@Nom_Kitteh (and Samsooki)
the only subs for city hall are through viikii (streaming lq vidoes in parts - but overwhelmingly fast! kudos to all viikii subbers) and hardsubs hq though BON.
dont worry nom_kitteh.. i'm doing ep10 now for bon. i'll work faster for you, :P

(sigh)... rest in peace michael jackson.so sad.

@Samsooki,
Thank you for doing recaps!! Hyun Bin thinks you are a total gem. He told me.

@alodia,
Oh, you are such a sweetheart! Thank you for working so hard on the subs. A hug and kiss just for you from CSW.

To all Viikii subbers, sorry that in my earlier post I didn't thank you for the excellent and incredible work you do. Thank you!

If anyone needs help with subs editing or anything else a non-native speaker can do for CH, let me know. I am be happy to help!

Someone at Viikii is posting the last two episodes of Black & White at warp speed tonight, subs and all!

Just in case they hang out here too, whoever you are, you rock!

*smooches*

So...after finishing Black & White, I've also got to finish The Devil (which I put on hold to watch City Hall); start Triple, and I think I might also start Who Are You. I'm also planning to watch Friend, Our Legend. That should keep me busy for a while!

No twitting from JB. JB is really busy moving house. It's easier to lift and move the house rather than you move.^^ It takes sometime to recover from aches and pains too. I hate to pack and unpack boxes. When I pack, in the beginning I look at things which one to keep, most of the things are wanted to keep and the boxes got multiply. Towards the end no more looking, just tuck everything as time is running out. When I reach the new place, unpacking takes so long that it's time to move again while some boxes still untouched and have forgotten what is there inside. Better to throw it away. I hate moving house.

finally able to catch up with this thread, was quite busy over these 2 days - (no, not moving house. i still have unpacked boxes from the last move 4yrs ago)

just finished watching Sons of Sol Pharmacy on KBSW - i lost track which episode but it was entertaining as usual. finally we got a hint on the reason of the 2 fathers' (decades old) feud

my 3yr old son had his first exposure of MJ - caught the reruns of his old hits on the music channels - he was OOOOOO...

I will miss Black & White.

No more getting up on Sunday mornings with two completely subbed episodes waiting to make my day...

@epyc, samsooki and other CH fans

hello guys!! are you still there? haha i've just read your comments, so i apologise for my late reply! :o actually yes, i've been recapping CH on the sly (am halfway through episode 3!), but am waiting for dbeans to give the go-ahead before they're posted here, if everything works out well (:

i'm afraid you'll have to put up with my extremely wordy style, though.. i'm giving blow-by-blow accounts of every single scene ;) also, i've got no screencaps! i watch dramas streaming live on this chinese server with mandarin subs, and their videos are pretty LQ.. i'd really appreciate it if someone could point me to somewhere where i can download caps, pick out the ones i want, use them and credit the capper.. any pointers? :/

sorryyy for the late replyyy!! hope you're still around! (i know samsooki will be :) )

Testing post

So sad to see the end of Black&White. But now that it is over I guess I will have to see what all the fuss is over City Hall. Looking forward to it.

@ Helena

Thank you, thank you for the CSW information. City Hall is my very first time seeing him in a drama (and My Teacher Mr Kim is the only other piece I've seen). I have now acquired several his movie DVDs and will start them once CH is over.

Wave to all other City Hallers - it is simply fantastic to see the late surge of fans converted as City Hallers! I will be very sad to see it end this week...... all this craze of not wanting to work, sleep or eat because of CH. Will I function normal on this Friday??????

@160, epyc

I don't think ANY of us City Hallers will be functioning normally this Friday, but I hope we're left with a shiny happy feeling when it ends!

Boy, this drama has really set the bar pretty high, huh? Just like Han-gyul and Eun-chan from Coffee Prince, I know Jo Gook and Mi-rae are going to live in my heart for a long long time.

I feel so sorry for people who don't watch Kdramas. :-(

On a sad note, my grandmother's funeral was today, so tonight I want to watch something light and happy. Triple, here I come!

ahhh, i was following up on city hall ever since it started airing, but i wasnt too keen on the story at first. i mainly watched it for lovely kim sun ah. but then, city hall turned out to be quite interesting, despite me having troubles understanding the politics stuff (even with subs, i feel like things get lost in translation, and i usually watch with chinese subs b/c they come out first, but my understanding of chinese is still limited xp). and then i was caught up with stuff in life so i couldnt watch city hall. after all that junk was over, i was hesitant to start catching up cause i remembered how difficult it was to keep track of the characters and their political tactics. but now i feel sooooo guilty for having missed out. i will most def. do a marathon soon since its summer vacay time!

