도망자: Plan B / Domangja: Plan B/ Fugitive: Plan B / Runaway: Plan B

Yes, this goes all the way back to 2010, but whatever.
And, I actually watched it back in early 2011, too. Still, you guys know I've been away for awhile, graduating from College and all.
I'm back now, and have a boat-load of catching up to do, so please bear with me.

For a majority of 2010, all of Korea and much of the outside world hyped this thing to the utmost.
And, why, you ask?
Why, because of it's leading man, of course.

Rain Ji hoon in Fugitive: Plan Bi

It was labeled as an Action, Romance, Comedy, and for 20 episodes, I'd have to say they were right.
Rain supplied the comedy, Daniel the romance, and the leading lady, well ... Rain provided a lot of the action, too. Not with the leading lady, but whatever.

I like her! Don't start throwing your hate mail my way, because she's one of my favorite Korean actresses.
In Plan: Bi, she is the daughter of some guy who holds the key to the whole reason behind this story being written. She sets out to find the truth, bumps into Rain's character, and for 19 of the 20 episodes, it's cat & mouse, give and take, hot and cold between them.

Daniel's character knew her first, though. He's a big-time, globe-trotting rich guy with a secretary always by his side who more resembles a masochistic playmate in waiting than a secretary.

She likes Danny, doesn't she? Wait ... maybe she really does take her job more serious than her heart? No, wait, she just looked at her boss that way again, didn't she?

Filler

The street cop NEARLY stole the show, and if I remember right, a lot of viewers felt the same way.

Lee Jung jin in Fugitive: Plan B

It wasn't meant as a grabber with lot's of neat eye-candy type drama, but it did star that way.

We got to see Rain half-naked a few times, but for me, it always leaves me craving more.  MUCH, much more, so I'm torn between wanting to see it happen and turning away with a sad pout, "Stop torturing me already!"

Actually, there is enough of his sinewy, tanned goodness to go around online, so it isn't all that agonizing to have to watch in whatever movie or drama he stars.

About the show: Rain's character is this outlandish, it'll never happen in a billion years street-wise punk who ends up, at a relatively YOUNG age, amassing a small fortune. At least enough to get him into this totally amazing office with beyond-technologies-wildest-dreams ... er, technology. It helps him to stay a step or three ahead of the enemy. And the cops.

He's kinda-sorta hired by the leading lady to help her find out why her parents had to die in a hotel back in Migu when people good and bad start popping back into his life, giving him the guarded notion that while he might not be interested in helping her, she did happen to bring along some unanswered questions in the form of these people from his past.

He accepts the offer to help.

Daniel's character vacillated throughout the show. You never knew one minute to the next which side he was really on, who he really cared for, and if he was going to end up being the one to die in a fiery crash first, or pull out one of those last-second change-up's that make you go WHOA.

Daniel Henney in :Plan Bi

His acting actually improved when this aired, but not by much. Stranger still, I watched him in the now defunct American series Three Rivers, and he was a completely different person. Which made me wonder if trying to act like a Korean in Korea versus trying to act like a Korean-American in America are two, separate issues.

In Three Rivers, there were no awkward moments, no uncertainty in his voice, and none of that completely cringe-worthy trying-too-hard stuff. He was just Daniel being a character in a medical drama that wasn't all that bad, except that it didn't fly and got cancelled.

Stranger still, when he appears in a Korean drama or movie, it's much better for him to just take up space as utterly pleasing decoration without speaking (cameo), and in the American drama, it was a sad shame that he didn't have a bigger role with more lines.

Even if he wasn't so amazing to look at, I'll always like him for the simple fact that he hails from Michigan - my fair State - and Carson City is hundreds of miles north of me. I've been there! Before I ever heard of him, though, and before he became a star, which means it's entirely possible that we saw one another, passed each other on a city sidewalk, or even dined in the same restaurant without, even realizing it. It's like that here in Michigan - a tourist destination with tons to see and do, and miles and miles to do it in.

Back to the story

Well, actually, I think I summed this one up already. An action drama filled with chases, shoot-outs, stand-offs, and even a bit of nail-biting instances that made you wonder what comes next.

Rain, I think, debuted as not only a funny man in this one, but also as a legit actor with something to prove.

He went that extra mile in Fugitive, so kudos to him for trying as hard as he did to prove that he isn't just another muscle-bound pop star turned actor.

I think it was worth the watch, and if you haven't seen this one yet, I suggest you fill a free time slot and get going.

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상두야,학교가자! / Sang Doo Ya, Hak Kyo Ka Ja!

Let's Go to School, Sang-doo!

SANG DOO YA!!!

This puppy goes ALL the way back to 2003, but who cares, and it stars Rain bi as Sang Doo, too.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this before, but my nick-name is Rain (Lorain), and my last name starts with a B - but since I'm older than the above-mentioned mega-star from Korea, it means I got there first, so I have no qualms about nor shame in using Rain B on profile pages and even at school - so THERE, Mr. Pop Idol, tight-bod name stealer.

