Spy vs. Spy, Part I: The Hair

I have been planning to do another Drama Battle series for a while. This blog, when it got re-launched as a K-Drama blog in October 2012, started with one. Battling at the time were Faith and Arang, which, you might remember, started he same week. Granted: They did not have all that much in common, but both were sageuk, both had leads I liked, and both were shows I watched. Now, we have two spy-shows airing at the same time. I guess that's where the commonalities end, right?

Perfect premise for another Drama Battle: IRIS 2 vs. Level 7 Civil Servant.

Let me admit right away that I have dropped Level 7 Civil Servant aka 7th Grade Civil Servant after 10 episodes. Far too draggy and messily written to spend my precious time with. IRIS2 has only aired 6 episodes by the time I write this ... and .... let me admit that I would drop it as well, if I had not vowed to watch it to the bitter end together with Orion. Watching IRIS2 in tandem and tweeting the heck out of it has been a lot of fun so far. And we're all trying to get her to mention Jang Huyk's hair - if she does, she will have to publicly declare her undying love for Jang Geun-suk aka The Diva daily. And forever and ever.

Therefore, the first category in which the two dramas will compete is ... hair.

Level 7 Civil Servant / 7급공무원

There is some atrocious hair in this drama. The worst belongs to Kim Seo-Wo's "friend", who owns that dating agency. It's the perm-from-hell that has been making KDrama aesthetically unpleasing for far too long already! Go away, you!
But she's just a side-side-side character. Let's look at the male lead, then!

Han Gil-Ro (Joo Won) is a cutie. I guess that's an irrefutable fact in KDramaland. And the hairdo in the first sequence before he gets kicked out of spy-school is a-ok. There is nothing I can find fault with. After the time-jump, however ...
It's the asymmetrical version of the dumb and dumber hair! Oh no!

What about the lead actress? Poor Choi Kang-Hee gets a lot of hate from Joo Won fans and from everybody else. For her age, her looks, her eyes, her lips, her clothes, her shoes, her nose ... I can't say I love her, but she has a special face (as in: not a dime a dozen plastic surgery) and that's good enough for me. The hair, though ...  

(what, something wrong? :-)
I don't even know how to describe this hair, because it is so utterly boring. And it doesn't get any better after the time jump. Are we to believe she still is too poor to be able to pay a hairdresser? The hair looks very "I-cut-it-myself-in-front-of-the-mirror-oh-dear"-like.
  But it gets redder! 
Like hers ...
and hers ...  
 
Wow, that's so great! The travelled through a red-dye wormhole! The only one that did not travel through it is Chansung. Darling (Sorry. Just had to add that!) He looks good before - and after. And probably always.

IRIS2  / 아이리스 2 

This official IRIS2 poster, with all the hairstyles I ever wanted to describe on it, is very useful. Looking for good hair-screenshots is not all that much fun, let me tell you.
From left to right, top to bottom, we have the following hair: 
  • Jung Yoo-Gun (Jang Hyuk): Well. That. Definitely the worst haircut Jang Hyuk ever had and hopefully will have. Though, admittedly ... when he's on screen, you don't even notice. I guess it really fits his agent-persona. And it must be super practical ... no bad hair day with this one!
(no, no, he didn't make me say this. I mean it. I do! Yes!)
  • Ji Soo-Yeon (Lee Da-Hae): May I not comment on this one? That's how much I dislike this character. And the actress. Sorry, it's nothing personal, but I seriously disliked her in every single drama I've seen her in, so I'm guessing it's permanent. 
    And she does the most inappropriate hair-flip EVER
  • Yoo Joong-Won (Lee Beom-Soo): Oh yes.
  • Choi Min (Oh Yeon-Su): Me when I'm all grown up. Tough lady with great hair. 
  • Seo Hyun-Woo (Yoon Doo-Joon): Oh man, he is some hotness, this one. Intense, earnest, with a bit of great humor and very good hair. 
  • Kim Yeon-Hwa (Lim Soo-Hyang): Part of the awesome North-team. I really like them. And her hair is good. 

Who Wins?

IRIS2, of course.
(I did well, oppa, yes?!)