New IRIS Trailer

IRIS, the much anticipated 20 billion won mega-budget Korean spy drama starring Lee Byung-Hun (last seen as 'The Bad' in The Good, The Bad, The Weird), Kim Tae-Hee (unforgettable in Love Story In Harvard), Jung Jun-Ho, Kim Seung-Woo, Kim So-Yeon and singer-actor T.O.P. (from K-pop group Big Bang) is scheduled to be aired in September this year. And after viewing this trailer below, me thinks this drama looks as good as any big-budget movie and should be a real treat for K-Drama lovers :-)



Source: http://popseoul.com/2009/05/13/top-lee-byung-hun-kim-tae-hee-kim-so-yeon-in-iris/, http://wiki.d-addicts.com/IRIS

Tags: IRIS, Korean drama, trailer, Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Hee, drama series

More Boys Before Flowers News

The average ratings of the last episode (25th) of the hit Korean adaptation of Hana Yori Dango - Boys Before Flowers (or Boys Over Flowers), which aired on 31st March, was a very respectable 34.8%. And the all-time highest rating of the series was a staggering 42.9% (on the 18th episode)! By all accounts, Boys Before Flowers has been one of the more successful adaptations of Hana Yori Dango. With a combination of good-looking leads (arguably the most F4-like of all the F4s), flashy sets and high production standards, the series brought the manga to life like never before. And now there are two more adaptations coming up, the Mainland Chinese version is currently filming and a planned Hong Kong version is rumored to be in the works. Hana Yori Dango is going pan-Asia woo-hoo! I wonder if a Thai, Singaporean or Indian version will be next in line...

The Mainland Chinese adaptation, titled Meteor Rain, stars newcomers like Zhang Han as Murong Yun Hai (the Chinese version of Domyooji), Zheng Shuang as Chu Yu Xun (Makino) and Yu Hao Ming as Duanmu Lei (Rui). Check out the pics of Mainland China's F4 here and Makino here. This version will reportedly not just focus on the love stories of the protagonists like the other adaptations but will also be an "uplifting tale that shows the bravery and persistence of youths and the challenges they face" - ahem in other words, you can be sure that the main characters will all become wise and useful members of society at the end of the show haha. Adding this factor in may make the series a little too serious and moralistic for such a whimsical story like Boys but... who knows, it may still work out... If all goes well, the serial shoud be aired on Hunan TV this summer.

And according to a Chinese news article, there are rumours that Hong Kong's TVB station is also planning to make a series based on Boys, although to date there have been no official news on this. Rumored cast members include well established stars like Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue (as Domyoji), Taiwanese pop star Wu Zun (as Rui) and Hong Kong sweetie-pie Charlene Choi (as Makino). Hmm this cast is famous enough but aren't they a bit too er "mature" to play high school kids? But since these are just rumors, I guess there is no need to be too concerned about this as yet...

More drama news next time.

Source: http://news.cyworld.com/view/20090401n02159, http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Boys_Before_Flowers/Episode_Ratings, http://news.xinmin.cn/rollnews/2009/04/02/1767123.html, http://yule.baidu.com/tv/2009-03-23/113116218056.html, http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=604823

Tags: Boys Before Flowers, Boys Over Flowers, Meteor Rain, Liu Xing Yu, Hana Yori Dango, Korean drama series, Chinese drama series.

Korean Boys Before Flowers A Hit

Like its Taiwanese and Japanese predecessors , the latest drama serial adaptation of the hit Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango, on-air Korean drama Boys Before Flowers or Boys Over Flowers has become a huge hit in South Korea.

On its latest episode, Boys ratings of 25.9% even exceeded that of previous champ East Of Eden which registered 21.8% on the ratings chart*. The drama has also become the talk of the town with extensive media coverage. Lead actors Lee Min Ho who plays Goo Joon Pyo (Korean version of Domyouji), Kim Hyun Joong who plays Yoon Ji Ho (Rui), Kim Bum, Kim Joon and Koo Hye Sun who plays Geum Jan Di (Makino) have all seen their popularity ratings surge to new heights after the drama series started airing.

