized my parents had lived only for their kids. All their dreams and hopes were for us, and not really for themselves."

And, see, Jang Geum speaks to that too. There's some anguished and retiring in Madame Han, which only finds release as she grows to love Jang Geum as her own surrogate daughter.

And not just them, but the other surrogate mother-daughter relationships in the show. The palace is a deeply, deeply lonely world. Even the villains in the show only have each other; they inherit the hopes of the women before them; they pass the hopes of the children ahead of them. Such is the eternal chain of love, which transcends death (and forbidding loneliness) by those among the living. Such is Filial Piety. Such is Dae Jang Geum.

@djes,

Such is the Curiously (Hot) Life of Jang Dong Gun, who gets younger and younger with age. By the time he's 60, he'll be a child actor again. :D

@djes,

"I actually think he drinks some secret potion."

He and Hyde. :D

I thought he was cute in the 90s, but he's so mind-numbingly hot right now, it's like he looks at you and suddenly you're naked. The trick is magical!!

@ 181 anniee : I'd seen the first clip but not the second. Stina is amazing and thank God for her devotion to Show, not NEARLY enough Taiwanese ent stuff gets subbed, more's the pity. *sadface* But, I'm sorry, the rules of OT state that I WAS HERE FIRST. But I defer to Stina, and act as her standin in OT. WHY IS HE SO GREAT. I love his story of how he tortures his fangirls by pulling up next to them in his car while they're on their schoolbuses, ahaha. What a guy. I'd be really happy if him and Rainie were really dating, although it's sad to realise I'm over her and Mike He, them being my first drama and first drama OTP.

More trailers for Jeon Woo Chi! It looks like the most fantastic fun, made further fantastic by 2PM belting out 'tired of waiting' in the background. Im Soo Jung is such a huge girlcrush and Kang Dong Won looks positively adorable. Alas, who knows when decent quality subs will arise.

Ninja Assassin hasn't really been pimped here in the UK, I saw a poster for it in the cinema a few weeks ago (he didn't even have a head!!) and it said 'releasing in December' but without a date. I wish Rain luck on his mission to conquer Megan Fox, really I do. All part o' takin' over the world. On another random note, will Avatar match up to the unbelievable special effects? It damn well better.

Hi Guys,

second time on an OT, and i've just come back again because i wanted some recs on j-dramas and t-dramas.

Can you guys also rate your recs in order of goodness? :D I feel like watching a couple of good ones.

Thank You.

O.o what happened to last week's OT?

I clicked on it to check out all the recs i got from you guys last time.

I remember replying to some peoples' comments and now it's gone.

Oh noes..that means the k-drama recs are gone too. :'(

I've just started Korean language lessons this week and boy, it is really tough. The seonsaengnim goes through everything like a bullet train, and i'm left feeling super stressed and dumb.

Am struggling to memorise the alphabet right now. The characters all look so similar, it's hard to tell them apart. If only there's some easier way to cram them into my small brain... :(

@ Belleza

You had words from my mouth about why I love watching Kdrama. It is the family and Confucianism aspects that I find touching and comforting. I started watching Kdrama when my mom had terminal illness and it was around that time when Dae Jang Geum was aired. The "all-suffering, all-patient, stern but loving virtues" are exactly what my mom means to me.

@ Alone in Love

This is in my "forever best drama" list! Where do you get the info about the depression part of SIJ's character - from the Japanese novel on which it's based? This will obviously give a fresh perspective to an already exquisite drama. (Sideway is quite different in that you can sense an alcoholic Paul G all along.)

I've been googling on reliable website to download kdrama,jdorama, etc. Wonder if any of yous got some lists?

ps/ is Brilliant Legacy gd?

@231 Blah

You really mean download, right? Then, here.
http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/torrents.php

If just for viewing
http://www.viikii.net/

They are fast, you can watch dramas from (within )24hrs to 2-3 days after from the original broadcasting dates. Sub qualities are from great to dubious. But, hey! it's all about the speed and subbers work diligently to bring them to you asap.

