MBC’s Return of Iljimae premiered on Wednesday, and from the first two episodes, my first impressions are:

1. It is SO pretty. Amazing cinematography.
2. The music is freaking gorgeous.
3. Nice pacing of the story.
4. Pretty solid acting, good casting.
5. Yes, the narration gets annoying.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Dear Cloud – “Lip” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of The Return of Iljimae: Episodes 1-2 (3,012 words)

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Post tags: first episodes, Iljimae, Jung Hye-young, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-jong, Return of Iljimae, Yoon Jin-seo

2007 was a rich year for drama-land. There was something for everyone, whether your tastes ran toward dark thrillers (Devil), intense dramas (White Tower), heart-warmers (Thank You), off-the-wall eccentrics (Mixed-up Investigative Agency), trendy fare (Coffee Prince), romantic comedies (Dal Ja’s Spring), and so on.

2008, on the other hand… not so much.

Every drama has its good and bad points, but it’s a lot easier to decide how you feel about one when those qualities are expressed in the extreme — i.e., very good, or very bad. When everything is a muddle in the middle, though, it’s harder to draw the lines.

That’s why in contrast to last year’s “Best” and “The Rest” designations, this year I don’t really distinguish “good” versus “bad” — or even “favorites” and “hated dramas” — and can only grade on a spectrum. I call that spectrum “MEH” with the extreme poles representing “generally watchable” and “generally unwatchable.” It’s just been that kind of year.

SONG OF THE DAY

Painter of the Wind OST – “색” (Color) by JOO [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Finding Merit in the Mediocre [Year in Review, Part 4] (4,967 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 75 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Star's Lover, Beethoven Virus, Bulhandang/Robbers, East of Eden, Gourmet, Hong Gil Dong, I Love You, Iljimae, Love & Marriage, On Air, One Mom, Rivals, Strongest Chil Woo, Tazza, The Last Scandal of My Life, The World They Live In, Three Dads, When Night Comes, Who Are You?, year in review

The K-drama world rolled into 2008 still riding the high that was 2007, a year in which a startling number of quality dramas were made, and enjoyed. Maybe it rolled in too fast. It ended up getting smothered by the waves of its previous success. In fact, you could say that it even got hit on the head by a stray surfboard, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Depressing enough intro for ya?

But seriously, 2008 was a dark year for the K-entertainment industry, with not only dramas, but also movies suffering and generally showing poor quality. And not only that, but the economy went kablooie, and we suffered a sobering amount of tragic K-celebrity news.

Personally, this was a supremely frustrating year for a longtime and devoted K-drama fan like me. Before this year, I always gave dramas the benefit of the doubt, and would usually watch at least a certain number of episodes before I passed judgment on them, and decided to continue or discontinue watching. But this year, with every stomach-churning dud, I became more and more impatient, and started going through drama episodes like a vulture searching for roadkill. And boy, did I find a lot of roadkill.

I’m pretty sure 2008 was a record year for me in terms of abandoning dramas. And to think that I used to be the girl who would finish every drama she started, no matter how bad or how boring they were! But the older I get, the less patience I have, and the more critical I become. Besides, I’ve now realized just how precious my time really is. I don’t want to waste it on useless pap, thankyouverymuch.

Still, despite all that, there were a small handful of quality dramas this year. None of them quite matched the heights of some of the dramas of 2007, but still, any kind of quality was more than welcome in this gloomy year.

SONG OF THE DAY

La Dolce Vita – “사랑 꽃” (Love Flower) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Dahee Fanel’s 2008 Review [Year in Review, Part 3] (4,255 words)

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Post tags: A Star's Lover, Beethoven Virus, East of Eden, I Love You, Iljimae, Kingdom of Wind, La Dolce Vita, My Sweet Seoul, On Air, Rivals, Spotlight, Strongest Chil Woo, Tazza, The Painter of Wind, The World They Live In, When Night Comes, Who Are You?, year in review

Year in Review – 2008
- In which I practiced my ?? face a lot.

Well, I’m but a wee babe in dramaland compared to Sarah, thundie and Dahee – I really started watching kdrama in earnest in late 2007. *pause while everyone picks their jaws up from the floor*

Caveat: I don’t have a huge base from which to compare, so this is all in my own humble opinion. You don’t have to agree, and you are definitely welcome to discuss. (No trolling, though, or I will start waving the Baton of Baleetion.) First of all, I’d like to say that my watching dramas is purely for the sake of relaxation – I have enough stress and overwork from school already, plskthx. Therefore it’s rather unlikely for me to take a huge tearjearker and run with it, if you know what I mean.

(And the concept of tearjerkers in general just baffle me a little. Why make yourself unhappy? I do love Atonement to the itty bitty pieces of my fairly battered heart, though that’s neither here nor there.)

