About the kissing, another thing that annoys the heck out of me is the female leads or second leads kissing: it is almost always for manipulation when the women instigate (please feel free to point out exceptions), and I do get tired of that axe grinding.

I think it was in Bad Couple that the She-lead actually kissed the lover on his lips because he's just said something so incredibly romantic (when he thought she wasn't listening) and it touched her heart and made her reach back out to him after she'd decided to dump him. While the kiss itself wasn't full lips and tongues, it was appropriate for the mood and the pacing and instigated by the woman not to manipulate the man, but because her own emotions had been brought to the forefront by his private declaration.

That is a treasured moment to me in k-drama land!

@ Leonardswench

Thanks for your opinion :)
& Wow! Your daughters are dancers!!! *squeals*
You must be so proud! I hope they become famous! (unless they already are x) )
Tell them they have a fan :D

I'm falling in love... with food kdrama LOL
It all started with Pasta (love watching the people cooking, the food although the story is blah).
My Lovely Kim Sam Soon is alright too
I love Gourmet.
Now, I'm watching King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo (Yoon Si Yoon is cute hahahahaha I can't believe that he's a little older than me XD)

@ soulbee, ha ha, just locally known, my 13 year old is a fairly talented ballerina and auditioned for and was accepted into local companies. She shot one commercial en pointe, but frankly enjoys performing more than fame and isn't interested in 'all that'. She has very specific life goals revolving around dance, but doesn't want to be tied down to companies and their rigorous schedules and regimes forever. She's grown over the regulation bust size and weight for ABC (American Ballet Company) and doesn't intend to starve herself at this age as her fellow ballerinas are already forced to do. She's brushing up her Japanese to spend a year abroad in 15 months time.

My 10 year old is a little more known outside our community with theatre, television and dance credits, but she's turned her focus to languages and wants to be an international interpreter (at the UN, Olympics, et cetera). She spends her money on language lessons, go figure. She's in a performing tap company (their youngest entertainer) and quite enjoys doing specials with them. She has an audition in 30 days that she's nervous and excited for, a theatre role with the 'grownups'.

Both of the girls, in different ways, see their dance skills as part of a package of skills to do things they love for the rest of their life. May it ever be so.

@ Leonardswench.

You are blessed with such talented kids. My niece wants to work for the U.N. too. She is in Egypt for the summer to work on her Arabic. My father was a Director in the United Nations and got to travel all over the world.

I'm glad your kids have a passions for dancing and languages. :D Great skills :D

After read all the comment about kiss scene: Does anyone like kiss scene between HB and SHK in "The world they live in"? Ha, ha, ha, I know they aren't hot, but light sweet kiss kinda stuff. They are just sweet and making me smile every time.
Just a light kiss but shows how much you love and care the person you kiss. Kinda kiss that you can do when you wake up in the morning or before you sleep with the person you love, or before he/she go or come from work, or after have a great time together.
It doesn't have to a hot, passionate kiss to show how much chemistry between both the lead actors, sometime light kiss is enough, sometime hold hands is enough, sometime eye glancing is enough - for me?. Perhaps that one of the reasons I like kdrama. If I want to see many hot kiss and many body touch, I watch Western drama instead where I don't have to wait until 2o eps with angs and tears to watch one kiss.

After a very difficult few days at work. I come home completely drained this morning and before I pass out, I watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03sRHCa7laE

One of the single cutest performances this guys have done. I am fangirling and giddy. Feels like a got a B-12 shot and some caffeine. I obviously need them to perform for me at work to better enhance my overall productivity. At least this is what I will tell my boss

@ diadda, just got woken by screams, daughters were fangirling over Super Junior link . Texas Viking and I thought the house was on fire at least, lol!

Inception is the best movie I have seen this year, the last year, and most likely in many years (if I take the time to actually recollect the stuff I've seen).

I think it's both of the most well-made movies, and one of the most entertaining, which is so rare in this day and age.

I'm a Christopher Nolan fangirl (I mean, after Memento, who wouldn't be?), but he's had a string of movies I have all liked or loved. I love Inception, it's up there with Memento as his most challenging and intelligent movie.

Across the board stellar cast all delivering, even Leo who I concede is a good actor but sometimes I don't connect with his performance. Oh, I connected here all right.

I don't think I took a breath for the last hour of the movie, and afterwards I was so pumped up it took me hours to unwind, and then to think about what I have seen.

Highly recommend, and it's a long movie, so make sure you don't take a bathroom break. One break and you might be lost forever in what is happening. :-D

@ockoala: A stellar cast... even Ellen Page? (Checks IMDB) (Spits out water at the user rating)

@ janna

Ellen Page was fine - she was either serviceable or freaking brilliant, depending on how you interpret her character. If I say anymore I've already given way too much. I'm dying to discuss the movie but no one has seen it yet, but langdon watching today so yay one discussion partner soon. I'll probably do a post so as to not ruin the movie by discussing it in OT.

