적도의 남자 Man From The Equator (Korean Drama)

If Boys Over Flowers has the best love story and Bread, Love & Dreams has the best gripping-you emotions, then Man From The Equator have the best plots ever deployed in Korean drama-land (at least in my lexicon).

I’ve completed all 20 episodes of the Man From The Equator or more commonly known as Equator Man (as the short form title). Wohooo! KBSWorld is airing episode 17 today.

Yeah came back from my vacation last week and knew exactly the first thing that I gotta do… that is to watch the remaining 4 episodes of Equator Man. The last episode disappointed me a little… I don’t like the last 30 minutes. That’s all I gotta say.

Man From The Equator has been one hell of a ride for me. From the get go, it had me gripping at the very end of my seat. Every episodes has surprises that suck me deeper into the plots. It made me go “WOW, WOW, WOW” at the brilliant stories many a times. It made me wanting more of Equator Man! Kow tow to the scriptwriter and director because this drama is a masterpiece! I hope this drama will win many awards at the end of the year.

Man From The Equator
As much as I like it to be perfect, this drama has some faults too. I dislike the editing of the last few episodes (particularly the last one) and the time-jump of 2 years with the changing of teen actors to adults. It had many people question marking about the length of the time jump and also the reason why the change to adults actor all of a sudden. I think I can understand the reasoning behind this. And lastly I think if there’s ever 1 thing that I want Equator Man to change, it will be the romance department. I freaking don’t care about Ji Won. Sorry. Give me bromance and frenemy anytime!

Even with these faults, I gotta say Man From The Equator is the best top 10 Korean dramas I’ve ever watched. I love love love Equator Man!!! This is a revenge-mellowy-touching kind of drama that you thought you wouldn’t like but I assure you, you’re gonna love it!

Teen Kim Seon Woo and teen Lee Jang Il. Bromance?

Korean title: 적도의 남자
Korean romanization title: Jeokdoeui Namja
International English title: Man From The Equator
Literal title: Equator Man
Chinese title: 来自赤道的男人
Running period in Korea: 21st March 2012 to 24th May 2012
Runtime in Korea: Wednesday and Thursday 9.55pm
Running period in KBSWorld: 11th April 2012 to 14th June 2012
Runtime in KBSWorld: Wednesday and Thursday 9.05pm (70 mins)
Total episodes: 20
Genre: Melodrama

Lee Jang Il and Kim Seon Woo. Frenemy?

Synopsis – contains spoilers. I would advice to forgo reading this synopsis and go for the drama right this moment! Really no joke. (source from KBS):
Jang-il, the smartest of the school, and Seon-wu, the strongest kid in Yeosu, are inseparable high school best friends. Influenced by Jang-il, Seon-wu starts studying and working hard towards his dream. However, all of a sudden, Seon-wu’s guardian, Kyung-pil, dies a mysterious death and Seon-wu becomes blind while investigating on the case. Su-mi witnesses the scene that Jang-il attacks Seon-wu but remains silent on it and waits for the right moment. Ji-won, who is a volunteer reader for visually impaired people, meets Seon-wu by chance and they fall in love. Despite his strong feelings for Ji-won, however, Seon-wu breaks up with Ji-won so she can have a better life. 13 years have passed. Jang-il becomes a special prosecutor. Seon-wu becomes a young CEO of Royal Tree, an investment trust company. Ji-won works as a VIP party planner at a five-star hotel. And Sumi becomes a hyperrealism painter. They all have gone their separate ways. However, the fate draws them back together…

Cast:
Uhm Tae Woong as Kim Seon Woo (Sun U)
Lee Hyun Woo as teen Seon Woo
Lee Jun Hyuk as Lee Jang Il
Siwan as teen Jang Il

Lee Bo Young as Han Ji Won
Kyung Soo Jin as teen Ji Won
Im Jung Eun as Choi Soo Mi
Park Se Young as teen Soo Mi

Be careful of this lady named Choi Soo Mi. LOL

Park Hyo Joon as Geum Jool
Lee Chan Ho as teen Geum Jool

Kim Young Chul as Jin No Sik
Jung Ho Bin as Moon Tae Joo
Lee Won Jong as Lee Yong Bae (Jang Il’s father)
Lee Jae Yong as Choi Kwang Cheon (Soo Mi’s father)
Lee Dae Yeon as Kim Kyung Pil (Seon Woo’s adoptive father)

Cha Hwa Yun as Ma Hee Jung (No Sik’s wife)
Kim Hye Eun as Park Yoon Joo (No Sik’s step-daughter)
Bae Seul Gi as young Park Yoon Joo (cameo)
Lee Seung Hyung as secretary Cha (No Sik’s secretary)

Jo Hee Bong as Mr. Koon (Seon Woo’s employee/friend)
Kang Ji Sub as Shin Joon Ho (Jang Il’s colleague)

From left to right:
Siwan as teen Jang Il, Uhm Tae Woong as Kim Seon Woo, Lee Jun Hyuk as Lee Jang Il, Lee Hyun Woo as teen Seon Woo.

Love the teen actors performances and love love Uhm Tae Woong’s and Lee Jun Hyuk’s acting too. Another thing that make this drama a great one is their acting with their eyes and emotions. You don’t need long windy dialogue. And the short dialogue especially those utter by Kim Seon Woo are so powerful. And I will associate Lee Jun Hyuk with Lee Jang Il from now on. Such haunting-cold looks.

Special shout-out to the super cute Lee Hyun Woo. He may be young (only 19) but my oh my he’s already an exceptional charismatic actor. You’ll love him to bits here. He stood out during his cameo appearance in Brain (a Korean drama by KBS late last year) and he stood out even more in this drama.

Trivia: Lee Hyun Woo also acted as Uhm Tae Woong younger-self in Queen Seon Deok (I did not watch it but have heard about it).

Lee Jun Hyuk and Uhm Tae Woong memorizing scripts in between takes. I’ll always remember the scene that they shared. Mind-boggling! Also another special shout out to Uhm Tae Woong. Love his portrayal as the blind Kim Seon Woo. So real!

You don’t need someone to ask you for forgiveness for you to forgive – Ji Won.

“Don’t think that you are the only victim.” Jang Il said to Seon Woo (ouchy!)

Ohh and did I tell you that I love the music and orchestra accompanying the drama. It was perfect.

So what are you waiting for? Go watch it!

Photos from KBS.