#Yi-Jo Geum

[kdrama-movies-more]

[k-star-holic]

Ra Mi-ran ⁇ Kang Mal-geum and Seo Yi-Sook will never win, Lee Do-hyun will do better ⁇

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[elderflowergin]

3 K-drama moments (January edition)

1. Kim Hae-sook expressing her rage at a young Japanese officer in full satoori and banmal in Gyeongseong Creature. Until this point she has been a capable right hand to Park Seo-joon, restrained, deadly efficient and completely unshakeable. But long-simmering fears and frustrations are boiling over everywhere in Gyeongseong and elsewhere, resulting in this atypical, shocking conversation with a junior officer who sympathises with them but cannot bridge the colonial gap. Language is so significant in this genre, and it’s so visceral when Kim Hae-sook openly vents to this man in her own language, in her own dialect.

Gyeongseong Creature is a pretty dark take on human experimentation, the last gasp of colonial horrors in a dying empire and the endurance of community. Park Seo-joon (and Han So-hee to a lesser extent) have to be the heroes; nonetheless the story understands that liberation is won not by strong-jawed men who talk pretty, but by community, by ordinary people doing extraordinary things together.

Kdrama has a wealth of supporting actors and it's no different here, with Jo Han-cheol, Kang Mal-geum, the aforementioned Kim Hae-sook, Claudia Kim and lovely, lovely Kim Yoon-woo in an affecting subplot (you might have seen him as Ryang Eum in My Dearest). Hate that Netflix made this one a cliffhanger, but they got me. Now, please give us a grown up romance with Jo Han-cheol in it. Our man's earned it.

2. Jung Jin-young’s vividly joyous sex life with his partner played by Yang Mal-bok in LTNS. The astonishing tenderness of their meeting, their love story and the joy he has brought to her arid, parched life are all so well-done that I had a lump in my throat throughout the episode.

This show took atypical love and affair stories, the sort we tend to mock or criticise - the plain girl sleeping with the married colleague, the fiftysomethings rediscovering their zest for life in each other’s bodies, the married lipstick lesbian who keeps coming back into her ex’s life - and offered so much kindness and love in the writing and the framing of those stories. @drivingsideways remarked that it was so different from anything Kdrama has given us, and that is completely correct.

Esom and Ahn Jae-hong were beyond excellent as a troubled couple that maybe shouldn't have married all those years ago - people who were maybe always a little too different, and then papered over their differences with the routines of matrimony. I suspect this was all too real to appeal to the general audience and I don't think this is going to be nomination-heavy. But it deserves to be.

3. Hwa-rok running from the handsome Officer Jeong in the brilliantly written The Matchmakers. The youngest sister in the famously unmarried trio of Namsan, Hwa-rok is a very relatable babe who really wants to get married! Get a husband! Have SEX! - and manifests this through her popular erotica series. The bond between Hwa-rok and the shy, upright officer whose first introduction to her is all the erotica she writes is one of the most adorable plots on this incredibly cute show.

I have several feelings about The Matchmakers, namely that it is the rare romance I respect despite the minimal chemistry between the leads. The writing was top-notch and the lead acting didn't quite live up to it - this is not a criticism of Cho Yi-hyun or Rowoon, but rather a testament to the sheer wealth of talent in Kdrama and how accustomed we've become to actors elevating material. Rowoon surprisingly grew on me in this, with his physicality and his looks somehow making Gyeongwoonjae indelible despite his iPhone-knowing face. I might do a separate post on this yet, but it was absolutely worth the watch, and all of you were right, especially @haraxvati who bravely advocated for Rowoon's talents.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Categorizing Parent-related Trauma for male and female leads in Kdramas:

Orphans: Lee Hong-jo (Destined With You) Moon Gang-tae (It's Okay to Not be Okay) Moon Sang-tae (It's Okay to Not be Okay) Ha-ru (Extraordinary You) Naksu/Cho Yeong (Alchemy of Souls) Tak Dong-kyung (Doom at Your Service) Nam Ji-ah* (Tale of the Nine Tailed) Cheon Sa-Rang (King the Land) Jang Man-wol (Hotel del Luna) Yoon Yi-seo (100 Days My Price) Kang Young-hwa (Moon in the Day) Kim Do-ha (Moon in the Day) So Mun (The Uncanny Counter) Do Ha-na (The Uncanny Counter) Kang Tae-moo (Business Proposal) Kang Tae-ha (The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, present version) Lee Heon (The Forbidden Marriage) Do Do-hee (My Demon) Ji Eun-tak (Guardian: The Great and Lonely God) Na Bong-seon (Oh My Ghost) Kang Cheol (W: Two Worlds) Do Da-hae (The Atypical Family) Yeom Hae-sang (Revenant) Jeong Ji-an (A Shop for Killers) Shin Jae-rim (Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale) Kim Ji-uk**** (No Gain No Love)

Half Orphans with loving remaining parent: Eun Dan-oh (Extraordinary You) Koo Chan-sung (Hotel del Luna) Ye So-ran (The Forbidden Marriage) Nam Ha-neul (Doctor Slump) Yu Ji-hyck (Marry My Husband) Kang Hee-soo (Captivating the King) Choi Yi-jae (Death's Game) Im Sol (Lovely Runner) Ryu Sun-jae (Lovely Runner) Lee Chang (Kingdom) Lee Geum, Prince Yeoning (Haechi) Gu San-yeong (Revenant) Son Hae-yeong (No Gain No Love)

Half Orphan + Remaining Parent is THE WORST: Jang Uk (Alchemy of Souls) Kim Do-ha (My Lovely Liar) Lee Yul (100 Days My Price) Ahn Min-hyuk (Strong Woman Bong-Soon) Seo Mok-ha (Castaway Diva) Gong Tae-seong (Sh**ting Stars) Kang Tae-ha (The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, past version) Yi In (Captivating the King) Kang Ji-won (Marry My Husband) Kang Sun-woo (Oh My Ghost)

Parents (at least one) are THE WORST but Both Are Still Alive: Jang Shin-yu (Destined With You) Han Yi-joo (Perfect Marriage Revenge) Ko Mun-young** (It's Okay to Not be Okay) Mok Sol-hee (My Lovely Liar) Gu Won (King the Land) Crown Prince Lee Hwi/Dam-yi/Yeon-seon (The King's Affection) Do Bong-soon (Strong Woman Bong-Soon) Woo Young-woo (Extraordinary Attorney Woo)*** Jung Ji-woon (The King's Affection) Kang Bo-geol/Lee Ki-ho (Castaway Diva) Yeo Jeong-woo (Doctor Slump) Hong Hae-in (Queen of Tears) On Eun-yoo (Twinkling Watermelon) Oh Yeon-joo (W: Two Worlds) Yoon Ji-ho (Because This Is My First Life) Nam Se-hee (Because This Is My First Life) Bok Gwi-ju (The Atypical Family) Moon Cha-min (Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale)

Immortal Being that Still Somehow has Parent Issues: Myul Mang/Doom (Doom at your Service) Lee Yeon & Lee Rang (Tale of the Nine Tailed) Jeong Gu-won (My Demon)

Added trauma flavour: Parent was murdered in front of them (**Still counts if they survived the murder Parent tried to murder them Dying from seemingly incurable disease which makes their parents/guardian sad (If your parents are alive, you must pay for it by dying yourself) Adoptive parent/stepparent is THE WORST

Somehow has normal, alive parents: Lee Jun-ho (Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Has no backstory at all. We only meet his older sister and hear nothing about his childhood.) Shin Ha-ri (Business Proposal, her family is refreshingly normal, right down to her brother being sent out to find her when she's drunk) Oh Han-byeol (Sh**ting Stars, Again, we know almost nothing about her family, only that she has twin sisters. But she doesn't appear to have childhood trauma.) Park Yeon-woo (The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, her mom being annoyed at her for something that is a crime doesn't count as bad parenting) Lee Young-joon/Sung-hyun (What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, his trauma comes from a kidnapper, his parents faced a pretty impossible situation and did their best. They clearly love their kids) Baek Hyun-woo (Queen of Tears, nothing wrong with them out of the ordinary and they are in the drama a significant amount.) Ha Eun-gyeol (Twinkling Watermelon, very loving parents and the deafness and their reliance on him is not anyone's fault)

*Counting her as an orphan even though she gets her parents back after 20 years, she spent her childhood orphaned. ***This character is tricky because I understand why her mother wanted nothing to do with her, but her trying to manipulate the dad and also saying he didn't raise her properly made me so angry. ****This character is tricky because he was explicitly raised as an orphan by his grandma, his father didn't sign his birth certificate (Korean equivalent of this), and he's registered as the child of his grandmother, not his actual mom. His grandma is dead by the beginning of the series and he is living alone without family, so I think he counts as an orphan.

Uncatagorized due to lack of clarity on parents: Soundtrack #1, Hospital Playlist, Happiness

[consumeronionbulletin]

Doctor Cha (2023)

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more melodramas!

I usually hate love triangles, but it wasn’t so bad with this show. I think it helped that the entire premise was so unbelievable that I was able to just sit back and embrace the chaos. 

What Worked 

The show did a great job at letting you know what you were in for right from the first episode—an over the top, unrealistic situation with fun characters. The entire plot was building towards this dramatic train wreck where the protagonist (who was almost too good to be true) hit the final straw, and gave the terrible husband and mother-in-law exactly what they deserved. And that whole part of the story was completely engrossing. 

What Didn’t Work 

The writers didn’t bungle the ending, I still liked it, but I think they played it a little safe. All of the messed up relationships that were causing the delicious drama wrapped up on mostly good terms. That’s a nice story in a way, but I don’t think it was as cathartic. 

Still, it’s a better story than real life, where men like the cheating husband often end up prospering, without really learning their lesson. 

The Performances

Uhm Jung-hwa as “Doctor Mom” Cha Jeong-suk. I first saw this actress in “Our Blues” and I really liked her in that. Though the writing in this show isn’t quite as good, her performance in this show was just as good and even better in some respects. Really fun to watch this actress at work. 

Kim Byung-chul as “Dirty Cheating Doctor” Seo In-ho. His character was supposed to be both pathetic and hate-able and the actor hit the brief very well. A lot of the charm in this show was watching him get his just desserts and suffer, while still being an unrepentant jerk. 

It’s not exactly hate watching when the show clearly wants you to hate him. The fact that I never got tired of watching him, shows just how good his acting was. 

Myung Se-bin as “Lady Cheating Doctor” Choi Seung-hee. This actor had a tough job to do. The writers kept shifting her motivation and relationships around and overall she did a good job making it work. I think her best scenes were with Eun-Seo, but she was still okay to watch overall. 

Min Woo-hyuk as “The Good Doctor” Roy Kim. I enjoyed his performance. It was fun watching him go in and ruffle everyone’s feathers by being a good guy who doesn’t take anyone’s nonsense. I think his arc mostly peaked early though and he was less interesting towards the end of the series. 

Song Ji-ho as “Doctor Son” Seo Jung-min. He had some great comic moments and I enjoyed watching his relationship with the girlfriend. It did take some time for him to really get interesting, though. 

Jo Ah-ram as “Doctor Girlfriend” Jeon So-ra. I loved this character. I really enjoyed her relationships with both Jeong-suk and Jung-min.

Baek Joo-hee as “Doctor Bestie” Baek Mi-hee. A good example of how a good actor can make even a side character interesting. I especially liked the episode where she helped Yi-rang after she got in a fight. 

Park Joon-geum as “The Worst Mother-in-Law” Kwak Ae-sim. I really disliked this character. Which means she did a good job because that was exactly what I was supposed to feel.

Kim Mi-kyung as “The Best Omma” Oh Deok-rye. She’s played a role like this so many times and yet I never get tired of seeing her because she still keeps it from being boring or repetitive. A national treasure. 

Lee Seo-yeon as “The Good Daughter” Seo Yi-rang. She did a good job with the role she was given and had some great moments, but there were times when she disappeared in a scene. Pretty good overall though. 

So A-rin as “The Best Daughter” Choi Eun-seo. They played it like she was some kind of emotionally unstable child in the first few episodes, which was unfortunate because the character was actually one of the most interesting and honest characters in the show. And she was mistreated by everyone. 

The show was at its best when they let this actor loose, and I was really impressed by her performance. 

Everyone Else. The show did have a few good moments for its minor characters, but most of the time they weren’t memorable or doing anything important. 

TL; DR: 

This is a show made for people who like melodramas. If you’re able to turn off the nitpicking part of your brain and enjoy the ride, it’s pretty dang fun. 

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

Characters :

5 young girls who are training to be gisaengs. All of them are aged 13 - 15:

윤월향 Wol-hyang ( **月** "moon" **香** "Scent"). Aged 13.

정천금 Cheon-geum ( **天** "heavens" **琴** "lyre"). Aged 15

정화정 Hwa-jung ( **枠** "cherry blossom" **情** "affection"). Aged 13

4. 최순련 Soon-ryeon ( **順** "purity" **蓮** "Lotus"). Aged 14

5. 김의혜 Eui-hye ( **義** "righteous" **慧** "wise" ). Aged 14.

