@ ockoala

OH! i just found out the writer of THnK is the same as Orange Days. No wonder I got this familiar feeling while watching it.

@ lovenyc52

Wow, THnK got you bad, didn't it? I agree with your opinion of the drama. You will definitely be marathoning HnH, and probably becoming an Ayase fangirl like I am. At least you didn't have to watch three years! between HnH1 and HnH2. Btw, the director of THnK is also the same director of Nobuta wo Produce. Hence the lovely cinematography and dreamy romantic visuals.

@ mems

Haha, welcome to the club! :-D

I bet you and lovenyc52 will be screaming Buuuuuchouuuuu very very soon. Don't worry, we all do.

Oh, I've pimped out HnH in case you guys want a little preview (and adorable screeencaps).

http://ockoala.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/pimp-that-drama-hotaru-no-hikari-2007/

@ ockoala,

i actually haven't watched all of Nobuta wo Produce... only the first few eps. I know, I know... you would think i have watched it, as it contains my Kame, your Pi and Maki who is too adorable for words. But for some reason or another, it got lost in the shuffle a few years back, and I never returned. I guess maybe I should watch NwP first, and THEN HnH in order to give myself more of a buffer for HnH2 :)

I watched ep1 of Zhong Wu Yan, the latest TW idol drama which is replacing PS Man (which I checked out a few eps and zoned out for its lack of anything redeeming other than visual prettiness).

I'm happy to report, which ZWY will not be taking TW-dramas to a whole nother level of quality, it does surprisingly have a genuine beating heart its in cotton candy exterior.

ZWY is Ming Dao's return to TW-dramas after 2 years making C-dramas, and Cheryl Yang's followup TW drama to her hit My Queen. Confession: I am shallow. I didn't want to watch MQ because I find Cheryl looks sharp and offputting. I like my leading ladies sexy or cute as a button. Yes, shallow I am.

I would not have watched ZWY but for curiosity about Ming Dao's return, and am I here to swallow my pride and saw Cheryl Yang is indeed all that and then some as an actress. She's riveting on screen, much prettier and more accessible than her en vogue photo's suggest. And she's a very good actress, a head above the cutesy over-acting bunch in TW. (I am more than pleased about the AAE remake with Jang Hyuk because she is in it.)

Back to ZWY - the weakness is actually Ming Dao. He's not the best actor, and his role is very difficult to play. He's your typical rich chaebol, and this time instead of being a cold ass, he's a giant tool of an ass. Clueless, mock-worthy, and really a dipshit. We'll find out the reasons he turned out this way, but he's gonna have to bring it if we find him worthy of Cheryl.

Who plays an intelligent and kind person, with a huge birthmark on her face (her character is based on a Chinese folk story). I'm surprised and pleased to see TW dramas go all out in uglifying their leading lady (other than put a pair of glasses on her). And Cheryl's beauty shines through, when she smiles, I see stars, because her character is so warm and wonderful inside.

I feel this drama has a chance to be genuinely sweet and thoughtful, and I hope it continues to improve in quality (and Ming Dao's acting). Ep.1 was choppy and silly (as all TW dramas are wont to be), but I appreciate the attempt at doing a story with more purpose and meaning than the typical TW-drama farcical charade of hate-love. I like what ZWY is so far, I hope the execution ultimately delivers a good drama to the end.

@janna
Giant21 SPOILERS!
So much to say, but fantastic episode. Applause for LBS. That scene with So-tae equals Po.et.ic, and the acting throughout, like seeing his pride being broken down so brutally, when we know pride was the biggest thing about KM (urgh, serious lump in my throat). Happy to see Lim Jung-yoon back (yay!) but I wouldn't trust him after ep13, KM. Just sayin'.
CPY has stepped things up, like reeeally up, even drawing up on old military connections. But then so has SM, MHK and Baek-pul (yes, it IS Baek-pul!). Good going y'all.
Oh puh-leaze JY, please, the less scenes with you the better. I just don't get this girl, she was ok, even relatable for the past handful of episodes but she's back to grating on me again.
MJ has a seriously wonderful voice. Laughed hysterically at some scenes and then the next scene with her I was all misty eyed again, she's gonna make me schiz this girl. But picking food up off that car park and eating it, as HE *bastard, I hate him* catches her at it, so low. The only way now is up right?
The previews for 22 are looking so, so good. Can't wait already!

@supah: Mi-joos thrifty ways have no limits. 5 second rule applies to the parking garage? If you say so. MW proved himself to be cheap too. I mean, he regifted her gift! In other crazy scenes, how did KM use that other guy as exercise equipment. That was just off the charts crazytown and random.

