Showing posts with label Hwarang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hwarang. Show all posts

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Upcoming Drama: Fight My Way First Still Cut


After hit drama Descendant of the Sun, Kim Ji Won was finally offered as the female lead in KBS2 drama Fight My Way, together with Park Seo Joon who just finished youth romance historical drama in Hwarang (starring Go Ara and Park Hyung Sik also)

'Fight My Way' is a growth romance drama about youths today who lack the specifications society deems "good enough" to be successful, but who still choose to live their lives their own ways. It's set to air some time in May!

Let's see, Park Seo Joon and Kim Ji Won, turned into a blue-clad, currently-just-friends couple in their first still cut!

Park Seo Joon will play the role of Ko Dong Man and Kim Ji Won in the role of Choi Ae Ra are just-friend characters who fight constantly when the two are involved, but once a third party gets in their way, they're quick to watch each other's backs. How will this romance-less duo go from friends to lovers? 

Compared to Go Ara, I think I personally like Kim Ji Won better in terms of acting. It's true that Go Ara is so pretty and beautiful, yet, her acting seems to be constant without changes in expression and voice tone. Waiting to see this drama excitedly ~ Maybe gonna do a review and recap for each episode!



Saturday, April 8, 2017

Park Hyung Sik as Sam Maek Jong (King Jinheung of Silla)

Park Hyung Sik appeared on Hwarang: The Beginning as King Jinheung (Sam Maek Jong).

King Jinheung (526 - 576, reign 540 - 576) was the 24th monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He followed King Beopheung (r.514–540) and was followed by King Jinji (r.576–579). Jinheung was the nephew/grandson of King Beopheung. King Jinheung was one of the greatest kings of Silla, and was responsible for expanding Silla territory immensely. He and King Seong 26th king of Baekje, struggled with each other over the Han River valley. Jinheung won this struggle and expanded Silla's territory immensely.

King Jinheung of Silla rose to the throne at a young age when his predecessor and paternal uncle / maternal grandfather, Beopheung, died. Since he was too young to rule a kingdom at the time, his mother acted as regent. When he became of age, he began to rule independently. Jinheung adopted a policy of peace with the neighbouring kingdom of Baekje Kingdom. In 551, he allied with Baekje so that he could attack the northern Korean kingdom of Goguryeo. The result of this allied attack on Goguryeo was the conquest of the Han river. The kingdoms of Baekje and Silla kingdom both had agreed on splitting the conquered territory equally amongst themselves.

Hwarang itself also known as Flowering Knights, were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture as well as religious teachings stemming mainly from Buddhism. Chinese sources referred only to the physical beauty of the "Flower Youths". Originally, the hwarang were known for their use of make-up and cosmetic decorations and accessories. The history of the hwarang was not widely known until after the liberation of 1945, after which the hwarang became elevated to a symbolic importance.

Sources record that during the reign of King Jinheung, groups of beautiful girls were chosen (named as Wonhwa) and taught filial and fraternal piety, loyalty, and sincerity (no firm date is given for this, and some scholars express doubt this even occurred during Jinheung‘s reign). However, the leaders of the two bands of Wonhwa, Nammo 南毛 and Junjeong 俊貞, grew jealous of one another. When Junjeong murdered her rival the Wonhwa were disbanded.

In Hwarang: The Beginning, these all records are told again to the public. Park Hyung Sik acted as a young and distrustful King Jinheung who goes into hiding due to assassination attempts and secretly becomes a Hwarang warrior, gaining strength and leadership ability in the process. He joins the Hwarang under the assumed identity Kim "Ji Dwi" as the Hwarang Chief Kim Wi Hwa's fake nephew. Below is the clip where he admits himself finally as King Jinheung of Silla. 


Another clip also introduce him as the other King Jinheung who lacks confident as a King, but a girl wavers his feeling, making him feel so miserable and I would say, this scene was my favorite.


And if you would like to see, Park Hyung Sik also lends his voice for Hwarang OST: I'll be Here 
It's so captivating!



In the end of Hwarang: The Beginning, King Jinheung rose to his throne, though he has to go through his Queen Mother, but he's truly amazing as a King and I would say this drama makes Park Hyung Sik to become more mature in acting field and I really like his character as King Jinheung/Ji Dwi. He is serious also about his feeling and goes all the way protecting the girl he loves! Go Ji Dwi, sadly, his love here does not end with a good ending because he's just perfect as the second lead. There must be something you choose, either power or love? But hello, Park Hyung Sik is now the lead actor in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and he wins Park Bo Young's heart!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Who Wouldn't Love Park Hyung Sik?


Park Hyung Sik was born in Yongin, South Korea on November 16, 1991. He was actually an idol from boygroup, ZE:A. He gained popularity on screen after he was cast in military variety show Real Men and was nicknamed "Baby Soldier" for his innocent yet passionate image. Later he gained favorable attention for his roles in The Heirs, What's With This Family, High Society and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth. In 2017, he starred in his first leading role on JTBC in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon alongside Park Bo Young.