The training institute :

The "mother" of the school, 행수 기생 (haeng-su gi-saeng, leader of the district's gisaengs) Jung Hwa-in (정화인). Also called 마님 (Madam) by outsiders, or 어머님 (Mother) by the students, or 최부인 (Lady Choi) after her patron-husband.

Senior gisaengs Ahn Mi-hee (안미희), Hong Yi-rin (홍이린) and Park Hwa-myeong (박화명).

Sorikkun/singer Jo Sook-lim (조숙림)

Medicinal gisaeng Gil Jin-yi (길진이)

Courtesan gisaeng Seo Mi-ae (서미애)

Local seamstress Jung Soon (정 순)

The Hojang (overseer) of the school, Kwon Yim (권임)

Supporting :* Choi Im-hyung (최임형), general and councillor of the king. He made Madam Jung his concubine when she was 16 and supported her financially.

Lady Choi (정경부인), Choi Im-hyung's first wife. Belongs to royalty.

Lee Hae-ryong (이해룡), soldier in the army. He is Mi-hee's frequent customer.

Jang Chang-gil (장창길), A conman. He claims to be related to the Royal Consort Hee of the Jang family, and thus promises political power.

My old Sageuk script, revised! ----- Madam Jung : Where is Yoo-hwa? She should have been here by afternoon. 유화가 어디냐? 오후까지 왔어야 했는데. Myeong Ae: She's in the palace today I think the Prince has taken a liking to her. 유화가 궁에 있아옵니다. 세자저하께서 언니한테 관심이 생겼다는 소문을 들었아옵니다. Madam Jung : I see. I hope she doesn't get swayed by the Prince to stay at the court. 그리하구나. 세자저하께 교태전에 남아있으라는 말 안듣게... Mi Hee : Why? If the Prince likes her, she might receive a lot of money. And maybe she will become his concubine! 왜 그렇습니까? 세자저하께서 언니를 좋아하신다면, 돈을 받고, 어쩌면 저하의 첩이 될지도 모릅니다! Madam Jung : Not every gisaeng's path leads to the court. Yoo-hwa is too naive to get into politics, and is too skilled to be an entertainment to the Royal family. 모든 기생들의 길이 궁까지 가야 할 필요 없다. 우리 유화가 너무 흔들리기 쉬워서 궁정과 정치에 멀리서 있어야 해. 또한, 왕실의 오락거리일뿐이 되기에는 얘가 너무 숙련되어있는데. Jin Yi : I've heard that the Consort Hee of the Jang family is a very greedy woman. Yoo-hwa would suffer a lot if she gets in that woman's way. As someone who has seen her since she was young, I am worried. 장씨 희빈마마께 욕망이 많은 여자라고 들었어요. 유화는 그 분에게 방해가 된다면 큰 고통을 겪게 될 건데. 얘를 오랫동안 보는 분이라서 걱정이 되옵니다. Jang Sook : Consorts are always greedy. I don't understand why. The court is splitting like a watermelon, the nation is being attacked on the shores, and these women give birth to four of five babies for what? For the land they receive? For their son to be the next king? So they can be the Queen Dowager and order their own son and the court around? 빈궁들은 항상 욕심이 많군요. 왜 그런지 이해하지 않아. 우리 궁정은 수박처럼 갈라지고 있고, 우리 나라는 해안에 심한 공격당하고 있는데도, 이 여자들은 무엇 때문에 계속 4명이나 5명의 아기를 낳습니까? 받는 땅을 위해서요? 아들이 생기면 그 불쌍한 아이가 다음 왕이 되기 위해서요? 대비가 되어 아들과 궁정을 명령할 수 있기 위해서요? Madam Jung : (raises hand) We are no one to judge someone else's situation and decisions in life. All we can do is live with it and give the children an example of how to,nor how not to, lead life. 우리는 다른 사람의 상황과 결정을 판단하는 사람이 아니다. 우리가 할 수 있는 것은 우리대로 먹고살고 우리 아이들에게 삶을 사는 방법에 대한 예를 드는 것일뿐이다.

Madam Jung : Cheon-geum-ah? 천금아? Cheon-geum  : Yes, mother 네, 어머님 Madam Jung : You are the closest to the age of 16 among the training gisaengs. Am I right? 여기 아이들 중에 16세 넘은 아이 너냐? Cheon-geum  : True, mother. 맞사옵니다 Madam Jung : Then, have you decided on a gisaeng name yet? 그럼, 기생이름을 선택했느냐? Cheon-geum  : No, mother. 아니옵니다 어머님 Madam Jung : Why so, when I have reminded you mamy times? 몇 번 말을 했던게요, 그럼 왜? Cheon-geum : (stutters slightly, in a quieter voice) I- I intend not to take on a gisaeng name, mother. 저- 저는 기생 이름을 생기는 생각이 없아옵니다, 어머님 Wol-hyang : (looks at Eui-hye with a look of worry) Madam Jung : May I know the reason? 이유를 좀 전할할 수 있을까? Cheon-geum  : (voice becoming more firm) My mother gave me a name that I think is fitting to me. I want to be a heavenly lyre player even when I'm a gisaeng. Please understand this young girl's wish, mother. 이 소녀의 애미는 저에게는 잘 어울리는 이름을 지으셨다고 생각을 하느니, 기생이 되도 지금 이름대로 천상의 거문게꾼으로 유명하고 싶은 이 소녀의 순한 마음을 이해주십시오 Soon-ryeon : (leans over to Wol-hyang and whispers) when is her birthday? In how many months? 얘 생일 언젠데? 몇월? Wol-hyang : ( noticing that Madam Jung jas noticed Soonryeon whispering, signals with her hand, 2 fingers. SR gives a look of "well, whatever" and continues eating.) Madam Jung : (slightly angry) So you think these reasons give you the freedom that your friends don't have? What makes you think you have a choice? 그럼 네 친구들이 없는 자유가 네가 갖고 있는 줄 알았느냐? 선택이 있는 생각을 어떻게 들 수 있느냐? Cheon-geum : (quiet but firm) None of the other girls were born to a gisaeng and raised to be one. I have never known anything else but being a gisaeng. How can I change my name? 다른 얘들은 기생의 몸에 타어나지 않았고 기생이 되기 위해 키웠던 게 아니옵니다. 이 소녀는 기생의 삶 밖에 모른데, 어떻게 온 인생이 담긴 그 이름까지 버릴 수 있는 겁니까? Madam Jung : (breathes in sharply) Listen here, child... 아이야, 한 번 들어봐 Mi-hee : (signals to Madam Jung to let her deal with it) Cheon-geum-ah, think again. All of us have gisaeng names. 천금아, 또다시 생각해보렴. 우린 다 기생이름은 있다. Hwa-myeong : I am also the daughter of a gisaeng. I know that you're proud of your name, but I'm sure your mother would appreciate it if you followed the tradition. 저도 기생딸이라서 이름이라는 것에 대한 자랑스음 아주 잘 알아. 그래도, 우리 기생민의 전통을 따라하면 좋겠다. Myeong-ae : ... it is, in the end, what she did too. It wouldn't be wrong to do so. 천금양 어머니도 결곡엔 그렇게 했느니, 니 잘못이 아니라단다... Hwa-myeong : You think it would be disrespectful to your mother, isn't it? 이름을 바뀌는 것은 어머니에게 무례할 거라고 생각을 하냐?? Cheon-geum  : (nods timidly) Mi-hee : I can assure you, it isn't. In fact, I'm sure your mother, if she were here, would tell you to leave your pride behind and do the same as all your seniors, and be a honourable gisaeng. You understand? 장담할건대, 그렇지는 않아. 천금애미께 여기 계셨다면, 자존심은 버리고 모든 선배들과 똑같이 하고, 훌륭한 기생이 되라고 말씀하실 거예요. 이해했나? Cheon-geum  : (lowers her head at the sudden interjection of the seniors, embarrassed) I understand. I will think about it. 알겠아옵니다. 생각을 할 겁니다. Madam Jung : Lift your head up. I will give you time until the day before your 17th birthday. Have you understood? 고개를 들어라. 17번째 생일의 날까지 시간을 줄게. 알아들어시게. Cheon-geum  : Yes, mother. 네, 어머님

Jang Sook : Madam, isn't it commonplace to name the girls as soon as they enter the gyobang? 마님, 평소에는 이런 소녀들에게 교입할때 기생이름을 지우는 것은 맞습니까? Madam Jung : You are right, Mrs. Jang. But I feel like a child should be able to enjoy her name before having it taken away from her. 맞는 말씀이십니다.그렇지만, 이 아가들이 자신의 이름과 그것의 뜻을 알고 즐기는 시간을 주고 싶다고 생각하옵니다. Jin-yi : This gyobang really seems like the only one in the kingdom to do so. 온 왕국에서 이 교방은 이것을 하는거 유일한 것 같죠... Jang Sook : I have heard of another gyobang in the Pyongyang region, where they allow the girls to choose which field they study in, isn't that good too, madam? 평양쪽 또다른 교방에서 교입하는 소녀들에게 각자의 공부의 길을 선택하는 것을 허락하는 게 들었는데, 그리하는 것도 좋아하지 않습니까? Madam Jung : I disagree with that. I know that some of the best gisaengs especially in dancing and singing have come from that gyobang, but the gisaengs there lack an all-round education. A gisaeng should be able to do anything. 아닙니다. 저 교방 출신 기생들은 특히 무용과 창으로 아주 유명하지만, 모든 필요한 실력을 갖이지는 아니다. 기생이 모든 게 잘할 수 있어야 됩니다. Myeong-ae : I agree, mother. There is no reason a gisaeng who excels at poetry would also excel at dancing. 동의하옵니다, 어머님. 시를 잘 쓰는 기생은 무용을 잘 할 리 없네요. Soon-ryeon, Eui-hye and Hwa-jung : (look at  Wol-hyang with a smile, almost as if taunting her for her two left feet.  Wol-hyang lets out a sigh and stuffs her mouth with rice) Mi-hee : (notices  Wol-hyang, smiles) Mi-soon-ah (referring to Myeong-ae by her gisaeng name) , to realise you're wrong, you don't need to look far. 미순아, 잘못의 말씀을 했던 게 이해하기 위해 멀리서 보지마오. Wol-hyang : (even more embarrassed, she cowers and keeps on stuffing rice into her mouth) Mi-hee : I'm sitting right here, am I not, mother? 저 여�� 앉아 있지 않으나요, 어머님? Wol-hyang : (surprised at the sudden relevation, looks up) Madam Jung : I remember. 기억하단다. Mi-hee : (continues) There were days I practiced until my legs bruised, and I thought of Yoo-hwa (Yi-rin's gisaeng name) and cried, because I wasn't even as good as her toenail when it came to dancing. 유화의 발끝만큼도 춤을 못출 수 있단 것을 생각하며 울었고, 제 다리가 다쳤을적까지 연습하는 나날들이 있었군요 Myeong-ae : (laughs) And weren't there days I made the floor wet with my tears, as my voice cracked at all the songs, Geum-wol? 나도 노래할때 이상한 소리가 내서 내 눈물로 바닥을 젖은 날들이 있었다, 기억하나, 금월아? Hwa-myeong : I remember crying while playing the drums - I hit my head with a drumstick. (laughter erupts across the room) . I got a big red boil on my head like an egg. It's practice, practice and again practice, that made us to be as skilled as we are. (turns to Wolhyang) There's no need to worry at all. If there is a will, there is a way. 나는 복을 치다가 울었던 기억이 난데요 - 복에 내 머리를 부딪쳤다고... 이마가 겨란처럼 빨갛게 부어올랐어요. 역시, 연습, 연습 그리고 연습이 우리를 이렇게 만들어. 월향아,너 걱정하기가 필요없다. 너 이젠 마음 먹었으니 길이 발견될테니. (Wolhyang : bends her head, half in shame, half in relief. The seniors and Madam Jung smile, and everyone continues eating)

[lane-ys-world]

A Shop For Killers

There is an age old question that lingers amongst most of us every waking moment of our lives. Well, two questions really. What would you be willing to do for the people you love and what would you be willing to do for some money? These questions define a great deal of how we conduct ourselves, how we interact with the world around us, and how far we are willing to push ourselves to get things done. But, let’s say the circumstances change and you find out that the person responsible for killing your family has just killed the only other person you had left and they are now after you. You don’t know who they are, why they are after you, how they even know about you and who the actual hell the person you’ve been living with for most of your life really is. Now, how far are you willing to go to get answers to those questions?

The series opens on what looks like a sleepy, mountain side village. A warning is blaring over a loud speaker informing residents that live munitions military training will be conducted until evening and not to try and approach the area where the training is taking place to avoid being caught in cross fire. There are men leisurely walking in tall, thick brush – heavy artillery in hand, not to mention a sniper located a few miles away, ready and waiting. Cut to a house that has had its exterior walls blown damn near clean off, windows shattered – general disarray. But this make no sense. Why would some random house, that does not look like it is on a military base, have been caught in the cross fire of a military drill? Is that what’s really what’s going on? No! The answer is no. There is no drill. There are no military officers. None of that. So why then is the house in shambles? Who are the men approaching said house and why are they armed to the teeth? Why is there a sniper rifle pointed directly into the house’s living area? Are they hunting for someone, perhaps? A convict? A seasoned criminal with the extensive knowledge to protect and defend themselves against this many assailants? Someone with a background so gruesome that there needs to be more than 7 people at any given time coming after them? Nope! They are currently after a young woman who very recently lost her last remaining family member. Someone who has no history of being needlessly violent and she is definitely not a threat enough to require and small militia coming after her but here we are, I guess. A young woman who is currently holed up in the house they’ve shot up. A young woman whose uncle is a former member of said militia and let’s just say the militia wasn’t all that happy about letting him walk.

