Halloween De-Lurk Day!

It's been kinda quiet here on this blogety-blog for the last week or so. Coco started a busy new job, so I'm manning (womaning?) the ship on my own for a bit. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I am a teeeeeensy weensy bit obsessive when it comes to Halloween, which means that I have spent the last week and a half frantically sewing costumes, prepping for our big Halloween party, and finally cleaning up after our Halloween party instead of watching Kdramas. (Gasp!)

Sadly (fortunately!), I didn't have time to summon any horrifying Kdrama ghost dolls to the party.

So, instead of writing a real post today, I'm declaring it Halloween Blog De-Lurk Day! Whether you've secretly been lurking around our blog like a little ghost or you have been a regular commenter around here, we want to get to know you just a little bit better. I have a list of questions here, and any and all of you are welcome to answer in the comments!


1. At this moment, RIGHT NOW (because I know this probably changes by the minute), what is your favorite kdrama? You can only choose one.
2. Who is your all-time favorite kdrama character and why?
3. What is the best Halloween costume you ever wore?

That's all. We're keeping it simple here.

And, as a sign of good faith, here are my answers:

1. This seriously changes every single day, but my favorite drama right this minute is Sungkyunkwan Scandal. It had a really well-rounded cast and a solid balance of tone throughout the entire thing. It also started my mild obsession with Song Joong Ki.

2. I love love LOVE a lot of kdrama characters. If I had to pick just one to hang out with as best friends, it might be Yoo Jung In from Vampire Prosecutor.  I feel like we would get along really well in real life.

3. I plan Halloween costumes months in advance (but I somehow STILL end up sewing them on the day of the party EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.), so it's hard to choose just one. One year, my husband sewed light rope into our costumes so that we could be the characters from Tron. That was pretty fun. I think for my overall favorite, though, I'm going to have to go with the year my husband got to pick. He chose zombies, which is boring, but then he let me get things like prescription zombie contacts and fake wounds and stuff, so the end result was pretty creepy.

Happy Halloween, guys! Don't let the gumihos get you!

A Collage of Better Shows: Nail Shop Paris Korean Drama Review

The good news about the drama Nail Shop Paris is that it's only 10 episodes long.  The bad news about Nail Shop Paris is that I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish it if it had been more than 10 episodes long.

Since this is a short show, I'll also try to keep my review short.

Overview

In one of the first scenes of the show, Hong Yeo Joo ("Bunny"), our female lead, complains that every time she starts to write a story, she finds herself repeating ideas from other books or movies.

Unfortunately, Nail Shop Paris is a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to writing.  Nail Shop Paris, like its writer lead, seems to believe that basing a story around a male nail artist is enough to make something fresh.  Once Yeo Joo finds her new muse, she proceeds to write an immensely cliche story that sometimes goes to a nail shop for no cohesive reason.  That's exactly what happens to this drama.  They draw attention to the novelty of an all-male nail shop and then proceed to write a tired story that doesn't bring anything else to the table.

The problem here is not only that they repeat ideas, but that they try to repeat too many ideas.  It's like the writers listed ALL of their favorite shows and then tried to cram them all into 10 episodes. Rather than carrying out any of the conflicting stories to a satisfying conclusion, the result ends up being something of a convoluted mishmash without full development anywhere. You can't do justice to a gender bender AND a gumiho story AND every character overcoming inner demons AND a case-of-the-week show all in 10 episodes.

You can't just wink your way out of this!

A perfect example would be the ending.  I don't want to spoil anything, but the last 15 minutes of a series isn't the idea time to turn your show into a supernatural thriller.  And no, having the characters tout the virtues of an "open ending" doesn't really help much.  That's just lazy writing.

