The Novel “FAITH” by Song Ji Na

Recently, I fell in love with the novel  that was acted out in the South Korean drama “Faith” (or The Great Doctor). I first watched the drama when it was first broadcasted in South Korea from August to October in 2012.

The story is about a plastic surgeon (acted by Kim Hee Sun) who was abducted by a time-travelling warrior (acted by Lee Min Ho) to the Goryeo period 600 years ago in Korea. There they fell in love with each other and then was separated again when she was dragged into the time-wrapped hole by their enemy and went back to 2013 Seoul with him severely wounded and left dying on a field. And by the faith that they had on each other, he survived and she managed to come back him after another year of time-travelling.

Though I like the drama, but I found it somewhat lacking. Some of the scenes and moments in the script were not enacted. It was more satisfying when I read of of the missing portions in the fansites. I found out then that the scriptwriter and author Song Ji Na would be writing a novel for the drama story. I waited for it for a while and then I forgot about it.

Finally, recently, after I stumble upon the drama and re-watched it again. And I searched for the novel again. I found bits and pieces of translations of the novel, which is written in Korean, in English and Chinese. Only Japanese translations of the novel is available. So far, the volume one and two of the novel is out. Apparently, there will be four volumes in total.

The wait for the translations is really arduous. And I stumbled upon online fan-made sequels to the story in the drama. So far, I had read about three of them, all without ending.

Let’s hope that volume three and four will come out soon.

19 Dec 2013

Boys Over Flowers – 2009

Can’t really remember exactly how it all started but I came across “Boys Over Flowers” (꽃보다 남자) in Channel U in June 2009. I remembered that it was a scene where the character Gu Jun Pyo was acting silly and clumsy in front of the girl KGum Jan Di whom he likes at the playground in an island resort. I thought it was funny and I followed the drama.

I really like the story and the lead male and female casts (Lee Min Ho and Ku Hye Sun). The story is about a poor girl who went to a rich-kids school and got into trouble with the richest and most full-of-himself kid. In the process, the boy fell hard for the girl and but his mother objected to it and threw in all kinds of obstacles for them. But what I really like about the story is how much the boy loves the girl, the things he would do for her and how steadfast and faithful he is to his love inspite of all kinds of circumstances they are in – background, family objections, love rivals, etc. The only exception is when he lost his memory due to an accident. That’s when it’s the girl’s turn to try and get him back.

I like the story so much that I went on to watch the earlier Japanese version Hana Yori Dango (花より男子) and its sequel Hana Yori Dango Returns and the subsequent movie version Hana Yori Dango Final. The casts were Jun Matsumoto and Mao Inoue and their characters are and Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushi respectively.

I also read the translated original manga story by Kamio Yoko.

Lastly I watched the Chinese (Taiwanese) version Meteor Garden. 

Of all these versions, I like the original manga version the best and the Korean version next.

There are a number of OSTs  that I really like among these dramas.

For the South Korean Version:

Tears are falling down – This songs describes the longing and pain that the Jun Pyo had when he was forced to be away from Jan Di. 

What should I do? –

Fight the bad feeling – 

Something happened to my heart – 

My Everything –

For the Japanese Version:

Flavor of Life – 

Planaetarium – 

My Journey in Korean Drama Viewing – 2008

Next was “My Girl” in 2008. I watched it because of Lee Jun Ki, who had left me an impression when he came to here to promote his film “King and the Clown” in 2006. It was featured in an article on the local paper. The story seemed unusual as it is about the story of an abnormal relationship between the King and the beautiful clown played by Lee Jun Ki, who has an exquisite look. I enjoyed watching the drama as there is good chemistry between the two leads Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae.

Then came “The Legend” in August. I have always like the stories based on Greek and Roman mythologies. This is a story about the reincarnated son of the heavenly god, the god-chosen king, his four guardians from heaven and his love relationships with the reincarnated fire-goddess and her sister, the reincarnated earthly wife of the son of the heavenly god. It’s interesting as there is a mix of mythical and magical  elements in a historical setting. My heart went to the poor fire-goddess who had missed out on the love with the son of  the heavenly god in the past and once again could not spent much happy times with her beloved in the current life. I think she is really unfortunate and it’s a sad life for her. I am a little confused though about the phoenix and the fire element in the story. There are also the fight for control and power between the princes and conquests to unite all the tribes.

And the OST – A Thousand Years Love Song was sung by TVXQ. I didn’t know TVXQ then, but the song is nice and kind of sad. It suited the story in the drama well.

The main casts: Bae Yong Joon, Lee Ji Ah and Moon So Ri

After watch this drama, I understand why Bae Yong Joon is so popular.

 

My Journey in Korean Drama Viewing – 2007

After Princess Hours (Goong) in 2006, I watched two other Korean dramas in 2007.

As I like Goong very much, I went on to watch Goong S in 2007. It’s quite nice too but I like the original Goong better. I think Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye made a great couple in the drama. The second lead Kim Jeong Hoon left an impression too.

During that time in 2007, promotions were going on for the film version of Hwang Jin-i by Song Hye Kyo. So when the free-to-air Channel U broadcasted the drama version by Ha Ji Won, I went to watch it. I enjoyed the drama version much better than the film version (which I had watched much later). The young man playing Hwang Jin-i first true love left an impression on me. I only got to know who he is three years later. He is none other than Jang Keun Suk.

I gave “Coffee Prince – The First Shop” a miss then as I didn’t quite like the idea of Yoon Eun Hye dressed as a boy and behaving in a rough manner.

My Introduction to Korean Dramas

The first Korean drama I came across was An Autumn’s Tale by Song Seung Hun, Song Hye Kyo and Won Bin in 2002. It was already the last few episodes.

Then in 2006, Jewels in the Palace was very popular. But I didn’t follow it. Tried watching a few minutes here and but I wasn’t interested.

Then came across an article and a picture of the cast of Goong, Princess Hours, in the papers about up-coming local TV broadcast. The story-line sounded interesting. And it became the first full Korean drama that I had watched.

Princess Hours (Goong) OST – 당신은…나는 바보입니다 (I’m A Fool) by 심태윤 (Stay)