But it should surprise no one that Boys has become such a big hit, practically all adaptations of this classic manga have been extremely popular mainly because it has all the right ingredients to appeal to young women everywhere - four very good looking and very rich young men (collectively known as Flowers 4 or F4 because they are said to be as beautiful as flowers...), a timeless love story of rich but vulnerable young man falling for poor but spunky girl, a gorgeous dream-like school setting, and a host of colorful characters, all conspire to produce a sure-fire hit.

And there seems to be no let up in F4 fever, right after this South Korean version finishes its run, get ready for Mainland China's upcoming planned adaptation of Boys Over Flowers. The proposed name of this version is Meteor Rain (Liu Xing Yu) and will likely be 35 episodes long. No news yet on who will be playing the leads.

* Source: http://www.innolife.com/mlist.php?ac_id=14&ai_id=18760; http://ent.sina.com.cn/x/2009-01-24/12222355818.shtml

Pic from DramaWiki

Tags: Boys Over Flowers, Boys Before Flowers, Korean drama, Hana Yori Dango, Meteor Rain

Top 10 Highest-Rated Korean Dramas In 2008

Family dramas rule this year in Korean TV drama land. The majority of the Top 10 highest rated Korean drama serials in 2008 were family-themed dramas (mostly stories that depict relationship issues between husbands and wives, or mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law). Unlike last year when period dramas ruled, this year only two period dramas Lee San, Wind Of The Palace and Iljimae made it into the Top 10. Also, compared to last year, average viewership ratings fell across the board and only the top 3 drama serials achieved ratings of 30% and above - Likeable Or Not (also a Top 10 drama in 2007) (about 39%), Golden Era Of Daughter-In-Law (about 32%) and Lee San,Wind of the Palace (about 30%).

Here are the Top 10 Korean Drama Serials based on average viewership ratings according to the two main sources of viewership ratings in South Korea: AGB Nielson Media and TNS Media Korea. The two lists are mostly similar but there are still some minor differences.

AGB Nielson Media *	TNS Media Korea **
1. Likeable Or Not	Same
2. Golden Era Of Daughter-In-Law	Same
3. Lee San,Wind of the Palace	Same
4. You Are My Destiny	Mom Has Grown Horns
5. Golden Bride	First Wives Club
6. Mom Has Grown Horns	You Are My Destiny
7. First Wives Club	Golden Bride
8. New Heart	Same
9. East Of Eden	Same
10. I Am Happy	Iljimae

Tags: tv ratings, viewership ratings, likeable or not, lee san wind of the palace, top 10, korean drama, korean drama serials, korean drama series, highest rated dramas.

Source:
* http://www.koreaxu.com/thread-43257-1-1.html
** http://www.koreanstorm.com/main/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=13149

Korean Hana Yori Dango Cast Confirmed

The main cast of the Korean version of the hit manga Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) has been announced. Playing the female lead character of Makino Tsukushi is the very sweet Goo Hye Sun (of Pure 19 and King And I fame). And the super rich boys of her school a.k.a. F4 consists of Lee Min Ho (as hot-headed F4 leader Domyouji), Kim Hyun Joong from boy band SS501 as the quiet Rui, Kim Bum as Soujiro and Kim Joon as Akira.




As the story's setting has been changed to Korea, there will be some changes in the storyline and character names. Makino is now Yeon Woo, the daughter of the owner of a dry cleaning shop. Domyoji is Goo Joon Pyo, Rui Hanazawa is now Yoon Ji Hoo, Sojiro is So Lee Jung and Akira is Song Woo Bin. For a comparison between the manga, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean versions of F4, check out this blog post.

The drama serial is scheduled to be aired in December this year.

More info on Hana Yori Dango and other Korean drama series news can be found at my previous blog post here.

Source: http://sookyeong.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/korean-hana-yori-dango-main-casts-confirmed/, http://coolsmurf.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/male-casting-for-korean-hana-yori-dango-revealed/

Tags: Hana Yori Dango, Korean drama, Goo Hye Sun, F4, Boys Over Flowers, Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon.

More Korean Drama News...

