Casting finalizes on Nine, the drama not titled Court Lady

71 January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Casting finalizes on Nine, the drama not titled Court Lady

by javabeans

Whoops, so Court Lady—that follow-up cable drama being produced by the team who put out last year’s addictive romance-fantasy Queen In-hyun’s Man—turns out not to be Court Lady after all, but a different title entirely: Nine: Nine Time Travels. But you know, maybe imma just bypass the confusion by calling it AWESOME.

To explain the mistaken title: Originally, it was just the word na-in, which in Korean means court lady. Since their last drama took place at Joseon court, it seemed the natural way to read it, rather than the borrowed-English pronunciation for nine. Perhaps the producers realized that their title was ripe for confusion, ha, because now they’ve added that subtitle to clarify that it meant the numeral. Although now the translation sounds terribly redundant (in Korean, the title uses two different words for “nine”—one is the English, the other the Korean). Sigh, awkward translations. You’ll never be far from dramaland.

In any case, this drama has confirmed that the stars they were previously courting (snerk) have indeed signed on: Lee Jin-wook (I Need Romance 2012) and Jo Yoon-hee (You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly). Two more stars have also come onboard, Gaksital’s freedom-fighting Damsari—er, Jeon No-min—and an idol boy from ZE:A, Park Hyung-shik.

Nine, like Queen In-hyun’s Man, is a time-traveling fantasy drama—but don’t groan just yet. It’s totally different conceptually in that this time the hero gets his hands on nine doses of a mysterious potion that allows him to travel back 20 years in time. So perhaps more like Quantum Leap than In-hyun. The drama depicts the hero’s actions in the past to have consequences in the “present” day timeline (which was toyed with in In-hyun but not explored fully), all while knowing from the start that he’s limited to nine trips back in time. Ooh, way to add the suspense of a ticking clock to increase his stress levels. And ours.

Furthermore, Lee Jin-wook and Jo Yoon-hee won’t be time-crossed lovers since they both exist in the same timeline—they’re co-workers at a broadcast station, with him being an anchor and her the more junior reporter. Jeon No-min will play the hero’s older brother, and holds the key to solving a mystery—a mystery that it seems the hero will be trying to solve as he bounces back and forth in time. Park Hyung-shik, who is currently appearing in the KBS Drama Special Sirius, has been cast to play… past Lee Jin-wook. Oh, this just gets better and better. So he’s running around trying to solve a case, probably trying to avoid past self, but managing to screw with the future and therefore future self (which is his current self)? Tangle that web further, drama, I dare you.

I like this approach of doing a similar idea in a totally different universe—I have total faith in the director and writer to handle the material, but I’m not feeling like I’m watching the same drama again. Not even remotely.

Nine is slated for 20 episodes and will be a Monday-Tuesday drama on tvN, following Flower Boy Next Door. Oh, you know I’ll be there.

Via Interview 365, Osen

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1 myweithisway

January 9, 2013 at 3:07 PM

This sounds fantastic!

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2 Mama J

January 9, 2013 at 3:09 PM

and I will be there with you!

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3 kay

January 9, 2013 at 3:10 PM

sounds interesting. and yay for lee jin wook! i hope jo yoon hee won't be sporting a bowl haircut..

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4 indes

January 9, 2013 at 3:11 PM

I'm worried already and I LOVE it.

tvN is just hitting it these days. Can't wait!!

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5 Sandy

January 9, 2013 at 3:14 PM

Sounds exciting!! Remotely reminds me of this hk drama a couple of years back.. But I loved that drama so I can't complain!

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6 Mystisith

January 9, 2013 at 3:19 PM

I'm not sure... Time-travelling overdose here.
Can I have 20 eps of FBND instead? *Ducking.*
Anyway, since it's tvN and since I like the cast I will give it a shot.

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liza

January 9, 2013 at 5:05 PM

I am still learning dramaism I haven't come across this one help me out. What is FBND?

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Gabilu

January 9, 2013 at 5:23 PM

FBND = Flower Boy Next Door.