But he’s dead now so why attack? They were after him and he is now gone, the niece can’t possibly be a threat because she didn’t really even know her uncle, apparently, and she hadn’t even been living with him the past few years. So if the assumption is that she is a threat because he was a threat, why the theatrics? Why not just gas the house or wait for her out in public? Why not send someone in to deliver something to her ‘from her uncle’? Why the gun show? Because her uncle had been training her, her whole life. To her, it may have seemed like bonding between uncle and niece, but he had been preparing her for this moment her entire life, it seems. He taught her how to use blind spots to her advantage, how to read the angle of an incoming bullet and when she wanted to move out he made her a deal “if you can land a hit on me, you can move out’. She never really stood a chance but one of her uncle’s friends started training her and she was then skilled in hand to hand combat. She’d been training her whole life but I highly doubt she’d thought this would be the reason her uncle had been preparing her all along. That is secondary to the problem at hand though. There is still a sniper shooting at her and she is cornered. She needs to get out of her corner and either find a way to defend herself, that one dude in the other corner and the lady with the bullet hole in her arm in the other other corner, or find cover for all three of them. So it’s a godsend when she finds a sniper rifle of her very own tucked into the bottom of the living room couch. Now the playing field is fair, no?

Military training for some means the opportunity to serve their country followed by a quick return to civilian life. But for others it’s a gateway, a tunnel into the darkest parts of humanity. Some find redemption in these parts, a purpose, while others find excitement and entertainment. Guns, explosions, blood, the cries and screams of those upon whom you’ve inflicted pain. Some see this thinly veiled hell as their home, as their comfort, while others are there to get a job done and go back to pretending they aren’t the thing that go bump in the night for everybody else. Until, one day, the hunter becomes the hunted.

The discovery of Murthehelp brings in a whole new layer of problems for Jeong Ji An, our main character. The manner in which it was discovered is sketch as all get out for a world of its own reasons but that does not detract from the fact that it exists and is more than likely the reason Ji An is being hunted and Jeong Jin Man, her uncle, was killed. You may be thinking something along the lines of “well I thought he died because of his association with the militia” and although that is true, it is not the entire reason. See, Jin Man had crafted something of an empire for himself. He would sell military grand arsenal to anyone with the right credentials and bank balance. He even had a system for the types of buyers he had and the kinds of materials and services they regularly needed. Some just needed guns, some needed spyware, some needed only clean-up, some needed the full package and each of his buyers fell into one of three categories with the following codes: red (killers), purple (spies), yellow (clean-up) and there was an additional code that was reserved though it didn’t seem to be for buyers. Code green which consisted of only two people – Jin Man and Ji An.

Jin Man had created Murthehelp after having left the militia as a way to make a profit from his skills while also not really having to leave home. But that begs the question, ‘if there’s an essentials store for killers owned by this man living in the middle of just about nowhere, where the actual hell is the physical store front?’ And that was probably what the shooters coming after Ji An wanted to know as well. Maybe they wanted to destroy the market place? Maybe they wanted keys to the kingdom? Or maybe they just wanted revenge for Jin Man turning his back on them. Either way, this store front was now the centre of the proverbial universe and Ji An didn’t even know where it actually was. Yet another thing she’d been kept in the dark about.

The rules for having access to Murthehelp were simple. “Those who have received codes from Murthehelp may never attack code green. If someone disobeys this and attacks code green, everyone with a code must risk their lives to protect code green.” And turns out code green are essentially the operators of Murthehelp, and now that the uncle is no longer with us this makes Ji An the operator and owner of an illegal store front for the world’s most dangerous predators and it seems some of them have thrown the rule book out the window. So now the games begin?

In this day and age, there are a dozen and one ways to upend someone’s life. Figure out their daily routine, mess with the small things until they feel like they are losing their minds or, quite simply, blow a hole into their living room while trying to snipe them from a distance. You know, basic things. If you were on the receiving end of this treatment, you’d probably be asking yourself “why?” Why am I being shot at? Why is there a weird lady who says she knows my uncle, bleeding all over my house, telling me he helped her with things I know he’d never be caught dead doing? Why is there a sniper rifle under the couch? And, most importantly, why is there a website on my uncle’s computer that says he was selling illegal materials to dangerous people on the internet and what all does that have to do with his death? Could we then argue that we never actually knew anything about anyone we thought we did and to assume that everything is and has been a lie in such an instance?

Jin Man made only one fundamental error in the ten years since he left the militia and started his life anew. He trusted someone outside of his circle without vetting them first. A young man from the village approaches Jin Man one day and asks for a job. Any odd job would do; he just needs something to keep his hands busy while he prepares to go back to college. Bae Jeong Min was a former classmate of Ji An’s so, I suppose, Jin Man felt it was okay to let him in a touch. Then Jeong Min told Jin Man that he could help streamline his operations by opening up a website for him to display his merchandise – he was selling farming tools, as far as anyone who wasn’t in the know was supposed to know. Then one day, out of the blue, Jeong Min threatens Jin Man and makes him kill himself in a manner that would make it look like he committed suicide. Well, that escalated quickly but there is a backstory there. Come to find out that Jeong Min had been tasked, or threatened, to infiltrate Jin Man’s operation and get the entry codes and location of Murthehelp. Jeong Min is the reason that Ji An’s uncle is dead but he is currently playing the dotting friend trying to keep her from falling apart while she peels back the layers of who her uncle actually was – all information he was already privy to.

And just to add insult to injury, Jeong Min was one of Ji An’s bullies while they were in school and Ji An was still mute from the trauma she’d gone through. Jeong Min had tasked his friends with locking Ji An in a storage shed and leaving her in there for hours before calling her uncle to report the ‘bullies’ for their awful behavior and essentially cementing his position in Jin Man and Ji An’s eyes as a savior. So when they finally find the shop, get inside and find some weirdo sitting in the dark looking over cameras of the inside of the house, the inside of Ji An’s bedroom, Jeong Min is incensed for his ‘friend’ and goes to bat for her. Once they have incapacitated ‘Brother’ – the dude watching everyone on live feed, Jeong Min lets his mask drop as he now has exactly what he needs and he no longer needs to play nice. This part really ticked me off because it seems that Ji An’s executive functions have abandoned her. She isn’t, for a second, wondering why her uncle would let a weirdo living under their house and watching them through spy cams STAY on the damned property? She instead trusts some dude she hasn’t even smelt in well over 10 years!? SAY LIE!

There is one other fundamental rule for Murthehelp. One rule that cannot be ignored and one that is almost immediately dismissed – someone, either the operator or the ‘shop keep’ (Brother, also to be referred to as the mole man – due to his aversion to the sun and him living underground for the past decade), has to physically be inside the shop AT ALL TIMES. This is non-negotiable. If someone, who is authorized, is not inside the store it goes into lockdown and begins the process of shutting down and self-destructing. Safety precautions and all that. So when the mole man leaves to go and defend the house from the oncoming killers and then Ji An, after laying a beating on Jeong Min for essentially killing her uncle then stringing her along, LEAVES THE SHOP to also try and help with the onslaught in the house, the mole man is not pleased with this new development but they need to fight off tankers, the Temu version of a Korean Navy Seal team and robo-dogs now so there really isn’t any time to be going over why leaving the shop, located in a bunker below the shed behind the main house, was the worst idea possible. Also, Ji An is skilled enough at defending herself – under regular circumstances – but what exactly was she thinking she was going to be able to do going back into the house without back up or additional ammo or really anything useful? They are going up against armed mercenaries and she’s going in there with wit and determination?

The human psyche is a very strange thing. It can help you block out the worst things that have ever happened to you or it can hyper-focus on them to the point where those things become your reality. This show gave us two perspectives on this phenomenon.

The first being our main character. Someone who lost her family, watched her protector get killed in her family home, climbed out a second storey window, got hit by a van, was hunted in a hospital, hid in a mortuary freezer where her mother’s body was being kept, went mute from the trauma of it all, moved away from the home and neighborhood she knew and loved and was bullied by her new classmates due to her muteness. She grew into a strong individual who fought daily with her trauma and won. She came out the other end of her battle with anxiety and loss, not to mention the lies spun around that loss, but she seemingly blocked a lot of it out in order to survive. Her uncle, in an attempt to help he cope with her lose and trauma, equated her with a lion on the brink of death being hunted by a pack of hyenas smelling a free meal. “Only the weak bark, the strong don’t” he says, long before he became aware that Ji An’s parents had been executed at his mother’s memorial service, now forcing both he and Ji An to have to be strong. “Whatever makes you scared, keep your eyes open and face it,” He says this right before all of her worst nightmares manifest themselves. In a moment, she would lose her entire childhood, her sense of security and any hope of a normal future experience, but they didn’t know that yet. Not until that fateful phone call.

The second being our main bad guy who seems to have cloaked himself in madness and the blood of his victims. This person revels in the pain and destruction he causes. He lives for the fear and the torment but also for the anger he causes those around him who expect better of him – which is poorly thought out on their part, but that’s neither here nor there. Bale, the reason behind Ji An being hunted, the reason behind her uncle’s death, the reason behind her parents and grand mother’s death. Bale, the man who walked into a house full of civilians, while on mission to retrieve one individual, and decided that everyone else was free target practice. Bale was what you would expect darkness to look like. He embodied concealed chaos and he hid it well, until he felt like he didn’t have to anymore because no one would try and stop him anyway. Bale may have had horrible things happen to him in the past, which caused him to act out in this manner, or he may very well have been the bad thing that happened as he was just born this way. We will never truly know what his story was… So then, what would you be willing to do for the truth?

[joseondemonslayerau]

Full Name: Geum Yi-Jo (금이조)

Species: Human

Age: 15~17

Affiliation: Demon Slayers

Birthplace: Gyeongsangbukdo BongHwa Mt. Cheongryang

Family: Geum Yoon (biological mother; deceased)

He doesn’t know much of his childhood, but all he knew was that his name is Yi-Jo with surname “Geum”. At least, that’s what his small blanket was written when he was a baby. Raised by the boars, he is able to understand wild animals and communicate with them. He used the fur of his boar mother to mourn her, and he has the complex of his “feminine face”.  He behaves as a young man with great sense of pride, honor and might of warrior... but deep down, he is always curious of “strangers” like him and has no idea how to interact with them other than challenging them. Because of his beautiful face, many mistakes him as fair woman. And there are more than one occasion where his mistakes are forgiven, only because he has pretty face.

Fighting with demon slayer recruits, he discovered the existence of Demon Slayers organization, decided to join in as he felt it was his destiny for some reason. Initially, he was confused of Gi-Cheol and other people’s kindness, but becomes accustomed to the life of human society. Whenever he looks at Ho Eun-Ju, he felt so familiar...perhaps it was her motherly behavior that makes him beginning to remember his late mother. Soon, he wants to find the lost memories of his past.

[ponreviews]

Itaewon Class: The Ultimate Revenge

Categories: Drama

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

Synopsis:

Park Sae-ro-yi had every reason to want to seek revenge on the massive corporation Jangga, as he was sent to prison after they messed with someone dear to him. What better way to take down the biggest in the food industry than opening a competing restaurant in the alleys of Itaewon? With the help of the friends he meets along the way, we see just how far Sae-ro-yi is willing to go.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Review:

If you asked me at the beginning of the drama, "Is Itaewon Class a good k-drama?" I would answer "YES!" with no hesitation. However, by the end I do not feel the same way. To start, the story has a great concept. Sae-ro-yi's father worked for Jangga, and he was killed by the eldest son (Jang Guen-won) of the CEO of Jangga (Jang Dae-hee) in a hit-and-run. Considering the already soured relations between Sae-ro-yi and Guen-won, things escalated when Guen-won wasn't punished for the crime and instead Sae-ro-yi was convicted for assault and attempted murder when confronting Guen-won. Instead of wanting to kill the two men responsible for his father's death, he chose another path of revenge, free-market competition. By opening up DanBam in Itaewon, he begins his quest for taking down Jangga by becoming their biggest competitor.

Sae-ro-yi easily became a favorite MC for me. I can easily say, Park Seo-joon did an amazing job with his character. Sae-ro-yi is kind of aloof, but he's educated. Yes, he didn't finish high school, but he had time in prison. He used that time to learn business so that by the time he got out, he would be prepared to open DanBam. Of course, it isn't perfect, hence Jo Yi-seo coming in. She was also one of my favorites early on. She's very blunt and strong-willed. I wish I could say that this is true through to the end, but unfortunately, I can't honestly say that now. Frankly, the two rival women in this series both annoyed the hell out of me by the end of it. Maybe part of it has to do with the age gap between Sae-ro-yi and Yi-seo, but most of it is how little Yi-seo develops in the story. I think if the drama didn't push the romance plot so much, the two main women wouldn't have been so annoying in the end.

