Announcement: KPOPCON!

We here at Kdrama Fighting love opportunities to get together with other people who obsess about all things Korean as much as we do. We had a blast at KCON last year, and that's why we want to spread the word about another chance to hang out with other fangirls and fanboys like yourselves!

KPOPCON is coming up in a few weeks. While we won't be able to make it because of our work schedules, the lineup sounds like a lot of fun. I mean, they have a panel with Dramabeans! That's every drama fan's wish come true! (I saw them at KCON, and it was like meeting the biggest celebrities of my life.)

So here are the details:


Who: Calling all K-pop fans!
What: KPOPCON
When: March 8-9, 2014
Where: U.C. Berkeley
Why: A weekend to celebrate, learn, and enjoy what the K-pop community can offer! With "[Be] CHROMATIC" as this year's theme, KPOPCON's mission is to encourage fans from every fandom, nationality, and background to be bright, bold, and explosive with passion in everything they do. We provide an outlet for fan and industry networking, keynote speeches, captivating entertainment from local talents, and hands-on educational workshops to achieve this vision.

Price: Online registration for the weekend is $20. At-the-door registration is $25 for the weekend. The registration fee will provide the following:

• Exclusive access to the opening keynote, workshops, and performances on Saturday (3/8) and the fan meetup, open mic, and dance workshops on Sunday (3/9)
• Breakfast and lunch on Saturday; refreshments on Sunday
• A swag-bag with a program, pen, name tag, and other goodies
• Free overnight volunteer housing priority
• KPOPCON's love, support, and appreciation!

For more information, including a full lineup, you can visit their website here and their Facebook page here. Fighting!

The Prime Minister and I (The Prime Minister is Dating) Korean Drama Review

The Prime Minister and I happens to be one of the few recent dramas that both of us watched together, so we�re going to do a joint review on this one. A warning: spoilers will most definitely abound in this review. Here we go!

The Story: A spunky female paparazzi reporter is assigned to write a story about Korea's most eligible bachelor, the Prime Minister, a very serious, overworking widower who is out of touch with his three children. Through a series of misunderstandings, a scandal erupts where the public believes she is his lover. The only way out of it? A pretend marriage, of course! Which is also in her favor because she has a terminally ill father whose dying wish is to walk his daughter down the aisle. Will this contract marriage turn into real love???
Answer: Obviously, yes.

Coco: I fell in love with Prime Minister and I in the beginning because of the personality of the female lead. She was smart, fun, and adventurous. 

Vivi: Same here. She was so sassy! Even though there was an age gap between the two, she didn�t let the male lead push her around.

I do have to say, though, that I�m still upset that she just dropped her scooter in the middle of traffic. Spunky, yes. Safe? No. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCOOTER?

Coco: It was just a casualty of the trade. One reason I loved her was because she had the funnest job. Who wouldn�t secretly love to be paparazzi? Even though everyone �hates� them, you know you peek at tabloids while in line at supermarkets. I think sneaking around and taking photos of people and prying into their personal lives sounds like a blast. Right? I was just sad that this side of her so quickly disappeared.

Vivi: Look, I was just happy that she started with a job, period. At no point in time was she on the brink of homelessness! That�s female empowerment right there. But yes, I feel like they set her up with a unique, rooftop-sneaking personality, and it just disappeared the second she got married and started straightening her hair. Is she like Samson or something? The curls give her power? In the end, she was this deflated version of her former self. Typical bland, nice female lead.

Exhibit A: Curly and sassy on left, Straight and dull on right.

Coco: Agreed. It was kind of strange because we didn�t even get to see the transition or makeover. Suddenly she was wearing dresses instead of jeans and it barely mentioned that leaving her job and becoming a housewife was any kind of a loss for her. She mentioned that it was hard for her to be in the house all day once, but there was no talk about it after that. As much as the ending plot device of the female lead venturing off on her own to find herself gets tiresome, in this case it made up for it a little.

Vivi: No way. She ventured off to become a successful author, which appears to be the new Kdrama version of the �fashion designer.� Remember Marry Him If you Dare? She did the same thing.

Coco: Plus, if I think about it, it was really more of a sign of her domestication. Since she was struggling with becoming a mother to these children, becoming a children�s book writer is the tamest version of her former career.

Vivi: Yes, exactly that. But what makes it even worse is that they domesticated her into a nice housewife, and then SHE ABANDONED THE CHILDREN! What kind of logic is that? �You know what would totally help these poor, abandoned children? If I ALSO abandoned them! Their mom is in town--this is the only possible answer!� Because we all know that kids can only handle one loving person in their lives at a time.

Coco: Yes, that seemed like the worst idea ever. As if they weren�t traumatized enough. I don�t think that piece of writing was true to her character. I think they just fell into the noble selfless love plot device, which as we�ve already discussed, is stupid and awful. Not to mention that it just led to the whole thing evolving from a fun romantic comedy to a lackluster melodrama.