So why did I keep watching?  Well, to be honest, it wasn't ALL terrible.  Even though Alex is, quite possibly, the most boring person on the entire planet, I kind of liked Kay, the grumpy corner of the love triangle.  I genuinely wasn't sure how the whole thing would turn out, so I stuck along for the ride (and since I was halfway through before I realized how short that ride would be, it all worked out).  Sure, Kay is grumpy and kind of looks like a gigantic praying mantis when he runs, but at least he's an endearing praying mantis.  I also liked the way that they established flirtation in this show.  It somehow felt more natural than what I've seen in a lot of dramas.

Speaking of men who look better with facial hair...

..And that's basically it.  Park Sang Hyun was cutesy and adorable as Jin, but that only goes so far.  The side plots were all resolved so quickly and neatly that I didn't really get invested. Okay, except for the old people in love.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have an incurable weakness for old people in love.  All I have to do is listen to the first three notes of the song from Up, and I start to sniffle like it's allergy season in a hay field.

Random Observations

• Chalk this up to having to rush the plot along, but how on earth did ALL of the characters keep their cool like that with the ghost case?  I mean, the lady says, "This woman is having unconscious sex with her dead boyfriend," and they all nod like it's totally normal and calmly go set up her exorcism?  Uhhhhhhhh did we all miss the part where GHOST RAPE IS A THING? No. Nononononononononononoono. I will never sleep again.
• A note to the costume designers: If you want people to believe that this woman is a man, don't dress her in skintight pants all the time.  I don't have the time to give you a full anatomy lesson, but suffice it to say that man parts and lady parts aren't exactly the same.  Skintight leggings aren't helping your case.  Neither is the lip gloss.  Surprisingly, I found her most convincing in her manly role when she was dressed as a girl pretending to be a guy pretending to be a girl.  something about the way she carried herself in that scene was pretty effective.
• Kay obviously took Beyonce a little too literally: "If I like this, I have to put a ring on it! RIGHT NOW!"
• Apparently, it's totally cool if some random young men walk into the third grade and start taking pictures of the kids.  Creeeeeeepy.
• Was I the only one who found the nail art kind of grotesque instead of stunning?

Seriously, so impractical! How are you supposed to dial the phone with those things?

Conclusions

If you want to see a more satisfying gender bender, watch Coffe Prince. If you want to see a more satisfying Gumiho story, watch My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho.  If you want to see a more satisfying case-of-the-week procedural, watch Vampire Prosecutor or Dating Agency: Cyrano.  If you want to save time by watching bits and pieces of all of these shows in one place, watch Nail Shop Paris.  At least it will be over quickly.

On Re-Adaptations, Remakes, and the American Version of Boys over Flowers

In case you haven�t heard, there is an American version of Boys over Flowers in the works, and it�s created quite the hubbub among the fangirl crowd. Every single article I�ve seen on the subject�from the initial announcement to every casting decision�is filled with people outraged that anyone would dare touch their little baby.

American "Jun Pyo" source/Korean Jun Pyo source

Considering that Boys over Flowers might just be the most popular kdrama in the history of anything ever, this outcome isn�t surprising, but I wanted to take another look at the issue.  Since my focus in grad school was adaptation studies, I have a slightly different take on the whole thing. (And yes, I realize that this makes me kdrama fan type #3. I can�t help it, okay?)  

After skimming through the comment sections of several articles, I have noticed a few consistent complaints about the American version of Boys over Flowers. Let�s have a chat about them one by one.

Complaint #1: The �original� was perfect

BoF source/P&P source

This is probably the most common concern.  A lot of people have been saying that they love Boys over Flowers so much that they don�t want another Boys over Flowersbecause it�s an insult to the original.  In order to talk about this issue, it may help distinguish the difference between a �remake� and a �re-adaptation.�  A remake is when you take a movie (or, in this case, drama) and redo it.  As an example, 2011�s Footloose (blech�Julianne Hough) is a remake.  A re-adaptation means that there is original source material, and it has been adapted multiple times.  Pride and Prejudice would be the perfect example of a re-adaptation.  Not only did Joe Wright adapt the source material differently than the BBC did, but the BBC adapted it differently than Robert Z. Leonard did in 1940, and so on and so on.  Maybe you believe that Colin Firth was the best Mr. Darcy of all time and that it was a travesty to even try to make a �new� one in 2005, but if everyone felt that way, there would be no Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy because we would have stopped at Laurence Olivier back in 1940.

