Luigi is a 19-year-old Korean music enthusiast and a university dude. He occasionally writes substandard blogs about the Korean entertainment scene and the life of a not-so-good-in-Math Statistics major. Luigi, together with the youth all around the world, strives to achieve peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential.
Moon Lovers vs. Love in the Moonlight: An Unhealthy Comparison
WARNING: This blog post contains spoilers. If you haven’t watched the two dramas yet, then go away.
It is undeniable that Korean historical dramas have been on the top of the most watched Korean dramas lately, specifically because of the production of the two of the most popular historical dramas in Korea and in international setting at the moment, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Love in the Moonlight. We all know how Love in the Moonlight has taken Korea by storm. This is very evident in its soaring high viewer ratings and outstanding approval rate of Korean media experts. On the other hand, though it’s not really Korea’s cup of tea, Moon Lovers still dominated the “Most Watched” lists of English subbing websites where you can watch English subbed Korean shows at the duration of its airing.
Love in the Moonlight promotional poster (photo from asiachan.com)
Ever since Moon Lovers and Love in the Moonlight had their conclusion, I’ve been wanting to see a courageous blog which will courageously compare these two dramas because it has too much similarities to not be compared. And then I thought: can I just be the one to write it? And so, I have come up with this very ugly attempt of making a comparison blog post right here.
So, why do I think do we have to compare these dramas? Well, I got a handful of reasons why. No, actually I only got half of a handful. Here are the following: (1) Both are historical dramas, obviously; (2) The schedule of airing of the two dramas overlap, so comparison really is inevitable; (3) The two dramas air at the same time, for God’s sake. More reasons to compare lol; and (4) Both dramas have romance as a side genre. If one of the two has that Six Flying Dragons feel even though it has romantic parts (god, I loved Six Flying Dragons), it could have been better to not compare, but that’s not the case.
What I did here was compare Moon Lovers and Love in the Moonlight based on four categories: plot, conflict formulation, performance of casts, and official soundtracks.
Moon Lovers promotional poster (photo from boxasian.com)
PLOT
Love in the Moonlight is basically about a girl named Hong Ra-on (played by Kim Yoo-jung) who lived her life as a boy as per her mother’s command. She then became a palace eunuch because of her debts. Ra-on and the interim king, Lee Yong (played by Park Bo-gum) become intimately close and this creates conflict in the whole palace not only because everyone thinks that Ra-on is a man, but also because Ra-on came from an infamous family which is against the royal palace.
On the other hand, Moon Lovers is about the never-ending power struggle of the princes for the throne ever since their father, King Tae-jo died. What’s peculiar about these princes is that they all have an affectionate eye for Go Ha-jin (played by IU), a girl from the modern times who was unexplainably brought back in time because of a total eclipse, and who lived her life in Goryeo as Hae-soo. These became the roots of the conflict in the story.
Well, to be frank, both of the dramas have a pretty common plot. These plots are like the backbone of all the historical dramas in Korea that I know. In my opinion, Love in the Moonlight has a pretty simple plot compared to Moon Lovers. In all honesty, I think this kind of plot need not be set in history, i.e. it can still be executed nicely in the modern times because the gist is not that intricate. For me, historical dramas should have a complex plot. Moon Lovers, on the other hand, has a very interesting plot perfect for historical dramas. The power struggle between the princes made me buy the drama, and the additional conflict brought by Hae-soo made the story more interesting.
CONFLICT FORMULATION
One trivia about me: I really really like dramas/movies/anything that can be watched which have heavy conflicts, so I think I’ll be biased on this one.
Just like how the plots of the two dramas appealed to me, Love in the Moonlight pretty much has simpler conflicts compared to Moon Lovers. The notable conflicts which I have observed in Love in the Moonlight are (1) the struggle to hide Hong Ra-on’s true identity, and (2) the clash between Hong Ra-on’s family and the royal family. Unlike Love in the Moonlight, Moon Lovers has a bunch of conflicts which I cannot even afford to enumerate, and I loved it! But some of the most outstanding conflicts in Moon Lovers for me are (1) King Jeongjong, previously prince Wang Yo (played by Hong Jong-hyun) and his battle against his conscience for killing his own brother, and (2) the drift between the princes when prince Wang So led the rain festival.
PERFORMANCE OF CASTS
Well this is a bit complicated to discuss. This has been one of the issues of the viewers about Moon Lovers, and as a viewer myself, I agree with them. The drama could have been more enjoyable to watch if all the characters performed well. However, from what I saw, Lee Jun-ki and Hong Jong-hyun hard carried the acting department of the story (or was it just me?). Not that the rest are bad at acting, it’s just that they cannot catch up with Jun-ki and Jong-hyun’s pacing in acting. Love in the Moonlight, on the other hand, has the perfect balance of the performance of the characters. Some might fall behind performance-wise, but others who are doing great balances everything. I want to give kudos to B1A4’s Jin-young for breaking the acting-dol stereotype.
OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACKS
Up until now, I am still listening to Love in the Moonlight’s soundtracks. I don’t know, I just enjoyed listening to its soundtracks. The instrumentals make me imagine the wonderful Goryeo setting and the scenes corresponding to each soundtrack. My favourite Love in the Moonlight soundtrack is K.will’s Noknunda because well, it is the soundtrack for the happy parts of the drama. The only soundtrack I remember from Moon Lovers, on the other hand, is Forgetting You by Davichi. Aside from that, uhm nothing more. I don’t know, maybe I was too focused on the story that I ignored the accompanying songs so much? Hahaha.
So, that was it! I know that it is a failed attempt of a comparison blog post, but I hope that you get something from it, like you kinda got to like one of the dramas more with this blog post or something like that. Kidding. But seriously, regardless of one’s strong or weak point, both Moon Lovers and Love in the Moonlight are still pretty decent Korean dramas to watch. If you haven’t watched these two dramas (I told you to go away if you haven’t, though), type in those English subbing websites and hit the enter button!
Just last November 15, I got the good news of being accepted as a news team officer of Dean’s largest fanbase here in the Philippines, DEAN PH! I still cannot forget how happy I am upon seeing their Facebook post about the accepted applicants. Ahhhh, it just felt so good!