If Memento was the hot broody rebellious taciturn high school student that you are crushing on like mad, Inception is his college age older brother, who is that guy but even sexier and now more tortured and brilliant.

@Leonardswench

Sorry for the "alarm clock" style screaming. :) Couldn't help but share the Suju love. Technically I guess I would be categorized as a VIP not and ELF(the fact that I know what all of these means still frightens me as I am too old for any of it), but I this song in particular is way too cute and then they went and made the performance unbearably cute too. I couldn't just let it go. Tell your daughters I understand completely, tis very hard to resist all that is super junior especially when they obviously want to us the audience to be enthralled.

However since Suju is getting a little long in the tooth(ha ha) for your daughters to be ogling(Some are 28+ ...still laughing). Might I suggest some that are closer to their ages. I know if I was them I would have these guys plastered on my walls fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQbtyp-9AWI

Oh wow, @Janna is right, I spit out my coffee at the imdb rating for Inception. A 9.4?and it's already ranked #3 in the top rated imdb rankings, behind Shawshank (so deserving of it's #1 ranking) and the Godfather, and in front of Godfather 2.

Okay, I'm not nearly ready for that level of coronation, but I am dragging my husband to see it so I can truly pay attention to Nolan masterful direction and best movie editing I can remember.

Anyone watching Being Human on BBC? Just started it today since they are running a marathon.

@ockoala
Can't believe Inception's shot right up there, nestling itself nicely alongside Shawshank and the Godfathers. (It's stupid how many times I've rewatched the Godfather trilogy, so much I know it almost line by line.) I love Christopher Nolan too, and a huge fan of his Batman revamp, but... really? Wow. Must watch it then.

I've not been back to watch Hotelier this weekend, was debating whether to watch Bad Family or that, Kim Myung-min and Nam Sang-mi (lovelovelove!) won out this time.
I love Song Yoon-ah so far in Hotelier, and the old head chef ahjusshi enough to continue with it at some point though.
And speaking of Song Yoon-ah, I'm DYING, and I mean DYING to watch Into the Storm. It's an oldie (2004) with her, Kim Suk-hoon and Kim Min-joon.
I kind of miss Kim Suk-hoon, he's in Empress Chunchu but that's a really laborious 78hr sageuk. I'll only watch it as a last resort if I can't find Storm.
Dammit! Does anyone know which site might have it?
Also, he's in this MV, if anyone remembers it, Kim Bum-soo's Promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTEn4O0UtcQ

@Supah: Maybe I can catch up with you on Hotelier if you watch more Bad Family (Been there, done that. I love my mother.. I love my father.. I love my sissssssttterrrss and my brothhhaaaa. Um, get the OST haha)

****Note lovers of Super Junior, Supah is watching Bad Family with Kim Hee Chul in it.... Who at almost all times looks better to me with permanent hair dye. May the hair gods always shine upon you, Hee Chul.****

Hotelier by the way is giving me flashbacks of work I did as a teenager. Bowties, napkin folding, extreme dish smaaashing. Yes, I watched half of episode 1. Go me!

So like on my extreme long answered questionnaire of the previous OT I couldn't think of my favorite actor. I do have many. I was considering putting Kang Dong Won. Yeah, but no one should have to sit through 1% of Anything again. No one. Ok, maybe I could do it. So yeah. He hasn't done much, but I'd watch him read a phonebook, he's that good. Today I watched another movie he's in, Secret Reunion.

So yeah, Secret Reunion. It's got Song Kang-ho (win) and Kang Dong-won (more winnage) and I don't want to explain much more than Song Kang-ho is an agent from the South and Kang Dong-won is an agent from North Korea. There's also a lot of red, which I mean violence of the liquid variety everywhere, but it is not a thriller. It was good. All I had to do was suspend disbelief that Kang Dong-won was a North Korean.... because he's like 6'1" and from what the TV tells me, North Korean people on average are short (prove me wrong North Korea, go make some dramas with your tallest people) So seeing him next to Kang-ho (Dong-won is taller) is even more laugh worthy. Oh, and there are a few laughs in the movie of course. I laughed at Kang-ho swearing commies up and down every time, but there's other stuff. Also heartwarming stuff. Yay, movies.
Long post is long, I apologize.

Now that my blood pressure has returned down out of the stratosphere, thanks for the new link, diadda, the girls were banned by their father for the day (he's not a morning person when screaming isn't involved), so they'll check it out tomorrow when he's gone on a business trip. Which means me and the kids are up for a day of lolling around the pool and k-dramas.

I'm up for a new watch with anyone, willing and wanting to discuss. You don't know how bad it's been for the last year, watching these amazing movies and dramas and not knowing a single soul who would know what I was talking about.