How many milliseconds did it take for you to know the car scene would implode? It was like .002 for me. I even paused the video for a moment and went "This isn't right, why is she driving". I made a mental note that MW was going to have a smartass remark, then JY is going to prove she actually is a failure at driving and they're going to jump off a bridge and die in an explosion. (Okay, two out of three ain't bad.
Mi-joo is so going to tear up the Kang-Mo Haters Club. A club of two bros. How Jung-shik can charm the ladies I'll never know. Oh wait, money. Nevermind.

For once I'm gonna say this: Not enough Seung-Mo.

@ockoala

o i was going to check out ZWY as well, but reason is opposite of yours. Cheryl is the only thing that kept me watching MQ ( it drags and stop making sense half way or earlier). we r allowed to indulge in shallowness when it's about TWdramas, I'm always turned off by MingDao's caterpillar brows and on top of that, not the best actor even in TWdramaland. but if Cheryl is good, i'll still check out ZWY.

I was v hopeful when they casted Cheryl + Bowie Lam in AAE C remake, that tells me they r going a serious modern Cdrama route (so not idoldrama), which is my most 'trustworthy' quality-wise genre of drama last couple yrs. I'm not even worried w/ the casting of a relatively newbie actress, dun think they will mess w/ the casting there.

but then came JH's channeling SIG's AMCG's peterpan look, it's ok in the cartoonish ott AMCG, but in cAAE, it bugs me, not that i cant get past the do or the superficiality coz it's JH, but when everything is reeking a solid serious drama, this is 2 out of place... it worries me more if this is hinting on going 'trendy', 'idol' on us, no amt of good acting can save it. Cdrama cant do idol fare, always many beats wrong. :(

In general, how spoilery can I get on OT as long as I headline with SPOILERS?

I wanted to say more on each drama I'm watching, but want to make sure I don't go too far.

Perhaps Gigi and Janna can answer, since I'm shadowing the same dramas? I really want to ask questions, too, about certain points on Last Romance/Scandal and Hotelier.

Hey everyone:

Come to Thundie's and vote for you favorite drama, and bash your hated foe:

http://thundie.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/mid-year-report-card/

@ twin

I'm going to follow Zhong Wu Yan. So far I am intrigued, which says a lot considering the dearth of anything interesting. Let's see what Water_OB has to say.

HnH2 is still my fave drama this summer, but I'm going to check out Natsu no Koi, as I already mentioned. If I turn into a MatsuJun fangirl, please come slap me. :-P

@Leonardswench: As long as you write spoilers, feel free to write whatever you want!~ I don't see any problems with talking about spoilers for an old show like Hotelier. I will be catching up hopefully soon, as this week I will be chained to my computer.

Once again I am floored by the powerful effects of rainwater in Asian dramas, particularly Korean ones. Oh NO! I got wet for longer than 5 minutes in the rain. Now I will have a fever of 104F and delusions of who I am talking to. Why does water from the sky cause this kind of immune system catastrophe? If this kind of thing was true. Or even remotely logical every person on the planet would hide in fear based on tomorrows weather report. Children would have Rain Days along with Snow days.

Heaven for fend we send kids out into this horrible water right after they went swimming. They 'll have pneumonia and die.

I swear the next person who gets screwed up by the super powerful Rain water in a drama, better die from it or I'll totally ban the show from my existence.

@janna
Hahaha! Wouldn't that have been ideal? Two in one AND eliminating all prospects of romance. I think PJH is simply a victim of the Nam Ji-hyun follow-on curse like many before her.
It was funny at the start of 21 when KM 'asks' ST who set him up for it… ''Jung-yun-aah? Jung-shik-ee?' I was like… whaaa? He suspects even JY? Yes, yes! No More Romance! Then I had to rewind it (this took a few attempts - my ears were totally wanting me to hear JY) and finally I deciphered it as: ''Cho Min-woo?''. Yeah, MW was a killjoy on so many levels this episode.
I was actually even comtemplating shipping JS and MJ as a future pairing, at least he was courteous and considerate enough… um, until that last bit, but it was out of the frying pan into the fire for MJ in that last scene.
But let's see now, it's a good job the kimpaps are bribery and nothing at all personal. Besides, here's hoping that second batch was in fact the first batch that he'd thrown in the car park, as the second time he thought twice before throwing them away, atleast he was considerate enough to know it's food, so gifts it to his colleagues -- that's progress, MJ! Third time he may even (gasp!)-- eat it! Let's hope she retained some of those he threw on the floor and feeds him them one day. Mi-joo, fighting!
Yeah, there wasn't enough SM, but his brief scenes told us all that we needed to know, straight cut to the chase stuff. We'll get more of him on tonight's episode, I can't wait, the preview was jjang. It's dangerous (and damn hilarious) how he continues to pervert all of CPY's orders. I also love how JC is becoming all polished and gentlemanly lately, who'd have thought?

