The Problematic of the Unproblematic

I am totally NOT into KPop. But I totally am into KPop practice videos. It's kinda like with cat videos - once you get started watching them, there's no stopping. This, too, started with Rain . When he was drafted last year, I had a sudden desperate urge to hunt down all things Rain-related on YouTube. So I did. It took me days, but now it's official: that guy can dance! (sure, I knew that before, but now I know firsthand) The trousers are awfully silly, but you know you're in 'love' when you do not mind. There is some practice videos of Rain with his shirt off (*gulp*) but you can go find them yourself.  One KPop group I do know is Super Junior. I know them because I have watched quite a lot of their MVs. Even though I don't like their music. I am particularly fascinated by the size of that group. It's not just a normal boy group, it's like a company. Kudos, boys, for being able to work together for so long (even if it's in varyi...

It's not quite time yet to say goodbye to the Woodalchi underlings, as they will be with us for another two episodes of Faith next week. However, there is no denying that the farewell is imminent. Will I miss them? Yes, I most certainly will. The Woodalchi (as a group but also as individuals) are among the more enjoyable aspects of Faith - though they are probably the dumbest and most incompetent elite warriors EVER . The number of times they messed up? At least once every episode. In fact, they are like a group of unruly children, with second-in-command Chook being the most mature. He is like a surrogate daddy, when real daddy Choi Young isn't around. Real daddy Choi Young treats his children (he actually calls them 'sons') like the typical Korean father, by often hitting them over the head to chastise them. Most of the Woodalchi underlings are really tall, some even taller than Lee Min-ho, which probably is the one thing they look for in recruits. Since it re...

Last time, we looked at Lee Min-ho hairstyles. This time, it's the different man-dresses he wears in Faith that I am interested in. In general, the costumes in Faith are quite okay, though all of them look brand new, which is about as believable as Lee Min-ho's pearly white teeth or Kim Hee-Seon's perfectly manicured fingers and still red-without-roots-showing-hair after weeks and weeks in 14th century Goryeo. Anyways, the costumes are better than many other things in Faith. Especially Prince Deok-heung gets to wear rather fabulous garments. Choi Young on the other hand doesn't get to wear anything splendorous, which is good, because it would be out of character completely - this famous Korean general (I'm sure he is wishing in his grave or in heaven or wherever he is that he looked just a little bit like Lee Min-ho in real life) is known for his modesty and simplicity. Nonetheless, Choi Young is sporting quite a number of different clothes (though it isn...

In tonight's episode of Faith , Doctor Jang Bin was killed off-screen. We didn't even get to see his body. This type of meaningless non-death is the worst you can do to a drama character, but it is strangely befitting the non-character of Jang Bin (played by Philipp Lee, who had to leave the drama at very short notice for eye surgery). Philipp Lee, like Kim Hee-Seon, was faithful to Faith despite its two-plus years in production limbo. And what do they do to him, instead of rewarding him for his loyalty? They make him a non-character, like our two wasted villains , Flute-boy and Lady Microwave. Initially, Jang Bin would have had special ki -powers himself (as obvious from the very first Trailer for Faith). Later, he was touted as "one of the most gifted physicians" and a counterweight to the modern medical ideas of the time-travelling doctor. But then, on screen, he was just a very calm (if not phlegmatic) non-entity that lent a shoulder to a troubled woman from...

It is over. Arang and the Magistrate , one of my all-time favorite dramas. Annyeong! You were awesome. You deserve a proper farewell. I'm actually crying a little bit, because I hate goodbyes... But it's not always sad when dramas end.  There are those dramas that you start watching because they have an actor in them that you like or because the description seems interesting or because the writers are (usually) great, etc. It might not be a good drama, but you keep watching for a variety of reasons, i.e. because you believe that it will get better, or because your love for actor X or actress Y is bigger than your dislike for the story, or because you believe that the Korean live-shoot system will do it's magic, listen to all the angry fans, and then correct what's wrong with the story mid-way through. While hoping, you get kinda stuck with these dramas. You might even (almost or entirely) hate them, but pulling out seems like a waste, because you've invested s...

There is so many Top 5 posts I want to do, I'm about to go crazy. In fact, there's probably an infinite amount of Top 5 lists out there. Delete the probably: there IS an infinite amount of Top 5 lists out there. Next up: Ahjussis . Would I watch a drama just for them? Yes, I definitely would! I'm going to use the word stellar a lot for what follows, because they do stellar things, these men. No 1: Lee Won-jong, for being in quasi every drama I ever liked or semi-liked or potentially liked or probably will like in the future: Iljimae , Partner (semi-liked and semi-watched), Chuno , A Man Called God , Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Scent of a Woman (semi-liked), Warrior Baek Dong Soo , Vampire Prosecutor 1 and 2, Wild Romance (semi-liked), The Equator Man (which I theoretically like, but haven't watched). Don't know how he does it. Are there Lee Won-jong clones? Can I have one? He plays the funny well, the meanie well, the sleazy well, and he is so adorable in ...

Because I felt ever-so-slightly bad about bashing Faith all the time (sure, it mostly deserves it, but still...), I thought long and hard about categories in which Faith was bound to win. Long I thought, but then it had a sudden inspiration: the props! And I don't mean any ol' prop, but meaningful props. Little objects that matter to the story and that matter to us, the audience. As always, be aware, there are some *spoilers* ahead. Faith 신의 The number 1 endearing prop in Faith was The Police Shield . Choi Young brings it with him to 14th century Goryeo from modern day Seoul and uses it several times to fight off the bad guys, even sexily throwing it like a boomerang. Alas, Ki Chul brutally kills it in episode 7: He uses his own supernatural ice-powers to halt the shield in midair, freezes it over and then ... *sob* ... shatters it into tiny bits!! This moment touched me more than the death of the slightly overweight Woodalchi in episode 18 (the name is Joo-seok...