Sass and Bias: Pamela's Top 6 Male Actors (First Edition)

Ten days after the anniversary of my unofficial Kdrama entrance, I bring you another favorites list. Today, I am covering my favorite male actors. I thought this list wouldn't be longer than the one containing my favorite female Kdrama actresses, but I am much more confident in the positions these actors hold within the list. Also, I realized ten hours after posting this post that there is a very important actor whom I forgot.

There are 26 completed dramas, in addition to the five I'm watching, to choose actors from, so let's begin!

6. So Ji Sub

Master's Sun (2013)

So Ji Sub suffers from the same obstacle as Gong Hyo Jin and Ha Ji Won, in terms of his placement on my favorite-actors list. I haven't watched many of his projects. I've seen Master's Sun - pardon my squeals - and I've seen A Company Man (in which I noticed him practicing his signature "Kkeojyeo" for Master's Sun).

A Company Man (2012)

While I remember enjoying So Ji Sub in these projects, it's been over half of a year since I've seen any others. In a few of the earlier posts on this blog back in October and November, I mentioned that I wanted to watch Ghost. However, I also said I wanted to watch Nice Guy, and it took me until a month ago to finally start viewing that. Maybe he'll move up the list as time goes on, but for now, he's here at number 4.

5. Song Joong Ki

Nice Guy (2012)

This man - as much as I want to call him a boy, he is 29 - is adorable. He is pretty. He is talented. I have seen him in Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and I spent every moment of his presence flailing around because of his Sungkyunkwan Scholar Sass. In my two viewings of A Werewolf Boy, he exuded so much...aww-ness. (Yes, "aww-ness" is a thing. It's my thing, and my things don't have to make sense. :P) Now, in Nice Guy, this frustrating, talented, mean performance can illicit one reaction from me (besides swooning at this smart-aleck and his anti-hero character):

"Just pretty on, man."

4. Joo Ji Hoon

Five Fingers (2012)

Five Fingers may have been possibly taken off of my favorite-dramas list (due to my fear of the bias I've developed for the three main actors, discounting the mother), but it spawned three of my favorite acting talents: Joo Ji Hoon is the second of these talents. Why have I grown to adore him? Well, there's his voice. There are also his eyebrows; he and fellow favorite actor, Life Ruiner *points to end of post*, have a similar talent in that both can do things with their eyebrows that turn me into mush. I nearly forgot about my newfound love for Joo Ji Hoon because of the incoherent boredom that was Medical Top Team, but ten hours after originally posting this post, I am half an hour into The Naked Kitchen and about to begin flailing because of that voice and that cuteness. (We can't forget the steaminess, though. Never forget.)

3. Yoo Ah In

Secret Love Affair (2014)

To be honest, I didn't consider Yoo Ah In to be anywhere near this list until recently. My friend and I saw him in Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and my opinion was that the guy was adequate. Through Secret Love Affair, I have realized that Yoo Ah In is far more than adequate. The way he seems to feel every emotion he portrays with every cell in his body is awe-inspiring. In this regard, I might say that he has a more refined acting ability than the two actors above him on this list. Well, the actor immediately above him, at least.

2. Lee Jong Suk

Doctor Stranger (2014)
*glances at Yoo Ah In* *flashes back to this picture*
Oh, look, Lee Jong Suk's lying down and being sad as well...

I'm sure you are all well-acquainted with Socky Tree Monkey. The past couple of years have been fairly successful for him, with High Kick: Revenge of the Short-Legged in 2011, his part in Secret Garden, and the dramas I've actually seen him in: School 2013, I Hear Your Voice, and the currently-airing Doctor Stranger. Socky Tree Monkey, for me, is the embodiment of sass and bias. The attitude Lee Jong Suk brings to the small screen is adorable, as well as the variety of emotions he is steadily able to portray, convey the potential he has to have continued success in show business. He's pretty. He's precious. He has potential. That's my Socky Tree Monkey in a nutshell.

1. Ji. Chang. Wook. (Warning: unmanageable bias ahead!)

Empress Ki (2013-2014)

Five Fingers (2012)

Meet Life Ruiner, if you haven't already. My ultimate bias has been in a number of successful dramas, including Smile, Dong Hae, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, and recently starred in Empress Ki. I've seen him in Smile, Dong Hae (which I'm still watching at a turtle's pace), Empress Ki, and Five Fingers. Within about five minutes of my first introduction to Life Ruiner in Five Fingers, I was in love. A biased, self-destructive love. The way he speaks. The way he sings. The way he makes facial expressions using his eyebrows. The way he exists in dramas is enough to cause a worrisome decline in my sanity. Ji Chang Wook has spent the past seven-and-a-half months ruining my life. I find nothing wrong with that.

I meant it when I titled this post, "Sass and Bias." Each of these actors either brings too much sass to the screen for me to handle (or just enough), causes my inability to function due to an unexplainable bias, or does a combination of the two. These men are both the banes and the protectors of my existence.

-Pamela

Wopping Wednesday: Five Fingers

Let me just point out that I absolutely love this drama. *sighs* That (sort of) needed to be said.

But this post isn't about Five Fingers itself; this post is about its music.

One of the best things about Five Fingers was its soundtrack - especially the orchestral songs. The drama was supposed to be about pianists-turned-composers, after all (in addition to the revenge, of course); if the music hadn't been as ear-catching from the start, it's debatable whether or not I would have loved the drama as much. *gazes glances at Ji Chang Wook* Nope, I probably would have.

The music just helped. A lot of the music is more orchestral than in other dramas I've seen, and that's perfectly fine. Before I start rambling about how the pieces tie into what I learn in music classes in school, let's just start listening! :)

 "Salieri" is one of the more high-energy, dramatic pieces in Five Fingers. (Of course it is, it's the song that plays at the end of the episodes, when those gosh-freaking cliffhangers happen.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osFZgYu2Lzk

Now, I would have just left "Ji Ho's Theme" out because it wasn't available on the video-finding app in Blogger, but the song is just too good to leave out. The piano melody and the orchestral integration are enough to make it one of my favorite pieces from the drama...Basically, it's a really pretty song.

As is "Sympathy." Out of the instrumental songs, this is the most...hum-able, in my opinion. The melody is easy to follow, and it is one of the songs that was stuck in my head often when I wasn't watching the drama.

In case you haven't noticed, there is a lot of usage of string instruments for the tracks...and the tracks are less pop-y than those on the soundtracks for some other drama's I've seen. Watching Five Fingers and listening to these pieces helped me appreciate instrumental music and music composition. 

But now we enter the pop-y section. Im Young Hee's (or Lim, depending on your preference) "날 사랑하지마 (Don't Love Me)" took me a couple listens to become accustomed to it, likely due to the instrumentals. The song is nice and sad and pretty, and I've grown to enjoy it. (By this point, you've probably realized that I enjoy nice, sad, and pretty songs.)

My musical bias for sad, minor songs, as well as the insane, fangirling bias I developed for Ji Chang Wook the moment I laid eyes on him in Five Fingers, is part of what led me to enjoy "채운다 (Fills My Heart)" so much. Before he was a television actor, Ji Chang Wook was a struggling stage actor, so he has musical experience. Why this and his track for Warrior Baek Dong Soo are the only soundtrack contributions he's made, I don't understand.

This is, of course, only a taste of the musical magic of Five Fingers. Not all of the songs are necessarily ones that stay with you, or ones that you'll even remember at all (this is especially true with the vocal songs). Still, if you watch Five Fingers for any reason at all, let that reason be the music.

...watch it for Joo Ji Hoon and Ji Chang Wook.
That's also an acceptable motivation.

Or, you know...

-Pamela