My Drama List

A collection and brief comments of k-dramas I previously watched.

Reply 1997

Reasons to watch: 

Eunji. Her portrayal of the character was so point.I love her crazy fangirl antics. 

Reasons not to watch:

The fact that the love triangle was between a girl and two brothers

My Girl

Reasons to watch: 

1. Lee Da Hae was so funny in this one. I love her character!

Reasons not to watch:

1. As with older dramas, there is little skinship. i.e. not enough kiss scenes.
2. And also, a fault of the older dramas, some scenes are incredibly static, with just headshots of characters reciting some unnecessarily long dialogues. 

Kill Me Heal Me 

Reasons to watch: 

1. Oh Ri On. (Park Seo Joon is love <3) Oh Ri On is just the type of character that I absolutely love: closet genius that is dorky on the outside but can absolutely crush you with his intelligence if he decides to do so. 
2. The seven personalities. You will grow so attached to them you will cry as hard as Ri Jin did in the last two eps. Choding Se Gi FTW~
3. The OST. Auditory Hallucination has become my favourite OST of all times. It was played so many times in the drama but I can’t even say that it was overused because it fits the drama so well. 

Reasons not to watch: 

1. The large number of flashbacks. I guess the flashbacks are necessary given the nature of the story being about childhood trauma but sometimes they come in at the wrong timing and it gets repetitive after a while. 
2. There is less comedy and gets more makjang towards the second half of the drama. 

She was pretty

Reasons to watch: 

1. The comedy. Every single character was funny in their own quirky ways and their interaction with other characters was even funnier (That’s right, I am talking about Jackson couple and Panty couple, hahah you will know what I am talking about once you watch the drama.)
2. The sweet. Onion couple

Reasons not to watch: 

1. She was pretty is pretty tame throughout and the central conflict is not as intense as in other dramas and was resolved quite quickly. So, all in all, SWP is more of a rosy drama and is not those who are looking for some angst and action.

Witch’s Romance 

Reasons to watch: 

1. The noona romance. The way Yoon Dong Ha made you believe that his love for  Ji Yeon is real makes this drama a must watch. For Dong Ha, since the beginning, age has always been but a number to him and it didn’t take him long for him to fall in love with Ji Yeon. He is always caring and protective of his noona and this makes you want to root for and believe in this relationship.

Reasons not to watch: 

1. The noona romance. I loved the drama, really I did. But ultimately, because I have this innate dislike for noona romances, at the end of the drama, I couldn’t help but think that I would have loved this drama even more had it not been a noona romance. 
2. The ex takes up too much screentime. 

I Miss You 

Reasons to watch:

1. The acting. All three lead actors, Park Yoo Chun, Yoon Eun Hye and Yoo Seung Ho all gave captivating performances.

Reasons not to watch: 

1. The plot was all over the place. Such a waste of talent really.

Rooftop Prince 

Reasons to watch: 

1. Josen F4! HAHA the four of them adapting to city life was extremely funny.
2. The story. Contrary to popular opinion, I thought the story was refreshing and well planned out, I love how there was an explanation to everything and all the loose ends were tied up nicely by the end of the drama. 

Reasons not to watch: 

1. Han Ji min. I am sorry but I find her acting a bit stiff. 
2. Hmmmm I was satisfied with the ending for the couples but not everyone may feel the same. 

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Reasons to watch: 

1. Josen F4! esp Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In. haha the the two of them are perfect together. They even won a couple award at the KBS drama awards. Plus, Song Joong Ki’s character is similar to Oh Ri On from KMHM, goofy on the outside but is actually really smart.

Reasons not to watch: 

1. I don’t like what happened to Yoon Hee at the end.

Warm and Cozy

Reasons to watch: 

1. The comedy. The first half of the show was pretty funny
2. The scenery. The whole show was filmed on Jeju Island so there were lots of pretty sights. Watching this show will make you wanna drop all your work and immediately go for a vacation.
3. The food. When your male lead is a chef, prepare for some food porn, Jeju Island delicacies style.
4. The adorable second couple. When your main couple is being difficult and won’t get together, at least there’s still this couple to look forward to. 

Reasons not to watch: 

1. There is only one reason but for me it was a major turn off. The show gets incredibly draggy towards the second half and for no good reason. It’s just the main leads constantly “pushing and pulling”. 

Master’s Sun

Reasons to watch: 

1. The concept. I am a sucker for such a fantasy concept and this one was perfect. 
2. The main leads are so quirky! Normally it’s just one of the leads who’s not quite normal but this time it’s both of them and its adorable!

Reasons not to watch: 

1. hmm it’s been too long since I watched this drama so I can’t remember what I disliked about it. However, I read somewhere that the story is pretty much stolen from the greatest love, but I didn’t watch that so I wouldn’t know. 

