[drama 2008] Happiness / Bliss / I Am Happy 행복합니다

[Guest hjkomo]

Thanks, yaya!

Manse! Ep. 57's up at Aigoo.

For an interesting article on Kim Hyo Jin posted by rubie:

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?sho...&p=10335841

[baduy]

Yup puela. to whom as ever massive thanks, has just put the ep 57 link in place on Aigoo, after she had had to hunt around for a good version since her first download was corrupted.

I only got to see snatches of the live stream earlier, so I'm looking forward to watching the ep for the first time properly

For an interesting article on Kim Hyo Jin posted by rubie:

WOW she even uses chopsticks left handed (in real life, though not on screen or not that I noticed, though I enjoyed her left-handed shirt ironing) And even holds her chopsticks in her left hand when using them to fish something out of her drink [??!!]

Things possibly floating in drinks remind me of some of the most revolting TV ads I've ever seen, from the Cesco pest exterminator people. No, if you don't know, you really don't want to.

OK, if you must, but DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU, the current ad is at

http://www.cesco.co.kr/Ad/TvAd.aspx

Right, that will put you off eating in restaurants. Anyone want to be put off cuddling teddy bears? Try

http://www.cesco.co.kr/avi/2004acarid.wmv

And as for entertaining at home (you'll love the music, yaya!)

http://www.cesco.co.kr/avi/2004TV.wmv

[Guest apn710]

Special thanks to Baduy, puela, hjkomo and canyayasis because you always came through for us viewers ... even during the "limpets".

I would like to second this... Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to view and follow this drama.

[Guest hjkomo]

WOW she even uses chopsticks left handed (in real life, though not on screen or not that I noticed, though I enjoyed her left-handed shirt ironing) And even holds her chopsticks in her left hand when using them to fish something out of her drink [??!!]

Don't forget her late-night, left-handed rock-throwing abilities.

[Guest freezspirit]

emm... unless I missed something she's actually left-handed so of course she would use her left-hand to do tasks.

Slightly of topic - I have noticed that alot of Korean actress's and singers are left handed compared to famous western woman. I've yet to watch a Korean tv drama where either of the leading/co-star actress isn't left-handed.

I use both hands to do tasks - right hand to write/draw, left to colour in I think it just depends on which hand is more dominate. Thinking about it I always use my left hand to open and close doors or pressing the buttons on remotes/switches etc but when I eat I have the fork in my right-hand.

I can't believe its finishing this weekend. Haven't watched ep57 but by the sounds of it ep58 will have the fast forward couple of years scenario.

Dare to ask .... whats every1 going to watch after this?

ok with what I have watched I would give the show 3/5 - good start but bought in too many mini plots that didn't quite meet up to expectations and it stayed away from original storyline..

[baduy]

emm... unless I missed something she's actually left-handed so of course she would use her left-hand to do tasks.

It's not quite as simple as that in a Korean context. That Kim Hyo Jin is left-handed isn't new, and was first raised in this thread in connection with the scene where SY signs away her inheritance rights. I brought it up again in connection with the interview because I was quite surprised to see that she actually uses her chopsticks in her left hand, especially since she doesn't do that when acting, despite doing loads of other things left-handedly on screen. I can only guess that the directors ask her to eat right-handedly on camera. There's something to be said for encouraging kids to use chopsticks with their right hands if they can, because it avoids elbow-banging when seated close to others around a table. One of the contributors to the earlier discussion remarked that she taught herself to use her right-hand in school partly to avoid knocking arms with the pupil in the adjacent desk. But that assumes a culture where left-handedness is perfectly acceptable. For many generations, however, Korean children (like those in Germany in my own younger days) were simply given no choice. Left handedness was not acceptable. When I attended High School in Germany in the 1960s, the fact that I wrote with my left hand was regarded by everyone as a matter of amazement, and in some cases horror and repulsion, and certainly a sign of British decadence and lack of educational rigor. Some teachers genuinely couldn't bear to watch me write and made me sit at the back.

Slightly of topic - I have noticed that alot of Korean actress's and singers are left handed compared to famous western woman. I've yet to watch a Korean tv drama where either of the leading/co-star actress isn't left-handed.

I haven't noticed that myself. Korea was one of the last countries to accept left-handedness and give up the attempt to force all children to use their right hands as a matter of both official policy and parental practice. So until recently it was normal for people who were naturally left-handed to behave right-handedly as a result of cultural pressures. I was fairly surprised to find that someone of Kim Hyo Jin's age, brought up in Korea, is so openly and comprehensively left-handed, though Koreans in their mid-twenties and younger who use their left hands are all over the place. Though not, I would have said, in TV dramas. I do make a point of watching out for handedness in scenes stuffed with extras and showing school classrooms, open-plan offices, university lectures and the like. And for whatever reason, they are nearly alll packed exclusively with right-handers in Korean productions. Certainly there are far less than the 10% of left-handers you would normally expect (and which you will see in corresponding scenes in US or British dramas). I imagine this has to do more with casting than direction; or with the kind of pressures under which kids destined for show-biz are raised.