For all of your AC lovers (Autumn's Concerto) - I bailed the very second Mu Cheng dang rip Tuo Ye's heart out after she bails him out of jail and tells him she done married Vanness to save his ass, and they both knew she lied, cuz she married her baby daddy cuz she still loves him.

Anyways, back to AC, which I did love but couldn't stomach anymore pain on my poor perfect second lead oppa. Well, Chris Wu (who plays Tuo Ye) is back! I just noticed he's the second lead in Zhong Wu Yen. Yes, boy is getting biiiig projects, and me likes very much, yes I do.

Just a public service announcement in case there are closet Mu Cheng-Tuo Ye shippers from AC still waiting for oppa to get some love. He's getting closer, he better be a first lead in his next drama!

@ lovenyc52

You want to finish Nobuta? For some reason, Nobuta reminds me of a fall drama, with its colors and theme and melancholy vibe. I suggest just going for HnH. I re-watched episode 1 of the first season last night and it's seriously the perfect drama to watch in the summer, so refreshing and tonally just right.

It started around City Hall last year, when the final episode aired I totally thought to myself - this is a sumemr drama! And now whenever I watch dramas I also associate it with a season.

@ ockoala

haha you know... i re-watched the first ep of Nobuta last night. and though i love me some kame (i'm just riding a kame high right now) and pi is adorably fairy and weird... ep 1 kind of crawls. i'm trying to decide whether to intersperse NwP and HnH or watch one or the other and marathon it. i totally get the 'fall drama' feel you're describing - i think cuz it's a school drama too, it reminds me of the fall. one of my good friends just started HnH as well, so that may push me towards just watching it as well so we can rave about it together :) and then i'll deal with the frustration of waiting for each ep of HnH2 when that comes around :)

Just finished watching and thoroughly enjoying the historical drama Jumong - all 81 episodes of it. I'm really getting to love sageuks. Having watched Dae Jang Geum, Hong Gil Dong, Damo, Iljimae, I would like to watch another one soon. Any recommendations for a long(ish) one?

@68 jadielaw

If you enjoyed Jumong, and like the actor who played the lead, you can't miss EOTS. Emperor of the Sea (Sea God)

Of coure it's a shorter drama. Only 51 episodes. :)

@jadielaw

Go here for recommendations of sageuks from JB, Mister X., Dahee, et. al.

http://thundie.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/sageuk-awards/

Most everyone loved: Conspiracy in the Court and Shin Don. Return of Iljimae is also beloved by many.

Chuno - when it's good its great, but too many brain dead parts elsewhere. I'm currently watching Painter of the Wind, and lordy is it a gorgeous sageuk. But there are issues i have with it, and I wonder if all is said and done I would recommend it. But so far it's lovely.

Thundie has NONE of the pairings I approve of in her report card (*snickers*)
Here's my top 3:

1. Park Shi-hoo & Creeper Status (Prosecutor Princess)
2. Jung-shik & FASHION! (Giant)
3. Coffee & Coffee Mug (They were meant to be) (Coffee House)

I'm just joking. I myself liked Kim Ji-hoon & Choi Jung-won the most off the list (I haven't seen every show on there, so I'm not sure if they're the best. But they were cute.)

@janna
Giant22 SPOILERS!!!
OMG, janna, OMG!!
Phenomenal episode, in so many ways.
I don't think I've cried this hard for any film/drama before, and I cry lots. Lee Beom-soo *standing ovation* and just as great acting from Lee Moon-shik, Lim Jung-yoon and the guy who played the hapless, tragic Bong-huan.
I think it was through OB/GYN and cameos like Sung Ji-ru's where I learned you don't need to have had a lot of time with a character for that character to affect you so deeply but it's only rare cases where that happens and Bong-huan was one of those rare cases. My throat is hoarse right now. Soul-stirring stuff, honest.

But away from all the good KM-related stuff. SM was also fantastic, just in a different way from the way KM was fantastic. That SM, he has a sick, sick sense of humour when it comes to deceiving CPY and I love it everytime. Plus, Samcheong military base is his old haunt back in the day, it was only right he intervened to help his brother (though he got by on his KCIA influence alone), whether KM wanted it or not. We need more KM/SM moments, we're very rarely treated to seeing these two together. Best bromance ever.

