Title: IRIS/아이리스

Genre: Action, Romance

Episodes: 20, approximately an hour each

Average Rating: 32% nationwide in Korea (REALLY GOOD)

Where to watch: Mysoju.com (if mysoju doesn’t have all the episodes, drop us a comment or email us [wannabefob@yahoo.com] for the website)

Main Characters:

Lee Byung Hun as Kim Hyun Jun:

About: Lee Byung Hun is one of the popular Hallyu (Korean Wave) actors. He starred in many Korean dramas and movies (which I have never seen). This year, he was cast in the American movie G.I. Joe as Storm Shadow. He is fluent in English after learning it for 2 years in school (although I thought that he grew up in the States because his English in IRIS was so good!).

Character in IRIS: Kim Hyun Jun is someone with amazing memory and he is also very charming. However, deep inside, he is really hurt because he witnessed the murder of his parents when he was young, and that is the one memory he does not wish to remember. He joins the NSS because he likes adventure and excitement in his life.

Lee Tae Hee as Choi Seung Hee:

About: Lee Tae Hee is also, like Lee Byung Hun, a very renown actress, best known for her role as the evil stepsister in Korean drama Stairway to Heaven. She was also the main lead in Love Story in Harvard.

Character in IRIS: Choi Seung Hee is a very beautiful and very smart lady in NSS. She is skilled physically as well.

Jung Joon Ho as Jin Sa Woo:

About: I honestly did not watch any dramas or movies starring Jung Joon Ho.

Character in IRIS: Jin Sa Woo is Kim Hyun Jun’s best friend, and they’ve been like that ever since they were in the army together. Sa Woo also joins the NSS with Hyun Jun. However, due to circumstances and events that happen on later in the drama, Sa Woo becomes enemies with Hyun Jun.

Kim So Yeon as Kim Sun Hwa:

About: Also the first time I saw this actress x]

Character in IRIS: Kim Sun Hwa works for North Korea to keep her family safe. She is given the order of killing Kim Hyun Jun, but when she finds him, he captures her and doesn’t kill her. She starts to help him out after seeing his kindness.

T.O.P. as Vick:

About: I think we all know this guy! If you don’t, then shame on you! He’s from top Korean boy group Big Bang! This was the reason I started to watch IRIS in the first place.

Character in IRIS: Vick is part of IRIS, and he is a top assassin. His mission throughout the drama is to murder anyone that is not useful or in the way of IRIS’ plans.

Synopsis (from Viikii): Top 707 agents Kim Hyunjun (Lee Byunghun) and Jin Sawoo (Jung Junho) are blood brothers who swore to trust each other and unchanging friendship for life. Hyunjun had lost his parents in a car accident when he was young. He doesn’t have much memory of them from the shock of their death. Not only that, he always carries a sense of void and loneliness in his heart. But his friend Sawoo had filled that void. The men go to 707 Corps to qualify as agents. They stand out and get noticed by the National Security System (NSS) and become the top agents. They meet agent Choi Seungjee (Kim Taehee) there and both fall in love for her. But Hyunjun and Seunghee become close and Sawoo fights to hide his feelings for Seunghee. He tries to be happy for Hyunjun. Hyunjun and Seunghee date in secret from the other NSS agents and eventually go on a secret trip to Japan. When they return to Korea, they are immediately sent on a mission to Hungary with Sawoo. When they successfully finish off their job with immaculate teamwork and are celebrating it.. a message arrives to Hyunjun asking him to meet in secret.

Review:

I watched this drama with anticipation because TOP from Big Bang was in it and because it seemed like a really suspenseful drama that would keep me watching. For those that do not like action, but instead want more romance, then IRIS is not the drama for you. I mean, sure, there’s a lot of romance in the first few episodes of IRIS, but it goes away soon, and the drama becomes very serious. This drama reminded me a lot of Temptation Between Dog and Wolf starring Lee Jun Ki because best friends become enemies as one goes undercover, becoming a part of the opposing side. But seriously, do not watch IRIS if you are in it for the romance between Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee. A couple of people I know said that they stopped watching IRIS because it got “boring”, as in not enough romance. IRIS is more of an action/CSI type of drama. I found it really good and anticipated watching every episode as it came out with English subtitles. I loved watching this drama, but even I found it kind of unrealistic. Each happy scene was interrupted with a bad scene. The bad guys were so strong and skilled that they could kill all the good people, but when Kim Hyun Jun  went to save the day, he alone could kill all the bad guys..well, I guess it IS a drama. x] All in all, if you want action, this is for you. However, I found the ending of the drama a bit disappointing. It left many, including me, hanging. I had so many questions..don’t worry, I won’t spoil it for you x] I’m glad that a sequel of IRIS will be in the making for 2010, but I’m not sure if there will be the same main characters. A side note, the OST for this series was really good ^^ Many artists such as Seo Inyoung from Jewelry, Baek Jiyoung, and more. I really liked this series’ OST x] Hmm..what else should I critique? Overall, the acting was very good, as we have top actors Lee Byung Hun & Kim Tae Hee as part of the main cast.

