my addicKtion - dream high, wild romance, and a little secret 3/7/12

*Originally posted on dongsaeng's personal private blog on 3/7/12*


I started this one when they were 10 episodes in, thinking that it had enough of a jump start ahead of me that I wouldn't have to wait for new episodes.  I hate waiting for new episodes.

Drama Education Moment:  Korean dramas will usually air 2 episodes per week and are, on average, 16 episodes (or 8 weeks) long.  Add in about another day for subtitles to be added, and it can become quite the waiting game.  My fellow drama addicts can attest to the experience of watching the status of the subtitles all day long as it inches closer and closer to the magical 100% completion mark.  Of course, some of us have become too impatient and will usually consider somewhere around the 97% mark close enough.  We figure we can usually fill in the gaps with what little Korean we understand and context.

Well, my assumption was wrong.  I was instantly hooked on this drama and watched those first episodes a lot faster than originally anticipated.  Darn it all!  Towards the end I did manage to pace myself (with considerable help from Dream High, but more on that later) and ended up only having to wait a week between episode 14 and the concluding 15 & 16.  I'm telling you, waiting is hard and one should go to any lengths to avoid it.  Anywho, waiting complaints aside, I really enjoyed this drama.  It was funny.  It was suspenseful.  It was romantic.  The side characters of Eun Jae's best friend, Kim Dong Ah and the baseball manager, Kim Tae Han were so incredibly hilarious and quirky.  And of course, I love anything with Lee Dong Wook.  He's one awesome leading man.  I first saw him in Scent of a Woman (another great one by the way) and was somewhat hooked, but this drama sealed it for me - he's awesome.  I didn't care for the leading lady's look (the hair was awful), but nonetheless, appearances aside, she did an amazing job as well as a tough but pathetic bodyguard to a man she initially hates, if for no other reason than he plays for her favorite team's rival.  I won't give a whole synopsis of the drama, but I will just tell you that Eun Jae is Mu Yool's bodyguard because he has a stalker that has been sending him threats and attempted to poison him.  There's an ex-girlfriend thrown into the mix as well as a best friend and his wife.  This drama apparently didn't do too well in ratings, which is sad because I found it to be entertaining through most, if not all, of the episodes.  Maybe once my repertoire is built up a little more I'll feel differently, but as for now, I declare this one a winner.

Dream High
starring 

Suzy as Go Hye Mi

Kim Soo Hyun as Song Sam Dong

Taecyeon as Jin Gook/Hyun Shi Hyuk

Ham Eun Jung as Yoon Baek Hee

Wooyoung as Jason

IU as Kim Pil Sook

What can I say about Dream High?  It was a immensely fun ride filled with song and laughter and general happy feelings.  Think High School Musical meets Glee meets Save the Last Dance.  I watched this the week I was ill and bedridden while I waited for new episodes of Wild Romance.  If you have to be sick in bed, Dream High is a wonderful companion to help you through the long hours of boredom and misery.  The show starts out in the future at the 2018 Grammy Awards in LA.  "Singer K" is the first ever Korean performer anticipated to win a Grammy Award.  It then goes back to the present day and the Kirin Art School where 6 musicians' stories are followed.  As the viewer you understand that one of these 6 will become the mysterious "Singer K" but have no idea who it is.  The main female lead, Hye Mi, is a classically trained singer (you know, opera and the like) whose father falls on hard times financially and flees the country, leaving Hye Mi and her younger sister not only homeless and fending for themselves, but also on the hook for their dear ol' daddy's debts.  As in they have loan sharks literally chasing them.  She ends up making a deal with the loan shark that she'll give up her Julliard plans in lieu of training at a local art school that is famous for creating pop sensations and basically he'll collect the cash when she becomes rich and famous (this is where the Save the Last Dance analogy comes in by the way - classically trained girl has to give up her dream due to circumstances and finds joy in the popular, mainstream world of music that she initially looked down upon).  The story continues from there and of course there's a love quadrangle (Hye Mi has two guys after her and a frenemy who is in love with one of them).  I loved the complexity of the characters.  Sometimes you get a character that is either seemingly flawless or pure evil.  Not here.  They are all flawed.  But they all have redeeming qualities.  You don't hate any of them.  And you believe that any one of them could become the future "Singer K".  Throw in an awesome supporting cast like Park Jin Young  (real life producer and entertainment mogul, CEO and founder of shameless self-promoting JYP) as hilarious English teacher Yang Jin Man and Uhm Ki Joon (who played the doctor in Scent of a Woman coincidentally enough) as heartwarming and lovable teacher Kang Oh Hyuk and you have a really really entertaining 16 episodes heading your way.  It was a star-studded drama that did not disappoint this lonely viewer.

Now, for a little bonus review.  I have to give a shout out to a drama I am currently re-watching, Secret Garden.  This is tied for my all-time favorite drama.  It was the second one I ever watched and the one that truly hooked me on the genre as a whole.  Want to know where my obsession came from?  Blame Secret Garden.  Now rewatching it nearly a year later, I am reminded of just how much I love love LOVE this drama!  The theme song alone is enough to make me all twitterpated and excited.  I was jumping up and down when I found it on Netflix this week.  Netflix!  Yay!  I can watch it on the big screen!!!  Giddy my friends, simply giddy!  And in case you are curious, I noticed a few other dramas recently added to Netflix like CITY HUNTER! (the other one that is tied for first place all-time favorite), Boys Over/Before Flowers (the one that has hooked most drama addicts), Shining Inheritance (haven't seen it), and My Girlfriend is a Gumiho/Nine Tailed Fox (also haven't seen it but have heard it's great).

Sorry for the lengthy post.  I promise that in the future they will be shorter and less frequent.  It's just that I have a whole backlog of things I want to say and share.  Once we get through the back inventory it'll settle down.  Promise.  Just stick with me a little while longer and humor me here.  Or ignore it all together, though if you're reading this it's obviously too late for that. ;)