The formula that works…

I have to admit this…despite knowing that Korean drama writers are using and re-using the same formula to succeed in drawing throngs of crowd and TV viewers, I still fall for it. The formula is to force a man and a woman to be together (as a relative or lover or spouse) for monetary rewards! You know where I am heading, don’t you? Well, I’m going into what I think of the three reprises of the same formula for 2004, 2005 and 2006.

2004 – Full House starring the Rain (Bi) that I adore + Song Hye Gyo (that a large percentage of the male population in Asia adore)
Synopsis: Rain plays an arrogant celebrity who is tired of the fans and media following him around. Song Hye Gyo (SHG) who owns a bungalow named “Full House” deserve to be shot for trusting her friends with her house while she goes on a supposed FREE holiday while her friends sold her house to none other than Rain. When SHG comes back to Korea, she finds that she is moneyless and homeless and upon Rain’s suggestion, she took up the position of wife-cum-housekeeper for a monthly wage.

2005 – My name is Kim Sam Soon ((in Malaysia, it’s called My lovely Sam Soon for reasons unknown) starring Kim Sun Ah + Hyun Bin
Synopsis: Sam Soon is an aging 29–year-old who got ditched by her long-time boyfriend for a younger woman during christmas eve is desperate to get married. She goes on countless blind dates just to meet her deadline. But the harder she tries, she unluckier she gets. During the final confrontation with her ex-boyfriend, she gets to know Hyun Bin (Sam Shik). Sam Shik is the rich heir to a large hotel is Korea , is cold, calculative and very annoyingly rude. SamSoon a cook in a restaurant he owns and he tops it up with an offer of being a ‘girlfriend’ with additional financial benefits.

2006 – My Girl starring Lee Dong Wook + Lee Da Hae

I don’t know why, but despite knowing that it’s about the same and knowing that there’s probably another one in the pipeline for 2007. I can’t wait for it. Really. But I would like to take the free time that I have today to compare these three Korean series …which is something that I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time.
Synopsis: Guy (DongWook) is the heir to a large chain of hotels and is absorb with his mission of fulfilling his dying grandfather’s last wish…to see the granddaughter of his ostracized daughter before breathing his last breath. Girl (DaHae) is a conniving, cheating girl who would do anything to get herself out of trouble. In the real world, she’s actually called ’streetsmart’ and not a cheater. Upon finding out that his grandfather is in crticical condition, he quickly offers Girl the opportunity to make some quick money by pretending to be the long-lost granddaughter before his grandfather’s deathbed. Except that….the grandfather didn’t die and they continued to be cousins.

Now, the comparison….

THE BEST OF THE BEST

THE BEST ACTRESS

To my knowledge, not many actresses in the Asian region would do what Kim Sun Ah did for the series ‘My name is Kim Sam Soon’. Before the series, she was a total hottie….but in the show, she was anything but. And the fact is that her delivery was the most believable. If you look at some of Kim Sun Ah’s photos, you’ll be shocked that she was chosen to play the SamSoon role. She’s not among the youngest actresses in Korea but she is definitely a sex kitten! There are two scenes in the series where she displayed this but other than that, she’s all fat and clumsiness.

Judging from the stuff I’ve watched on ‘the making of Kim Sam Soon’, I believe she put in the most effort and deserves to be one of the most popular actresses in, at least, Asia.

Song Hye Gyo – It’s very hard to go wrong with a face like that…even if she tried very hard! Blessed with natural (I’ve seen her schoool photos and she looks the same now as she did during her schooling years) beauty, she easily captures the hearts of her audiences. But the only thing lacking is commitment during the ‘love’ scenes. She appears to withhold a part of her during filming.

Lee Da Hae of My Girl is gorgeous! Even better looking than Song Hye Gyo of Full House in my personal opinion but Lee Da Hae overacted a lot in My Girl. If only she toned it down, she would have been my second pick.

The Best Actor

My first thought was….WHAT??!! Hyun Bin is too young to be paired with Kim Sun Ah…there’s a 6 year gap between them. But you know what? He shows us that eventhough they’re just playing a role in a series together, they can overcome it! There were a couple of scenes in the show that he truly scared the daylights out of me….the scenes where he got REALLY mad and shouted at the top of his voice. Gosh, it scared me. Why does it matter? Well, they’re playing truly arrogant and short-tempered people who don’t believe in giving-in even when they’re losing and showing that kind of uncontrolled ANGER is important. And towards the end, there were scenes that made me want to pinch his ass or kiss his face…so cute. The way he spoke to his mute niece was very touching. His had a very manly bedroom voice which, when spoken with a little girl, tugs at your heart strings.