Rating: 3.5/5

I actually really liked this drama, but many I know did not, so it kind of does make my rating lower. If you read the review above, then you can probably see why I gave IRIS the rating I did.

[HQ] Iris Special (2009-12-23).avi [699.6 MB]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UCQMWB1G | HAN

Thanks a bunch, tam!
Please comment if downloading^^

SS501 leader Kim Hyun Joong is top in survey for ‘Artist that you most wish to go to a trip together on Christmas’.

On 22 December, according to a survey conducted on 7 – 18 December by Tour group ‘Tours Express’ on ‘Artist that you most wish to go to a trip together on Christmas’, with a particiaption of 1024 respondents, Kim Hyun Joong is top in the rank with a total votes of 268 which constitutes to 26% of the total votes.

Following by him are Kim Nam Gil (204 votes, 20%)

Kim Tae Hee (178 votes, 17%)

UEE (156 votes, 15%)

Kim Yuna (142 votes, 14%)

Lee Byung Hun (76 votes, 7%)

Cr: http://star.mt.co.kr + (Chinese translation) xinhm@hyunjoongchina.com + (English translation) SS501UFO.blogspot.com
Please repost with full credit.

Copied from soompi, thanks to ncly for highlighting

* non-related parts are excluded

In the entertainment industry, the end of a year is a season about watching and talking about “people”. Many media outlets select their “person of the year” and people flock to year-end awards shows to hear a quote from stars that they do not get to see often. <10Asia> picked our own figures of the year, but there is no red carpet or photo spotlights for the stars to enter upon. Our selection of “persons of 2009” are not top stars who attained the most popularity from the public, but people who changed the landscape of Korea’s entertainment industry and stimulated the public with experiences that we had not had before. Here are ten people who showed us a new direction for upcoming 2010.

Actor Lee Byung-hun

There are many stars but not all prove to have star quality. The reason Lee Byung-hun became a prominent entertainer in 2009 was not only because he participated in huge projects but also because he has proven to possess that abstract but influential thing called star quality. When he appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster “G.I. Joe”, he made villain Storm Shadow the most fascinating character in the film and he easily made his presence known as the big star of the host country, leading VIP co-stars Josh Hartnett and Kimura Takuya from “I Come With The Rain” to the 14th Pusan International Film Festival. On top of all that, the end-of-year commercial success of KBS drama “Iris” marked the finishing touch on Lee’s acting work this year. Compared to all the other so-called blockbuster dramas such as SBS’s “Cain and Abel” and “Swallow The Sun” which were unable to draw much attention from the Korean public, “Iris” scored viewership rating over 30 percent and stood at the center of the spotlight. This is what it means to be of different class.

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok two@10asia.co.kr Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr, Wee Geun-woo eight@10asia.co.kr, Yoon Hee-Seong nine@10asia.co.kr Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr <ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

Many of you know that the boys of Big Bang and official endorsers of Korean Sports Apparel Brand FILA. Well, FILA recently released a new line of jackets and Big Bang had a photo shoot for the new line. KBS2’s Entertainment Weekly was on hand for the photo shoot and had a brief interview with the boys.

