Blog Entry #2 (Coffee Prince 1 & 2)

The first two episodes of Coffee Prince was overall a really nice setup. Normally, the first episode can come off as very boring, but Coffee Prince was interesting to start off with, maybe because of the "queerness" of it. Right away, you can see the cliche-ness of Coffee Prince. The cliches include things such as a rich male lead, a poor female lead, lead male is a playboy type of character, lead female works hard and has multiple jobs, the two leads have a misunderstanding in the beginning when he thinks she is a robber (and that he thinks she is a he), and of course the whole "pretend to be my lover" segment. Despte all the cliches, it is still a refreshing drama because of certain element such as "gender bending," non-existence of evil second leads, the characters are just really likeable, and the whole think seems really funny.

The main female lead, Eun Chan, has a naive, innocent charm to her. This is really apparent for me during the car ride with the main male lead, Han Kyul. She is messing around in his car, but this charm gets to him and you see him smile. It is also apparent when he kisses her for real and she overreacts, claiming it to be her first kiss. Eun Chan is very likeable, so the pairing of the two main leads is very interesting and funny so far. On the other hand, the second lead couple isn't interesting at all so far, it just seems really sappy. Overall, it was really funny. Parts that I found funny was when Han Kyul was on a blind date and the girl had a harry armpit, or when Eun Chan goes toe the woman's locker room at the sauna to deliver food and they all thought she was a boy.

Things I noticed about Korea is that they have a ID number and the number it ends with depends if you're a boy or a girl. Also, with their names, I noticed, the two cousins both have Han in their names and the sisters both have Eun in their names. That caught my attention because some Chinese families do that with their children's name as well.

Blog Entry #1

1. How were you introduced to Asian popular culture?

I was introduced to Asian pop culture by a friend, who at the time was obsessed with Boa and Rain. She kept talking about them and I was curious so I looked them up on youtube. From there, I started to discover other kpop artist and really got into a few of their music. That same friend kept trying to get me to watch a drama that Rain was in, and she introduced me to mysoju.com. From there, I watched a few dramas, but I hated "Full House" which was the drama that had Rain in it.

2. What aspects of Asian popular culture do you enjoy? For example, what are some of your favorite films, dramas, groups, etc., etc.?

I enjoy Asian dramas because they have an ending and it doesn't go on and on, plus, once you start they get really addicting. I mostly watch ones that are funny and they usually include that slapstick kind of humor. Dramas that I like include "My Lovely Samsoon" and "Last Scandal" which I thought were really funny. Some of the music I like include stuff from Big Bang, 2pm, and 2ne1.

3. What happens to you in the process of watching/listening/engaging in (different types of) Asian popular culture? How is it different from watching/listening/engaging in American popular culture?

With dramas, if the story line is good and its really funny, they get really addicting, but when they start dragging, which a lot of dramas tend to do at the end, I start thinking to myself, why am I watching this, its not as funny anymore and its getting really sappy. Its different from American shows because it doesn't keep going on and on until the nth season, plus, American TV is all about reality shows now, which I really don't like anymore because they get stupider and stupider. Also, I think I do enjoy Asian pop culture because I can relate to it easier.

4. What are some Asian popular culture blogs and sites you have found fun, helpful, or informative? Please provide links if possible.

Other than mysoju.com, you can watch dramas at viikii.net or dramafever.com (you can watch Coffee Prince here too if you don't want to deal with broken links on mysoju.com). I think allkpop.com is a good blog on Korean pop culture and dramabeans.com blogs on Korean dramas, but other than those two blogs, I don't really know any other ones.