Korean Drama - A Gentleman's Dignity

Fellow Korean drama fans are gonna be spoiled for choices this season as there are several high quality and entertaining dramas ("A Gentleman's Dignity", "Dr Jin", "Ghost" and "Big") which are currently showing in Korea and you can watch it easily online. The dramas has top actors and actresses like Jang Dong Gun, Song Seung Heon, Lee Bum Seo, Gong Yoo, Kim Ha Neul, Park Min Yeong, Lee Min Jung and Bae Suzy acting in them and are already generating a buzz in Korea. There are also 2 dramas that have recently ended in Korea and gotten good ratings and reviews like "Rooftop Prince" starring Micky Park Yoochun and Han Ji Min and "The King To Hearts" starring Lee Seung Ki and Han Ji Won which have really interesting plot and i have been trying to find time to watch them.

I have decided to watch "A Gentleman’s Dignity" first as i'm a huge fan of Jang Dong Gun and this is his first drama in 12 years after super popular drama "All About Eve" and alot of his fans have waited a really long time for his return to the small screen. I love watching "All About Eve" which he acted opposite actress Chae Rim and still re-watch it occasionally as i have its VCD set. Hopefully they will have the opportunity to star in a drama together again in the future :)

"A Gentleman's Dignity" is  produced by the hit-making team, scriptwriter Kim Eun Sook and producer Shin Woo Chul of SBS "Secret Garden" and "Lovers in Paris". It tells the stories of 4 urban professional men in their 40s (Jang Dong Gun, Kim Su Ro, Kim Min Jong and Lee Jong Hyuk) who are trying to find romance and has to learn how to deal with heartbreak at the same time. They have already been through love, separation, success and failure and are now strong enough not to fall for anything. Kim Do Jin is reluctant to give his affections and his wealth to a woman. Choi Yoon tries to heal his heart after losing his wife seven years ago. Im Tae San is dating a cold-hearted woman but wonders if there is someone else out there for him. Ko Young Do marries an older woman for money but may lose his comfortable lifestyle in a divorce. Can the four friends make the right choices to find their true loves?

I have watched 4 episodes of this romantic comedy so far and finds it really enjoyable and relaxing watching the drama so far. It is light and humorous and i love the good and natural acting from the cast. I have been recommending this drama to friends who also love watching Korean dramas and you can also watch it online at (http://www.mysoju.com/korean-drama/a-gentlemans-dignity/) or (http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/a-gentlemans-dignity/) or (http://www.viki.com/channels/6108-a-gentlemen-s-dignity).

This drama is like the Korean male version of my favorite US series "Sex & The City" and shows a man's perspective on relationship issues through its four gorgeous characters. Through the unraveling of these middle-aged men’s stories, female viewers would be able to gain an insight into what men are thinking when they start, end or are in a relationship. The 4 characters met when they were 18 and have been close friends for 22 years going through thick and thin together. Although they are now in their 40s, they still feel young at heart whenever they meet up and are constantly looking for the next new adventure to explore and have fun together.

Jang Dong Gun takes on the leading role of the chief of an architectural firm, Kim Do Jin who is good at handing out scathing comments and has a cynical style of talking. Kim Ha Neul stars as the female lead and his love interest and makes her first drama comeback in 2 years with this 20 episodes SBS drama which airs every Saturday and Sunday in Korea since 26 May 2012. Her character is a strict but loving and cute teacher Seo Yi Soo. Their drama is currently competing against MBC’s "Dr Jin" which is an adaptation of the hugely popular Japanese time traveling medical drama of the same name and it has been a close fight so far in terms of ratings.

Character Description:

Kim Do Jin, known for his spiteful tongue and obnoxious behavior, is the Chief Architect and CEO of an architecture company. He has everything, with a perfect face and body. Also known for his ability in stealing women’s hearts, he enjoys getting attention from women, which explains why he has been a natural born single. The reason him being single is that he doesn’t like to share his income with his (future) wife and children. 80% of his conversation contains “stinging tongue or incendiary vicious tongue” and 20% contains “pointing out mistakes and correcting people”. Since he majored in engineering, he is addicted to analysis and statistics. He likes to figure out reason and cause and believes that he can computes the feeling of human being. But in the end he meets a woman Seo Yi Soo whom he can’t really figure out.

First Chanced Meeting

Second Chanced Meeting

36 years old Seo Yi Soo is an ethics teacher in high school and she is also an umpire for an amateur adult baseball team. She is not that strict but is firm and charismatic. Also, Seo Yi Soo isn’t exactly rough or mean, but she is stern and determined. She teaches her students passionately on how to respect the dignity of human beings, to upholds etiquette towards people and how to love each other. For about 3 years, she has loved Im Tae San who is in the same baseball team, but it was one-sided. Unfortunately her one-sided love is discovered accidentally by Do Jin who is attracted to her and he playfully seizes the opportunity to order her around by threatening to reveal her secret to Tae San.  However Do Jin finds himself really falling for Yi Soo and is frustrated that Yi Soo is not impressed with him and always irritated with him as she cannot stand his strange reasoning and bad personality. Yi Soo is housemate with her best friend Hong Se Ra who is the girlfriend of Im Tae San and she tries hard to hide her feelings from her.