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7 kopytko

January 9, 2013 at 3:33 PM

Lee Jin Wook makes me smile no matter what. I like dramas that make me smile. I am all for dramas that make me smile in more ways than showing me LJW's megawatt smile (please, please, please, please make him smile a lot), so I am optimistic. If writer-nim makes his character as smart and charming as Bong Doo, I will combust.
It turns out I will be better off not watching this drama at all ;p.

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momosa

January 9, 2013 at 7:34 PM

OMG! Bong Doo with sexy eyes and megawatt smile... jinja OMG!

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8 Ace

January 9, 2013 at 3:36 PM

Woah~ initially I was like, can they top QIHM? Not that I'm saying that that wouldn't be possible (if it does, yay!), but now that they've clarified things I'm more excited about it. FBND's currently really making me happy after the angsty but oh-so-great School 2013 so this is something to look forward to after the Nam-soon and Jin-rak addiction ends. I'm fully onboard this train as I loved what team QIHM did and tvN's my current favorite go-to drama channel even if the leads are kinda meh in my opinion. But hopefully with an interesting plot and a good director, any actor I was wary of before would grow on me eventually (like YSY as Enrique. Heh.)

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liza

January 9, 2013 at 5:12 PM

Part of what made the drama so great was the chemistry between the leads. I remember saying that they must really like each other because you could actually believe that they were falling in love. little did I know then that that was exactly what was happenning.
Did you see the extra railroad tracks scenes? made me want to walk hand in hand in the rain. serious attraction. So unless the leads in NINE fall in love, No, it might be good but not on the same level.

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Ace

January 9, 2013 at 5:26 PM

I do have the extra railroad track stills saved as my alternate laptop wallpaper and I made one of them my twitter background! I especially loved the one shot from the back and they were holding hands and balancing on the rail tracks. Also the one where Ji Hyun-woo was on the bike and Yoo Inna was standing beside him and they were holding hands. Plus the pics on the telephone booth. Hehe, I love them all!

I'm hopeful that there would be some chemistry between the leads as that's all I could hope for now as I don't have any confidence in their acting abilities based on their previous dramas.

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9 Meeyeong

January 9, 2013 at 3:38 PM

Sigh, awkward translations.

Yours or theirs? And two paragraphs to try to excuse the silly mistake? ROTFL.

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Javabeans

January 9, 2013 at 3:39 PM

Oh, the Court Lady assumption was totally ours. But the awkwardness of Nine: Nine Time Travels? Totally theirs.

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Meeyeong

January 9, 2013 at 4:56 PM

Yeah, it is awkward. Like Chaser The Chaser, I suppose.

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canxi

January 9, 2013 at 4:57 PM

Yeah...I'ma just call it Nine because reading that I'm just like..."I get it guys..."

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10 smiles

January 9, 2013 at 3:40 PM

I wanna get a board, i really do - interesting premise, great track record for the writers Queen In-hyun man was one of my favourite K-dramas, not just last year but all time. But as pretty as he to look at, Lee Jin Wook is just not a very good actor, he really isn't - so i'm not sure i can get on board.

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11 Gegia

January 9, 2013 at 3:52 PM

Finally, we have a clearer than before synopsis and i can say that i'm really happy for this story!
I can't wait to watch this drama, I wish it will be awesome as or more than QIHM.

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12 Mawiie

January 9, 2013 at 4:08 PM

Ouuhhh interesting! It's like that time in HP and the prisoner of Azkaban when Harry and Hermione were using the time-turner and had to avoid their past selves!

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13 eleanor

January 9, 2013 at 4:17 PM

Ooh! This sounds completely and utterly intriguing! Yay for projects to be excited about!

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14 bebeswtz

January 9, 2013 at 4:26 PM

why is it when I read about the (very conveluted) time travel aspect of this upcoming drama, that I think of Operation Proposal more than any of the time-travel dramas of the past year?? lol Maybe it's just me

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15 tapiocapearl

January 9, 2013 at 4:38 PM

I'm so glad for Lee Jin-wook. He's not the best actor, but he definitely is not a "not good" actor. Hopefully, this drama will help him hone his craft even more. I just have massive love for this guy. I might have said this before, but he is so gorgeous. Probably the hottest guy I've ever seen in dramaland. What I love most is that he looks like a MAN. He's not made up to look pretty. He's looks like a normal guy. Albeit, an abnormally hot normal guy.