I am the Luis Villegas you are seeing in the News Team section. Don’t even ask about my real full name lol. (photo from DEAN PH Facebook account)
To be honest, I applied for the said role half-heartedly because I am not sure if I can fulfil the responsibilities of being one of the people who run the fanbase since I am really busy (and will be busy for the next one and a half years) with my academics. Nonetheless, I really wanted to experience what it is like to work with people online. I mean, I already know how it goes in real life, but I have no idea if it’s online. And also, I am a hard-core Dean fan so this is a nice opportunity to get to know Dean more.
I’ll try my very best to work efficiently on DEAN PH!
Just yesterday, October 25, it was announced that Korea’s national squid (as how I fondly call him), Kang Gary, will be officially taking his permanent leave from SBS’s world-renowned variety show Running Man after six years of being a resident member.
Gary (gif file from simpletonjun)
As Gary himself told, he decided to step down from being a resident member of the said variety show to focus on his music. Also, because of his love of music, he wants to study it more, hence his leave from Running Man.
According to Korean news portals, Gary’s last shooting with the Running Man team will be on October 31.
When I first heard about the news, I felt really sad because for me, Gary is one of the pillars of Running Man. Every episode becomes a lot more fun because of Gary since the other members have all the reasons to tease him, which makes the show more entertaining. And on top of that, he is the other half of the Monday Couple which we loved since day one. I am trying to imagine how Running Man would look like if it’s just the six of them, but it’s just hard to.
One of the cutest Monday Couple moments (video from Gary Jihyo on Youtube)
Haha teasing Gary as a squid (video from siti nur aisyah 02 on Youtube)
Okay, we have already received the news, and what’s left for us to do is to absorb and accept it. And to prove my act of moving on, I am making this blog post to predict what Gary’s and Running Man’s futures hold after Gary’s withdrawal from the variety show. I’m sure everyone has their own guesses already, and I’ll try to enumerate some of them lol. But before anything else, I would first like to say that these predictions are just some of my shitty opinions in life and have no basis at all, and might not happen even in next life lol.
1. Gary comes back with a full-length solo album. I want to stress on the phrase full-length. We know that the biggest factor which made Gary come up with that life-changing decision (not only for him but for the avid Running Man fans as well) is pursuing music. Also, it is already given that he’ll release an album any time after leaving, but I am predicting that he’ll drop this album in six to eight months.
2. Running Man’s viewer ratings in South Korea will suffer worse. Alright, we have to admit that even waaaaaay before, Running Man’s viewer ratings in South Korea have been very low relative to other variety shows of the same nature. Now, the catch is Gary’s withdrawal from the show will make the viewer ratings worse. When we watch Running Man, it looks like Gary is one of the members with the smallest fandom, but in reality, he has a pretty good amount of fans, and if we include his followers from the hiphop scene, then it’s indeed a big loss to the viewer ratings.
3. Gary becomes a producer Show Me the Money 6. This is not impossible, right? Gary is one of the most respected figures in the hiphop scene and he’s a really excellent rapper. This is not actually a prediction. I am more like anticipating him in the next season of Show Me The Money 6 lol.
4. Leessang comes back with all members. Now that Gary’s schedule is already not that tight due to Running Man shooting schedules and the other members of Leessang are most likely available as well, I think it’s not wrong to expect a Leessang comeback!!!
5. The Running Man team recruits a new resident member. This is a very heavy prediction, even for me. As one of the predictions said, Running Man’s viewer ratings will get worse due to Gary’s leave. Now, the Running Man team will see adding a new resident member as a solution to the problem. Of course they’ll add someone who has a tremendously large fandom and at the same time, someone who has a great variety sense.
I know that some of these predictions are really offending, but please don’t hate me hahaha. Nevertheless, I wish success to both Gary and Running Man no matter what happens. And to all the Running Man fans, I know that you’re all still in the stage of absorbing the sad news, but I hope you cheer up as soon as possible because we know that Running Man still has a lot in store for you even in Gary’s absence. Who knows, maybe this is a signal of a new start which has nothing but better Running Man features?
My Week-long Version of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’
Last week was a very crucial one for me since that season has finally come again – the dreaded midterm examinations. I had three exams to try to ace – two on my major courses.
Well, last week was supposedly very crucial. If it’s not just for this really weird shit which made my week totally go wrong. As in really, really wrong.
With all the unexpected happenings which hit me by surprise last week, I present to you my very own version of A Series of Unfortunate Events. To be honest, I have not even read that book series yet. All I know was its author was Lemony Snicket, nothing more. I’d like to call this blog post “my series of unfortunate events” basically because all the things that happened to me last week were unfortunate lol.
Well, I intended to do that hahaha (original photo from flickeringmyth.com)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
I am still happily breezing over some Korean drama episodes before finally prepping up in going back to the university again to face my reviewers and notes for the examinations. Back at this moment, I already suspect that something is wrong with me, like physically. I was already feeling a little ache in my head and in some of my joints. Of course I just set what I feel aside because I thought that it’ll just come by and go. I travelled going to my apartment in the university with a jacket on for the first time since I felt cold.
And yeah, I broke my promise that I will immediately start reviewing for my exams once I reach my apartment not because I want to live a chill life, but my body just will not allow me to study.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3
It’s official: I have a fever. And it was just so infuriating since today is one of my moooooooost anticipated days this semester: the Student-Faculty Conference. I was excited about it because (1) it will be the first (and maybe the last) time that it will be held in a lavish hotel; and (2) only three juniors had the privilege to attend, and I am one of them. Yet, I am letting this golden opportunity slip through my hands just because of this goddamn fever. And not going to the event has a coupon with it: I was also not able to attend my recitation class in a subject because of this fever. Nice.
Keeping all the missed opportunities aside, I still have not studied anything for my exams. However, being the man that I know I am, I can still make a way outta my exams if I review tomorrow, so I just called it a day and focused on making my fever go away.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4
I woke up still having this heavy throbbing on my head. Well, now I have no choice but to dust off this headache since in a matter of an hour, I will take my first exam of the week, even though I have not reviewed anything in that course. Before I took my bath, I noticed that some red spots started appearing on my arms and hands. I just sighed at it and took the exam.
Right after the exam, I have to take a written exercise on a major subject and after that, I plan to just ditch off the rest of my classes that day since I am not yet feeling well. However, duties in the organization have to be done. So, I first have to post publication materials about our exchange program orientation around the campus before finally getting that most coveted rest.
