K Drama - Boys Over Flowers

Alternate Names:Boys Before Flowers
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 25
Network: KBS2
Broadcasted: 2009-Jan-05 to 2009-Mar-31
Lead Actors: Lee MinHo, Goo Hye Sun, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon, Kim So Eun

My Rating: ♥♥♥.5/5













So so so HUGE in Korea! I mean, it's still probably one of the most top rated Korean Dramas out there. I mean, it's to the point of iconic and it has boosted the popularity of it's actors sky high. Lee Min Ho (City Hunter) is one the hottest and most talented actors out there! I mean he plays a hot headed spoiled brat pretty well but I liked him better as a secret assassin in City Hunter better. It also took Kim Hyun Joon of SS501 and made him an actor and boosted Kim Bum's (The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry) acting career. And look at rookie actress, Goo Hye Sun, she definitely got more attention and hype. She's not doing too much right now, except staring in the Taiwanese drama "Absolute Boyfriend."

This drama is based on the shoujo Japanese manga, "Boys Before Flowers" by Hana Yori Dango and like a said, was a huge success in Korea. They actually offer Korean tours based on the filming of this drama! I hear it's very popular with Japanese tourists... O.o There's also a Japanese and Taiwanese version to this drama.

Basic Synopsis:JanDi is the daughter of a family who owns a dry cleaning business near the elite school Shin Hwa College. When she saves a student from committing suicide she's admitted on a full scholarship for swimming. There the infamous F4 (Flower Boys- beautiful men) rule the school. JanDi does all she can to stay out of their way until she is forced to wage war on them when her friends gets ice cream on the leader of F4, Goo Joon Pyo.

A.W.W. [Sel-ca]

Welcome to the first installment of a new segment called Asian Word of the Week (or AWW)!!! Yay!!! This was born from the idea that a lot of words used in Asian countries don't always transfer over into the Americas. So in these segments I want to clarify vocabulary, phrases, ideas etc. so that everyone can be on the same page. I hope this segment will change and morph and into something that is valuable and entertaining.

Without further ado...the first AWW Vocab is:

[ SELCA ]
pronounced: sell-caw

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. A Self-Cam picture. ie a picture of yourself taken by yourself. Not professionally. 2. A collection of pictures of oneself.

examples:

I have a lot of selca pics because i'm a camwhore.






Asians love love LOVE talking photos and this has bred a whole culture around taking pictures. Taking cute pictures of yourself is huge! Put together the two English words, SELF and CAPTURE and you get SELCA (I've also seen SELKA). Idols and non-idols have tons of selcas, all ranging from scary to funny to down right adorable...believe it or not, it is considered a fan service to loyal followers.

Generally, selcas involve just the person in the picture; using one hand to hold out the camera and take the picture. Nowadays I've been seeing some taken with a little bit of help. I have also started seeing more and more selcas posted in series style. Look at some examples below:

Hongki FTIsland

Qri T-Ara

Narsha BEG

Actress Park Min Young

Actor Lee Minho

Genre: Action, Suspense, Romance
Episodes: 20
Network: SBS
Broadcasted: 2011-May-25 to 2011-Jul-28
Lead Actors: Lee MinHo, Park Min Young, Lee Joon Hyuk

My Rating: ♥♥♥♥.5/5














I just finished this drama a couple days ago and I've got to say, it is one of the best I've seen yet. It has action, guns, romance, and best of all...Lee MinHo! There was some of the best action sequences I've ever seen in a drama. Most of the time it's pretty lame musical dance-fighting technique. I read somewhere that Lee Minho practiced martial arts and stunts months before they even started filming. I'm impressed.

And I've always like Park Min Young (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) she's beautiful and very talented actress. She plays a bodyguard to the President and his daughter in the Blue House (equivalent to the White House). It's kinda cool that in the drama she's a level 4 Taekwondo master, but she's seriously lacking other skills required of a bodyguard. Like say, shooting a modern gun or maybe having common sense about a break-in at your apartment?! I guess that's just me...but how do you safeguard the president when you can't effectively protect yourself? To be fair, she does redeem herself a couple times.

Basic Synopsis: Lee Yoon Sung has been raised ever since he was an infant to take revenge for the deaths of 20 secret opts men, including his father. Finding and dealing his own brand of revenge on the five responsible political figures in Seoul has been everything but easy. Including bullet wounds, espionage and even love...