Wednesday, August 6, 2008

미우나 고우나 - "Likable or Not" or "I Hate You, But It's Fine"



I have seen this show titled both "Likable or Not" and "I Hate You, But It's Fine". For my blog, I'll be writing it as "Likable or Not" to stay consistent with www.mysoju.com. However, my Korean friends described the title to me as "I Hate you, But It's Fine"

I am so excited! I finally get to review this show!! The reason Im so excited is because I first got addicted to this show during my first trip to Korea in October 2007! This show was my first "taste" of Korean Drama, and I havent looked back. It was because of this show, that I went out on the internet and purchased several hundred dollars worth of Korean Dramas on DVD. Most notably "Kim Sam Soon", "Winter Sonata", "Full House", "Air City", and the list goes on and on. Yes, I have more Korean Dramas on TV then a Korean Ajumma in America.

Unfortunately the reason I am currently reviewing this show now is because my previous show "You Are My Destiny" has been broken at www.mysoju.com :(. Ive been waiting patiently for it, but I decided to start "Likeable or Not". Also the fact that I couldnt get "Likeable or Not" to work a couple of months ago.

Let me come out first of all and say this show is awesome. It is the best Korean Drama and frankly the best television show I have ever seen. I could tell you that even before seeing the show with English subtitles (I dont speak Korean). For the 13 weeks I was in Korea, I think I missed only a few episodes. I didnt understand what they were saying, but I could follow along most of the time, with my Korean friends updating me on any twists in the plot. What makes this show so great is the use of body language, which makes it so much fun to watch.

This drama series is really long, close to 150 episodes I believe, which makes this one of the longest. Each episode is 30 minutes each, and you'll never look at your watch. Of course it has the typical rich man poor woman relationship, and awkward relationships between opposite types of people throughout. The thing that is different is I think its a little bit more subtle in this show. Its not as "obnoxiously" obvious.

The plot is so complex because there are so many characters. So I will only touch base on the main characters in this post. Maybe I'll delv into the other sub plots later.

The two main characters are Na Dan Poong (played by Han Ji Hye) and Kang Baek Ho (Kim Ji Suk). Na Dan Poong is a very ambitious young lady working at Bonjour Foods. She just receives a promotion to Team Manager and has everything going for her. Kang Baek Ho is pretty much a bum. Spends his poor mother's money, literally they are poor. So the main plot is the relationship between these two. Anyone who is familiar with Korean Dramas will see this happening from the start, however, someone new to the K-Drama scene might not see it at first. These two are total opposites and Na Dan Poong is totally "put off" by Kang Baek Ho. But as the episodes go by, you can see Na Dan Poong slowly change her opinion of Kang Baek Ho. I love seeing these things develop (I realize that sounds kind of feminine...but Im secure enough that I can admit that).

I love Kim Ji Suk in this series. When you can't understand what they are saying you really focus on facial expressions and throughout the entire series, he has some expressions that totally cracked me up!

I think Im in love with Han Ji Hye. Again, when you can't understand the dialogues you focus on the faces...and I realized I could pretty much sit and look at Han Ji Hye face all day. Similar to Kim Ji Suk, Han Ji Hye has some great facial expressions in this show.

Call me a sucker, but I always like the "good" characters in the show. Baek Ho is lazy and messes up sometimes, but he always means well. Dan Poong, well, she's pretty much perfect. Seriously, in the show, she is pretty much perfect. We'll have to keep watching if she ever makes a mistake!

Anyways, I am thrilled to be starting this drama and with 150 episodes Im sure I'll have a lot to write about!

On a side note: Episode 13 confirmed my love for this show. Midway through the episode (the last seconds of Episode 13 part 1/2 on www.mysoju.com), Dan Poong decides she has had a hard day and treats herself to dinner. Guess where she goes! Gamjatang!! MY FAVORITE Food!!! It was awesome, I was watching the show when they show the sign of the restaurant across the full screen! I jumped out of my chair and rewound the episode so I could confirm that the sign read Gamjatang! It was awesome..yes, I think too much about food...lol

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