The Girl Who Sees Smells

Reasons to watch: 

1. A good mix of comedy, action and romance. I initially tuned in because the idea of a girl who sees smells sounded interesting (and coz Park Yoo Chun) but the barcode serial killer mystery was a good surprise and got me hooked. 
2. Namgoong Min. He plays the villain so well. It’s his gaze. He has the perfect evil villain gaze. 
3. Cute couple. The story was never about whether the couple will get together. As such, the relationship between Cho Rim and Mu Gak progressed rather naturally from acquaintances to lovers without all the unnecessary angst and I love that. 

Reasons not to watch:

1. The villain gets revealed a bit too early. As such, it begins to get repetitive. There were a few eps where the last scene was always with Mu Gak and the villian staring at each other.
2. The backstory of the villain was not explained well. We are just shown how despicable he can be but not told how he got to be that way.

Miseang

Reasons to watch: 

1. Everything about this drama is gold. The cinematography, the raw emotions, the true to life dialogues and situations. This is definitely a must watch! Every episode will have you on the edge of your seat. 
2. Lee Sung Min. Every one of the actors in this drama was good but I feel he deserves a special mention. His performance was riveting and really does make you feel the frustrations and pain that his character go through. 
3. Lots of life lessons. Lots quote-worthy dialogue. 

Reasons not to watch: 

1. Spoiler alert. There is no romance in this drama but that really shouldn’t be a reason to not watch this.

 

Update: Eternal Love, Because of Meeting You, Goblin, Back to 1989

Drama update time! This time there are more Chinese entries than Korean because the kdrama world has been pretty dry for me lately after Goblin happened.

Eternal Love  (三生三世十里桃花)

Or the desecndants of the sun China version. This drama got sooooo popular in China.  I wished I had watched it while it was still airing so I could be part of the hype but marthooning it for 2 weeks also had it thrills and rush. This whole drama was so magical. this was my first drama where the main characters were immortal beings and I love the novelity of the whole concept. That fact that the characters themeselves were gods and not mere human beings placed new definitions on things we are already asccusomted to. Things such as death,  injuries etc. Yet, themes of power, faithfulness, love were still all very relevant.

I really loved the overall visual of the whole drama. Each section of the world had their own unique characterics and it was clearly portrayed through the settings. The heavenly realm was very dreamy, pure, untouchable. The demon world was dark and sinister. Qing Qiu, the home of the fox clan , was very earthy, homey, natural. And as the saying goes, Clothes maketh the man. In this drama, the characters maketh the home. You can clearly see the parallels between the characters and their backgrounds.

Most memorable:

http://laomoe.tumblr.com/post/157243334106

That moment when Di Jun realises he has fallen in love with Feng Jiu (and afterwards decides to go down to the mortal realm). He knows love is impossible for him so rather than being a happy occasion, it pained him. Yet, his character would not allow him to just let this go so he finds a smart solution to go down to the mortal relam to create memories with Feng Jiu.

When Ye Hua did all those things for Bia Qian, especially fighting off the beasts and have his arm ripped. It’s so sweet that he’s so loyal to her. I mean it was pretty obvious he is very much in love with her but to go to that extent, that is just on another level. Many belive the three lives between Bai Qian and Ye Hua is 1) when she was Si Yin and when he was Mo Yuan, 2) their time together in the mortal relam 3) their time together as Bai Qian and Ye Hua before he got eaten by the Bell. But, to me I dont think their the 1st life counts because that is Mo Yuan, Ye  Hua’s brother not Ye Hua and so their 3rd life began when they reuited after Ye Hua comes back alive from the Bell. So, really, this love of theirs is truly eternal.

Because of Meeting You (因为遇见你)

I really enjoyed this because the female lead speaks out to the feminist in me. I realise this is a thing with Chinese dramas ? Like how Bai Qian was sassy in Eternal Love, Guo Guo is talented, passionate and feisty. Her only flaw maybe that she’s too kind hearted so all sorts of crap keep happening to her. Other than that, I love that she makes all the right decision at all the right times (choosing embroidery, keeping Le Tong, staying with Yun Kai, rejecting her misguided biological mother).

Most memorable:

http://alittledramas.tumblr.com/post/158832196229

The moment when Yun Kai found out that Guo Guo was in fact Yi Bei. He was so relieved. I feel so happy for them.

And of course all the times Guo Guo slayed with her embroidery works. I loved her very first piece of work, the Black Swan. It just showed how kind and sensitive of a person she was that she was able to see through the mask of a stranger to be able to create a dress that allowed the person wearing her dress to “唱出我心的歌声” (be my true self).