Hiya all!
Late to open thread a usual.....

Just finished watching MNIKSS!!!
I liked it alot...... but i'm not a fan of the main actress, though the lead is very cute and Daniel Henney, oh so pretty! don't know bout the acting though, and as for the korean...... i have to say i think my pronounciation is better..though maybe that was put on as part of the character?....who knows.... it was sweet though.

Just started a filipino drama....wow! soooo many differences.....and i though korean drama's did sad......i'm only on i think the third episode? and we've already lost two parents and a sibling or something....hmmm....nevermind.

Wishing everyone a great week from sunny sydney. JB, hope the move went well......or is going well.......i hate moving!

ah dramabeans, just dropping a note to let you know that i've solved my screencap problem! :D i figured out how to work bittorrent.. heh heh.

hope your house-moving went okay!! :)

hi bird! are you the famous person whom i read that will do recaps for City Hall?
I'm not sure if you are working with the Soompi CH team, but still can't wait to read your recap. I also can't wait to read Samsooki's team's recaps!

@city hallers,
Gosh, City Hall is ending this week. I hope Ms. Kim (scriptwriter) will not let us down, either way she gave us a one hella wonderful Ride! She has redeem herself when she said that this is her BEST WORK EVER! She deserve to show-off her craft. She's an amazing writer! CSW and KSA: they have an undeniable chemistry. Best Couple Ever! Umm...I am feeling the separation anxiety already.

hullo to mzpakipot, epyc and other fellow CH fans!

sorry for not replying earlier! i'm pretty bad with threads.. hehe. it sure looks like you guys really anticipate the CH recaps! it feels great to know that i'm not the only one going crazy here :P i'm finishing up episode 4 now, but we'll have to wait for dramabeans to give the go-ahead before i can post them! this is her site, after all :)

and gosh, it's really, REALLY tough work doing recaps. i'm progressing so slowly, even though it's the holidays right now and i'm just bumming around! dramabeans must work at lightning speed :o

@ Helena thanks for all the amazing back story on Cha Seung-Won. I've been a fan of his but he was never on my mine list until city hall. I think he is one of those guys who gets better with age like fine red wine.

I especially love your background info on white tower which is one of my top 5 kdrama. However, I can't imagine anyone playing Jang Joon-Hyuk except Kim Myung-Min. For me he is so indelibly engraved in my brain as Jang Joon-Hyuk. Though I have to say it would be interesting to see CSW play that role.

I was busy recapping this weekend a certain drama series whose name escapes me at the moment, but there was an OST montage moment in the series, and I was pumped! I am a sucker montages of all kinds.

1. Movie training sequences / montage. Rocky III and Rocky IV training montages are so awesome, that's all I listen to when I run on the treadmill. I actually run faster and I run longer distances when I have my playlist going.

2. Movie tournament / games montage. Karate Kid I and Bloodsport might have the best movie tournament montages of all time. I don't know a single guy who, if left by himself in a room that has no cameras or windows for people to spy on him, won't shadow box to Karate Kid / Bloodsport music. My wife rolls her eyes and closes the door to leave me alone to dream about fighting the evil Chong Li in the finals of the Kumite, but she doesn't understand that Chong Li can't be allowed to win. This is something that women have to understand and just accept.

This goes for everything related to a guy, whether he is shadow boxing and ESPECIALLY when playing video games like Virtua Fighter 4 or Mike Tyson's Punchout. You have to let your man try to win and be the hero. It might take him hours, but he has got to have the chance to beat the final boss. Give him a shot to be the hero.

3. And to that k-drama and k-pop MVs. They are different than, say, an uplifting Bloodsport montages, but the principle is the same.

Who didn't enjoy Kiss' "Because I'm a Girl" (여자 이니까) MV or Lee Seung Hwan's "Mistake" (잘못) MV?

A few years ago, pre-koreandrama watching, I didn't know what k-dramas was about, but i stil had the same personality and the same desire for .... something, I just couldn't identify what it was, and i used to just download k-pop MVs. How far I've come.... LOL.

happy monday / short week!

Hello everyone!
I feel inclined to tell the world how good 'Spring Waltz' is. I'm not sure how others would take to it, but I personally felt a really strong attachment to the drama and absolutely adored it. Most of it.

It's not a new drama...quite old (in drama years), as it aired in 2006.
The drama is different from your everyday dramass, not as cliched, and distinctly unique on its own.