Anyhow ~ we're supposed to be discussing Sang Doo Ya, Hak Kyo Ka Ja!, and so we shall.

At the aznv.tv website, not, too many folks viewed this, but an overwhelming majority of them gave it a 5 out of 5 rating despite the fact most everyone whined about the ending.

With regards to the ending ... I still can't figure out what the trouble was when it came to understanding just, what really happened ~ I mean, everyone argued that the couple simply walked away from their old lives to start anew somewhere else in Korea, and that is just, plain silly.

I'm never one to give away the plot or include spoilers in my blog, though, so let's just start from the beginning and see where it leads, shall we?

The story revolves around a young pair of misfits whose parents are the stereotypical assholes determined to corrupt or destroy their offspring by whatever means possible.

Despite that, boy and girl grow up to be respectable adults - and because Sang Doo is so, freakin' gorgeous, he's always surrounded by fan-girly sqeaky chicks all vying for his attention when he is truly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Chae Eun hwan (Gong Hyo jin).

Like most, every other Korean drama of this type, the misunderstandings, the innuendo that always goes over heads, and a general LACK of viable communication leads the two down separate paths that ominously predicts an inevitable, future meeting.

This occurs ten years later, with Sang Doo making a living as a gigilo and our mousy Eun hwan as a high school teacher.

Sang Doo first sits beside Eun hwan and starts talking about old times, and later on, she confesses to her new love about having suddenly met her old, first love again.

The new love, Kang Min-suk (Lee Dong gun), is a doctor who is treating a little girl with cancer, and she happens to be Sang Doo's child (or is she?) - so again, it's inevitable that the old sweethearts bump into each other again ... and again ... and yet, again throughout the sixteen episodes.

This is also another drama where two, relatively hunky dudes are vying for the attention of the same, frumpy woman who dresses like a 30-something old maid with zero sense of style or taste, and I never, quite understood that - but, at least I'm starting to get used to it at any rate.

And yeah, the little girl was on the kawaii side, but not completely - or, at least not enough for me to gush and coo every time I saw her.

Okay, so the jist of this one includes a lot of hedging, running in circles, and avoiding conflict by keeping quiet when reality dictates otherwise, but I guess that's why it's drama and not reality, eh?

Sang doo doesn't want Eun hwan to find out about his career, but he doesn't seem to mind elbowing his way back into her life, either.

He gets a job as a security guard at the school where she works, and he likes the idea of being that close to her again, but he tends to do everything wrong, and with gusto to boot, landing him in some hot water until he is eventually let go.

Not to be shaken off so easily, Sang Doo decides he'll just become a high school student in order to keep an eye on his gal.

See, back in the day, he never got the chance to graduate - but I can't tell you why, or what the circumstances were that prevented him from obtaining that goal.

NO SPOILERS

So, along with studying trig, economics, languages, and so-forth, Sang Doo maintains the gigilo lifestyle so he has the $ needed to cover his 'daughter's' medical expenses, and the wack chick who is the little girl's mother ALSO happens to be ...

NO SPOILERS

Okay-looking Doc, Min suk, is in love with our mousy Eun hwan, but that doesn't stop him from trying to get Sang Doo to change his mind about the way he lives so as not to disappoint, shock, or scare away the girl, NOR does he make much attempt to stop Eun hwan from reluctantly creeping back in Sang doo's direction, either.

Noble dude.

There is also the mid-point scenario where childhood sweethearts finally embrace, smile once more, and experience that blissful 'memory pleaser' kind of day ~ which ALWAYS signals that moment when we hear the needle scrape across the record and suddenly everything comes to a grinding halt ~ when our star-crossed duo are thrust into that inevitable yet unlikely twist of fate that tears them apart and keeps them that way until the very, last episode.

And, alas, in that last part of the show, when your muscles are now aching after having spent the past, fifteen episodes gripping the arms of your chair each time you THINK someone is going to 'get busy' so-to-speak, or at least KISS for crying out loud, only to have it NOT happen - so you can pretty much GUESS what is going to occur during the '...at an intersection' moment in the drama.

Sigh ... NO SPOILERS.

Regardless of the outcome, and I must say, the writers did something quite unexpected this time around, but still, in a far-fetched and 'excuse me?' kind of way - I didn't think that the ending was all, that horrible, and, I'm sorry, but I don't see how it is possible to misconstrue what occurred AFTER the '...at that intersection' moment.

You go, RAIN BI ~ it's a far cry from Full House, and a lot, less mellow dramatic than A Love to Kill ~ so here's hoping to see you on the big screen again soon ................................

!THE FUGITIVE!

That actually is released today, isn't it?

Not that it matters, since it'll be awhile before 'I' get to see it - so I'm looking forward to it - especially since it ALSO stars Daniel Henney!

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A Love to Kill / 이 죽일놈의 사랑 / I Jukilnomui Sarang

I began watching this drama on Friday night, and it just ended (Sunday evening), and now more than ever, I'm convinced that Korean dramas are NOT my cup of tea.