October 4, 1:00PM. I finished posting all the publication materials around the campus assigned to me with the help of my orgmate, Dianne. The sun was so bright when we were strolling around the campus and I think it triggered my condition. When I finally got to our apartment, my whole face was so hot to the point that I thought it was flaming for real. I had to lie down in bed and directly point the electric fan on my face to ease the temperature craze I am feeling.
October 4, 4:18PM. I finally decided to go to the University Health Services to get a check-up since I am sure now that something really is wrong with me at that time. My housemate Jerome accompanied me.
The jeepney ride to the UHS was such a pain in the ass. I can’t keep a straight face during the ride since it felt like everything was hurting. Okay, so when I was checked up, I was diagnosed with viral exanthem, or something like that, I don’t know. Basically, it’s a disease caused by virus and is highly contagious. Right after check-up, I was confined due to my very high fever.
Yes, I was confined. So that means I cannot attend classes for the next days.
October 4, 8:00PM. My parents, together with a bunch of our relatives, arrived at the hospital. And the red dots I had this early morning on my arms? They are now humongous spots which do not occur only on my arms but on my whole body. I look like a red-patched panda, and I hate it. So, my parents have to drop off everything that they’ve been doing to take care of me for the next we-do-not-know-how-long days.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
This is the worst day of all the days. I had so much difficulties moving because of my very high fever. Well, it went up as high as 41 degrees Celsius. The world is spinning. I don’t know how to describe it more. Thank God this particular doctor became my attending physician because she found a way to permanently lower my temperature.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
The past days did not come by quickly. Every day was like equivalent to ten days. There’s nothing to be busy about. No television, no internet connection, no everything. That’s why I badly want to go home already. However, this one stubborn doctor won’t let me go because I need to be further observed. My ass. I just want to go home.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
My mom told me in the morning that she will try to release me today, and gladly she made it! Thank God the doctor on-duty that time was very kind, he knew of what I was going through in the hospital that is why he released me. Another good thing is he already extended the date of absence in my medical certificate for my recovery period so I do not have to go back to the university hospital or go to other hospitals outside.
So, that’s how my last week turned out to be “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Well, it’s a nice experience, but it’s also one which you will not like to repeat ever again.
DISCLAIMER: No, this is not a movie review. I am too stupid for those kinds of things. I just want to bring out my two cents on the movie.
Well, what do you know? In terms of the movies or dramas I watch, I am actually the dodo type who never watches something that is watched by the mainstream people (as in never), but something in my body just told me, “hey, pause all the hipster act for two hours and watch Train to Busan.”
And so, I watched the very popular Korean zombie movie Train to Busan starring one of the most veteran gentleman in the Korean movie and small screen industry, Gong Yoo. Produced by RedPeter Films and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan was first released in Korea in July 20, 2016 and was later released in the Philippines in September 2016. Did I watch it in the theatre? No. Did I illegally download a copy? No. I got the copy from a friend. Did I commit a crime against the law? Yes. Cops, don’t arrest me please.
Promotional poster of Train to Busan in South Korea (photo from cityonfire.com)
While I was watching the “zombiepocalypse” movie, all I can think of is it’s not that really special of a movie compared to the classic American zombie-themed materials which we usually see on the cable TV. Not to mention that the flow of the story is also predictable, like we know beforehand that every uninfected person in that goddamn train will be wiped out by those bad zombies except for one or two, right? It all boils down in the execution of those predictable events, especially how on earth will those two people be able to escape the zombies (which I think Train to Busan pulled off nicely).
So, with that being said, what’s so special about Train to Busan?
The heart the movie has. It’s what makes it special.
Isn’t it ironic how a movie filled with cold, lifeless, and heartless bodies is able to show so much heart? If a viewer does not just focus on the encounters between the mortals and the zombies, he/she would realize that there’s so much love happening as the live people inside the train are trying to fight for their lives. Here, I want to highlight some of the kinds of love which existed in that very KTX train.
Fatherly love. This, I think, is the most evident kind of love which prevailed in the movie. It was shown in the first minutes of the movie that Seok-woo (played by Gong Yoo) was not the ideal father for his daughter Soo-an (played by Kim Soo-an). He does not make enough time for her daughter to appreciate him. However, when the conflict arose in the train, you can see how Seok-woo loved his daughter so dearly. The most extreme show-off of his love to his daughter was of course when Seok-woo sacrificed himself to save Soo-an together with Sung-kyung from the undead CEO Yong-suk. Well, that’s how a father should be to his children.
Seok-woo and his daughter Soo-an (Photo from thefilmstage.com)
Romantic love. I mainly saw this kind of love between Yong-guk (played by Choi Woo-sik) and Jin-hee (played by Ahn So-hee). Yong-guk and Jin-hee were in the same group of high school students upon entering the train, and they are some of the ones left out in the latter part of the movie. I think the two survived for long because of their desire to get out of the mess together. There’s also this time when the majority of the uninfected people isolated Yong-guk’s group which came from the other side of the train because they believe that they are already infected, thinking of all the zombies they had to go through just to arrive at the convergence area of the uninfected people. Even though there is threat of being infected, Jin-hee did not hesitate to be isolated as well just to be with Yong-guk. Now, that’s love.
Selfish love. There is this man in the movie who became notoriously known in the Philippines for his undeniably selfish deeds. Well, he’s basically all over Facebook when Train to Busan was released in the Philippines. The name is Yong-suk (played by Kim Whee-sung), a company owner. He’s the man who tried to lock up the convergence area of uninfected people from the people who came from the other side of the train. He’s also the man who made the train receptionist a bait just for him to be able to get out of the zombie-packed train. In the middle part of the movie, what I was thinking about him was “man, this old geezer is just so selfish for survival.” However, the remaining minutes of the movie revealed that he badly wants to survive because of his mother who is waiting for him in Busan. He loved his mother so much that he does not want to be infected because he’s too afraid that his mother will be alone. With that, I concluded that he’s not selfish. It’s his love to his mother that is selfish.
Unconditional love. For me, it’s already innate in people to help others in times of desperate need (or was it just in the movies?). In my vocabulary, I call it unconditional love. Without question, it is pretty much obvious that Train to Busan is all about unconditional love. Sang-hwa (played by Ma Dong-seok) portrayed this type of love the most since he showed that he cared a lot about the survival of the people in the train. Seok-woo and Yong-guk also demonstrated unconditional love by helping Sang-hwa in saving other people constricted in the train toilets. Just imagine if the people in the movie just cared about themselves and nothing but themselves. The movie could have ended in 30 minutes.
