Teaser trailer released for Rain's new drama She's So Lovable

After casting news made its rounds earlier this month regarding world-star Rain's small screen comeback, the upcoming SBS drama has now released its first teaser trailer featuring Rain and his love interest Krystal (of idol group f(x)).

She's So Lovable (aka My Lovely Girl) is described as a "comic, sentimental love fantasy" where Rain plays a composer-producer of an entertainment agency who meets Krystal, a young aspiring musician 12 years his junior. Of course, she falls in love with him but he can't seem to shake off the memories of losing his girlfriend in a tragic car accident - who, of course, happens to be Krystal's older sister.

As much as I'm looking forward to Rain being on my screen again, in what seems to be a rom-com (please kdrama gods, let it be a rom-com), I have to be honest that the whole dead ex-girlfriend/sister trope is something I'm not excited about. But it's Rain. And I love Rain. Also, I really liked Krystal in The Heirs, and she was actually one of the few reasons I continued watching that drama through to the end. So I'm crossing my fingers.

Another thing that I couldn't seem to get past initially was the age gap between Rain and Krystal. Not that I have any qualms with age gaps. I mean, I'm addicted to noona romances and I've watched dramas whose leads had 14-20 years between them. But Rain had always seemed very much a man, and Krystal a child. It's not quite the same as having Yoona or Lee Jong-suk or Seo In-guk in the dongsaeng roles because they didn't quite come off as childlike, just young. Thank goodness then that in the teaser (posted below), the age gap doesn't seem quite as jarring as I initially had thought it would be.

While the trailer gives off a cute vibe, it also, somehow, brings with it a sense of emotional depth reminiscent of more mature shows like this drama's writer-PD team's earlier work Scent of a Woman. Which is a good thing. Krystal doesn't seem to be wishy-washy nor juvenile in the teaser (which most of her earlier roles always were), rather she seems focused and responsible. I don't know if it's just me, but this trailer is definitely making Krystal seem more solemn than I'll ever get used to, since she's always been so callow and, well, loud in her past roles. So things are definitely looking up! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for this drama.

She's So Lovable replaces It's Okay, It's Love every Wednesday and Thursday on SBS beginning on September 17.

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Warning: Taemin's "Danger" Ahead

Taemin dropped his debut solo music video for "Danger" late last week, and the mini album ACE followed suit just earlier today. And good lord is it everything I never knew I wanted from this kid. While last week saw mostly Winner in constant rotation on my music player (I'm still addicted to their album), looks like this week will see a massive amount of the SHINee maknae.

There are so many things to love about the album and the accompanying music video. One: the very fact that Taemin is proving to the world that he's not just SHINee's main dancer anymore and that he has very much earned the title of singer and that he deserves this. Two: that even while many complained about his going solo before Onew or Jonghyun, Taemin broke out into the solo scene with an outstanding single that is sure to rocket through all the charts. Three: Taemin is showing us that he's no longer that 14-year-old kid who loves steak and burgers and frequently loses his stuff if not glued to his hands, he's an adult (but sorry, sweetie, seeing you shirtless still makes me feel like I should be kneeling in a confessional box even though I'm not Catholic).  And lastly, that Taemin is clearly in his element, singing and dancing the way he wants to, and being able to pay homage to his idol in an obvious Michael-Jackson-inspired track via lead single "Danger." Even the music video, a few fashion choices aside, is fantastic..

Aside from the title track, each and every song on the mini album is golden and are the kind of songs I've always imagined Taemin would do were he to ever go solo. The sexy pre-released track "Ace," with lyrics penned by DBSK's Changmin, is a favorite. It throws back to SHINee's own "Symptoms" and I can very well imagine it being sung by the entire group, but nonetheless Taemin totally rocks it solo.

Taemin has already performed his new songs on several stages this past weekend, including Inkigayo, Music Bank, and a SMTown concert in Seoul. Sadly, as is the SM Tradition, these were mostly lip-synced because that's the way SM just does things to avoid mistakes during initial debut/comeback promotions. We all know that Taemin, along with the rest of SHINee, can very well hold their own during live performances. It doesn't matter how intense the choreography is, Taemin can hit those notes. So, hopefully, as we go into the second week of promotions, we get some actual live performances from it. I'm so excited for this, you guys.

I never realized how huge a fan of Taemin I was until this solo thing happened. I've always considered SHINee as one of my Top 3 k-pop boy groups, but I was never really sure of who my SHINee bias was. With this solo though, it's kind of looking like he very well might be my bias. (But then there's a huge chance I'd feel the same way if Onew or Jonghyun make their solo debuts.)

Gaaahhh. I might not be Kim-Jonghyun-level of going gaga over Taemin, but I'm pretty damn close. (I'm not even kidding with how much Jonghyun is fanboying over their maknae, this is him in a nutshell. He's been tweeting so much in support of Taemin and it's super sweet how he declared himself the president of the Taemin fanclub. I heard he cried when he first watched the "Danger" music video.) But see, we all feel like proud parents here. I might not have been there since the beginning, but after falling in love with SHINee, I've watched a boatload of videos on YouTube and got a crash course on the group. So I've seen videos of Taemin as a kid. And now he's all grown up. I'm feeling kind of verklempt right now.

Lee Taemin, fighting!

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Winner finally debuts with "Empty" and "Color Ring" M/Vs

FINALLY.

At midnight last night (KST), YG Entertainment dropped Winner's debut music videos one after the other. After nearly a year of delays and holding back, the new YG boy group finally have their official entry into the k-pop industry. And the fans, myself included, are beside themselves.

The album, 2014 S/S, is a collection of songs written by the members of Winner alongside YG producers and co-trainees B.I and Bobby and is now available on iTunes.

I have yet to listen to all the songs, but based on the two title tracks, this ought to be really good. Both tracks are softer and more melodic than what I'd expect from a YG group, especially as lead singles. It's obvious that they've tried their best to not sound like Big Bang too much. Which is a very good sign.

I, for one, am excited for the boys to begin their music program promotions. I haven't heard of news about their television debut stage yet but their first official stage will be the AIA Real Life Festival Concert happening at the end of the week at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium alongside fellow YG artists and Lady Gaga.

Now I better scuttle off to listen to the album on repeat.

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