On air Korean drama East Of Eden has been steadily climbing up the ratings chart hitting a high of 26.3% last Tuesday and 25.8% this Monday. With 40 more episodes to go, East Of Eden may yet hit a new high in its ratings.

Other dramas that have been performing well and moving rapidly up the charts include Jumong star Song Il Gook's 36-episode period drama The Kingdom Of The Winds (pic), a sequel of sorts to Jumong as Song plays Moo Hyul, Jumong's grandson and another great king in Korean history. Whether Kingdom Of The Winds can match Jumong's popularity remains to be seen but it sure looks like Song Il Kook has cornered the market for "great historical king" roles after his star turn in Jumong ;-)

And there is going to be another remake of the hit manga Hana Yori Dango, this time a Korean version. Hana Yori Dango is so well-loved that practically all the live-action remakes of the manga so far have been massive hits. The Taiwanese version (Meteor Garden) launched the careers of the Jerry Yen and Barbie Hsu. The Japanese version raised the showbiz careers of Matsumoto Jun (Domyoji), Oguri Shun (Rui) and Inoue Mao (Makino) to new heights, especially Oguri Shun who is incredibly popular in Japan right now.

The Korean version scheduled to air either at the end of the year or next spring will have 24 episodes and although the cast has not been officially announced, it is widely rumored that popular boyband SS501's Kim Hyun Joong has been cast as Hanazawa Rui. No news yet on the rest of the cast...

Another Korean TV drama serial that has the public buzzing is Song Hye-Kyo's comeback drama after 2004's Full House - The World They Live In (or Worlds Within). Also starring Hyun Bin, all that I managed to find out about the plot is that it is about lives of two directors who are played by Hyun Bin and Song Hye-Gyo respectively. The drama is currently in production and is scheduled to debut in October this year.

And yet another highly anticipated comeback drama is Lee Byung Hun's big-budget spy thriller IRIS which is currently in pre-production. According to this site, the drama has a budget of US$22 million and there will be location shoots in the United States, Japan, Russia and China! Whew, this is even bigger than East of Eden! Lee Byung Hun is said to be currently preparing for his role in the drama (source). And... I am already tingling with excitement ;-)

Picture from http://wiki.d-addicts.com/The_Kingdom_of_The_Winds.

Tags: Korean Drama Series, Korean drama serials, korean dramas, new dramas, upcoming dramas, television ratings, East Of Eden, Kingdom Of The Winds, Song Il Gook, Hana Yori Dango, Song Hye Kyo, Hyun Bin, The World They Live In, IRIS, Lee Byung Hun.

New Korean Drama - East Of Eden

One of 2008's most highly anticipated Korean drama series East Of Eden will premiere this Monday in South Korea. This big-budget 50-episode drama has a star-studded cast comprising of some of the top names in the K-drama industry including Song Seung Hun (in his comeback drama after 2003's Summer Scent), Lee Da Hae (of My Girl fame), Yun Jong Hun, Park Hae Jin, Han Ji Hye (of Sweet 18 fame), Lee Yeon Hee and Dennis Oh. The producers and the TV station head honchos are obviously very confident that East Of Eden will be a hit cos the first two episodes will be aired concurrently on 26th August (An East Of Eden Special episode will be aired on the 25th), a very special arrangement that is reserved only for mega-budget dramas like this.



The drama has taken half a year to shoot (and still filming as of now) and cost 25 billion won (about US$24 million) to produce. On location shooting in some of the most scenic spots in Hong Kong, Macau and Japan means that even if the plot does not appeal to you, the scenery will be fantastic :-P

The plot promises to have all the elements of a good soap opera: good looking guys that just so happen to be born on the same day, mistaken identities, avenging heroes, beautiful heroines, complicated love triangles, jealousy, unrequited love etc. etc.... In fact, the plot reminded me of the highly dramatic Korean drama serials that were so popular a few years ago (e.g. Lee Byung Hun's All In), the only question now is whether the audience will still take to such stories today?

Well, whatever the outcome, we can be sure that this drama will milk our tear ducts and be the talk of the town while it is being aired. Here is the trailer of the drama that I found on YouTube. Really dramatic neh....