Im Tae San is the co-CEO of the architecture company and also an architect. He is a pure minded and macho man with a sexy body as well as a brilliant brain. He acts before he thinks and never regrets whatever results he gets. He is a cool yet hot and pure-minded macho guy. He is in a relationship with cold hearted woman Se Ra who is a friend of Yi Soo. He is an attentive and caring boyfriend towards See Ra and has never really look at Yi Soo as a woman. But one day he was really shocked to hear hear that Yi Soo likes him.

Choi Yoon is a divorce lawyer and the only person who acts and thinks maturely among their group of 'middle-aged F4'. He misses his wife who passed away 7 years ago and is oppressed with sorrow and does not wish to start a new relationship. 24 years old Im Me A Ri who is a sister of his friend (Im Tae San) has a crush on him but he dares not accept her love and is constantly avoiding her. He ended up developing feeling for her and Do Jin also notices it but Choi Yoon continues to pretend that he only treat her as a little sister.

Lee Jung Rok is the owner of a coffee shop and he is the most playful among the group. He is always cheating on his wife and has a habit of hiding his wedding ring whenever he spots an attractive woman approaching from a distance. He used to be popular among girls when he was young, even being called “Apgujeong’s Orange Jok and Kingka”. Once he got older and no longer popular, he married a rich noona Min Sook and became the president of a coffee shop. After his marriage he still enjoys alcohol, girls and gambling behind his wife's back and always getting his buddies to cover for him.  His wife Min Sook always manage to find out his tricks and is constantly threatening him with divorce. But the problem is, he must transfer his coffee shop back to her after their divorce and he will lose everything.

Park Min Sook is a 44 years old rich and career woman who works in real estate and leasing service. She looks 10 years younger than her age and is beautiful, intelligent and rich with high education. She thinks that money works for everything. But money doesn’t solve for her problems like her husband’s love affair and that they have no child since marriage.

Hong Se Ra is a 36 years old pro golfer and cold hearted woman and a girlfriend of Im Tae San. She won her first golf tournament in the age of 21.

Im Meari is 24 years old and she used to be a fat girl and never succeeds in love. She flew to New York with size 88 and came back to Korea with size 44. She has always had a childhood crush on Choi Yoon and is determined to win his love despite his constant rejection. She is Yi Soo's ex student and they are now good friends. Meari knows of Yi Soo's secret crush for his brother and is always encouraging her to express her love for him. She hopes that they will end up together as she dislikes her brother's girlfriend Se Ra for being really flirty and always surrounded by other men. 

Collin is a 19-year-old mysterious boy. He’s born in America, eats American foods and thinks like an American. After his mother passed away, he felt betrayed by his stepfather who got married again and ran away from home to look for his real father in Korea. “One of you guys IS my father,” he said to the 4 gentlemen and lives together with them. His weapon of charms is his purity and his tactic is smile. He is tricky, unexpected and is a 4-dimensional boy who controls the 4 gentlemen’s lives.

(Source: http://tv.sbs.co.kr/sinsa/)
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gentleman's_Dignity)
(Source: http://asianwiki.com/Gentleman's_Dignity)
(Source: http://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=7244)
(Source: http://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=7326&idxType=News&trendKeyword=A%20Gentleman’s%20Dignity)
(Source: http://www.dramabeans.com)
(Source: http://allkoreandrama.com/a-gentlemans-dignitya)
(Source: http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_A_Gentleman__s_Dignity.php) 

I Love Watching Korean Drama "A Gentleman's Dignity" & Listening To Its Lovely Soundtracks (Updated 19 June 2012)

"A Gentleman's Dignity" which i blogged about recently is a really entertaining and enjoyable drama and those who have not watched it yet should definitely try out an episode and i guarantee that you will be hooked to the drama ;) Episode 5 is my most favorite episodes so far as it was so funny that hubby and i could not help laughing non-stop! I love the part where the 4 pals were discussing about their favorite Girl's Generation member and the setting and their serious look mislead us into thinking they were discussing some important world affairs hahaha

Another scene was the "coffee bikini scene" and i'm really impressed with Jang Dong Gun's portrayal of his character Do Jin in that scene. His behavior really reminds me of Mr Bean whenever he got into some trouble and tried hard to get out of it using some irrational and funny ways! It was so funny how he tried to hide from Yi Soo that he was secretly looking at her bikini picture by splashing coffee on Yi Soo's laptop and hoping the dark coffee color would cover the picture and she would not be able to tell *faintz*

I also really enjoys listening to the drama's cheerful soundtracks and has been playing the songs on my iMac while i'm typing this. Hopefully listening to it below will also help to brighten up your day ;)

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq1Dd9OJIN4&feature=share)

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKZvfS382iI&feature=player_embedded#!)

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqgE2iaJLK4) 

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiR2Vz9Q8D0)

(Source: http://mypersonalcollection.blogspot.sg/2012/06/va-gentlemans-dignity-ost-part2.html)

Korean Drama "A Gentleman's Dignity" Funny NG Video (Updated 4 July 2012)

The drama's NG video was aired at the end of episode 12 on July 1 and it was real funny. You can watch it below and i'm hoping there will also be NG video shown at the end of this week's show too.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBwYRagzMLI&feature=player_embedded#!)