So I guess the whole "girl pretends as a guy" thing nowadays is the new "dying of some terminal disease" gimmick.

Moon Geun Young ^O^ She looks kind of freaky in the first picture, and kind of old. There's something about her eyes... Anyhow, she looks really cute in the second and fourth ones.

Doesn't she look like Im Soo Jung now?

Hmm...I've been thinking about getting my hair cut like that. Javabeans, do you have any more pictures of her new hair cut? @.@

she looks anorexic in two of the pictures! she does remind me abit of im soo jung. xD

@ Mics

The "girl-pretends-to-be-a-guy" has always been a staple in ancient Chinese dramas.

I think in every single one that I've watched theres always a scene where the lead actress pretends to be a guy :)

(I'm guessing because in the olden days it was safer and less of a hassle to travel as a male).

Looks like another "Coffee Prince" knockoff, but this time with "CRAYONS". ;-)

@Jessica

Oh I thought it's quite new in Korean dramas. Eversince the start of Coffee Prince. Or maybe there's more from the past but the one that stood out the most and sort of started the "tomboy look" hype is Yoon Eun Hye's role in coffee prince. :)

@Gaijin

Hey! Yoon Eun Hye has crayons in Coffee Prince too! Lol XD

Woah. She looks cute as guy..and she's prettier now than 5 years ago :)

she looks way too skinny in the first picture!

wow, she lost so much weight. i'm looking forward to seeing her in a drama. she pulls off the boy look really well! a bit too well?

what gives with those "bushy" eyebrows? could be going for that "mono-brow" look. ;-)

yeah. she kinda looks like im soo jung.
which is kind of funny.
since both of them have this baby face that they're trying to "get rid off" :p

and oh yeah, i still think she doesn't look like a guy =_=' still looks like a kid :p
but i admire actors/actresses like her for doing all sorts of things just for their roles ^_^

@ Mics

Oh yeah, I haven't see this plot element in many Korean dramas either. But I mainly watch the modern k-dramas so I'm not sure if they use it in the ancient ones.

The only modern one that I know of (aside form Coffee Prince) is Hana Kimi.

Also, in Chinese history, there's this tragic love story that's really beautiful:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Butterfly_Lovers

Basically back in ancient times only men could attend schools. So this girl disguises herself as a boy and in the process falls in love with one of her classmates.

I don't know why but I'm a sucker for this type of plot element :)

can't wait for this drama! i wish she will come out with a new movie too! she's a good actress..

btw, i hope it's nothing like coffee prince per se.....coz i really didn't like coffee prince sorry CP fans.

what is it with having to pretend to be a man to get ahead/survive in society? It is a nice shiny "new" gimmick for kdrama plots, but it also says a lot about Korean gender roles I think.

I phone a so cool!

yeah.. don't tell Gwyneth Paltrow.. cuz there's also this obscure, little-known playwright guy wil shakespeare who wrote twelfth night ;)

@Mics and Jessica:

I def. agree w/ Jessica about gender/bender series in 'sageuk' Chinese dramas (except they're not called sageuk cus... it's Chinese!). But there definitely has been an increase in non-traditional Korean female roles lately - referencing back to my one K-drama love (haha just kidding, but I seem to talk about it a lot here) is Yi-Nok in Hong Gil Dong. Though she doesn't play a boy, her personality and characteristics are very unusual considering traditional female lead roles in sageuk dramas.

Yeah - what do you guys think though? Gender-bender = makes the show more interesting? Hana-kimi (jp or tw version) is another example... I guess it highlights a more homo-erotic nature to the shows?

That's one of the reasons why I wasn't totally wowed by Hong Gil Dong. Chinese period dramas have done the tomboy-sassy heroine mistaken as a boy thing many times over, and their plotlines are a lot more intricate and absorbing than the korean sageuks I've seen so far (granted, I've not watched that many). When it comes to saguek/wuxia, the chinese dramas and/or films are the most impressive. Watch out for Battle of the Red Cliff, everyone! ;)

Thanks for the recommendation javabeans! Yes, I'm aware that Hong Gil Dong is a fusion sageuk. Still, I see some similarities in Gil Dong's wackiness with some of the folklore heroes from Chinese wuxia. If you want a taste of comedy/action/palace intrigue wuxia, look no further than Duke of Mount Deer (Tony Leung's version). It's a classic. I've rewatched that drama like 5 times, lol. There's this rivalry-friendship thing going on between the hero (Tony) and the King (Andy Lau) which somewhat parallels Gil Dong and Chang Hui's relationship but it's much deeper and more touching. Also, the similarities stops there as Tony is no Robbin Hood with high ideals but a cowardly, albeit very shrewd and charming eunuch. hehe. Anyways, amongst the korean sageuks you've listed, I've only seen Dae Jang Geum (it was excellent) and I've also seen Jumong and Damo. I might give Yi San a try later.

those pictures have been around for a while now. at least a month? a friend of mine used them as his profile picture, LOL.

still cute...

i love cross dress shows!!!! i wish ther were more

so cute.....
looks likes me at 13 years old ^_^

Hey it's me sonam u look cute in this pic