Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Sexiest HRH in TWSSG

It has become a trend that more and more movies and dramas are stuffing in more unnecessary violence or sex scenes, in order to boost up the box office or viewership. Gradually people are used to it and welcoming it and even expecting it more and more. Interesting enough, the TWSSG achieved much success without having to resort to any of those. Well can't disagree that there were some violent scenes, but this is a war theme, it is justifiable that those fighting and killing scenes are necessary and not overdone. Nevertheless, today I am talking about the scenes that are related to sexiness. The "statistics" showed that there was only one kissing scene in the entire drama, and that was not even "accomplished".

(The sweet moment between Jumoochi and Dalbi).


TWSSG proved that a good piece of work does not need to rely on the arousing scenes like kissing or bed-scenes, etc. Rather it is well received as exceptionally entertaining in terms of successfully stimulated viewer's senses AND mind. Good storyline, rich character development, proficient acting from almost all actors/actresses, extraordinary CG and sound effect, beautiful music, and especially the irreplaceable charming absorbing king BYJ, all are the keys to success. Of course we have to be thankful for BYJ's perfecting subtle performing skills. Even though there was no bed-scenes, the very existence of BYJ is sexy enough. So when I read somewhere about the "bed-scene" of TWSSG, I was quite curious and amused. Are people so craving for the sex scenes? Lo, and behold, they were talking about tis one :


Come on! Give me a break! I don't even see a bed! Don't even mention that this whole 20-second scene was made up of a contiguous shooting of the above still picture. I would rather call this the "still sleeping scene", quite straightforward, eh?

Is this closer to a "bed-scene"? At least HRH is on the bed, this very combination is already arousing, ya?




Although there were hugging and panting involved, it is pretty clear to me that this still does not qualify for a bed-scene. I'd rather call it a "nightmare comforting scene".

Looking for a sexy HRH in TWSSG? It's got to be tough if you only look for the obvious like a bed-scene. It's easy to show a brave Taewang, a heroic Taewang, a merciful Taewang, a diplomatic Taewang, a visionary Taewang, an emotional Taewang ... but a sexy Taewang, nm-nm, don't think the scriptwriter or the director had the particular intention for showing a sexy Taewang.

But again, who is BYJ? The very existence of BYJ is sexiness. Heehee... this is NOT an over-statement!

Now you are trying to decide in which scenes he was sexy? How about this?





mmm... this one I can stare for the longest time! Remember I love love love this man with eyes closed and chins up. Apparently his self-awareness did not fail him. He showed many of these mesmerizing chins-up-eyes-closed scenes in this drama, with clear intention to struck us down, but he did it so naturally.



Hmmm... I would call this the "wine-teasing scene". HRH was rather playful and naughty then sexy. Although this "O-Ho" scene was pretty fatherly and a tad sexy. I love it!


This "O-Ho" expression is brand new to me, I believe this is the very first time he used this new mass destruction bomb to us. I am completely blown down flat by his "O-Ho".

But desiring more than a fatherly "O-Ho"? Yeah, in my mind, there is a more sexy one. Thinking of this one?






Well, I can only call this "fuzzy flirting scene". Would HRH flirt like this in the real life? Damdeok looked playful and uncertain about his feelings to Sujini. After all, he is only a king of 20ish in age. A king with great mind but in a unsettled young age, not sure enough for a relationship yet? Mind still on Kiha?

We are getting closer to find the sexiest HRH if we look at this episode, when Sujini bid farewell to the HRH king, but keeping our king in the complete blue.


I do feel happy being served by a pretty girl like you, Sujini, though I am so used to you, but today you look different, do a better job this time, okay?



And this is the excuse that I grabbed your hand, I felt an impulse to hold your elegant gentle hand - "why are you so quiet? Tell me, you must have made some trouble?"



Hey, these arms are sexy. Crazy thought!


Hey Hey, Sujini's hands are beautiful. Those long fingers ... lucky enough to hold HRH's waist!


Are you crying? Damdeok felt foggy ...


Yeah! Crying big time! Sujini, you are such a pretty, lovely, talented girl! How come Damdeok has not realized that you are a treasure?



Let the king look at you (ya, a mighty young handsome king!), Sujini, look at me.



This is back to you (I am saying good-bye na my dear!)



Why are you doing this to me? I don't understand...


What is it that you are not telling me?


Please stay, I won't let you go (still holding Sujini's little hand? imagining wildly ...)



Good-bye my king, with a smiling cry, I am leaving ...



Something is going on outside the radar of this shrewd mind, our handsome king is puzzled. Have you ever seen a king as handsome as HRH? Never! This will never exist in the real world. I then love to live in the fantasy!



Your back has a nice smile, didn't you know? (Really? What product did HRH use for shower?)



I call this "Out-of-the-blue no-clue puzzling scene". Poor Damdeok, only Sujini dares to treat our king like this!