Vivi: Yeah, aside from the deflated female lead, that�s the second big problem with this show. It turned into a melodrama, but it was a shallow melodrama. Instead of going into depth with the actual real-life problems they were facing (him dealing with his wife�s death, her dealing with her dad and struggling to fit into her new role), it felt like the writers were just saving up random plot devices (He got stabbed!) that they could toss in for emotional impact. It felt cheap. I hated all of the boooooooring political intrigue, and the whole side story with the wife dragged everything down so that I didn�t really care about any of it.

Coco: Yes, I wish they had never brought her back to life. It would have been much more interesting if they had just focused on him dealing with his wife�s betrayal and death and the guilt he felt, and her dealing with the fact that she was giving up her life and personality while also dealing with her dad�s terminal illness. It makes me think that the writers just added that storyline in because ratings were slipping and they thought people might be more interested in a melodrama. I would have instead liked to see their relationship develop as they each find identities that make them happy with each other�s help. 

Vivi: The one consistent positive for me was Lee Bum Soo as the prime minister. Yes, there was a patch in the middle where the writers made him shout at his wife a little too much for my taste, but I thought he handled the role really well overall. I genuinely liked the prime minister, and that was 100% due to acting. Yoona did well with what she had, but she didn�t get much to work with for the last third of the drama. They were so cute together!

Coco: I loved Yoona, and I think she did a great job even though her character degenerated. And it�s not like her character became totally unlikeable. There were aspects of her that were lovely and admirable, but she just lost the spirit and feistiness that would have made me want to be her best friend. I will definitely watch her next drama because she is really cute and fun as an actress. Let�s just hope that next time she has better material.

Vivi: I felt the worst for Yoon Si Yoon, though. Poor guy got nothing to do the whole time. I guess he got to practice his worried face a lot?

Coco: The only other drama I had seen him in was Flower Boy Next Door, and I wasn�t a fan of his childlike, slightly annoying character. This drama actually made me like him a whole lot more. He�s really pretty good at crying. But he played a second male lead that I only felt somewhat torn over. At the end when he�s like, then just date me, I was like, ok that would be pretty good, but I wasn�t crying inside that she chose the Prime Minister instead.

Vivi: You�re right. I liked him even though he just had to be sad all of the time. How I feel about these characters is how I feel about the drama in general. It wasn�t actively bad; it just lost the magic towards the end. I certainly wasn�t nearly as angry with this drama as I was with some others that I�ve seen.

Coco: You know what was actively bad though? The fact that there was NO KISS! A handshake? SERIOUSLY?

Vivi: I wonder if it�s in Lee Bum Soo�s contract that he can�t go past a hug. The same thing happened in History of a Salaryman. Maybe his wife gets too jealous?

I actually didn�t completely hate the handshake at the end. (*waits to be attacked). I mean, I didn�t love it, but I got that it was trying to be symbolic. Besides, I was much more upset that we didn�t get a scene with the kids at the end.

Coco: True! How cute was that little boy? He sent me into some serious baby hungriness as only really adorable Asian kids can.

Vivi: Man Seeeeeeeeeeeee!

Coco: If I had stopped watching The Prime Minister and I halfway through I would probably have added it to my favorites list, and maybe even to the recommendations list, but it took a nosedive due to writing and I honestly struggled to make myself watch the last couple of episodes. 

Vivi: Ditto to all of that. 

What did you think of The Prime Minister and I? Comment below!

Is It Snowing in Hell?

The second male lead in Emergency Couple is sporting real facial hair, which he appears to have grown all by himself. Those of you who were around for our Fashion Face-off battle of facial hair know just how impressive this is. Kudos to you, good sir.

Also, his character might just be my favorite thing about this show right now. Lee Pil Mo, I will love you forever.

In other Emergency Couple-related news, Coco and I are in a fight over Oh Jin Hee. Coco says she can't like her until she grows more of a backbone. I kind of like that she stands up for herself and demonstrates competence at surprising times, like when the mother-in-law tries to belittle her. I can think of a few other Kdrama leads who would have trembled and cried in that situation (*cough*Eun Sang*cough*). I guess only time will tell if it's a character worth supporting.

P.S. We have feelings about the ending of Prime Minister and I. A review will be up soon.

Why Jang Geun Suk is the Prince of Asia: Pretty Man (Bel Ami/Beautiful Man/Pretty Boy) Korean Drama Review

Pretty Man was one of those K-dramas that could have gone either way for me, pretty much until the very end when it all unexpectedly came together. There were parts of the plot that made no sense, and aspects of the characters that I loathed, but somehow by a little magic it kept me coming back for more, and even left me satisfied at the end. After short thought I contribute this largely to the mystery that is Jang Geun Suk's charm. I can't explain it, and never believed in it before, but this drama has undeniably led me to understand why it is that Jang Geun Suk is indeed the Prince of Asia.