Image from http://koreanbox.blogspot.com/2008/08/east-of-eden-drama-promotional-posters.html.

Tags: East Of Eden, korean drama, new drama series, Song Seung Hun, Lee Da Hae, Yun Jong Hun, Park Hae Jin, Han Ji Hye, Lee Yeon Hee, Dennis Oh.

Winter Sonata And Full House Are Back... As Anime

Following the success of the animated version of Dae Jang Geum - Jang Geum's Dream, animated versions of another two highly popular Korean dramas - Winter Sonata and Full House are currently in production and will be released in 2009.

The animated version of Winter Sonata will consist of 26 episodes and will have the original stars of the drama series Bae Yong-Joon and Choi Ji-Woo reprising their roles as the star-crossed lovers - Joon Sang and Yoo Jin.

Here is the trailer for the animated verion of Winter Sonata that I found on YouTube. I think that it is pretty well made and manages to capture the atmosphere of the drama serial very well. Really, when Bae Yong-Jun calls out "Yoo Jin ah" in the trailer and the theme song starts playing, I am transported back to the scenes in the drama immediately... some good memories there ... :-)



Another drama that is going to be made into an anime is Full House the 2004 hit Korean drama starring Rain and Song Hye-Kyo. Originally a manhwa (Korean manga), it was made into a drama serial and now it is going to made into a full-fledged anime. At the moment, I can't find any news on whether Rain or Song Hye-Gyo will be lending their voices to the anime but regardless, if the animated version is able to capture the spirit and exquisite comic timing of the two leads in the drama serial, I will definitely be looking forward to this animated version ;-)

Till next time...

Source: http://www.innolife.com/mlist.php?ac_id=14&ai_id=16246, http://www.asianpopcorn.com/default.asp?display=1825, http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3284.

Tags: Winter Sonata,animated version, animation, anime, Full House, Bae Yong Jun, Choi Ji Woo, Rain, Song Hye Kyo, korean drama series.

Most Anticipated Upcoming Korean and Japanese Dramas

What are the East Asian drama serials to look out for in the upcoming months ahead? I was asking myself that question and decided to look for some clues from the net and here is what I found:

Korean drama series:

East Of Eden

Anticipation Score: 3.5/5

This is Korean heartthrob Song Seung Hun's comeback drama after his military service stint and his first drama after 2003's Summer Scent. It will be interesting to see how he has matured since his tragic hero days in Summer Scent and Autumn In My Heart (aka An Autumn Tale or Endless Love). And the storyline seems pretty dramatic: spanning from the 60's to the 21st century, it tells the life stories of two men born on the same day in a hospital but switched at birth (hmmm sounds suspiciously like a male version of Autumn In My Heart). The other guy, his rival in the show, is played by the equally good looking Yun Jung Hoon of Yellow Handerchief and Sad Love Story (aka Forever and Ever or Sad Love Song) fame.

This is going to be a big-budget project, it will be 50 episodes long and there will be international on-location shoots in China, Hong Kong, Japan etc. Filming is scheduled to start in March and it will likely be aired in Korea in June.

Daemul

Anticipation Score: 3/5 (if Lee Young Ae is in it: 4/5)

This drama attracted much attention earlier cos of rumours that Dae Jang Geum star Lee Young Ae will be acting as a female president in this drama serial! Since then there has been no further news on this that I know of but Kwon Sang Woo of Stairway To Heaven fame has been cast as the male lead. According to Dramawiki, he will play a male socialite who is ordered to create a scandal to bring down a woman aspiring to be South Korea's first female president. Lee Young Ae as President?? Kwon Sang Woo as a male socialite?? This I must watch haha ;-)

On Air

Anticipation Score: 3/5

Seems some of the hottest hunks from the golden period of weepy Korean romantic dramas in the early 2000s are making a comeback with a vengence... Besides Song Seung Hun's comeback drama East Of Eden, we have Park Yong Ha(Winter Sonata) making his return to Korean dramas in On Air. This drama starts airing in March and also stars popular actors and actresses like Lee Beom Soo, Song Yoon Ah and Kin Ha Neul (best known for her role as the klutzy tutor in 2003's My Tutor Friend). Popular stars like Lee Hyo Ri will also be making guest appearances in the drama.