Perhaps it's a good thing that real life could never be as complex, sad, or even masochistically tragic as a Korean drama would have us believe.

Sometimes, it makes me wonder who writes this sh*t, and other times, I wonder if their target audience is REALLY into what they write.

As a Catholic, it bugs me any time that the notion of death or suicide is portrayed as something glamorous or romantic.
Sure, there are folk alive who believe in the fool hearty notion of reincarnation, but isn't it still a sucker's bet to take a chance on getting precisely what you want in the so-called 'next life'?

Question: Did all of the Korean script writers suffer from unspeakable heartache at some point in their lives, and thus the viewer is doomed to have to suffer likewise?

Just curious, because it's the feeling I always end up with after suffering through one of these romantic (??) dramas.

A Love to Kill is about two, little boys that grow up in a dysfunctional family (father is a gangster, mother runs away).
Kim Young Jae is Kang Min Goo, Kang Bok Gu's older, wiser, and more gentle brother.
Mingu is fed up with Bok-gu's temper, so he walks away from his younger brother - but at the end of this 16-episode drama, we discover that Mingu didn't walk away or abandon Bok-gu, but that he sacrificed his life to serve the juvenile detention time that Bok-gu should have served for starting a fire that injured Kim Sa Rang as Han Da Jung.

So, Han Da-jung clings to Bok-gu, even though Bok-gu is only with her out of guilt.

Meanwhile, Mingu falls madly in love with Cha Eun Seok (Shin Min Ah).
She's a movie star and her step-mother doesn't want Mingu to cramp her style, so she pays him to disappear, and our milquetoast do-gooder does as he's told (for love's sake).

Cha Eun-suk has no idea what is going on, and she spends the next, five years begging Mingu to pick up the phone.

Ten years after they part ways, Bok-gu's friend tells him that he's found Mingu, and that evening, the two, estranged brothers meet on the rooftop of Mingu's modest apartment, to crack a few cold one's and to talk about old times.
Cha Eun-suk's image appears on a larger-than-life, HD billboard, announcing her engagement to Lee Ki Woo as Kim Joon Sung.



um ... he didn't look anything like this in the drama, and I didn't, even recognize him as the absent-minded artist from Sad Movie, either.

Anyway, Mingu is entranced by Cha's image on that billboard, so he walks off the roof of the building, trying to reach out to touch her ~ right in front of poor, Bok-gu's eyes yet.

What follows is a long, drawn-out series of the same, monotonous dialogue & storyline.
Bok-gu decides to avenge his brother by getting back at the entirely innocent and totally clueless Cha Eun-suk.
He becomes her bodyguard, teases the hell out of her emotionally & physically, and when she becomes entirely wrapped up in him & not Mingu, Bok-gu reveals his true intentions and Cha Eun-suk is devastated (again).

Enough about A Love to Kill, because I don't want to talk about it anymore.

What I would like to expound on is the fact that Rain Bi can ACT!!

My namesake (in a nick-name kind a way) makes me laugh when it comes to singing & dancing.
Personally, I think it's gay.
But, this dude is awesome on screen!
I think it's even more amazing to me that it's the opposite of the norm.
Singers/dancers usually stink at acting, and actors usually stink at singing/dancing.

I heard recently that he was lambasted big-time for suggestive lyrics on his latest CD.

THIS is why I think that Asian pop artists are gay ... or that their profession is a gay choice.
A stupid, ill-conceived choice when you think about the kind of life they are forced to have to live, and how they must suck-up to their infantile, pre-pubescent fan base.

What a freakin' waste of talent, time, and energy IMHO.

Another thing about Korean dramas is that I feel guilty watching them for free online, and yet am I supposed to spend my hard-earned $$ on something with subtitles as atrocious as the one's online?

Case in point:




I tried my hand at subbing, and though their attempt was commendable, Viikii failed miserably to captivate me or it's target audience, and even Mysoju dumped their submissions.

I'd give anything to be able to clean up the bad grammar, type-o's, and what-not on these videos -- and especially the DVDs that range in price from $29.99 to $250.99

Again, the Japanese have the Korean's beat hands-down when it comes to clean, concise subtitling.

WAKE UP, KOREA!!!

You've got something here, and though a majority of your viewers may not think the way that I do about such things as continuity, story-line credibility, or basic grammar rules, I think that if you paid better heed to this warning, you might have a more lucrative future, who knows.

And now, for some stills from A Love to Kill


street-smart, tough-guy, Kang Bok Gu
cleaned-up, bodyguard Bok-gu

his FACE




the sucker prop bugged me for awhile, but then I figured being the straight-laced kind a guy he is, he probably chose these over an actual cigarette


And now, for the lighter side of Rain Bi




Now that I'm not afraid of him anymore, I intend to watch him in another drama, but if it looks ANYTHING like A Love to Kill, I will bow out, thank you very much.

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