The rest of the cast is promising. I was happy to hear that Jo Yoon-hee had really improved in her last drama because Lie To Me was unfinishable and did nothing for anybody in that show. And yay for Damsari!

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bd

January 11, 2013 at 9:12 PM

I thought LJW did a pretty good acting job in INR2012.

Before that, I only saw a bit of him in that awful spy series and I'm going to chalk up my negative impression of his acting in that to the bad writing/script.

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Muyamoh

January 30, 2013 at 12:59 AM

So true.

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16 ujsid

January 9, 2013 at 4:45 PM

The potion that let's him time travel, it kind of reminds me of operation proposal... It sounds interesting but let's wait for the character synopsis :D

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17 Redskirt

January 9, 2013 at 4:51 PM

Okay, just as I cross one off my never-ending list of to-watch dramas (finishing KoD), the list grows by one more name. But I don't care because it's an awesome new premise by the QIHM crew (which is possibly my favorite drama ever). I'm relatively new to kdramas, so I haven't seen any of their previous dramas, but I like the lead guy's looks :-) As someone else said, he actually looks like a MAN.

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18 Dedicated

January 9, 2013 at 4:56 PM

I don't want to sound picky or spoil the positive atmosphere here, so please excuse me but let me share my two pennies on this with you.

Say i watched too many dramas or movies handling time travelling, but this drama just reminds me of 'BACK TO THE FUTURE" american movie with Michael J. Fox where he travelled to the past and to the future a couple of times, trying avoid his past self and his actions in the past affected his future and the travelling him so that when in the past the girl who was supposed to be his mother didn't dance and fell in love with the boy who was supposed to be his father like it did in the actual past before his arrival but instead she took interest in him, the picture he carried with him with his siblings got one sibling wiped out and until he could put the mother-father ship back on track he had a hard time cause he was also about to vanish as a result of his parents not getting together in the past which would result in their marriage and the production of him and his siblings :)

And this synopsis just reminds me of the movie, which i enjoyed really very much but as a film, watch it in 2-3 hours and be done with it. I don't know if i could watch it 20 hours long, but i will give it a try, if the motivation of the time travel piques my interest.

Last but not least, i hope this time they don't pull a leg with the ending like they did in Queen In Hyun's Man, cause the get together of the hero and the heroine by the product replacement cell phone was so out of the blue and although they had emphasized the phone boot/ telecommunication connection, how magical that talisman was, it had no footing making that phone activate itself, still have battery left and have reception. So much i like happy endings, i think that was a forced one which left the logic of the time travelling - which was explained until then well enough and had a logical back story, was consistent in its magical talisman world - just hanging in the air. Hope, they have learned form their mistake.

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liza

January 9, 2013 at 5:28 PM

I get you on the similarities, how I get aroung that is, if too close a copy, I pass. If just minor bits and things I give it a play.
I have come to accept that according to the genre, you will come across quite a few dramas that have an American, japanese, or European twin. Notice to avoid rotten tomatoes, I did not say the words COPY, PLAGIARIZM.

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skelly

January 10, 2013 at 8:40 AM

Well, one man's mistake is another man's artistic license. I thought the ending of QIHM was a clever modern spin on a magical talisman and fit the logic (as it was) of the story and had more than enough setup. So I am not getting on the whole "QIHM was a great drama except for that ending" bandwagon (and frankly I think that line of reasoning is a little tired, having been repeated in nearly every end-of-year summary in the blogosphere - yawn).
I don't see that they have any mistake to learn from - I am expecting this drama to be different, but still clever, so I am in without reservations on this one.