Ths story is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a TV drama. A drama set in a drama? Interesting... For more info on this drama, check out this news report.

Iljimae / Il Ji Mae

Anticipation Score: 3.5/5

After his star-making turns in 2005's The King And The Clown and My Girl, any production that stars the interestingly androgynous looking Lee Joon Ki seems to attract lots of attention. This time he plays the lead role of Iljimae (picture), a legendary Korean robber who seems to be like Robin Hood and Zorro combined, he steals from the corrupt rich to give to the poor (like Robin Hood) then leaves his special mark (a branch from a plum tree) to let all and sundry know that he did it (like Zorro). This historical 20 episode drama is scheduled to be aired at the end of 2008.


Japanese Drama Series

Kimura Takuya's yet unnamed drama

Anticipation Score: 4/5

Ever since practically every one of Kimura Takuya's dramas have been ratings champs, his television dramas are regarded as almost sure hits by the public. And this April, the television dorama that he will be acting in may be an even bigger hit compared to all his previous television dramas. Why? Cos he will be acting as the Prime Minster of Japan! What with Lee Young Ae as President of South Korea and now Kimura Takuya as Prime Minister of Japan? Whew!! Go Go Prime Minister Kimura! I for one will surely vote for you ;-)

Another reason why I think this drama will be a ratings champ is because this drama is made by the team that gave us the super popular Hero. The drama also stars Fukatsu Eri as the Prime Minister's romantic love interest.

Gokusen 3

Anticipation Score: 2.5/5

This is the third series of the highly popular Gokusen high school drama series - Gokusen 1 in 2001 and Gokusen 2 in 2005. Gokusen 2 was especially popular, garnering a high rating of 32.5% and winning the Best Drama Series in the 44th Television Drama Academy Awards. Stands to reason that Gokesen 3 will be just as hot as the main cast members will all be reprising their roles. Gokusen 3 will be aired in April as well.

Rookies

Anticipation Score: 2.5/5

Since baseball is so popular in Japan and manga is also so incredibly hot, a live action version of the popular manga series on baseball by Masanori Morita should of course be a hit... well at least I think so ;-P The story is about how a high school teacher hones a motley bunch of delinquents into baseball champs. The manga series ran from from 1998 to 2003 and 12 million copies have been sold so far. And another reason why it will be hot, the number of episodes is not confirmed, in other words, the show can go on as long as needed! This means that it is popular, they will just continue filming and it can only get more popular as time goes by. This drama will start airing in April too.

Ok so this is my list of most anticipated Korean and Japanese drama serials in the upcoming months ahead, I wanted to add in the Chinese language drama serials as well to this list but as this is becoming such a long post, I think I will leave those to my next post...

Until next time :-)

[Picture from http://seouldelight.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/drama-il-ji-mae/]

Tags: upcoming korean dramas, upcoming japanese dramas, korean drama series, japanese drama series, drama serials, east of eden, song seung hun, daemul, kwon sang woo, lee young ae, on air, park yong ha, iljimae, lee jun ki, lee joon ki, kimura takuya, rookies, gokusen 3.

War Of Money - hottest Korean drama serial now

War Of Money is currently the most popular Korean drama serial airing in South Korea now based on its TV ratings. Starring Park Shin-yang, who starred as the romantic bespectacled tycoon in Lovers in Paris, Park Jin-hee of Come Back Soon-Ae! fame, Shin Dong-wook and Kim Jung-hwa, War of Money is about how an ordinary (but still bespectacled) stock analyst played by Park Shin-yang runs into financial hard times and decides to learn to become a ruthless loan shark so that he can make lots and lot of moolah... hmmm... seems to me he should just trade in stocks instead since he is a stock analyst and Warren Buffet definitely makes more than the general loanshark haha ;-P

With society's general fixation with money, it's no wonder this drama serial has been hitting high ratings of over 30% ever since it started airing on 16 May, hitting a high of 35.5% on 21 June for its 12th episode. It also provides a welcome break from the humdrum romantic dramas and comedies that the South Korean TV stations have been producing these last few years.