And BRAVO, MJ! He not only ate the kimpap, eventually (which she probably picked up off the ground like I said) but she broke his nose too. Seriously, frickin' hilarious. He tried his usual stuff that he used to do with JY with MJ and she... haaah! I love MJ.
I never thought I'd say this but they have amazing, amazing chemistry together, definitely a huge pull between them. I was expecting something as awkward as JY & MW. As much as my heart fluttered and I felt a surge of warmth at their togetherness and their newly forged bond I can never ship them together, because I can smell the impending doom from miles away. This is Giant after all, she's Lee Dae-soo's daughter, he's Cho Pil-yeon's son. Much worse than any Hwang-Lee union. You poor, tragic things.

Kids sick, up all night and not for all the right reasons, catch up tomorrow when my brain can make some sense, but ....

@Gigi, what is a soft hip? I have a soft tissue injury in my hip which prevents, well, walking well, vigorous exercise, uhm, lots of fun things. Just wondered if it is the same thing.

Also ..... omg, JJH got this tone in his voice, and it was so so full of tenderness, I thought, during their first phone call. Definitely made my heart go thumpety thump!

might be old news, but i have always wondered for the songs posted on the open threads, is there a theme or genre or connection among the songs? for example, maybe the songs are mainly from UK groups. i am curious because none of the songs are korean and i have never heard of these singers or band until i first listen to them on the open thread. i am happy because the songs are nice and refreshing compared to the regular pop and rap songs i heard on the radio.

Giant 22 spoilers!
@supah: I've been kind of harsh on KM lately, but he's really been put through the wringer. It's like hell on Earth. As it stands, he really is compassionate and doesn't always look the other way (well, I'm now siding on beating people that deserve it rigorously and frequently if possible). Just like SM, KM found someone to bond with... and has him mercilessly ripped away (ah, the similarities).

On the other side of the spectrum, the show is really campaigning hard for MW & MJ. They're getting all the cutesy OST tracks. I don't know if I'm getting on this... wait for it... BUS just yet. Every villain needs a tragic origin story. Oh, we're supposed to forgive and forget because Jung-shik is comical and Min-woo is a tortured soul?

I was like "How did they hang out together so long, it's so dark now" But then I realized MW had a booze lunch with a side of booze and probably wasn't driving anywhere for a few hours. So MJ is like rubber and JY is like glue. MWs comments bounce right off of MJ, which is good because she reacts with sunshine and smiles. JY... she would tell him to walk it off.

@janna
You serious? I'm surprised So-tae was even given a chance to redeem himself, KM should've just finished him when he had the opportunity, no, seriously. I had a soft spot for So-tae for a long time, just never expected him to turn out so vile. KM wasn't unnecessarily cruel, he just taught him a lesson, as nicely as he could, haha, now for the next level up. Although I liked how circumstances eventually pushed KM into a resigned ''eff it, we’re brothers'' followed by ST's heartbreaking reaction. I've actually got a headache now which I'm sure is a result of my bawling my eyes out last night. Did LBS's acting not affect you at all?
I love how SM is the law-man yet he's (understandably) several shades darker than KM, who even to this point has a cleaner conscience in spite of his er, lifestyle.
Oh, hell no, tortured soul! We're not meant to forgive MW at ALL. Maybe momentarily soften up a little, as I see the storytelling is going for impact. I imagined it all differently, in the promos they briefly described it as 'unrequited love' so I thought it’d be like her admiring him from a distance like a sap, and him using her to get to her brother(s) and all that good stuff, which clear as day, will happen. But I'm glad it's like this at its root, that they've established their own bond whilst being completely oblivious to the insurmountable amounts of bad blood between their families. OST? I didn't hear anything too special, I'm sure I've heard the softer background score for other scenes and other characters too. There wasn't any such emphasis needed in their scenes, their chemistry was enough, it was very natural (and dare I say, breathtaking?) with neither of them having to act out of their character range. She wasn't all sunshine and smiles, she just reacts a lot differently to JY. JY was a pushover for the major part, whereas MJ fends hardER for herself. The three Lee siblings have consistent personality traits and MJ's is endurance. This cliffhanger at the end of 22 brought with it a new major twist for KM, it was pretty insane (effyeahleesungmo!), I wonder if MJ will have insider's knowledge or like everyone else will take things at face value. I do wish her brothers would keep her in the loop, because she's pretty much on the map now.

supah - check out Gloria's trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPhceLW0Vy8

I am saving up Bad Guy (the second half) and Coffee House (the whole lot in one go) .....