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19 liza

January 9, 2013 at 4:56 PM

simply reading about the drama makes me smile just thinking about the posts about time travel. People get your bookbag, Ipads and get ready for quantum physic, time travel, parallel universe 102. if we remembered the lessons from the first class, at the completion of NINE we should all be certified "Rocket Scientists'. ( 101 was with the show about a Dr that travel back in time, we will not say the name so as not to curse NINE. )

Please KDlovers, review the comments on that show that should never be called by its name so that there can be a smooth transition and everyone can keep up with the discussions. Fun heheheheheh Smile heheheheheh.

seriously, I accept that if this gets me excited, I have a serious case of ennui. Definitely need to explore different and more fun things.

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20 canxi

January 9, 2013 at 4:59 PM

I'm excited for this one. Infinitely excited. I like the thought of dodging your past self, too. Like "Oh, shit, I hope I don't see me!"

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21 becca_boo

January 9, 2013 at 5:29 PM

eeeee!!!! *jumps up and down; claps hands* Flower Boy Next Door has barely started, and I'm already super psyched for the next show. My middle name should be "Impatience".

tvN, I love you so much it's ridiculous.

Thanks for the update, javabeans!

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22 SOWHAT

January 9, 2013 at 5:35 PM

Lee Jin-wook ACTING leaves a lot to be desired! Why has he not improved is beyond me! BEST OF LUCK TO HIM

NOW what to watch

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23 djeedjes

January 9, 2013 at 6:12 PM

Hmm, Hyungsik as past Jinwook? as in reincarnation, right?

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24 lenrasoon

January 9, 2013 at 6:50 PM

wow i'm excited! i have total faith on the writer after QIHM.

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25 Orion

January 9, 2013 at 7:40 PM

Loving the idea. I'd like less romance this time though, actually. I'd love to see a drama which handles time travel in other aspects. I mean there are bigger things that one can take away from or ruin when it comes to time travel than finding a chick.

I'm not saying 'Queen In Hyun's Man' wasn't very nice, but all these time traveling shows have this huge force of fantasy and the most they do with it is get someone laid. How about a series where someone goes back to change broader history or prevent someone's death or where they do it for fun and then realize they've messed up the future and need to fix things?

I'd love to see more about the concept of time travel and what can happen when messing with such a force, rather than just having it be a gimmick in a rom-com. I'd love an action thriller with time travel, for example. 'Joseon X-Files' did play with it a bit and even though the ending left things waaay too vague, I liked that it was used without romance being the main agenda.

I am very hopeful for this series here, because at least they both exist at the same point in time. It means that the mechanism at least won't be used to reach her, again. Let's see where they go with it. In cable I trust.

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canxi

January 9, 2013 at 9:04 PM

I get what you mean, but I actually think plots like this carry over better in smaller amounts of time like an hour or 2. Doing that & just that for 20 hrs could get tedious and a little frustrating. I think that's why they add romance into these kinds of stories for shows, so we can fall back on something light to give our brains a rest. But, I also read that Nine will not be as romantic as QIHM, so you can feel a little at ease with that. I really think they are trying for a different over-all tone with this one...this seems more like a mystery than anything else...and he is a news anchor....and the female lead is a junior reporter? It's like two people who run on finding the truth literally finding the truth among different when's. I love that. (:

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Orion

January 9, 2013 at 9:26 PM

Yep. I am hopeful. I do think you can fill 20 hours with this, just not only with the time travel. You can spend a lot of time with what he does wrong, when he does it, with sub-plots of trying to fix each thing, but I mean that I don't want the ultimate goal to be romance.

Like with 'Operation Proposal'. I only watched 2-3 episodes and was bored already. Same thing every time and it's not like the guy would save her life or do something of actual importance. I mean, come on. You have the chance to fix things and assume not buying her gum or braiding her hair is what messed it all up? And you keep assuming it's minor stuff like that which mattered, despite discovering, again and again that this wasn't quite it?