Goblin

I loved Goblin for its comedy rather than its narrative. I thought the premise was refreshing and the conflict intriguing but as with most if not all Kim Eun Sook dramas, the excitement always dwindles down towards the end as the narrative always fails to deliver. With Goblin, I enjoyed the Reaper-Kim Sun romance more than the goblin-eun tak pairing. Reaper-Kim Sun narrative had a more wholesome ending as compared to the other couple. Their ending made more sense to me based on the rules of their universe.

Most memorable:

When show revealed that reaper’s greatest sin that made him a reaper was that he was not courageous in his past life. Because he was filled with doubt, he trusted the wrong people and was unable to protect the one he loved and his country. I sat on this revelation for some time. On the one hand, I felt it was wrong to call it a sin, I felt that it was alright for us to have fears, I mean we cannot be strong all the time right? So, I felt that it was harsh on the emperor to punish him to be a grim reaper just because of his fear. If anything, he was the victim. On the other hand, I agreed I thought that he has sinned, if he had just opened his eyes a bit more, not be too controlled by his emotions, he would see his true supporters and would not cause so much problems. Concluding, I realise that ideal situation would be if the emperor had been rational but in reality, it is truly difficult to control your emotions, especially when you are the emperor and you have so many people trying to kill you. So, I think he should not have been punished. The universe could have just skipped the whole grim reaper part and onto their reincarnated versions.

Hwarang

I was so excited for this drama because my beloved Park Seo Joon is in it. But the drama tried too many things and by the end of the drama, many story lines were unresolved. The chemistry between Ah Ro and Sun Woo was also too bland. On the plus side, we have our cute Ban Ryu-Soo Yeon couple. The Sun Woo-Ji Dwi rivalry was good to watch too. I liked the direction it developed towards, how the boys had to weigh their friendship against the throne really puts both their friendship and their leadership to the test. The friendemy between Soo Ho and Ban Ryu was also another plus point.

Most memorable:

When the whole group of them went to the other kingdom to get their people out. When Ji Dwi had to witness his own people being killed because he was being too much of a coward. When Sun Woo had to witness his own country people being killed because he did not have any power.  When both of them decided to finally do something.

http://bwiskook.tumblr.com/post/156659133790/hwarang-episode-14

http://bwiskook.tumblr.com/post/157245623105/team-protectbanryu

Soo Ho , Soo Yeon and Ban Ryu. That’s right #teamprotectbanryu. The entire time I kept yelling at the screen Noo Ban Ryu you are better than this. Ban Ryu was so misguided initially, he thought that he could only get validation from his evil dad so he has always seen himself as the bad guy. But no you dont, Ban Ryu, you can be your own person. I mean you are the only other person who passed the written exam from the first few episodes. Even though they never revealed what he wrote but I think it’s a hint that he too has some formidable political views of his own. And with the Hwi Hwa approving of it, I am sure it’s not anything bad. That aside, I am glad the siblings are there to see through the mask, to encourage him to leave that hellhole of a household.

Back to 1989 (1989一念间)

I thought that this drama was well written. It reminded me of “Back to the Future” but just an asian version with more family secrets and romance. The retro setting was a treat for the eyes and the chemistry between Ye Zhen Zhen and Chen Che was sizzling. The friendship between the “5 golden treasure” was endearing. Ye Zhen Zhen’s family are the warmest people. It got a bit slow towards the end when they dragged out the part where the couple was bidding farewell to each other. This time could have been better used to develop the time travelling mechanism. The time travel part for Chen Che was pretty clear but it was a bit iffy on Ye Zhen Zhen’s part. It felt more like fan service and did not provide a proper closure.

Memorable moment:

All the sweet moments between Ye Zhen Zhen and Chen Che. Esp when he serenaded her with song and guitar during the thunderstorm and when they turned away from each other so the other person would not see them crying.

The Many Sides of OH RI ON

In KILL ME HEAL ME, the main character, Cha Do Hyun suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder(DID) and has 6 other different personalities which protects him in times of distress. However, in this drama that portrays the agony and frustrations of a DID patient and the trauma that he goes through, Cha Do Hyun is not the only character with many sides. The beloved Oh Ri On is also more than meets the eye! He too, like Cha Do hyun, also hides behind many personalities to mask the pain that he suffers.

1.The goofball

I think this could have been Oh ri on’s true self, except only in an alternate universe where he isn’t born into such a position and subjected to such feelings. If Oh ri on has been born into a normal family with a biological sister and the perfect family and if Sung Jin Group did not exist then his goofball, happy-go-lucky, cheerful character would have been his true character. But right now, in this drama, in this universe, it is not. In this world, his goofball character is only a faccade. He knows the importance of not breaking the balance and thus his goofball faccade is to assure everyone else that in that insane world of theirs at least he’s normal and that he is there as a support of pillar.