I really wish that I can say I like the story too. I can say that the concept is there. It's why people want to watch it in the first place, but as the story progressed, it kept getting messier. On one hand you want to have a messy story. The drama is what everyone craves hence "k-drama," but like our bedrooms, we want an organized mess. Itaewon Class deviates from the organized mess to a junkyard, especially once the time skip hit.

If I didn't hate the story before, the time skip really did it for me. While the concept was impressive at the start, the execution especially towards the end took a nosedive. I cannot look you in the eye and say Itaewon Class is even a 7 because of this. I really wish I liked it, but all the little things add up. Of course, I will explain more of why I feel this way.

As I already mentioned the female leads are not characters I would root for. I've talked about the age gap briefly between Sae-ro-yi and Yi-seo, but it's not the only thing about their relationship that makes me uncomfortable. In fact, both Yi-seo and Soo-ah remind me of someone I know in real life in their own ways. Long story short, this girl is keen on the idea that she doesn't like my friend romantically and would rather keep things platonic. However, at the same time, she actively flirts with him when they're together and sees every girl he's friends with as competition and actively tries to keep him away from other girls. Now, the last part isn't like Yi-seo, but you can't deny that she did have Geum-soo wrapped around her finger. Soo-ah on the otherhand, fits that description to the T. She could never admit herself that she fell for him until it was too late. She led him on and couldn't accept it when he moved on.

It's hard to root for characters who remind you of toxic people in your life. Whatever redeeming quality they have is down the drain when you have a comparison like that. Of course, my opinion on the two women is just my own, and the reasons are specific to my experience (or more specifically, my friend's). My other qualms aren't as specific though. One thing that the show is prided on is the representation of the characters (a black korean man and a trans woman). While it's nice to see, the characters become tokens for their demographic.

The scene where the DanBam group tries to enter a club is one scene that felt really out of place. It's great that issues like racism and transphobia are being addressed, but it feels tone deaf. To-ni's character was unjustifiably prohibited from entering the club because he was black. Yi-seo was also not helpful in the situation as she sided with bouncer instead of To-ni (one of many reasons why I couldn't get behind her character). Even when apologizing it didn't seem genuine. Sae-ro-yi retaliated by tagging graffiti on the club wall calling them racist. Other than that scene, the only other relevance is the grandma admitting she was racist and didn't approve of his father seeing his mother because she was black. To-ni has such a small subplot that it barely has any significance to the plot and makes his character just a token black guy in the show. Every plot point surrounding his character points to him being black, and it just didn't sit right with me.

Then there's Hyeon-yi. Her character is handled a little better than To-ni's but similarly, it doesn't sit right with me. I was confused at the start because I knew from the beginning that she was a girl, but everyone else was referring to her with "he/him" pronouns. When it came to them running into her at the club looking very femme, the shock of her being trans didn't hit as hard. The narrative that she's trans felt forced. When she was absent from DanBam, it was explained that she had transitioned and was in recovery. However, when she came back the only thing that changed is her fashion sense. Suddenly she was able to afford luxury clothes that made her "look convincingly feminine." The way the story handles her character is messy. Honestly though, the fault would pretty much lie with casting and costume design. Granted, the actress, Lee Joo-young, is not part of the blame. She did her best to represent the character well, and in fact, Hyeon-yi is my favorite character despite my misgivings.

Still, casting chose someone who isn't trans to play a transgender woman in Itaewon Class. While there is the argument that this would mean actors would need to be out of the closet before getting casted into trans roles (completely valid btw), it all comes down to the environment in which trans people are not being fully accepted. We can go back and forth saying that Korea is still working on their ignorance when it comes to this topic, but regardless of their intention, it needs to be addressed, if not as critique, hopefully a lesson for future Korean adaptations/productions and the representation of LGBTQ+ stories. Sure it will take time for transgender people to be able to express themselves more openly in a country that's still very traditional, despite their modern practices. Creating the space that allows them to be themselves will open opportunities to accurately portray their experiences in Korean media rather than cis people picking at only what they know and filling the spaces with assumptions.

If anything, I still applaud the story for addressing issues like racism and transphobia in Korea. Without even an attempt, we wouldn't even talk about it on any platform. There's room to grow, but Itaewon Class is on the bottom of the progression ladder. The only thing we can do now is hope that it can get better from here. Unfortunately, it doesn't change my overall opinion of Itaewon Class. The main women are irredeemable in my opinion and we're talking about the same story that has Jang Geun-won and Jang Dae-hee.

[kdramachitchat]

Jirisan Episode 3 Recap: Who is the killer?

Private Ahn and Granny Geum Rye went missing. We also get to learn more about Hyun Jo's past and he believes the mountain gave him a gift to save people from dying at Mount Jiri.

2018 Flashback to 2018 when Haedong Ranger Station got a call about missing granny Geum Rye. For the past years, she has been going to the mountains several times a year to commemorate the death of her mother, who died at Baektogol. Since she often visits the area, the park ranger knew her as one of the notorious illegal hikers. Upon receiving the call, both Seo Yi Kang and Kang Hyun Jo went on search; however, once they arrived at the scene they see that granny left every last thing she brought.  Hyun Jo insisted that they try looking at a specific area in the mountain. Yikang then makes fun of his visions again. While on their search Kang Hyun Jo accidentally bumps into one of his former colleagues who were doing a march at Mount Jirisan. Hyunjo is a past military captain who decided to leave and work at Jirsan. Here, hints Hyun Jo's past as a military captain and the reason why he opted to work at Jirisan. Meanwhile, he also took the opportunity to ask the team captain if they ever saw an old woman who went on the hike. A private general heard the conversation and told them that he saw a civilian looking at a pink rucksack. Yi Kang immediately knew that it belonged to granny Geum Rye. Yi Kang managed to trace the location of granny Geum Rye through her cellphone; however, they were too late.

Granny appears to be suffering from hallucinations after she saw a flashback of her mother being burned and shot on the mountain.  While they arrived from the scene she was already found lifeless down at the nearby spring. Yikang found out that the hiker was a friend of her grandma.

While waiting for the team to come and get them, Hyun Jo talks about his past. He mentions that this is the second time he's seeing a dead person on Jirsan. Ever since that moment, Hyun Jo started to see visions of people dying on the mountain. Then a flashback of a Hyun Jo searching for a missing sergeant Hyeonsu.  He believes that the mountain gave him a gift and for the reason to save people. Hyunjo gets a call from a Lieutenant that Private Ahn went missing. They were informed that he wasnt feeling well and was throwing up and that hinted Yi Kang something. A flashback of the Private seeing hallucinations and throwing up. We then see Private Ahn who's about to fall off the cliff and just in time Hyun Jo sees him and saves him immediately but is not in a good condition. After being saved by the helicopter, we then see Granny Moonsook mourning the death of her friend. Its a good thing Private Ahn is alive. The following day, Hyun Jo starts questioning him and we find out that he had food poisoning. Looks like someone gave him a drink and Hyun Jo tells him that he was fine when they first met. While having a conversation with Yikang, he told her that the hiker looking at the pink rucksack handed him a yogurt drink. Since then he felt dizzy and even hallucinated. Another Hyunjo vision appeared, someone was planning a attack at the stone pagoda ground. The person eventually fainted then fell down. There was also a empty yogurt bottle near him and clearly didnt belong to Private Ahn. Hyunjo guessed that someone else drunk it and passed out.

In the forest at the stacked stone memorial markers and then remembers his vision. He remembers hitting his head while searching for Sargent Kim at the same location. He starts at the memorial stacked stone marker. He notes the height is difference as he searches his memory. When he was hit on the head he slumped back, he  saw a bottle of yogurt on the ground. He then saw a man step on the bottle of yogurt. Hyun Jo realizes Sargent Kim was murdered and serial killer is still murdering on the mountain! His face sets with determination and resolve.

Thoughts.

The duo is still adjusting. Yikang still cant trust his visions but its hard to ignore due to his earnest characteristic. Hyunjo believes that a murder is on the loose & he realizes that it wasnt entirely his fault as a lead soldier. This was honestly a better episode the first 2 episodes of #Jirisan. The vibe is darker and has alot of mystery. I appreciate the focus of Hyunjo's background and his premonition.

[queensqewed0722]

Familiar Faces in “Designated Survivor: 60 Days”

Weeks after it ended, I’m finally catching up on completing the last two episodes of this series. I’ve never seen the original ABC series on which it was based so I don’t have any biases for or against either one.  However, I’ve stopped watching American drama years ago and watch more KDrama nowadays so maybe on that note, one can say that I’m inclined to be partial to the Korean version.

Some of the actors in the KDrama version are very familiar to me.  I’ve mentioned in a previous post that President Yang Jin-Man (Kim Kap Soo) and Acting President Park Moo Jin (Ji Jin Hee) were both essayed by actors who portrayed King Sukjong at different points of the Joseon monarch’s lifetime in different dramas.  Now, they play modern-day leaders of Korea.  

However, another actor who plays a critical character in the series is Heo Jun-Ho.  He plays Chief Secretary Han Joo-Seung, President Yang’s closest confidante and ally in the Blue House who becomes Acting President Park’s advisor.  Ironically enough, Heo Jun-Ho plays Lord Ahn Hyun in another Netflix KDrama “Kingdom”, a high ranking aristocrat in the fictional kingdom of Joo Ji-Hoon’s Crown Prince Yi Chang.

There’s this scene in the last part of Episode 15 of “Designated Survivor” where Chief Secretary Han tells Acting President Park that the Blue House is hell, where nothing ends until everyone in it becomes a monster.  President Park replies that he’s found someone in it who hasn’t turned into a monster and that was Chief Secretary Han.  I found that scene quite ironic given that Heo Jun-Ho’s character in “Kingdom” looks to be one of those responsible for the creation and spreading of the zombie plague, although he himself never got infected.  

Another Blue House staff in the series, An Se-Young, is played by actor Lee Do-Yub.  He was also Lord Jo Hyun Myung in “Haechi”, one of the justice officers who remained loyal and supportive to Crown Prince Yi Geum, the second son of King Sukjong, who eventually became King Yeongjo.  Kim Kap Soo was King Sukjong in this series.   

Just goes to show how small the Korean entertainment industry is. If you frequently watch KDramas, you’re bound to bump into familiar faces.  

[mysageukinbio]

Some Jang Hee Bin trivia bullet points

Movies Jang Hee Bin (1961) and Femme Fatale, Jang Hee Bin (1968)

Lee Seo Gu was approached to write the 1961 movie because of the success of his radio drama Jang Hee Bin in the same year.

At 21 years old at the time of filming, Kim Ji Mi is tied with Lee Mi Suk as the youngest actor to portray Jang Hee Bin.

Jang Hee Bin (MBC, 1971)

There was a ‘lead actor famine’ for this drama, and so a 300,000-won prize (worth 5,984,227 won today) was offered at first for the lead role, before a vote was called.

Yun Yeo Jeong was voted to become Jang Hee Bin amidst candidates Yun Jeong Hee and Kim Ji Mi, who previously portrayed Jang Hee Bin in 1961.

Though MBC’s 1971 adaptation was wildly popular, lead actress Yun Yeo Jeong received major backlash for her role. She was even removed from CFs for Yunina Shampoo and Oransshi Soda because ‘her image as Jang Hee Bin was not good for the product’.

While filming the 1971 adaptation, MBC reported many threatening calls to end the network, pressure from the audience to bring Queen Inhyeon back to life, and an incident on set where an actor playing the role of Jang Hee Bin’s court lady was given a bowl of hot water instead of room temperature in an attempt to sabotage filming.

Eventually, the drama was rewritten so that Queen Inhyeon was reinstated sooner than expected.

Actress Kim Min Jeong (Queen Inhyeon) was cast for the role in the 1971 adaptation on a stairwell by writer Lee Seo Gu.

This adaptation is the first to portray a dramatic poison scene, a plot point that would become the climax of many more adaptations to come, with various embellishments.

No known footage of this adaptation remains. MBC only began archiving drama broadcasts from the mid-’70s.

At 154 daily episodes, this remains the longest adaptation of Jang Hee Bin by episode count.

A special was aired on January 31st, 1972 - two days after broadcast had concluded.

Women of Legend: Jang Hee Bin (MBC, 1981)

The first season of Women of Legend (MBC, 1981~1982) was actually going to be another adaption of the Hanjungrok, but the production was scrapped and Jang Hee Bin became the first season instead. Series writer Im Chung would later on write two adaptations of the Hanjungrok (Oh, Heaven! for KBS in 1988, and the King’s Pathway for MBC in 1998).

This adaptation became MBC’s highest rated drama during its broadcast.

The late Kim Mu Saeng played the role of Jo Sa Seok both in this version and Jang Hee Bin (SBS, 1995).

During broadcast, Lee Mi Suk, Lee Hye Suk (Queen Inhyeon) and Lee Miji (Queen Ingyeong) were referred to as the Three Beautiful Musketeers (미녀 삼총사).

