Heirs

I'm going to be honest, I didn't watch the last four episodes of Heirs, I literally couldn't do it, so I just read the recaps on Dramabeans. For the last six or eight episodes, I had been falling behind because I just didn't care about anything that the drama was doing. Tan and Young Do are fighting over Eun Sang? You mean like the million other times it happened, cool. Dad is an annoying dirt bag? Seen it. Oh, people are crying again, awesome, I should probably be feeling sad about this. Tan and Eun Sang are fighting again, how original.

This drama was so drawn out and because the story wasn't going anywhere fast, every episode just felt like a repeat of the last. In the end, the Chairman got sick, Madam Jung made her move, Young Do started to be honest with himself, Won started to be a better person, why didn't that happen in the middle instead during the last three or four episodes?

I have been thinking about Boys Over Flowers a lot in this drama because that was also really drawn out and you just wanted everyone to stop dragging their feet and confess and stop being incredibly annoying. At least with BOF though, it was funny so you almost forgot that the drama was staying in the same place, almost. Heirs was just so full of drama and tears though it was a lot  more noticeable that we were stuck in the same place because amid the monotony, there was nothing fun to take you mind from it.

The story  

I was pretty excited when I heard that this drama was going to come out, even though I did think that it might just be a rehashed BOF. Even if it was that, maybe Heirs could fix the things that didn't quite go right in BOF.

The first hook in this drama is the fact that Lee Min Ho is playing the main character. That is probably one of the best ways to get anyone to watch or buy anything. Then to make the deal even sweeter, the second male lead is Kim Woo Bin. The two of them used to be friends, but they had a falling out and now they hate each other.

Two angst ridden men, sounds good. This can also grab the people who watched School 2013 in the hopes that they can see another budding bromance to rival that of Kim Woo Bin and Lee Jong Suk. Yeah, right, that could never happen.

These two boys are fighting over the poor, yet spunky, Cha Eun Sang. She meets Tan in California and Young Do in Korea and they are both fighting for her affection. I have come to accept this in dramas, the boys fighting over the girl, but the reason that this rubbed me the wrong way is because it was almost like Eun Sang wasn't even a person to them. She was the prize in their contest to see who had the most testosterone.

Eun Sang also lost all that spunk that she had in the beginning. I liked her for that because she seemed to be able to take care of herself, but in the end, she became that girl that let herself be wrist dragged from one person to the next.

Something that I did like about the story, at least at first, was all the allusions that were made to Joseon in these chaebol groups. These students weren't allowed to be children, they were always the successor to "the throne" and they were expected to act in such a way that would not embarrass their parents. There was also the arranged marriage of Tan and Rachel and company merger weddings. Then we also had Madam Han the "concubine" who was woman of the house, but nothing more.

I really did like all this in the beginning, but along with everything else that happened in the story, it got old and boring by the end.

The only thing that I liked about this drama from beginning to end was Chan Young and Bo Na's relationship. In a sea of unhappy people, they loved each other and that was a very welcome breath of fresh air.

The characters 

And, oh man, are there characters. I'm going to separate the characters that I liked from the characters that I didn't like to make everything a little more interesting. Let's do this.

Characters that I liked 

So these are the "kids" and adults that I liked in the drama. For some reason I really liked Young Do's character. Yes, he was a giant turd bucket, but he was such a sad character and you could see why he was that way as well. He was kind of a tragic villain and I am a sucker for a tragic villain.

Here we also have the only good couple in the drama, Chan Young and Bo Na. They were happy and they cared about each other and there wasn't any wrist grabbing either. Whenever they were on screen, especially Bo Na (after I realized that she wasn't a terrible person), everything seemed better.

Lastly for the kids, we have two rather minor, yet good, characters, Myung Soo and Hyo Shin. Myung Soo, like Bo Na and Chan Young was a breath of fresh air in this angst ridden drama. He was so happy and ridiculous I knew that something funny would happen when he was on screen. He is the Jeremy in this drama. Then we have Hyo Shin. He is so sad, but I loved him and I don't know why. I'm glad that he was able to have a good, I guess it can be called that, ending.

