alexandral | Korean Boys Over Flowers + the Poll!!!

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Korean Boys Over Flowers + the Poll!!!

I think I am in complete minority with Korean BoF.

- I still like it very much; this drama is not in my top 5 but definitely is in my top 10-15 Korean dramas.

- I am still shipping JanDi/JunPyo. Gosh, Lee Min Ho is so gorgeous I will ship him with anyone until the ends of time.

- I don't ship Jan Di / Ji Hoo at all. This is a surprise for me because I had a soft spot for Lei/Shankai when he made the Meteor Garden for her, I shipped Rui/Makino with quite an obsession (I confess I even cried a bit at the end :D) and I really like Ji Hoo himself. But there is something in him that makes me think I would prefer to ship him with a boy and that moment he had with Jun Pyo sleeping in his bed sealed it.

- I am quite glad that we got a different version of the story and it is a Korean drama through and through, with over-the-top angst, mopping and all such things .

+ The only thing that is bad for me in Korean Boys Over Flowers is the herouine. I don't know if the problem for me is in her constant mopping because Makino did a fair bit of mopping in Japanese version too. I think I just don't like Jan Di, I don't see why Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo should like her, etc. etc. Koo Hye Sun looks older than the rest of the cast, I am not fond of her acting and she has a haircut that should be strictly banned from hairdressing.

Below is my attemp at a purely scientific poll I tried to make to find out your preferences:

[Poll #1363046]

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I have to admit, the jdrama is the only version I can say Ilike with any degree of honesty. I've never been able to be interested at all in the kdrama, hated the bit of the manga (or rather, I liked Makino, but loathed the men, and even if he had grown on me, I couldn't see myself liking him enough to sit through 30+ volumes of her having to deal with his issues) I read, and thought the first half of MG was ok, but the second half was mostly a case of horrified fascination for me. While I'm not as smitten with Barbie as everyone else is (she always strikes me as rather disinterested in her roles) I agree with the general consensus that Shancai is tougher than Makino. That same toughness, though, made it difficult for me to accept Shancai/Dao Ming Si, because the way it played out, it felt more like he wore her down than that he won her over. Plus, I never recovered from her "maybe it was my fault" monologue after he hits her, because it came across far too much like an abused wife/girlfriend defending her abuser, even though I know it wasn't the intent.

(As a tangent, I've also never understood why the various incarnations are always declared feminist for having a heroine who's tough and doesn't let people push her around, because that should be the expected norm, not an amazing, revolutionary shock. It just means it's doing one aspect better than other things do.)

Plus, I never recovered from her "maybe it was my fault" monologue after he hits her, because it came across far too much like an abused wife/girlfriend defending her abuser, even though I know it wasn't the intent.

I agree with you here - this scene is really terrible, I hated it and I just erased it out of my memory like a bad dream. It is bad enough that he hits her after he is in love with her and after there seem to be some changes in him (so these changes seem to be just temporary) but the worst is that "may be it is my fault" thinking of Shankai's. I just pretend that this scene doesn't exist because it is not fitting to the the way both characters were developing..

As a tangent, I've also never understood why the various incarnations are always declared feminist for having a heroine who's tough and doesn't let people push her around, because that should be the expected norm, not an amazing, revolutionary shock. It just means it's doing one aspect better than other things do.

It seems to be quite a change for usual dorama scenarios where even the best of girls usually need "saving". However, there are all sorts of more feminist mangas, even "Claymore" comes to mind.

The thing is that i could buy it as he does it, and then realizes how horrible it was and it was a changing point. Instead, it was just an excuse for some angst, and the way the show deliberately avoided it resulted in a standard setup for the beginning of an abusive relationship.

Shancai/Makino still needs saving too, though. Both versions (jdrama and twdrama) end up being more his story, dominated by his issues and problems, than hers, and I understand the manga is even moreso. The fact that she's what the norm should be doesn't makes it feminist. As far as anime and manga go, the only ones I'd label feminist off the tp of my head are Claymore, Basara, Skip-Beat, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Princess Tutu. (There are more, that I've read and otherwise, I'm just not immediately thinking of them.)

and then realizes how horrible it was and it was a changing point.

