Sassy Girl: Choon Hyang

Sassy Girl: Choon Hyang was one of the earliest k-dramas aired in GMA 7 that I watched. I really liked the way Chun Hyang and Mong Ryong (sounds like Mu-Ryong from Witch Yoo Hee, huh?) deal with each other XD I think they look really good together. Actually, I have watched the tagalized version of this drama since DVD copies were not yet sold in stores. It has 17 episodes.

Here’s a synopsis from Wikipedia:

Delightful Girl Chun Hyang is the 2005 interpretation of the Legend of Chun-hyang. The story begins when Lee Mong-ryong, son of a famous chief of police, is transferred from Seoul to a high school in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, because he is a trouble maker. He accidentally bumps into Chun-hyang, shoots embarrassing photos of her and ends up swapping her cell phone with his. As a result, they are constantly in touch with each other and find out they attend the same school. Mong-ryong constantly bullies Chun-hyang and thanks to him, she becomes slightly sick. Feeling guilty, he visits her, only to mistakenly drink a whole bottle of wine, assuming it is juice. He immediately falls asleep on the only bed in the house, which consequently is the one Chun-Hyang is sleeping in. Thus, they spend the night with each other. Nothing sexually occurs, but thanks to their best friends, who know what happened and accidentally announce it on the school intercom, they are forced to marry each other in order to save their families’ reputation, seeing as everyone at school assumes they have slept together. They eventually fall in love with each other, but Mong-Ryong’s previous crush, Hong Chae-Rin, after rejecting him, then discovering his marriage, becomes jealous and tries to win him back. There is also the problem of Byun Hak-Do, an extremely successful talent agency director who falls in love with Chun-Hyang.

In order to help him get to college, Chun-Hyang helps him to his study so that he could be with Chae-Rin at Han-guk University, the most prestigious university in Korea. They are both accepted, but as she is unable to pay the tuition, she does not attend and tells her family-in-law she will meet them in Seoul, not revealing that her mother is actually on the run. When Mong-Ryong finally does find Chun-Hyang, he tries again and again to reveal his feelings for her, while unearthing her feelings for him by moving into her new location. When he finally confesses outright, she denies him, claiming she never loved him, because of Chae-Rin’s harsh statement that Mong-Ryong was merely pitying her and wished only to pay her back.

When the two finally do confess to each other, there is still one more problem. Byun Hak-Do, being rich, handsome and successful, assumes he could have any woman in the world, but when Chun-Hyang rejects him, he attempts to take her by blackmail. Several days before the real wedding between Mong-Ryong and Chun-Hyang, Mong-Ryong witnesses a woman being assaulted and attempts to save her. It turns out to be a plot, and so Mong-Ryong is now a criminal on the run. Byun Hak-Do carries an edited video of the security camera, putting Mong-Ryong in a bad light, and threatens Chun-Hyang that unless she goes to him, he will expose the video to the world. Chun-Hyang agrees and so Mong-Ryong is freed, but now, Chun-Hyang pretends to want to divorce him immediately to keep her end of the bargain. When the divorce is complete, she goes to Mr. Byun and the two of them prepare to travel to Japan, but at the last minute, she runs off and hides from both Mr. Byun and Mong-Ryong.

Several years pass and Mong-Ryong is now a famous prosecutor, the District Attorney of Seoul. Chun-Hyang has snuck off to Busan and now owns an accesories factory. Mr. Byun has just returned from Japan and people assume that his “fiancee” is still there as well. At the wedding of Mong-Ryong’s and Chun-Hyang’s two best friends,Bang Ji-hyuk and Han Dan-hee, Chun-Hyang sneaks in to drop off a present, and as she leaves, Mr. Byun sees her. In a rush to leave, she accidentally scrapes the car next to her, which is consequently Mong-Ryong’s car. The two start a heated argument through Chun-Hyang’s assistant, Kim Dong-Su, who goes to pay Mong-Ryong the money they owe for his car. Several crooks who follow assume Kim Dong-Su to be an informant and kidnap him. When the police rescue him, they discover the wedding picture from high school between Mong-Ryong and Chun-Hyang and show it to Mong-Ryong. When he sees it, he uses it to find Chun-Hyang again, but she still acts unhappy to see him, still frightened from knowing what Byun Hak-do has.

