A couple of weeks ago I had dinner with some girlfriends (wub you, LizzyD and Xiaoxin!) and discussed my Jun Ki’s first post-army project. We went through the available leading ladies and settled on Moon Geun Young or Yoon Eun Hye as great possibilities and prayed for that to happen. Fast forward a few weeks, and not only am I swamped with acclimating to a new job and translated a freaking CHINESE NOVEL (yes, it really is insanely time-consuming), I’m fretting over Lee Jun Ki‘s choice of projects. Luckily, the man must have some great selections and unknown mojo, because the drama and leading lady he picked have both taken me for a loop. Jun Ki is returning to the drama this Summer via a fantasy sageuk called Arang co-starring Shin Mina. I’m surprised, but completely pleased with the choice.
Summer seasons in Korean dramas tend to have the fantasy or horror stuff, such as My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Hon, or Gumiho Child. Arang is the story of a government official named Arang that can see dead spirits who is approached by the spirit of a bumbling dead female ghost to investigate her death. The drama will be helmed by the PD who did Can You Hear My Heart. The drama will start production in May and air on MBC in July. Apparently it’s a fantasy love story, though I’ve yet to see a ghost/human love story that had a happy ending, so here’s hoping this one breaks the mold. I’m loving that Jun Ki chose a sageuk as his first post-army drama, and that his co-star and PD are both solid. So excited!!!
Yay! Love the production team and the cast. And I think LJK suits sageuk, despite Iljimae (which I disliked, but that was the fault of the writing). Has SMAe ver done a sageuk before?
No, Mina has never done a sageuk, though in MGiaG she had a fantasy sageuk portion, but that was mostly hokey stuff done for laughs or dramatic angst.
my only concern here is…what’s gonna happen with the love line??? since the girl is a ghost, will there be some skinship especially kissing scene ( what a waste because i think the main leads will have a fantastic smoldering chemistry and besides LJK is such a good kisser)….
anyway, am excited beyond words to see the hottie Junki… i hope to see some waterfall bathing scene, of course!!! yay!!!!
This is great news. I love Junki. Missed him so much…
I was just commenting on DB that Faith eould loop him in again because I was really dying to see him in a sageuk again…and litterally hours later this news comes in….I LOVE the dramagods….and with Shin Min Ah to boot…and that PD!!
That’s soo exciting to hear! Def looking forward to this!
Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Good thing I’m the last one in my office as I’m screaming in excitement at the moment. I was rewatching Punch last night and decided that Shin Mina is my favourite k-drama actress, and now I’ve got this to look forward too.
Koala unnie (can I call you that?)
I love your 2nd Jun Ki pic. It’s like he’s looking at me and smiling when he knows he’s already yours. The cheeky bastard.
(How many chapters does that novel have, btw? I hate not being able to finish a story in one sitting, so I’m actually saving the reading for when your Translating Project of Epic Proportions is done. No pressure though! But that chapter about deflowering sure sounds like a shocker…)
Oh! I am so confused now about the details of this drama. I’ve read from dramabeans and kaedejun that Arang is the ghost and not the magistrate. ^^ Are they wrong?
I’m so excited with this pairing! And the story sounds interesting too 🙂 I hope the new writer can deliver a solid script! Summer can’t come soon enough~
Love the casting! by the way, Arang is the ghost, not the government official.
Yay! I’m so excited for both junki and mina comeback! Do you notice that mina’s comeback to drama is always two years sequence. And she fills the two years gap with cf and modelling. Heheh, hoping this series is going to be daebak. I’ll keep an eye on this series. Thanks ms.ockoala! :}
I’m indifferent to Lee Jun Ki but I adore Shin Mina! The concept sounds interesting enough and I can’t wrap my brain around the possible execution of this drama. How can you have a human falls in love with a non-human? How can they interact with each other?
Maybe Korean should try to do a re- make of ” A Chinese Ghost Story”. 🙂
yay! sure follow this one 🙂
Two cuties ahh!
I’m so excited to see this movie, even if the love story isn’t central focus as much as the ghost aspect.
Ms gf is a gumiho made me love Shin Mina, so I definitely have no problems imagining her awesomeness as arang.
I’m not a fan nor lover nor watcher of sageuk dramas, but this one, I’m gonna break that rule and make and exception, coz, I love, love, love ghost stories and I love the leading lady, she is sooooooooo cute, that I’m gonna watch it!! I will give sageuk dramas a try, well at least this one….