So what does this have to do with Boys over Flowers? Well, lest we forget, not only is Boys over Flowers an adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango, but Boys over Flowers is already a RE-adaptation of the manga.  If we�re applying the �We did it first!� attitude across the board, Boys over Flowers wouldn�t even exist because Meteor Garden (2001) and Hana Yori Dango (2005) beat it to the punch. 

Is it possible to re-adapt something too many times?  Probably.  But I don�t think there�s some magical cutoff to determine when that happens.

Complaint #2: They will change too much from the original

Source

If we accept the possibility of re-adaptation, then the concern becomes whether this particular adaptation will completely change the original text. 

The idea of a �faithful� adaptation is complete nonsense to begin with.  The second you decide to adapt something from one format (manga) to another (live action), you�re going to be stuck with an interpretation.  The choices you make in casting, costuming, lighting, etc. all put a personalized twist on the source material in order to place it in conversation with the original text.

That being said, I think what most people mean is that they worry about basic plot changes.  Guess what? Boys over Flowers doesn�t follow the exact manga plot, either, though I can understand why a complete, unrecognizable overhaul of the story would be concerning.  From what I hear, the basics will be the same: rich, snooty guys at a private school with a hardworking poor girl who won�t put up with their bullying.  Multiple rich guys fall in love with the poor girl, and romance ensues.

What would concern me more, however, would be if they kept everything exactly the same as it was in Boys over Flowers.  Think about adaptations as people on an elevator.  When there�s only one person in the elevator, that person can stand wherever he or she wants.  When a new person gets onto the elevator, what happens? They naturally spread as far apart as possible.  The same process repeats every time a new person gets onto the elevator in order to maximize personal space.

Think of re-adaptations in the same way.  They can�t all occupy the same space because then they really are pointless remakes. (I haven't seen it, but the new Carrie looks like it may suffer from this issue.) If each adaptation is in conversation with the original text, then why bother saying the same thing over and over and over?  Even changes to the plot can create an interesting conversation to keep things lively.

Complaint #3: It�s another American rip-off

IA source/ The Departed source

This one�s interesting to me.  If we�re okay with having Meteor Garden from Taiwan and Hana Yori Dango from Japan and Boys over Flowers from Korea, what�s wrong with an American take?  From what I gather, each one of those stories embeds its own distinct culture into the story, much like Bride and Prejudicetakes Jane Austen�s story and gives it a Bollywood spin.  Is the concern that American culture is much farther removed because it�s not Asian?  If so, see point #4.

But is that reallythe source of irritation here?  What if this were a French adaptation or a Chilean adaptation, or even an English-speaking adaptation, just done by the BBC instead of Americans?  I somehow suspect that there wouldn�t be so much outrage.

There�s a sense that Hollywood rips stuff off all the time from other countries, and that�s what makes people mad.  When the English-speaking version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came out barely two years after the Swedish version, it seemed like supreme laziness to me.  I mean, really?  People are so averse to reading subtitles that they need Daniel Craig to dumb things down for them?

Even though I get riled up about this issue all the time, there is another side.  First of all, this movie isn�t being made by Big Hollywood.  It�s a small, independent production, so it�s not like they�re robbing ideas and trying to make the big bucks by casting Kristen Bell as the female lead or anything. 