Director Yu Gil Chon’s brother Yu In Chon was selected to play the role of Sukjong. Yu In Chon is currently South Korea’s Minister of Culture.

In 1986, Lee Mi Suk admitted that mixed reactions were given to her portrayal. She elaborated that older people hated her character, while younger women related to and empathized with the character.

This adaptation broadcasted on Mondays and Tuesdays at first, but was moved to Wednesdays and Thursdays from Episode 37.

Lee Mi Suk’s portrayal of Jang Hee Bin was popular with men at the time, as the way she acted in front of Sukjong was considered to be cute.

This adaptation and SBS’ 1995 remake are loosely based on the Records of Queen Inhyeon, a compilation of memoirs by Lady Lee, one of Queen Inhyeon’s court ladies.

500 Years of Joseon: Queen Inhyeon (MBC, 1988)

Actor Kim Seok Ok played the role of Queen Inhyeon’s stepmother both in 500 Years of Joseon: Queen Inhyeon (MBC, 1988) and Jang Hee Bin (KBS, 2002)

Kim Myeong Hee played the role of Ok Jeong’s shaman here as well as in KBS’ adaptation, for which she is more famous.

Jeon In Hwa and Lee Deok Hwa took up the roles of Jang Ok Jeong and Jang Hee Jae respectively. They would become brother and sister once more in SBS’ 2001 drama Ladies in the Palace.

Jeon In Hwa’s portrayal of Jang Hee Bin was not initially popular until her reentry into the Palace in Episode 27, as her graceful and elegant aura was seen as too in contrast to the conniving characters of MBC’s previous portrayals.

This adaptation is heavily based on the Joseon Annals, as opposed to the Records of Queen Inhyeon.

The poison scene in this adaptation was famous for Sukjong ordering that one of the doors be used to restrain Ok Jeong as she was fed the poison. This portrayal would be repeated in KBS’ 2002 adaptation.

Jang Hee Bin (SBS, 1995)

SBS’ 1995 adaptation uses the same script as MBC’s 1981 adaptation, written by Im Chung.

Im Chung’s son Im Ho took the role of Sukjong. Im Ho is world famous for his role as Jungjong in Dae Jang Geum (MBC, 2003).

Eom Yu Shin played the role of Prince Sungseon’s wife both in the 1995 and 2002 adaptations of Jang Hee Bin. She also played the role of Jang Hee Bin’s mother in MBC’s 1988 adaptation.

The 1995 adaptation was supposed to be broadcast after SBS’ 1994 drama Auld Lang Syne, but was delayed because of trouble finding a lead actor. Sandglass was broadcasted instead.

Jeong Seon Gyeong was only casted after refusals from Lee Young Ae, Kang Su Yeon and Shin Eun Jeong. Lee Young Ae would soon after become the lead actor of KBS’ West Palace.

This adaptation achieved ratings of up to 43%, but began to suffer during the broadcasts of KBS’ West Palace and Jang Nok Su.

Child actor Lee Jeong Hu played Queen Inhyeon in her first three years after entering the Palace. Kim Won Hee replaced her when Queen Inhyeon turned 18. Lee Jeong Hu died of cancer on December 10, 2016, at the age of 30.

The poison scene in Episode 63 is considered to be the closest in historical dramas to an accurate portrayal of what actually happens when someone drinks Joseon’s government arsenic poison.

The scene is also reputed for Jeong Seon Gyeong’s sudden retaliation in kicking the bowl of poison from a court lady’s hands.

Jang Hee Bin (KBS, 2002)

The lead role was first offered to Lee Young Ae, Song Yun Ah, Kang Su Yeon, Chae Shi Ra and Kim Hyeon Ju before Kim Hye Su took up the role.

Even so, audience reactions were not initially positive to her being chosen, saying that she was too glamorous for the role. Public opinion began to change once Ok Jeong gained the rank of Suk Won in Episode 24.

With 16 previous years of acting experience, Kim Hye Su is the most experienced actor to take the role of Jang Hee Bin.

Kim Hye Su’s casting also broke the tradition of casting young rookies for the role of Jang Hee Bin.

The ratings once dropped to as low as 6%, but its final episode garnered a 31.1% rating.

The show’s original writer Kim Seon Young is not only the first woman to write a televised adaptation of Jang Hee Bin, but also the first woman to write an authentic historical drama (정통사극). The format has been dominated by male writers since its import to Korea in 1981 through KBS’ The Grand Order.

A rivalry was brewing between production manager Kim Sang Hun and Outdoor Filming Director Han Cheol Gyeong, which escalated into an assault incident.

The show’s latter half was written by Kang Tae Wan, rumored to be 1st-generation TV writer Shin Bong Seung under a pseudonym. Shin wrote the 500 Years of Joseon adaptation in 1988.

Kim Eul Dong, portraying Court Lady Kwon (Hee Bin’s court lady) is the mother of Song Il Guk, who portrayed Western Faction activist Kim Chun Taek.

The role of Choi Suk Bin was offered to Kim Gyu Ri, Choi Yu Jeong and Hong Eun Hee before being given to Park Ye Jin from April 9th, 2003. The first three potential candidates happened to be filming for movies when the role was offered.

At 100 hour-long episodes, this remains the longest adaptation by runtime.

Dong Yi (MBC, 2010)

Some of the State Tribunal’s clothes were previously worn in Queen Seondeok (MBC, 2009).

Jang Hee Bin’s character was written much differently than in previous dramas. Her character was meant to be more mature, driven to her decisions out of support for her family and faction. However, while the show itself was successful, Lee So Yeon’s portrayal was often referred to as ‘uninteresting’.

Extra Choi Na Gyeong (not to be confused with flautist Jasmine Choi) gained much popularity after the broadcast of Episode 36 on July 28th, 2010, featuring as a Court Inspector during the Head Inspector's arrest. Referred to as the Tibetan Court Lady (티벳 궁녀) due to her perceived resemblance to the Tibetan fox, she would later on feature in a daily drama and a sitcom. Choi Na Gyeong also became the model for a character in mobile game Master Asia, and is an avid arcade game player herself. Her cameo in Dong Yi can be seen below.

Because of how differently Jang Hee Bin was written in comparison to previous adaptations, this adaptation is the first since 1968 to portray Jang Hee Bin as willingly drinking the poison that would lead to her death.

Jang Ok Jeong, Living in Love (SBS, 2013)

Despite Jang Ok Jeong’s portrayal in the drama as a fashion designer, viewers were displeased at the use of high heels and fashion mannequins, both anachronic to Joseon.

At 33 years old at the time of broadcast, Kim Tae Hee is the oldest actor to play the role of Jang Hee Bin.

The show is unfortunately considered a failure for SBS, with an average rating of only 11.3%. This puts the show behind its contemporaries Queen of Office (KBS, 13.2%) and Gu Family Book (MBC, 18.7%).

At 24 episodes, this is the shortest adaptation of Jang Hee Bin.

A historical accuracy dispute arose over the portrayal of Queen Inhyeon’s father Min Yu Jung. This led to the show being derided as a ‘fantasy drama’ by political drama fans.

[milkbts]

♡ Disclaimer  ♡ Words: 3k

My Letterboxd - I rate movies  My TVTime - I rate K-dramas and any series that I watch.

♡ Context:

A Korean Odyssey (Hwayugi) is a romantic comedy & fantasy tv-series loosely based on the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’. 

♡ Main Cast:

Lee Seung-Gi as Son O-Gong, Cha Seung-Won as Woo Whee & Oh Yeon-Seo as Jin Sun-Mi

♡ Description:

The drama is about Son O-Gong and Jin Sun-Mi who meet under strange circumstances. Jin Sun-Mi has been able to see ghosts her entire life. When she was younger, she tried to help a demon king recover a precious artifact but instead, accidentally lets Son O-Gong out from his invisible house in the middle of the woods when he tricks her to do so as only a human can free him. Jin Sun-Mi, a naive child, becomes punished from this by being given the title “Samjang”. Jokes on both of them though as they meet again because of a deal they made long ago, but, you’ll have to see for yourself.  

♡ Ratings: IMDb (8.4/10), MyDramaList (8.4/10)  ♡ My Opinion: 9/10 -This drama was really good actually and I’d recommend it to anyone. (I started watching this with my friend as it’s our favourite pass time at sleepovers - so if you’re looking for a good time, watch this.) -Good acting -The story is good and I never found it slow or boring

♡ Context:

Age Of Youth (also known as Hello, My Twenties!) is a coming of age and romance drama. 

♡ Main Cast:

Season 1 - Han Ye-Ri as Yoon Jin-Myung, Han Seung-Yeon as Jung Ye-Eun, Park Eun-Bin as Song Ji-Won, Ryu Hwa-Young as Kang Yi-Na & Park Hye-Soo as Yoo Eun-Jae

Season 2 -  Han Ye-Ri as Yoon Jin-Myung, Han Seung-Yeon as Jung Ye-Eun, Park Eun-Bin as Song Ji-Won, Ryu Hwa-Young as Kang Yi-Na (only for special appearance), Ji-Woo as Yoo Eun-Jae & Choi A-Ra as Jo Eun

♡ Description:

Age Of Youth is about five female housemates who live together at the Belle Epoque. While strangers at first, they are able to bond and connect over the traumas they experienced while growing up and face challenges together. There are two seasons and some character changes in the second season.

♡ Ratings: IMBd (8.3/10), MyDramaList (8.8/10)

♡ My Opinion: 7/10 -I did really like Age of Youth and I think it’s a good drama for you to start watching if you are new to dramas.  -I give this drama a 7 out of 10, only because I’ve seen better ones suited towards my tastes. -Good actors but annoying they changed so much

♡ Context:

Black is a romance, thriller, fantasy, & comedy K-drama. 

♡ Main Cast:

Song Seung-Heon as Black & Han Moo-Gang & Go Ara as Kang Ha-Ram

♡ Description:

Black is the story of a Grim Reaper who is ordered to track down his partner who escaped to the mortal realm. In the process of this, he meets Kang Ha-Ram who can see the shadows of death despite being a mortal woman. This complicates things especially after he finds a case from 20 years ago and falls in love with Ha-Ram in the process. Supernatural rules against involvement in human affairs were meant to be broken, right?

♡ Ratings: IMBd (8.2/10), MyDramaList (8.3/10)

♡ My Opinion: 9/10 -One of my favourite K-Drama’s and I highly recommend this to anyone. -It gets a bit dark at times though so I suggest having a light comedy to watch afterward. -Good actors and they have nice chemistry in my opinion -Story is easy to follow

♡ Context:

Blood is a rom-com, action & suspense K-drama. 

♡ Main Cast:

Ahn Jae-Hyeon as Park Ji-Sang, Ku Hye-Sun as Yoo Ri-Ta & Ji Jin-Hee as Lee Jae-Wook

♡ Description:

Park Ji Sang is a doctor who works in the best cancer research hospital in the country. He is a great doctor because of his knowledge of the human anatomy and he’s a vampire... Despite him seeming cold and unfeeling, he has a soft heart and has experienced the inner pain of wanting to be close with people but without knowing how. He has very high morals and believes highly in the sanctity of human life so he suppresses his thirst for blood to save human lives; Unfortunately, he isn’t the only vampire and not all of them agree in his way of thinking. Among his colleagues is Yoo Ri Ta, a hotshot physician who entered medical school at the age of only 17 while simultaneously being the niece of the chairman.

♡ Ratings: IMBd (7.1/10), MyDramaList (7.5/10) 

♡ My Opinion: 8/10 -It took me a while to finish this drama but I lose interest quite easily so it isn’t anything to do with the quality of this drama. -My original interest in this drama came from the actress Ku Hye-sun as she was one of the main characters in Boys Over Flowers (next review). -The chemistry between the main actors, Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-Hyun is really good (and they’re married in real life!). -This drama handles romance and everything pretty well however if you’re looking for a drama with a lot of fangirl moments then I suggest something else -(but this did have some good romance moments).

♡ Context:

Boys Over Flowers is a romance & a very, very dramatic drama.

♡ Main Cast:

Lee Min-Ho as Koo Jun-Pyo, Ku Hye-Seon as Geum Jan-Di, Kim Hyun-Joong as Yun Ji-Hu, Kim Beom as So Lee-Jeong & Kim Jun as Song Woo-Bin.

♡ Description:

At a famous high school for the incredibly rich, this love story is focussed on Geum Jan-di and the members of F4 - a gang of 4 handsome and rich men lead by Gu/Koo Jun-pyo. Jan-di is a poor girl with a poor family. She gets rewarded for a good deed and gets the chance to attend this high school. Here, she meets the infamous F4 group and is joined by Jun-pyo who is a spoiled heir to world-leading conglomerate ‘Shinwa’. Their love story travels from Seoul to New Caledonia to even Macau.

♡ Ratings: IMBd (8.1/10), MyDramaList (8/10)

♡ My Opinion: 8/10 -My friend and I watched this drama together as it’s said to be the OG K-drama, it’s like the orientation to the world of Korean Dramas.  -Many reviews hated it but this drama was fun to scream at when the characters made poor decisions -This made me cry (not surprising as a lot of these have made me cry) but this one is the most memorable to me because of the good times I had watching it; so I recommend this drama to anyone who firsts asks me for K-drama recs.   -Starts off slow but once you get into it you’ll have the time of your life.

