Iris

there are a couple of good programmes on android that actually allows you to download dramas and shows to watch them on your phone. my sis introduced one to me, but unfortunately the china-made program has most of its show titles in chinese. there are some non-chinese shows available, but it is a little difficult finding them as most shows (even foreign ones) are named in chinese.

even so, i tried searching for some korean shows in english as chinese language is unavailable on my phone. search results shows nothing, until i keyed in 'iris'. iris is the name of a korean action drama produced in 2009. the show, which caused a big hype in both korea and japan, was available on the search function thanks to its original english name. despite its tremendous popularity, i was never interested to watch it. but since, its the only title i could find on the program that is worth watching, i gave it a go.

iris

the drama covers the existence of a secret organization called national security service (nss), so secretive that even the president doesnt know about it. the organization preempts any foreign threats and even does covert operations including the assassination of anyone that could be a threat to the countrys security. the main protagonist hyun-jun, and his buddy sa-woo, were new members recruited by the nss, and their first mission took them to hungary. upon the completion of the mission, hyun-jun was given a solo mission to assassinate a visiting north korean politician suspected to be part of an evil nuclear scheme.

hyun-jun succeeded in the mission, but was injured in the process and thus could not escape hungary without help. to his horror, instead of assisting him, the organzation ordered sa-woo to locate and silence him in order to keep this assassination a secret. angered by the betrayal, hyun-jun seeks to get back at the organization and the country that abandoned him. in the process, he finds out about a dark secret not only involving the members of nss, but also people from the north and south korean government.

i enjoyed watching iris, because it offers something different from the comedy-romance dramas that im so used to seeing. this action drama takes on a more serious note. while watching, there are three that struck me deeply, mainly:

how good the plot is - there are so many twists to the story, so you never get bored throughout.

how well technology is being leveraged - i guess its like watching the csi series (ive never watched that though). you get amazed by the technological side of things (be it real or fake) and by how the investigators think out of the box to solve the mysteries.

how scary if things are real - is this a complete work of fiction or is it based on things that actually really exist? scary if the latter is true. what we see might only be the very tip of the iceberg. what is underneath, we dont know.

99% of the drama is great, but i feel that 1% of it is so glaringly bad that it spoilt things for me. i was so intrigued by that 1%, so i took it online and found out that i wasnt alone in feeling bitter about it. still, no denying it is a good drama.

one interesting thing: while watching the show, i actually saw a mistake. a big one in fact, but one that might be easily bypassed by viewers. the mistake is even reflected on the promotional poster itself. look at it again!

if you were to be from a secret organization, would you print the name of your organization on your bulletproof vest and wear it out on missions? on his missions, the second male lead is seen wearing a vest with a big 'nss' printed right in front. his team wears a different uniform, but it too bears the organizations name.

with this show being such a big hit, the producers took the chance to produce sequels of it. a movie version of the drama was produced, with its ending slightly modified. they also produced another drama in 'athena: goddess of war', which is something like an extension of iris. iris 2 is currently in the making. thanks to iris, i have lined up athena as a show to watch some time in the future.

athena: goddess of war