Second, English-speaking (or French-speaking, or Spanish-speaking) remakes and re-adaptations are a way to expose new audiences to your favorite works.  How many people had never heard of Infernal Affairs until they saw The Departed?  What about all of those people who decided to check out Japanese horror movies after that huge string of popular remakes in the early 2000s?  So maybe you can lure your friends into watching an English-speaking rom-com, and once they�re hooked, you can bring them to the source material.  If your predictions are right and it can�t even come close to Boys over Flowers, then even better.  It will finally force them to recognize the value of the kdrama world.

Complaint #4: The story won�t work outside of Asia

BoF source

Again, I hear you on this one.  Really, I do.  When I heard that they were redoing the stunning Swedish film Let the Right One In as Let Me In with creep-tastic Chloe Grace Moretz, I was horrified.  I reacted so strongly partly because the trailer looked like a pointless shot-for-shot remake of the first film (see point #2), but mostly because there seemed to be something inherently Scandinavianabout the film that couldn�t quite translate to an American setting.  As a Finn watching the movie, the reserved people living in the quiet and the cold somehow made the entire thing work beyond just a simple vampire horror tale (which I generally hate).  When I saw Oskar, he reminded me so much of my little brother that I cried for an hour after the final credits.  I recognize, however, that my experience with Let the Right One In isn�t everyone�s experience, and that many people could appreciate different aspects of the story in its American counterpart.

Obviously, there is something about the Korean culture in Boys over Flowers that resonates with many viewers, and if you simply aren�t interested in seeing what happens in an American setting because the culture was the most interesting part to you (much like my experience with Let the Right One In), then go ahead and skip it.  No one will blame you.

What I find interesting, however, is that most of the complaints seem to assume that the plot itself is impossible in an American setting.  I have read comment after comment that specifically claimed the bullying aspect of Boys over Flowers would never work on an American show.  I don�t think that�s the case.  The sad reality is that people get bullied everywhere in the world, and it can get pretty bad even in the States. As a teenager, my husband got shoved into a locker and had to wait until a teacher found him. (Yes, really.  This stuff doesn�t just happen on Saved by the Bell, folks!)  Sadly, more extreme cases where bullying leads to teen suicide are far too common.  I wish it weren�t true, but that part of the story isn�t specific to Korea.

On a lighter note, I like to think that the parts of the story that are outlandish in America also require suspension of disbelief for Korean audiences.  Where are these schools where people do no studying and there are zero teachers?  Is that a real thing?

So, what I�m trying to say is that the American version of Boys over Flowers probably isn�t a sign of the impending Apocalypse.  Personally, I�m not super interested in watching it mostly because it kind of looks like a bad made-for-TV-movie, but I�m also not upset by the fact that they are making it.  It�s certainly not worth writing hate mail to the actors and producers involved with the show.  Just take a deep breath and go re-watch Boys over Flowers instead.  I promise it will make you feel better. 

Which Kind Are You? 5 Kinds of Kdrama Fans

I just did a guest post at DramaFever about the5 kinds of kdrama fans. After I was done, my husband read the post over my shoulder and said, "Wait, aren't you just writing about yourself for most of these?" Why yes, yes I am.

Does anyone else fall into these categories?




1.The Valiant Defender



Once you decide that you love a drama, you become like a mama lion protecting her cubs. You won�t let anyone get away with talking smack about your show! Did someone criticize the series extension? You thought it was perfect to really develop the relationship! Did they hate the costumes? But they were meant to show off the characters� personalities! Did they say that the acting was melodramatic? OH NO THEY DIDN�T! How would they feel if they woke up with amnesia and cancer? Huh? Everything was perfect and wonderful and amazing and you cried in every single episode.

2.The Closet Viewer



You love Kdramas. I mean, you really love them. You spend your free time reading recaps and listening to the OSTs of your favorite shows. The only problem is that you are an adult, and you don�t know how to explain your obsession to your real-life friends in a way that they would understand. Instead, you lead a double life. When you tell your friends that you spent the weekend helping your mom clean out her basement, what you really mean is that you marathoned Prosecutor Princess for sixteen hours straight.