[tendoclan]

I would like to second this... Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to view and follow this drama.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the pleasure of this drama. I also will have to adjust to a different kind of weekend routine. I loved to read the translations and recaps. I tip my hat to all of you. It has been my pleasure to spend my time with all of you.......Maire

[Guest bulyongjun]

wow I LOVE THis draama, and the song is good, specially when in the wedding. does anyone know where i can download the song? i already have a song except 2 song in the wedding. i can't get that song. please give me a link to download it. i really appreciate for your help.

[baduy]

Wowee! No "one year later" nonsense after all. And Ae Da

apparently walking out with her backpack

was indeed a teaser, involving a very deceptive edit. They handled Ha Kyoung's

exit (and the related one of SW)

very well, too, I thought, and in keeping with the generous, yet not soft-centered psychological and moral vision that has marked this drama all the way through. And as for what (or rather for whom) SY was apparently buying an item at the pharmacy in ep 57: that is part of a final surprise that I won't spoil here. A pity about the emergency edits (visible apart from anything else in the way the transitions, even between scenes that were retained, were very abrupt, with none of the leisurely mood-building preliminary camerawork or lingering visual codas so characteristic of many key scenes in earlier episodes) but all in all I'd say a very satisfying wind-up to a fine drama.

EDIT: Just noticed that was my 600th post. Rather a nice number to end on. In case any of you are rushing away from this particular end-of-line station to catch a ride on a new series, thanks to everyone for making this such an enjoyable six months of viewing, reading and posting. Good luck, and of course lots of Happiness, to you all.

[canyayasis]

Here's a brief synopsis of the finale...

(not necessarily in order of how it happened...)\

Yong Gi performed his song on TV and the Lee family watched proudly.

Ha Kyoung was forced to come clean of all her misdeeds....

Sang Wook resigned as Pres. and quit his dad's company..

HK moved out of the house.

SW left the house too....

but first HK returned Sarang to Ji Sook...

they spoke and HK left Sarang with his mom.

Pres. Park appointed one of his senior advisors as Pres. (not SY and JS)

Ae Da went to the track and was "visited" by Kang Seok.

She asked him to visit her from time to time... he nodded.

(this was all spoken in voice overs.... not out loud)

Pres. Park (now retired packed his backpack as did Jjong Ah and Ae Da...)

and the 3 of them left on a trip... camping???

Mrs. Park, alone in the house now... slept on the couch...

Joon Soo came home - she demanded to be fed...

the made mixed rice and kimchi at the dinner table... and Joon Soo spoon fed

a horrified Mrs. Park... and then licked her spoon himself and stuck it back in the

bowl....

Seo Yoon came home - apparently ovulating??? and demanded that Joon Soo

came quickly to bed....

Mrs. Ahn is pregnant...

Sang Wook went to his old hangout and found Ji Sook...

She saw the wedding ring was gone - (HK gave him his divorce)

He took her hand and they smiled at one another with a brief flashback...

as Joon Soo carried Seo Yoon upstairs - she flashed a "V" to her mom...

Her mom snickered.... the smiled back at them both...

and flashed a "V" sign back to them....

FREEZE FRAME...

The end.....

[mekeo117]

finally this drama ended !!!! And what a nice ending . Thank you canyayasis for the end summary .

Looks like Ji Sook - Sang Wook - Sarang can be together after all !!! YEAH ! Too bad about Ae Da and Kang Seok though . Joon Soo and Mrs Park " made mixed rice and kimchi at the dinner table " , now this is a MUST WATCH ... must be hilarious

Also a big thanks to hjkomo , baduy , canyayasis , puela , aigoo site ( for providing the links ) and many more for making this thread lively

Not forgetting WithS2 for taking up side projects for the SBS Saturday/Sunday drama , first with Golden Bride and then Happiness .

Wish all of us can be together again for the new drama , hopefully will be as good as the first 2 drama in this slot .

[baduy]

Haven't been able to watch the proper raw yet, and no script available yet of course, but just a couple of expansions on what I caught from the live stream.

Ha Kyoung was forced to come clean of all her misdeeds....

Sang Wook resigned as Pres. and quit his dad's company..

The Ha Kyoung exit sequence starts by looking as though it's all going to be very fraught, with Mom finally convinced by SY of the extent of HK's misdeeds, then sending SY out of the room while she rebukes her bitterly before eventually shouting at her, too, to get out. The core of HK's not so much self-defence (because she knows it's a lost cause) as self-explanation is that everything she did, no matter how unwise or rash, she did for the SJ company and family. She believed that was the duty she took on when she married into the family and she was discharging that duty to the best of her ability, being a good daughter-in-law to the family against obstacles not of her own making.

Mom is too angry and disappointed to acknowledge that at the time, but later we can see that the President has accepted it. He gives HK a cold but not acrimonous farewell, not so much because he thinks her motives were evil, but because he cannot approve of the means she resorted to secure what she believed was the right thing for the family. There is a moving moment when HK, after Driver Kim has loaded her luggage into the car, faces the house (which stands of course for the family she is now leaving) and bows in respectful farewell. The President and Mom, standing unseen to her high up in the front yard, watch until the car goes out of sight.