In the interview they asked G-Dragon if he watches the hit drama IRIS and he said that he does and that he’s very curious on what’s going to happen in the story. He also mentioned a particular scene where his fellow Big Bang member T.O.P was fighting Lee Byung Hun in Akita, Japan. In the scene, Lee Byung Hun escapes from T.O.P by jumping off a tall dam with a rope and eventually escapes, G-Dragon stated all T.O.P had to do was cut the rope instead of trying to shoot him which drew some laughter. They also asked G-Dragon on which girl he preferred from IRIS, either Kim Tae Hee or Kim So Yeon and he said he preferred Kim So Yeon. After this statement he blurted out Noona Noona, in reference to Seungri’s patented move to win over Noona’s hearts.

c: BigBang5

Hunnie was present with  the “Special Award” at the Mass Culture & Media Research Group awards ceremony. He looks great after a few days of rest (I hope he did …..).  Heard that he left the ceremony immediately, running for another CF shooting … poor guy, he can’t really have any proper rest

To protect her daughter from the bad scandal with “IRIS” actor Lee Byung Hun,  Kwon Mi-Yeon’s mother came to Korea on Dec. 9th and publicly announced that she wanted to meet Lee Byung-Hun’s mother in person.

Through announced statements, Kwon Mi-Yeon’s mother stated, “As a mom who had watched my daughter’s relationship for more than a year, I feel stupid to once believe that Lee Byung-Hun is a responsible person and person who keeps his promise well. I cannot forgive him (Lee Byung-Hun) who is claiming that we are all doing this (lawsuit) for money.”

She continued, “The reason why I had came to Korea was to meet Lee Byung-Hun’s mother. If your son makes a mistake, he should be corrected even if he is 40 years old. I will call you (Lee Byung-Hun’s mother) so let’s meet up.”

In response, Lee Byung-Hun’s side stated, “Let’s talk everything in the court.” Diana Kwon’s mother replied back, “I will visit every public event that Lee Byung-Hun attends.”

Cr: allkoreangossip.com

Being the fan that I am of the Jason Bourne movies and the like, when I found out about IRIS, how could I not want to see it? And to top it off, it has TOP from BigBang, by far my favorite member. We’ll just ignore the fact that I really know nothing about him. I’m already deep enough in JE fandom, right now really not feeling like jumping full force into another one.

One thing I love to do is learn bits of trivia about actors. It leads to interesting things. In this case I was wondering if Lee Byung Hun had already done his stint in the Korean military. In doing so I learned he was in G.I. Joe (interesting but otherwise useless actually) and that he was in Hero with Kimutaku. Also a bit useless since I’m not sure I’ll ever see either of them. But I like finding connections between actors/artists that are new to me and ones I already knew.

Anyway, now I reviews the first ep. Warning, there be spoilers ahead!

IRIS definitely doesn’t make you wait for the action. The only problem I have so far is the fact that to keep track of the names I’ll probably have to keep a list. Japanese names are one thing. I’m far more familiar with the language. Korean on the other hand. <.<

So far what I’m most amused with though… is that assuming everything they’re saying about the Kennedy assassination and the US entering the Vietnam War is factual, I’ve just learned more about both from a Korean drama than I ever learned in school… and I’m AMERICAN. XD

and if buff, Asian male bodies is something that will be repeatedly shown throughout this drama, I have no complaints.

In fact, consider any future complaints about this drama nullified so long as this remains the norm.

Does he look worried? He has good reason!

She totally drank him under the table!

You’re killing me here! XD

The back story is kinda cool. Funny and what not.

And then it get’s really… really freaky.

all of a sudden our leading man and his friend are freaking being tortured in some secret complex and injected with freaking Sodium Pentathol?? WTF? This stuff is used as truth serum, part of the concoction for lethal injection and freaking medical induced coma’s. Again. WTF??

I… have a feeling this drama is going to be pretty… freaking… awesome. <.<

I’m going to have to pace myself. <.<

So I won’t say much about the second episode…

Except that apparently peeps ain’t too familiar with Japanese syllables or romaji or something?

I think i looked into it at some point in the past… I don’t think Japan allows dual citizenship…

And Dackasi? XD If my hearing and their pronunciation is right, it’s more like ‘Dakashi’ or maybe ‘Takashi’?

We can FINALLY watch the end of IRIS!!!!!!!

If you’d like to know the website to watch IRIS with English subtitles, feel free to drop a comment below or email us at: wannabefob@yahoo.com.

REMEMBER, if you already know the website, do  NOT comment with the website or else the copyright holders might remove IRIS from that website like they did with the IRIS site on Viikii. Thanks!

Soon, our first Korean drama review will be out!

