First Impressions: High School King of Savvy

I've just finished watching the second episode of tvN's newest rom-com High School King of Savvy and so far, so good. Unfortunately, the show wasn't picked up by either Viki or Dramafever, so looking for the subbed episodes proved to be more difficult than usual. Still, where's there's an insane international fanbase, the subbed episode will be found. Huzza!

First of all, everyone knows I love me some Seo In-guk, that much is a given. And keeping with the trend of my loving him in every drama he's in, I do love him in this role of corporate-director-hyung cosplaying high-schooler. He was cast in this role perfectly.

I love the character of Lee Min-seok. He's not just a lazy high school student who is somehow forced into pretending to be his older brother. Yes, he's that, but he's also a guy who loves his brother despite the 8-year separation. He's a guy who hates seeing his adoptive father hurting. He's the guy who stays and makes sure a drunk stranger is safe before he heads home himself. Yes, he's a highly hormonal high school student, but Seo In-guk plays him with so much heart.

This is the first drama I'm seeing Lee Hana in but I think I already love her. She plays awkward and ungainly so comfortably. I'm no authority, but I'd say she's quite perfect for physical comedy. Her portrayal of Jung Soo-young is so relatable even though I'm nowhere as socially problematic as her (if anyone, I would probably think I'm more like her younger sister Jung Yoo-ah - the bulldozer stalker).

Soo-young is both amusing and cringe-worthy. She's awesome as a sister and as a person, in general. Completely humble and persevering, I could do better with trying to be more like her. But then, her social weaknesses creeps in and I'm just screaming at my laptop screen for her to back away and shut up. If you've seen the first episode, you know what I mean. Nonetheless, she's a very likable character and I can't wait for both boys to fall in love with her. That's where we're headed, no?

Finally, I can't believe how much I'm loving Lee Soo-hyuk in this. I've only ever seen him in White Christmas (and several clips from Vampire Idol, and then a handful of music videos and runway shows) and he wasn't particularly good in that one. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about either. Granted, that was his first drama ever. I'm so glad he's seemingly much better at acting now. The duality in his portrayal of Yoo Jin-woo is delightful.

For a second lead, I love that Jin-woo is, right off the bat, being given a multi-dimensional treatment that not a lot of second leads get. On the one hand, he has that hard and unnerving side to his personality that's apparent whenever he's working. He's brutal when it comes to work but at the same time he's never not respectful and polite to his colleagues. But then you see a total 180-turn when he turns into this fearful and insecure little boy in the presence of his father. It's also good to note that despite him not reciprocating the feelings of our lead girl, Jin-woo was never rude or particularly cruel. I wouldn't complain if he ends up with Soo-young in the end (especially since our lead guy is still considered jailbait).

While not laugh-out-loud funny, this drama has me smirking and smiling all throughout. It's cute and zippy, though not quite cut from the same rom-com cloth as its predecessors. I just love that the story has a lot of heart and characters you want to root for. I can't believe I need to wait a whole week for the next episode. Gah! Episode 3, I need you!

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tvN releases teaser and posters for High School King of Savvy

There are a handful of upcoming dramas that I'm excited about, which is sad because I actually haven't gotten a move on with the currently airing ones. I think I'm only into episode 7 of Angel Eyes, I've only seen the first episode of Doctor Stranger, I'm only at episode 4 of Fall In Love With Me, and the only drama I'm updated with is Witch's Romance. But still, the teasers and posters of Seo In-guk's upcoming tvN series is something I'm really looking forward to.

In this drama, Seo In-guk is set to play the role of a popular high school hockey player who, for some reason, will have to masquerade as his corporate executive older brother in tvN's upcoming rom-com High School King of Savvy. It's really strange to me how this guy can still easily pull off looking like a high school student and, at the same time, look completely at ease in dapper suits that make him seem more mature and older than he really is. It's that duality of looking like both a noona-killer and an oppa in this man-child that keeps me fascinated.

The drama will feature two women vying for this high school king's affections; one is his fellow high-schooler played by Lee Yeol-eum and the other is her older sister who works at the same company as his older brother played by Lee Hana. At this point, because all press has been pointing toward Lee Hana being the main lead, it's enough to assume that it's going to be a noona romance, but I don't know this for sure. Still, the fact that it's set to follow Witch's Romance, which in turn followed I Need Romance 3, all noona romances, I guess it's safe to assume the same for this new one. And you know how much I love them noona romances. Haha.

High School King of Savvy will premiere on July 16, replacing Witch's Romance every Mondays and Tuesdays on tvN.