Hotelier sounds good to me, if it's alright to invite myself on the watch? What episode are you up to, supah?

I'm also willing to watch Into the Storm (not sure of availability?) as well. If I've not watched it, I'm willing, even the 'bad' ones! LoL glutton for punishment, me, but I like to make up my own mind how bad it is!

@lb_ tmi: Congrats on going back to school. Seven years out makes going back daunting as well as exciting... I took 8 years out between year 2 and year 3 of my undergrad. My first class back after those 8 years was a small upper year seminar on a fairly obscure topic (there were only 7 or 8 of us in the class, which would never be permitted, the course would be cancelled)... anyway, when the prof walked into the little seminar room, I thought "THAT'S what I haven't seen in 8 years: Corduroy!!". Sigh. I had sort of dragged myself out of high school and through those first two years, but didn't really enjoy it. When I went back, I LOVED it. Now I heartily recommend the "gap" year, as it's increasingly called, or as many years as you need to feel you really WANT to go back and you really know what you want to study.

So have fun!

Fated to Love You: I remain thankful that this was recommended to me here b/c I so thoroughly enjoyed it!

And Flowers for My Life: Wonderful, and I cried buckets watching it but still loved it.

While the World Cup was on I couldn't watch dramas, and since it ended I haven't been able to settle into any new drama. I tried A Prince's First Love (on the Cha Tae Hyun (sp?) principle) but barely managed to get through the 1st episode (took several tries). I tried Soulmate, which has been on my list for a while, but it didn't grab me either, though I think I will go back eventually. I did finish Personal Taste (I had 4 episodes to watch), but I ended up fast-forwarding quite a bit once the plot went all kerflooey (as I saw it).

MANGA: I've been reading Skip-Beat!, in prep for the drama version. I'm enjoying it, but I think it's going to be too long for me, and I should have checked that it was completed before I started (it isn't) b/c I'll lose momentum and never finish it. I would recommend The Wallflower/ Perfect Girl Evolution (also not finished), and Hana Yori Dango (complete! thank goodness). I'm not a sci-fi or supernatural fan, but I did like Fruits Basket.

Feels like a long time since I've been here but it can only have been a couple of weeks, I think. Maybe I missed one or two b/c of World Cup (I get completely obsessed when the Cup is on), but somehow it feels longer.

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend...

@ mookietwin

Why am I not surprised you love Takahashi Rumiko and Adachi Mitsuru as much as I do. :-D Both are one of my fave mangakas as well, I read ANYTHING they write, period. I see a a new one published, I buy it, break the seal and read it as I'm walking out the store.

Urusei Yatsura - I surprised myself with how much I ended up loving and appreciating its complexity, depth and genius. All of the characters Takahashi has created in subsequent novels, from Ranma to Inuyasha, has its genesis in Urusei.

Speaking of Adachi-love, ROUGH FTW! Heh heh, any Touch lovers better be prepared to Bring. It. and convince me it's the better written manga. Touch is seminal, but Rough really is his most complete and utterly satisfying story. Maybe I'm biased and Rough has the always awesome boarding school setting. I also say the OTP in Rough is so squee-worthy I faint, and the ending is Adachi's best ending to a manga, bar none (actually, most of his endings typically kinda of lightly fade into nothingness, mirroring his light touch to all his stories). But Rough has an ending that is heart-pumping on so many levels, and meaningful in so many ways.

But I also have an Adachi-foe, I hated with a passion his Slow Step. I refuse to reread it because it pissed me off so bad. Her choice at the end was a total WTF for me, I could see it coming but I hated it.

Anyways, have you read all his latest, from H2 (or as I call it, Bizarro-Touch), Katsu (reverse Slow Step), and Cross Game (good try but ultimately doesn't deliver all the way). Say it with me now: Adachi - we want another swimming story, please! Baseball and boxing is fine, but the swimmers in Rough were....awesome.

I went back to my mom's this weekend to grab the Rough and Urusei sets. I'm pretty PO'd because a few books are missing, due to kids rummaging through my bookshelf. Hopefully they will turn up soon and I can reunite the complete sets.

@ lessaofpern

I forgot a few more seminal mangas worth checking out:

City Hunter by Tsukasa Hojo (and if you can find it, CH's predecessor Cat's Eye is also great).

Swan by Kyoki Ariyoshi.

Btw, I have this feeling you already watched it, since it stars your guilty pleasure Hayami Mokomichi, but they did a movie-adaptation of Rough in 2006.

Trailor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ERU9Ut75G8

@janna
No way, that song. Do not put it in my head.
That Yellow Hair is Heechul? I'm not the biggest Suju follower (sorry Suju fans, I'm a SHINee-noona), so couldn't recognise him. The only ones I can ever recognise are Siwon and Yesung and the er, healthy guy with the bowl cut.
Bad Family is so, so good. Can't believe it took me this long to finally start watching it.
Go ahead with Hotelier, I've only watched two episodes. Up to the bit where her ex leaves her stranded in some desert outside Vegas somewhere. And Frank (BYJ) after witnessing her making a scene in a restaurant where she speaks Engrish which is so, so bad AND nasally, sends her a silk scarf. Oooh, the intrigue...