Here we are! I can not describe why I think the next episode showed the sexiest look of HRH in this drama. Can't describe. Pictures worth a thousand words. Here savor on them.


(Damdeok alluring Sujini ... )



(Sujini is under the spell ...)



(Errrr... out of word, out of mind, only one word remaining - sexy)


(Enchanted)


(Focus focus, let me focus on this work, trying to tie it properly ...)


(Silent ... captivated...)


(When he looks down upon you, hold your breath ...)


OMG, out of words, look at those eyes, if not sexy, what are they? How did he do it? One eye slightly narrower than the other, with such a subtle facial expression ... No wonder Sujini got struck like this ...



Said enough of the word "sexy", more than the total times I said in my real life. Shame on me, but he made me do that, and HE DID IT IN PURPOSE!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

h:

you know his sleeping face alone is so sexy, no words required. his puzzling expression is extra ordinarily good.

no one is ever so handsome as HRH and will never be again.

byjglobal

jaime said...

hi my dear h,

I totally enjoy your post. You gave us so many scenes to savour on. I almost can't choose a favourite, they are all so great and he sure is sexy in all of them. But it really tugged my heart when I watched Damdeok's face in pain while he had a nightmare.

Hehe h, lucky BYJ is generous enough to give us all of him - the playful, the authoritative, the gentle, we canenjoy them all in TWSSG :)

Thanks again for a fun post, I love this. Please keep them coming!

love ... jaime

HeippieH said...

Dear byjglobal,

Can't disagree. No need for him to do anything, his very presence shines sexiness. People should really learn what real sexiness really is - a quality that attracts the opposite sex. Somehow, he just got that quality and he knows how to show it to the fullest. Or even when he is not intentionally showing it, this guy by nature is just the luckiest guy in the world who got that quality all to himself. Amazing! So enjoy!

Love as always and cheers.

HeippieH said...

Dear Jaime,

I am so glad that you are having fun. TWSSG is giving us so much fun, isn't it? The nightmare scene struck me as well. He suffered pain twice in this drama, all because of the baby inside Kiha. I felt so painful at the same time, he performed so well, a great actor.

Are you going to the next TWSSG in the theater? How enjoyable that would be to watch the handsome king on the big screen with such high definition and grand sound effect. Please keep us all updated on your bae adventures.

Love and hugs.

Anonymous said...

Hello H,
Can't agree more on today's entertainment world's sex scenes. Those took me away from the movies and especially TV, which happens to be in the living rooms of families. Even commercials have all kinds of sex appeals, etc.
So today's movies and TV programs are not suitable for like one of our Burmese sayings " not appropriate for brothers and sisters, sons and mothers, daughters and fathers to see or hear"
I think the directors and producers are taking it wrong with the people's likes. Of course these sex and violents are unavoidable in real world, but do they have to spell it out loud?? People were enjoying the movies and TV programs 20 - 30 years ago. At that time not that much details in sex scenes, people understood what happened or will happen in their mind, like our Tae Wang and Kiha's in bed together, that's enough to let audience know the story.
And a lot of people including me were soooo delighted with unexplainable feeling when we saw very innocent, gentle, pure way of showing love in these Korean dramas. That's one main reason drawn me to these Korean drama world and enjoying them very much. Of course HRH is a big, hugh reason too.
And I am one of the people too, so good stories presented well will make a lot of people happy. Like my daughters said, those dirty people who likes to see all these sex scenes have the X rated movies so they can go watch them, shouldn't pollute the family/general entertainment.
Please forgive me for this long comment.
Anyways .. I'm taming you with my comment, remember ??
Love this posting and the wonderful pictures.

love,
Y.

Anonymous said...

hehehe.... are we back with the shampoo topic again? :p
thanks h! enjoyed it!
mymy

HeippieH said...

Dear Yee,

I totally agree with you. I like Korean dramas the same reason as you do. I particularly love HRH's dramas and movies. If it was not because of the high quality of his dramas, I won't keep watching them, and the more I watch them, the more I love HRH. Is this the same as you?

We used to watch TV a lot, but these 4-5 years, we are watching less and less, actually we don't turn on TV at all, sometimes for a week. We only turn it on when we want to watch a selected movie or drama. I believe in active watching than passive, I don't let the TV fill the emptiness of any sort whichever way it wants. In today's free world, it requires more of our kids to be able to select the good out of bad. It is crucial to lay a solid foundation to prepare them for their lives. Thank goodness we still have good actors like HRH. He is not only an actor to me, he is a role model to my kids. And I somehow think his mom is a role model for me, except I know so little about her. I just saw her virtues through her son.

Love talking with you, if you are willing, please send me an email to heippieh@gmail.com.

Love much much!

HeippieH said...