Finally, Byun Hak-do realizes that there are just some things in the world that he can’t have, and finally releases the full unedited version of the tape so that everyone can see Mong-Ryong’s true intentions.

To add to the happily ever after, Mong-Ryong re-proposes to Chun-Hyang and the two are married again.

Here are the main characters:

Sung Choon-Hyang- Han Chae Young
Because of poverty, Chun-hyang has to hold several part-time jobs to make her living. She delivers newspapers, cleans ponds and works as a photographer. Nonetheless, she studies hard at school and achieves good academic performance. She is regarded as the beauty queen of her school. She is seen as a usually sweet, gentle and kind girl, but when angered, she throws away the sweet side and immediately begins to take action. Although she is normally considered the school’s beauty queen/ top student, she also likes to go clubbing. She’s on the poor side, living alone with her mom in a small apartment (her father died when she was two), and that gives her a sense of responsibility, and so she takes on various odd jobs, such as delivering newspapers or fishing through ponds. One day, she meets Lee Mong-Ryong, an irresponsible boy which she ends up getting in trouble with and being forced to marry. She eventually falls in love with him, and in the end of the drama, they end up getting married for real.

Lee Mong-ryong – Jae Hee
Lee Mong-ryong is a tough but very simple-minded and hot-tempered guy. Although he is the son of the police station chief, he always gets into trouble in school. With the help of Chun-hyang, he enrolls into a prestigious university, achieving both love and career success at the same time. However, his love toward Chun-hyang is put to test when he meets his first love, Chae-rin.

 

Sassy Girl: Choon Hyang Soundtrack

1. Intro – 신동우 (Shin Dong-oo)
2. Haeng Bok Ha Gil Ba Rae 행복하길바래 – 임형주 (Im Hyung-joo)
3. Jayoo Rowa II 자유로와 II (쾌걸춘향 ver) – 지니 (Jinny)
4. Eung Geub Shil 응급실 – Izi
5. Mi Ahn Hae Ya Ha Neun Guh Hi 미안해야 하는거니 - As One 
6. Sarang Hae Yo 사랑해요 – 김형섭 (Kim Hyung-sub)
7. Queen – 박용석 (Park Yong-suk)
8. Ee Mi Geu Daen 이미그댄 – Izi
9. Bud – Bud
10. Geu Sok Eh Suh 그속에서 – 신동우 (Shin Dong-oo)

(I’m going to post the link of these songs soon)

Jae Hee won the KBS Best New Actor Award in this drama while Han Chae Yeong won the KBS Popularity Award in 2005. And together, they bagged the 2005 KBS Acting Awards: Best Couple Award XD They’re so great great great XD XD I noticed Mu Ryong’s character (from Witch Yoo Hee) and Mong Ryong’s are very different from one another. It’s good to see how Jae Hee transformed from one character to another, so versatile XD

Oh yeah, I really love Choon Hyang’s hairstyle. I often style my hair that way and it reminds my friends about this cute k-drama ^_^v  Two thumbs up for this drama ^_^v

 
^ look at that cute hairstyle XD

Witch Yoo Hee

Witch Yoo Hee, another great korean drama aired by GMA 7. It is comedy-romance in genre and actually one of the k-dramas that captured my interest. The story is about a “witch” who transformed into a beautiful lady, in the character of Yoo Hee. Yoo Hee has never had a boyfriend because all the guys he dated refused to ask her out again due to her nature. Until he met a guy who crashed in her car in an accident, in the name of Chae Mu Ryong (or Marlon in the tagalized version) who eventually turned into Yoo Hee’s fake boyfriend. It has 16 episodes.

