Uncertain Indecisiveness: Pamela's Top 5 Kdrama Actresses

Really, please ignore this post...It's gotten me nowhere...Like the title of the post implies, I'm uncertain about this topic, and I still haven't made a final decision on this list...(I don't want to delete this post, though :P) I'll probably make another post another time when I come up with a better list. :)

It's happening - the anniversary of my venture into the Korean Drama life vacuum is supposedly happening. The anniversary of my birth is definitely happening, but that's not nearly as important.

Now, for the next few weeks - as I can only post these "Top [insert standard countdown number here]" lists so frequently and for so long - I will be making lists that countdown different aspects of my Kdrama experience. Who are my top actresses? Actors? What are my favorite OSTs? In the end, what is my favorite drama? (That last one's going to be difficult, let me tell you. There will be a few tears shed.)

But let's start with actresses. You probably won't agree with the positions these females hold on this list. Heck, I'm not even sure if I agree with them. Between the 26 dramas I've completed and the 5 I'm currently watching, though, I will try to conjure up a list that makes sense.

5) Gong Hyo Jin

Master's Sun (2013)

Gong Hyo Jin likely deserves a higher spot on this list. I'm aware of that...If I had had more exposure to her besides through Master's Sun, she probably would have a higher spot. I enjoyed her in Master's Sun...once I got past my preconceived notions concerning the drama and actually started enjoying it and her. (This wasn't until around episode 5 or 6.) Gong Hyo Jin has remained in my mind more than other actresses with a modicum of a chance of being on this list, at the very least.

I promise, Gong Hyo Jin, to view more of your projects so that my only opinion of you isn't one that has been forgotten over the seven-and-a-half months since Master's Sun's conclusion...I will eventually fulfill this promise.

4) Park Shin Hye

Flower Boy Next Door (2013)

In contrast to industry veteran Gong Hyo Jin, I have seen three of Park Shin Hye's dramas: Flower Boy Next Door, Heirs, and You're Beautiful. The improvement I saw in her acting ability when I watched You're Beautiful after having seen the former two are part of the charm I see in her. Also, Park Shin Hye has been shown to convey joy, sadness, bubbly-ness, sass, and exasperation - on the screen, she can pretty much do anything but kiss.

3) Ha Ji Won

Empress Ki (2013-2014)

Ha Ji Won is in the same situation as Gong Hyo Jin, as I have also only seen one drama featuring Ha Ji Won...Judging by her performance in Empress Ki, I have a feeling that I will enjoy (very, very enthusiastically) her other dramas. She has the glaring, the smiling, the sobbing, and more mastered. (Ha Ji Won is also has a pretty good chance of being bumped up the list later on. :) )

2) IU

You're The Best, Lee Soon Shin (2013)

On the other hand, I have seen all of IU's dramas (and as she's primarily a singer and thus is only in three dramas, it isn't surprising that I have.). I would put her as my favorite, but that would be submitting to my intense bias for my awesome and adorable unni. (By the way, she's turning 21 right now if I take into consideration the 13-hour time difference...WAIT, so I technically have the same birthday as IU?! O~O)

1) Jin Se Yeon...ish

Five Fingers (2012)

You know, I'm not really certain as to why I'm giving Jin Se Yeon the number-one spot...Part of this is due to my IU bias, but there's also the dislike a lot of the online Kdrama community seems to have for Jin Se Yeon...But she's only 20. For a 20-year old, she's doing fairly well. And I actually like her. She may end up falling to a lower spot on this list later on, but I'm going to give her support because I can. 

The actresses on this list are not evenly matched. I have seen three dramas each that include Park Shin Hye, Jin Se Yeon, and IU. I have only seen one Ha Ji Won and one Gong Hyo Jin drama, so the odds are kind of unfair. After I get more acquainted with these and other actresses, the list will likely change. I'm only seventeen, after all; there is plenty of time for me to expand my horizon of Kdrama female interests.

There's also the issue of experience. The top 3 actresses on the list have varying experience. Ha Ji Won is a little less than two decades older than me, and has had time to perfect her craft. IU turns 21 the day after my birthday, and has had more musical experience, but her acting experience consists of her being adorable. Jin Se Yeon just turned 20 back in February, and Doctor Stranger - which she is currently starring in - is her fourth drama as a main lead. IU and Jin Se Yeon have more to learn, but I find them enjoyable and with potential, hence why I rate them so highly. I guess you could say they're my favorite unni actresses, and that Ha Ji Won is my favorite ajumma actress. (Or mega-unni, if that's how you'd prefer to look at it.)