For J dramas without subs.
http://channel.pandora.tv/channel/video.ptv?ch_userid=a-nakayama&skey=

The best site, within may be 10 hours after dramas being broadcasted in Japan, you can watch everything here with the weekly lists of dramas so that you won't miss anything.

Brilliant legacy?

It's highly addictive regardless of the much used and repeated typical K drama plot. Wonder why??? May be because the main guy was so adorable and it was interesting to see him transform gradually .

@223 belleza - Dec 12, 2009 at 3:04 am

And not just them, but the other surrogate mother-daughter relationships in the show. The palace is a deeply, deeply lonely world. Even the villains in the show only have each other; they inherit the hopes of the women before them; they pass the hopes of the children ahead of them. Such is the eternal chain of love, which transcends death (and forbidding loneliness) by those among the living. Such is Filial Piety. Such is Dae Jang Geum.

Another profound observation on OT! No wonder I'm your fan!

Don't know, it feels like I need a bit more sleep, better go back to bed for now...

*peeks head in*
hey guys, I've been lurking around JB since the summer, as in I visit everyday but I never comment. However, last week, when she posted that Gong Yoo is back, I just HAD to post a comment, albeit anonymously. So I think I'll just give myself a username and try and join the cool community here.

about me? I'm a Kenyan who lives in the US and is now obsessed with kdramas :), I don't like angst to much, so I've gotten into the bad habit of skipping to the last few episodes, or just stopping when it gets cliche(I still haven't watched the endings of Hotelier and Last Scandal, and I stopped watching Dal Ja's spring when the main guy went back to work). Right now I'm watching Jewel in the palace, but there's so much angst I find myself skipping within episodes to see what happens then rewinding, or reading spoilers beforehand.

Hope to stick around! :)

@AnitaLotti, Viola, kenyangal and anyone else
Well HELLO NEWBIES! I'm so glad you joined in! Don't lurk...we don't bite. Though some are threatening death, be sure its just for the much needed drama enjoyment. Feel free to ask, say and play along with us. Its honestly one of the best places to get info, advice and friendly discussion about your current obsessions. That is mostly courtesy of about five lurkers that are totally amazing!
Have a great weekend... so glad you spoke up ;)

Also I've been looking for Otomen. Can't find more than two eps subbed! Is this true? I haven't even started it for fear that I will get addicted and watch the raw completely lost.

And CITC... a must see before Chuno?

Welcome, newbies!
Please feel free to comment, rave, squee, critique, or commence death battles
at your leisure. ;)

@ nea:notoriousnoona

If you like mystery, action, love stories, and political thrillers all rolled up into a kickass fusion sageuk with awesome soundtrack, and amazingly produced at 1/6 the budget (per episode) of Chuno....then watch CitC. :D

@ bbm

Yeah, the large file size is well worth the long download time. It really does deserve to be seen in its full glory. Trust me, you won't regret it. :D

Jin Yi Han...get your tissues ready. The adorable Naueri brought me to tears several times.

@ belleza, celestialorigin, epyc

Speaking of Korean Confucianism, have you watched Family Honor? It doesn't have the mother/daughter aspect, but it's the only contemporary drama that didn't make me want to throw something at the screen in regards to Confucian values. In fact, it sparked many an interesting and enlightening discussion with my folks about our family history.

Ah...pouring rain. What to do today?

@29 Mishane

Well, I feel good and bad things about Buzzer Beat. For me the best thing about it was the OTP. Yamapi is particularly beautiful, playing a rather sweet young man (not too far out of Yamapi's acting range - and, whoa, the boy can kiss), and his OTP other half is quite a good actress and rather beautiful too. Actually, the entire supporting cast kind of out-acted Yamapi; well *somebody* has to emote. The plot didn't blow me away. But the OTP have fantastic chemistry, and the secondary characters are interesting. Beautifully shot, as a lot of J-dramas are. I enjoyed watching it, but doubt I'd ever watch it again. Verdict: mind-candy romance

@ 148 mishane

Santacon - aha! I was wondering why so many people today were wearing Santa outfits in pubs. I happen to be in London this week. All is clear now! Thanks!