2.Omega

Omega is the true self of Ri On. Through Omega, he loves, he thinks. Once Ri On assumes the identity of Omega, he becomes blantly honest. He investigates the truth of Ri Jin’s background under Omega and he openly protects Ri jin when he’s omega. Also, the opinions that he gives from a writer point of view are always sensitive and spot on. This is exactly who Ri On is. He is able see things for more than what they are and he knows how people’s hearts work.

However, Omega maybe his true self but it’s not who Ri On wishes to be. His only mission in life is to protect Ri Jin. And since he his unable to fully do so as Ri On the goofball, Omega just became more and more part of him till it ultimately came to define him.

3.The perfect brother and son

This is the person that Ri On is forced to become. However,it’s not just to Ri Jin that he has responsibility towards but more importantly, it had a heavier responsibility towards his parents. As such, just like his goofball appearance, this was crafted to assure those around him.

But, under this is a thick layer of melonchony. The melonchony that he gained from not being able to satisfy his own love. With the introduction of Cha Do Hyun, Ri On has completely given up on ever becoming lovers with Ri Jin. But this does not mean he no longer loves her anymore. This only means that his love will always be buried and from that moment on, he will indefinitely carry with him this melonchony as he silently protects Ri Jin as her “brother”.

4.Oh Hwi

This is an extention of his goofy character. In this KMHM world , I dont think he will ever stop loving Ri Jin enough to go for other girls. But in a alternative universe, yup I can definitely picture Oh Hwi frequenting clubs and bars, surrounded by many many pretty ladies every night hehe.

Drama update 3/9/16

Overall comments of the dramas I have watched since the end of 2105:

Love me if you dare

Status: Dropped

Comments: I felt rather sad that I dropped this drama. It was one of the best dramas that I have watched. But towards the end, there was just no tension anymore and it just got very repetitive. Plus the feminist in me just could not stand the girl being so whiny anymore. Instead of being a power couple, she was holding him down and I just could not stand that.

Most memorable: The cases. The exploding chemistry between the leads.

Would I recommend?  Yes

Despite not finishing it, I still think it’s a good watch. There is enough wit, gore and mystery which I all enjoyed very much. If only they had developed the lead female character in a different way it would have been a perfect score.

Descendants of the Sun

Status: Completed

Comments: This show. It was the very oasis that the drama desert desperately needed. I have heard criticism against DOTS being cliche. I agree with that but i also feel that it is also this cliche that made it a big hit. The show cleverly put the cliches that we know , the love at first sight, the disapproving father , the bromance and wrapped it up nicely with beautiful cinematography (excellent camera work and scenery), a whole new context (military and doctors, a new foreign country, no longer the USA anymore haha) and captivating OST. So, we get a drama that is filled with all the things we are familiar with that is just presented in a whole new way. And this is why I feel DOTS was such a quality drama. It just shows that kdramas or dramas in generally have so much more potential.

Most memorable: Ep3 when the soldiers and the doctors worked together to save that prince. My heart was literally in my throat the whole time and I worried so much for Yoo si Jin when he decided to disobey orders and go ahead with the operations. It made me think a lot about how the role of the small individual and how tied up one really is. There was also the conflict of values and mission, of the soldiers and doctors and hence their conflicting priorities and actions.

Would I recommend? YES!!!

I feel like this is the drama to show non drama fans and draw them in to dramaland. But first you must first warn them about the cliches and  cringe worthy scenes.

Reply 1988 

Status: completed (in 3 days)

Comments: I hate this show …. for making me cry in every freaking episode. If you are like me and are particularly sensitive to such family dramas, then you might want to prepare like 10 boxes of tissue before you start this. Contrary to what most people might say, I feel that instead of the younger cast, I feel that the older cast ie the ajummas and ajusshis ie the mums and dads were the ones who carried the show. In fact, I think the scenes were 90% older cast and 10% younger cast, which I have no complains about. The older cast were more mature in their acting and showing their emotions so I really appreciated that. I was displeased however, with how they suddenly switched Deok Sun’s partner to Teak just for the sake of having a plot twist. I mean plot twists must also serve a narrative purpose but here the plot twist is so gimmicky it was so unnecessary. What about my poor junghwan huh. The scriptwriters be better watching their backs. He might just come out of the TV screen and at gunpoint, demand that you write him a happy ending. Teehee.

Most memorable:  so many things. This line “Parents are not born as parents. We are also learning.” This episode: dads are not superheros. This sound: Meh-ehh. This couple: sun woo and bora.

Would I recommend? YES YES YES

Especially to those rebellious kids out there. Just make them watch this and all them rage hormones would be tamed. I too watched this at the crossroads of my life and it make me reflect a lot. I would not say it has totally changed me but it has definitely made me appreciate my parents a lot more. LOVE YOU MUM AND DAD.

