5 Things I LOVED in K-pop: 1/28 – 2/3
Written by Johnelle On February 4, 2013 
We said goodbye to January and entered February last week as K-pop entered its 2013 transitional phase. The excitement of the new year has ended and it’s time to see how exactly 2013 will shape up in K-pop history.
Last week also brought about the 10th anniversary of YG Entertainment‘s resident songstress, Gummy. She debuted in 2003 with the album Like Them. To celebrate, YG Entertainment uploaded a bunch of Gummy’s MVs on their YouTube channel on January 31st. In honor of Gummy’s 10th, here’s my fave Gummy MV, “As a Man” which stars Jung Ryeo-won and Kim Hyun-joong.
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The following are the 5 Things I LOVED in K-pop last week. As always, if you’re not up-to-date on all your K-pop and tend to get a tad upset about spoilers, do not proceed any further because they most definitely ensue.
5. School’s Out
It was the end for School 2013 and there was no big happily ever after tying up all the story lines. What we got was what we should have expected from the brutal real life beginnings we had from the drama’s debut. Although the ending was sufficient–we only got that most of them made it through year 2–I guess I must be happy that at least our leads’ friendship was repaired, no one died and the teachers survived until the end. While I don’t quite feel like the drama gave me a complete story with so many questions still unanswered like–is there a love triangle going on between Go Nam-soon, Song Ha-kyung and Lee Kang-joo? among others–but the drama did supposedly span a whole year in school. Maybe in the life of a teenager when every little thing each day can seem like the end of the world–just getting through that one year was more than enough to ask for.
4. A lion, a cheetah, and a giraffe
The guests on the the latest episode of Running Man were actress/professional boxer Lee Si-young and MMA fighter Chu Sung-hoon and I’ve never seen the Running Man cast look more like prey (well, other than the Choi Min-soo episodes). Look what happens when the weakest giraffe in the Serengeti gets left behind and cornered by a lion who plays with his food thereby getting his prey stolen by a quick killing cheetah.
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3. Dads and their Kids
My favorite new variety show is Dad! Where Are We Going? The show is a cross of Family Outing and 1N2D with celebrity dads and their kids. The cast consists of actor Sung Dong-il (46) and his son Sung Joon (7), MC/Broadcaster Kim Sung-joo (41) and his son Kim Min-gook (9), actor Lee Jong-hyuk (39) and his son Lee Joon-soo (6), professional soccer player Song Jong-gook (34) and his daughter Song Jia (6), and singer/former member of Vibe Yoon Min-soo (33) and his son Yoon Hoo (7). The first episode was the first trip these dads and their kids ever went on together without Mom and in a society where the moms are the nucleus of the family, that makes it a big deal. The show explores just how these busy celebrity dads will be able to handle the care of their kids, the roles they have in their child’s life, and their ability to accomplish things together . The greatest thing to see while watching the show is the growth of the relationships between the fathers and their children which was already evident from the first trip to the next. In the latest episode the dads even came together to placate a heartbroken Min-gook, who was disappointed in his dad’s choice of a tent although his intentions were good. Here’s my fave clip of the episode, the adorable Hoo and his chivalrous ways towards Jia–who he only takes care of because she’s his dongsaeng, NOT because he has a crush on her or anything.
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2. Infinite H Without U
The MV for Infinite H‘s “Without U” in the Week in Review, but you know when it’s good… it’s good. Ambika beat me to their awesome performance of the song with Zion T on Inkigayo, so I thought I’d share with you their performance of the song plus “Victorious Way” on last week’s Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook.
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1. Level 1 K-drama Minion
Level 7 Civil Servant starring Joo Won and Choi Kang-hee had been on my K-drama radar since it was first announced, but I have to admit that the first two episodes were disappointing. They weren’t as fast moving, as action packed, or even as fun as expected. Hopefully, the drama was just mired in story set up because this week’s episodes were hitting all the right moves. The NIS training was a lot of fun and I wish it had maybe lasted for another week, but maybe the story will only keep getting better. My fave bit from this week’s episodes was when Choi Kang-hee’s character Kim Seo-won takes up the challenge of singing a song for the class for a bonus of 500. And by the way, I think Chansung’s singing of the National Anthem in the drama was acting, right?
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Those were the 5 Things I LOVED in K-pop last week, were they yours?
(YG Entertainment, KBS2, SBS, MBC, KBS2, MBC)
Johnelle
A Hawaii girl, born and raised. 5 Things I LOVE about K-pop 5. Well written and fun K-dramas like Answer Me 1997; 4. K-varieties–especially Family Outing & Running Man; 3. Lee Hyori–even backwards it’s Lee Hyori; 2. Yoo Jae-suk–The Timing is NOW!; and 1. Big Bang.
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Tags: 5 Things, Choi Kang Hee, Chu Sung Hoon, Dad! Where Are We Going?, Infinite H, Joo-won, Lee Si Young, Level 7 Civil Servant, Running Man, School 2013
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