In between the start of her final downfall and that not undignified departure, there are three further rather significant scenes involving HK. In the first, she is engaged in a less than cordial exchange with SY in her office when Driver Lee rushes in and begs her to come to the President's Office at once. When she gets there, she finds SW addressing his father and the senior board members, claiming that all the misdeeds HK committed (and on the grounds of which he is now intending to leave the firm) were done on his initiative and instructions and that HK was only doing her wifely duty by playing her part in them. If there are to be consequences beyond his quitting the company, they should fall on him alone.

To her credit, HK refuses to let him take the blame in this way. She insists in the presence of everybody that SW was in no way responsible for encouraging, devising, or executing the shady schemes, and that they are her sole responsibility: he was ignorant of what she was doing until after she had acted and has done nothing to deserve exclusion from the family or the firm, though she admits she has and accepts the consequences for herself.

That night, in their room, HK retrieves from her drawer the divorce papers SW had given her long before and agrees to a divorce. He in turn apologizes to her for his weakness in marrying her in the first place, even though he loved someone else. It was that failing on his part that put her in the situation where she was driven to act as she did in order to play what she believed to be a wife's role. As he says this, we realize that his assumption of full responsibility earlier in the presence of the Board was not just quixotic speechifying or a noble gesture, even though his claim that the initiatives came from him was factually false. He has concluded that he created the circumstances in which HK was driven off the rails and through his cowardice and indecision drove her to try to take control of his own destiny as well as hers by whatever means came to hand. He places no blame on her and parts from her without resentment.

The third important scene is with Ji Sook when she comes to hand back Sarang. Unfortunately the birdsong demons were in full cry, on the live stream at least, and more or less drowned out the voices, especially Ji Sook's so I can't fill in any more there on this first hearing.

Pres. Park appointed one of his senior advisors as Pres. (not SY and JS)

Just in case of any misunderstanding, there's nothing sinister about his. It's what the right-side-of-the-table Director suggested when putting forward the pair as the right successors. Unlike Sang Wook, who has been Managing Director for some time, neither JS nor SY have the necessary knowledge or operational experience to step straight into the President's shoes. They have a lot to learn first (including, it would appear, about infant care in the not too distant future, along with Mrs Ahn) but their time will come. There is a nice comic rerun of the ep 1 scenario when SY (still incognito in those days, of course) dashed past her father's entourage, introduced herself as Park Seo Yoon from the publicity department and demanded some answers on the need of improved facilities for female staff. She plays a similar trick on the new acting President, though this time of course JS is in on the joke, but one of the aides whispers something in the boss's ear just as the elevator doors are closing, and he grins broadly.

[Guest hjkomo]

And as for what (or rather for whom) SY was apparently buying an item at the pharmacy in ep 57: that is part of a final surprise that I won't spoil here.

SY had bought something at the pharmacy (presumably birth control), walked away, and then came back and asked the pharmacist if she could return it.

[Guest hjkomo]

The third important scene is with Ji Sook when she comes to hand back Sarang. Unfortunately the birdsong demons were in full cry, on the live stream at least, and more or less drowned out the voices, especially Ji Sook's so I can't fill in any more there on this first hearing.

What are those things? Cicadas?

HK tells Ji Sook she won't apologize to her. If she's committed any sin, then, like JS, all she's done is to love SW. And what she's done to JS is all JS's fault. She's going to stay with her family in America for the time being, but she'll never give SW a divorce. And Sarang is her (HK's) son. Remember that. Don't stop him from receiving her cards or phone calls, nor block her from seeing him.

[Auntie Mame]

Overall, it was a nice ending. Although, the focus may have been on "happiness", it seems like they all found "peace" ... which leads to happiness, perhaps.

Just one question: What happened with Wickerman? I know that he and SW had a conversation. And, he drove HK when she left the house.

[Guest tunas74]

I want to thank everybody who has helped me to watch this drama, first in raw with download and recap, then with sub.

I wish to read all of you in another tread with another good drama.

[Guest t05gal]

hi all, can someone please tell me which clubbox can i download from episode 24 onwards?

the links at S2 clubbox is not working for me. Thanks.

[Guest cocoa]

It was a sad scene, but I laughed out loud because I used to make that face when I was little and something made me unhappy. rofl.

[lucy]

Thank you all for a snapshot of the last 2 episodes. I could only watch till episode 50 and am dying to know the ending. I do love a proper good ending and this series did just that for almost all the characters. All your comments and analysis of this drama series have added to the fun of watching this drama series. Kamsahamida everybody!

[Guest bulyongjun]

wow I LOVE THis draama, and the song is good, specially when Yong Gi sing in the wedding. does anyone know where i can download the song? i can't get yong gi si a song in his brother and father wedding. i can't get that song. please give me a link to download it. i really appreciate for your help.