But let me back up�

The main reason I was drawn to Pretty Man was because of IU's charming ability to make you want to be her, or to at least be her best friend. Her character, Kim Bo Tong, is this strange combination of awkward, adorable, whimsical, slightly perverted, very determined, and incorrigible in her determination to love the male lead.

IU portrays this child-like innocence and wonder like no other actress. Her big round eyes, porcelain skin, rosy lips, and cute little haircut all contribute to this ability, but beyond that she just exudes an excitement as if she's discovering the world for the first time and is in awe of all of it, especially of the male lead, Ma Te (Jang Geun Suk).

I just couldn't resist this female lead despite the fact that her type of one-sided love and obsession for the male lead always is a huge turn off for me (see my Playful Kiss review for another example of my hatred for puppy-like female leads). It still really bothered me to see her give and give relentlessly to Ma Te even though he snubbed her and used her so arrogantly, but in spite of this assault on my senses, I was able to overlook it. IU magic!

One reason I think I was able to get past that was that I LOVED the second male lead David Choi, played by Lee Jang Woo. Since he played such a big part in the drama, more so than most second male leads, I sometimes forgot entirely about Ma Te. He provided a great distraction from the parts I hated and I was sucked into his equally quirky, innocent, and loyal character. He definitely was the other half of IU and their interactions were hilarious and awww-inducing.

I knew he wasn't going to win, but I managed to live in denial completely for about 14 of the 16 episodes. Then it all went south when the male lead finally decided to do a complete, sudden 180 and fall in love with the female lead.

Oh my heart! I was so sad for him.

I want you by my side David!!!

I don't think the writers really thought the plot all the way through before they wrote it, or even until they were writing the second to last episode. The main story line of Ma Te having to seduce 10 women to steal their powers so he could become a worthy heir just didn't really solidify. They kept up the "a new girl to tame an episode" theme for the first few episodes, but then it was like they forgot about it entirely or ran out of ideas. It was as if in the last few episodes the writers were like, "I feel like we're forgetting something. Oh yeah! We never finished the PLOT!" So then they hurriedly threw in a couple more girls and assigned some random women that already existed in the story those roles.

Oh man, this moment when he was trying to seduce the electric fairy was when I first realized his charm.

Also the whole "secret code" thing was problematic to me. First, I don't understand what the point of the secret code was since he didn't actually need it to get anything since he wasn't actually an heir. Second, I don't really get what it means for IU to be his secret code. Secret code to what? His CEO father, who ended up not even being his father, didn't give him anything once he brought IU with him. It made no sense. I don't think that's what the writers originally set out to do. I guess they meant that IU was his secret code to happiness in life, but it just wasn't well thought out.

The biggest problem of all was the placement of the main couple in the plot. We all know that this genre of K-dramas are pretty much all alike in that there is a mean male lead, but then he falls in love with the poor, hard working female lead, so he's nice to her and they are blissful for a couple of episodes until they face one last major challenge to their love (usually involving an evil matriarch) and then they end up happily ever after.

Pretty Man succeeded in this, but the timing was all off. Ma Te was not nice and showed hardly any signs of love towards Bo Tong until the last two episodes. This should have happened by episode 8! It was too little too late. They totally missed the couple blissful episodes in the middle that they should have had, and the male lead never grew on me.

For every 10 arrogant faces he made, there was one irresistible smile. And let's not forget the myriad of hairstyles, mostly ugly!

And this is where the magic of Jang Geun Suk comes in. Somehow he made this work. He scowled and was arrogant for 90% of the show, but when he turned around and became loving and humble at the very last second, I actually bought it!

How is that possible? And I wasn't even all that sad that she didn't end up with the second male lead, even though his sadness broke my heart and I wanted them together so bad. But beyond comprehension Jang Geun Suk flashed his hypnotizing smile and made me believe it was all going to be ok. I kind of hate him for it, but I can't deny he did it. He saved the show!

Overall, I enjoyed Pretty Man partly because I tricked my roommate into watching it with me so we bonded over it, partly because the whimsical feel of it was fun and light after watching so much crying in Heirs, partly because I love IU, partly because I wanted to marry the second male lead, and ultimately because Jang Geun Suk is the Prince of Asia and kind of the Prince of My Heart, just a little bit.

For all its plot holes and the obnoxious female lead's love for the male lead, I can recommend it as a fun, light hearted K-drama to watch when you just want to mindlessly sit back and relax. There wasn't too much excessive crying or longing, but it will give you the pleasant FEELS.

What did you think of Pretty Man? Did Jang Geun Suk steal your heart? Which of his hairstyles did you hate the most? Comment below!