SUCH a good episode! I noticed that they played SHINee’s musical contribution to the soundtrack a lot during this one (which I thoroughly approve of!), so much so that I may have to go and get it. “Whether I’m making you smile…”
Alright, let’s get to business. There’s a LOT in this episode that I liked, and believe it or not I think that this was a very “good” episode for Jun Pyo! Here’s why: the first thing that needs to be addressed is the issue of whether or not he told the “Locker Room Punks” to rape Jan Di, because that’s definitely what they were going for. To me, and my interpretation of his reprimand to them, he did NOT tell them to rape her specifically, but he absolutely wanted them to scare her very, very badly. Um, so since I’ve called them the Locker Room Punks….which locker room are they in, exactly? If it’s a women’s locker room, then what the heck is Ji Hoo doing in there? If it’s a men’s locker room, what’s Jan Di doing there? And I definitely don’t think that “co-ed” locker rooms exist in this high school (or any high school, for that matter).
Second thing to address is Jan Di’s Super Totally Awesome Roundhouse Kick TO THE FACE! Yes, I LOVED this part, both because it’s a definite wake-up call to Jun Pyo but it also means that Jan Di has some fire in her blood! I love that she PHYSICALLY fought back this time! Of course, this is in the beginning stages with the whole discourse of Jun Pyo thinking that, since women say the opposite of what they mean, she is totally in love with him. What that means, in Jun Pyo-speak, is that he’s finally realized that he likes her in some way, shape, or form, but since he can’t consciously realize this he’s letting his “affections” out in other ways. Like kidnapping her and dressing her up. Honestly, that’d really freak me out, too, as soon as I was awake from my chloroform-sleep I’d be running, fancy house be damned!
At first, I was unsure about the “bee attack” that followed Jan Di leaving his house, but I think I have it figured out: I think that little scene is showing what his actions and speech are like after he’s been embarrassed – he both hides his embarrassment behind arrogance and takes it out on the people around him who have “embarrassed” him. I think this is supposed to explain his more violent tendencies, and it’s echoed by Min (I can’t remember the rest of her name!!) at the end of this episode when she says it’s also because he’s lonely. Moving on, another moment of his that I loved was just before the bee attack, when he’s upset and throwing the clothes and shoes on the ground. As Almighty Key has shown us in SHINee’s Hello Baby, bribing people for love with gifts does. not. work. But Jun Pyo is SO UPSET that it didn’t work, that he decides to take his anger out on Jan Di’s shoes. It’s such a beautiful, awkward love moment – you show that shirt who’s boss! The last moment that really caught me for him was his attempt to comfort Jan Di after she gets smacked in the face with the volleyball. Really, I loved that entire scene, but specifically when he says “Don’t cry, it doesn’t suit you.” He LIKES her fiery attitude! He wants her to keep being feisty and spirited! Then she says “I would rather die in blood than be indebted to you” and the look on his face just about killed me. That’s really all I could hear in my thoughts during that moment: “Awwww, BUT LOOK AT THAT FACE! Jan Di, why are you so mean?!” I know why she’s so “mean” at this point, but, as you can tell, Jun Pyo is my man in this show.
Which brings us to Ji Hoo. Of course Ji Hoo would ride around on a cool motorbike and give Jan Di his HUMONGOUS sports shoes to wear, which she would then thoroughly scrub down. Of course. Um, remember back in episode 1 how I was saying that I couldn’t forget what Ji Hoo is like in the manga? I would like to quote, since it happens in this episode, emphasis added: “THEN HE RETREATED INTO AUTISM.” Yes, Ji Hoo is autistic. Or, since he’s so high functioning, has Asperger’s Sydrome. Which I think he still exhibits. Which is why he drives me CRAZY. But apparently he went even deeper into a more extreme autism when his parents died, and somehow Min was able to pull him out of it. Which I don’t think works, because autism definitely is NOT temporary, but then again who’s really taking the time to look into the medical details of Ji Hoo’s past? “She’s his first love, girlfriend, and mother.” Weird.