What I mean is, I don't want "getting the girl" to be the ultimate goal and I don't want the time filled in a way that makes the guy look like a total idiot. So far, most of our time-travelers have been very dim about how they interpreted what was happening and made decisions. QIHM did well there (he wasn't an idiot), but as I said, the whole Universe conspiring to bring a couple together? Sorry, I doubt the Universe has that much time and energy for 1 guy's and 1 girl's romance. :P

This could very well be a fantasy thriller where we spend time with him fixing up things he ruins. That's what I meant with focusing more on that. More on the concept of time-traveling and what it could cause and how chaotic it would be to try and fix things. Also, how things in the world are connected and how everything we do can make or break lives. This premise of traveling back has so much potential for really exploring interesting topics. I wish a series will use it like that as well. To say something more. And since most kdramas are more shallow than a puddle, cable is my new hope. :P

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canxi

January 10, 2013 at 8:46 AM

But, Operation Proposal was all about fixing things, lol. A lot of things. I mean, he wasn't trying to save the world, he was just tryna get his girl un-hitched. I actually liked it quite a bit & I would hope you give it a second try one day as it did many of the things--if not all--that you mentioned and not just with the romance.

I knew what you meant from your previous comment, but what I'm saying is even without romance as the ultimate goal it'll still be a guy traveling back and forth for an answer to one problem (with the info given thus far). It'll still be interesting but I'm sure it will have moments where it'll feel frustratingly repetitive especially done nine times in the span of 20 episodes. It's something I can see doing better in a shorter amount of time rather than a longer one where it has the potential to drag even with all the fun time-travel scenarios.

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26 rainbow

January 9, 2013 at 7:48 PM

wow.....this sounds so good.....will definitely watch it :)

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27 Suzume

January 9, 2013 at 8:18 PM

Dont know why, but reading the right title and the concept, reminds me of Guillaume Musso - Will You Be There? (original title: Seras-tu là?). The hero in there had turned back 30 years for 9 times, to save his beloved woman from dying.

Whatever, the show sounds promising. But I dont have much love for Lee Jin Wook *sigh* On the other hand, I adore Jo Yoon Hee :)

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28 Bu Young

January 9, 2013 at 8:34 PM

Looking forward to it(:

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29 Julia

January 9, 2013 at 10:30 PM

Pretty faces ... sigh ... my brain short circuits when I find the men all drool worthy. i say bring it on!

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30 Roxy

January 9, 2013 at 10:56 PM

Wow right after Flower Boy Next Door (looks awesome so far) THIS comes after? Looks like tvN will have another promising year.

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31 ninji

January 9, 2013 at 11:17 PM

This just makes me think of the game 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors. But hopefully it will be a bit more happier than that. ^^

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32 altair

January 9, 2013 at 11:24 PM

I don't know about this one, Queen InHyun's man was successful beacause of Ji Hyun Woo and yoo In Na and their amazing chemistry , not beacasue of the script, direction or production. Many other time travelling dramas(Time slip Dr. Jin, Operation Proposal, Faith) were not as successful. The premise of time travelling is so outlandish that you need a very strong chemistry between the leads to create a belivable love story. I am sorry but I don't see Jo Yoon-hee and Lee Jin Wook having that.

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whatever

January 10, 2013 at 12:11 AM

There's no doubt that those two actors had great chemistry but chemistry only goes so far, it's kind of ridiculous to just credit the actors chemistry as the only reason why that drama was successful when the writing was one of the main reasons why so many people were drawn to it.

And I always find it amusing when people judge two actors chemistry despite never having seen a second of them on-screen together yet. How about we wait until we actually see some footage of Jo Yoon Hee and Lee Jin Wook together before we judge their chemistry?

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hui ting

January 10, 2013 at 4:33 AM

I wholeheartedly agree with your comment!

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skelly

January 10, 2013 at 8:51 AM

Whaaa. Not agreeing with this one. Yes, the vaunted chemistry is what everyone talks about, because yes they did have it in spades and burnt up the screen and then became a real-life couple, the story everyone always adores.
But what attracted me from the first was not so much the relationship but the clever direction - I loved the editing, the sliding panels to tell a lot of story in a small amount of time, the way Joseon was lighted so differently from modern-day, in blue tones, so even without words you would know what era the story was in.
And the writing was great - it's all too rare to have an intelligent lead character who uses their brainpower to figure things out, and it's even rarer to have a show with intelligent characters (even the villians were smart here) who are actually allowed to be kind or funny or honorable. That's not "chemistry" - that's a well-written script.
The direction, the script, the production were really a cut above, which is why everyone else is so excited for a repeat from this team.