We may not agree on my choices, but thanks for stopping by, anyway! 

(By the way, this is my fiftieth post! *cue celebratory dance*)

-Pamela

(Update: June 21, 2014 - I've since asked my unnis over at Operation: Kdrama Chat about why it is that people dislike Jin Se Yeon so much...She isn't that skilled of an actress, and I'm not sure what it is that gets me to like her, but I like her. She likely won't stay at the position she's at, or maybe as she hopefully improves her acting skills, she'll return to the position she currently holds. Really, I don't know who my favorite actress is. :P)
(Update: July 2, 2014 - You know, maybe I should put Park Min Young on this list...I'm currently rewatching City Hunter with my next-door neighbor - it's her first drama - and I'm seeing her in A New Leaf...I don't think I'd be as apprehensive about this list if Park Min Young was on it instead of either Park Shin Hye or Jin Se Yeon...Eh, I'll figure it out. Sorry...)

If you want to see the list as it's in development, here's the link to the list I made on mydramalist. :)

Okay, the Ship Hasn't Completely Sunk (Empress Ki)

Note: spoilers ahead.

For the past few episodes of Empress Ki (I'm currently on episode 19), I've been increasingly disliking the relationship between two of the leads: Nyang - Empress Ki/Qi - and Wang Yoo, the fictional king of Koryo.

Early on in the drama, I enjoyed them as a couple, as friends. What would it feel like right now if I still shipped them? *sigh* If it wasn't for Mr. Life Ruiner here...

Why must you exist, Ji Chang Wook...?
You're just too adorable.

...then I would have been in love with Nyang and Wang Yoo being in love.

However...then Wang Yoo found out that Seung Nyang was actually a girl named Nyang. (By the way, the beginning is probably one of my favorite gender-bender implementations so far in a drama.) After that, he seemed to treat her more like his obedient subject, even after he was deposed. He began to really act more like a ruler, like a superior figure. 

The fact that she's a girl doesn't mean you can ignore her
badassery.

For a lot of this drama so far, Nyang has remained loyal and devoted to her king, acting more like the obedient subject he seems to see her as.

Meanwhile, there's the Emperor. Although she is just his maid, and he will sometimes treat her as such, ordering her to do everything for him, he also treats her as an equal. There are even times she seems to be seen as superior to him. He relies on her to read for him so he can sleep. He asks for her advice on leadership, even though she is still just a woman and just a maid. And because he's such a baby - a fatally adorable baby - who can rarely do anything for himself, she looks down on Emperor Togon.

But then all you have to do is put Wang Yoo within earshot or within her peripheral vision, and she becomes a wide-eyed, pathetic mess.

It is because of her pathetic nature, that both parties are blindly fine with, that I have really come to dislike Wang Yoo in his romantic affairs. He's awesome, I'll admit - because the show glorifies those of Koryo descent while depicting most of the Mongols and their allies as unscrupulous mongrels - and I enjoy watching him fight for justice. However, once Nyang is by his side... *thumbs down*

This brings me to the middle of episode 19. Wang Yoo is annoyed that Nyang would even think of picking up a bow and arrow and demonstrating her strength. Granted, she's hurt, but that never stopped her before.

Then, he, Nyang, and his royal posse take a trip to the Koryo quarters of the Yuan's capital city.

Now, maybe it's because Nyang doesn't have any available feminine clothes, as she lived as a man for most of her life, and she doesn't have any dresses now that Wang Yoo took her from the Imperial Palace (and from Life Ruiner :( ), but she's still dressing as a man. It does give me some joy to see that Wang Yoo allowed her to accompany him in men's clothing, despite his restrictions on her non-femininity. He let the future empress dress in robes that were meant for the gender with which she was characterized as exhibiting more strength..

As subtle as this may be, it keeps the ship (you know...that ship) floating for at least another five minutes. Let's see if he screws it up as the episode continues, shall we?

(UPDATE, forty-two minutes into episode 20: Nope, I ship them again. I don't think anyone understands just how much Wang Yoo's theme music, as well as that freaking kiss, affect me.)

-Pamela