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Actor Typecasting: Boxing My Favorite Actors Into Convenient Categories

So many dramas, so little time. Along with all these dramas come my never-ending list of actor crushes. I would love to list them all down but that would probably take me about a week or so to write up. My love for all these actors knows no categorical limitations. I don't care if the actor is young or old, tall or short, with a background in musicals or the catwalk - all I need is sizzling onscreen charisma and I'm yours.

So here I attempt to group my favorite Korean actors into convenient categories. Let the sorting begin...

1. The Idol Actor - A lot of people cringe at the thought of all these idol stars making their way into Korean dramas and movies, but not all idol actors are bad news. There are several handful of idols who have given acting a shot with successful results. World Star Rain, himself, is an idol who has made quite a name for himself as an actor, not just in Chungmuro but in Hollywood as well. Following in his footsteps are some of today's hottest young stars, and my favorites have to be JYJ's Park Yoochun (Rooftop Prince, I Miss You), Big Bang's T.O.P (71: Into the Fire, Commitment), Beast's Lee Gi-kwang (My Friend Is Still Alive, Me Too Flower), and Seo In-guk (Reply 1997, The Master's Sun).

2. The Model Actor - Having models in our dramas is not a new thing. A lot of actors started out gracing catwalks and fashion spreads before hitting the screens. Stars like Cha Seung-won, Jo In-sung, Gong Yoo, and So Ji-sub first found success as models before being cast in dramas and movies. The trend of turning models into actors is far from over and the past few years has churned out quite a number of successful crossovers. And there's no point in guessing who my favorites are. It's quite easy. They're all of your favorites too, you see: Kim Woo-bin (School 2013, The Heirs), Lee Jong-suk (School 2013, I Hear Your Voice), Lee Soo-hyuk (White Christmas, What's Up), Hong Jong-hyun (Dating Agency: Cyrano, White Christmas), Sung Joon (Shut Up Flower Boy Band, I Need Romance 3), and Ahn Jae-hyun (You From Another Star).

3. The Ahjussi Actor - It doesn't matter how old they get, a hot man is a hot man is a hot man. It doesn't help either that most of these men have kept fit, if not fitter now than they were 10 years ago, and have quite the chocolate abs to prove it. And the wrinkles, I actually find sexy. Don't you think? I mean, take a look as some of my favorite ahjussis: Cha Seung-won (Greatest Love), Kim Seung-woo (Miss Ripley), Lee Beom-soo (Prime Minister and I), and Jung Woo-sung (Cold Eyes). There are several actors whom I love that I'm not quite sure falls under the ahjussi category quite yet (specially since I'm not a hormonal teenager but a rational adult, psych!) but would not be considered an oppa to a majority of k-pop fans. Actors like So Ji-sub (Always, The Master's Sun), Uhm Tae-woong (Architecture 101, Equator Man), or Choi Won-young (The Heirs) are not quite old enough for me to call ahjussi, but are not quite oppas either. But they're all gorgeous, nonetheless.

4. The Musical Actor - Loving music and loving dramas is one thing, but I'm also a huge fan of theater and Broadway musicals, and seeing all these actors in productions of Grease or Spring Awakening is just too much for my little fangirl heart. And I don't mean actors who eventually found their way into theater. I'm talking about actors who started out in theater but now have veritable drama and film careers, like Joo Won (Gaksital, Good Doctor), Jo Jung-suk (The King 2 Hearts, You're The Best Lee Soon-shin), Kang Ha-neul (Monstar, The Heirs), Lee Sun-kyun (Coffee Prince, Miss Korea), and Oh Man-seok (What's Up, The Vineyard Man).

5. The Jailbait Actor - Unfortunately, there are a handful of child actors who I love that are way too young for me to even be looking at. Even more unfortunate, for me, is that some of them really don't look their age. Take Yeo Jin-goo (I Miss You, Potato Star 2013QR3) for example. The kid is 16 years old but looks and sounds like a man in his 20's. There's no doubt that kid is going places. At 16, he's already romancing 23-year-old Ha Yeon-soo in their sitcom where he plays a 24-year-old web developer. Although, technically not jailbait anymore, these kids are still off limits: Yoo Seung-ho (Arang and the Magistrate, I Miss You), Lee Hyun-woo (To The Beautiful You), and that other Lee Min-ho (Rooftop Prince, Prime Minister and I).

Sharing a little more of Yeo Jin-goo just so y'all better understand my frustration over this kid. 

He's only 16 years old. I can't even.

I feel like I'm missing out on a bunch of other actors, but only because I couldn't find a category to fit them into. Actors like Park Ki-woong or No Min-woo or Kim Soo-hyun are not on this list. Maybe a new category should be made just for the likes of them? The Pretty Actor? But aren't they all?