Check out this entertaining MV of the main theme of the drama serial that I found on Youtube.




Information from:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2876416
http://chinese.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/06/22/20070622000035.html

Tags: War of Money, Korean drama, Korean drama serial, Park Shin-yang, Park Jin-hee, Shin Dong-Wook, SBS.

The Two Versions Of Hwang Jin Yi

Korea's legendary gisaeng Hwang Jin Yi or Hwang Jini is moving from the small screen to the big screen this June. While the TV drama serial had Ha Ji Won (top pic) playing the beautiful and talented 16th century gisaeng (female entertainer), the movie will star sweetie pie Song Hye Kyo (bottom pic) in the title role.


It is certainly going to be a challenging role for Song as prior to this movie her roles have mostly been female leads in romantic comedies (e.g. Full House) or dramas that had relatively straightforward story lines and not all that much character development. But she will certainly need to exercise her acting chops this time round as Hwang Jini was a complex character and had a dramatic life story. Ha Ji Won managed to win the prestigious KBS Acting Awards' Dae Sang with her portrayal of Hwang Jin Yi.


Who will be the more memorable Hwang Jin Yi? Well, its too early to say as the movie is not out yet but I managed to find the trailer for Song Hye Kyo's Hwang Jini on You Tube and you can judge for yourself. Enjoy the trailer and watch out for the movie :-)












[Pictures from YesAsia and http://yummycelebrities.com/2007/03/01/song-hye-kyo-finished-filming-hwang-jin-i/]


Tags: Hwang Jin Yi, Hwang Jini, Korean Movie, Song Hye Kyo, Ha Ji Won, Korean Drama Serial.

Goong Theme Song From Radio.Blog.Club

Just a short post...

I know I am really slow in catching up with things :-P but its only today that I came across a really great website Radio.Blog.Club that has lots of music from East Asian movies and TV dramas. Just click on the Play button below and you will hear one of the theme songs from popular Korean drama Goong that is from this website (a personal favorite of mine).

Will be back with more substantial posts soon :O)

Cheers!




Tags: Goong, princess hours, theme song, soundtrack, korean drama, drama serial, drama series, radio blog club.

Heroines In Modern Korean TV Dramas

Have you noticed the change in the personalities of the lead female characters in modern Korean TV dramas in the last few years?

When the Korean Wave first exploded from 2001 to 2003, the heroines in the most popular dramas during that period were usually sweet and gentle girl-next-door types that somehow had extremely tragic destinies. However, they still maintained their sweet smiles and stoic optimisim even in the most difficult circumstances, which of course made the situation look even more tragic in the audience's eye. Classic examples include Eun-Suh (played by Song Hye-Gyo) from Autumn In My Heart AKA Endless Love, Yun-Hee (Kim Hyun-Ju) from Glass Slippers and Han Jung-Suh (Choi Ji-Woo) from Stairway To Heaven. If you want to enjoy a good cry, try watching these dramas, especially Autumn :-P

But since about one or two years ago, the producers must have realised that audiences were getting tired of the unrelenting tragedy in their dramas, possibly signalled by falling ratings in similar dramas and decided to make more light hearted dramas. In came the comical, down-to-earth but klutzy heroines such as Kim Sam-Soon (Kim Sun-A) from My Lovely Sam Soon, Yoo-rin (Lee Da-Hae) from My Girl and Ji-Eun (Song Hye-Gyo again) from Full House. Besides the usual comedic but sometimes touching romantic entanglements with the male lead characters, these modern misses mostly do not have painful pasts or tragic destinies like their sisters in earlier dramas. They are more like Asian versions of Ally McBeal and Bridget Jones... and immediately struck a chord with young Asian women who identified with the characters' struggles and problems.

The success of these light-hearted dramas in terms of ratings showed that perhaps this is the road to TV drama land success for Korean drama serials at the moment. However, who knows, there may come a time in the near future when weepy dramas launch a comeback with a new vengence haha....

Technorati Tags: Korean Drama, TV Drama, Korean Drama Serials, Modern Korean Drama.