Im Joo-hwan

When MBC announced that Tamra the Island was getting cut and ending early, they pissed off fans and even spurred them to publish a large ad in a daily newspaper protesting the decision. (As I said before, the ratings are low but this is a mania drama, meaning that the fans it has amassed are passionate — and vocal.)

The ad, which appeared on September 3, took the broadcasting industry to task for its vice of kowtowing to ratings numbers. It was organized and signed by members of the fan cafes for actors Hwang Chan-bin (who plays William) and Lee Sun-ho (who plays Yan).

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Let’s get this out of the way: The first fifteen minutes or so are crap. They’re silly, questionably acted, and a little embarrassing with all the rough English (although the scenes are necessary in a strictly plot-related way). But the rest of the episode (once the story moves to Korea) has its charm, and is actually quite cute, at times laugh-out-loud funny.

I haven’t read the manhwa on which this drama is based, but I’m guessing that most of the key elements have been preserved, and I think the two leads — Im Joo-hwan and Seo Woo — are well-matched.

Granted, one can’t take Tamra the Island too seriously. That would be an exercise in futility, and would probably suck all the fun out of it, anyway. It’s meant to be fun and campy and comic book-y, and you might enjoy it on those terms — just as long as you don’t expect it to be an accurate historical reflection or dramatic piece of art, naturally.

(I notice that the website uses the spelling “Tamra” despite its hangul spelling [탐나], so for the sake of consistency I’ll use Tamra too.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Yoon Sang – “소심한 물고기들” (Timid fish) [ Download ]

TAMRA THE ISLAND Episode 1 >>

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There’s an interesting new drama taking over the MBC weekend drama slot from Chae Rim’s Job Well Done, which is, sadly, getting a shortened run. Due to health concerns of its writer Park Ji-hyun, Job Well Done will not run for the originally planned 50 episodes and will instead air its last episode on August 2.

The week following that, MBC will launch Tamna the Island [탐나는도다], which is produced by Group Eight and features a cast of fresh faces. Based on the preliminary info and stills, it looks like a comical sort of Robinson Crusoe–meets–Joseon era adventure romp set on Jeju Island. Quirky, for sure.

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