The last thing I’ll put on here is my Random Question/Observation of the Day: Why……..why is there a mirror directly beneath the showerhead while Jun Pyo is taking a shower after Rugby Practice (a.k.a. Anger Releasing Time)? It’s so weird, I think that’s the third time I’ve seen some show have a mirror in the shower, underneath the showerhead. Is this common in East Asia? Note that I’m totally not mad that it showed him showering. I can appreciate that.
Okay CeeFu, how’s that for my first official post?
High Yellow - Asian Popular Culture 
Good job, Nolan Nabi!
That SHINee song so does NOT sound like the SHINee I know. I have to remember that it is, in fact, SHINee. I can’t see Jonghyun singing it!
See, here is where Jun Pyo starts to grow on you. He’s not just arrogant and mean just because. There’s a reason for his bad behavior. And he does have limits, unlike the crazy students of Shinwha. It’s the students who are always implicated in people attempting to jump off of roofs or beatdowns in the hall. Like royalty, F4 just floats above it all, which doesn’t mean they aren’t implicated in the nasty, but also means that they don’t take it that far themselves either.
Let’s face it: Jun Pyo has no home training, so the only way he knows how to alert a girl to his amorous affections is to render her unconscious and dress her up in his house (unrelated side note, Jun Pyo’s house is OFF THE CHAIN!). He doesn’t know how to behave because he’s never been taught how to behave or how to treat people. You’ll understand when you meet his witchy mom! I think the bee attack shows that Jun Pyo isn’t even worthy of the arrogance he throws around. He has flaws from the beginning: the inability to read a girl’s intentions, his constant misquoting of common sayings, and his dread of insects. This takes him down a peg. But you see very clearly that he LIKES Jan Di, and just like any other 6-year-old boy, how does he show it? By messing with her (the equivalent of hitting her on the playground). But I think he likes her for HER, while Ji Hoo just finds her amusing, like a bunny. Ji Hoo also likes her helplessness and her need of his help. I think this is because he too, doesn’t really have home training, and doesn’t know how to deal with people in healthy ways. Because his parents died young, he probably always wanted someone to swoop in and take care of him. For him this is love (or like, at this point) so that’s what he’s doing with Jan Di.
Best. Scene. Ever. Jan Di’s roundhouse kick to Jun Pyo’s face. Yes, this is the Jan Di I like. Sadly, this isn’t the Jan Di you are going to get. Just saying, because in this self-same episode she exhibits the same stupid trust in those skanky Shinwha wenches. What makes her think they will EVER tell her the truth? C’mon! From this point on I like her less and less, and find myself becoming ever more interested in the boys, as well as the other women in the kdrama (wait until Jun Pyo’s sister shows up–she is what you WANT Jan Di to be).
Can we talk about Yi Jung and Wo Bin, better known as Frick and Frack? I LOVE THEM. I love their commentary. The are all, “We’re not in this, but this is entertaining as all get out, so we are going to add in!” Yi Jung, played by Kim Bum, is a TOTAL playboy, but he’s SO CHARMING, that you know that he’s a total playboy, and you are going for that ride ANYWAY!!! Look at smile! COME ON!!!! And even though Wo Bin is considered the “least attractive member of F4,” that IN NO WAY means that he’s not attractive! Jan Di doesn’t even realize that they are letting her hang out with them. Notice how she just strolls into their little clubhouse and they give her tea.
Ok, before I get to Ji Hoo, I know it’s Episode 2, but it bears repeating. LEADER. JOONG. IS. ONE. FINE. MAN. I think I forget about this focusing so much on Jun Pyo. I KNOW Ji Hoo is autistic in the manga, and I KNOW they call him autistic in the kdrama, but the circumstances of his…..unusual personality…..sound more like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I’m really not trying to downplay the potential for autism, but what about Ji Hoo’s BEHAVIOR marks him as autistic? If anything, he’s narcoleptic…dude, get a room. GET A BED!!! Stop sleeping in random places. Now, I know it’s not MEANT to be funny, but I laughed out loud when he comes around the corner, and the guys have Jan Di all jacked up, complete with one dude with his arm around Jan Di’s neck, and Ji Hoo is seriously inquiring about how to make pancakes. PANCAKES!!! If Jun Pyo doesn’t know how to express his feelings, Ji Hoo is no better.