Let’s fight ghost

Status: Dropped

Comments: I only started this show because I heard my boss talking about it so I decided to take a look. What a huge disappointment it was.When my boss described the drama to me, I thought that it would be those drama where they tackle a different theme each episode through the different ghosts that they meet, very much like many anime series. From the episodes that I watched, I see that they were indeed going for such a format. However, the focus was put on the wrong characters. Instead of giving more screen time for the ghosts and fleshing out their story lines, more time was given for the dumb and dumber duo. Although the two of them did grow on me, I still think it would have brought the drama to a higher level of quality if they had focused on the ghosts instead. All in all, I think it was a wrong directive decision to focus on comedy instead of the untapped potential of the stories of the ghosts. So many themes such as domestic abuse, abandonment, lost love etc, were just briefly mentioned when they could have been explored at with so much more depth.

Most memorable: The dumb and dumber duo. When the show failed to provide what i came for, I had to settle for this. While their jokes were not all hits, they were still enjoyable to watch.

Would I recommend? Know what you are getting into.

As with most things, it’s all about managing expectations. I went into the show thinking I would be getting a show with touching mini stories but instead I got a comedic show. So, the decision to watch this show would be up to your own discretion.

Cheese in the trap

Status: Completed

Comments: This show, similar to reply 1988, came to me at an appropriate time so it holds a special place in my heart. I love this show for challenging all that we know about appearance and reality, for showing us that not humans cannot be clearly put into a dichotomy of evil and good. That it’s more often than not, it’s always conditional evil instead of intrinsic evil. Most characters in the drama, are only pushed to be evil due to the circumstances, and for Yoo Jung, he turns to his evil side only as a way of retaliation or our of good intentions for Seol. However, as we see from the drama, this still does not mean they can be forgiven because at the end of the day, evil is still evil and it can hurt innocent others (Seol) when it gets out of hand.

Of course, i cannot talk about this drama and not mention the behind the scenes saga. Don’t you just hate it when the narrative is destroyed by reality. Actually, in hindsight I would not have notice the flaw if I had not known about the BTS drama. However, since I did know of it, it just brought to light how underdeveloped Yoo Jung’s character and that just raised more questions and the drama just got more confusing and I was unable to appreciate it as much as before.

Most memorable: Ep3 When Seol faced communication problems with her group mates. I loved it because of how it real it was. I kinda disliked how they didnt really find a solution for it though, they did mention it in later episodes but it wasnt the solution that I wanted.

Would I recommend? Yes.

Despite the hiccup towards the end of the drama, the drama is still a very thought provoking drama that looks into intentions and personalities of people. Definitely a good watch.

 

From Five to Nine Ep 1-7

So I have been wanting to watch this drama since a long time ago but never got to watch it because the subs take forever. But now that the subs are out I marathoned it in one seating ><

The good:

1. This drama is hilarious. I especially love those scenes where usually the family members/ Takane rattle on and Junko has to keep denying whatever they are saying.
2.  I love all the mini love storylines. The show started off hinting at a 5 way love triangle( maybe even a 6 way if you include yuki chan)  but I am glad that was all that was, just a hint and I am glad each of them now has their own mini storyline even for yuki chan.
3. My jaw literally dropped when they revealed that yuki was a male. I was totally not expecting a cross dresser. The show kept hinting that she (he?) is a gay.
4. The premise of ELA is a nice touch. Initially I questioned the choice of Junko’s career. I mean, why make her and by extension, half the characters english teachers and make us listen to their half baked english which if not for the drama’s other strong points is enough to make me drop this drama. But after a while I realised the importance of her choice of career. As an english teacher, the only way for Junko to advance is to move to NY, which she has been earnestly saving up for and working towards. They prevents a real conflict for the couple as putting such a long distance between them would prevent any further development. And this provided the central conflict for the first 3 to 4 eps, which was imo, very well done.

The bad

1. Yuki Furukawa. He looks way too young to be playing an office worker. Maybe this is an side effect from itzunara kiss but whatever the case, he is just not a suitable actor for the role. And to make matters worse, when his character kissed Junko, the whole time I was imagining a high schooler kissing Junko and the whole thing just felt wrong. It’s a good thing he got dropped from the battle (for Junko) not long after that but still to have witnessed that was enough damage done.
2. Some parts of the story was not explained well. Like for example, when Junko and her colleagues stayed over at the temple, they were trying to hide Junko from Tanake’s grandmother. But when Tanake’s grandmother eventually did see Junko there was no reaction? So why were they hiding her exactly? This is just one of the few instances (cant rmb the rest). It’s pretty minor actually and doesnt really affect the story overall but it did bother me at that point of time.