Now we have the adults and our lady romance of the drama. Why isn't there a female equivalent to bromance? These two were amazing together and it was cute to see them interact because you knew that they needed each other, but they would never admit it.

There is also one honorable mention in this category and that goes to Jay the Surfer.

Even though he is every single Southern California stereotype wrapped up into one awkward character, he has a special place in my heart.

Characters that I didn't like or didn't care about 

And here is a visual of why I was bored of the drama, I disliked a lot more than I liked, and many of those people were the main characters. 

To be perfectly frank, Tan and Eun Sang were really annoying. Tan was way too mopey and he had trouble putting his plans into action. He always talked about escaping, but then when he did, he would end up giving up. He also treated Eun Sang like she was his possession more than a person which is not okay. This isn't just his fault though because Eun Sang let herself be tossed around between Tan and Young Do. She was more teary and ridiculous than Tan was and that made me even more angry. 

Finally, with Rachel, I did feel bad for her for about a hot second and then I just stopped caring about her. Sometimes feelings of sympathy would pop up because she really did like Tan and Tan was a giant jerk to her, but she was a giant jerk back. She almost made it to the like category, but, meh. I can't say that I like or dislike her, she just is.

Now, with all those adults, I wish I cared about them, especially Secretary Yoon, he also almost made it to the "like" section. They were just there and were mostly an annoyance to move the plot forward because apparently the kids in the drama were unable to do anything on their own.

Final thoughts

I'm really bad at saying "don't watch a drama". I always hesitate and say, "you can watch it if you want, but just know......." because there is always something that someone is going to like, but I cannot say that for this drama. I'm sure that there are some people that like it, (the rating sure said so) but I couldn't even finish it.

I was excited for it in the beginning, but by the end, I had no emotional connection to the drama and I felt that it was a waste of my life. The only way that I would have finished it is if I spoke Korean or if I had a dubbed version because then I could at least do other things around the house while I watched it.

This drama was hyped so much and I was cautiously excited for it, but now I'm just sad, especially since I was also let down by Mi Rae's Choice. Hopefully the drama that is taking Heirs time slot, My Lover From the Stars, will be good because I don't know how much more disappointment I can take.

~ Alora

Heirs - First Impressions

Well you guys, it has finally begun; and when I say finally, I mean FINALLY because holy crap we have been hearing about this drama since freaking March. MARCH! But now we have the question, will all the hype that we have been getting match up to what the drama will give us in the end? We'll see.

After watching the first two episodes, I think that I can say that I am optimistic about this drama. Aside from the fact that there are painful English stereotypes and actors galore, I have liked it. I'm sure that Asian people think the same thing about Asian actors in American movies though. There are really only three main parts to fill: the beautiful male martial artist, the beautiful female martial artist, (these parts can be either good or evil) or the dorky male friend.

This particular white guy has really struck a chord with me though and I am a little sad that he is probably gone forever. Even though he was a little painful to watch, he was probably one of the best English speaking actors that I have ever seen in a K-drama. I'll miss you surfer bro. We also have almost matching hairstyles which is both funny and a little weird.

One thing that I really like from this drama is that even though it is a modern drama, there are definite sageuk chords that are being played. All of these young adults, or heirs, are working to take their parents place as head of the family business when they come of age. This also ties into one of main issues with Min Ho's older half brother chasing him out of the house so there would be no competition for his succession to the "throne", or dad's business. There are also business merger marriages, both old and young, and there is a live in mistress in Tan's (Lee Min Ho's) household. She is really only there so that the real wife can keep an eye on here, but mistress she was none the less.

I am also liking all the characters that we have been introduced to and let me tell you, there are a lot. I guess that also adds to the feel that this is a little sageuk-y.

Thus far, I really like Lee Min Ho's character. He is not your usual male lead in the sense that he is a jerk that you would like to Falcon Punch in the face. He puts up a front of nonchalance and a play/party boy attitude, but in reality he is really just kind of sad and lonely.