♡ Context: 

Click Your Heart is a mini-series and romance drama.

♡ Main Cast: 

Kwon Mi Na as Mina, Baek Ju Ho as Ju Ho, Kang Cha Ni as Cha Ni, Kim Ro Woon as Ro Woon & Lee Da Won as Lee Da Won.

♡ Description:

Mina is a high-school student who must choose between an athlete, an ‘intellectual’, a ‘loner’ and a dancer. The episodes set these meetings up and you can click an episode that follows on from that - the episode you click is a different guy that she can choose, so you can literally Click Your Heart.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (6.6/10), MyDramaList (7.4/10)

♡ My Opinion: 6/10  -Good if you wanna experience what a k-drama is like -Too short for me and I prefer normal dramas -Quick to watch though -The acting wasn’t that bad

♡ Context:

Dream Knight is a romance/fantasy drama which centers around friendship.

♡ Main Cast:

Song Ha Yoon as Joo In Hyung & Got 7 - JB (himself), Mark (himself), Park Jin Young (himself), Jackson Wang (himself), BamBam (himself), Kim Yu Gyeom (himself) & Choi Young Jae (himself).

♡ Description:

A young girl called Joo In Hyung who suffers from her past has her life turned around when she unexpectedly meets a group of mysterious men.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (6.8/10), MyDramaList (7.5/10)

♡ My Opinion: 6/10  -Same as Click Your Heart to me honestly -It’s more of a friendship drama and a coming of age drama in my opinion -The acting isn’t too bad -Good for a quick watch & if you are just starting watching dramas and don’t know what genre you like yet 

♡ Context:

Good Morning Call is a Japanese Drama based on the manga series “Guddo Moningu Koru” by Yue Takasuka. Good Morning Call is a romance, friendship, and coming of age drama.

♡ Main Cast:

Fukuhara Haruka as Yoshikawa Nao & Shiraishi Shunya as Uehara Hisashi

♡ Description:

A young girl called Nao decides to stay behind and live by herself when her parents leave to inherit her grandfather’s farm in the countryside. When she moves into her new apartment, she meets Uehara, a popular- super hot boy who goes to the same school as her. They realize they have both rented the same apartment and when they go to the company it’s unexpectedly closed down and the rent has gone up dramatically. Nao and Uehara decide to live together as flatmates so neither of them has to go home.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.9/10), MyDramaList (7.8/10)

♡ My Opinion: 9/10 -One of the first dramas I watched and I really loved it -It’s dramatic, romantic and both actors have good chemistry. -There are now 2 seasons on Netflix & the second season didn’t disappoint. -It had fangirling worthy moments and moments to make you really feel for the characters. -WatCh tHiS 

♡ Context:

Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo is based on the manga Itazura Na Kiss by Kaoru Tada. Mischievous Kiss is a romantic comedy Japanese drama.

♡ Main Cast:

Yahagi Honoka as Aihara Kotoko, Furukawa Yuki as Irie Naoki & Yamada Yuki as Ikezawa Kinnosuke

♡ Description:

At a high school entrance ceremony, Kotoko falls in love with Naoki whilst he gives a speech. She decides to confess her feelings via love letter. Unfortunately Naoki - a popular boy everyone is in-love with - turns her down saying “I don’t like dumb women.” One day Kotoko’s house is completely damaged by a meteorite and the house will not be re-built for a while, Kotoko’s dad decides to stay with a friend who happens to be Naoki’s father...

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.9/10), MyDramaList (8.1/10)

♡ My Opinion: 8/10 -One of the first dramas I watched -It has 2 seasons and I liked it because of the build-up in a romance between both characters -Naoki’s character is cold which is literally my favourite kind because I know he's a softie -Kotoko and Naoki have good chemistry & the acting was very good in my opinion -The story was NEVER boring for me, the writers had really fun ways to make the story go along so I applaud them for that & recommend this drama (it’s very dramatic, VERY).

♡ Context: Noble, My Love is a romantic comedy K-Drama.

♡ Main Cast: 

Sung Hoon as Lee Kang Hoon & Kim Jae Kyung as Cha Yoon Seo

♡ Description: 

Kang Hoon is the CEO of the world’s largest company ‘D.O.L’. One day, he is kidnapped and escapes from his kidnappers but is badly injured. Luckily, he passes out in front of an animal hospital. Yeon Seo (veterinarian) finds him and attends to his wounds.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.1/10), MyDramaList (7.9/10)

♡ My Opinion: 7/10 -Most k-dramas have something dark going on behind the love that happens but this drama doesn’t -Many reviews I read were against this drama but my friend and I adored it because of how simple yet entertaining the story-line was. -It has good fluff moments and is good if you don’t like dark subjects in your Korean dramas or tv in general -A good drama to watch after an intense one :)

♡ Context:

Oh My Ghostess is a romantic comedy with supernatural elements including the food genre.

♡ Main Cast:

Park Bo Young as Na Bong Soon, Kim Seul Gi as Shin Sun Ae, Jo Jung Suk as Kang Seon Woo & Im Joo Hwan as Choi Seong Jae

♡ Description:

Bong-sun is a shy young woman who is possessed by a confident ghost of a lustful virgin. Bong-sun works as an assistant and has a crush on her boss. She makes a deal with the ghost as her grandmother was a shaman so from a young age she has been able to see ghosts. They agree that the ghost will help Bong-sun get her boss’s attention if she helps her pass over to the after-life before her time runs out.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (8.2/10), MyDramaList (/10)

♡ My Opinion: 8/10 -Was difficult for me to get into but I thoroughly enjoyed it -It has cute moments & the acting is great -Basically just watch this 

♡ Context:

One More Time is a romance and friendship drama (also known as The Day After We Parted)

♡ Main Cast: 

L as Yoo Tak & Yoon So Hee as Da In

♡ Description:

Yoo Tak is the leader and vocalist of an indie band called One More Time. He’s been maintaining the band for around 10 years but they haven’t acheived their dreams yet and aren’t getting any younger. Yoo Tak begins to take for granted his friends and girlfriend but a young grim reaper has something to say about that. She puts him in a time loop and he has to continue living the same day over and over again until he learns what is really important.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (6.8/10), MyDramaList (7.7/10)

♡ My Opinion: 8/10 -I liked the angst and sadness in this and the life lessons in it -The acting was really good -It isn’t boring and it’s quick to watch -The ending confused me but I liked the deeper meaning :)

♡ Context: 

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (also known as Strong Girl Bong Soon) is an action, comedy, romance & supernatural k-drama

♡ Main Cast: 

Park Bo Young as Do Bong Soon, Park Hyungsik as Ahn Min Hyuk & Ji Soo as In Gook Doo

♡ Description: 

Bong Soon is a young woman who is kind, honest and has superhuman strength... Her family has been gifted Herculean strength from birth to be used for the greater good. If the power is abused it is taken away. While standing up for herself to a group of gang members, Ahn Min Hyuk - who has never trusted the police - witnesses the entire ordeal and asks Bong Soon to be his bodyguard. She agrees and the two fall in love, but the world has different plans in mind for the pair.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (8.3/10), MyDramaList (8.8/10) 

♡ My Opinion: 9.5 -I like the chemistry between the actors in real life AND in the drama. They make a good team. -The balance between all the fluff and romance with the danger is really well done -This is one of my favourite K-drama's  -Watch this Drama if you want clear skin and a new love for yourself

♡ Context:

Switched is a Japanese supernatural and suspense drama

♡ Main Cast:

Tomita Miu as Umnie Zenko, Kiyohara Kaya as Kohinata Ayumi, Kamiyama Tomohiro as Mizumoto Koushirou & Shigeoka Daiki as Kaga Shunpei

♡ Description:

A suicidal teenage girl swaps bodies with a popular girl in her class - but she has no intention of switching back.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.2/10), MyDramaList (8.2/10)

♡ My Opinion: 7/10 -For a drama that isn't suited to my tastes, this one really impressed me. -The acting it takes to be able to pull off a successful bodyswap is extremely difficult and the actresses acting in this drama is immaculate. -This has a lot of angst, considering the suicide references, but is a good drama. -This J-Drama has only been given a 7 out of ten because of the plot (which is still great but not my type) but the acting I'd say is the best here.

♡ Context:

The Girl Who Sees Scents (also commonly referred to as The Girl Who Sees Smells & based on the webcomic 'Naemsaereul Boneun Sonyeo) is a romantic comedy with supernatural genres.

♡ Main Cast:

Park Yoo Chun as Choi Moo Gak, Shin Se Kyung as Oh Cho Rim & Nam Goong Min as Kwon Jae Hee

♡ Description:

Officer Choi Moo Gak lost his younger sister to a serial killer and lost his ability to taste, smell and feel any pain whatsoever. Oh Cho Rim, the only witness to the murder case, lost her memory but gained the ability to see smells.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.3/10), MyDramaList (8.1/10)

♡ My Opinion: 9/10 -Damn actor Nam Goong Min is hot -The serial killer is also a great fucking idea -The acting is decent and the actors have great fluffy moments -This drama was so addicting for me which is why it has such a high rating -I also really appreciated the ending, something that doesn't usually happen with me and dramas. -This is a must watch

♡ Context:

The Great Seducer (also known as Tempted) is a friendship and romance Melo-k-drama

♡ Main Cast:

Woo Do Hwan as Kwon Si Hyun, Joy as Eun Tae Hee, Moon Ga Young as Choi Soo Hi & Kim Min Jae as Lee Se Joo

♡ Description:

The Great Seducer depicts rich young men and women in their twenties who discover their feelings of love for one another while playing a dangerous bet involved with love. Kwon Si Hyun makes a bet with his friends that he can seduce Eun Tae Hee, who believes that people who are swayed too easily by love are stupid. After Tae Hee meets Si Hyun, her view of love changes and Si Hyun's heart becomes less ice-cold. Secrets become hard to keep as Si Hyun falls deeper in love with Eun Tae Hee.

♡ Ratings: IMDb (7.1/10), MyDramaList (7.6/10)

♡ My Opinion: 10/10 -I LOVE THIS DRAMA SO MUCH OKAY -MY FRIEND AND I STARTED THIS TOGETHER I LOVED IT -THE ACTING IS SO GOOD AND I LOVE WOO DO HWAN AND JOY (red velvet) -Joy's acting has improved a lot and her character is lovely and relatable -The drama is literally my aesthetic and the toxic friend groups and angst of this drama is what I thrive off -Watch. This. You. Cowards. -I could write essays upon essays about this, but tumblr won't allow that...

[kdramacollections]

SAVE ME

Before I go on, I just want to issue a few warnings:

If you’re looking for romance, then this drama ain’t it.

If you can’t stand senseless murders - like myself - then this drama isn’t for you.

I might be spoiling, but there’s suicide. 

Save Me is the type of drama that’s packed with a few thrills, a bunch of creepy people, and a well-written plot which will have you asking the right kind of questions. If you’re the type who likes to read plot summaries before watching a drama, then please find a sensible one which does justice to the plot. 

There are many characters within this drama, each and every fictional person in Save Me plays an important role in the story. However I want to begin by touching on the Im family. The opening scenes introduce this family of four in what seems to be a moving van, it’s a dark, rainy night, and everything about this scene is super creepy. 

They do meet other instrumental characters on their journey, but I’ll leave their introduction for another time. Anyway, as the plot progresses, we learn that the Im family may not have had an easy life in Seoul, and it seems that such hardships follow the family to their new home. Or, an abandoned structure, so now we have a potentially homeless family, who deserves so much better. 

From the back row, left: Dong Cheol, Man Hee. From the front row, left: Sang Hwang, Jung Hoon. 

This quartet is also introduced to us in the opening scenes, and while they might seem like normal high school students, they actually turn out to be the heroes we all deserve. These four have been friends for a long time, and so they know each other well, I admired the chemistry which was portrayed throughout the drama, and I liked how much they valued their friendship. 

However, this is K-drama World, where nothing lasts forever. Time passes, and we’ll see where this friendship goes through a bit of testing, you’ll find yourself rooting for them, as you wish for things to return to the way they were. You’ll then wonder just how these goofy guys fit into the plot, then you’ll realize just how important they really are. 

Everything seems to be progressing at a normal pace for everyone else, but the way in which this drama is written, us as viewers don’t get to see what’s going on behind the scenes. What I mean by that, is this guy dressed in white, along with his religious followers, all pop up out of nowhere. You’ll then realize that the plot unfolds in such a way, so that us as viewers can have the experience of a character living in this small town. 

On the outside, the man called Spiritual Father, and his church seems like any normal Christian Denomination. They worship, they praise God, and they pray like any other Christian believer. But then various occurrences will grace your screen, you’ll then realize that this is a cult, and you might feel a bit of fear for what’s about to happen.

These guys are seriously the epitome of evil. 

