idiosyncreant | (no subject)

timeripple , a new K-Drama watching friend on LJ, first won me over by her description of the new series, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, in terms of the Hana Kimi characters.

MAN, IT IS SO TRUE.

Quote:
If Hanakimi actually had a plot that made sense, Mizuki was a smart-mouthed feminist advocate of the proletariat, Nakatsu was an idealistic bookworm, Dorm 1 leader was the smoldering series antagonist (that's right I said "smoldering"), Dorm 2 leader was in love with Sano the hot rebellious ninja archer, Dr. Umeda was an undercover agent on a secret mission, and Mizuki/Nakatsu was the OTP.

Yeah. It's that awesome.

The rest of her post includes a summary that is much more concise and to-the-point than mine is going to be.

Now I've watched it myself, I think I placed a few characters in different roles without knowing it but it's all good.
Because the point is the types that play out are delightful, even though they are as recognizable as the ones in HanaKimi were.

Middle-left we have the fop-type who gets to be the one who knows what's going on, but is having fun trying to make everyone else figure it out, and wants things to be "interesting". I don't know any real people who sit back and prod at problems to keep them going, quite the way of this type in manga and similar strains of fiction, but they sure can give a story verve...

He's probably my favorite of the young guys, TBH, but doesn't even rate on the scale with the professors and government officials. For some reason, all the more seasoned men seem more charismatic in their historical costumes, with more opportunity to act with their faces, between their lines.

Like this cutie-pie:

...no, I don't understand it, either.
Except that in a world of men with hidden motives and politenesses, he's the one who seems whole-hearted, and yet...mysterious.
Yeah, it could just be me.

The hero's dad likewise:

It's obvious he not only has ambitions for his son, but is fond of him. His politics aren't necessarily clean, but he admires that his son is whole-hearted and full of ideals. He knows it will go away with time. He's not rushing it.

Since a lot of The Old Man characters in K-Dramas fall into certain types, it's fun to have a show full of them, so there are more nuanced characters.

Anyway, I just finished the 6th episode, which is a sports-triumph one, which I love. XD

This show is fun to watch visually, because of the sets being so different from contemporary shows (so open, and Asian) and interesting in plot, because things are unfolding in nuanced ways, where characters you like are probably villains, and most of the tension is held in conversation and subtle negotiation, which fits the scholar's way themes so well.

I think Ep. 7 is going to contain some sort of nasty shock to some male or other, and I will leave you with this ramble to go and see what that exactly is...

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WHY ARE THEY WEARING WELSH LADY HATS

Because Korean Manly Men wear Welsh Lady Hats, DUH.

CULTURALLY AND OTHERWISE, THIS MAKES NO SENSE

To be more serious, the headgear is quite fascinating. That's all mesh, some kind of woven material, and they wear head-bands to secure them on.

The sartorial complexities of this culture are quite amusing to try and puzzle out.

I mean, the unmarried young noblewomen seem to wear their jackets over their heads as a sort of impromptu veil when out on the town, while the courtesan-girls wear hats that are more like lampshade/parasol crossover accoutrements sticking up from their hairdos than anything else.

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm216/dangermousie2/buffy/AM-ASScandalE07XViD-HANrelAM-Addictionavi_000336836.jpg

BELIEVE IT.

so i was going to come up with something insightful and relevant to say about hanakimi and k-dramas in general

and then i saw this comment

and i laughed instead

Edited 2010-12-11 17:54 (UTC)

YOURE WELCOME

my mom made flowerpot hats and forced me into traditional welsh gear for a day. you dont forget a thing like parentally enforced flowerpot wearing.

trust me, i begged to take it off.

The more stories about childhood I hear from people, the more I realize what a mostly obliging and dull child I was...

Though I will admit that my only encounter with truly impressive edifices upon my head was dressing as a temple-maiden for a parade at 13.

http://pics.livejournal.com/anachred/pic/0002qca6/

And as you can see, all the other girls were doing it.

The bar for insightful and relevant is set kinda low around here...

Also, what is that icon?

Because it's making me laugh, though only because it looks like it could metaphorically be half the shows I love...

READ AND REJOICE

i get a lot of mileage out of this icon, i tell you what

I love practically everything about this drama, no lie. Joseon!Umeda was definitely one of my favorites, though. ♥

I really enjoy the girl-masquerading-as-a-boy trope in general, despite the usual disregards for reality involved (which Hana Kimi addressed more realistically in several ways).
But I don't think I've ever seen one do so well at creating situations where the girl reaction to a between-guys interchange is obviously causing some of the friction, like there is in the end of the 8th episode (her first break from school, seeing the rival-girl visiting) which I just watched.

The way her pride is something more malleable is one of the aspects of that, which is cool, too. She shows great strength of character, but it adapts to the goal of her family making it, and that's throwing everybody off. Haha.

Okay, spoiler request time: does this go the Coffee Prince route of having poor Seun Joon think he's in love with a guy? I just need to know what kind of agony I'm in for...

Let's just say I had good reasons for using Nakatsu to talk about him. ;)

ah, my poor baby...

PS
I loved watching ToGetHer, because Jiro Wang got the girl. ^.^; He somehow makes Nakatsu and Gin (of Itazura na Kiss) watchable despite their ridiculousness...

Uh-oh. In looking him up for the ToGetHer title, I have discovered a whole bunch of other stuff. Drats.