Fashion King (kdrama)

Shades on, worries behind..

Genres: MELODRAMA, Romance

20 episodes x 1hr
2012 SBS

Lee Ga-Young is a talented fashion designer. Young-Gul has street smarts and operates in Dongdaenum, a fashion district known for  its imitations. Between South Korea and New York, Lee Ga-Young is torn between a man who loves her and the man she marks as her primary love interest. How far, for love, will you go? 

For starters, the series is infamously recalled for disarrayed buildup, unlikeable characters, and ultimately, a crazy conclusion. Agreeably, the direction taken has shown to have numerous faults as a result. But perhaps, it is much needed to learn from these  mistakes. But, come on, it was 2012- how could this happen?!


To begin with, the characters. Lee Ga-Young is extremely soft-spoken, very introverted, and was verbally abused by her caretaker, Madame Jo, after her parents' deaths. (She wasn't allowed to honor her parents on the day of Jo Fashion's establishment anniversary). Kang Young-Gul grew up with quarreling parents and encountered Ga-Young in his youth. Choi Anna and chaebol, Jung Jae-Hyuk were together, but the affection for each other has faltered unevenly.

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Whether it be lack of communicating between him and her, or struggling to confess their feelings, in the world of Fashion King, everybody struggles extremely.

To witness the rise of a kid from the streets become top in the industry, it's astonishing to even look back. Humble beginnings for Young-Gul's Young Girl-> Young Young Apparel turn dark after living lavishly. Human nature- greed and fame and the aftermath. Study that and it may justify the final scenes of it all.

Verdict: The writers toy with the viewers and there is an undetermined line between Fashion King being a guilty pleasure or mindless melodrama (I choose the latter). Maybe the use of idioms in the business discussions or even more phone calls would make for a decent script; seriously, there's a line that exists and translates to "People's minds before going to the bathroom and after going are different." And a mobster boss says that- for shame!
--Preferred Watching Sequence (PWS): 4, 5, 7-9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, (20)
I would've liked to see this ensemble in a different genre production; I find that Lee Je-Hoon (as Jung Jae-Hyuk) as the outstanding actor here. Perhaps the only character that became fiery and got back his drive. But then, there's the inferiority complex and this nice guy doesn't like when he doesn't get what he wants. The role change is slightly satisfying; go shed that skin, man ha haha what skin?

SWEATPANTS: Fashion King
Sequence	7
Well-Casted	7
Enjoyment	5
Ability to be Binged	6
Theme Song/ Animation is Present	2
Personalities Differ Among Characters	5
Alternating Viewpoints/ Camera Work	6
Nice! There's Character Development	4
Title	7
Suspense/ Surprise	5
Total	5.4

The series does not need to be seen by everyone at least once. As for "Is it worth watching?" you're better off reading some tragedies like Caesar or something gorier than that..
to pursue the dream, what is the cost?

I spent three hours cleaning the garage- at least I can free up physical space. I found a faded pink envelope that was unopened for at least a decade. Parent and Parent // for: Katelyn, it read. Hours later, I found out that the card celebrated my baptism, not my birthday or something. It wasn't even for me, sadly. My hometown neighbors signed it. Apparently, people throw baptismal parties and my parents did for me. Another paper I discovered: a classmate wrote me a letter to my former address, postmarked in 2011:

At the end of her letter, she asks "Whats the FIRST FUN thing you plan to do in --state--?"
ooh, that's.. something I never thought about.