Actually, I think I seem to remember this was what happened - I am rewatching "Meteor Garden" now, I'll pay more attention. But I seem to rememebr that for Dao Min Sai this was the last time he ever hit her.. This doesn't make the inner monologue of an abused woman from Shankai any better.

Shancai/Makino still needs saving too, though. Both versions (jdrama and twdrama) end up being more his story, dominated by his issues and problems, than hers

I think you are right here, though I must say that both Makino and Shankai appear more in charge than he is.

Random butt in (hope you don't mind!), but I have to say, I have the same feelings about Barbie. I don't hate her, but I really don't why everyone loves her. I remember in one of those behind the scenes things in Corner with Love, she made her assistant run around after her with an umbrella so she wouldn't be in the sun for very long. I think it was then that I decided she was a bit too much of a primadonna for me.

Gosh, stories like that spoil my enjoyment of the actor's roles too.

I know. I wasn't a HUGE fan of hers before I saw that, but after I lost a lot of respect for her.

Hmm, I must say this affected me too.

Thing is, I don't know if this is normal behavior for asian actresses, because, you know, pale = beautiful to them. Otherwise Barbie seems like a smart, talented, beautiful, generally nice person. But honestly, even if this was normal behavior, I'd still have issues with it.

It's a rumor, but when I read this article (http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=561832) (where they speculated that the reason Barbie dropped out of Love or Bread was because she didn't want to put on weight, or act in a role where she wasn't a "princess"), I lost even more respect. Even if it isn't all true, there must be some truth in there somewhere for them to write the article. (On the other hand, it greatly intensified my love for Ariel Lin!)

I don't know - I don't think this kind of behavior would be normal ?

You now, I think - may be Barbie does such a good Shankai because of her personl qualities. It is very diffecult to imitate the nerves of steel and the spine of iron, IMHO.

Oh I've heard about that article. It's not that I'm defending Barbie or anything but I read somewhere that it really isn't true. There is some conflict with Barbie's schedule (i don't remember what it is though) so she wouldn't be able to film Love or Bread on the scheduled filming. I think she doesn't mind not being a princess, looking at her other roles. :)

I'm Asian as well and sadly, I've seen actresses who are much worse than Barbie. LOL.

Okay maybe I'm a bit biased :P ^_^v

I figured it wasn't really true, but the fact that people are speculating about it makes me think there might be a grain of truth. Also, some of it is my bias; I spent a long time studying acting, so I'm always impressed by actors who are willing to do go the distance for their parts. I've always admired Ariel for that reason.

I kinda guessed as much! The paleness thing seems so odd to me (here in the US, we're obsessed with being darker and more tan). I know the pale preference is rather universal in the entertainment industry, so I don't doubt there are other actresses who do it, I just haven't yet heard of any.

Hehehe! That's okay! I'm ridiculously biased towards my favorite drama actresses.

I think Barbie is a decent actress, and certainly much better than, say, Rainie Yang (who always strikes me as likable, but relying entirely on cuteness) or, frankly, any of F4, but she never seems to quite care about her roles.

I agree, Barbie is a fairly good actress (her role in Mars proved that to me), but she just gives me a relatively cold feeling.

she never seems to quite care about her roles.

that's one of the reasons why i really like her :) have you seen silk? they made her put some horrible makeup on to make her look um, dead and scary and she doesn't seem to mind.

I haven't seen Silk. I actually don't mesh too well with twdramas, it seems. As far as Barbie goes, I find it hard to be interested in something when the person playing the character I'm supposed to care about doesn't seem to care about the character, the product, or the audience.

OH WOW. I never heard about this! :( *gets shot* I actually know that she acts like a primadonna and everything, but I didn't expect that. I feel sad about it :(

Like I said to

alexandral, for all I know this could be normal asian actress behavior, but I'd probably still have some issues with it.

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Korean Boys Over Flowers + the Poll!!!

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