@Leonardswench
I've only seen the first two eps of Hotelier yet. It's an entertaining watch though, quite well-made and luxe. Definitely worth checking out.

About the bad and the good, I follow the old saying 'it's all very subjective' and apply that to like, eeeeverything in my life. There are shows like Cain and Abel and Bad Love and pretty much EVERYONE bemoans them but they're my guilty pleasures! And I'm keeping them for ever and evers!

Oh, we were discussing SSH last time. I understand your loyalty to actors. Hear, hear. And SSH? EoE may have been a disappointment for me, but my love for Eun-sung-aah (his character in He Was Cool) is unfaltering. ;)

Can't believe that I was the one to bring up the "KISS" topic, and it has been discussed in detail by many....thanks for all the different opinions on this topic.
Frankly, I have seen of the kiss scenes that Ockoala posted. And first of all, I do not really mean that no one in k drama land can't kiss properly, but like George (20)
posted, they pretty much kiss at all the climax points in a drama, they don't make out for the sake of making out. Anyways, thanks for that list, Ockoala.

Also saw Inception on Friday, when it came out in the US, and pretty much it's an intelligent film. I really enjoyed watching it, no bathroom break for me, Ockoala is right--- don't miss one part, or else you won't understand it.
LOVE the part with Ellen Page, and Joseph Gordon Levitt (when Leo tried to convince the son of the CEO) you know which part I mean (don't want to give it away).

I totally pimped out Bad Couple today to a FB friend, hope she tries it out. Off to start Hotelier ......

To all of you watching Hotelier, don't say I didn't warn you about the Bae scenes. It is like watching someone with thousands of pounds of charisma unload it all at the screen. Have fun, Interested in the results of this group excursion.

I liked Bad Family, the first half a great deal, then I started to get bored and drifted away for other stuff. Let me know if it is worth going back to. I tried a few times but couldn't get away from other things I found more interesting.

@supah

I liked Shinee's last album and I just heard this latest one. So far only A-yo, Lucifer and Life seem like stuff I would like. Wowowow would be my favorite song if they didn't use the autotune on it. That one I find to be a pity and a shame. I demand a remix :)

@diadda
''It is like watching someone with thousands of pounds of charisma unload it all at the screen.'' -- I'll prepare myself for some serious ahjumma hot-flushing then.

You've already heard Lucifer? Cheongmal? Not fair. I'll make sure I d/load it tonight. I'm still a bit bedazzled (proceed to nearest wall -- forehead meet wall x 10) about Onew's hair. I even GET Key's mohawk and Jong's semi-backless waistcoat (ok, maybe not) but who on earth is Onew emulating with that hair? Freakin' Chesney Hawkes or something? Gah!
Let's hope my eyes can adjust to it.

Will let you know how I find the rest of Bad Family. So far, so fantabulous.

@supah

Yeah I heard it all the way through. Honestly I haven't payed much attention to Shinee's looks/style. One glance at them(especially during the debut time) and I feel all icky like I am watching children trying to be sexy. Ewww. I think they are too young for me to appreciate visually just yet. I do like Onew's voice quite a bit though so I give them a listen.

Example: I saw Hello Baby with Shinee. And I was watching it for Yoogen. The kid was funnier and cuter to me than the guys. Especially him head butting them in the privates or dancing Ring Ding Dong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX2ZVzGFodg

I think in about 3-5 years though, Minho better look out. I'm not completely blind. :)

I am so glad I live in a house where yelling at the television is acceptable .... How clueless is Professor Choi in Bad Couple? LOVE this drama so much!

Now off to see if there's info on Lover Vanished?? (not 100% sure of title)

@diadda
Hello Baby was so darn cute, a real lolfest and I miss all the parodies. Sorry to say but Yoogeun creeped me out, haha! No, he's a cutie but he looked too much like Minho, my least favourite member. Though I don't hate Minho y'know.

@leonardswench
Lovers Vanished/Stormy Night -- the film with Kim Nam-gil and the actress with four-syllable name? That film? It's quite intriguing, I enjoyed watching it although one scene at the start grossed me out, I was like: quick, FF!
Would love to know what you think of it.

@epyc
Which reminds me, have you watched your copy of Lovers Vanished yet?

@janna
Just to remind you: It's Giant night, 1 of 2, wheeee!
Going to grab a quick bite to eat, do some chores and then sink in to le 19th l'episode. I'll be back, yo!

