Adventures in Asia

I didn’t do so on purpose, but I’ve continued my non-romantic-comedy-drama watching streak with another in a different genre: “Answer Me 1997” or “Reply 1997,” the epitome coming-of-age / teenage-experience story. Unlike my other genres of late (cop show “You’re All Surrounded” and political “King 2 Hearts” ), this one did not feature adventure, action or Lee Seung Gi. But it was strongly recommended by a friend and the internet. “Answer Me 1997” is compilation of flashbacks and flashforwards, following a group of friends through their high school years in the late 90s to a present day reunion, where one couple is about to announce their engagement. Feisty Shi Won is obsessed with kpop group H.O.T. (yes, they really did exist in the 90s). Her best guy friend is straight-A Yoon Jae, whom she’s known for forever. Her best girl friend is Yoo Jung, who shares her love for kpop, though not at the same level of loyalty. The friend group rounds out with the dude who never s...

Lately I’ve been thinking about media, why I like the music and shows that I do, and the censorship (or lack thereof) that governments impose on it. There are countries like China, where censorship is so strict that creativity is stifled and/or stamped out. No one outside of China really watches Chinese media (that I know of), despite the country being large and developed enough to potentially produce some good stuff. (I mean, Korea’s Man From the Stars took over China for a reason. China didn’t have a show that could compete with it.) I consider consuming Chinese media for linguistic benefits, because I need to learn Mandarin in order to live here – not because it’s anything new or interesting. Then there are countries like the U.S. with no censorship, where the media is always selling you something, always feeding some primal need, creatively finding new ways to dumb down content to a single common denominator that will reach the biggest audience and generat...

I enjoyed Lee Seung Gi’s performance in “You’re All Surrounded” so much I looked into another of his dramas, “King 2 Hearts,” and when I learned the lead actress was Ha Ji Won (Gil Ra Im from one of my all-time favorites, “Secret Garden”) I was sold. And the cast did not disappoint. “King 2 Hearts” is set in a world where the nation of South Korea has a constitutional monarchy form of government. From the get go, the stage is set for conflict when North Korea and South Korea attempt to join a global military competition as one team. To complicate things further, the King tricks his little brother, the slacking and arrogant Crown Prince, into joining up as a Southern representative. The team leader for the South side is the head of Royal Security, Eun Shi Kyung. The team leader for the North side is beautiful Special Forces officer Kim Hang Ah. Naturally, a romance buds between the snotty Prince and the kick-butt Northerner. The villain of the show is Kim Bon...