For my fan girl moment this time (you know you’ve come to expect this from me, right?) I’ve decided to pay homage to Kim Ik. He is just so cute and is such a good police detective in this.

And now…

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 9 (3,727 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

The languid and cool YDI photographer, Go Eun Sik. (Jin Sung)

YDI’s cute maknae, Park Joon Hyung. (Ji Chang Wook)

Detective Cutie, aka Detective Oh Jung Il (Kim Ik)

And, finally, the sexiest reporter in all of Korea, Jin Do Hyuk (Lee Junki)

Gee, I’m suddenly feeling a bit faint, like I might need a doctor. (Even if it is a fake doctor in a creepy hospital.)

And now, without further adieu…

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 8 (4,664 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

…With a fan girl moment! It’s a shirtless YDI reporter!

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 7 (4,713 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

Fan girl moment….sort of! I’ve found the one look Lee Junki CAN’T pull off…Depressed Scruffy! Kudos to him for being willing to do it and make it work!

SONG OF THE DAY

Big Bang – “Lie” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 6 (4,054 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

Ok, fan girl moment over (for now!)

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 5 (3,902 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

Hero: Episode 4

The first issue of Yong Deok Ilbo has been published, causing elation for the Yong Deok team, but leaving three highly disatisfied readers in it’s wake. Do Hyuk encounters the first such reader when he personally delivers his paper to the offices of DAESE Ilbo. Kang Hae Seong does not like having his company slandered in the press, telling Do Hyuk that the company cannot be held responsible for an “impulsive suicide”.

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 4 (4,163 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

Hero: Episode 3

After his confrontation with Lieutenant Joo Jae In, a freshly showered Do Hyuk sits at his desk recalling her stinging words to him. Perhaps as a way to console himself, and to remember why he became a reporter in the first place, he goes through a box of family memories, photos, a journalism award his father won, and a scrapbook he put together as a young boy of all of his father’s articles. One article in particular brings back a particularly painful memory.

(...)
Read the rest of Hero: Episode 3 (3,672 words)

© Andromytta for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eom Ki-joon, Hero, Lee Jun-ki, Yoon So-yi

MBC’s Hero is ending tomorrow, and its star Lee Jun-ki is marking the event by watching the finale with fans in a special screening.

This event will host 300 members of his official fan club and be held on January 14 in Seoul’s Kangnam Samsung-dong Megabox theater. In addition to the last episode, attendees will watch highlights from the series, video messages sent from the cast, NGs and the like. Following this screening, Lee will head to Japan for another Hero-related event on January 16.

While the drama never caught on with the public — Hero‘s ratings have hovered between 4%-6% and today’s penultimate episode brought in a 4.7% — it has a core set of loyal fans and has been praised as a well-acted and solid drama. It had some bad luck by going up against blockbusters — IRIS, then Chuno — but personally I don’t think it would have been a mainstream hit even with a better timeslot. Having watched several early episodes, I thought it had appeal, but its tone and material keep it at the mania level.

Via Asia Economy

RELATED POSTS

• Will It Snow For Christmas kicks off new midweek ratings battle
• Lee Junki fans mobilize to support Hero
• Lee Byung-heon won’t star in IRIS sequel
• Hero struggles to gain ground
• Hero: Episodes 1-2
• Overseas fans surprise Lee Junki with good-luck cranes

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hero, Lee Jun-ki

First, I’d like to start by thanking Sarah for inviting me to be a guest reviewer. I must admit that I was, at first, a bit daunted (okay, scared ****less would be more precise), but how else could I begin to pay a little back to those who have given me so much? I’m neither a blogger nor a writer, but I am an avid fan of kdramas (possibly, too avid), as well as Javabeans’ blog, and these past few years have been brighter and better because I get to come here, my home away from home, each and every day. Good company makes for good times. It truly is an honor to be included with the likes of Dahee, Thundie, JB…and, yes, even Samsooki .

Overall, I’d say 2009 had more to offer than the kdrama drought of the previous year, but as I watched more than 20 of this year’s fare (plus several more that I dropped midway), I found myself becoming increasingly…..well, grumpy. Usually, I tend to finish dramas that I start, I don’t have many expectations from dramas when they begin because I never know how they will affect me personally, and I don’t easily succumb to boredom…so what could’ve caused the permanent indentation on my forehead [from all the headdesking]?

Could it have been the number of daily dramas I was so easily suck[er]ed into watching due to fangirliness and the prospect of shared ogling and squeeing with friends (I haven’t forgotten who recommended those dramas to me, mind you!)? Had my tastes changed so drastically since reaching triple-digits for total dramas watched over the years? Or was I simply turning into one of those persnickety old ajummas with rapidly decreasing patience for idiocy? I’m sure it’s a combination of all that, along with an increased appreciation for solid writing, directing, and acting.

Then towards the end of the year, just when I thought I could not endure any more squama frontalis abuse, I finally watched Kwak Jung Hwan’s 2007 masterpiece, Conspiracy In The Court. It had always been a part of my Horn of Plenty (my ever-increasing list of dramas to watch), but it wasn’t until this mind-blowing experience that I finally realized why I had been drawn to the underrated gems of 2009 while being left unmoved by those that brought in the big ratings.

SONG OF THE DAY

Conspiracy in the Court OST – “Parallel Lines (평행선)” by JK Kim Dong-wook (Because this is just an awesome song, covered in a decadent awesome sauce with whipped cream and a cherry on top.)
[ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Finding Hidden Gems And Lumps of Coal in 2009 [Year In Review, Part 5] (4,629 words)

© hjkomo for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 121 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Assorted Gems, Don't Hesitate, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Family Honor, Hero, I Love You Don't Cry, Queen of Housewives, Return of Iljimae, Romance Zero, The Road Home, year in review, You're Beautiful

After a pretty meh 2008, I was ready for the drama landscape to fire back up with 2009. And while there were a number of misses and disappointments — isn’t there always? — I was pretty satisfied with the dramas I watched in 2009. I still don’t think there were as many top offerings as, say, 2007, but I found a number of series to entertain me and satisfy my drama craving. There were a few selections early on that got me pumped for the year and things lagged during and after the summer months, but all told, I had an entertaining year.

(Okay, this is LONG. I tried to contain myself, really.)

SONG OF THE DAY

IRIS – “Empty” by Juni [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of All Told, A Pretty Fun Year [Year In Review, Part 4] (7,596 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 141 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Boys Before Flowers, Cinderella Man, Dream, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Style, Swallow the Sun, Tamra the Island, Triple, Will It Snow For Christmas, year in review, You're Beautiful