@Gigi, Last Scandal/Romance episodes 3 and 4: SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

Episode 3 should be titled Watch Dong Chul Flip-Flop Like a Fish on Land. She should go, no really I want her to stay, no, she should go, no really I want her to stay. He's such a fast thinker, no way was that housekeeper crack a mistake, he wants more contact with Sun Hee. NOT really destroying the tape? I'm guessing so he can watch it again, a memory of her for him if she does leave. And when he stops her from leaving in the end, awww ... you know it IS because his heart is still going thumpety-thump around Sun Hee, no matter her appearance, his lifestyle, all the logical and illogical reasons why they shouldn't be together (her marriage, his secrets, whatever broke them apart 20 years ago, et cetera).

Na Yoon is the weakest link in the cast, I think, and, while the actress does a passable job, I wish the writers had given her a little more something to work with. She's a yawner. You can already tell, she's not going to be a threat to anyone except herself. Still, there are people like that in life.

Best thing about episode 3: How much Dong Chul touches Sun Hee. He wrestles her, he pushes her, he grabs her .... no man touches a woman that much without wanting to be caressing her instead, he's just NOT allowed, yet. And honestly, this is where I think JJH excels as an actor, it is such a subtle theme on the one hand, so easy to overplay that he has a 20-year old yearning to be with this woman, but to re-find her, still be captivated by her in spite of her, ahem, shortcomings, and to push her away all while still saying with his heart, "I thought I would be holding you for the last 20 years. I thought the kisses that I shared would be with you. I thought that the hand I held, the face I caressed, the skin I stroked, would be yours, and I still want it to be." It's definitely a secret thrilling pleasure to see HOW much he subtly really wants this woman, and it's universal to us romantics, I think, to find a guy so attractive when he finds his woman so attractive. Sigh.

Episode 4 then, should have been titled: How to Complicate Everyone's Lives in One Easy Episode While Laughing Your A** Off.

How cute are Hoon and Jimin?? The little actress playing Jimin did fawning adoration so well, I was choking with laughter. I've watched it in real life, and she was spot on, hilarious, I thought. And Hoon is so cute, you just want to wrap him up in K-drama cuteness until he's the age of consent and then unleash him on the next generation of girls as a sweetly preserved mature man. Sigh, not possible, I know, but man he's going the right way to be a lady-killer.

The maid's uniform had me mad at Dong Chul for about 2 minutes, until he steps back in time to the crux of his personal problem with Sun Hee. Why did she stand me up? It's been at him for 20 years, during which time she'd moved on to marry, mother, and live. If I wasn't already smitten by the character (and the actor), I would have been in the scene in the basement. Again, you can see how much he has been wanting to be the one buying her clothes, giving her presents, and he's got no way to deal with "wtf, no one's bought you presents? homewarming gifts? Clothes? your hair is like this because you're not cherished?" He jokes and torments and turns serious and back to jokes and torment to get through it, but he's moved by her story (or lack of it).

Dong Chul goes through a lot in this episode, joking all the way, but I'm convinced this is really the episode he makes the decision: he wants Sun Hee back, if for no other reason than to treat her right, to cherish her as a woman, as she should have been treated. And he's furious at her husband, not knowing him, just seeing her life from her side, and I had secret hopes that that would never go away, that he'd always just be a little pissy with her husband, treating him in that "You're a big effed-up LOSER for being this way to Sun Hee." I think, soon, too, that Jimin will be included in his feelings of injustice toward the husband/father (can't remember the useless man's name).

And the one character I really want to smack? Madame Go. How the hell can you be that old and that stupid and blind? Really?? Robbing a family of their useless waste of a husband/father may seem cruel, but if she's going to be this stupid with her own life, then, good, take that man away from Sun Hee and Jimin so they can be loved by someone better.

Sun Hee, too, in episode 4, gets her physical transformation, foreshadowing the emotional transformation she's about to go through. Dong Chul's love bubbled back to the surface quickly and now engineers his every action and prank and protective gesture and joke and seriousness ... it's all in there for him, and he doesn't try to fight it, he's desperate to keep hold of Sun Hee, and is mature enough now to use both his star power and his personality and immaturity to keep her with him. Sun Hee is not so lucky, her transformation will be longer and more painful, and you can see that Dong Chul is both (1) in this for the long haul and (2) mature enough on the key points to see through what he's started. He's not going to give up on her first or 100th "no". She can push him away and he'll still be standing there for her.