Hmm ... trying to find a way to watch Lovers Vanished on the up and up .... and how do you let me know about that scene? I don't want spoilers, but I'm a tad squeamish when things get too gory (think, CSI bullets entering bodies is too much for me), but I can handle some routine blood and guts .... just want to know to some extent if the whole movie is like that?

@twin
I havent seen Inception, I've already instinctively stay away fr ANY reviews and such because just the hyping up in my own little mind and the anticipation when I saw trailer last yr was driving me insane for reals. I know for sure, by now, that the fact u r crazy about it = I'll be as well.

haha, I'm totally not surprised by our mutual love for Takahashi and Adachi. Takahashi > Adachi for me, for a point you've put so eloquently. I saw a growth in her work, and it's just my blessing as well to grow up syncing w/ her masterpieces. Reading Adachi's like revisiting a good old friend that's dependable, nostalgic. I'm a bad fangirl though, need to be in the mood for Shonen sports manga, havent read half his series and I told myself to read one of his shorter shoujos some day...

My little bro is my Adachi dealer, I love him (50% of the time) but he's super annoying when he'll call me as he's doing the 'a new one published, I buy it, break the seal and read it as I’m walking out the store.' routine...when I'm stuck in middle America waiting for mine to be SHIPPED esp during the H2 run where I started it when I was still in HK! the horrible agony. he hateshateshates Slow Step, and I rem him refusing to send it to me, w/ rationale: he suffered through the manga and needed to be spare my rants on it which would be inevitable if I read it, . I havent read it, no guts to, my weak heart. but I'm loling at your H2= Bizarro-Touch, Katsu= reverse Slow step (I havent read, hm, should I read both in a 1, 2 punch), and Cross Game :'good try but ultimately doesn’t deliver all the way' Cross Game is my way younger cousins' fav of Adachi, to which I said 'too bad, u werent born 10 yrs earlier and grew up during Touch/Rough days!'

And u know I said your paragraph (of coz not put as intelligently) on Touch vs Rough many many times to my bro. He's in the massive Touch faction, I'm sticking w/ my minority love for Rough. It's hard to be around our age growing up in HK to NOT <3 Touch. We're spoon fed our anime just like the K ahjummas r shoved their dailies/makjang dramas, there's no choice, no taste involved, we just cant stop our dose. So when sth as good as the Touch anime came around, it's phenomenal...and they followed a daily ep of Touch w/ Orange Road. (I girlcrushed Madoka though all the rest of the characters bugged me, cant deny the pretty artistry of Orange Road though)

imo, Touch climaxed at that Kazuya 'event', and cant agree w/ you more on the typical endings 'fading to nothingness' I bet we still have equal numbers of girls split fangirling Kazuya vs Tatsuya. I was a Kazuya fangirl... and it's slow for me to love Kazuya as much (I still wonder if I do love KaChan and TaChan equally or is that an oxymoron), which most of my gfs have no prob w/. I'm just very loyal, what can I say?! Not that I dun have a Beta-male crush on Tatsuya, but first love is first love.

@ twin

Inception - let's talk afterward, okay? Call me. :-D Just don't scream in my ear.

Rough v Touch - my sister and I are Team Rough, my brother Team Touch. I think it's the Koshien love with the pitcher who goes all the way that gets the boys each and everytime. It's also got the ultimate bromance (OMG Kazuya + Tatsuya is forever my OTP, sorry Minami, but girl you got In. The. Way!)

Touch didn't climax for me with the Kazuya event, if so that was only 1/3 into the book. My little issues with Touch (very little, I still love it) (1) Minami didn't grow and change the way she should have, and (2) the main competitor, I did not like him, he kinda showed up randomly midway through the book.

I loved the final 1/3 of the book though, when psycho coach comes back to whip them into shape, and the summer boot camp, and the final baseball game. I thought Touch gave the most conclusive ending to all of Adachi's works, actually. I'm always in the mood for a Adachi shonen sports story.

I'm a Team Tatsuya, btw, Kazuya was too perfect for me, but I was actively pissed as Tatsuya for 1/2 the book for not even trying so that Kazuya could be better at everything. Like, way to sacrifice for your brother, dude, even push the girl who loves you into his arms. Karma bit them all in the behind, of course, but it was an incredibly heartlifting story.

Rough is perfect for me because Ami is my fave female character Adachi created (which is not saying much, since Adachi is not known for his strong female characters - his girls are either Mary Sues like Minami and Ami (who has more spunk than Minami) or Hikari (in H2), or tomboys like in Slow Step, Katsu, Cross Game. You can tell Adachi is a guy writer and Takahashi is a woman by how they develop their female characters. Adachi's girls almost always have zero development, personality growth or trajectory.