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33 Mini Roo

January 9, 2013 at 11:48 PM

oooo consequences, those are always fun

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34 fishy2love

January 10, 2013 at 12:33 AM

sounds like it'll be a great drama! looking forward to it! =)

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35 DC

January 10, 2013 at 1:30 AM

Yay! Another lead role for Lee Jin Wook!

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36 hui ting

January 10, 2013 at 4:13 AM

New lead role for LJW!!!! Yay.

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hui ting

January 10, 2013 at 4:22 AM

Omg I just realised there's the hot Dam Sa-ri, Jeon No-min. More reasons to watch.

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37 Sully

January 10, 2013 at 7:42 AM

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", anyone?

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Belovedvampi

January 10, 2013 at 8:31 AM

OMG I thought of exactly the same thing & How much I Loved that last goodbye cause she wasted his last chance to travel back to his time & he was lost in space OMG miss that anime.

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canxi

January 10, 2013 at 8:47 AM

I love that movie. I've only seen the animated one, but that ending. THAT ENDING D':

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38 Ivy

January 10, 2013 at 7:43 AM

What can I say - sounds wonderful:D tvN is like my favourite channel after Answer Me 1997 and In-hyun last year <3

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39 Lilian

January 10, 2013 at 11:01 AM

You are right! This latest update makes the whole drama sound more interesting! At first when it was translated as court lady, I thought there would a "queen" kinda reference again. But yes, I did like the way how Boongdo changed history, and affected the future in Queen In Hyun's Man! That makes so much sense..

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40 cruthy333

January 10, 2013 at 11:43 AM

Heck yeah, TVN! I trust this team already, and the synopsis is already rockin' my world. Also, Hyungsik is adorable. Let's hope he takes after Siwan more than Kwanghee in terms of acting, haha. I've already been dreading the end of Flower Boy, hopefully this will help lessen any withdrawal pains.

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canxi

January 10, 2013 at 8:03 PM

*shudders* Kwanghee....

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bella

January 11, 2013 at 10:05 AM

LOL....Hyungsik is really not bad(of course,a whole lot better than Kwanghee) at acting!! He's in the drama called 'Sirius' before that and he did a pretty good job there!! Hee...needless to say he's really really attractive & charming!!

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41 CaroleMcDonnell

January 10, 2013 at 2:25 PM

As long as it's more like Queen Inhyun's man and not like Proposal. I want those timeline changes in the past to really affect stuff and not be these tiny niggling little changes that do zilch.

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42 Lady Seoul

January 11, 2013 at 1:47 AM

This is er....interesting....haha. Hoping for the best~!

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43 Mei

January 11, 2013 at 3:59 AM

This sounds a lot like an anime the girl who leapt through time though they seems to tweak the story more.

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Yamapisukii

January 11, 2013 at 1:43 PM

my thoughts exactly! lol

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44 Jess

January 12, 2013 at 8:40 AM

Ehh. Still doesn't sound interesting enough for me. But I think I'll watch it thanks to Lee Jin Wook. <3

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45 kelinci biru

January 13, 2013 at 2:40 AM

Now, i'm all excited for this. For the sole reason: idol boy! Just watched Park Hyung Shik in Sirius and am sold, boy can act.

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46 am

January 13, 2013 at 3:24 AM

Oh, TVN, I cannot love you more. This sounds gooooood!

And I'm still falling in love with FBND so I'm in no rush for Nine just yet :)

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47 Muyamoh

January 30, 2013 at 1:06 AM

I am so happy that Lee Jin Wook will be a first lead actor. He is my first Korean Idol. I hope he will perform the best in Nine and hope Nine is the best drama although time travelling stories are quite the same.

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