So, looking over at the ones I watched this year, I’m actually fairly monogamous about my dramas. (Yay for having schoolwork?) The one thing that kind of stood out in my memory of this year, however, is that mostly all of them tended to have many ‘bleh’ moments – including the ones I’d loved and watched like an obsessed thing.

SONG OF THE DAY

Alanis Morissette – “Orchid,” as it is currently my favourite song ever and I wanted to share it.
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of Witterings on 2008 Dramas [Year in Review, Part 1] (2,043 words)

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Post tags: Beethoven Virus, Gourmet, Hong Gil Dong, Iljimae, The Painter of Wind, year in review

How gorgeous is that promo shot or what? It reminds me of the whimsical artwork of old-school Final Fantasy, doesn’t it? Somehow it manages to be fantasy-like, but not too weak or caricaturish.

Talk about changing my mind, both firmly and quickly. MBC’s Return of Iljimae has managed to do that in a really short period of time, and I admit that it’s for totally superficial reasons. But hey, that’s effective marketing (and art direction!) for ya. And image really is a huge component when we’re talking entertainment-industry success. (Also: who could have predicted that pretty-boy Jung Il-woo could pull off such a drastic image shift?)

Based purely on aesthetic, it looks like MBC will be going for a very different feel from SBS’s more overt comic-book-y influences. SBS’s Iljimae was kind of intentionally exaggerated, sometimes jokesy, and I don’t think MBC will be taking that tack. I don’t meant to belabor the comparison, but it’s rare that you get the chance to see such a stark comparison of two very similar things done (probably) very differently — it’s an interesting study in drama production, if nothing else.

Return of Iljimae premieres on Wednesday, November 19.

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Read the rest of Return of Iljimae unveils promo poster (196 words)

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Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Hye-young, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-jong, Return of Iljimae, Yoon Jin-seo

O_O

This is a PURELY SUPERFICIAL judgment, but looking at the newly released stills of Jung Il-woo dressed as Iljimae (above), I start to feel hope for MBC’s upcoming The Return of Iljimae.

If you’d asked me months ago whether Lee Junki or Jung Il-woo would have looked better as the masked bandit, I would have said, “Lee Junki, hands down,” and laughed in your face about Jung Il-woo. But then — and this is my opinion only! — one of my initial blocks against SBS’s Iljimae was that Lee Junki came off as unexpectedly silly with his Hannibal Lecter-esque metal mask and penchant for overacting.

(Don’t get me wrong, I like Lee Junki but I hated his look. In contrast, Jung Il-woo looks serious but not too hammy and, to my great surprise, actually pretty good. And doesn’t he almost look… Jae Hee-ish in that photo?)

Again, I recognize this is totally superficial based on a few still photographs, but yeah, I’m that surprised.

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Read the rest of Jung Il-woo makes a surprising(ly hot?) Iljimae (347 words)

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Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Il-woo, Return of Iljimae

To differentiate itself from the SBS Iljimae that aired earlier this year, MBC is unveiling a new name for its version: The Return of Iljimae.

(The title is meant to avoid confusion with the Lee Junki drama, but I think it’s equally confusing. Who wants to bet there’s still a small contingent of viewers thinking it’s some kind of sequel instead of an entirely different version?)

Anyway. The drama starring Jung Il-woo as the masked (but honorable!) bandit will take over its Wednesday-Thursday timeslot from Beethoven Virus next month. This drama takes its story from the well-known manhwa from the ’70s by artist Go Woo-young, and tracks the young man’s transformation into the notorious Robin Hood-y character he eventually becomes.

The story begins when Iljimae is abandoned as an infant (under a plum-blossom tree, the origin of his trademark blossom image) and adopted by poor commoners and taken to China. There he grows up, coming back years later to his homeland to find his birth parents (but is diverted instead to Japan through bad luck). He fights the second Manchu invasion of Korea (in 1636) and participates in a rebellion plot, eventually making it back to his native Joseon. (I think this actually doesn’t sound as bad as I’d feared initially.)

While the main PD is director Hwang In-roi of Goong, he is backed by director Kim Soo-young (Goong S) and a team of two scriptwriters, Kim Kwang-shik (When Night Comes) and Do Young-myung (Goong S).

The drama airs starting November 19.

Via My Daily

RELATED POSTS

• Iljimae readies for Round 2
• Iljimae: A review
• Trading one regret for the other
• More delays for Lee Seung-gi’s Iljimae
• Iljimae (SBS)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Il-woo, Yoon Jin-seo

Get ready for the next Iljimae series! If you’re not all Iljimae-d out, that is.

I don’t envy the folks behind MBC’s version of the story of folk hero Iljimae, following SBS’s popular series earlier this year with Lee Junki and Park Shi-hoo. Now MBC’s finally getting ready to launch their series, starring Jung Il-woo in the titular role, to take the Wednesday-Thursday slot after Beethoven Virus vacates it next month.