At this point in the plot, we’re no longer focusing on the broken friendships, or the fact that a few of our favourite characters have gone through some changes. Oh no, every fibre of your being will be following the events which take place due to the followers of this cult. With each and every episode, you’ll find yourself gripping your seat as more things are revealed. Also, your fighting spirit might be awakened as you root for the main characters to come out on top. 

I have to point out Sang Mi’s character and the important role she played in this drama. It was her asking our heroes for help which kickstarted the entire action. Sang Mi’s father seemed to be too caught up in the cult, her mother wasn’t mentally capable of caring for herself, and her brother wasn’t around anymore. Hence, everything that Sang Mi knew was no more. 

What I really admired is Sang Mi’s tenacity and bravery, even though she was rescued, she decided to return in order to rescue everyone else. I like seeing such selflessness in characters, and Sang Mi isn’t the only character with this trait. One good thing about Save Me is that the good characters put their own needs behind them as they try to bring down this powerful cult. 

Ok TaceYeon plays the character of Han Sang Hwan, the son of a politician, and also the tsundere character which we all deserve. Sang Hwan goes through a lot of personal development in this drama, and his character is quite likeable. You can find Ok TaceYeon in Assembly, and Bring it on, Ghost. 

Woo Do Hwan plays the character of Seok Dong Cheol, a very quiet person who experiences a few hardships in his life. Dong Cheol’s character is that of the mysterious type, however he is able to distinguish between right and wrong. Woo Do Hwan, in my opinion, stole the show with his performance, and so he must be commended for his acting. You can find him in Mad Dog, and The Great Seducer. 

Seo Ye Ji plays the character of Im Sang Mi, her character is the type of person who’s not afraid to stand up to her oppressors, and she’s also a very compassionate person. Seo Ye Ji was able to portray her character’s desperation, hopelessness, and fear very well, and so her acting was well on point. You can find Seo Yi Ji in Moorim School and Lawless Lawyer.

Save Me was directed by Kim Sung Gu who also worked on Priest, and the movie Genome Hazard. Save Me is based on the webcomic of the same name, and this was written by Jo Geum San. Jung Shin Gyu and Jung Yi Do are accredited for the script for this drama. 

Even though this drama may freak you out, there are a few comedic moments which will put a smile on your face. Also, there are a few action scenes here and there, which are entertaining. Save Me is one of OCN’s ideal drama to watch, you won’t be disappointed. 

(You can watch Save Me on viki and dramafever)

(Credits to the owners of the pictures, I took them from dramafever, soompiforums, hancinema, kpopmap, pinterest, hellokpop, and dramabeans)

[louquis]

List of Korean Female Names

Under the cut are a list of Korean girls’ names in order of the Korean alphabet. Scroll down for the hangul. Sources are at the bottom

Ka - KaNa KaRam KaRyeon KaRyoon KaBi KaBin KaYeon KaYoung KaOn KaYoon  KaYul KaEun KaEul KaYi KaIn KaHyun KaHee

Kang - KangHye

Kyung - KyungMi KyungMin KyungSeon KyungSook KyungOk KyungJin KyungHee

GoWoon GoEun

Gong - GongJu

Kyo - KyoRyeong KyoRi KyoRin KyoYeon KyoYoung KyoYoon KyoYul KyoHyun KyoHee

Kyu - KyuRyeong KyuRi KyuRin KyuRim KyuMi KyuBi KyuYeon KyuYoung KyuEun KyuHa KyuHyun KyuHee

Kyun - KyunYoung

Geun - GeunAh GeunYoung GeunYe GeunHye

Geum - GeumJu

Gi - GiBbeum

Na - NaKyung NaDam NaRa NaRam NaRae NaRyoon NaRi NaMi NaMin NaYeon NaYoung NaYoon NaEun NaHyun NaHye NaHee

No - NoYeon NoYoung NoYoon NoEun NoHyun NoHoon

Nu - NuRi

Da - DaKyum DaKyung DaKyo DaNa DaDam DaRin DaBin DaSol DaSom DaAh DaAhn * DaAe DaEon DaYeon DaYoung DaYe DaWan DaWoon DaWon DaYoon DaYul DaEun DaIn DaJeong DaHae DaHyun DaHye DaHyo DaHee

Dan - DanHee

Dam - DamBi

Duk - DeokAh

Do - DoKyung DoDam DoRam DoYeon DoYoung DoWon DoYoon DoYul DoEun DoHeon DoHyun DoHoon DoHee

Dong - DongJu DongHee

Doo - DooNa DooRi DooYeon DooYoung DooYe DooYoon DooYul DooHee

Ra - RaHee

Rae - RaeKyo RaeEon RaeYeon RaeWon RaeYoon RaeEun RaeHan RaeHyun

Re - ReMi

Ryeo - RyeoYoung RyeoWon RyeoEun

Ro - RoYeon RoYoung RoYoon RoHyun

Ru - RuRi RuAh RuAhn RuYeon RuYoung RuWan RuWon RuHyun

Ryu - RyuDam RyuAh RyuAhn RyuWon

Ri - RiNa RiAh RiAhn RiYeon RiYoung RiYe RiWon RiHye

Rin - RinAh

Myung - MyungKyo MyungSeo MyungSook MyungJi MyungChae

Mi - MiKyung MiKyo MiNa MiDo MiRa MiRan MiRae MiReu MiRim MiSeo MiSul MiSo MiSol MiSook MiYeon MiYoung MiJeong MiJi MiJin

Min - MinKyung MinKyo MinSeo MinSeon MinSul MinSol MinAh MinJeong MinJu MinJi MinJin MinChae MinHye MinHee

Ban - BanHye

Byu - ByuRi

Byul - ByulHa

Bo - BoNa BoRa BoRam BoMi BoMin BoYe BoEun

Bom - Bom

Bi - BiJu BiHwa

Sa - SaRang SaIn

San - SanHa

Sang - SangMin

Sae - SaeRom SaeBom

Saet - SaetByul

Seo - SeoBin SeoAh SeoAhn SeoAe SeoYeon SeoYoung SeoWoo SeoWon SeoYoon SeoYul SeoEun SeoJu SeoJin SeoHyun SeoHye SeoHee

Seon - SeonMi SeonAh SeonYoung SeonYe SeonWoo SeonYi SeonJeong SeonHye SeonHwa SeonHee

Sul - SulRa SulRin SulMin SulBin SulAh SulAhn SulYeon SulYoung SulYoon SulJi SulHwa SulHee

Seong - SeongMin SeongBin SeongAh SeongYeon SeongEun SeongHee

Se - SeRi SeRin SeMi SeMin SeBi SeBin SeAh SeAhn SeYeon SeYoung SeYoon SeYul SeEun SeYi SeIn SeIm SeJin SeHyun SeHwa Sehyu SeHee

So - SoRa SoRyeong SoRim SoMi SoMin SoBin SoAh SoYeon SoYoung SoWon SoYoon SoYul SoEun SoYi SoJeong SoHyun SoHwi SoHee

Sol - SolMi SolMin SolBi SolBin SolAh SolYoung SolYoon SolEun SolIm SolJi SolHee

Song - SongMin SongBin SongAh SongYeon SongYoon SongYi SongJu SongHyun SongHwa SongHee

Soo - SooMin SooBin SooAh SooAe SooYeon SooYoung SooYoon SooYi SooIn SooJeong SooJi SooJin SooHyun SooHee

Sook - SookYeon

Soon - SoonOk SoonHee

Seul - SeulGi SeulMi SeulMin SeulBi SeulBin SeulAh SeulYoung SeulYe SeulYoon SeulEun SeulJi SeulHee

Seung - SeungBin SeungAh SeungYeon SeungYe SeungYoon SeungEun SeungYi SeungHa SeungHyun SeungHye SeungHwa SeungHee

Shi - ShiBin ShiAh ShiAhn ShiAe ShiYeon ShiYoung ShiOn ShiYoon ShiYul ShiEun ShiHyang ShiHyun

Shin - ShinBi ShinAh ShinAe ShinYoung ShinYe ShinJi ShinHye ShinHwa

Ah - AhDam AhRa AhRan AhRam AhRong AhRu AhReum AhRi AhRin AhRim AhSul AhSeom AhSol AhYeon AhYoung AhWon AhYoon AhIn AhIm AhJeong AhJi AhJin AhHyun AhHye

Ahn - AhnNa AhnSol AhnSeul AhnYoung AhnYi

Ae - AeNa AeNi AeDam AeRa AeRan AeRam AeRyeon AeRyeong AeRi AeRin AeRim AeSul AeSol AeSeul AeJeong

Eon - EonJu

Yeo - YeoKyung YeoRam YeoReum YeoRi YeoRim YeoSul YeoSol YeoSeul YeoWon YeoEun YeoJeong YeoJu YeoJin YeoHye

Yeon - YeonDoo YeonRim YeonSeo YeonSoo YeonAh YeonYoung YeonWoo YeonYi YeonJu YeonJi YeonJin YeonHa YeonHwa YeonHee

Young - YoungDam YoungRan YoungRam YoungRin YoungRim YoungMi YoungSeo YoungSul YoungSol YoungSoo YoungSook YoungSoon YoungSeul YoungAh YoungAe YoungYeon YoungYe YoungWon YoungYoon YoungEun YoungIm YoungJa YoungJu YoungJi YoungChae YoungHa YoungHyun YoungHye YoungHee

Ye - YeNa YeDa YeDam YeRa YeRan YeRam YeRyeong YeRyeong YeJu YeRi YeRin YeRim YeMi YeBin YeSeo YeSul YeSeom YeSol YeSeul YeYoung YeWon YeYul YeEun YeIn YeIm YeJeong YeJu YeJi YeJin YeHyun

Oh - OhYeon OhYoung OhYoon OhEun

Ok - OkSoon

Yo - YoDam YoRam YoRin YoSol YoYoung YoWon YoEun

Woo - WooKyung WooRi WooAh WooYeon WooYi WooIm WooJu

Won - WonYoung WonYe WonJeong WonHee

Wol - WolYoung

Wi - WiYoung

Yoo - YooKyung YooNa YooDam YooRa YooRan YooRam YooRang YooRye YooRi YooRin YooMi YooMin YooBin YooSul YooSol YooSeul YooAh YooAhn YooYeon YooYoung YooWon YooWol YooEun YooJeong YooJu YooJi YooJin YooChae YooHa YooHyun

Yoon - YoonKyo YoonNa YoonDam YoonRan YoonRam YoonRae YoonRyeon YoonRye YoonRin YoonRim YoonSeo YoonSeon YoonSul YoonSeom YoonSol   YoonSeul YoonAh YoonAe YoonYoung YoonYe YoonOh YoonWoo YoonYul YoonYi YoonIm YoonJeong YoonJu YoonJi YoonChae YoonHa YoonHae YoonHye YoonHoo YoonHee

Yul - YulAh YulYeon YulYoung YulWoo YulWon YulHa YulHyun YulHee

Eun - EunKyung EunKyo EunDam EunRan EunRae EunRye EunRyool EunRi EunRin EunRim EunMi EunBi EunBin EunSae EunSeo EunSeon EunSul EunSeom EunSeong EunSe EunSol EunSong EunSoo EunSeul EunShil EunAh EunYoung EunYe EunOh EunWoo EunYul EunJae EunJeong EunJu EunJi EunJin EunChae Eunchong EunHa EunHan EunHye EunHoo EunHee

Om - OmPa OmPyo

Yi - YiNa YiDam YiRan YiRam YiRyeon YiRyeong YiRye YiReum YiSul YiSol YiSoo YiSeul YiAhn YiYeon YiYoung YiWan YiYoon YiEun YiJeong YiJu YiJi YiJin YiChae YiHan YiHyun YiHwa

In - InSul InSook InAh InAe InYoung InWol InJu InChae InHa InHye

Ja - JaMin JaBin JaYeon JaYoung JaYoon JaEun JaYi JaHyun

Jae - JaeMin JaeBin JaeSol JaeAh JaeYeon JaeYoung JaeYoon JaeYul JaeEun JaeIn JaeIm JaeHyun JaeHee

Jeong - JeongMin JeongBin JeongSook JeongSoon JeongAh JeongAhn JeongYeon JeongWon JeongYoon JeongYul JeongEun JeongIn JeongIm JeongHyun JeongHye JeongHee

Jo - JoAhn JoEun

Jong - JongAh

Ju - JuBi JuBin JuAh JuAhn JuAe JuYeon JuYoung JuYe JuWon JuEun JuYi JuHae JuHyun JuHye JuHee

Joon - JoonYi JoonHee

Ji - JiNa JiRyoon JiMin JiBin JiSeon JiSol JiSoo JiAh JiAhn JiAe JiYeon JiYoung JiYe JiWoo JiWon JiYul JiEun JiHyang JiHyun JiHye JiHyo JiHee

Jin - JinSol JinAh JinYoung JinJu   

Cha - ChaMin ChaBin ChaYeon ChaYoung ChaYoon ChaYul ChaEun ChaIm ChaHyun

Chae - ChaeKyung ChaeRin ChaeMin ChaeBin ChaeSul ChaeSol ChaeSeul ChaeAh * ChaeAhn ChaeYeon ChaeYoung ChaeWoo ChaeWon ChaeYoo ChaeYoon ChaeYul ChaeEun ChaeYi ChaeJeong ChaeHa ChaeHyun ChaeHee

