Spy vs. Spy, Part II: Know your Idol!
How far I've come since I started to watch KDramas about 3 years ago. I can read Hangul with ease, I even understand a fair bit of Korean, I love soju and kimchi, and I know many, many, many Korean actors and actresses by face and name. However, I'm a complete beginner when it comes to KPop. I do not own a single KPop CD and if I come in contact with it, it's through OSTs of dramas or some random YouTube video I watch (Or Facebook, where I have a few friends who are absolutely smitten with Onew, whoever that is).
Not surprisingly, therefore, I was majorly challenged by the various idols that appear in Level 7 Civil Servant and IRIS2 combined. Who is this? And this? And this?? Oh, this is perfect! Let them compete with each other! Idol battle!!!!! YAAAAAYYY!
Yoon Doo-joon is playing an NSS agent in love with the lead girl Ji Soo-yeon (portrayed by Lee Da-hae. I am very sorry for hating, but I hate her. Very much. Whenever she appears on screen, my body tenses and anger rises like boiling water. What I hate about her? Everything! The face, the hair, the voice, the acting, the nose, the clothes, the way she "emotes", the way she plays "frustrated", the way she sobs "oooppppaaa", her attempts to be cool ... *shudders violently and gets ready to rant on * ... But I'm digressing). Yoon Doo-joon is doing a pretty good job. He has charisma, his character has (limited) depth, there is a certain sadness to him, and I like how earnest he is in everything he does. In fact, this guy comes across as pretty mature - not something I can say about many young actors (*quickly checking age ... wow! surprised that he is THAT young*). His action scenes are also pretty decent, and I particularly liked that he was short of breath after battling Lee Beom-Soo in the humidity of Cambodia. He has a good face for acting and I'd like to see him in more dramas in the future; dramas that do not degrade his character to complete redundancy after a few episodes (I might even go and check out the other dramas he's been in. That's how much I like him). He tried to confess his love to she-who-shall-not-be-named (he even bought her a ring) but then she was all "oooooooppppaaa" about Jang Hyuk, he gave up and took residence in safe second-lead territory: Protective of her and stuff, helpful, but all very platonic. Gahhh, boring... And now he's just one of these NSS agents that stand around with their mouths open, doing nothing much or messing up royally. That's, like, all of them. All the time. God, IRIS2 is a bad show ...
I watched 10 full episodes of this disaster. Where can I get theses hours back!? I seem to have heard somewhere that Chansung barely makes an appearance in the show anymore, which is a shame for those who are still watching - cause he really was the highlight for me. That boy is incredibly cute! He plays a very skilled agent with a traumatic special forces past; and he, too, is the second lead. I'm sure the show had something else in store for his character (like him venturing into evil territory or something), but I really don't care. In fact, thinking of the 10+ hours I lost just makes me angry. I said that already? Whatever. Chansung did a very good job in what I saw - and if I had a choice between him and Joo Won, I'd go for Chansung. Not sure what I like about him the most - I guess it's his soulful eyes and his lips. He does something with his lower lip, something very cute ... it's hardly noticeable, but that is what made me adore him. Or is this all in my head?!
Lee Joon plays a dick, who is bodyguard to the president and then is seconded to the NSS. I guess he does okay, unless this is his real character and he just plays himself? That's as much as I can say about him and all there is to this character. Well, not quite: I am sure there is a saying somewhere about how "ears don't lie"? The mole, the bad-guy at the NSS ... it is ... OMG! (as seen in episode 12)
This guy (on the left) looks like a complete derp and he also acts like one. I'm sorry, I meant to say his character is a complete derp. His character is more redundant than redundant and they might kill him soon if their budget is cut due to the low ratings. A-jax seems to be a very new band (2012) and I have never heard of them before. Seeing that Hyeongkon does not have his own Wikipedia entry, I'm guessing many others have not heard of them either. Sorry, mate, can't say more about you - but I hope you're enjoying yourself.
Not surprisingly, therefore, I was majorly challenged by the various idols that appear in Level 7 Civil Servant and IRIS2 combined. Who is this? And this? And this?? Oh, this is perfect! Let them compete with each other! Idol battle!!!!! YAAAAAYYY!
--- However. I have dropped L7CS long ago and try not to suffer too much when watching IRIS2. So, this is the last drama battle between the two shows. Haha, the shortest drama battle ever! ---
Yoon Doo-Joon of Beast in IRIS 2 (as Seo Hyun-Wo)
Thanks to episode 12, however, there's some more pretty:
Chansung of 2PM in L7CS (as Kong Do-ha)
Lee Joon of MBLAQ in IRIS 2 (as Yoon Shi-hyu)
It's one of these ... how to put it ... "surprises" this show throws at
us. Like a guy surviving a head shot with brain matter leaking out. Or
the Big Bad turning into a tame grandfather, oh, I'm sorry: father. It's
Darth Vader all over.
Hyeongkon of A-Jax in IRIS 2 (as Song Young-min)
This guy (on the left) looks like a complete derp and he also acts like one. I'm sorry, I meant to say his character is a complete derp. His character is more redundant than redundant and they might kill him soon if their budget is cut due to the low ratings. A-jax seems to be a very new band (2012) and I have never heard of them before. Seeing that Hyeongkon does not have his own Wikipedia entry, I'm guessing many others have not heard of them either. Sorry, mate, can't say more about you - but I hope you're enjoying yourself.
Who Wins?
That's a tough one! Yoon Doo-joon or Chansung? Chansung or Yoon Doo-joon? Hmmmmmm ... hmmmmmm .... hmmmmmm ... okay, it's Yoon Doo-joon! But ... poor baby Chansung! He did so well! Okay, okay, let Chansung win. But .... no! Yoon Doo-joon really act so well! But doesn't Chansung, too? Oh dangnabit, let them BOTH WIN!