Overall, this is drama is really good. I am really enjoying Satomi Ishihara’s performance. She’s a very good comedic actress and plus she looks really pretty, I love her make up haha. Other than that the story is really good too, I only tuned in to watch this coz of the premise: a monk falling in love. And true to that the show did not disappoint. I love seeing all the hilariousness that occurs due to Takane’s ignorance but also cant help marvel at his endless talents and kind heart.

 

他来了请闭眼 Love Me, If You Dare Ep 13-14

Ep 13-14 marks a turning point in the drama where our main leads FINALLY become a couple. It is also the start of the whole “Moriarty” storyline.

I am super happy that BJY and  JY got together but I am also disappointed at the same time. Mainly because it was too jarring. From ep 1 to ep 12, you give up this premise that both BJY and JY are very new at this love game so when they get together as a couple you expect them to be very innocent and the most they will ever do is hold hands. Which I am fine with and actually looking forward to actually (this makes their kisses even more precious) But no, the drama chose to  destroy this image by implying that they made love on the very night they became a couple. I understand the director was just following the book closely. But in the book, the love making did not happen immediately after they got together , so even in the book there was a built up.(the book translations are here) I get that the director also has his restrictions (ie he has to cut down a lot of the romance in order to properly explain the crime bits). But I feel it would have been much wiser to stray away from the book for at least this part. It just totally dampened my mood, especially since I was so looking forward to them as a couple.

Now about the non romance parts. OMG. The entire time I was so freaking worried for XR like holy freaking shit he cannot die! He lost his love to BJY and now he has to die young ?!?!! (side note: I am kinda shipping him with JY’s sister haha they look cute together) I literally held my breadth the entire time, until I saw the preview and saw that he was just taken away by the villain. Wahh, if the show really decides to kill him off I really dont know what I will do ><

I really really like the plot twist with BJY’s sister. Like woah she dated FZY like woah. And she might be the villain’s assistant? Woahhh things just got 10 0000 times more complicated and interesting 🙂  haha and i hope FZY gets together with her after this whole thing blows over He deserves someone too. Speaking of FZY, how badass was he with all his techy skills. At one point when they were trying to uncode the harddisk I was expecting his computer to explode or just be taken over by virus but no nothing happened and that just cemented my respect for this guy.

And I am still waiting for JY to be useful to the investigations. No doubt she has gotten better. But whatever she deduced, BJY has already figured out. So, professionally, she is still not very useful. I especially hated her in the last part of ep 14, during the confrontation with BJY’s sister. I keep waiting for her to say smth since she was the one who insisted that she tag along in the first place. However, till the last moment, she was the last to leave the room, and had a brief private moment with BJY’s sister, but still she did not say anything and just left the room. So yup, to me, JY still has not proven her worth professionally.

(So sorry this came so late and is not as comprehensive as the other eps, I have been a bit busy lately, but I did this w/0 watching the new eps so that my views of these eps wont be tainted 🙂 Now I am off to watch the new eps! eeps so excited for the “Moriarty” storyline!)

我的少女时代 Our Times

So I went to watch this today and just thought I wanna share my thoughts (spoilers present):

1) The 80s make up is horrible! It’s so unflattering for the actors. Like when I watched the movie I didnt really think they were handsome/pretty. But once I did a check when I got home and saw them in make up, with nice hair and 2015 clothes holy shit they were all smoking hot. So yea if you are watching this dont get disappointed just yet it’s just the clothes and the hair that’s hideous.

2) The guy playing the gangster is hot. His smiler is killer. The guy playing the popular guy tho, not so much. But like I said it’s all the hair and makeup. To me both look equally handsome in real life.

3) For a movie that aims to remind you of your high sch past and first loves, there was quite a lot of common drama clichés that honestly does not happen in real life, thus making the movie less relatable tho I am nor sure if that is the director’s intention? Ie to have it be dramatic and eventful yet still be relatable instead of just being relatable ?

4) The use of different actors to play the adult versions of themselves really got to me. It totally disrupted the entire flow and It felt like I was watching two seperate characters.

5) There were countless number of funny scenes in the movie.

6) Haha. 15-20 mins into the movie I realised so many fated to love you actors there was “chen xin yi”, “er jie”, “anson” and some other which I may have missed out. It was too much of a coincidence so I went to check. True enough the director for this movie also directed Fated To Love You.

7) The songs. I prefer the ost sung by hebe more than the one by popu lady. It’s more befitting of the whole atmosphere and vibe of the whole movie. Popu lady’s song was just a bit too modern for a movie that is set in the 1980s.