3.The Academic



You enjoy watching Kdramas, but you also have an advanced degree in psychology or literature or something. You reconcile these two interests by constantly talking about gender roles and socio-economic factors in your favorite shows. Most of your Kdrama-watching friends roll their eyes when you start conversations with �This episode reminded me of something Socrates once said�� but you don�t let that stop you! When that Wall Street Journal blog post criticized Kdramas as being �lowbrow,� you responded with a ten-page manifesto peppered with words like �dichotomy� and �pedantic.�

4.The Bias Stalker



Plot? Not important. Dialogue? Who cares? The one and only determining factor in helping you choose your next drama is how much screen time your favorite actor or actress will get. Now if only the writers would get rid of all these side characters and just put Oppa in a shower scene already�

5.The Seasoned Veteran



You were watching Kdramas looooooong before Full House or Coffee Prince even came onto the scene. As someone who has watched dramas for over a decade, you can dazzle younger viewers with extensive knowledge of the progression of kdramas. You have also gotten to a wise transcendental state of mind where Kdrama trends no longer impact you. You can wait until a popular show finishes airing before you watch it. You have also mastered the difficult art of watching only one episode at a time�something most Kdrama fans see as an impossible myth.

What are your Kdrama habits? One of the above? ALL of the above? (*raises hand slowly*)

Live Blogging the Heirs Premiere

It feels like we've been hearing nothing but Heirs updates from the kdrama world for months now.  Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye in one show together! *head explodes* Even though the premise of teenagers in love has us a little skeptical, we couldn't let such a massive occasion pass by unnoticed, so we decided to live blog it, Oscars style.

You know how style journalists write commentary on awards shows as they're airing? Things like "Ooooh that dress looks like she wrapped herself in seaweed and crawled out of the ocean!" (I don't know anything about fashion actually. Is that what style journalists say?)  That's what we did here.  We watched the Heirs premiere and just wrote whatever came to mind.  It isn't the most in-depth commentary (for that, check out my drama club review on DramaFever over the weekend), but it was fun for us!

And here we go in three...two...one...

00.00-- Vivi: My palms are actually sweating. Settle down, Vivi. You�re not the one starring in this show. You�re safely on your couch in your pajamas. It�s gonna be fine.

00.10--Coco: OMG here comes some �90s Saved By The Bell �Best Summer of My Life� music and surfing scenes! How did they know how to reach deep into my nostalgic teenaged heart?

1.29-- C: Hey, I�m fairly impressed with Lee Min Ho�s engrish! Does this mean we are one step closer to being wed?

V:  I politely decline to comment.  He�s trying so hard!

1.42�V: It�s not a good sign when I have to read the subtitles to figure out what the Americans are saying.  So far, I feel like they�re just mumbling to cover up the fact that they probably don�t speak English at all. �Hey!*mumbling incoherently* Bye!�

C: Also I think they�ve managed to depict every stereotype of southern California ever. Can that girl get any tanner or blonder? Not to mention the surfer best friend.  

V: I feel like the model for this best buddy slacker surfer friend came from some made-for-TV teen movie circa 1992.

C: Totally dude!

1.51� V:Is this some kind of record? We�re under two minutes into the thing, and we already have a shower scene. Kim Eun Sook clearly knows what her audience wants. Why waste time?

C: Doesn�t count. Not standing in front of a mirror with steam rising. It does appear he is brooding about something, however.

3.13�V: Biggest plot mystery so far: Is Lee Min Ho sporting some lip gloss as he gazes into the distance?

C: I don�t know, but he sure looks pretty! And so, so contemplative. And probably misunderstood. And he probably doesn�t know how to love because he has never been loved.

4.15�V:Wait, what kind of second male lead hits defenseless nerds with a baseball? Ouch!

C: This is all very unexpected. My psychological frame for making sense of Kdrama things is being thrown out of whack.

