Kpop: Lizzy (리지)

My favorite in korean trio Orange Caramel has always been Lizzy, so it's fun to to see her release her solo debut, and it is suitable "OC" in the concept: they put her into the 1960 movie 'Chunhyangjeon' which is a classic love story where she sings about not being easy to get.

• Lizzy ft Jung Hyung Don - Not an easy girl (쉬운 여자 아니에요)
• Lizzy ft Jung Hyung Don - Not an easy girl (Dance version)
• Lizzy - Good Bye PMS (Good Bye 굿바이)

Kpop: Hyolyn - One Way Love (너 밖에 몰라)

I suppose the tactic with releasing two debut songs/videos like Hyolyn's company is doing, can have the benefits of higher exposure and also getting fans and subtractors to divide among themselves which one is the better one. And, yes, I will bite and say that I prefer the better song from "Lonely" to the more sexy but plain "One Way Love". The theme, common in kpop and kdrama, also makes me slightly sad as the signals in the video somehow sends double messages. Sure, that kind of uncertainty can be common in a relation, but it is just so often one is even supposed to somehow even enjoy this kind of misstreatment from men of their "loved" ones in korean/japanese/chinese dramas (as a kind of romantic suspense until thw two finally "falls in love") so I would rather skip it when possible. I'm not blaming Hyolyn for this, she's just part of an industry that really should learn to differentiate between sexy and sexistic a little bit more. It can be a thin line, but at least it could avoid flirting with such male chauvinistic views. It is like the difference between humor and sadism. One is enjoyed by both and the other is (usually) a One Way "Love".

• Hyolyn - One Way Love (너 밖에 몰라)

Kdrama: Answer Me 1997 (응답하라 1997)

By many hailed as the best drama of 2012, and maybe one of the best of all time, Reply 1997 is one 16 piece story I also really, really recommend. What makes it stand out is that it is actually a korean drama that have a go at the "slice of life" genre, ie it tries to tell a story that is closer to everyday life, and that is something you dont see to often in Korea. The story centers around five best friends who we get to follow in two parallel stories. The framework is a class reunion in 2012, but most of each episode consists of flashbacks to (mainly) the year 1997 and the following years. We early get to understand that the lead female character, Sung Shi Won, is married to one of the other guys, with whom she has one child and is pregnant with another, but we actually don't get to know who it is until the last episode.

Another key element of the story is the central role kpop plays in the students life, especially for the girls.

The whole story and all its key roles is handled with such respect from the script, that for once you actually get a Korean drama (or any drama) that actually feels like it lets the characters grow naturally which makes you feel for them in a way not often experienced today. Add to that the experience of recent contemporary history of the 90s, and you often feel as you are watching a kind of (if somewhat romanticized) documentary.

If you have seen a Korean drama and become sceptic due to the sometimes exaggregated stories, please give the genre another chance with this, you will most probably not regret it.

As it isn't easy to find a version of this that works outside DVD Region 3, I will tell you what some people do, not that I say you should do likewise.

1. Some people download the series from here, by clicking on one of the arrows next to the magnet.

2. And then you could find subtitles here. You will have to fix the filenames to match the videofiles, but the titles themself should be synced with the videos. (This supposed that you have a video player on your computer with the right codecs).

3. Note: Episode 00 is in itself a kind of prequel "fake" documentary about kpop fans.

If you find that current copyright laws should be updated to the 21st century, why don't you read more here?

And just to mention some of the things that makes this story so great. The love interest of the best friend of Shi Won, Mo Yoo-Jung, is the new boy Do Hak-Chan, who is played by former leader of kpop group Sechs Kies Eun Ji-woon. This is funny since Yoo-Jung in the story changes her favorite band from H.O.T. to Sechs Kies - her character is actually dating a boy played by Sechs Kiss' lead singer!

Kdrama: Lie to me (내게 거짓말을 해봐)

If you want a Korean drama that mostly stays in the romantic corner from start to end, for a Korean drama, that is, you could do much worse than Lie to me. The story's central theme revolves around the female protagonist, Kong Ah-Jung, who's a government worker at the Tourism Board, ie a not very glorious job, and the rich and eligible bachelor Hyun Ki-Joon, who is the president for a great hotel company. The key moment which drives the rest of the story, is when Ah-Jung, pressured by her married peers, lies to them that she is married to Ki-Joon. Admittedly, it all starts of as a misunderstanding (of course), but then you can guess what happens along the way. The 16 episodes is handle with just the right amount of drama and humour and romance, and the clumsy and charming Ah-Jung is really heart-warming, and I like how the female star is allowed to be portrayed all along as a more whimsical and "real" character than you could expect from the often superficial Korean media. Also, they actually let one of the "bad guys" (no, I wont say whom) to evolve during the story in a way that you don't see to often anywhere in the world in these kind of romcom's.

Kdrama: Architecture 101 (건축학개론)

Some movies could really have been made a number of places in the world. The details and inflections of the set may be genuinely korean, but at the same time its a classic piece of movie art. This truly holds for the korean movie Architecture 101. It tells the story of two peoples complicated love story over time. The movie takes place when they meet at a introductory architecture curse in Seoul, and 17 years later when the woman seeks out the man who now is an architect. She asks him to rebuild her home at Jeju island, and gradually their common past is retold and makes its impact on the present. Be prepared that the movie is a true asian movie in the drama department, its bittersweet romance told with a gentle hand. All the more touching because of that. The actors you may know from series like Fashion King(Lee Je-Hoon) och Big (Bae Suzy, known from miss A).