Here’s a synopsis from Wikipedia:

Ma Yoo Hee (Han Ga In) is the executive of an advertising company. She would never be caught dead wearing make-up and only dresses in black. Her hairstyle and glasses are very business like looks, her only enjoyment in life appears to be the times when she’s criticising everything and anyone. All of her employees and co-workers fear her and she is constantly talked about when she’s not around. Her stern and harsh nature has earned her the nickname ‘witch’ When it comes to romance she is hopeless. No matter how many blind dates she has, not one has ever led to a second. The reason for this is her negativity and her inability to loosen up and express herself. She is, however, completely oblivious of her faults and cannot comprehend why she is so bad when it comes to love.

Chae Mu-Ryong (Jae Hee) is an aspiring chef with a passion for French cuisine. He has an innate ability when it comes to taste and perfection. Every piece of food and every plate he prepares must be perfect. However this tends to get him into a lot of trouble because when working in a kitchen every moment counts and there is not possibly enough time to take so much care in preparation and decoration of meals. His criticism of a head chef’s cooking causes him to lose his job. His parents have never really approved of his aspirations and dreams to be a famous chef and insist he return to medical school. He decides to enroll back into medical school but changes his mind at the last minute and decides not to.

Mu-Ryong discusses everything with his best friend and ends up going on a blind date to pretend to be someone else who backed out at the last minute. He declines at first since he already has a girlfriend, but his friend offers him money, and warns him however that the woman he will be meeting is rather different.

The woman he meets is Yoo Hee, and while under normal circumstances she would be rude, brash and boring, she tries to be nice and happy in an attempt to succeed on the date. However, her pretending is not very convincing and Mu-Ryong figures that it would be a matter of time before she loses it. The date ends when Mu-Ryong falls asleep for a moment, resulting in Yoo Hee throwing a glass of water at his face and calling him rude. He retorts back to her also, telling her to take care of her appearance the next time she goes on a blind date. The two then leave on bad terms.

While delivering food from his father’s Chinese restaurant, Mu-Ryong becomes involved in a car accident, coincidentally with Yoo Hee. They exchange insurance information and Yoo Hee learns that he lied to her on their date, realizing that he is 1 year younger than her, and that he met her only as a favor to a friend.

Yoo Hee demands the money for the damage to her car to be paid within a week. However, Mu-Ryong doesn’t have any money, and yet Yoo Hee is unwilling to compromise with him. He decides to use his school tuition, which was given to him by his parents, to pay for her car. However, he loses the money after being mugged on the way to pay her.

Mu-Ryong tells Yoo Hee he doesn’t have the money but is willing to work it off, no matter how long it takes or what he must do for her to pay her back. Yoo Hee decides that Mu-Ryong could repay her by working as her house keeper, since she continuously looses her previous keepers.

Meanwhile, Mu-Ryongs girlfriend Seung Mi, who works at her father’s restaurant, is expecting a new head chef: Johnny Kruger, a world renowned chef, who also happens to be Mu-Ryong’s idol and an acquaintance of Yoo Hee as well.

The way the characters relate in the story is quite similar to other k-dramas like there’s a contract and there’s something like this and that. But what made it different to others is the way an event happened. The creativity on choosing the precise situations in order to show the characters’ progress is very well done.  Viewers of all ages would definitely enjoy this drama.

Dal Ja’s Spring

Here it is! My most favorite k-drama, so far XD Dal Ja’s Spring!

This drama definitely caught my attention. When I saw Lee Min Ki (yes, he attracted me in an unbelievable force) I said to myself, “OMG, I wanna watch that drama!” Then that afternoon, I bought myself a copy of Dal Ja’s Spring together with a very good friend. As soon as I arrived back home, I went straight ahead to my room and turned the DVD on. I watched all day long without delay (yeah, my eyes were wide open for the entire day) and actually, my parents didn’t know. I had finished watching it around 5 o’ clock in the morning and after that, I went to sleep. It was actually my first time to stay up till morning just to watch something. I guarantee you guys, this drama is a must-see! Oh yeah, it has 22 episodes.