Sang-hwa, Yong-guk and Seok-woo (Photo from joysofasia.com)
So, do I find Train to Busan a film worth watching? Absolutely, it is. For me, it’s not your typical horror movie which only aims to scare viewers. It’s a film which just proves that love does not only occur in the happiest places. It says that love is not always shown in the most beautiful way. Train to Busan is a movie which tells that love, when needed, comes out naturally.
Overall, let me give Train to Busan an 8/10. It’s a nice watch, guys. I might have spoiled you but you guys should still watch it and make your own unpopular (and late) opinion about it.
Yes I know, I know that this blog post is already half unacceptable to check out since it arrived too late, but still I am posting this because the experience was just too memorable not to be shared.
August 6, 2016 marked the first ever visit of the great Korean soloist Dean in the Philippines for his very first overseas album promotion tour entitled 130 mood: TRBL Philippine Promo Tour which was made possible by MCA Music, aka Universal Music Philippines. This historical (for me, at least) event was held at the SM Skydome, SM North Edsa.
One of the promotional standees for Dean’s album promo tour in the Philippines which was spread all over the mall near the venue.
I would like to tell you guys that this event is not like those other fansigning events of other Kpop acts we usually see on the internet. Getting inside the venue was no easy ride.
So, for the attendees to be able to get in and see Dean’s greatness, they had to (a) buy a 130 mood: TRBL album from the provider (shoutout to Astroplus!); or (b) buy anything worth Php500.00 or above inside SM North Edsa (the mall which operates SM Skydome). The receipts obtained from doing either of these transactions grants them a ticket to the event. The sad part is only the first 1200 attendees who did the said transactions and presented their receipts could be admitted inside the venue.
If you think that doing either one of the transactions was just piece of cake, think again. I remember arriving very early at the venue (at like seven in the morning) in thoughts of securing a slot, and when I arrived, the line for availing an album (which opened at ten in the morning) had already surrounded almost the whole perimeter of SM North Edsa. I honestly did not expect that a lot of people would come since I did not know that Dean was already that popular in the Philippines. But since I really wanted to see Dean perform live, I calmly accepted the fact that there is a slim chance to be admitted inside the venue and went at the end of the line.
I almost died waiting in the line. I did not know where I got that much patience for me to be able to wait for four hours without knowing whether I can still go in or not.
So, this was the never-ending line of people I was talking about.
After a little while, a news came up that the albums provided by Astroplus were already sold out. That means that the four hours which I spent waiting in the line all went down the drainage for nothing. I was so angry at the organizer because they did not even inform us that the number of albums were that limited. Again, I had no choice but to accept it.
Minutes after knowing the bad news, I just found myself running inside the mall finding anything to buy so that I could still have a chance to go in, even if it’s very very little (this means I tried option B lol). I was taken aback that time, I didn’t know what to buy. All the friends I met there were girls and they all went in an Etude House stall, which I cannot afford doing. While taking fast footsteps finding something to buy, I saw this Krispy Kreme shop. I rushed to the counter and told the cashier to give me anything that’s worth Php500.00. The cashier was a little surprised about the amount I said so she was hesitant in giving me what I wanted. In the end, I went outside the mall to go to the ticket line with a couple of boxes filled with Krispy Kreme doughnuts on my hands.
Gladly, these two boxes of doughnuts were able to grant me a ticket to the event!!! I was so happy because after five or six hours of waiting in the line and running here and there, I finally got my stamped ticket right before my eyes!
Some of the friends I met while waiting for the event to start. Got a different level of separation anxiety after the event. :(
After securing our passes to the event, we took a break from all the tiring work and had a shot of refreshments. While waiting for the event to start, we stayed near the backdoor of the Skydome and made ourselves comfortable. Minutes passed and a group of bodyguards went out of the backdoor. All the attendees just around the corner were screaming and I was like “why are they doing that?” All of a sudden, Dean came out from the backdoor where the bodyguards came out!! I was surprised as fuck. I didn’t know what to do. I was like only a meter and a half away from Dean that time. His face was so clear. I did not even think that I would see him that near upon going to the promo tour. All I wanted was to see him perform. I felt so blessed.
Dean was really happy seeing all the fans waiting for him outside the venue. All throughout the barely one minute sudden appearance he made, all he did was wave at fans, greet them, and make series of small bows. You can tell that he was surprised at the massive amount of people who went to see him.
Even though I was still shaking out of excitement, I was lucky enough to take a couple of photos of him when he went out of that precious door.
I had trouble getting myself together after the unexpected encounter. All I was thinking when I was taking the photos was “God, I am so near. I am seeing Dean almost face to face now.”
Night came and the gates were finally opened for the attendees! My heart was thumping hard as I am finally seeing Dean perform live in a few minutes.
Some of the fancams of Dean’s performances (Videos by jleani26 on Youtube)
As expected, Dean was really good at stage. I did not even feel like crying while watching him perform. I just happily sang along with him until I ripped my throat out. Everyone was blissfully singing and screaming, which made me really happy (and at the same time it gave me goosebumps) because I know Dean felt very happy hearing our voices cheer for him. I felt like I was the happiest person that time.
Seeing Dean perform live was one of my dreams. 130 mood: TRBL Philippine Promo Tour made that dream possible. My newly found friends and I underwent a really tough time to be able to see him perform his songs, but all the numerous hours wasted while waiting in the line for nothing and all the dashing around were all worth it. I thought that day would end up being a wild goose chase but damn, I was able to see Dean. I’ll forever treasure that day.
Dear Dean, all the Filipino Rebels wish that the next time you come back here in the Philippines, it would be for a big concert. We hope to see you again soon!
5 Korean Movies with Sad (but definitely not bad!) Endings
After a hellish month of attending the university six times a week starting from seven in the morning, I finally had my most-awaited midyear vacation (though university is coming again after a couple of weeks). So, what I planned to do with these remaining two weeks is to binge watch every single video I downloaded in my apartment in the university while killing time.
