Look -a -Like's #4

Oh Ji Ho ( 오지호 ) vs. Chow Yun Fat (周潤發)

I applaud myself for finding these two pictures 

How did I come up with these two, you may ask?Whilst watching "Chuno" starring Oh Ji Ho, I suddenly made the connection with him and Chow Yun Fat. Chow Yun Fat is a famous HK actor and also starred in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. As I was watching Chuno, everytime I saw Oh Ji Ho I gave him the name: Pirated Chow Yun Fat. 

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Arang and the Magistrate

I can't believe there are so many good shows starting now! Besides Faith, I have fallen in love with Arang. First of all, I love supernatural things. Ghosts, aliens, demons, superpowers, I'm all for it! Arang ties in these supernatural elements along with folklore (Arang itself is a story), and characters like the Jade Emperor, King of the Underworld and his workers. It gives me a nostalgic feel because I grew up with these characters while I was little whilst watching the series "The Monkey King". I was surprised Korean folklore also included these characters. 

Moments of Arang

cliffhanger moment right at the end of 2.

best scene from episode 1 when he sweeps her onto the horse.

A compilation of my favourite intimate moments between Arang and Eun Oh. Shin Mina and Lee Junki's chemistry is just sizzling!

Supporting/Side Characters, the Funny, the Evil. 

Dol Soe (Kwon Oh Joong) as Eun Oh's servant. (First time I saw him was in Damo and he was a cool, sarcastic left bureau policeman with
 great sword skills. Contrast him from his role now who is simple-minded and impulsive. Impressive!)

Moo Young (Han Jung Soo) and King of the Underworld/Yeom Wang (Park Joon Gyu) 

The 3 funny subordinates of the magistrate's. 

Bang Wool (Hwang Bo ra) the cute shaman 

Nobleman Choi (Kim Yong Gun), the evil father of Joo Wal's. Has a grudge against Eun Oh's father who demoted him.

Mischievous, smart, compassionate Jade Emperor (Yoo Seung Ho)

? questions

It seems peach blossom petals are harmful both to arang and those in the underworld. Where did arang get them?
Does it have to do with the peach blossom trees in heaven? How about red beans (as seen in episode 1)?

Joo Wal, the scary guy with the knife. It seems he has something to do with Arang (aka Lee Seo Rim)'s death?

how about that black ring of his he always turns about?

In a conversation with the Jade Emperor, it was mentioned Moo Young had a sister.Why was this fact mentioned? 

the full moon is ALWAYS a factor in supernatural shows and books I've watched or read,
 and it appears to play quite an important role in Arang.



--------------------

The preview for episode 3 showed us more revealations (Arang's body gets found!) and is bound to get even more exciting
Left to wait for Wednesday~

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Faith Episode 2 continued

Eun Soo already at work on the Princess's wound. Her magnifying goggles and the light
 peaking interest of the guards and Jang Bin

Really liking the cheeky fast runner side character, Oh Dae Man (Kim Jong Moon)

The 'mole' that tried everything to kill the princess(!) and the most annoying and hateful character yet,
Jo Il Sin (Lee Byung Joon)

Chun Eum Ja (SungHoon) as a mysterious white haired guy who's flute noise can kill cockroaches! It seems he is
 under the evilist of them all Gi Cheol (Yoo Oh Sung). We have yet to see his true motives but he's giving off that 
evil vibe already.

Samsung galaxy s3 making it's appearance. Another aspect in time travel dramas, they always bring a cellphone with them!

Eun Soo still thinking she's in the modern world, wondering how in the world can there be such a big filming set!
Back to finding a taxi to Kang-Nam.

It seems Jang Bin also has some mystical powers...

I didn't buy this couple at first (before the premiere) but this scene might have did it =). Cutness overload.

Just when she can leave, fate intervenes...

and the portal vanishes forever (?)

It's understandable that she's tired and mad at this whole situation. 
Just, be careful with that sword.

Choi Young's only way to pay back and 'not keeping his promise'. 
Told you to be careful!

The "WTF" moment where this jerk decides to change his title to "the world's biggest jerk" and pulls out the sword!
Jo Il Sin you bastard! Kind of disappointed in Choi Young's crew though. I know they're
following orders and still, but they didn't stand strong against that scumbag. 

We finally get some reaction from Princess NoGook. She's the one that tells Dae Man to hurry back and
 save Choi Young because he was her saviour. She's giving that strong, resilient aura, totally loving it
and a great contrast from the King.

I totally love how Eun Soo is all worried and uptight about the surgery. Looks like Jang Bin
has invented a really good anesthesia.




episode 3 -- Aug.20th
come soon!

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Faith Episodes 1 & 2

The long wait is gone! Faith has finally debuted it's first two episodes this week on Monday and Tuesday. Finishing the two episodes, I can confidently stay this show is a keeper! Don't expect this to be your regular saeguk. Except something new, mystical, magical, and heart-pounding. Having never watched this type of genre before, I was taken in by all of it at first. I know there have been a lot of time-travel dramas this past year, and I've never watched any, so I can't judge. However, if you want a quality time-travel drama, this is the one.

Sticking to my "drama-watching guidelines" prior to this show I have not read much about it or any character synopsis in depth. I went into this knowing only the basic facts. I catch on pretty quickly so the character relationships were established pretty soon, but there are some that I am still confused about.


 highlights of episode 1

General Choi Young (Lee Min Ho) doing his favourite thing right in the beginning: sleeping

I loved this scene where they sprinkled the neon dust on the assasins!