8) Overall, it’s a good watch, definitely a tear jerker. But as someone who has watched the apple of my eye (那些年,我们一起追的女孩), I felt a bit disappointed. I watched the tralier before watching the movie and went in expecting to come out with the same bittersweet and nostalgic feeling that I got after watching Apple of My Eye. It’s still a good movie but I guess I didnt enjoy it as much because I went in with the wrong expectations. So for those who will be watching this, don’t go in with the expectations of getting the same feelings you got from watching Apple of my eye. Both talk about first love but this is a different story all together. It’s like comparing apples and oranges both are fruits but they are a whole world of difference.

必娶女人 Marry me, or not? Ep 4

Okay there’s not much to say about this ep, just that there were a lot of funny scenes. I mean come on, when you start the ep with that scene, you are gonna expect a lot of LOLing throughout the ep. I am glad they finally got the story going. Looking at the direction of the story in today’s ep it kinda made ep 3 pretty redundant. Well story wise anyways, I find the crux of ep 3 was more to establish that CHZ is a vain woman. I have deviated too much already… on with ep4!

I have never noticed the drama’s music till this ep… I especially like these two songs:

1. 爱接招 by Popu Lady

This was played when they were changing into their bathrobes. AHAHA don’t think pervertly guys , this was the funny scene. The steamy scene follows right after this haha.

2) 兜圈 by Yoga Lin

This is also the ending theme song and was played during the dream sequence (ie the scene at the beginning of this mv) which was so perfect gosh.

There were so many funny scenes in this ep but my favourite is when the characters break the fourth wall and speaks to us directly. I love it when CHZ does it omg haha Her “老娘不玩了！” killed me haha

“I am not doing this anymore!”

And how can we leave out her mum

How to get rid of the colleague that you hate, as told by CHZ’s mum  (I am sorry it’s all Chinese puns so it wont be as funny if translated into english)

Step 1: 小雨伞 ＝人人闪

Step 2: 小桥＝人人瞧

Step 3: 盐＝人人嫌

Step 4: 手帕＝人人怕

Step 5: 把施咒小人放进冰箱＝冻住好运

Step 6: Laugh Maniacally

Now we all know that CHZ is vain and I get that she still has that logic of wanting to be perfect for her lover, which is probably why she didn’t want HM to send her to her actual home. She doesn’t hate her parents it’s just that it’s the beginning of the relationship and she doesn’t want to ruin her perfect image just yet, I mean her ex fiance has met her parents and everything so I guess it’s only a matter of time. But this doesn’t mean I still forgive her for deceiving, as you all can see nothing good can come out of lying and right now karma is already finding its way back to her. I am just putting up and accepting this attitude of her as part of the flaws that comes with being vain, which I desperately hope she will be able to get rid of after falling in love with HM.

I am not getting HM’s logic of getting CHZ to be his girlfriend. He says it’s to get his mum off his back about getting a girlfriend but his mum also clearly stated that she loathes CHZ. So, how does HM not see that getting CHZ to be his girlfriend would only bring about a bigger problems than the initial problem. Now his mum wont just be pestering him, she would be angrily threatening him to break up with CHZ. So.. how does this solve the problem exactly?

 

 

One Warm Word

Disclaimer:

I only touched this drama for my darling Park Seo Joon. Well, I didnt really watch, I spent three hours skimming through the entire 20 eps and only watched the scenes with Park Seo Joon and Han Groo in it.Below are just some short comments I have about the drama.

Synopsis (based on what I have watched):

Min Soo (Park Seo Joon) is a guy born with lot of bad luck. He is the son of a mistress so he had an unhappy childhood. However, he always has a strong belief that no matter what life throws at him, as long as he is hardworking enough, he will be able to change fate. So, as an adult, he leaves the household and starts his own life . He may now be very poor but at least he is being true to himself. He has an older sister whom he loves very much and wants to protect. Knowing that her husband had an affair, he even tried to run over the mistress with a car (unsuccessfully ofc). As for his love life, he falls in love Eun Young (Han Groo), a colleague he meets at the bank he works at. At first they are always bickering but soon she fell in love with him and started to chase him and it didnt take long for him to return her feelings. But of course, the happiness is short lived because it turns out Eun Young is actually the younger sister of the mistress. When he realises the truth, he initiates a break up with her saying he no longer loves her. EY is confused and heartbroken at first but when she finds out the real reason, she goes to confront him. Still, MS says they cannot be together as she will remind of the horrible things he did to her sister and thus would not be able to forgive himself.  EY understands and lets him go but does not forget to remind him that he’s a good person. They both spend some time apart but both missing each other very deeply. A year later, MS has opened an udon shop and EY visits him there as customer. They tease each other playfully and it’s obvious they are ready to get back together.

Thoughts:

1) I loved this couple’s storyline. Taking into account all the drama that was happening around them, the existence of their love story was definitely necessary if they did not want the viewers leaving the show. A show definitely cannot be all angst and drama.That’s just frustrating.