I officially Do Not Like Cross Game, at all. I don't hate it as much as Slow Step (please hug your brother for me, another Slow Step hater - god I would love to see you read that and tell me if the ending doesn't betray the entire book). But Cross Game is all wrong on so many aspects (have you read it yet.?). Cross Game = manipulative reverse Touch (unlike H2 which was Bizarro Touch like I said), with a K-drama twist (hello, a girl comes back who looks just like the deal OTP?, oh no Adachi you didn't, dude, no).

I highly recommend Adachi's fantasy edo-period adventure series - Niji Iro Tōgarashi (which is where Adachi goes fauxcest, it's awesome and so adorably cute and funny!).

I'm rereading Rough because of this discussion - Rough is also Adachi's most K-drama story, if you ask me (bromance galore, Romeo-Juliet love story, love triangle, the "accident", the near-drowning race to get to her first, the lame bro-guilt trip shit he pulled on Ami, the final race, the cassette tape recording, the One Day Date, their little chicken named Keisuke, the night she tied him up and they slept in the same bed, et. al.)

Lastly, I also LOVE Kimagure Orange Road (its was a tad risque for me, to be honest, when I read it as a middle school student), but it's unbelievably funny and sweet. Who the hell likes anyone else in that mange except for Madoka. I actively couldn't stand Hikaru, and everyone else were just secondary to Madoka (my first manga girl crush), and Kyosuke.

lolz u outed my TaChan+KaChan shipping, it is my ultimate bro-cest when I'm alone in my dark pervie corner!! It's very wrong for me the biggest draw for such a seminal work is the real bromance, it is less the magical beast once Tatsuya had his 'event' for me, cant help it. It was exactly how pissed I'm w/ Tatsuya that I cant fall for him, I dont find him honorable, I just find him too wimpy frustrating hero in 1st half. Katsuya is not saccharine perfect, it's a tad conniving of him considering no way he doesnt know Tatsuya's been sacrificing it all for him. But I'm exactly attracted by this greyish side of him, there's this perfectionist, competitiveness underneath the goody2shoes sugarcoat, and although I can root for underdog, but I cheer more for the boys who have enough talents but worked their asses off and just want it way more every moment of their lives. They deserved it. I did enjoy the crazy coach last part! :)

OMG thanks for pointing out my Kdrama addiction can SO be explained by my <333 for Rough! T's all making too perfect a sense! I'm so w/ you, I know it's kinda beside the point of critiquing female characters in a shonen sports anime...but Adachi CAN do it in Rough!!

That's all I rem of my first year of middle sch, just go thro what was feeding me: me finished my Louis Cha masterpieces, the school year was totally occupied w/ Touch+Orange Rd anime addictions, stemming into my Rough manga <3! (and the competing local channel was showing Gin'eiden/legend of galaxy heroes) AND I got my Dr Slump tapes. We also read Greek myths at school (and of coz I fangirl THAT as well)

I saw Orange Road the anime first... it's much later that I read the manga ( yup, much more risque) but I still have active haterade/vitriol towards that 'DARLING~' girl, Hikaru MUST DIE! I also cant care for ANY wishy washy hero, ie Kyōsuke can burn in fire as well, he reminded me too much of Toshio fr Creamy Mami (to this day, whenever friend is so very lost w/ the whole Hannah Montana phenom, I use the magic words , 'Creamy Mami')

@janna
Giant 19 --- SPOILERS!!
My stomach is still in knots after this rollercoaster of an episode.
Star of the show: Lee Sung-mo. (Sorry, I know, my LSM bias knows no bounds... but hey at least someone has their eye on the money.)
I should wait until the knots in my stomach are unfurled before posting this summary but what the hell, it's all so fresh in my mind, so...
I must say I liked Kang-yun at the start, it was all so heartwarming, funny and bittersweet, but I liked the bromance better, hah!
And SM spoke, he UN-MUTED himself. Hallelujah. It wasn't cryptic, there were no monosyllables. And they were wonderful, all those hard-hitting, brutal truths he spoke, and straight from the heart. Except maybe he wishes he hadn't spoken now (and I'm with him there). The person he spoke with is a raging bull, and the ole' bull will bring everything hurtling down around him, including SM and all his brilliantly intelligent but fragile strategies.
(Writer, surprise me by keeping him alive through this, please, please!?)
We were totally led to believe KM would leave the country, but hell no, writer is consistent with the story here. Since when has KM ever gotten away from the Hwangs? His destiny is wrapped extremely tightly with HTS (and his daughter) and SM's with CPY. They can never leave each other even if they try.
I doubt I really 'need' to break this down but I will anyway:
KM: Busan -- HTS was Lee Dae-soo's close friend. Both Hwangs and Lees started out in Busan. The train station the Lees made their first ever stop at outside of Busan at -- JY had run away from home, she met KM there. The hospital was the next stop, all members of both families even HTS showed up there (let's leave out the stepfamily). Next stop for KM was the little stopover village, HTS and family drove past, KM jumped in front of their car asking for help. Next stop Myeongdong and HTS's office was located there, they finally met face to face and the rest is history and even now, he escapes, she follows. Can he really ever escape them? Same goes for SM and CPY. But I'm happier with the latter arrangement. That must mean SM can never die cus CPY never does, right? Like in SM's pact, they'll die together, right? Wooo!
Mi-joo and Jun-mo seem the lucky ones, so far, but I'm sure somehow this ill fate will reach them too, with MJ it's certified.
And MW... Omona! I was like show, are we REALLY going to go there? But show didn't, so phew! Now this brings up another theory, a comparative one between father and son, CPY and MW. But I'll discuss that later with you, janna.