Kang Byung Kyu is the guy who supposedly accused Lee Byung Hun of luring his ex-gf Kwon Mi Yeon into bed…

In the latest scandal involving the KBS hit action-drama “Iris”, Kang Byung Kyu, 37, baseball pitcher-turned TV entertainer, said he is going to sue the producer of the drama for assault and blackmail.

Kang was accused of bringing in gangsters and causing a disturbance on the set of Iris in Songpa District, southern Seoul, at around 1 a.m. last Monday. He visited the set to protest to the producer whom Kang claims to have spread the rumor that he was behind the feud between Lee Byung Hun, a star of Iris, and his former girlfriend Kwon Mi Yeon.

Kwon has filed a lawsuit against Lee, saying he lured her into a sexual relationship under the false promises of marriage. Lee has denied the charge and pledged to file a lawsuit of his own, escalating the situation into a nasty legal battle.

Kang went to the police at around noon today for investigation into his alleged disturbance, but citing emotional pressure stemming from the presence of many journalists, he postponed his testimony.

Instead, he held a press conference, where he said it was the producer of Iris that called in the mob. Kang also characterized himself as the victim, claiming he was subject to a beating for about half an hour. He added that he will file the official complaint to the police soon.

Cr: joongangdaily

So much drama going on that I think the outside drama is even more intense than the drama in “IRIS” itself =.=;

With a protective arm around Kim Tae-hee, Lee Byung-hun escorts his co-star through the mob of reporter to receive a special award for their work in the KBS drama, IRIS at the 2009 Republic of Korea National Awards at the National Assembly on December 21st.

Girls Generation also picked up an award for “2009 popular music.”

Check out the winners:

2009 film: “Jump” ( 국가대표 2009)
2009 popular music: Girls Generation (SNSD)
2009 TV program: Tears in the Artic
2009 Radio program: Kim Mi-hwa’s world and us
2009 Sport: Under 20 national football team
2009 Musical: Dae-jung-geum, the Musical
Special award: KBS drama, IRIS, Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-hee
Kim Tae-hee & Lee Byung-hun

Girls Generation

Hunnie leaving Japan after his “4 of a Kind” show in TD on 17Dec.   A tired looking hunnie ….. Despite all the tireness, physically and mentally.. he still gave his best to his fans …. A true professional !!!

The support from his fans must have warmed his heart …. Hunnie please have a good rest before you start your next battle ….

We are all behind you no matter what

Just finished watching the movie, and I want to write a post on it now while the feeling’s still fresh. It’s been a long time since a movie left such a deep impression on me. (The last one was ‘My Father’)

Borrowed the DVD from the library with no expectations and the storyline seemed simple enough.. at first. I’m not good with words nor am I a good movie critic. All I have to say is that I’ll never have expected the storyline to unfold the way it went. Haunting.

My definition of a good movie is simple: one that makes me think and reflect. And it definitely fulfilled the criteria.

The first Lee Byung Hun show I’ve watched was IRIS. (slow~ i know i know!!) I liked him in there. And Bungee Jumping of their own just turned me into a complete LBH fan.

Don’t be put off by its cheesy cover or its seemingly weird title.

Not to be missed. Really.

————–

No good movie is completed without an equally amazing OST. Loved the title track: 오 그대는 아름다운 여인 – 김연우.  (oops I couldn’t find any other video with that song><) However, if you wanna listen to the song the way it was used in the movie, click HERE

The day after IRIS’s ending, Kim Tae Hee consented to an interview at a cafe in Kang Nam, Seoul.

At first, I was offered the role of Sung Hwa (the N.Korean Spy). I felt that it didn’t match with me, so I rejected it. In the end, I was given a more suitable role (laughs)

Go under the cut to find out more!

She added that because her face was ‘round-ish’ and plus the fact that she was short, she felt that the role of Sung Hwa was unsuitable for her. When asked if she believes in fate, Kim Tae Hee replies ‘yes’ and that she is not the kind who will work really hard to be with the person if they are not fated to be.

Many viewers have commented that the love story in IRIS seems very real and this leads to speculations (as usual) that there might be some mutual attraction going on. To this, Kim Tae Hee replies that it is even better for the show if viewers think this way but stresses that there is no truth in it.

When asked how she’s going to spend this Christmas, she replies that she will attend mass and then spend the rest of the time with her family.

via Paran

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I’m so glad Kim So Yeon got the role of Kim Sun Hwa. She’s the reason (together with Lee Byung Hun) that I’m loving IRIS much ^^