K Drama

This is funny. I did not realize that the last topic I blogged about was Three Dads with One Mommy. Now, I'm going to blog about Princess Hours (Goong, 2006). I finished all of the 24 episodes in 2 days! The last time I did was during the 2008 holy week break. (Next week is Holy Week 2012!) Only this time, I fast tracked it and watched it only on youtube. Meaning, I forwarded some of the scenes and skipped some episodes which I have scene last week when, for unknown reasons, my interest in that Korean drama sparked once more.

There are so many things to love about Princess Hours. The characters are very endearing. Great story. Right pacing, right amount of cheesiness, angst and subplots. Lots of interesting Korean royalty rituals, cinematography. It is nicely done, really. According to new articles, it is the most expensive Korean drama ever produced. It is one of the highest rating shows, too!

The Royal family in the early 1990s

The Royal family in 2006

One of the things that I look forward to after each episode are the teddy bears! They used teddy bears to depict key scenes from the preceding episode like this:

Shin (center) assaults Yul (left) in front of a shocked Chaegyong (right)

Shin went with Chaegyong to pick lettuce in the garden

The Royal family as teddy bears

Finally, the best thing about this has got to be the soundtrack. MBC produced original music for Princess Hours. The music has the traditional Korean music element but made contemporary. The result is beautiful music worthy of goosebumps. It also made the emotions in the scenes where it played stronger. I must admit though that it bears a stark similarity with traditional Irish music because of the prominence of fiddle and tin whistle. According to my research, the Korean group (described as an ethnic fusion band) Second Moon did all the instrumentals. In the Philippines, their counterpart could be Makiling Ensemble.

These 3 are my favorites (though I love all the instrumentals!).

Second Moon (Feel-good; nakakapagpa-ngiti.)

Ice Pond (Grabe, nakakadurog 'to ng puso!)

Flower Petals Fall (Mabigat din sa puso, pero may halong saya. Ito ang paborito ko sa lahat.)

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I remember back in 2008, I watched all episodes one after the other on borrowed DVD with only brief bathroom and meal breaks. I think I did not even sleep. One episode took an hour, multiplied by 24, so that makes it 24 hours.

Surprisingly, it still has that feel-good appeal. They are the cutest couple, and I'm giggling like a high school girl. I smiled like it was my first time seeing those scenes. Now, I'm having another Princess Hours hangover!

So what happened to the lead stars since they did Princess Hours?

Ju Ji Hoon (Shin/Prince Gian) - did drugs in 2008; just got discharged from Military service in November 2011 and now making a comeback via the musical, Dr. Zhivago. (sosyal!)

Eun Yoon Hye (Chaegyong/Janelle) - did K dramas thereafter though I was never able to follow through; she was an award presenter at the 2012 Asian Film Awards where Filipina actress Eugene Domingo won as peoples' choice award best actress, she also posed for Dazed & Confused magazine where she showed off her very skinny figure!

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It is not very timely that I took so many hours to watch this series. I am actually feeling bad that I literally did not do anything for 2 days except watch! Aaah...nostalgia is really killing me! Maybe I'll do so again after about 4 years.

Okay, back to work. So much for escapism!

On second thought, anyareee? Anech itey? Tribute for Goong? Wahaha!!!!