@33 ockoala

OK, I have to confess: When I watch Autumn Concerto, I frequently start opening websites and surfing at the same time, out of, kinda, boredom. But, hey, I managed to pay attention to most of ep 6 without clicking something else. And I'll keep watching, I promise. (Especially as I can engage half my brain and do something else at the same time...)

So, me watching:

Autumn Concerto (yup)

City Hall - still languishing at ep 6. Interested, but I'm not in love. Yet. But my vacation time officially started yesterday, so I should start making good progress.

Kekkon dekinai otoko - J-drama The Man Who Can't Get Married - what can I say? It's original. It's charming. It's well acted and nicely timed. And it's hysterically funny in a quiet way. My comfort watch. Am taking it slow because I don't want it to end.

Strawberry on the Shortcake - J-drama. Weird, but interesting. Johnny's Entertainment star (awkward high school boy) falls in love with eccentric free-spirited girl who turns out to be - gasp - his new step-mother's daughter. Cringing premise; but compelling watching. Lots of eye candy.

This time, really really good morning/afternoon! That extra 2 hours of sleep helped!

@234 nea:notoriousnoona
http://www.viikii.net/channels/goto/otomen

At above link, you can still watch some of the Otomen episodes disregarding FujiTV's preventive measures. Check the each episodes.

@235 hjkomo

Family honor? Oh, another drama t put on my list? The list is growing day by day since I'm limiting myself only one K drama Dae Jang Geum for watching as my business is demanding me a whole lot of attention. I'm dying for Iris... May be sometime in near future after the series is completed I'll dedicate a whole one day for doing Iris marathon to finish it(I'm up to ep.9).

Here in Ventura county, it's raining, raining and raining...

@ 228 Kim

OT 112 is still preserved in all it lunacy and glory. You won't be able to click from the link attached below OT 113 (you'll get a Not Found message). You've to go to the left side menu, click on "Open Thread" within the categories tab, which will take you to a menu for the last 4 OTs. The scroll down a tiny bit and click on the comments for OT 112. Voila, a treasure trove of anything and everything and nothing you need to know.

@hjkomo,

"Speaking of Korean Confucianism, have you watched Family Honor?"

Not yet, but I've heard A LOT of praise for Family Honor. I like the drama Creating Destiny, but I think if I were younger, I wouldn't be able to stomach it. It's funny now, but when daddy says "you can only date your own kind" and "I hate this country's values, therefore I hate your values and you need to go back to your MOTHER country" . . . not so funny anymore. (Not my parents BTW, just with my friends I saw.)

Korean Confucianism is interesting to Chinese people, because Korean Confucianism is kinda what Chinese Confucianism was more like maybe 500 years ago. Very, very strong patriarchy. And how many Korean Americans internalize the paternalism of Christianity (and esp. Catholicism) reinforces that.

I guess to outsiders, people might view Chinese and Koreans are being similar due to Confucianism, Buddhism, neighborhood countries, but those similarities create a lot of misunderstandings, a lot of "no no no, YOU got it all wrong!!" What I find interesting is how a lot of Asian Americans don't even pick up on that. For example, Chinese people find Korean preoccupation with image and perception (i.e. "look good" = "look rich") kinda baffling. Whereas Korean people find Chinese's relentless penny-pinching and scheming as kinda eye-rolling and small-thinking. But it actually comes from the need for security, especially material security, against the strain of public life.

This phenomena kinda goes back to Dae Jang Geum. I'm very aware -- perhaps more than any other K-drama -- when I watch Dae Jang Geum, I'm watching it as a Chinese person. Why? Because, from most people I spoke with, most Korean viewers loved Jang Geum and saw Madame Han as validating Jang Geum. But most Chinese viewers loved Madame Han and saw Jang Geum as sort of the keeper of Madame Han and her original mother's love and soul.

I tear up even now when I think about the pride Madame Han had for her pupil. Sigh.

My brother's wife told me that she still can't believe Jewel in the Palace became such a huge show around the world, because in her eyes, it was a very, very Korean show. Whereas my brother and I were like "hmm. I guess we don't see it as a Korean show. :D "

OK, watching up to ep 2 of WISC - Will It Snow for Christmas, or WHAT Is this Script-writer's Craziness?! And, Why Is this travesty-of-logic-and-good-sense So Compelling?

