Dramas in May-another busy month

And I thought I would be able to take a breather and watch my own collection of dramas after the March frenzy…but I guess not.. There are a few interesting dramas in May. Oh dear, when am I going to have time to watch my stock of dramas…?

Air City
Cast: Choi Ji Woo, Lee Jung Jae, Lee Jin Wook, Moon Hee Jung
Station: MBC, official site>Starts: 18th May, Sat/Sun
thread on soompi

This is probably among the more anticipated drama, if only because both Choi Ji Woo and Lee Jung Jae will return to the Korean small screen after an absence of 4 years and *gasp* 9 years respectively. The setting is the Incheon Airport and it is actually in celebration of the airport’s 5th anniversary. Hmm…I’m sure it was supposed to be 60 episodes originally…but I guess they changed their mind and it will only be 20 episodes now.

Lee Jung Jae is a government agent working at the airport. He’s in charge of security…already I see lots of pics of him holding guns and jumping around. Well, he did say he was a little apprehensive at first as he was also an agent in his last movie, ‘Typhoon’.

I have yet to watch the movie (somehow I didn’t really fancy watching Jang Dong Gun as a pirate..sigh…so the disc is still somewhere in my cupboard) but I really like ‘Il Mare’ (forget about ‘Lake House’) and ‘An Affair’. The game room scene made this one of the most talked about movie for awhile.

Choi Ji Woo has not had as much success since the runaway hit ‘Stairways to Heaven’. She’s very popular in Japan and even acted with Takenouchi Yutaka (drool) in ‘Rondo’. I heard there wasn’t much chemistry between the leads though…sigh.. must be the language problem.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of Choi Ji Woo but I really like her in ‘Beautiful Days’ and ‘Winter Sonata’.

She’s a lot more matured now, which is a good thing.

Lee Jin Wook had a vert favourable impact in the drama, ‘Alone in Love’ (starring Gam Woo Song & Son Yeh Jin). Rather good looking….hehe!

I Came in Search of a Flower
Cast: Cha Tae Hyun, Kang Hye Jung, Gong Hyun Joo, Kim Ji Joon
PD: Ji Young Soon (Oh! Pil Seung Bong Sun Young)
Station: KBS
Starts: 14th May, Mon/Tue
thread on soompi

Cha Tae Hyun works in a funeral parlor, and though he has a nice, simple personality, he’s not been very lucky in life. Kang Hye Jung is the daughter of the funeral parlor’s owner. She’s seen many deaths and have become unfeeling because of what she sees day in and day out.

So essentially, this is a love story. And it should be a very simple love story.

I don’t think I’ve seen any of Cha Tae Hyun’s drama, unless you count ‘First Love’. He was one of Chan Woo’s (Bae Yong Joon) friend and appeared only briefly in a few scenes. I have however, watched quite a few of his movies, including his last one with Song Hye Kyo- ‘My Girl and I’. Unfortunately I wasn’t very impressed- it was just a little over done in my opinion. I think he was better in ‘My Sassy Girl’. Cha Tae Hyun’s last drama was ‘First Love of a Royal Prince’. He seems to have on a little weight and I really do not dig his permed hair. Still, I’ve liked most of his movies so far.

Just a little side information that I can’t resist putting here…both Cha Tae Hyun & Song Hye Kyo were in a drama together long, long time ago. They were in ‘First Love’. Presenting a very young Cha Tae Hyun and Song Hye Kyo.

 

I have no impression of Kang Hye Jung, probably because I’ve yet to see any of her works. According to her profile, she was in ‘Old Boy’, ‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’ and ‘Herb’

Me Ri, Dae Gu’s Attack & Defense Battle
Cast: Ji Hyun Woo, Wang Bit Na, Lee Min Woo, Lee Ha Na
Station: MBC, official site
Starts: 16th May, Wed/Thu
thread on soompi

Ji Hyun woo is a novelist who writes about martial arts stories. Lee Ha Na is a snack vendor who aspires to be a singer. One day they met and well… the love-hate relationship begins from there.

I’ve not watched Ji Hyun Woo’s drama though I have seen him host a couple of programs. I know he was very popular in Korea last year, especially after the airing of ‘Over the Rainbow’. How do I know? Well, when I was in a Korean restaurant last year, I happened to have a copy of the Asta TV magazine, which had him on the cover. The waitress who was serving us got very excited when she saw the magazine. Kept saying how cute he was. ^^

Le Ha Na is a pretty new actress. Think her recent drama was ‘When Spring Comes’.

There was some confusion initially as some people thought it was Lee Min Woo of Shinhwa. It got quite a few fans pretty excited. Unfortunately (or fortunately? hehe!), it is Lee Min Woo, the actor.

Warfare of Money
Cast: Park Shin Yang, Park Jin Hee, Kim Jung Hwa, Shin Dong Wook
PD: Jung Tae Yoo (Bad Family)
Station: SBS, official site
Starts: 16th May, Wed/Thu
thread on soompi

Park Shin Yang is a ruthless money lender. Park Jin Hee was going to marry a divorced man to repay her family’s debts. Her plans were ruined by Park Shin Yang on her wedding day. Shin Dong Wook is also a money lender and Kim Jung Hwa is a banker. Seems lots of money being involved. ^^

Anyway, I kept thinking of Eileen when I learnt about Park Shin Yan’s return to the small screen after 3 years. He was last seen in the immensely popular drama ‘Lovers in Paris’ in 2004. She must be over the moon, especially as he also has a new movie out – ‘Shiny Day’. This is with the same adorable little girl, Seo Shin Ae in MBC’ s ‘Thank You’.

Strange that I was just talking about Park Jin Hee the other day here. Have not really watched any of her dramas, so will have to reserve my comments.

I last saw Kim Jung Hwa in ‘1% of Something’ with the very good looking Kang Dong Won. She’s pretty and sweet and acts well BUT she has yet to make a major impact on me. Let’s see how she will fare in here as her character is supposed to be different from her previous ones.

I watched Shin Dong Wook’s ‘Cloud Staircase’ with Han Ji Hye and gave up halfway. It was not the most inspiring drama.

Of all these dramas, I guess ‘Air City’ is the most hyped. The cast was recently in Hong Kong to film part of the drama. ‘I Came in Search of a Flower’ is the least anticipated. However, I wouldn’t dismiss it as Jang Hyuk’s drama ‘Thank You’ had the least hype and expectation when it began compared to the other 2 dramas and it turned out to have the highest ratings.

Sometimes, a simple story line, with great acting is all that is needed.

Totally unrelated…but I’m having a little trouble remembering all the ‘wooks’.

Lee Dong Wook
Shin Dong Wook
Lee Jin Wook

Much thanks to people on soompi, especially Shirley for the updated information on the various dramas.