KARA's SeungYeon in New Drama "Her Lovely Heels"

Han SeungYeon as Ji Hoo in Her Lovely Heels

  With all the dramatics going on within the KARA camp, with the news of both Nicole and Jiyoung departing and the possibility of two new members joining, it’s nice to hear that the remaining girls are still keeping busy with things and just this week, the new mini-drama Her Lovely Heels just started, starring my own KARA bias, my beloved SeungYeon!

  Episodes One and Two ran today and our dear Hamtaro looks as lovely as can be! The story of Her Loevey heels is about a shy, naïve girl who is inexperienced in love, and as main character Ji Hoo, Seungyeon exudes this sweet, natural beauty about her, a true breath of fresh air!!!

 The sweet, wide-eyed gazes she makes and the stunned confused reactions when things go topsy-turvy are too adorable, and you know, throughout both episodes, she kept reminding me of someone, and a the halfway point, I realized who it was- actress Mirei Kiritani! Maybe not in looks per se, but definitely in attitude! Too Cute!

Ahhhn, crossing my fingers that someone can translate this show!!!! Granted, it’s a sweet little show that is so basic in premise I can follow along with the story fairly well, but I just KNOW I’m missing out on all the little things that make up a fun script! Not sure how “popular’ this drama is, but I noticed that there were about 826 seeders sharing the show, so I know that the INTEREST is definitely out there!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Even Forum Signatures Have to Move with the Times

  I didn't follow too many fan forums until I got into K-pop so the first time I ever created a "signature", (that piece of text or picture that's at the end of your comments) it was for the Allkpop site with K-pop idols KARA and Girls Generation.
  The Girls Generation sig was two screencaps of my faves Jessica (and Yuri, who was, at the time, my number 2 bias in SNSD) with attention to their nicknames, the Ice Princess and Black Pearl:

Well I hadn't been on any forums much this past year, (and actually, in that time the Allkpop site has long since gone south) but when I joined the new-ish site at KAYO, I found that in the time since I'd been actively involved, the gif had replaced the picture for almost 99.9% signatures, making my old SNSD signature seem sorely out-of-date! 
  I wanted to create a gif but still wanted to use the same Jessica image, so in the end, I had to go BACK to the original source, the girls' First Japan Concert Tour DVD. Locating the performance the image of Jessica was lifted from (I'm In Love With The HERO), I was able to isolate the video of Jessica making her "Smiling" gesture and turn it into the newfangled Sica gif you see below!

ALL HAIL THE ICE PRINCESS

Gotta say, after all these years of seeing just the frozen screencap, it's rather enjoyable commenting and then seeing Jessica's lovely features "smiling" for me every time! Ain't technology grand?
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sweet and Sexy Fun with Ishihara Satomi in "Shitsuren Chocolatier"

Online Shitsuren Chocolatier synopsis: 

“Koyurugi Sota has been in love with Takahashi Saeko since High School, but she has never returned his affections. Knowing her love of Gourmet Chocolates, Sota goes to Paris to become a world-renown chocolatier in hopes of winning her over.  When he returns to Japan to open his own shop, however, he finds that Saeko is in the process of getting married! Normally, one would give up the chase, but Saeko, who is a bit dense about things, seems to lead Sota on with her actions, encouraging him to continue vying for her heart!”

They had me at “She is a bit dense”. Because, you know, Satomi Ishihara + pretty clothes + ditsy airhead= HEAVEN! LOL! MAN, I HAD to check this one OUT!!!

So far everything in this drama is as promised, with Satomi Ishihara doing her BEST Ayase Haruka "deer in the headlights” spacey stare while looking so lusciously delicious you could eat her up like a chocolate truffle, naively angelic at the same time giving off these HOT, sexually-charged vibes! When Sota says "I thought we were dating", Saeko innocently purrs, "But we didn't have sex!" LOL!

 Matsumoto Jun, on the other hand seems to be channeling Mirei Moriyama in “Moteki”, as an affable guy who has the misfortune of being in love with a clueless girl that takes his emotions on a rollercoaster ride every time he sees her! After announcing ehr engaement, she shows up at his house in this SHORT little dress, making both Sota's and MY eyes bug out! How much teasing can a guy take?

Also along for the fun is Mizukawa Asami, whom you all know I love very much, sadly, here she’s pitted as the “Unrequited Love” case i.e. the one who secretly loves Sota while he spends his time chasing after Saeko. Sorry Asami, but in a situation like this, you are certain to lose! Better to settle for co-star Junpei Mizobata.

All in all, it’s been interesting so far, and kind of cool to see Satomi and Matsujun working together in a drama again, last time they were in “Kimi Wa Petto”, the situation was reveresed, with humble Satomi as the one in love with Matsujun (who was, of course, too busy being Koyuki’s dog to reciprocate! LOL) Seems like what goes around, comes around!

Matsumoto Jun and Ishihara Satomi in 2003's Kimi Wa Petto...

...and together again in 2014!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

That Is One NUTTY Household: In-Law Craziness With "Otome-San"

Loving both actresses Aibu Saki and Kuroki Hitomi (and to a lesser degree, even Sawa Suzuki and Usuda Asami), I was eager to dive into this "psychological thriller" Otome-San, which pits the Mother-in-law Asako (Kuroki) against her new daughter-in-law Ririka (Aibu) but so far the plot and situations have been more like "Double Kitchen" on steroids than a domestic "Shinzanmono". 