Sun Hee is now beautifully 'transformed' (she was cute before) and I think this may be the weakest acting for CJS, not accepting her new beauty, I mean. Luckily, we did not dwell and moved on to other areas of transformation, namely to override some of her 'beaten down' feelings. Dong Chul champions Sun Hee, and while it is uncomfortable for her, I think in that small secret heart inside, she had to be bursting with fireworks. Here's a man who acts like a man!!!

While Dong Hwa is mad at his brother for bringing her somewhere 'she doesn't belong', I'm mad at Dong Hwa for that attitude, darn it! That's the stupidest thinking he's exhibited. Not only does she belong with Dong Chul (or Jae Bin) at such events, she belongs there looking beautiful and being treated with love and respect. She's going to be uncomfortable at first because she's lived so long without those things, but I have faith that Dong Chul (JB) will walk through it with her (okay, he'll be pushing and dragging her, but as long as he gets to touch her a lot, he's happy to make the transition with her and for her).

And now The Cad, at the very end, will be revealed, soon, it's coming ....

@trixicopper, ockoala, momosan

Thanks so much. I'll check out all the dramas, websites that you mentioned.

@epyc
Suh Ji-suuuuk! Sekshy-daa! Guy's perpetually bored-looking, he's so chill. It's the snark and the swagger that does it for me. Wuv him. Lee Chun-hee ain't too bad either. It looks fun and the cliche plucky ahjumma character (that Bae Doo-na's playing) works for me every. single. time.
Me and Janna will be watching it this weekend and posting our thoughts here, you joining in?
And why are you not watching Giant yet, WHYYY? I would otherwise had refrained from saying the following, but I'm tipping you off as a fellow fan of Lee Beom-soo. He has taken a turn for the best, he's now giving Jang Hyuk's Dae-gil a run for his money. Best performance I've seen by a long shot. Yeah, it's dark, grimy, violent and but it's also campy in places, stylish, luxe, it's generous with the humour (black or otherwise) and it is overall a heartwrenching. moving story. Watch it for LBS, when you can. 50 episodes just ain't long enough babe.

@supah: Me, cry? No. I really only have had a handful of times where I've cried at things. Especially TV shows. I must have a heart of steel. Lately, I haven't felt too many heart racing scenes either. I'll be like "Oh, you guys are together, that's nice." Breath taking? Methinks someone is smitten with MW! I know they didn't have any special OST song, but nonetheless it was the cutesy tracks. I think KM showed that in spite of everything he is the better man than So-tae and wasn't going to stoop to his foolish level.

@epyc: Wow. I remember reading about the show and it was like, dark. Then they said it was a comedy. Here it is, all cheerful like. Lee Chun-hee! ... He should really get the lead sometime.

I'm glad I'm not too invested in any J-dramas other than Hotaru no Hikari. Because there's a lot of kdramas coming up that seem good. I've been watching Unubore Deka, but it's like.. every episode is going to end the same. Why even. Natsu no Koi is alright, but I don't feel too much of a spark between the characters. The only other show I wanted to see this week was Moteki. That's horrible because I forgot it's on at a later hour and there was a shot of someones boob in a scene because the show is a little on the lewd side, but it's okay. The show is still funny. Girl #2, I believe her name was Itsuka, at one point in a drunken spat called Yukiyo a "Densha Otoko" dang, that's harsh girl!

Oh and I did cry once watching Mother. Whereas everyone else pretty much drowned in tears. I got around to watching the last episode, and it ended in a logical manner. I recommend this show to anyone who is in the mood to cry, just don't plan watching it the entire day...it would be too much.

Road Number One Episode1 recap! On Thundie's Prattle. Come see what the fuss is about before I'm tarred and feathered by outraged fans!

http://thundie.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/road-number-one-recap-episode%C2%A01/

I know I know. Pimping my own work, I have no shame. But after all the sweat and toil, the Snark must be Shared!

@ serendipity, LOL! Loved your re-cap .... very good way to end the night!

BUUUUUCHHHOOUUUUU!!!!

and omg i think im a himono onna....

I think we have a goner. @ lovenyc52 - welcome to being a himono onna! :-D

Okay, Gigi, Last Scandal episode 5 & 6:

Episode 5

Found out the dad's name, Yoo Shik, which my daughter immediately pointed out should read "you sh*t", because he is The Cad. Poor Madame Go, buying a lover and not even getting her money's worth. If he cares about her, I'm Cha Seung-won.

So Sun Hee misses her husband at the elevators and Dong Chul/Jae Bin misses Sun Hee in the parking garage, and again during this episode, which we should call Both Brothers Want to Get Their Groove on with the Housekeeper while Said Housekeeper is Trying to Raise Funds for The Cad.