 
Then we have Park Shin Hye's character who sadly is jut your average, poor, female lead. I do like that she is spunky and that she initiated the female wrist grab (something not often seen in a Kdrama), but there doesn't seen to be anything deeper to her character.

Then, of course, you have the crap ton of other character that this drama gives you and here are some of the main young actors with a two word description of how I feel about them.

Choi Jin Hyuk - Jerk half-brother (to Min Ho)

 Kim Woo Bin - Terrible person

Kim Ji Won - Terrible Person (fiancee to Min Ho)

Kang Min Hyuk - Best friend(?) (to Park Shin Hye) Krystal - Needy Girlfriend (to Min Hyuk)

There are a few other characters as well, but I haven't been given enough information about them to sum them up in two words yet. If it continues is the way you see above though, they will probably all be jerks as well.

So, yeah, that's the first two episodes of Heirs severely boiled down into a few paragraphs. I am excited to keep watching and hopefully it just gets better from here. 

~ Alora

Boys Over Flowers

How does one go about writing about this drama? It was a pop culture phenomenon and total hot mess of a drama that skyrocketed these actors into stardom. It also brought together this group of misfits called the F4Plus1 working on this blog. This may not have been the first drama that we all watched as group, but it is the drama that we always come back to and holds a special place in our hearts.

As the original five of us started along this road towards Korea we discovered that we were like our own little reverse F4. We had four girls and boy and we thought, why not. Let’s roll with this and see where it takes us. It may not take us anywhere fantastic in the world, but what better way to keep in touch and maybe make some K-poper stumbling along on the internet smile, should they find this blog.

There is something to be said for loving something like K-pop and dramas. Whether it says that the person in question is delusional, patient, or maybe a little of both is up to the one viewing that fan. It doesn’t matter what that viewer thinks though because all that matters is that that fan is enjoying themselves and has found something that inspires them to do something as silly as starting a blog that most likely no one will ever see other than those people that are working on it and sympathetic friends.

Now if we’re all done sharing our feelings, let’s talk about this drama!

Like I said before, there is so much to talk about, so how does one even start? I guess you could say that the entertainment value of this drama far exceeds the drama itself. Thinking about this drama now, while I was watching and then afterward when I had time to digest everything reminds me of when I read Twilight a few years after it came out. While reading, I thought it was an amazing story and was completely engrossed. I was not a crazy Twihard mind you, I just really enjoying the story. When I actually finished though and was able to step back and come up for air, I realized how stupid it actually was. The only difference with BOF is that I still love it even with all of its imperfections and insanity.

My main issue with the drama itself is that it was really long, like really long, and it didn’t need to be, not that I wouldn’t watch all 25 episodes again in a heartbeat. The part where it really started to lag, I think, was when they went to Macau and Joon Pyo basically said GTFO to everyone. For Pete’s sake man! Get your life together and stick it to that dragon lady of a mother of yours! You are Shinhwa so grow a freaking backbone! Hire protection or something! Lock that woman up! Geez!

I just want to punch him in his stupid face!!!

All that anger up there is why I fell in love with this drama because one moment you are hating on Joon Pyo so hard for being the biggest scum on the planet and then you want to hug him as he sobs over what he has done to the one person he has ever loved. 

Feeling all the feels right now

There is also one of my most favorite side OTPs ever in this drama. That's right I'm talking about Yi Jung and Woo Bin...wait what? Just kidding, although they do have a pretty sweet bromance. I'm really talking about Yi Jung and Ga Eul (of course) who I will forever ship no matter who these actors work with or who they may eventually marry. I don't care! (cue 2NE1 music here) I think that I may have liked them better than Joon Pyo and Jan Di just because their love wasn't so complicated, even if I did want to punch Yi Jung in the face sometimes too. Korean dramas bring out my violent side okay? They were just so sweet it almost gave me a cavity but not in an annoying way like some other couples do. 

So close, yet so far away.