For a slight change of air, I chose to watch first the Korean movies which I downloaded at random. To be honest, watching movies (not only Korean movies but movies in general) is not a usual stuff I do. I do not like watching movies since (1) they take too long to finish; (2) I easily get bored when I see the same settings for the next two hours; and (3) I just do not like movies. But again, for the sake of exploring something new, I watched some Korean movies.
I do not know if it’s just coincidence or what but for some reason, the first set of Korean movies I watched has something in common: all of them have sad endings. Or at least it’s just I who find them sad.
What I want to clear before I start introducing these masterpieces is that I do not find these sad endings as bad ones. Most netizens in the forums section of different sites where you can watch Korean materials with English subtitles see sad endings as a bad feature of a Korean movie. Now, the purpose of this blog post is for me to prove you guys that sad endings are not really bad; in fact they can be the best thing that can happen in a movie! This can also serve as a good addition to your to-watch checklist. And don’t worry, I assure that you that no spoilers will be written in the following chunks of sentences!
So, here are five of these Korean movies with sad, but definitely not bad endings which will leave you thinking about the essence of life, but also which you will surely enjoy watching!
1. The Host (2006)
The Host is a film about the rough journey of a family in rescuing their youngest from the possession of a river monster. This family runs a small grocery shop slash snack bar near the Han River. The river monster was first seen some years after a laboratory based near the Han River illegally disposed tons of bottles of formaldehyde in the Han River. In my opinion, this chemical was consumed by a certain amphibian in the river which triggered massive mutation.
People who would watch this film probably will go like “God, this film is so gross” or “shit that thing is one scary monster kill it dudes” while they are watching it. This might sound weird but for me, the highlight of this movie is not the execution of the atrocious river monster but the unconditional love of a family to its fellow family member, the love that is armed and ready to face even the most dangerous creature. I see The Host as a family-oriented movie.
The Host trailer (video from LoveExposure on Youtube)
2. A Frozen Flower (2008)
Before telling a bit about this movie, I first would like to let you know that A Frozen Flower is an erotic movie, so this material might be a little sensitive to be watched for some.
Set in the temples of the Goryeo Dynasty, the story of A Frozen Flower revolves around three characters: the king of Goryeo, the spouse of the king who is a princess from Yuan, and the military commander of the King’s palace guards, Hong-lim. The king and the princess are continuously pressured by the emperor of Yuan and also a handful residents of Goryeo for a crown prince who will continue the royal dynasty. Since the king does not have the heart man enough to make love and impregnate the princess, he commands Hong-lim to do it for him. This confidential mission then created an unexpected love affair and led to a series of betrayals and horrendous bloodbaths.
A Frozen Flower is more than just an erotic movie. More than all the lewd acts and whatnot, this movie is a story which tells how powerful love can get. The movie tells its audience that a person deep in love can commit anything, even betrayal and murder, and can go against death.
A Frozen Flower trailer (video from LGBT Movie Trailers on Youtube)
3. One Way Trip (2013)
Also called Glory Days, One Way Trip is about a group of men in the peak of their youth and how their friendship was greatly challenged because of someone’s selfishness. The group includes Yong-bi, Sang-woo, Ji-gong and Doo-man. Supposedly a despedida party for Sang-woo who is going to leave to serve in the military very soon, the gang travelled to the city of Pohang to do fun things for the last time together. However, this celebration which was intended to be memorable became the worst nightmare for the four of them when they encountered this middle-aged woman being physically abused by his husband under the black moonlight.
One Way Trip, I should say, is a film that is not afraid to boldly tell everyone how dirty the world is sometimes. The movie implies that the legal system is not always sufficient to unravel the truth behind committed crimes. All throughout, this movie was really sad because there is no one point where justice was served right. Watching this movie will probably cause one to reflect on his/her life and to realize how lucky he/she is for having the things he/she enjoys today.
One Way Trip trailer (video from FilmIsNow Movie Trailers International on Youtube)
4. Secretly, Greatly (2013)
“Country before self”.
Secretly, Greatly is the film which says that this quote is not always right. In the film, hundreds of North Korean males were trained at a very young age to form a special team called 5446 Corps, which aims to unify Korea. After years of training, these men are dispatched to the South to carry out different tasks while disguised as random people to blend in the other South Korean residents. Three of these men are Lee Hae-rang who was told to disguise as a rock star, Lee Hae-jin disguised as a high schooler, and Lieutenant Won Ryu-hwan who was disguised as a mentally challenged person. Soon, the spies cast in the South were ordered by the higher-ups to kill themselves for their country. This command became the root of the clash between these three North Korean spies and the lords of North Korea.
I remember tearing up a bit while watching this film’s ending part. The subject discussed in the film is actually too complicated for me to deeply relate to it, but one thing’s for sure: the abuse of ranks is evident. There’s an element of selfishness in the movie. It’s hard for me to understand, but this is a must watch, everyone.
Secretly, Greatly trailer (video from KimSooHyunFC on Youtube)
5. Hearty Paws (2006)
Among all the sad movies I have watched, Hearty Paws is by far the film which made me cry the most. I almost freaking drowned in my own tears when I first watched this movie.
Well, the story of Hearty Paws is pretty simple to explain. The movie is about two children who was abandoned by their parents. They were in the custody of their aunt and uncle, but in reality, the two only had each other. One day, Chan-yi came home with a stolen puppy in his bag to give to her younger sister, So-yi as a present for her sixth birthday. So-yi named the puppy Hearty. Ever since that day, it became the three of them living the beautiful life and at the same time fighting the ugliness of the world. However, an unexpected incident made them drift apart; So-yi dies by accident and Chan-yi was left alone with the dog.
This movie is not just sad; it is a real tear jerker, at least for me. I have this really soft spot for children and animals, that is why. Those like me who have a soft spot for children and animals will surely be able to sympathize with what So-yi and especially Chan-yi have gone through. If Secretly, Greatly is a must watch, Hearty Paws is a must must must watch!
Hearty Paws trailer (video from troiel on Youtube)
So, these are my top picks for Korean movies with sad, but never ever bad endings! They’re all 10/10, I tell you. Hope you try watching these movies. Support good Korean movies!
hi!! i'm also from the Philippines! are you going to Dean's concert? we should all do! let's support Dean so he comes back in Philippines again! ^^,
Hi anon! Yes, I will! I’m sure I’m not going to miss Dean’s visit here in the Philippines. It might not happen again, so I’m grabbing the opportunity, hahaha. And of course, supporting Dean’s concert all the way so he comes back hahaha
Recently, I have been really sad because of a lot of things. From attending university during vacation to waking up at 6AM everyday from Mondays to Saturdays, I cannot get any sadder.