When I’d first heard of the two Iljimaes, I’d initially thought that MBC’s version, directed by Hwang In-roi of Goong and then starring Lee Seung-gi, had the slight edge in that they had licensed the original Iljimae manhwa upon which to base their story (SBS, working without the source material, essentially made up their own story). SBS had the bigger actors, but MBC had the famous story, and to me, that gave it the advantage.

But then Lee Junki’s series was a big hit, Lee Seung-gi dropped out of the MBC role, and Jung Il-woo left Triple to take over (thankfully for Triple — which, btw, has been postponed to next spring. Boo). Funny how Jung Il-woo was such a breakout hit star after his turn in Unstoppable High Kick — much more so than his co-stars Kim Bum, Kim Hye-sung, and Park Min-young, who have all since risen to make names for themselves — but Jung has since faded from the limelight.

Cast alongside him are Yoon Jin-seo (Beastie Boys) as his love interest, Kim Min-jong (Hyena), Jung Hye-young (East of Eden), and Park Geun-hyung (East of Eden). Iljimae airs in late November — will you be watching?

Via Heraldbiz.com

RELATED POSTS

• Iljimae (SBS): A review
• Trading one regret for the other
• Casting roll call: Iljimae, Triple
• Iljimae (SBS): Episodes 1 & 2
• More delays for Lee Seung-gi’s Iljimae
• The battle to claim Iljimae

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-jong, Return of Iljimae, Yoon Jin-seo

Have you ever felt the urge to throw something at your T.V. screen? Something heavy, but that can still fit fairly comfortably in your hand? Something like, oh, say…A brick?

I have. Numerous times. In fact, I felt that urge just the other day, as I was watching Beethoven Virus (on my laptop though, as I unfortunately do not currently own a T.V.). Luckily, I stopped watching after about fifteen minutes, so that desire didn’t manage to overwhelm me, not quite. I really do like my laptop, after all, and I’d prefer if it didn’t get overly damaged.

But with some dramas, I manage to get hoodwinked long enough to sit through them until the bitter, bitter end. That metaphorical brick is always in my hand, mind you, scratching at my palm, but I’ve been blinded by something – an actor’s admirably well-developed abs, per se, or some lovely cinematography – and it’s that something that keeps my eyes focused. Well, focused enough, anyway.

Iljimae was a lot of things to a lot of different people. But to me, it was one of those dramas that conned me into watching it, and thus caused me an awful lot of (stomach) pain. Oh, and incidentally? I’m ready to throw that brick now.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG OF THE DAY

Iljimae OST – “hwa shin” by Park Hyo-shin [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Iljimae: A review (1,502 words)

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Post tags: Han Hyo-joo, Iljimae, Lee Jun-ki, Lee Young-ah, Park Shi-hoo

MBC’s Iljimae, formerly known as Lee Seung-gi’s Iljimae, has got its work cut out for it, following SBS’s recent hit with Lee Junki’s Iljimae. And that was even before Lee Seung-gi dropped out of the titular hero role in a move that had many disappointed with his replacement, teen heartthrob Jung Il-woo, who had shot to fame playing a rebellious, silently brooding teenager in the family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick.

He did follow that with a part opposite Lee Yeon-hee in the “omnibus” (multi-vignette) film My Love, but then Jung Il-woo’s star kinda sputtered and he faded from the limelight, so this news came while his popularity was on the wane.

On July 30, he resurfaced on his own homepage with a post titled “Already been a year” and talked about his upcoming Iljimae role.

“It’s already been a year since High Kick ended… Since then, many projects have been canceled and I’ve struggled and worried a lot, so I think it’s better to do a project and regret it than to not do a project and regret it.”

…which, actually, makes some sense.

“I’ll be seeing you possibly in November, or at the latest, January. It’s true that there have been a lot of worries and discussion about it, but any project is bound to have burdens and concerns. I’ve taken a break for a long while, and I’ll come back that much more grown-up and mature.”

I’m not all that excited about seeing Jung Il-woo as Iljimae, but I’ve gotta give him props for recognizing (and admitting) that the drama’s got a rocky road ahead of it. Some might say it’s better to not admit your faults lest you draw attention to them, but I’m pretty sure everyone was aware of theirs. Plus, it’s worse when people brag about disasters in the making as though they live in some alternate-reality bubble, willfully ignoring the opinions of the public they hope to attract.

MBC’s Iljimae is scheduled (for now) to begin in November, and co-stars Kim Min-jong (Woman of Matchless Beauty Park Jung-geum, Hyena) and new actress Yoon Jin-seo.

Via My Daily

RELATED POSTS

• Casting roll call: Iljimae, Triple
• Jung Il-woo scores a triple
• From pretty boys to figure skates
• More delays for Lee Seung-gi’s Iljimae
• The battle to claim Iljimae
• The Unstoppable High Kick

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Il-woo, Return of Iljimae