I’ve noticed that a bunch of Naughties (Nice Guy fans) are on the Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love ship with me. Welcome back everyone! I’m pretty sure all the Hearties (The King 2 Hearts fans) are over at the Gu Family Book ship enjoying Lee Seung Gi, and I’m sad that drama totally doesn’t work for me. But for those who have found delicious crack with JOJ like I have, this drama encapsulates for me all the tingly feelings of watching something that transfixes the imagination onscreen. I don’t quite understand the Korean netizens fixation with spotting errors in filming or the reluctance to watch a story that is re-imagined history only in the context of a drama. Kim Tae Hee used to be one of those actresses I loathed (emphasis on LOATHE) because she was literally so bad as to ruin my ability to enjoy an otherwise interesting drama. My Princess was the first time I’ve ever liked her acting and it was actually the drama that fell apart in the middle writing-wise but she was such a shining gem in that little outing. She’s not a thespian by any measure, but she is really doing decently well in JOJ that I’m rather appalled that the Korean media can actually praise my sweet but robotic Suzy‘s flat as a roadkill acting in GFB while dissing Kim Tae Hee’s heartfelt attempt at capturing the essence of Jang Ok Jung as constructed in the novel. Both are bad actresses qualitatively, but in this head-to-head Kim Tae Hee is like heads, shoulders, and maybe even a Queenly hairpiece above Suzy in both of their first sageuk outings. Which isn’t saying much for Kim Tae Hee since she is like twice the age of Suzy and has a decade more years under her belt as an actress. She ought to be better, and here she is, so why she’s getting undue flack is starting to turn me peevish. Unless Kim Tae Hee starts sucking for no reason, I’m not going to mention her acting anymore when I recap JOJ, I enjoy her performance as Ok Jung and that’s that. Look at her expression above, she’s really nailing it in that scene. The drama released its second OST song today called “Dream on You” by ZIA, and with it SBS dropped an official MV that has two new scenes. The major squeeworthy one shows Jae Hee‘s Hyun Chi Soo looking all sorts of angsty. I knew that man was going to arrive and turn up the heat. Can’t wait for today’s episode 6!
ZIA “Dream on You”:
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Hwaiting JOJ!!!!
I'm definitely enjoying Kim Tae Hee's performance, on top of being so easy to ship on romance since she is so gorgeous. Though her role's perfectness is overdone, and the story is the usual court scheming.
JOJ is definitely one of those dramas where I can overlook some of the flaws because the basic premise is interesting enough for me to follow (a la Wicked).
But it looks like getting higher ratings by forcing feeding JOJ episodes to ahjummas back in Korea may be out of the question. Dang it. Plan B anyone? ;)
On a note that's actually relevent to the post: Pretty! The production team sure knows how to work the fan service. Oh, and I was initially worried because I had misread ZIA as ZEA (the K-pop group) - which would have been...shocking, to say the least.
A Naughty here! XD Not a Hearty. Finally, Jae Hee to step in to bring the heat a notch up! I really hope the writers will keep this story as it is and expand from here. I really hope they don't fall from grace in terms of the plot in order to try to satisfy their own people's appetite for TV. I mean try, and it's pretty unlikely they get hooked anyways. SBS can produce top-notch quality dramas at times (when Cinderella Sisters, Personal Preference and Prosecutor Princess debuted at the same time, the first 2 had too much hype and turns out the latter was like the jewel in the rough. Great drama thru-and-thru). And I hope the casts would relax a little and embrace their characters with more ease than forcing their expressions. Perhaps then, this drama will probably make it as the top 10 all-time most fave dramas. XD Thank you for sharing the MV! :D
What an amazing ost this is and the MV matches up perfectly. Soonjung couple fighting!!
It touched my heart in so many ways. Gak... The scene where LS catches OJ in his arms when they are fake dueling - works so well here. :) hotness, he so loves her.
KTH - I admire her perservance amidst all the attacks. While still not a great actress, she has sold OJ to me so I will support her character all the way through to the end even if I have to dump my love for the king in the process.
i just can't help but notice, you always diss suzy. i mean, she may not be as fine as your praiseworthy(?) KTH but you don't have to ridicule her acting in all your JOJ articles. you are being so unfair.
You have not been following for long I see? Miss Koala adores Suzy, just that in her opinion Suzy isn't doing well in sageuk setting. Though for me I'm ok with her in Gu Family Book.
Miss koala adores Suzy dear, you can backtrack her post just before GFB aired, and she wait for her :)
it seems like you are not a frequent follower of koalas blog. If you read older posts you'd know koala finds suzy to be endearing and cute. it's just in the context of gfb and as of now knetizens seem to be praising suzy while saying kth isn't great. I think that's a bit unfair and I'm glad koalas pointing it out. Just because you point out someones flaws does not mean you dislike them. I love my shows and certain actresses/actors but still admit that there are pros/cons to all :)
I always diss Suzy? On what alternate universe might that be? Try to temper the knee jerk reaction. I may think Suzy is terrible in GFB but I still love her and those two feelings need not be exclusive of each other.
https://koalasplayground.com/tag/suzy/
Thanks for sharing Ms Koala, the new OST is amazing.
I am a hearty and also a naughty, but im on JOJ ship... after watching 4 eps, i loved this drama and i will continue to watch no matter what the ratings will be... :)
Lol. I am here for jong ok jung ship and I'm nice guy fans as well. So is that even relevance? Haha....
But nice guy fans and love that drama not for the love story though more about enjoyed it for chararter's journey to get through their hardship in a full heartfelt way ... And the same with JOJ where I connect to the character and analyze their thought and action. Regardless it makes sense or not.
I don't feel emotionally for gu family book. Tough I enjoy their jokes and bickering. I understand why some people stay tune to gfb.
Dear Ms koala, i love your recap and share to my friend , sitser. open it everyday They're happy join. Because your recap , i'm really sad.more critizen to gfb but i'm find okay.why today!your ward! Because i'm fan seunggi ,no matter. When you share your express to critizen, you also make reader ship with you. It 's okay?If you said oh, suzy badaction, oh , writter so level high school, oh they should low rate. What? Only gu family book! You also mention about it-sad lee seunggi- but kick it with cool ward. This fault lee seunggi ? You ship with fan (nice guy)oh, really? No problem. But they 're So rude, they 're care favorited drama after find fault to gu family book. but today , this name? you can happy your favorited drama , good comment .in drama,casts all really hard work. They worker everyday and nigh. You? Only watch, seem like down earth? i never hate joj but i'm hate your commenter.they maybe lose mind with their drama. I hope keep calm join drama with happy. Sorry if i wrong. I'm become rude by you.