“She’s his first love, girlfriend, and mother.” Yeah, you KNOW this isn’t going to work out. But, to his credit, he is down with the noonas (as everyone should be!).
What? No mirror in your shower? Clearly the mirror is in the shower so that you can see the pain and anguish in Jun Pyo’s face while you consider his finely toned body from behind!
“Yi Jung, played by Kim Bum, is a TOTAL playboy, but he’s SO CHARMING, that you know that he’s a total playboy, and you are going for that ride ANYWAY!!! Look at smile! COME ON!!!! ” I was thinking THE SAME EXACT THING. That’s definitely a cuddly-come-hither smile! Especially when he takes your hands, speaks English to you with just enough of a Korean accent to really get you hooked, and smiles while looking into your eyes. No wonder they got the reservation, I would have given them one too!
Yes, yes, yes, this is definitely the episode that shows that Jun Pyo has a little bit of humanity in him! The first episode was pretty drastic with everyone, from the high school students’ mob mentality to Jan Di’s fiery personality. This episode shows other sides of Ji Hoo, Jun Pyo, and I think of Jan Di too. You start to see that she’s not perfectly-fiery either, since she accepts the dinner invite from those SHBs (did we explain what that is, yet?). So, you see how she can be super cool and spinning-back kick someone to the face – and she got up pretty high, considering how short she is and how tall he is! And you see how she can be blinded by people (a.k.a. Ji Hoo).
Ji Hoo. Yes, Leader Joong is quite the piece of Eye Candy, but again Ji Hoo just drives me CRAZY. I think it’s actually because he isn’t unselfishly kind. I’ll explain: right in the beginning when he “saves” her from the Locker Room Punks, he does it because he doesn’t “like to see those acts committed” – as in, he personally does not like those actions to take place around him. It was NOT for Jan Di’s sake that he steps in, but rather for himself. So, it could be a better thing to say that he’s moral, not necessarily kind. And then, of course, there’s the whole thing with Min saying that Ji Hoo must really like Jan Di because he doesn’t act this way towards other people. Although PTSD could explain his character, it makes more sense to me for him to have Asperger’s. Otherwise I can’t totally wrap my head around the fact that he doesn’t really participate in his own life more than he has to, let alone others!
You know what, I’m going to stop trying to hide it: I just don’t like Ji Hoo when compared to Jun Pyo. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t really trying to hide it, but this is talking character-wise, not appearance-wise. Come on, they’re both GORGEOUS. Maybe Leader Joong’s Ji Hoo will grow on me more than the character in the manga? I will say that at least Ji Hoo smiles a lot more in the drama.
Jun Pyo. Shower. Mirror. Again, I’m not mad about it!
YI JUNG! There is something SO WRONG about his playboy ways, but if THAT’S wrong, I’m not sure I wanna be RIGHT! It is a crime how charming that man is!
I think you are right….the episode shows other sides of the characters. For Jun Pyo, this is great…not so great for Jan Di, only because her slide into helplessness is just nonstop and permanent to a certain degree! But I digress.
I think people can infer what type of girl a SHB is from those wenches from Shinwha. Ok, I can give Jan Di being blinded by Ji Hoo (um, have you SEEN him), but he DOES so little for her, as you say. He doesn’t save her in the locker room because he doesn’t want to see her hurt. It’s more general. But, you may change your mind later!!! I’m not sure he’s looking out for her best interest inviting her to the party. It is entirely possible that he’s trying to impress Min with his mature ways.
That’s exactly it…he doesn’t really participate in his own life, but he does have emotion and is motivated by emotion. I think it just comes out in weird ways. I think that Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo are two sides of the same emotionally dysfunctional coin. They are way different, and I think at the end of the day, Jan Di will have to choose not just which one of them she wants, but what kind of man she wants. But this sucker is what, twenty-some odd episodes long? Sometimes, Ji Hoo will be your man, and sometimes Jun Pyo will be your man.
I’m glad the shower and mirror have your approval.
Episode 3?
[…] published on High Yellow February 9, 2011, Written by […]