Dong Chul orders her around like a puppet, taunts her endlessly, invades her personal space just about every time they are in a scene together, still with the touching! and hurts her, badly, three times in this episode. I think he knows he's losing ground with her and he drops the immaturity all three times to reach out to Sun Hee: first with a kind word (that gentle tone, omg!), then with ice and repentance (such a forlorn look on his face there for a second), and finally with ...... a hug and kiss! Omona!

Dong Hwa is swayed by her maternal care of Yoon, her sensible nature, and her suffering (nothing says loving like the need to protect). He's still mostly an observer, a role that I think he will largely play in this love quadrangle. If Na Yoon is The Puzzling Distractor (as in, why is she even in this?), then Dong Hwa is The Quiet Lover-who-suffers-in-Silence. Yeah, the handwriting is on the wall. He'll talk to Sun Hee, try to draw her out, but no one gets her to respond and open up like Dong Chul. His methods may be crude, immature, even hurtful, but it's like the wound that festers until you open it up and get the pus out: Sun Hee is a giant hurt waiting to be healed and loved, and Dong Chul has the cauterized knife on high speed.

Sun Hee frustrates me here, a bit. Taking an additional $2,000 to find The Cad is ridiculous. Here she is, Mrs. Sensible, acting stupid. As her husband was apparently away so much, she isn't missing him, she's worried for him? It's already been a theme for five episodes, her worry for him, and I just think it is past time for this sensible woman to wake up and know that The Cad has done something diabolical again.

That said, she broke my heart with the crying at the end, and it's a good thing Dong Chul stepped up his game in a BIG way.

Episode 6

Big surprise, he kisses her and then goes straight to torment and jokes. (I'm secretly impressed with both leads at how well they do awkward!) My favorite part of this episode is Dong Chul calling her husband (rightfully) a bastard and saying this openly to her while openly wooing her: notes in her lunch box, a sweet, letting her sleep, going to where she is all the time, trying to do little chores around the house (very badly) and then finding a way to take her on a date, awwww! Up to this point, Dong Chul has erred more on the side of childishness with his relationship to Sun Hee, but now he practices a better balance of the mature and immature.

He rightfully gets angry many times, and in the end, when Sun Hee finds Yoo Shik (I so want to do that other spelling now!!), it had to be heartbreaking to Dong Chul to see how happy she was at finding her husband.

I'm sure the happiness won't last, but you know what? Good, it's time to move on from the barstool (our lingo for el bastardo) and find someone who does remember your birthday, and anniversary, and notices your hairstyle, and buys you sweet and treats and clothes, and makes you laugh and angry and wants to touch you all the time and be with you more than be at work.

Dong Chul may seem immature, but his maturity is there where it counts: this the woman he loved and loves, and she's the focus of his world, job be damned.

@ 86 Leonardswench

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to write, if exhausting.

@janna
Smitten with MJ more like, she was luurvely. It was in the little beats where she mimicked Park Ha-young, the expectant squinty eyes (aaww!) and the blinks, the sarcasm (subtle or not), yet it was endearing and totally natural without her needing to be overly cute and saccharine. When I mentioned her character trait - endurance - I meant - it was like handling Mrs Hong again for her, if she persists hard enough she can get anyone to warm to her, even (gasp, the horror) MW! So I liked how they started things off at that angle. It is solid how MJ remains true to her witty character (and she's deceptive - she always was more in sync with SM) and it may even seem cliché by kdrama standards but it was done well and fit the story perfectly. Even whilst we're expecting things to turn on their head later. With MW, no way can we forgive him, he has done nothing to warrant it. We should resume wishing for the brothers to do the Cho method of doing things; hang him upside down and beat him to a pulp.
You don't cry? You. don't. cry? Omo! OK, I won't harrass you about that, maybe I'm the overly hormonal one then. I'm not comfortable enough to cry in front of people though, nev.ver.
About Kang-mo and So-tae: I've been thinking, so here comes another essay (oh hell no, you say? Oh hell yes! I say):
In general I liked So-tae a lot, but ep8 was what substantiated this; it was the scene where KM left school and the Hwangs and returned to shoe-shining, So-tae consoled him saying ''kids like us don't fit in places like school anyway (awww), forget them, here, have some chocolate...'' pulling out a half-eaten bar of mock hershey's (hah! The bar of chocolate that started it all). But KM was too busy moping about JY to notice, and then you know the events that followed, we had the timejump, they became adults and turns out KM never did leave the Hwangs and pretty much dumped ST and the world of shoe-shining there and then. If you recall ep9 and their dialogue just before launching themselves into that first gang fight against one another. So-tae asked why he hadn't visited him all that time. Without making it obvious, they were implying what ST had been feeling all that time; that KM had abandoned him to go hobnobbing with posh kids. And if you're the street kid being left behind without being given so much a second thought, that stuff stings, man! But he did deserve the treatment he got in previous episodes, he was just despicable. I like that he never really intentionally went for redemption either (he was too ashamed for that?) it was all situational, I'd say ST's real redemption point was his rather weird tough love approach towards Bong-huan. Something that wasn't lost on KM, who'd been less humane with him. And eventually it was KM who made the first move and consolidated their brotherhood in his own subtle but impactive way. (Finally, you two!) I think through a tragic character like BH, both of them learned that there are bigger things to fight in their lifetime than each other. (And I don't think I've never cried so hard.)