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Halfway Report: Master's Sun

Yep. I have, indeed, found my crack for this year. So far, at least.

I'm so glad the Hong sisters have found better footing with Master's Sun because the last drama they penned, for the lack of a better term, sucked. Big sucked big time. And as a Hong sisters fan, I was extremely disappointed. They had Gong Yoo acting like a high school student trapped in a body of a grown adult! That premise in itself was a huge amount of fodder for comedy gold. Unfortunately, they bit off more than they could chew when towards the end of the drama it felt like they had no idea how to resolve anything.

The same cannot be said about Master's Sun, thank ye drama gods. A girl who can see ghosts and falls in love with a chaebol is an easier premise than, say, having your twin frozen as an embryo to later be allowed to grow up so he can provide you with healthy organs, but then you switch bodies and while you're trapped in your twin's comatosed body he falls in love with your fiancée... and if that short description did not just blow your mind - in the worst ways possible - I don't know what will.

Aaannnnyway. Suffice it to say, Master's Sun is doing a better job at showing us what the Hong sisters are made of and it brings us back to some of their greatest hits (i.e. My Girl, You're Beautiful, Greatest Love). Sometimes, literally.

In Master's Sun, we have our lead girl Tae Gong-shil, played spectacularly by Gong Hyo-jin (Greatest Love), who is down and out after an accident leaves her with supernatural tendencies to see and interact with dead people. This paranormal skill has her on the edge all the time because ghosts tend to gravitate towards her, some even nagging her to act out favors for them. Not only are her ghosts scary, they've also caused her several job opportunities.

Enter Joo Joong-won, played by the ever so handsome So Ji-sub (Phantom), the president of Kingdom Group. He's self-centered, arrogant, and driven by money. He's also hiding a secret about his dead first love who passed away as a result of a traumatic kidnapping incident when they were younger - the same incident that left our leading man with dyslexia.

Things get interesting when Gong-shil realizes that her ghosts disappear when she gets into physical contact with Joong-won. So she ingratiates herself to him in order to keep a job at Kingdom Mall and to ensure he's always in her vicinity for her to touch (to make the ghosts go poof, of course) in case things get too frightening. In return, Joong-won needs Gong-shil to communicate with his dead ex-girlfriend to track down the ₩10 billion ransom paid in the form of Joong-won's mother's diamond necklace during the kidnapping incident.

Keeping someone close by, no matter how much they annoy you at first, will always lead to them realizing they have feelings for each other. This is the law. In dramaland, at least. So right now, in the timeline we're currently in in the drama, Joong-won has finally accepted the fact that he might be in love with Gong-shil and actually finds her to confess.

This complicates matters for Kang Woo, played by idol-actor Seo In-guk (Reply 1997). Kang Woo is the strait-laced head of security at Kingdom. He is also playing spy for Joong-won's absentee father. He was planted at Kingdom Mall in order to feed information to daddy dearest about the people who surround Joong-won and if any of them might have anything to do with the dead first love and/or the kidnapping. In the course of his spy work though, he ends up falling for Gong-shil.

Right now, what I'm loving the most about the drama is the sizzling chemistry between our leads. So Ji-sub and Gong Hyo-jin play off of each other very well and their onscreen romance has me squealing at my screen at every turn.

Also, two happy thumbs up to the Hong sisters for being able to bring in familiar elements from their previous projects but giving them a fresh touch. What's a Hong sisters drama without a symbolic trinket? Or meta jokes? Or metaphors upon metaphors upon metaphors?

Each episode has me feeling every spectrum of emotion available because this is a drama that dared mix rom-com with horror. And while some of the ghosts are played for laughs, most of them are indeed frightening. Who would've thought that those two genres would ever be compatible with each other?

So despite some some faulty editing, several re-hashed plotlines, and So Ji-sub's Joo Joong-won being a bit similarly played to Cha Seung-won's Dokko Jin (from previous Hong sisters drama Greatest Love), this show has me wanting more. I'm so glad the Hong sisters are back and rocking it. If this is anything like their better works, we have so much to look forward to. Hong sisters, fighting!

What are your thoughts on the drama? Let me know in the comments.

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My Lists: 10 favorite idol-actors

I know it's been ages since my last post. I was down with a fever for a good week and that took away from quality online time. Heh. But anyway, I'm back now and thought it a perfect opportunity to write up another list.