It has lovely, soothing music, a cast that is not too bad (though DANIEL HENNEY makes it all so much better!!! and Han Hyo Joo (shining inheritance) is in the drama as well). I love the overall feel to the drama as it is sad, but so romantic. A serious, romance drama it is, a nice change from the usual less serious, cliched, dramas. Many episodes leave you screaming SO SWEEEET that you stop to wonder why your life isn't like that. Or why it would never happen in this cruel, realistic world.

Nice story line, interesting characters (personality wise) and as i've said Daniel Henney = GOOD, and a big part of the drama, piano music (as the main character is a pianist).

So if you have time on your hands, and are looking for a nice, sweet drama, watch Spring Waltz!

Has anyone started watching Friend, Our Legend?

What are we to do when City Hall actually ends this week! I guess I will just have to look forward to Queen Seon Duk and Shining Inheritance. I will miss CH so I hope the writers give it a great ending!!!!

I would really love to see Jo Guk's mother having a look at the changed personality he is when being together with Mirae. She is always complaining about his "cold personality".

But, ceecee, you are right: No City Hall, no Black & White any more. O.k. there is Triple, but I am not completely hooked, maybe Partner will get good, luckily there are still some episodes of Family Honor left to be subbed at Viikii to tide me over. I haven't watched Shining Inheritance up to now - in this case I will wait until the end and have a nice drama weekend.

Javabeans, you should be through the worst part of moving - so imagine me standing at the door with virtual bread and salt for your new home.

@171, langdon813 -

I am planning on watching Friend. And Partner and Triple and Story of a Man and Shining Inheritance (maybe in the fall / winter). I am pretty torn however, on whether to watch Friend contemporaneously or not.

I am following City Hall right now, and it is KILLING me to have to wait a whole week for the final two episodes. As busy as i am with other things, trying to watch Star In My Heart (dvd), Cinderella Man / New Heart / Good Job Good Job on MBC America - DVR , Two Outs in the Bottom of the Ninth Inning (still in its plastic shrink wrap DVD), and recap CH, and post on DB and Soompi, and handling my billables and workload, and trying to make plans to get out of town this weekend.....

...it is killing me that I have to wait another 24 hours before I get to see Ep 19, and then 48 hours before I get to watch Ep 20!

And don't forget Sons of a Sol Pharmacy (My Too Perfect Sons). I am on Ep 21 of that. Do I even sleep???? LOL. I am nuts!

Funny how us drama addicts are so absorbed into korean dramas. It basically takes over our lives. I am constantly watching one of my many dramas in between patients. Little do they know. Lols. Right now I am refreshing every hour to see if they uploaded any of episode 12 QSD.

Should I start watching Black & White?!

@174, Samsooki

I'm right there with you waiting for the last two eps of City Hall. When I said in an earlier post that I can't sleep, can't eat, can't work...I absolutely was NOT kidding. Seems like all I do these days is troll DB and Soompi like a junkie, looking for something, anything, about City Hall. It's so unhealthy and I JUST DO NOT CARE. :-)

Right now I'm also watching Triple (cute) and Who Are You (even cuter), which is not enough to keep me preoccupied 22 hours a day, so I'm starting Partner and Friend this week too. I just finished Black & White.

OH! How did I wait so long to get to this??? STORY OF A MAN...OMG! I am really interested to see if you become as obsessed with this as I was. I still get goosebumps just thinking about certain scenes. Until the City Hall obsession took over my life, this was my absolute favorite drama other than Coffee Prince. Definitely it's still in my top three. It is really dark and twisty though, fair warning.

Good luck with your trip planning! I'm going to Denver in August...do you guys think it would be too rude to take my laptop with me, you know, just for Kdrama emergencies? Doesn't my Lee Minki have a new drama coming out in August?? I already feel some separation anxiety coming on.

**patiently waiting for CH recaps** ;-)

@175, cecee

You should definitely watch Black & white if you're a fan of Vic Zhou. I really enjoyed it. Lots of plot twists and turns!

@ Langdon813
Laptops have been invented to take them along, so just do so. It is, of course, to lessen the stress of having to work off a dramaload when coming back.

Always remember: As far as addictions go, K-drama is one of the better ones. Even obvious symptoms like sleep depriviation will be made up by constant infusion of happiness hormones.

I watched Bodyguard with CSW for comparison: He is like a country bumpkin version of Jo Gook , if at all - absolutely no comparison.

I'm not sure I can deal with dark and twisted. I know how JB and a lot of other people feel about Story of a Man. I've not seen it, I've not seen previews or read any recaps by JB, so all I know is that people say it is dark and intense. That scares me a lot. LOL. My life is intense and dark enough without needing added darkness and intensity. I can barely watch City Hall in fact. I think in 2010, I will only watch dramas where every episode ends in a mini-happy ending.