But seriously, back to Woo Bin and Yi Jung. I think that every drama needs a solid bromance whether it be through background characters or main characters, it just needs to be there. While their bromance is not the best one that I've ever seen (that goes to Goo Yong Ha and Geol Oh in Sungkyunkwan Scandal) it is a good one, especially when they are laughing at Joon Pyo behind, or in front of, his back. 

Who thinks Boys Over Flowers is amazing?

As I have been writing and looking at pictures to put in this post, I ran across what I consider to be the shame of this drama. I will explain to you what I mean in a poem 

There once was a girl named Jan Di 

Who thought she was real good at free

She would jump in the pool

Thinking she was cool

.................
But all it did was piss me off!!

Oh, I'm Jan Di and I'm such a good swimmer and I could have gone to the Olympics and I can beat the boys in swimming.

 

As someone who did competitive swimming from 1997-2011 and taught swim lessons and swim team from 2005 until the present time, whenever I watched these people swim (if I could stomach it) all I did was mentally correct their form. I wanted so badly to jump into that pool with them and give them the stoke refinement that they so desperately needed. 

Just thinking about it makes me mad!

And then don't even get me started on Jan Di drowning whenever she got with in a mile of water. She is a swimmer and a 'really good' swimmer at that (so much sarcasm there), but she can't even stand up in three feet of water when her shoulder hurts. Her freaking shoulder. I have dealt with shoulder pain for a long time. I have been a flyer all my life and in high school when I started to swim the 100 fly it started to worsen. Then in college I partially dislocated my shoulder, but I'm totally fine. I can still swim, even if my shoulder is easily irritated. That's not to say that whatever happened to Jan Di isn't serious and it wasn't really sad that she would never be able to swim again, but come on! Swimmers should be able to tread water and swim without using their arms or hands. If you would excuse me a moment, I going to go take some deep breaths.   

Okay I think I'm good now. That episode with the swimming competition though.......

The last thing that I am going to say about this drama is that it follows that usual pattern of the couple gets together, then the break up, then they get together, and so on and so forth. This drama takes it to a whole other level though with the constant breaking up and getting back together and then there was this whole fiasco: 

You're not my girlfriend!!

Seriously writers? You're going to do this now? You know there are like two more episodes right? You do? Okay, I'm just going to trust you then......And then this happened. 

Oh man, this drama.....

Writing about this drama brings out so many emotions, as I have said, and if I were to write about all of them this may never get posted because there is just so much to say. Instead of writing, I think that I am going to make you all a montage of some of the things that made me roll my eyes the most

That just happened

These three 

How are you that stupid? Like, seriously, how?

Really? A saxophone? 

But, of course, I snark about BOF with an abundance of love. It is so fun to make fun of it because it is really easy, but it is also a really good drama for those who are starting their journey into dramaland.

As for whether or not you should watch this drama (if you haven't already) the answer is a resounding YES! I don't think anyone who watches dramas can go without watching this one because there are references to it everywhere. Everywhere I tell you!! You will be sitting at whatever screen you watch dramas on and feel a slew of emotions from happy to sad to angry to embarrassed (both for the characters and for the weird things that the writers put into the drama e.x. swimming and the saxophone).

This concludes the first...would you call it a review?.......review for a drama, Boys Over Flowers, the drama that started everything that you see before you.

~ Alora

Joon Pyo

Joon Pyo is the male lead from the 2009 drama Boys Over Flowers. He is the total opposite of Jan Di and because of that, they fall in love. He is snobbish and rude and has never had to care for anyone but himself his whole life.

This was the first time that I ever had to create hair that was this complicated. Seriously! Setting all those curls and making sure that they didn't unravel while the glue was drying was awful! It's a good thing that these dolls are not alive because he had quiet a few pins in his head. I also added a special touch and gave him a fur collar (and by fur I mean a little piece of one of those skinny craft boas).

Joon Pyo is owned by me! Alora, member of the F4Plus1   

F4 Dolls (Boys over flowers

Our lovely Alora makes amazing dolls. Here are the ones she made of (left to right) So Song Woo Bin, Song Yi Jung, Goo Jun Pyo, Geum Jan Di, and Yoon Ji Hoo.