There have been many casting news for new movies and dramas due out later this year to next year and, of course, a number of idols are being considered for big roles. What's a project without an idol-turned-actor up in the credits, right? While not all idol-actors are praiseworthy, there are certainly more than a handful of actors in your favorite dramas and movies who started out (and are still) idol stars. And for today's list, I'll be giving you my top 10 favorite idol-actors.

Yoon Eun-hye - I don't know much about Baby V.O.X but I do love me some Yoon Eun-hye. Though she got her fair share of criticism for her debut role as an actor in Goong, Yoon Eun-hye showed her detractors that she's actually got some acting chops in her follow up drama Coffee Prince. That drama, to this day, is still one of my all-time favorites and it put Yoon Eun-hye on my list of favorite actresses.

Eric Mun - Who doesn't love Shinhwa's leader, Eric? Not only is he tall, dark, and handsome, he's also such a charming guy with an insane sense of humor. Plus, the boy can act. One of my all-time favorite melodramas is the 2007 watch-it-and-weep Que Sera Sera where Eric played the lead role. That drama showed Eric in a totally different light, and boy was he legit in it.

Park Yoochun - This JYJ member is my favorite dorky actor. Sure, he's gorgeous and can do drama like a boss. But he's always especially adorable in those funny scenes where he's being a doofus. And this can be said for both rom-com Rooftop Prince and melodrama I Miss You.

T.O.P - A lot of people cringed every time Big Bang's TOP opened his mouth in action drama IRIS, myself included. But it's not entirely his fault that a lot of his lines were in English. While I have not loved TOP in any of his dramas yet, I was moved beyond tears by his performance in 71: Into the Fire. Even alongside big guns like Kwon Sang-woo, Cha Seung-won and Kim Seung-woo, TOP was able to hold his own and he totally stole that film.

Lee Seung-gi - I have not cried as much as I did while watching Lee Seung-gi's moving performance in The King 2 Hearts. This solo singer has done almost everything under the sun and he's been good at everything. He's a variety sweetheart, a CF king, and an actor to be reckoned with. While rom-com is his main game as an actor, it was the dramatic beats in his recent drama that knocked me off my socks.

Kim Dong-wan - There's just something about Kim Dong-wan that makes me wanna pet him and keep him in my pocket. And I don't just mean his size. Dong-wan, of Shinhwa fame, is insanely charismatic. Of the episodes of Cheer Up Mr. Kim that I've seen, Dong-wan has always shown such strong presence on screen and he always makes you want to root for him.

Jung Eun-ji - Who can even forget her character from Reply 1997? Eun-ji brought Siwon to life. With every stilted line delivery, every prolonged whine, every smirk directed at Yoon-jae, we all simultaneously fell in love with Siwon and A Pink's Eun-ji.

IU - I have a lot to say about how You're The Best Lee Soon Shin is turning out but none of them would be about terrible acting. Because, truth be told, the only good thing remaining about the show is its awesome cast. IU has been delivering well week after week, and her efforts are obvious and praiseworthy. P.S. I also loved her Pil-sook in Dream High.

Seo In-guk - Just as we could all relate to Eun-ji's fangirl character in Reply 1997, we also wanted a best friend like Yoon-jae. Sure, he was surly and broody, but he was also a gorgeous dork who was incredibly sweet to his best friends and brother. Seo In-guk continues to make us fall in love in this year's new Hong Sisters' drama Master's Sun.

UEE - I used to hate UEE, if only because I hated her character in You're Beautiful. But I guess you can call that effective acting. Hah. Later on, I fell in love with her in Ojakkyo Brothers and I haven't looked back since. It really helped that she had amazing on screen chemistry with Joo-won.

What about you? Who are your favorite idol-turned-actors?

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Master's Sun releases 2nd teaser trailer

Okay. Master's Sun (주군의 태양) is seriously exciting me.

First of all, it’s a Hong sisters drama. While they’ve had numerous hits, they’ve also had several misses (Big, I'm still trying to forget you ever existed)… But a number of my all-time favorite dramas were written by this sister duo. *crossesfingers*

Secondly, Gong Hyo-jin and So Ji-sub. Need I say more? And then to top it all off, Seo In-guk.

I knew from the beginning that it was going to mesh horror with the expected Hong sister stylings of romantic-comedies (I miss their puns!), but I wasn’t quite sure how they would do that and I was on the fence about the concept… THEN THEY RELEASED THE SECOND TEASER AND IT IS SO FREAKING AWESOME I CAN’T ASDFGHJKL; Sorry, that was terribly incoherent. But yeah, you get my drift.

Check out the teaser video below.

Master's Sun second trailer (2013.07.17) from Nataly on Vimeo.

Master's Sun is set to air in early August on SBS and will replace current hit drama I Hear Your Voice.

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