I never know that I end up being interested with this actor, because I don't really like him acting like a woman, well, I mean, flower boy, with his soft and gentle image. Though now I understand, who wouldn't love him? 

I always thought that idol-turn-actor is not something to be proud of because most of the idols who turn to be actor has poor quality to act in a drama. But this guy rocks it. I believe everything was due to his experience from The Heirs till now. His potrayal as King Jinheung in Hwarang: The Beginning is awesome, I could sense his emotion right from his eye and his strong voice. He has mature in terms of acting and their is no wonder many people praise him for his delicate acting. He is really on his peak! I swear, I would definitely watch whatever drama he chose in the future, uri taepyu-nim ~


Why we all fall for him? Here's all the reasons:

*SPOILER ALERT

1. His cheekiness, trying to get Bong Soon's attention 
After saving Bong Soon with his life, he tried to get Bong Soon's attention with his incessant whining. Of course his plan works, as Bong Soon really thanked him for risking his life to protect her and that itself lead her to realize her own true feeling.


2. An Min Hyuk’s heart-stopping confession
He knows right away that he started to like this girl, but what can he do when she likes someone else? Sincere confession is the answer! 


3. This intimate arm grab

4. Min Hyuk’s agonizing plea.

5. His puppy eyes

6. When Min Hyuk holds Bong Soon so lovingly in his arms.

7. His passionate and romantic kiss scene

8. The millions of times Min Hyuk gazes longingly at Bong Soon

OMG, can't help but falling in love~!

Do you want ice cream?

I don't know myself why I like actors with Park as their surename, Park Bo Gum & Park Hyung Sik ~ maybe because they had some similarities? Don't you think so?

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon First Impression


Strong Woman Do Bong Soon starts the airing since February 24, 2017 which is way too long for me to write the first impression. I've been reading the news for this drama, that includes their achievement for high rating right from the start. I was a bit lazy to catch up with a new drama lately due to hectic office hours. Besides, I also have to spare time for working out and doing some research for our yearly trip this year end which takes a lot of my free time. 

Park Hyung Sik at High Society
I am just saying this, that I am not a big fan of Park Hyung Sik nor Ji Soo though Park Bo Young is such a great talented actress. The last time I watched Park Hyung Sik, was on High Society which he makes my heart skip a beat when he showed his abs. His character is a rich heir of chaebol group and that suits him best. However, when he starts doing Hwarang, with the theme of historical period during Goryeo with long hair character, I started to lose my interest on him which makes me skip Hwarang. But, damn, he's too HOT in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, even he makes my heart flutter every single episodes. You would definetely like it!

This drama offers a really refreshing type of storyline, like a superhero themed drama which is not only offers a serial murder case like Avengers, but also offers a romantic-comedy type of drama.
Do Bong Soon (played by Park Bo Young) was born with superhuman strength. Her strength is hereditary and passed along only to the women in her family. There is a secret that accompanies her inherited strength, should the women in Bong Soon’s family use their powers for evil and/or personal gain, then they would be punished and cursed for the remainder of their lifetimes. Bong Soon’s ancestors used her super strength to enforce imperial rule against the people in exchange for large sums of money. As punishment for her greed, she lost her powers and lived the rest of her life afflicted with leprosy. 

Bong Soon's dream is to create a video game with herself as the main character. She desperately wants to become a willowy and elegant woman, which is the ideal type of her crush, In Guk Doo (played by Ji Soo), a police officer. Thanks to her strength, she gets the job of a bodyguard, to a spoiled rich heir Ahn Min Hyuk (played by Park Hyung Sik), the CEO of a gaming company (Ainsoft). Opposite of Guk Doo, Min Hyuk is an odd man who is imperious and has no regard for rules. 

It all starts years back, on a dreary afternoon, high school student Ahn Min Hyuk sits in the back of a bus holding a bouquet of flowers. Suddenly, one of the tires bursts and soon the bus careens down a hill. The driver desperately tries to regain control only to discover that the brakes are broken. He swerves to the right, barely avoiding an oncoming car, but then redirects into the path of two pedestrians standing to the side of the road.

