The Problematic of the Unproblematic

This post is the little brother of the shower scene post . The baby brother post, really; there's nothing that can top a KDrama shower scene. Not even a swimming pool scene. In fact, I had troubles finding five swimming pool scenes with, ehem, half-nekkid men. For whatever reason, I thought there were tons of them, but when I got serious about writing this post, I failed to find them. Therefore, I went as diverse as possible in this post to show that swimming pools serve multiple purposes in KDrama. Sometimes, it's to show off the swimming abilities of some of the actors, and sometimes, it's to show them in tight wetsuits, dripping wet and ... where was I? Ah, yes... sometimes, the swimming pool is not merely a site for eroticism, but part of the story. Etc. I give you: Five noteable swimming pool scenes, in no particular order. 49 Days You thought Reapers cannot swim? Not if said reaper is played by Jong Il-woo. I happily quote from a Korean article translated ...

It's been a while since my last Top 5 post. Yes, I was busy with other stuff! With Lee Jun-ki, for example. But now, it's become quiet in KDramaland - and I will have to wait for new episodes of my two current shows. Time to do some deep thinking about ... things. After trees, permed hair, and snow, I want to tackle something serious for a change: Female Characters. Me, myself, and I are totally in agreement with this selection. Yes, it was super easy and very harmonious: We knew within 10 seconds who would go on this list. It's quite obvious what all of these characters have in common: they are atypical, independent, strong, sometimes rebellious women that go against the grain of society. If you want to use the term 'feminist' in relation to KDrama, these characters are as feminist as they come. Though they do not openly fight for a bigger feminist cause, they fight their own micro-battles against men, against women, against conventions that want to shackle them...

I admit that I am totally biased towards Korean Actors (who's surprised?), so this post is super easy. I simply don't like all that many actresses.    To even be considered for this list, it is a necessity that I gave every available drama and movie they've ever been in a try and will continue to do so in the future - whoever the lead male is. I'll also try to be clear about why I like them... Collectively, it's because they tend to be casted for independent, strong and often humorous characters - and because they seem 'natural' (if there's cosmetic surgery, it's not apparent, at least not to me).   Here we go .. tadaaa! My Top 5 Korean actresses. 1: Shin Min-ah I like Shin Min-ah because she  - is awesome - is beautiful even with very little (apparent) make-up - was in A Love to Kill with Rain, my first (and I swore at the time last) melodrama and my second KDrama ever - is in Arang and the Magistrate , which is proba...