While I was spazzing through today’s Music Bank Half Year Special, this popped out on Twitter from nowhere:
My initial reaction was like “Is this.. true??” I mean, even some of the most popular Korean acts of this generation do not even look at the Philippines when they plan their world tours, why would Dean? When I have already come to my senses, I automatically did faces of excitement, because yay Dean is coming to Manila and it is very unexpected, and despair, because damn it is so unexpected I have no money raised for it. I felt uneasy for like the next hour because of this announcement which took me by a shock.
I really want to see Dean perform live. It’s one of my dreams which I promised to fulfill before I die lol. In order to make this dream come closer to be a reality, I decided to give up on certain things. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event which may not happen again, so I have to go all out for this.
Dean’s upcoming visit here in the Philippines is made possible by MCA Music, more known as Universal Music Philippines (no wonder this became possible, Dean is under Universal Music Intl. lol). You can check MCA Music’s Facebook and Twitter for announcements regarding Dean’s visit in Manila.
Inform me if you are coming and let’s meet, Filipino Rebels!
Fantastic Duo: The Next Big Thing in Korean Variety
So last week, while I was traversing on the pages of Kshowonline.com, a website which compiles available English-subbed Korean variety shows and make them available for downloading, I found this variety show called “Fantastic Duo”, and it has just started to be aired. I thought that this could be the variety show which I can watch from the very start, so I gave it a shot and watched the first episode.
Before telling about how the show works, let me first give you a really short background about Fantastic Duo. Fantastic duo is a Korean singing variety show aired in SBS and hosted by Jeon Hyun Moo. Its regular airing is scheduled on Sundays at 4:50PM KST, with an average running time of 90 minutes. The pilot episode of Fantastic Duo was aired on February 9, 2016.
Some of the popular personalities who have graced Fantastic Duo are Kim Bum Soo, Lim Chang Jung, Lee Sun Hee, Jo Sung Mo, Byun Jin Sub, EXO, Jang Hye Jin and Son Seunghoon.
Logo of Fantastic Duo (Photo from dramacool.me)
FANTASTIC DUO PRE-BROADCAST
Three teams are formed prior to the final competition proper. Each team will be composed of a professional singer from the Korean music industry and a singer from the viewers (can be fans of the show slash fans of the professional singers who will compete).
This is the fun and exciting part: how are the singers from the viewers chosen? This process of selection is done through a smartphone application called everysing! everysing is like an online all-in-one Karaoke with various features such as singing rehearsals and lyrics book, among others (you can download everysing here). One feature of this application called ‘SING WITH STAR’ is specially created for Fantastic Duo auditions. In this feature, those who wish to audition will be able to perform a duet song together with the professional singer whom he/she wishes to be a duo with. The audition submissions will then be evaluated and from there, three “auditioners” for each professional singer will be chosen to compete in the broadcast!!!
HOW THE SHOW WORKS
The selected singers from the online auditions is presented in the broadcast together with the professional singer who they wish to be duo with. Basically, these three will battle it out in the broadcast through singing a song selected by the professional singer. The twist is, they cannot sing at the same time or overshadow one another. One will just have a chance to sing once the light on his/her stage is on. Some of the best competition performances that I have watched so far are those who auditioned for Jo Sung Mo’s duo who peformed ‘Immortal Love’ and those for Ailee’s duo who sang ‘I Will Show You’.
Jo Sung Mo’s contenders for being his duo performing ‘Immortal Love’. (video from entertainmentSBS on Youtube)
And Ailee’s contenders for being her duo performing ‘I Will Show You’. (video from entertainmentSBS on Youtube)
After the performance, the professional singers choose the one who he/she wants to be a duo with. The formed duos now go head-to-head in the final competition.
Each duo will sing a song in the final competition. After every performance, their performance will be evaluated by the broadcast audience. Each viewer in the audience is provided with this device thing which allows him/her to cast his/her vote. If he/she likes the performance of the duo, he/she will just have to press the button on his/her device. The perfect score for a performance is 300 points since there are 300 viewers in the audience every broadcast. And obviously, the duo which will yield the highest score will be proclaimed winner! The winner duo has a chance to defend their title in the next set of duos which will compete.
The best final performances which I have seen so far are:
Taeyang & Daejeon Rhythm Gangster - Eyes, Nose, Lips (video from BIGBANG on Youtube)
Lee Sun Hee & Lady Ye Jin - 추억의 책장을 넘기면 (video from entertainmentSBS on Youtube)
WHY WATCH FANTASTIC DUO?
There is a big wide pool of Korean variety shows where the audience can choose on which one to watch, so why would one actually have to spend time checking out the newly aired Fantastic Duo? Why should Fantastic Duo be the next big thing in Korean variety?
Fantastic Duo can be treated as a break from all those variety shows involving physical contacts, or verbal violence (is this enough reason to use the word violence? Lol). We are already used to watching variety shows like Running Man, Infinity Challenge, Radio Star, and the like, so watching Fantastic Duo which has an entirely different format will surely give us a refreshing feeling, a new taste of Korean variety shows.
Another thing is not only it is able to entertain its viewers, Fantastic Duo can also be an outlet for talented singers not only in Korea but all over the world where they can freely show their talent in singing. It can be a way for the whole world to recognize their talents.
Lastly, without knowing it, Fantastic Duo does variety with a purpose. As you can see, many of those who join in the competition does so because they need financial support for various things such as matriculation in college. In a way, Fantastic Duo is able to help them with their financial concerns in life by showcasing their talents in front of the camera. It’s like a two-way communication: the singers benefit from Fantastic Duo and at the same time, Fantastic Duo also benefits from them.
Sooo, I hope that through this blog post, I was able to clearly give you guys a good image of Fantastic Duo. I hope those who really enjoy the company of Korean variety shows spare time on watching Fantastic Duo because I am telling you, it is worth the watch!
A Peek at Tiffany’s Title Track “I Just Wanna Dance”
As we all know, Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany just made her solo debut with the extended play I Just Wanna Dance which was released last May 11, 2016. Being known for having a unique vocal color which has captivated the hearts of not only the SONEs but also the public, Tiffany’s solo debut was highly anticipated by many fans as well as Korean music enthusiasts.