Dear mymy, always curious about what shampoo he uses, wish I can be the shampoo or shower gel ... well when I think more, back then in Taewang time, people did not use shampoo, so it must be his natural body smell that was so nice, wonder how HRH smells naturally, heehee... who can be that lucky to hold him from his back like sujini?

gosijo said...

Hi dear H,

I hope everyone will forgive me for having a slightly different opinion. I think this stems from understanding "sexy" to mean "sexually attractive" and even "merely sexually attractive". As a result, I can never think that Bae Yong Joon is sexy, as he's so much more! He's the epitome of masculinity while retaining an endearing boyishness, and we can't deny there is a soft (some would say feminine) side to him.

But I agree with Yee on liking k-dramas precisely because they haven't (yet!) gone the "overt sex" route and have succeeded brilliantly in focussing on other aspects of relationships.

As for faves among the scenes in this and the previous post, I can't choose between the 2 in episode 13. In the nightmare scene, he's so incredibly beautiful despite his features showing pain! His sobs, heard through the music, are so heart-wrenching! And the way Sujini's tone evolves as the scene progresses! To me, it's clear her final "wake up" actually means "I love you"! I wish this scene had been used later as a flashback (perhaps to show how the king knew of Sujini's love for him) and I keep wondering if that had been the intention but they ended up changing their minds or forgetting.

In the armour scene, apart from the looks and words they exchange, there are 2 very brief moments I absolutely adore: 1) once Sujini has agreed to help him, he holds the armour at arm's length and there is this split second where his body language says "here, let me help you", like the perfect gentleman we think YJ is; 2) once Sujini goes around him to tie the back of the armour, DD/HRH again has a sweet moment: he corrects his stance, a bit like an obedient child allowing his mother to help him with a costume: so cute!

But that's not all! Have you noticed how they used the music in that armour scene? Firstly, the music starts when DD and Sujini are talking on the ship's bridge and continues as we find them again through a window. And then, it hits the most dramatic part just when they get close to each other and Sujini gasps. Brilliant timing and editing!

As for anger, righteous or not, I can't say I find that very attractive. In real life, it scares me. But I agree with everyone that most people, even handsome actors, look rather ugly when angry but YJ still looks surprisingly beautiful. I quite liked the scene where the ministers were committing suicide and he intervened because he was motivated by compassion. I can understand that kind of anger.

HeippieH said...

Hi Hi Hi Dear Gosijo,

It is always a pleasure to read your comments, always point to me new discoveries that I have not been paying attention to. The use of music in the armor scene, I would never have noticed it if you did not point out. Now I am expecting more of your reviews of all the HRH's work in such details. HRH is such a sensible and sensitive gentleman, no matter he did all those detailed gestures by calculation or by nature, all is showing us that he possesses those quality as gentle, caring, manly and boyish. I really appreciate that you pointed those out specifically.

About the angry scenes, again I apologize for not being able to make the VOD clips, rather I have to rely on screen captures. These pictures did not do justice to those scenes to showcase the manly side of him. As for why he got angry and should he or not, I did not really mind. The angry scenes of HRH are my interests since there are so few in his works. I too love love the best his "roar" - "No! Wait!" in the episode when he was trying to save the ministers. That "roar" scene was soooo brief, toooo brief, but it left a lasting memory in my mind. I am so grateful that HRH has done a completely different drama TWSSG, which gave us so many different expressions and gestures, emotions of him for us to enjoy, be it angry or happy. I got scared for the 5th anguish scene in this posting. The poor Gomul disciple was quite shocked by DD's outburst. Was that necessary? The story wants to show how important Sujini is in Taewang's heart when he realized he lost her. Just remember, we got to watch this drama trying to understand Damdeok instead of HRH. Will HRH be angry in situations like these? I don't know. All we know is, the scriptwriter and director wanted us to see how Damdeok reacted. Actually I like this Taewang if the story of him in this drama is 90% true. Heehee...

Now for the topic of HRH being sexy, when I think the definition of sexy is that the person is "Highly appealing or interesting; attractive" to the opposite sex, I think HRH is extraordinarily sexy - see how many women are attracted to him. I am trying to say, that his sexiness does not have to be shown thru the obvious "bed-scenes", rather his subtle gesture and facial expression, and even the look of his eyes, will convey the sense of being sexiness, so attractive to women, well, maybe just woman - me.

Please write more comments and feed us, enlighten us with more details of TWSSG so we can enjoy it even better.

Love,
-H.

Toujours_BYJ said...

Hi H

Bravo, I enjoy reading this post very much, and I agree 200% with you I never see a king as handsome as HRH, it's why TWSSG is named Legend in English he he.

HeippieH said...

Dear Camille, Glad you had fun. I think the English name Legend is really good. Much better than "The King and the Four Gods", right? I have been wondering all along that if the real Taewang is as handsome as HRH, how could the female soldiers function properly as it was shown in the drama. They must all fainted in front of his beauty. Haha...