@supah:
*Giant Ep 19, Spoilers!:
Ah, since we weren't treated to any indescretions at youth (because teenagers never do anything like that) we get a little bit of some "childish" scenes between Kang-yun. (Followed by some indescrtions.) I guess I'll take it. Kang-Mo can't always be mopey - he needs to be happy and then have it all taken away from him. That has to be written in stone somewhere.
It seemed SM seemed a little happy his brother wasn't living too hard out there... a lady friend, oh she must be nice - oh wait it's JY no. Throw it back in the ocean, Kang-Mo. For.Bid.Den. Oh, I must say whenever I hear "Loving You" I want to complete it with "is easy cause you're beautiful". Yeah I just ruined that song. Apologies (maybe)(I like other tracks better)
I wish Kang-mo did a roll out of the moving car, but I knew it wasn't gonna happen. Those types of getaways are not meant to be at this point in the story. Now we're stuck with the brothers dilemma, and the heartbreak that ensues. If SM is too light on KM, he puts himself on the chopping block. But if he sticks to his guns he could end up killing KM with his own hands. We're setting SM up for sainthood status here, because it's obvious he'd rather put himself on the chopping block.

I think properly addressing MW is key. I knew at some point it that scene was going to happen. (Tip to JY, I wouldn't smash the glass on the table; that's for heads dummy.) I don't want to say MW isn't outright evil. Oh, it under the surface ready to emerge. But at this point, he is generally a clueless schmuck. That scene was like throwing a stick in his processing gears. I'm glad he walked away. The show paints CPY and wifey as too happy time daily drama family lies... there is something seriously Pleasantville style wrong here. I wonder if MW has actually seen his Dad do something to Mom, but she just won't leave. It has to come from somewhere.
Oh, and I want to thank the writer for not making MW be the savior to MJ problems, like during the audition scene. I like that it was the piano player who shrugged and gave her a chance. Good job, show.

@janna
Giant 19 SPOILERS!!
First of all, LOVE Kim Bum-soo, he has some amazing, amazing songs. I was overjoyed when he sang Edelweiss for the Giant OST. But then he goes and sings ''Loving you'', too? WTF happened there? It doesn't fit the tone of the show, it's pure cheese and just embarrassing. *wails*
Is it a wonder we're so against Kang-yun when that's their theme song.
Anyways... rant over.

BINGO! I don't know, maybe I'm naive in thinking CPY isn't like that to his wife, that he doesn't bring his work home. She's too 'normal', there's nothing forced or fake about her and she seems sane and balanced enough, nothing about her screams 'victim'. But MW? Definitely a DV case, the way he still shrinks from his dad's touch, I think he's the one who's been the punching bag all these years.
I think that was why I loved CPY more as a villian, 'cos he was everything but a pervert, than the spineless HTS, who's relatively more of a ladies man, sure he's no philanderer either. But I could be wrong, so very wrong about CPY.
Then again, I don't get pervert vibes from MW either. But he's a total control freak anyway (i.e. scope for becoming a wife beater). And things are way, way out of control for him now, so it was expected that he'd be almost going for broke at this point.
The fact that he hesitates before doing something 'evil' is sign enough that he's not evil to the core, he's not instinctively evil like his dad, similar to the way JY would hesitate and put a lot of thought in before doing something 'kind', you knew she was no angel.

Piano lady was lounge singer #2, after Kyung-ok. Uh-oh. I don't think the brothers are going to be too happy to see their little sis's new job is at the Royal Club. Btw, her bus conductor uniform is so cute, she should stick with that job.

@janna
Oh and about the two brothers, yeah this is going to get really painful. The two brothers are complete polar opposites, there's no way in hell they could work together harmoniously (sorry I'm thinking Bad Family whenever I think of Harmony now).

I am agree with Gigi and ockoala about the great kiss from K Drama City Hall i ever watch.

I am officially nuts.

Currently watching: Hotelier, Fated 2 Love You, Bad Couple, Bad Guy, Hotaru no Hikari, City Hall, and I just loaded the first of 56 episodes on another drama that I'm now thinking "should I be doing this?"

Sigh.

Up side, I will dream about Cha Seung Won and Kim Nam Gil and Ryu Soo Young, and Ethan Ruan, et cetera ...