Album art of Tiffany’s first extended play I Just Wanna Dance (photo from k2nblog.com)
The title track for Tiffany’s extended play is I Just Wanna Dance (yes, same name as the extended play itself) which was composed by Timothy Bullock, Michael Jiminez, Sara Forsberg, and MZMC and was written by Hwang Hyun.
HOW’S THE COMPOSITION?
Though we have already heard a bunch of Kpop songs which were primarily made with synthesizers, Tiffany’s I Just Wanna Dance made me feel like I am listening to synth pop for the first time. Not your typical synth pop song which just burst on your ear, listening to I Just Wanna Dance is like rediscovering synth pop. It has this upbeat feel but not in an exaggerated way unlike other Kpop synth songs, which makes it good in the ears.
We usually perceive synth songs as very eargasmic materials, but for me, I Just Wanna Dance does not have this eargasmic characteristic. However, it does not change the fact that this song gives out a refreshing feeling because you cannot hear this type of music anywhere. Basing on the composition alone, I Just Wanna Dance is the song to listen to when you want your ears to be relaxed and be refreshed.
I Just Wanna Dance Music Video (video from SMTOWN on Youtube)
HOW ‘BOUT THE LYRICS?
For me, the lyrics of this song are not really that special. It’s a piece which does not have the imagery, word puns or analogies that makes up an exciting song. But as you can see, it’s this song’s strong point. The straightforward lyrics make the listeners relate easily to the character who moves in the song.
The song is a story of a girl who has this very deep affection towards dancing. She sees her surroundings as a good outlet where she can release her feelings through dancing. Also, seeing an opportunity to dance gives her a different level of excitement. These are observed in the following lyrics:
The night when the rain finally stopped after a few days
I feel good
Lights shine onto the wet street
After the show is over
The city is like an empty stage
It’s alright It’s alright
In the wet air
The street lights shine on me
Good my body is moving
However, we can see in the lyrics that she is somewhat too afraid of showing her love of dancing to the people for an unknown reason, causing her to wear different characteristics everyday. But at the end of the day, her passion for dancing still wins! This is implied by these lyrics:
I hid myself
In the masks I change every day
Right now
I just want to be more honest
OVERALL VERDICT
Overall, I am giving Tiffany’s title track an 8 out of 10. In my opinion, I Just Wanna Dance as a debut song gave Tiffany a strong entrance in the Korean music industry as a solo singer. It’s a unique song which has the potential to leave an impact sufficient for Tiffany to be remembered a a soloist.
Well, that’s my two cents on Tiffany’s title track! You can buy Tiffany’s extended play on iTunes here or physically here.
Enjoy and support Tiffany’s music!
(credits to kpopviral.com for the English translations)
I really enjoyed your review on Dean's album ! Have you planned to analyze the others songs from the album ? Because I really want to read your thoughts about them :D
Of course! I plan to finish reviewing all the songs after our finals week in the university. I also really want to finish them in the first place because I enjoyed Dean’s album 100%. Maybe I’ll finish it by the first week of June.
And anyway, thank you for appreciating my review on Dean’s album, although it’s super unfinished. I promise to finish it, and also post more Korean culture-related blogs. Thank you again!
It’s official: SISTAR will be having a comeback this June!
Ever since I became a fan of Korean popular music, I have always been changing my top pick on boy groups, maybe because I am really not into boy groups. However, when it comes to girl groups, SISTAR has always been the top for me. I mean, from the start that I became a Kpop fan, it’s always been SISTAR which is my number one girl group. So, I always anticipate their comebacks, collaboration projects, and whatnot.
What I am hoping for this comeback is that they ditch off the summer concepts already. Don’t get me wrong, their summer concepts are great, all flashy and suited to the season. But maybe for this comeback, we should get something different.
We can get a musical-themed comeback like Give it to Me.
Or something very classy yet sexy at the same time like the Alone era.
I hope SISTAR makes something different for this comeback. Their fans are missing the old image of SISTAR already, back when summer concept is not yet a trend.
Remember when WINNER was about to have their comeback earlier this February? We can clearly recall that before they officially had their comeback in the Korean music industry, many artists and soloists did excellent covers of their title tracks, including Zion.T, Lee Hi, G-Dragon and even the funny Yoo Byeong Jae. Among these “cover-ers”, the one I really adored for his musical ingenuity was Dean.
Because of this, I took interest in Dean’s whereabouts in the industry. Born with the name “Kwon Hyuk”, Dean first debuted in America with the single “I’m not Sorry” featuring the Grammy award-winning soloist, Eric Bellinger. Dean is initially known in Korea as the “Deanfluenza” who was the brain behind the Korean hit songs, EXO’s Black Pearl and VIXX’s Voodoo Doll.
Just recently, Dean released his very first mini album in Korea named ‘130 mood: TRBL’. The album contains seven songs (too much for a typical Korean mini album, isn’t it?): three of which were released as singles earlier. What has really lured me to listen to Dean’s album is an interview in The Korean Herald where he was featured. According to him, ‘130 mood: TRBL’ is an album with interrelated songs. The theme of the songs is generally about the process of how a love story is created as well as how it ended up being thrown away, being forgotten. What the twist of this album is that it tells the love story backwards. Yes, the album starts with how he finally moved on with the heartbreak and ends with an encounter with a girl. So, without further ado, I’m finally giving you guys my thoughts on Dean’s “130 mood: TRBL.”
Photo cover of Dean’s “130 mood: TRBL” (photo from K2NBLOG)
Okay, so before I formally start, let me tell you first something about my general thought on the songs in Dean’s album. I really loved all the songs for one major reason: the excellent imagery. For me, Dean did not write these songs just for the purpose of making music, instead, his essential aim is to tell a story, a story which you can clearly see forming in your head once you press that play button and listen to the songs. This is the reason why although I do not really have the experience of being in love (I am telling the truth), I can still somewhat relate with what his songs are saying because he told everything very well. Anyway, let us start.