How I love you all here, only if I have unlimited time to be a 24/7 dramawatchers (and I wish to be).

@ gloria - I'll see if I could catch on it as will be in Tokyo then.

@ Giant - Rest be assured, Supah, I will watch it. Did I tell you that it will be my X;mas baby, not good enough for you, right :)

@ Last Scandal - "Little by little, he is giving Sun Hee her dignity back"
T'is the essence of this wonderful drama. It's on my top ten list but I didn't have the heart to re-watch it because of CJS. The consummate disscussions between Gigi and Leonardswench make a re-watch very tempting now.......

@ epyc, I am on my re-watch now, and I'll be honest and say that I cried nearly every episode the first time around because of CJS' real life tragedy. I missed the comedy in the emotions, and (gah!! I'm choking up again!) I realized that HHJ was probably CJS' last lover, both on-screen and off-screen (not literal lover, but just a good working relationship in which good feelings predominated), and she said so many on-screen things about Jae Bin's celebrity, about what matters in life (especially while talking to Jimin) that were directly related to the off-screen tragedy, that I just really had a hard time the first time through Last Scandal/Romance.

This time, I am really loving it more, going through it with Gigi, letting it be what it is, a well-written fast-moving rom-com with two leads who had tons of on-screen chemistry and apparently, real life friendship. Magic in a bottle, and despite the tears, I wouldn't miss watching it again to see all of that (better filtered this time around) for anything.

Join us??

@ ockoala

welcome?! ha! i think i've been one for the past 6 years. after work, there really is nothing i like more than crawling into bed in my pjs with a beer and my laptop. i think i was a goner within the first 20 minutes of ep. 1. and i laughed so hard when buuuuchoouuuuu called her a hebi-onna. i can see why you adore ayase. just seeing the difference between her characters in THnK and HnH already amazes me. i love that she can play both the elegant princess-like girl as well as the himono onna so convincingly.

@epyc
Dammit, now I remember you saying something about a Christmas watch. Take no notice of me. If I repeat the same thing again, you're welcome to throw things.
Ooh, nice, Tokyo! For pleasure of business? I'm off to Paris myself next week, love it but I'd rather have gone somewhere I haven't been to so many times before.
But... yeah... Gloriaaa... tu-tu-tu-tu... tu-tu-tu-tu... Gloriaaa! Quite a catchy theme.

@ lovenyc52

Isn't Ayase a glorious young actress. I watched one episode of Byakouyakyo and I was blown away at her turn as a soulless ice queen. I wouldn't say she's a method actress, but she has talent and is willing to jump genres and roles all the time. I'm planning to watch JIN soon for some Edo-period Ayase (plus there is a rumor she is dating her JIN co-star and I want to see what the chemistry is about).

HnH2 is still so good. Ep. 4 introduced a new word into my vocabulary: lobu lobu (or love love), and I shall endeavor to be more lobu lobu with my hubby....and send him text messages. :-D

@lovenyc52, glad u come out of the closet of himono onna 4ever fanclub then! I want cold beer on veranda asap. yup, feel free to go BUCHOUUUUU~~~~~~ @OT all summer long!

@twin, I'm dling ep4 now, lobulobu it is. *chuckle*

Clothing the World will be out Aug 10th. the talented loverboy fangirls already have their fanmade posters handy.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5230/5859317ft8c0c8b7d5e9d69.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/i/5859317ft8c8830c7d49c69.jpg

the original:
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6814/62e43c4eg8bf10e2018f069.jpg

posted wrong link for 2nd poster... ;P

http://a.imageshack.us/img832/4652/5859317ft8c8830c7d49c69.jpg

I get to watch Running Wild tonight, woo hoo!!!!! (sorry, little excited!)