Here are the characters:

Here’s a synopsis from http://contents.kbs.co.kr:

Dalja’s Spring’ is the story of Dalja, a 33-year old single at a crossroad of whether to remain single or get married before she gets older. The drama aims to comically and candidly portray the reality and undying pursuit of romance of a thirty something single woman.

The love triangle of Dalja, Taebong and Gijoong brews conflicts over love versus marriage. Taebong, a hunk six years younger than Dalja, works as substitute dates and becomes Dalja’s fake boyfriend. Gijoong is the type who dreams of an ideal and rational courtship. The drama also highlights the life and work of women in their thirties through Dalja who is a talented managing director at a home shopping channel.

Actress Chae Rim plays ‘Oh Dalja’ while actor Lee Min-gi is ‘Taebong,’ who freelances as a substitute date and develops feelings for his last client Dalja. Lee Hyeon-woo will play ‘Yeom Gijoong’ and Gong Hyeong-jin is cast for ‘Shin Sedo,’ a free romantist and Dalja’s ex. Actress Lee Hye-young plays ‘Wi Seon-joo,’ a 33-year-old home shopping show host with a brilliant sense in dating.

Casting

Chae Rim – Oh Dal-ja:
33-year-old promising home shopping channel managing director. She owns a house and a car thanks to a career driven life. She’s interested in men but is a disaster on real dates. She’s a professional in work but a novice in love. She begins a dreamy love affair with flirtatious coworker Shin Sedo but is enraged to find out about his infidelity. She hires a boyfriend by contract, Taebong, to seek revenge on Sedo.

 

Lee Min-ki – Kang Tae-bong:
27-year-old freelancer for a proxy dating agency. He begins to pretend as Dalja’s boyfriend. It takes people time to discover his warm heart due to his outspoken character. He develops feelings for Dalja.

 

Lee Hyeon-woo – Yeom Gi-joong:
36-year-old prospering businessman who heads an importing firm of foreign brand goods. He is polite and humble with reputable character. But he’s very possessive and hates to lose. He asks Dalja to start a relationship with him as he thought she would be comfortable and not have high expectations on love. He is aghast at her elementary dating experience but grows attracted to her more and more.

Lee Hye-young – Wi Seon-joo:
33-year-old home shopping network show host. A former hot model, she disappeared from the public eye when she married at 29. She returns three years later as a divorcee. The talented show host, who can be fussy and particular, gets on Dalja’s nerves. She is a dating genius who knows all dating rules there are and what not. Her skills shine in making Shin Sedo as her man.

My Review

Dal Ja’s Spring is a really good drama. It could be watched by audiences who seek a comedy-romance genre with a little bit of information about a single and working woman in her thirties. The drama also wanted to say that there’s nothing impossible in growing old – you can still find your true love, achieve your goals, do the things you haven’t done yet and the like. Chae Rim did a really really great acting throughout the series and she chose the best come-back drama. Lee Min Ki (my angel XD) also did a really good job. He played the role of Kang Tae Bong smoothly and excellently. Their chemistry worked so well that I came to realize, having a huge age gap in a relationship is never a hindrance.

This drama is the closest to my heart among all the k-dramas that I have encountered. Though I have watched it already in DVD, I’m still watching the local airing because GMA 7’s tagalized version is really well.

Let’s watch Dal Ja’s Spring on GMA 7, 10:00pm after My Name is Kim Sam Soon, the Filipino Version.