Aibu Saki as Ririka

Kuroki Hitomi as Asako

With all the drama heaped onto this dish including police investigators looking for a missing man, cheating husbands, snooping neighbors, apathetic friends and enough secret double living for TWO shows, it's becoming one big mess of NUTTINESS, and I'm just waiting to see when the show will "settle down" and start sailing on a more even keel...

Suzuki Sawa confers with Kuroki Hitomi

Usuda Asami slyly seduces...

While Junichi Ishida gives his best Jinnai Takanori Impression

 Going to watch the second episode and see if this gets any better, but frankly, things are looking pretty grim so far...

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday, Subin!

Today's the birthday of Dal Shabet's outspoken maknae, one of the most un-maknae-ish maknaes out there! As the one who's also the tallest in the group, she is fond of saying "I'm Subin- raising the average height of Dal Shabet and lowering the average age!"LOLOL

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Stunning Jun Jihyun

Jun JiHyun as Cheon Song-Yi in You Who Came From The Stars

Oh my GOD I am crushing SO HARD for Korean actress Jun Jihyun right now! Arghhh, I know it’s only been 6 episodes so far of her incredibly awesome drama YOU WHO CAME FROM THE STARS, but those 6 episodes have been like 6 WEEKS in a freaking haze of crushing ADORATION! You know, I KNEW I was going to like her portrayal of sassy actress Cheon Song-Yi from the first time I saw her, but I never could have imagined it would grow deeper with every episode! As the show went on, I found myself liking her more and more til it turned into a full-blown LOVE!

What it is, I think, is that she’s like the perfect balance of beautiful goddess and helpless Damsel In Distress- Jun Jihyun, as gorgeous Song-Yi, is the total package- a jet-setter woman with devastating good looks, stylish to a “T”, sassy and sarcastic with her remarks and general attitude,  loud and bitchy to all around her, and yet behind closed doors, totally helpless, lonely and vulnerable, too. Part of you is in speechless awe of her Mightier-than-thou stature, yet at the same time you want to protect her, stroke her hair and absolutely hug her to pieces!

Each episode is just cram-packed with scenarios of Song-Yi in a variety of situations and moods, from calm to panicky, from sexy to silly, from confident to confused and OH! All those pretty outfits!!! Truly a fanboy's dream!

Signs of the modern age: What would current dramas do without cell phones? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure spoiled Song-Yi couldn't SURVIVE without one, a direct contrast to the introverted Minjoon, who still communicates via PAGER, LOL!

It’s what I call the “NaNa” effect, named after that lovesickness that struck me the first time I saw Aoi Miyazaki as Nana in the eponymously titled movie- I was in love with Aoi Miyazaki, yes, but more correctly, I was in love with her character NaNa… and it’s the same thing here- I’m thinking about Jun Jihyun ALL the time now, but or course, it’s her character Song-Yi that I’m really in love with!

LOL, What would YOU do if a buoyantly drunk Song-Yi showed up at YOUR door one late winter evening? Min Joon takes the high road.

When a case of appendicitis strikes, this girl shows that she can make even being bedridden look good! And no malady can keep that sass outta her demeanor, either!

When fate decides to have Song-Yi as an unwanted houseguest of Minjoon’s for a ew days, the gag is supposed to be  an “Odd Couple” clash of wills with the neat and fastidious Minjoon having to deal with the careferee and slobby Song-Yi, but you can’t fool ME…No guy could resist this much CUTENESS and PLAYFULNESS, and sure enough, when she finally moves back home you can see in his eyes a bit of wistful wanting there...Take this case example-Minjoon coming home to find SongYi doing circulation excercises to prevent bloating, and though he shakes his head and asks why she’s being such a fool, everyone knows part of him MUST be enchanted by her childish and rascally ways!

I love this one shot of the couple because their facial expressions say it all! Min Joon is clearly exasperated by dealing with the selfish and bossy demands of his houseguest, while Song Yi is thinking “My kingdom for some competent help!”

Holy CRAP, I have to say I REALLY didn’t expect this drama to blow me away as much as it did. But MAN, every episode is so damn good, I actually find myself marveling at how great it is WHILE I’m watching the show! I’ll be in the middle of n episode and chuckle to myself “This show is sooo freaking AWESOME!” I wasn’t kidding when I said that it might be one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen- it’s THAT good! Intriguing story that keeps you guessing, great scenes with great dialog,  great characters and a stellar bunch of actors, including a great lead actor…and a PERFECT leading LADY!! 

Kind of a funny thing is that I remember back when I was just starting to get into K-pop and visitng a freidn who worked at a record store, he had featured in his “Employee Pick of the Week” a new domestically released Korean movie called “The Thieves”, and I was STUNNED at the luscious little vixen on the cover- 

“WHOA….Who the heck is THAT?!” I asked in awe- “My friend replied back with a grin, “THAT, my friend, is Gianna Jun!” Imagine my surprise when I looked up Jun Jihyun’s credentials for this drama and found that she and Gianna Jun were one and THE SAME LADY!!!  So I’d actually lusted after her years and  YEARS ago!!! This Crush, it seems, was fated TO BE!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com