I mean Hye-Rim's story line in Sons of a Sol Pharmacy? Jeeeeeeeeeeez.

In addition to just about everybody on dramabeans, my mom highly recommended Story of a man to me, which kind of messes with my head. Will I like something my mom likes? Isn't that weird, sort of ? Then again, she also liked Return of Iljimae and Flowers For My Life (꽃 찾으러 왔단다). Maybe she and JB have the same taste. LOL!

By the by, my mom calls the drama, "A Man's Story." The drama title in Korean is 남자이야기, which really is kind of ambiguous. "남자" means man or male, and "이야기" means story. So is it "A Man's Story" or a "Story of a Man"?

@ceecee

Give Black and White a shot - it is really unlike any other TW-drama I have watched.

@177 AnitaLotti

"Happiness hormones"? I like it! Ah, there's nothing like getting validation that you're not alone in the world. My people!! **tearing up a little** ;-)

I'm going to Denver to spend a long weekend with friends who have no clue about this obsession of mine. I'll have to figure out some way to discreetly sneak in some quality drama time. I think I'll miss you guys too much!

@178, Samsooki

Story of A Man, aka A Man's Story, aka Slingshot...someone please explain why some dramas have multiple names?!

If City Hall is almost too dark for you, then perhaps you should pass on Story of A Man (may I commend your mom on her excellent taste, however). Chae Do-woo is one of the creepiest/sexiest villains I've ever seen in any drama or movie. Honestly, if I thought about it long enough, I could probably compare him to Hannibel Lecter, minus the whole cannibalism aspect. Extremely brilliant, always firmly in control of his emotions (except when he isn't, then OMG); singleminded in his purpose...simply a fascinating character. I wish you could watch it but I get why you might not want to.

I think I will give it a shot this weekend. Should be a nice break since everyone will be off! Thanks Langdon813. I will let you know what I think when it is done.

You'll love Denver. It is a great city. Beautiful.

I've recently been introduced to Black & White (saw it on TV) and i was instantly hooked! I've got about 10 episodes to catch up :(
The main leads are so incredibly hot (especially Mark Chao) ... and Vic Zhou is definitely an interesting actor!

i'm usually not into the whole police drama, but this drama seems really exciting :D

Just back to this Open Thread and see so many new posts...

@ bird, langdon813, Samsooki, AnitaLotti, cecee, and all other City Hallers
The final curtain is now with us. Two more hours we'll have ep 19 and then ep 20 tomorrow. I think we are really blessed to have a drama as good as this. Like someone said at Viikii, we are 'disabled' by it. But then, we are spolt by it too. I don't know how other dramas will now measure up. And after seeing CSW, I honestly will have a hard time to be excited by another male actor.

I was so keen to watch Triple earlier on but have no interest to start it at all with the CH fever going on. I have a full set of Story of Man too but there's no motivation to watch it either.

With the withdrawal coming in this weekend, maybe I'll have a change of scenery to see the T-drama Black and White since so many of you like it.

@183, epyc

I've made it up to Ep 5 of Triple and it's definitely starting to grow on me; it's basically light and fluffy and generally enjoyable. The three male leads are adorable, which doesn't hurt a bit.

Story of A Man, Black and White...well, everyone knows by now how much I enjoyed both of these dramas, but they're both really intense, so I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for. Both of them have scenes where I literally either gasped in shock or watched through my fingers, LOL! I will say this; Kim Kang-woo is jaw-droppingly good in Story of a Man...so much so that I want to watch everything he's ever been in, which is exactly how I feel about CSW. Two completely different actors and characters, each awesome in their own way.

You know, I almost don't even want to watch the last two hours of CH because I can't bear to think of it ending. But of course I will... :-(

I am totally spamming this thread but OH MY GOD, I AM SO IMPATIENT FOR EPISODE 19!!!

I'm losing it. :-(

I'm so sorry to the wonderful people subbing this show, I know you're going as fast as you possibly can and I do appreciate it, I really really do! But it feels like Christmas and I want to open my presents! Argh...venting, venting...doesn't help.

Ugh. Off to make dinner...apparently SOME people around here still want to eat.

@ langdon813

Thanks for the preview of Triple which I will definitely watch at some stage because YKS is awesome. And I love fluffy fun too. Will also catch Story of a Man, perhaps a bit later. What I don't want now is another romance - I don't think any other romance/love story will top CH for a long time.

What willpower you've got - I just can't help watching the raw (without knowing what they say) and now waiting the sub.