Autumn In My Heart

Endless Love: Autumn In My Heart is actually one of the first great k-dramas aired on Philippine TV (and on Korean TV, as well). Yun Joon Suh (played by Song Seung Hun) and Choi Eun Suh (played by Song Hye Kyo) are the leads of this drama, aired with 16 episodes. Here’s a synopsis from Wikipedia:

The story begins during the teenage years of the two main characters: Yoon Joon-suh (played by Choi Woo Hyuk) and Yun Eun-suh (played by Song hye-Kyo). They are the children of a rich professor and believed they are biologically brother and sister until Eun-suh gets in an automobile accident.

After blood tests were carried out by the doctor on Mr and Mrs Yun for Eun Suh’s transfusion, the Yuns find out that Eun-suh belongs to a Mrs Choi, and Choi Shin-ae (played by Lee Ae-Jeong), is the Yun’s biological daughter. At first, only the parents of Shin-ae and Eun-suh knew about this, but eventually, Shin-ae discovered the truth after she got into a fierce argument with her non-biological mother over a teddy bear she received from her biological father. Eun-suh only discovered the truth after Shin-ae wants her biological parents to take her in. In the end, the two daughters were returned to their rightful parents. Eun-suh now lives with the Choi family, where her biological father is dead and her widowed mother operates a small restaurant living in abject poverty.

Years went by, and in the duration, the Yun family went to the United States, where Jun-suh (now played by Song Seung-heon) returns to South Korea as a successful artist. He went back to the town he lived in, where he encountered his old friend, Han Tae-seok (played by Won Bin). They both stay at the hotel where Eun-suh (now played by Song Hye-gyo) works as a telephone receptionist. Tae-seok (who doesn’t know about the entire brother and sister mixup that happened earlier) fell in love with Eun-suh and played games with her until she was fired from her job. One day Eun-suh saw Joon-suh and followed him to the beach where he was with Yumi (his fiancee) and Tae-sok and the two “siblings” finally meet after ten years.

Both Eun-suh and Joon-suh pretended to have a sibling relationship in front of the others at first but Shin-ae (now played by Han Chae-Young) – angry at Eun-suh for taking away Tae-sok – exposed the two after she found a love letter Eun-suh had written to Joon-suh.
As a fight between Jun-suh and Tae-seok grows over their professed love for Eun-suh, she discovers she has leukemia (the same illness that took her biological father’s life). She didn’t tell anyone until the disease was at a terminal stage. All hope was lost by now, and Eun-suh died as Jun-suh was carrying her around the beach where they spent her birthday as teenagers.

Before Eun-suh died, she told Jun-seo not to follow her in death, and to continue living. However, Jun-suh, grief-stricken by the death of his lover and “sister”, allowed himself to be struck by a truck (ironically the story starts with Eun-suh being struck by a truck), and he died shortly afterwards.

My Review

Well, this drama is a really good one. Especially to me, who likes and prefers drama with a romantic-comedy genre. The twist and turns of the story are very unique and complex. I recommend this drama to all of you who haven’t watched it yet. Song Hye Kyo acted really well in this drama >_< And as far as I can remember, Autumn in my Heart is her first exposure in the Filipino channel. I can still remember my friends talking non-stop about this sensational drama… aww, brings back memories *tears fall*

Two thumbs up for this drama!

I’m back to the K-Drama Craze!

I’m so addicted to it… Again! XD 

Well, I have been an addict since the time korean dramas stormed the Philippines. If I could remember it right, I think it was “Bright Girl” from GMA 7 — the first k-drama aired and dubbed in the Philippine TV. Then, a lot more followed: Stairway to Heaven, Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace), Full House, Love Story In Harvard, Witch Yoo Hee and a lot more! (If you can observe, all of the titles I’ve mentioned above are from GMA 7… yeah, I’m a big kapuso fan XD)

Currently, I’m sooo addicted to Dal Ja’s Spring >_< Lee Min-Ki, who is the lead male character in the series (He is Kang Tae Bong in the original drama and Philip Kang in the tagalized version) is a real cutie! I’m so addicted to him *faints* XD

 

Thanks to Dal Ja’s Spring, I’m back to the K-Drama Craze!