Che - CheRi

Cho - ChoRan ChoRong ChoMin ChoBin ChoAh ChoYeon ChoYoung ChoYoon ChoEun ChoYi ChoHyun ChoHee

Chi - ChiYoung

Tae - TaeKyum TaeKyung TaeRim TaeBin TaeYeon TaeYoung TaeYoon TaeYul TaeEun TaeHyun TaeHee

Pu - PuReum

Pul - PulIp

Ha - HaNa HaNeul HaDam HaRa HaRan HaRam HaRyeon HaRi HaRin HaRim HaSul HaSol HaSeul HaYan HaYeon HaYoung HaWon HaYoon HaYul HaEun HaYi HaIm HaJeong HaHyun

Han - HanKyung HanNa HanDam HanByul HanBin HanSol HanSong HanSeul HanAh HanYoung HanYe HanYoo HanJu HanChae HanHee

Hae - HaeDam HaeRan HaeRam HaeRi HaeRin HaeRim HaeSol HaeSoo HaeSeul HaeAh HaeYeon HaeYoon HaeYul HaeEun HaeIn HaeJeong HaeHyun

He - HeRi

Hyun - HyunDam HyunBi HyunSeo HyunSul HyunSol HyunSook HyunAh HyunYoung HyunYi HyunJeong HyunJu HyunJi HyunJin HyunHee

Hye - HyeDam HyeRan HyeRam HyeRyeon HyeRi HyeRin HyeRim HyeMi HyeBin HyeSeon HyeSol HyeSoo HyeSeul HyeAh HyeYeon HyeYoung HyeYoon HyeYul HyeEun HyeIn HyeIm HyeJeong HyeJu HyeJin

Ho - HoRan HoRim

Hong - HongJu

Hwa - HwaDam HwaRin HwaRim HwaSul HwaSol HwaYeon HwaYoung HwaYoon HwaIn HwaJeong

Hwang - HwangBo

Hyo - HyoKyung HyoDam HyoRam HyoRyeong HyoRi HyoRin HyoRim HyoMi HyoSul HyoSol HyoSeul HyoYeon HyoYoung HyoWon HyoYoon HyoEun HyoIn HyoIm HyoJeong HyoJu HyoJin HyoHyun

Hee - HeeDam HeeRam HeeSul HeeSol HeeSoo HeeSeul HeeAh HeeYeon HeeYoung HeeYe HeeWon HeeYoon HeeJin hangul:

가 - 가나 가람 가련 가륜 가비 가빈 가연 가영 가온 가윤 가율 가은 가을 가이 가인 가현 가희

강 - 강혜

경 - 경미 경민 경선 경숙 경옥 경진 경희

고 - 고운 고은

공 - 공주

교 - 교령 교리 교린 교연 교영 교윤 교율 교현 교희

규 - 규령 규리 규린 규림 규미 규비 규연 규영 규은 규하 규현 규희

균 - 균영

근 - 근아 근영 근예 근혜

금 -금주

기 - 기쁨

나 - 나경 나담 나라 나람 나래 나륜 나리 나미 나민 나연 나영 나윤 나은 나현 나혜 나희

노 - 노연 노영 노윤 노은 노현 노훈

누 - 누리

다 - 다겸 다경 다교 다나 다담 다린 다빈 다솔 다솜 다아 다안 다애 다언 다연 다영 다예 다완 다운 다원 다윤 다율 다은 다인 다정 다해 다현 다혜 다효 다희

단 - 단희

달 - 달님

담 - 담비

덕 - 덕아

도 - 도경 도담 도람 도연 도영 도원 도윤 도율 도은 도헌 도현 도훈 도희

동 - 동주 동희

두 - 두나 두리 두연 두영 두예 두윤 두율 두희

라 - 라희

래 - 래교 래언 래연 래원 래윤 래은 래한 래현

레 - 레미

려 - 려영 려원 려은

로 - 로연 로영 로윤 로현

루 - 루리 루아 루안 루연 루영 루완 루원 루현

류 - 류담 류아 류안 류원

리 - 리나 리아 리안 리연 리영 리예 리원 리혜

린 - 린아

명 - 명교 명서 명숙 명지 명채

미 - 미경 미교 미나 미도 미라 미란 미래 미르 미림 미서 미설 미소 미솔 미숙 미연 미영 미정 미지 미진

민 - 민경 민교 민서 민선 민설 민솔 민아 민정 민주 민지 민진 민채 민혜 민희

반 - 반혜

벼 - 벼리

별 - 별님 별하

보 - 보나 보라 보람 보미 보민 보예 보은

봄 - 봄

비 - 비주 비화

사 - 사랑 사인

산 - 산하

상 - 상���

새 - 새롬 새봄

샛 - 샛별

서 - 서빈 서아 서안 서애 서연 서영 서우 서원 서윤 서율 서은 서주 서진 서현 서혜 서희

선 - 선미 선아 선영 선예 선우 선이 선정 선혜 선화 선희

설 - 설라 설린 설민 설빈 설아 설안 설연 설영 설윤 설지 설화 설희

성 - 성민 성빈 성아 성연 성은 성희

세 - 세리 세린 세미 세민 세비 세빈 세아 세안 세연 세영 세윤 세율 세은 세이 세인 세임 세진 세현 세화 세휴 세희

소 - 소라 소령 소림 소미 소민 소빈 소아 소연 소영 소원 소윤 소율 소은 소이 소정 소현 소휘 소희

솔 - 솔미 솔민 솔비 솔빈 솔아 솔영 솔윤 솔은 솔임 솔지 솔희

송 - 송민 송빈 송아 송연 송윤 송이 송주 송현 송화 송희

수 - 수민 수빈 수아 수애 수연 수영 수윤 수이 수인 수정 수지 수진 수현 수희

숙 - 숙연

순 - 순옥 순희

슬 - 슬기 슬미 슬민 슬비 슬빈 슬아 슬영 슬예 슬윤 슬은 슬지 슬희

승 - 승빈 승아 승연 승예 승윤 승은 승이 승하 승현 승혜 승화 승희

시 - 시빈 시아 시안 시애 시연 시영 시온 시윤 시율 시은 시향 시현

신 - 신비 신아 신애 신영 신예 신지 신혜 신화

아 - 아담 아라 아란 아람 아롱 아루 아름 아리 아린 아림 아설 아섬 아솔 아연 아영 아원 아윤 아인 아임 아정 아지 아진 아현 아혜

안 - 안나 안솔 안슬 안영 안이

애 - 애나 애니 애담 애라 애란 애람 애련 애령 애리 애린 애림 애설 애솔 애슬 애정

언 - 언주

여 - 여경 여람 여름 여리 여림 여설 여솔 여슬 여원 여은 여정 여주 여진 여혜

연 - 연두 연림 연서 연수 연아 연영 연우 연이 연주 연지 연진 연하 연화 연희

영 - 영담 영란 영람 영린 영림 영미 영서 영설 영솔 영수 영숙 영순 영슬 영아 영애 영연 영예 영원 영윤 영은 영임 영자 영주 영지 영채 영하 영현 영혜 영희

예 - 예나 예다 예담 예라 예란 예람 예령 예령 예주 예리 예린 예림 예미 예빈 예서 예설 예섬 예솔 예슬 예영 예원 예율 예은 예인 예임 예정 예주 예지 예진 예현

오 - 오연 오영 오윤 오은

옥 - 옥순

요 - 요담 요람 요린 요솔 요영 요원 요은

우 - 우경 우리 우아 우연 우이 우임 우주

원 - 원영 원예 원정 원희

월 - 월영

위 - 위영

유 - 유경 유나 유담 유라 유란 유람 유랑 유례 유리 유린 유미 유민 유빈 유설 유솔 유슬 유아 유안 유연 유영 유원 유월 유은 유정 유주 유지 유진 유채 유하 유현

윤 - 윤교 윤나 윤담 윤란 윤람 윤래 윤련 윤례 윤린 윤림 윤서 윤선 윤설 윤섬 윤솔  윤슬 윤아 윤애 윤영 윤예 윤오 윤우 윤율 윤이 윤임 윤정 윤주 윤지 윤채 윤하 윤해 윤혜 윤후 윤희

율 - 율아 율연 율영 율우 율원 율하 율현 율희

은 - 은경 은교 은담 은란 은래 은례 은률 은리 은린 은림 은미 은비 은빈 은새 은서 은선 은설 은섬 은성 은세 은솔 은송 은수 은슬 은실 은아 은영 은예 은오 은우 은율 은재 은정 은주 은지 은진 은채 은총 은하 은한 은혜 은후 은희

음 - 음파 음표

이 - 이나 이담 이란 이람 이련 이령 이례 이름 이설 이솔 이수 이슬 이안 이연 이영 이완 이윤 이은 이정 이주 이지 이진 이채 이한 이현 이화

인 - 인설 인숙 인아 인애 인영 인월 인주 인채 인하 인혜

자 - 자민 자빈 자연 자영 자윤 자은 자이 자현

재 - 재민 재빈 재솔 재아 재연 재영 재윤 재율 재은 재인 재임 재현 재희

정 - 정민 정빈 정숙 정순 정아 정안 정연 정원 정윤 정율 정은 정인 정임 정현 정혜 정희

조 - 조안 조은

종 - 종아

주 - 주비 주빈 주아 주안 주애 주연 주영 주예 주원 주은 주이 주해 주현 주혜 주희

준 - 준이 준희

지 - 지나 지륜 지민 지빈 지선 지솔 지수 지아 지안 지애 지연 지영 지예 지우 지원 지율 지은 지향 지현 지혜 지효 지희

진 - 진솔 진아 진영 진주

차 - 차민 차빈 차연 차영 차윤 차율 차은 차임 차현

채 - 채경 채린 채민 채빈 채설 채솔 채슬 채아 채안 채연 채영 채우 채원 채유 채윤 채율 채은 채이 채정 채하 채현 채희

체 - 체리

초 - 초란 초롱 초민 초빈 초아 초연 초영 초윤 초은 초이 초현 초희

치 - 치영   

태 - 태겸 태경 태림 태빈 태연 태영 태윤 태율 태은 태현 태희

푸 - 푸른

풀 - 풀잎

하 - 하나 하늘 하담 하라 하란 하람 하련 하리 하린 하림 하설 하솔 하슬 하얀 하연 하영 하원 하윤 하율 하은 하이 하임 하정 하현

한 - 한경 한나 한담 한별 한빈 한솔 한송 한슬 한아 한영 한예 한유 한주 한채 한희

해 - 해담 해란 해람 해리 해린 해림 해솔 해수 해슬 해아 해연 해윤 해율 해은 해인 해정 해현  

헤 - 헤리

현 - 현담 현비 현서 현설 현솔 현숙 현아 현영 현이 현정 현주 현지 현진 현희

혜 - 혜담 혜란 혜람 혜련 혜리 혜린 혜림 혜미 혜빈 혜선 혜솔 혜수 혜슬 혜아 혜연 혜영 혜윤 혜율 혜은 혜인 혜임 혜정 혜주 혜진

호 - 호란 호림

홍 - 홍주

화 - 화담 화린 화림 화설 화솔 화연 화영 화윤 화인 화정

황 - 황보

효 - 효경 효담 효람 효령 효리 효린 효림 효미 효설 효솔 효슬 효연 효영 효원 효윤 효은 효인 효임 효정 효주 효진 효현

희 - 희담 희람 희설 희솔 희수 희슬 희아 희연 희영 희예 희원 희윤 희진

         sources: x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  please like or reblog if you use ♥

[blackpxsources]

- ̗̀ MASTERLIST — female korean names ̖́-

hi sweeties !! requested by anon (i was going to do it when I finished other things, but anon was faster), there are #50 (FIFTY) female korean names under the cut, none was invented by me. hope you guys like it !! please like/reblog if you found this useful !! (01/??)

att: this names are REAL names, tooken from dramas (korean dramas).

。kang yi-na                              

。 yoon jin-myung

。 yoo eun-jae

。 han ye-ri

。 park eun-bin

。 song ji-won 

。 jung ye-eun

。 bae joohyun

。 yoon jong-yeol

。 do ra-hee

。 lee sung-kyung

。 shin min-a

。 kim yerim

。 son seungwan

。 kang joo-eun

。 kim seul-gi

。 kim bok-joo

。 choi hye-ran

。 kyung soo-jin

。 yoo in-young

。 oh soo-jin

。 song shi-ho

。 hong ha-ra

。 na bong-sun

。 shin soon-ae

。 kal so-won

。 shim chung

。 jo hye-young

。 lee so-hyung

。 yoon myeong-joo

。 pyo ji-soo

。 jeon soo jin

。 ri ye-hwa

。 go ara

。 kim go-eun

。 jeon mi-seon

。 ji eun-tak

。 yoon in-na

。 kim yoo-jung

。 chae soo-bin

。 jo ha-yeon

。 hong- ra-on

。 park so-dam

。 eun ha-won

。 park hye-ji

。 kang naeun

。 park jun-geum

。 kim ji-won

。 song hye gyo

。 kang mo-yeon