Overall, the covered the most base eventhough he’s the least known when their series were aired. Hyun Bin was literally an ‘invisible’ before Kim Sam Soon was aired. But he catapulted to fame after Kim Sam Soon was aired. Looks-wise, I wouldn’t say he’s gorgeous because at some angles, he isn’t. But the more you look at him and see him smile, the more in love you’ll be. Trust me, those dimples are true killers!! He smiles and my heart skips a beat.

Not because I adore Rain (I fell in love with all three actors after watching their series, ok?) but Rain appears to be very believable as a rich and arrogant man! I did despise all of them in the beginning though but I despised Rain the most for his loud voice, tall built, his loud actions and ooooooohhh, the RUDENESS. And then towards the end, he completely changed. Rain has this smile that totally takes over your heart.

Among the three male leads, Lee Dong Wook is the handsomest! Blessed with good figure, amazing smile and humor. Not that he’s bad but he couldn’t go against the others…simple as that. He didn’t have as many emotionally charged scenes. Oh, but there was one part where he shouted at LDH that shocked me too. Like he was ready for murder. And when he cried, he cried with a smile and you just wanna reach out to him and soothe his little aches.

The best series

My Name is Kim Sam Soon
I watched all series so many times that I can practically remember their lines for them eventhough I don’t speak Korean but the series that I find most believable, most balanced, well-casted and outstanding. They didnt conform to the norm. For one thing, the female lead is overweight. Secondly, the male lead isn’t all that dashing. Thirdly, the female lead is older. Fourthly, they defied all standards by placing the most sexually-suggestive lines and scenes in them. So, because they dare break the rules and because the cast worked so well together despite the fact that the couple was not the ‘usual’ kind, they are the BEST!

It was funny and cute when we watched it in 2004 but after all the improvements they made the following years, Full House lost out because of the script and the romantic scenes.
Although My Girl is the newest and have the most attractive cast to boot, they are not the best. Being cousins just…doesn’t make it good enough. Lee Da Hae overacted a lot and sometimes it isn’t even funny and makes her ugly (she gorgeous in real life). But the chemistry was there….so, they’re not the worst I’ve watched.

THE BEST KISS

Lee Dong Wook & Lee Da Hae (MY Girl)
I don’t know but this appears to be the best kiss among the three. They kissed quite realistically on two ocassions and the capture above is from the final episode. They were physically compatible and their kiss was REALISTIC.

Hyun Bin & Kim Sun Ah (KIM SAM SOON)
The kiss but believable, as with the rest of the series. The fact is that they DID kiss. And when you take the fact of their age and size difference, it counts for someting. They kissed.

RAIN (Bi) & Song Hye Gyo (FULL HOUSE)
The STONEST kiss on the planet that I’ve ever seen!!! They don’t move or anything…they just put their lips together until the director calls CUT and then that’s it. The worst kiss not only among the three Korean series, but the worst kiss I’ve seen in my whole entire life.

AND finally….the best partnership.

BEST COUPLE (Hyun Bin & Kim Sun Ah)
I don’t know how to tell you this but everytime I finish watching a series, I go onto the web and search for videos of ‘the making of’. Among the three, Kim Sam Soon amazed me the most! Kim Sun Ah and Hyun Bin, broke all laws on conformity and despite their age and size difference, are the most compatible.

KIm Sun Ah & Hyun Bin
Even off-screen, they’re very friendly and compatible with each other…not through what they’ve scripted to say but from the way they give each the extra-long hug after the final scene is shot, the way Hyun Bin helped her with her too-long-skirt after receiving their awards for ‘best couple’, and the way they just laughed together when a group of young girls imitated Kim Sun Ah from one of the scenes in th series (pic above right). The pic of the above left showed Hyun Bin (right) and a crew member holding Kim Sun Ah;s hand up the mighty climb of Jeju Island in Korea during filming.

Lee Da Hae & Lee Dong Wook (My Girl)
They’re both very natural with each other whenever Lee Da Hae is not overacting. Lee Dong Wook basically remains the same except become a little soft at the end, but Lee Da Hae in the beginnig was unbearable. Footages show that they grew close and understood each other a lot after filming. It was rumored that they both had the hots for each other….but of course, unless you catch them in the nude together, it’s all rumors.

Rain & Song Hye Gyo (Full House)
I love the both of them but even after watching many of their ‘themakings’ and ‘NGs’ and all that, I don’t think they’re all that close. The chemistry is not COMPLETELY there because each of them holds back a little. Mainly because Miss SHG was going though a breakup period of her life and Rain didn’t want to make matters worse. I guess, it was bad timing. But they could have been really good partners.