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...

This is one of the shows I watch(ed) raw. Why? Because it's so damn good I can't even wait for subs. The problem: My Korean is so basic I understand about 2% of the entire dialogue. Sure, there's a lot of action, so I get the gist of what's going on ... but the details, the wretched details, they allude me. Tonight finale was incredibly gripping. It kept me on the edge of my seat (though I'm lying down with my laptop on my knees) and I might not be able to go to sleep easily. Too much adrenaline. Granted, I don't have a clue what actually happened but I know that much: I am going to MISS THIS SHOW! And I now also know what I don't like about it; the American format of several seasons. Who is it that Min Tae-yeon sees in this last shot? I will not know until September 2013! Did *SPOILER* survive? I will not know until September 2013! It is pure torture. How will I survive a whole year before I can see more of Min Tae-yeon? If you do it the American w...

Vampire Diaries Season 4 premiered last Thursday. This is a perfect opportunity to do a different kind of comparison: US Vampires vs. Korean Vampires. Americans have the upper hand in terms of quantity - well, the vampire hype has been going on for a while over there. And I've actually seen quite a lot of US vamp shows. You know, before I became Korazy, I was Vamprazy. Blood Ties (which is technically not a US but a Canadian show): I remember Christina Cox as Vicky Nelson. That's it. And I do remember that I liked her in it, because Vicky Nelson is a great character and she portrayed her well. Moonlight: I remember Alex O'Loughlin as Mick St. John, but that's it. Ah, no, something else: there is one episode with mummies and an Egyptian museum... I think. Or hang on, was that in Blood Ties? Or was that in the Blood Ties' books?? Dammit, there's this vampire mess in my head. (Actually, I also thought that Mick St. John is the vampire who is with Vicky Nelso...

The first time I ever fell hard for a KDrama OST was in the case of Chuno back in my early KDrama days. That was 2010. What really did me in was MC Sniper's 민초의 난-track. iTunes informs me that I have listened to it 1374 times since. And then, I watch my all-time favorite drama Arang and the Magistrate a few weeks ago. The prettiest Magistrate of all times starts to fight the most awesome fight of all times against a group of thugs ... and on comes MC Sniper!! The track is called 'Mask Dance' (탈춤) and I have since listened to it 259 times. And counting. And then, I watch another favorite drama of mine, Vampire Prosecutor , and who, guess who wrote the title track? Yes! MC Sniper! Ah! It's another awesome track (and the MV below is also rather nice) and I also have it on repeat. And then - yes! still not finished! - I watch another current drama, which is not necessarily my favorite, as you might have noticed if you've read some of my earlier blog e...

Okay. I'm really gonna do this! I've recently become a rather active member of the Dramabeans community. While I've always read their wonderful recaps, it took a change in my viewing behavior to turn me from 'lurking in the background' into 'engaged and commenting'. Until about mid-year, I used to mainly marathon shows - or at least start watching after a large junks of episodes were available. 'A Gentleman's Dignity' ( 신사의 품격) changed that. These days, I'm actively watching three KDramas as they come and loving it: 'Faith' (신의), 'Arang and the Magistrate' (아랑사또전) and 'Vampire Prosecutor 2' (뱀파이어 검사 2). And I can barely stop myself from delving into 'Nice Guy' (차칸남자) (though I tend to stay away from Melodrama). While writing some rather long posts on Dramabeans, I realized that there is so much more to analyze ... and that I really want to analyze it. So, I'm really gonna do it. On here, soon. Keep w...