7.03�V: I�m getting flashbacks of Eun Chan with Eun Sang delivering food and demanding her payment like a boss.  On another note, did she just say that she�s a second year in high school?  What does that make her�15? 16?  For my own sanity, I�m just going to pretend that she�s a sophomore in college, okay?

C: Second male lead looks intrigued by her sassiness! What the? Are you sure he�s not the male lead?

8.50--C: Now that�s what I call a second male lead. I think the writers got a little carried away with casting so much eye candy, they don�t even know what to do with them all!

V: Were people just volunteering to be in this series?  All we need is a womanizer with a heart of gold, and we�ve pretty much covered every male lead in the history of everything.  And no, Surfer Dude doesn�t count.

9.50-- C: Oh Krystal, honey, just stick to singing. Sorry, but acting is not for you.

12.47�V:Is that dream catcher going to be our terribly symbolic item for the rest of the series?  One can only hope that Park Shin Hye gazes at it wistfully at least 25 more times throughout the course of the show. (Fingers crossed!)

C: Buy me one now, Vivi! As an ancient symbol of our unending blogging friendship.

V: What if I painstakingly fashion one for you with my own two hands?  Does that make it more symbolic?

C: Only if it included strands of your hair as the webbing. Actually, that kind of just grossed me out. Please don�t use strands of your hair.

17.05�V:Not only is Eun Sang�s mom a downtrodden housekeeper, but she also can�t talk.  In the Olympics of misfortune, this woman wins the gold so far.

C: And where is her husband? We already knew the female lead has to be an orphan, so I guess it�s no shocker that he isn�t in the picture.

V: �Isn�t in the picture�?  He�s DEAD, Coco.  Because that�s what you get when you�re poor.

C: You�re right. Poor= everything is taken from you. EVERYTHING.

21.30 C: This all feels very Gossip Girl to me. Choi Yong Do=Chuck Bass, anyone?

V: YES.  So much yes to that statement. And Rachel=one of the female ones!  With the brown hair!

23.49�V: Rachel may be a terrible person (I assume), but I want her dress to be in my closet.  RIGHT NOW.

25.17�V: Serious concern: What will happen to Young Do�s super-gelled hair when he takes that helmet off?  I want to know.

C: All I know is that is definitely will not look as good as Ji Hoo�s helmet hair did!

26.0 C: Sorry but she is not as chipper about all her side jobs as Eun Chan was. In fact I�d say she�s kind of a whiner. You never saw Eun Chan crying cause someone knocked down her bottles of milk!

27.16�V: Okay, not as bad as I thought.  At least she�s 18!  But still, these people are too young to be engaged and stuff. (Shakes fist while rubbing geriatric knees) Kids these days!

30.02�V: It�s supposed to be a touching moment, but when I see �DRY CLEANING ONLY� written again and again all in caps like that, all I can think is, �REDRUM.�  Does this make me a bad person?

C: Yes! It does seem much more ominous than touching. This would be perfect to put in a trailer where you took some clips and changed the music to make Heirs seem like a Horror movie.

31.05�V: Aaaaaaaaaand there it is.  I was wondering how long it would take before we got a Park Shin Hye doe-eyed cryfest.

C: I�m afraid there�s going to be more of this than I�d like, but there�s always more of this than I�d like in all of her dramas. That, or the slightly confused and shocked face.

36.04�V: I�m sorry to break it to you, Eun Sang, but knowing the word for �subway� won�t help you much in LA.

C: And what exactly was the �Would you like people or�� phrase she was about to say? �Would you like people or trained monkeys to be your taxi driver?�

46.06�V: This may be an obvious point to make for a show called Heirs, but holy smokes are there a lot of grumpy rich people on this show. How will I decide who to hate first?

47.08�V: Apparently, Americans are the WORST.  Is this man propositioning her, or is that some terribly translated pickup line?

C: I think the producers are trying to make America seem as scandalous as possible to make sure that Koreans aren�t tempted to come here for the tan blondes and surfer dudes. They are like syrens!