TRACK 1 - OUTRO
Because it is the way I see it, I would like to call the first song in Dean’s album the“bitch please I’ve moved on with you but not really” song. Very true enough, Outro is a song about how the guy, after being dumped by the woman he once loved, has moved on with the girl, but not really. The song started out with a phone call from his former girlfriend. The song started this way:
How many empty bottles (has it been),
How many calls (has it been)
What time is it already,
My stare has already been let loose and gone;
An incoming call catches me,
oh it’s my fuckin, my fuckin ex
From here, you can already observe that he is trying to move on with the heartbreak caused by his past relationship. However, the call from his ex-girlfriend proved that he has not gotten over it yet. This is evident in how he cursed his ex, an indication that he still has grudges on her. Throughout the call, the guy still sounded bitter. From talking about the girl’s proud tone of speaking to calling her new lover a bastard, it’s obvious that he’s still affected by the separation. However, these statements were rebutted at the last part of the song, where he said the following lines:
Okay, so how are you?, are you doing fine?
I’m curious but i said nothing,
because I’m motherfucking good,
and I get that money,
I can tell this thing is motherfucking good,
I’m motherfuckin good right now,
hella good right now, I can tell this feeling
motherfucking good right now
It can be inferred in these lyrics that although he sounded bitter at first, he actually is really cool about everything because of what he is enjoying at the current moment. Maybe it’s how Dean wanted to surprise the listeners. He wanted to sound bitter at first so that the listeners can give him the sympathy he deserves, but then they will just be surprised that he does not really need that because after all, he is cool about everything. If he’s playing sarcastic with those words, we don’t know.
TRACK 2 – POUR UP (FEAT. ZICO OF BLOCK B)
Even before the album was released, I have been already listening to Pour Up like crazy. In terms of the composition of the song, ahh it’s just so damn good. It’s not that it’s catchy or what, the deal is it has a very unique sound, very distinct from the Kpop songs I was listening to that time, plus the cover of the single is so artistic lol.
If I am to make a direct analogy of this song to a real-life story of a heartbreak, this song probably is the I’m-trying-to-move-on-but-fuck-it-I-really-cannot stage. Just like any other guy who was dumped by the one he loved, he expressed through the lyrics that he is full of questions and is very frustrated.
Maybe I was stupid
Or Just I felt that way
Not like usual,
I went to see youI can’t forget that
Even the trail that you were with a stranger guy
Why the heck am I like this?
With not even a word of excuse
You dumped meNot even feeling guilty
You said that we were over
Why am I still so into you?
Trying to get over how he was dumped by the girl, he tries to forget the pain it brought to him by unwinding outside and trying to get himself a happy time with an obviously unfamiliar face. He illustrated this in the following lyrics:
No feelings
To avoid feeling lonely
Get myself out with a stranger girl
Tonight I pour up pour up again
I unbutton her shirtI untie the tangled strings
Girl now I’m looking for love for love
Basically, he is trying to move on with the girl by “pouring up”.
------------------------------
So, unfortunately, I cannot finish writing this blog due to priorities. I have started doing this album review maybe last month but I really cannot give time to finish it, making me post this half-cooked. I will try to do better next time!
Before I end this, I just want to say that Dean’s first album is really great! It’s one of the best Korean albums I have heard in my life so far. His album got the uniqueness, the creativity, and of course the high quality songs which you can really enjoy. Maybe it’s very late already but I encourage you to buy his album. Let’s support good Korean music. Let’s support Dean!
I was watching Ode to my Father when I decided to take a break and lurk around Facebook for a moment, and then the news came up to me. UPLB ROTC is the overall champion in the RAATI 2016! God, the feeling’s just so wonderful. All the hard work of the cadets and the cadet officers were worth it.
I fell in love at first sight with this picture. Ahh, the sweet taste of victory. (Photo from UPLB ROTC on Facebook)
And yes, since the 96.68% overall rating has indeed brought us to the apex of RAATI 2016, we’ll all get pizza and ice cream from Sir Bernardo!!! I cannot even find out how to hide my happiness.
Pizza and ice cream, wait for the hungry cadets next meeting!
UPLB ROTC @ RAATI 2016: The Road to Easy Pizza and Ice Cream
After weeks of exhaustion, temper tantrums and anxiety, the UPLB ROTC unit is finally done with this year’s Regional Annual Administrative and Tactical Inspection, and I should say that we unexpectedly (as in super unexpectedly) aced it!
Before anything else, let me first say that I am a part of the ceremonial parade of the event, and many consider it as the highlight of RAATI. As a part of the ceremonial parade, I cannot deny that during the process of training, I cannot help but to lose hope on winning the event because first of all, everyone seems to be uninterested on getting the championship, even me. Also, the training days before the contest are, how should I say this, not very productive because we just repeat things over and over without even knowing if we are improving or what.
The good thing that happened in the very day of the RAATI is that everyone in the ceremonial parade transformed into a competitive cadet who wants to take home the victory no matter what. You can see that even before the actual ceremonial training started, almost everyone either has their eyes on their ticklers memorizing the military organizations, general orders and everything that the cadet officers taught us beforehand or consulting their fellow cadets on the things they still do not know or they have not mastered. It is a really nice view to see that all the cadets on the ceremonial training became a hard worker in hopes of winning the championship.
As for the other categories such as the small-unit tactics, theoretical examination, and map reading and land navigation, of course we do not have any idea of what’s going on with them because we tend to just care on the category we were assigned in. It was just only yesterday when we saw what they prepared for, and well, they all did well. I did even imagine that they will do great since I did not even see them once while they were practicing (except for the small-unit tactics since we are practicing on the same location). All I can say while I was watching their performance was “wow, job well done dudes!”
Because everyone worked hard, we got a whopping 96.68% overall rating, and that was totally unexpected. The inspectors told us that currently, we have the highest overall rating so I have high hopes that we can win RAATI this year.
Of course, how can we forget this very huge promise our cadet officer, CLTC Froilan Victor C. Bernardo 1CL (I felt the need to write his name in full since I still clearly memorize it ha ha ha), left us. Sir Bernardo told us that if we win RAATI, then all the cadets who participated will get half box of pizza and half gallon of ice cream each. EACH. I strongly believe that the 96.68% overall rating that we earned from the inspectors will take us to enjoying those food /crosses fingers/.
Here you go, some of the cadets of the ALPHA 2nd together with their platoon leader, Sir Pacis, while enjoying the pinipig ice cream the higher-ups gave them for their industry in the company drill. (photos from Gabee Cruz on Facebook)
Let’s go for the Nationals and for the pizza and ice cream, UPLB ROTC!