I should be writing!!!

Natsu no Koi ni Nijiro ni Kagayaku (jeez what a mouthful) started tonight. I almost forgot. But I watched it.
I'll keep spoilers to a minimum.
Within the first five minutes it's like a Kdrama clichefest. Shower scene! Overly thought out closet layout (I never got this in Kdramas, why some rich peoples closets are laid out like a freaking store display) and driving my tricked out ride, yo. Well, Matsumoto Jun plays Kusunoki Taiga, who is a rich kid. Rich because his father is a famous actor. At this point I was going to talk about a certain outfit, but when you watch it, you'll know what I'm talking about. .....I just lost my train of thought. The CGI is done really well in that scene, by the way. Okay, so I think I'll continue to watch it to see how it goes. (I felt the crying scenes were really off, but I won't nitpick at the drama just yet)

Moteki: Here's my summary. It is the live action version of the ever popular anime trope called the unwanted harem. (It is based off a manga, so..) The unwanted harem, as told by the internet: a young man who never before had much effect on women, suddenly becomes the focus of the romantic attentions of a number of lovely young ladies, all of whom view themselves as being in competition for his exclusive affection. Yeah that. Only in Moteki, said young man is actually 29. It's an ero-comedy full of physical and some very japanese comedy (there is a scene where present Yukiyo goes to berate 15 year old Yukiyo via jumping out of his desk drawer.. so crazy it was hilarious.) I'm unsure of how many episodes there is, but for now it seems 1 girl/per week until we meet all the girls (there's four). I wanted to see Kikuchi Rinko, I'm pretty sure she'll be week four. (She seems to be a wildcard girl, so I don't hold much hope for her winning the affections of said main character, but I don't we'll see..)

Dear OT Friends,

You are warmly invited to visit my review of "Delightful Girl Choon Hyang" on Thundie's Prattle:

http://thundie.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/delightful-girl-choon-hyang-my-first-love/#more-10617

This has been a labour of love for me. For those of you who have enjoyed DGCH, let's re-live the good times! For those of you who haven't, come take a look and see if this fun-fest is one you may like to participate in!

@janna
Eeep! It really should be made illegal for me to type comments while groggy-eyed and sleepy-headed (like now). That comment sounds horrific, haha! I was trying to cram too many things in at in at once.
I love CPY as a villian, yes I do, he's delusional and so very capable that he's fascinating to watch and yet very real (the acting is superb for one), his anxiety and ambition is palpable, so much that it's almost worth rooting for him, if only he didn't employ such destructive methods. The 90s should be even more interesting when he leaves KCIA to enter politics, and that too is only because MHK has taken that step (I really MUST know how these two became sworn enemies).
But all that was separate to how he treats his family. COMPLETELY unrelated. It sounded like I was saying: ''he's not a pervert but he beats up his son, wow! I love this brand of villian! And HTS has a pretty ex-wife and wife so he's spineless''. Whateverz, so let's just forget comment comment #89 and maybe #90 too, ever happened.

HTS is completely different as a villian it's a bit silly of me to keep comparing as I used to before, he's a businessman for starters. He's not really 'spineless' per se, but next to his er, associates he's small fish, poor guy just mingled with the wrong crowd and never saw the end of it, he is rising to the challenge thus evolving in recent episodes though, which is interesting. Let's see how far he can go, him and his idiot son both. Fun, fun!

Once again it is "her" that fixes him! When will it be over to my satisfaction? When!?

I will just go watch Dong Yi now, I need to laugh after that.

@ serendipity

Love your blog! DGCH is one of my favorite dramas! Thanks for bringing back Delightful memories. :D

Now, you just made me want to watch it again :D

@javabeans (JB) or anyone

I'm watching Story of a Man, and I've been looking for the lyrics (and the translation maybe) to the title song. I think it's called "sesangeul naege". I know Javabeans translated part of them for the show, so I was wondering if you could post them, please.

thanks!

Giant was fantastic today. The less said the better.
Oh what the heck, just a few thoughts...
Ep 20 SPOILERS AHEAD:
Lee Beom-soo showcases his quality and wow, just wow. His yahyeeganmo days are over, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for murkier level of dark yet.
Cho Pil-yeon got somewhere much quicker than I thought. Thanks a lot, Sonny, not. But it's ok, I'm sure Sonny will salvage this mess in upcoming episodes, and even so Min Hong-ki will always have that much more finesse, so watch and learn, CPY.
Jung-shik and Min-woo, tut-tut, was So-tae the biggest weapon you two nancies could wield? *applause*
So it really was 1979 all that time, I was thinking it was 1982 or something, d'oh!
OMG, Mi-joo! I worry about this girl, I really do. Sure she can kick people hard in the shins and stuff but don't have a good feeling about her, er, new acquaintances.