Panicking, he stomps down on the brakes as they barrel forward, then closes his eyes, unable to witness the certain horror to come. However, when he opens his eyes again, the bus has stopped in its tracks, and all remain unharmed. Out the back window, Min Hyuk notices a girl wearing a pink hoodie back away from the rear end of the bus. She turns around without revealing her face, and begins walking up the road. Min Hyuk watches the girl as she leaves, fascinated. And as if sensing his curiosity, she stops in her tracks and turns back slightly toward him, when a breeze catches the hood of her sweater and begins to peel it away from her head. Unfortunately, he can't see the girl's face. 
In present, as you all know, Min Hyuk has recently received anonymous threats and even followed by an unknown person who warns him to back off from the list of heirs. When he knows the super power of Bong Soon accidently, he recruited her as his bodyguard with huge amount in exchange. Bong Soon barely refused it, though she is curious as why Ahn Min Hyuk hires a woman as his boduguard instead of a man. Gong Secretary then told her a big secret that Min Hyuk, the CEO is actually doing that to avoid rumor of being gay, which Bong Soon soon to believe that Min Hyuk is truly gay. One day, Bong Soon, Guk Doo, and Min Hyuk get caught up in a serial murder case that breaks in their neighborhood and ends up reluctantly living together for security purposes. A series of misunderstanding occur when Guk Doo mistakes Min Hyuk's affection. 
Admittedly, I’m also really curious as to what Min Hyuk is doing with the whole gay thing. We obviously know that he likes women given his slow and affectionate gazes at Bong Soon (even I died with his affectionate gaze), though at this point, he could totally be bi given all the innuendo he’s throwing out there at Gook Doo. (Hawt.) He’s been called gay to his face and hasn’t bothered correcting anyone, so either it’s partially right, or he’s just having fun with the assumption. It could also be that he likes the idea that people can’t figure him out and just enjoys being a mystery. If you think about his life growing up, he lost his mother, had brothers that hated him and one brother that protected him, had a gangster father that doesn’t seem to care, and multiple stepmothers who are more inclined to drink than play parent. Then on top of that, he left home young, became a CEO of a large company, and spends most of his down time alone in a dungeon game room. It makes total sense that he’s a bit…eccentric. I’d be more surprised if he did have normal interactions with people after all that.
I had been worrying that working as a personal bodyguard for monetary gain would fall within the “abusing power” category and that Bong Soon would end up with leprosy or month-long diarrhea.  At first, she is very reluctant to work as Min Hyuk's bodyguard, but seeing how the stalker seems to really serious to kill Min Hyuk, Bong Soon then promised to him that she is going to protect him no matter what happen. And this is the first time when she decides to protect someone simply because it’s right, and she cares that evil doesn’t succeed, If it is like this, I can’t imagine her family’s curse will have a problem with that. But this story then simply reminds Min Hyuk of King Kong and the Princess story, where he identifies himself as the Princess, while Bong Soon as the little King Kong. It is such a very amazing thing for Min Hyuk that a little girl like Bong Soon has so much power. Speechlessly, he remembers the time when Bong Soon was drunk and said that it is not her fault for being strong. She was born with it. And now, with his affection towards her, he agrees to help Bong Soon to use all her power in a good way and would be glad to help her (OMO!)
Gosh, how cute are Bong Soon and Min Hyuk?! I don’t think either of them are really at the warm and mushy feeling stage yet, but their relationship is moving so smoothly and organically that it’s beautiful to watch. Not to mention squeal at. I especially enjoy watching Min Hyuk slowly falling for the mighty pipsqueak that is the awesome Bong Soon. He obviously finds her attractive (given his many “sexy” comments), but I don’t believe that’s what really drew him in. This episode highlighted that she is first and foremost a mystery to him, and he loves solving puzzles. He hired her because she fascinated him, not because he fell in love at first sight. I was really happy to learn that, because otherwise there’d be nowhere for him to go in the relationship if he loved her from the beginning. Now, we get to watch as he slowly softens towards her through the little things, like her cooking reminding him of his mother, or just watching her dance so freely. She’s becoming less of a source of entertainment and more of a person to him. 
One thing I really like about this drama is when Min Hyuk marvels at how much strength is condensed in Bong Soon's tiny body, and asks if it’s some kind of super power. Bong Soon reveals that she was born this way: the strength runs in her family, passing down through the female line. Instead of being afraid of her, he accepts her for who she is and ready to help her to use her strength for something good. Which then sounds to me like he is going to help her to fulfill her dreams. A very supportive guy, wish to have one like him ~

Been very curious as how the story will turn out. It is obvious for me though that Bong Soon will surely end up with Min Hyuk (the same as what I also hope). But how is she going to do that when her long time one-sided crush is going to broke up with his girlfriend and realize that the one he really cares about is Bong Soon? Hopefully there must be something which will move Bong Soon's heart towards Min Hyuk. As I really hope a happiness for this gorgeous eccentric guy. Min Hyuk really reminds me of Kim Joo Won from Secret Garden
In terms of acting, there is no need to explain that right when I could just say that Park Hyung Sik and Park Bo Young chemistry are at its best? I never know that Park Hyung Sik's acting has been improving so much that I really like his leading male character here. Though I admit that Ji Soo is so masculine, but Park Hyung Sik takes a toll in my heart and mind right now, specially with his background and attitude towards Bong Soon. It really feels as if he was gazing to me instead every single episode OMG!

Notes: Bong Soon's twin brother is also quite handsome, so dun worry, you gotta be happy watching this drama. I think this drama suits spring perfectly! Gonna be the drama for the first half of the year!