51.50�V: Don�t listen when they compare you to angels.  They just want you for drugs.

52.48�V: I�m glad that in all of his time in America, Tan learned the truly important English phrases, like �dipsh-t.�

53.52� C: I just knew we�d eventually see the snotty Jun Pyo we all know and love. I�ve missed you so much!

V: Ah, their first fight!  Nobody pulls off sassy blinking like Park Shin Hye.  Nobody, I tell you.

59.46�V: A gang! That�s what you get for coming to the U.S.!  Everyone steals your bean powder and gives you money for sex and makes fun of you for being Asian!

C: And don�t forget the constant sound of police sirens! I didn�t expect Heirs to be such a morality tale, but lesson learned. Thank goodness they didn�t end up in NYC. You don�t even want to know what happens on the streets at night in this part of America!

1:00.30 C: Oh look! Here comes Edward Cullen! He even has a reddish hint to his hair like in Twilight. I wonder if he can read her thoughts too? That would be an unexpected twist the likes of the Secret Garden body switch!

1:01.02�V: When Lee Min Ho asks you to come home with him, I believe the correct answer here is a hearty �YES.�

How did you guys feel about the premiere?  Was it everything you hoped for and more?  Hard to say from just one episode, but at least it was entertaining! Comment below!

History of a Salaryman Korean Drama Review

Source

I'm just going to get this out there from the very beginning: the main couple in History of a Salaryman never kisses--not even once.  If you can handle that and want to know why you should probably watch this show anyway, keep reading.  If you can't handle it, feel free to stop reading and browse facebook now.  If you're angry at me for spoiling it, I apologize.  I felt like you had a right to know!

The Plot

Okay, so the main couple never kisses, but that's because this show isn't really a romance.  It's a satire, and a pretty decent one at that.  It's stuffed to the brim with kdrama cliches, but it winks at them just enough to get away with it.  I knew almost nothing about this show when I started to watch it, so the fact that it was simultaneously exactly like and yet strangely different from other dramas kind of threw me for a loop at first.  I wasn't always sure how I felt about it, but for the most part, it was clever and fun.

In the second half of the show, the writers seemed to lose sight of the satire and bought into the melodramatic kdrama cliches a little too seriously.  To me, those moments were the weakest parts of the show. In fact, I think that this is one of the rare kdramas that might have worked better as a shorter recurring series, kind of like Vampire Prosecutor.  They basically split the drama in half in terms of the central conflict, anyway.  The first half dealt with the murder, and the second half switched to Mo Ga Bi and her crazy ability to seduce every single male on the planet. With two shorter shows instead of one long one, they could have included some more satire into the second part to give it better pacing without ruining the narrative buildup.

 Can someone please give an award to this woman for Least Convincing Maniacal Laughter Ever?  Because that was just painful to watch.

The drama's biggest strength, in contrast, was in the details.  Like Cha Woo Hee riding around the lab on a Segway.  Or the Oldboy references sprinkled throughout the homeless sequence.  Or the grandpa's toupee. It's all in the little things, ya know?

A word to the wise: Most of the time, I like to skip the previews at the end of each episode because I don't like to ruin the surprise.  For this series, it's worth it.  Each episode has an extra little scene at the end, and sometimes they reference these scenes in future episodes. 

The Leads

As I said, I knew almost nothing about this show before I watched it.  I actually chose it because Orion recommended it as an example of a capable female lead with a backbone and an unapologetic attitude.  Orion wasn't wrong.  I didn't exactly love Jung Ryeo Won in My Lovely Sam Soon (I know, she had cancer, but still.  I'm a monster.), but she killed it in History of a Salaryman.  Her character didn't take crap from anyone, and when everyone underestimated her (including the male lead), she used their lack of faith to her advantage.  I love that.  She was ridiculous and selfish and mean, and yet she didn't cross over into becoming cartoonish, which can sometimes happen with these kinds of female characters (*cough*My Fair Lady*cough*).