@epyc

I have to confess, I did watch about 20 minutes or so of Ep 19 without subs, hoping that my understanding of about 20 words of Korean had somehow magically turned into a command of the entire language. Alas, that was not the case, so I turned to Triple to keep me occupied. It really is getting better and better. I don't have a clue how some of the relationships are going to play out and that makes me happy! I'm also watching Who Are You and YKS is great in that as well.

Now back to basking in the glow of City Hall...better yet, I think I'll watch it again!

I plan on starting on Story of a Man after CH and maybe Triple--I can't watch too many kdrama or I start losing all my social life. I can't wait till Ep 20, ep 19 was so good but I had to wing it with my mediocre korean. My god, their acting is so impressive. I can already feel symptoms of withdrawal already.

I started on Triple ep 1 but took a nap right in the middle of the epi. Hmmmm...must be the anticlimax of CH. There is no comparison with Ep 19 of CH. Most likely I will have to revisit Triple after CH. I think the ratings of Triple will only get better after CH is over. But then again, Partner is garnering better ratingw than Triple. Choices, choices, choices...

I know a lot of people have flooded dramabeans' open threads with comments and questions about City Hall, and even a few other threads not related to City Hall, lol.

Maybe some of you haven't seen it and are wondering whether you should. Or maybe you watched the first few episodes and didn’t think much of it.

Well, here are my thoughts, after watching the first 18 episodes, and literally dying here in the office, because Episode 19 was last night and Episode 20 finale is airing as I type.

First, an admission. City Hall starts off kind of choppy. It does. It doesn't really seem to get going with one particular plot point or another, even after a few episodes. Maybe this is because a lot of the stereotypical plot devices so prevalent is many k-dramas are conspicuously absent here. There are no amnesia accidents, no accidental fate / destiny kind of meetings, no fake or contract marriage / relationships, and no immediate family corporate conspiracies to grab your attention. The initial setting of a drama is a slow backwards city where picayune and minor corruption is the norm and nobody really cares.

Until somebody, a woman, starts to care. And as this woman of no certain status, family, money or education, starts to care, she begins to attract enemies as well as supporters. This is the story of that woman, and how she suffers tremendously because of that care, and how she fights back and gains in confidence and strength, first to become mayor of her city, and then to defend her city as mayor. This is the story of how this woman fights despite knowing that she may not win, despite knowing that the shady path would be the infinitely easier path, and despite knowing that she being used as a pawn in a political game with national implications.

Shin Mi Rae is a woman with a heart so big and so strong and yet so delicate that 'compelling' is too light of a word to describe her character. City Hall is a story of how she evolves and grows stronger to protect her people, at at the end, is able to overcome even the most powerful and wealthy of enemies.

But even THAT is just the secondary story, because above all, City Hall is a love story between Shin Mi Rae and Jo Gook, the political prodigy who has the pedigree, financial backing, intelligence and charisma to be President of Korea. And I can say that I've never seen a love story told like this before. And I've not seen kisses like the kisses that I saw. LOL. And I’ve never seen a character like Jo Gook before, played astonishingly well by Cha Seung Won.

***

So, if you are annoyed by the flooding of City Hall posters who seem raving mad and crazy about a drama that maybe starts off a little boring and choppy, then please forgive them and forgive me. And give City Hall a chance. It will be worth it.

@190, Samsooki

"So, if you are annoyed by the flooding of City Hall posters who seem raving mad and crazy about a drama that maybe starts off a little boring and choppy, then please forgive them and forgive me. And give City Hall a chance. It will be worth it."

Raving mad and crazy...guilty as charged. I was late to the CH party, but I'm going to be one of the last ones out the door when it's over. Which is today. :-(

Pardon me for a moment while I wail in despair...Noooooooooo.......!

Unlike many, I loved this drama from the first episode (I credit CSW for that, since I already loved Kin Sun-ah ever since MNIKSS). Their scenes together are so electric and powerful and REAL that they're almost impossible to watch, yet you can't tear your eyes away.

It's just wonderful.

I watched City Hall Ep. 20 three times in a row now, can't bear to part. The story really has absolutely the right mixture of ingredients: storyline, comedy, tragedy, romance and actors. I even think they might have had enough possibilities to extend to 24 episodes. Ah, wishful thinking!

I am still on City Hall high right now.
It was an amazing ride, and I don't think i'll be able to get off of it.
Thank you everyone for spreading City Hall love in here, especially Samsooki, Langdon,epyc, and all CIty Hallers!
Thank you javabeans for this wonderful site! I do hope you will give City Hall a chance. :)