@Will It Snow For Christmas,

Madly, madly in love with this melodrama. I can't believe I'm saying this. But I think I'm going to pick Go Soo over Bae Soo Bin as Oppa of the Year. You can feel Kangjin's love for JiHwan emanating from every follicle of his perfect hair LOL.

God I love this show. So far, this is easily Lee Kyung Hee's most lighthearted work since Breathless. But gah does she know how to write men or what!! It's not even in a cheesy "perfect guy" sort of way -- when he's singing to his mum or telling Jihwan's fiancee, it's just so . . . MARRYMEGOOSOOOPPA!!!!

Sigh

@serendipity,

"And, Why Is this travesty-of-logic-and-good-sense So Compelling?"

it's because Lee Kyung Hee laughs at plot. She only cares about characters and especially her male heroes. She loves men like few K-drama writers do.

"So I may have to go on a Kimura Takuya hunt to see what else he might or might not be hot in."

He's kinda hot in everything. Even in a bunny suit (P-chan!), he's kinda hot. :D

@ 236 serendipity

Re: Buzzer Beat
But the OTP have fantastic chemistry

There are rumors that Yamapi and Kitagawa Keiko are dating IRL.

http://news.stareastasia.com/2009/12/yamashita-tomohisa-and-kitagawa-keiko-dating/

@ xiahkixiri

i think the amt of fangirling i do for xiao zhu is enough reason to prove that he's mine lol. but it's ok, since show fans are generous, i'll share him with you. : )
i totally remember the time he said that on his show; i would not want to be in that position. so close, yet so far from his beautiful face! hahaha
apparently, at the party for hi my sweetheart, the producer asked show and rainie to star in another of her dramas at the end of this year. they are definitely reaching OTP status. i miss her and mike too actually. but i think show and rainie are actually really cute together even when they're not filming!
i broke out in laughter when i saw the second clip of him picking at the microphone and his face read, "oh shizz." and the "for me. five me. six me." hahaha WHY IS HE SO ADORABLE??

"He’s kinda hot in everything. Even in a bunny suit (P-chan!), he’s kinda hot. :D"

A Million Stars Falling From the Sky; hot AND dark and twisty. Delicious Kimura Takuya combination. :-D

Thanks gals for the suggestions. But this is so sad, here's why:

1. What's Up, Fox - watched
2. Love Marriage - watched
3. Black & White - watched
4. Flowers For My Life - watched
5. Que Sera Sera - watched
6. Hana Yori Dango - watched

1. Story of A Man - On List but too dramatic for this sick girl right now
2. Fight - " "
3. Soul - " "
4. Kyun Sook's Father (belleza unni, what's this one?)

After much contemplation I've decided to catch up with IRIS, it's definitely not the "feel good" type of drama I wanted to watch but I should stay dedicated since it's a great production and it ends this coming week. I'm so surprised ppl here are not raving about it - I mean quality-wise I really can not find much fault with this drama - from acting, script, plot/character development, pacing/balance, musical score , scenery/cinematography - it's all way above par. True, it doesn't lure me in like Soo-In of Smile You, but this is one of the best overall quality Kdrama I've seen in the decade long I've been watching Kdramas.

Alright, I'm coughing all over the keys, gotta go eat some meds. Thanks again chingus. Stay healthy!

@Kgrl
Kyunsook's Father is a four episode drama that deals with a father abandoning his family during the Korean War to save himself. Supposedly it's really good and it's a comedy with a lot of black humor. It's high up on my list to watch and it stars the Nation's Little Sister Shim Eun-kyung. I've heard it being mentioned to be one of the best dramas of the year if not the best. Thundie has a review up on her blog:
http://thundie.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/episode-1-teasers-gyeongsuk-gyeongsuks-father/

On Conspiracy in the Court
It's awesome that so many people are watching this show b/c when it aired it only got a 5% viewer rating. I highly highly recommend it as well! Three more episodes left...but a 20 page paper to write by Monday....decisions decisions...