She also gets 50,000,000 points for having the best English I've ever heard on a kdrama. By far.

Even though she became softer and more human as the series progressed, I also appreciate that they didn't completely snuff out her personality. I sometimes get tired of heroines whose only apparent faults are a lack of fashion sense or being too shy.  Baek Yeo Chi wasn't a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination, but her nasty temper and her penchant for swearing only made me like her more.

I wasn't quite as sold on Lee Bum Soo as Yoo Bang.  Correction: Lee Bum Soo played the part just how it was meant to be.  It was Yoo Bang in general that got on my nerves a bit.  He's a great person and all, but his laugh drives me a teensy bit crazy.  He seems like the kind of guy who you don't want to invite to dinner parties because he takes every joke just a little too far.

Maybe that's why the romance between these leads took a back seat to the rest of the story.  For a while, it felt like the plot might have worked better if the four primary leads swapped their love interests.  Yoo Bang really understood Woo Hee in a way that Hang Woo didn't (more on that in a bit), and a Baek Yeo Chi/Hang Woo romance would have been hilarious to watch.  That being said, I'm actually glad that things worked out the way they did.  It was nice to see Baek Yeo Chi and Yoo Bang flirting and hugging without the awkwardness that you often see in kdramas.  At some point, their friendship turned into romance, and I strangely didn't feel all that disappointed that we missed the big moment of confession because these two characters aren't the overly dramatic type, anyway.

That's not to say that this show was entirely devoid of romance.  The other end of our love square (Woo Hee and Hang Woo) was constantly building a romantic relationship through cute little scenes. Here's the problem, though: I can't help but wonder why on earth Woo Hee wants to date Hang Woo.  I mean, she's a smart, capable, attractive scientist.  Sure, Hang Woo is handsome and powerful and sometimes carries her home drunk (BUT ALSO SOMETIMES ROOFIES HER), but...he also has the personality of a dishrag.

There, I said it.

All Hang Woo did for 95% of the series was glare handsomely at the camera.  Seriously, if there were a drinking game about all of the situations where Hang Woo does nothing but glare, every viewer would be drunk enough to get a piggyback ride home by the end of episode 2.  Here's just a minor sampling:

Glaring on the phone

Glaring at a party

Glaring in the shower.  Yes, he has a mirror in his shower.  Is this a regular thing that I somehow don't know about, or did he have a mirror specially installed so that he could glare at himself?

More glaring in the shower, but with clothes on!

To make matters worse, Hang Woo and Woo Hee never have an actual meaningful conversation until AFTER he proposes marriage (which, I must say, was an even lazier proposal than the one in Secret Garden, and I'm glad that Woo Hee didn't entirely let him off the hook for it).  If you're keeping track, you'll notice that Hang Woo only pays attention to Woo Hee if less than 20% of her body is covered in clothing, if other men are ogling her, if she is so drunk that she's incapacitated, or some combination of the above factors.  To be fair, Woo Hee has her own share of faults and doesn't always let him get away with his games, but you have to wonder why she bothers in the first place.

And now a small piece of advice from Vivi's Dating Corner:

If a guy consistently acts like a total dirtbag and you see him not only trying to ruin your friends' lives but also doing things like smiling when little old ladies get dragged off by his hired thugs, THAT'S A DEALBREAKER.  And no, being nice for five minutes at the end of 22 episodes doesn't make up for it. 

Conclusions

I wouldn't necessarily recommend History of a Salaryman to the casual kdrama watcher.  It can be hard to catch some of the in-jokes if you aren't familiar with the culture.  At 22 episodes, it's on the longer end of comedy kdramas, and the payoff isn't there if you're primarily interested in romance.  If you're familiar with kdrama cliches and want to watch some witty writing and solid female characterization, then give it a shot!