Princess NoGook (Park Se Young) and King Gong Min (Ryu Duk Hwan), the newly weds but give each other cold vibes.

Jang Bin (Phillip Lee), the 'best' doctor around. I'm not getting much from him for now.

The funny moments in time travel dramas where the ancient person jumps to the modern world. I had a laugh at these parts. Especially the encounter between Choi Young and the monk and when he asked to "go into the screen' to find Eun Soo.

Choi Young has a special "internal energy" that is like electricity. Pretty good CG.

Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun) was super cute in her "school days" look! So far Kim Hee Sun has been living up to her character and 

portraying it quite well.

Highlights of episode 2 (continued in next post because I'm having trouble posting now)

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Tokkan (トッカン )

New drama, J-drama: Tokkan (トッカン 特別国税徴収官)

Browsing along a drama site one day and stumbled upon Inoue Mao's new show about tax-collectors. Didn't think much going into it, but once I started I got back to that Japanese-drama-watching feel I lost after finishing up my last J-dorama "Jin". J-dramas pretty much follow this same formula and I find most of them draggy, but I don't know what got me into this one.  Perhaps it was Inoue Mao, who I really adore, or perhaps it was that new concept about "tax-collectors" (whom are surprisingly hated by most Japanese as it shows in the show). 

So far there are 4 episodes out and the ratings are decent, ranging in from the 10-12% range. 

Short Summary via tokyohive: 'Tokkan' tells a story of Suzumiya Miki (Inoue), a newbie tax collector who learns the strictness and difficulties of working through her job. Miki is called ‘Guuko’ because she often freezes up in front of her cold-hearted boss. 


"Collection 1"

 We get introduced to Suzumiya Miki (Inoue Mao), a clumsy, non-spoken girl right out of college starting off her day assigned to do a "S" (tax-collector terminology for 'seizure') which she feels reluctant to do. I like how right off the bat we're given a glimpse into Suzumiya's personality and her job. We meet her costar Kagami Miyabi (Kitamura Yukiya), a coldhearted superior who holds the title "Special National Tax Collector".  Kagami knows his stuff, doesn't beat around the bushes and does his job efficiently. He nicknames his suboordinate "Gooko" right after she gets thrown with some goo-ish paste. 

Another glimpse into Suzumiya's life shown in a flashback, where she's had a connection with tax-collectors in her past when she saw her father's shop cake shop getting seized. Makes you wonder, how did she end up getting this job with that painful memory? We know for one, she was hoping for stability, but probably didn't know she would end up with a job her father would hate her for (as we later find out when she talks with the couple who own Oshima Plastics).

Another note to point out about these office settings in J-dramas. They have a lovely, funny team dynamic going on with the chief who has a love for pastries and especially the shop " La Vie Sucre", Nabeshima Yuuko (Suzuki Sawa) as the 'big sister', Kaneko Chojuro (Ikeda Tetsuhiro) as the laid-back, experienced older brother and Toru Kamaike ( Kasahara Hideyuki) as the fellow newbie. 

Two new characters get introduced along the way. Shirakawa Yoko (Wakamura Mayumi), the owner of an exclusive club in Ginza who get's a kimono taken away when Suzumiya and Kagami do the "S" at her place. Her case does not get resolved in one episode and she seems to play a important role throughout the story (as she is connected to govt. officials).  The kimono  we find out is not of monetary value, but rather a sentimental memory, a priceless item to Shirakawa.  Character no.2 is Aizawa Meyume (Minami), a new found friend Suzumiya meets when she's ordered to buy that cake her Chief wants. However, there is something about this new friend of Suzumiya that makes me weary because I think she's going to be one of her "targets" later on in the story. Poor Suzumiya might have to conduct an "S" on her fellow friend later on? With the appearance of Aizawa, it seems that Suzumiya does not have much friends, but one would probably think so based on her personality. 

And yet another new character, but this time the annoying brat, fellow classmate of Suzumiya's,  Nanbu Chisa (Kinami Haruka), apparently better off then her as she works for the "Rokkai" (Revenue Inspection Unit). Not looking forward to her scenes. As the drama goes, each episode is a 'case' where Suzumiya has to meet up with the people who are evading taxes and in each case, we get a little story. Who these people are, what condition they're in, their job, why they can't pay up and so on. And within each story  Suzumiya grows, identifies herself, and starts to take more initiative with her job. As viewers we realize and find out who exactly are these so-called "tax-collectors" (which is what the whole drama was set out to do) and are somewhat expected to sympathize them.

We already see that growth in Suzumiya when she starts to unravel the Oshima couple's situation, the care and budding relationship we see her make. And finally in the end  when she realizes the elderly man had to give up his prized watch to pay off part of their debt because his finished product was not accepted. Here we get that familar Japanese drama feel where theres some important life message, moral that's being played out: Don't give up your life when you have so much to live for. It does get cheesy and tiresome when I watch more, but since I haven't watched J-dramas in a long time I guess it's OK for now.

So what am I excited about for the future episodes? More Inoue Mao and her character Suzumiya! I'm really liking her clumsy, sincere portrayal. I've read comments where some have said its a "waste" of her talent, which I beg to differ, is actually not. I'm not so much excited with the tax evasion cases as I am with wanting to see more chemistry with Suzumiya and Kagami and the rest of the team. I want to know more about the club hostess, and how Suzumiya's new friendship with Aizawa turns out. I seriously think something's up with the new girl, but it may just be the paranoid me~

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