2) I love Min Soo. I love that he has so much kindness and selflessness. I didnt follow the other characters, but I think they could use some of that. He obviously led a tough life and he does complain about but he also accepts it. I think there are times he tries to fight his fate but there are also times he submits to his fate. He knows himself that he has a lot of bad luck. But he tries to change that by living by himself and even allowing himself to love. I think those times where he actually submits to his fate is not because he does not want to fight it but it’s because of his kind and protective nature. He will only resist his fate if it does not endanger the people he love, namely his sister and Eun Young. But once it starts to involve them he gives in, he sacrifices himself to his fate. Like giving up his relationship with Eun Young. And sometimes, submitting to fate seems more of a wiser choice than to keep fighting it, ie to cut his losses. At least he gets to keep the memories he’s had with Eun Young ❤

3) The special love between Min Soo and Eun Young. She likes him because he’s the first guy who’s loved her for truly who she is and to him, she’s the first person, other than his noona whom he wants to protect. Min Soo is so self-aware of his bad luck that he does not want to start a relationship because he fears that it will end badly. So for him to make an exception for her and confess to her took a lot of courage and it only means that she holds a special place in his heart.

4) I am glad there is a happy ending for this couple but after watching this drama, I have finally realised what make melodramas such a turnoff  for me is that they can convince me to believe that the couple should not be together but they cant re-convince to believe that whatever internal/external conflict that the couple went through is gone so they should be able to live happily ever after again. I always feel like the couple is intentionally ignoring that there is something very wrong with their relationship and choosing to cast everything out and just live in their own delusional bubble of happiness. Like for eg, in this case the couple broke up because of the messy relationship of their older siblings and also because Min Soo was not able to forgive himself, like whenever he sees Eun Young he is reminded of what a jerk he was and therefore he cannot be together with her. You see, after you have build such an impenetrable logic and convinced me they are not meant for each other, it’s impossible to make me believe again that the couple will ever be happy no matter how much fanservice you throw in the last ep. And in these cases the answer always seem to “Time heal all wounds.” They always do a time jump and magically we are supposed to believe that the character has overcome that self guilt or whatever internal conflict he she was feeling. For me it just doesn’t I either need 1) a weaker conflict 2) a stronger resolution.

5) Park Seo Joon. Okay I love him but I am not gonna sing praises of his acting for this drama. But it’s his earlier works so I forgive him hehehehe (Any of his works earlier than Witch’s Romance is still work in progress haha) First, his crying. Forgive me for being so detailed. But every avid drama fan knows a good actor knows how to cry. Bu nope the Park Seo joon here does not know how to cry. He just scrunches up his face and just wails. Like he needs to loosen up his body and just let the sadness flow.  Park Seo Joon, I think you need to go and learn from Park Yoo Chun sunbaenim. His crying scenes in I Miss You will really get to you. Two, there needs to be more reaction man. Like I get that his character is the cool quiet introspective man but that doesn’t mean you cant show reaction with your body! During the scenes with Han Groo, after Han Groo and said her line and I see his reaction or lack there of, the whole thing just gets so awkward and it’s kinda annoying. But no hate on PSJ tho he has improved by leaps and bounds. His performance here (One warm word) is a world of difference from his drama debut Dream High 2 hehe.

In a completely unrelated note, I love all the coats and sweaters that he wore in the drama, yay for winter fashion! 🙂

 

他来了请闭眼 Love Me, If You Dare Ep 10-12

( I am gonna stop putting the headings with the case names coz I realised this show is more romance than the crime or at least for these few eps but if you must know the case for these three eps is The Case of The Crazy Stalker Girl)

Let me first start off by saying that it was my bad for comparing this with sherlock. This is nothing like Sherlock! Sherlock is 99% crime and 1% romance. This is more 70%romance and 30% crime and I absolutely love it! Esp since the two leads have off the charts sizzling chemistry. They are now on the top of my list of couples with the most on screen chemistry. Wouldn’t even be surprised if news broke out that they are dating hehe.

And I wanna take back my comment on the lack of humor in this show. I think it was just the first 4 eps that were pretty tense because they were trying to build BJY as this menacing character. But eventually that storyline simply disappeared as JY appeared and made him a warmer person 🙂

The case is pretty short, considering it only took 3 eps when the other two took 5 eps. More importantly, this is case is JY’s first case as BJY’s assistant so it’s pretty light and even takes place at the university she graduated from. I wont be talking about the case but the romance is more interesting hehe. But I like the fact that they allowed the viewers to partake in the guessing of the killer. Most detective shows often withdraws key info till the end so viewers have no way of guessing. Also I like the detailed analysis of how they came to suspect the killer haha this show is both informative and entertaining!

Yes! JY finally agreed and I am glad her trigger for agreeing was FZY and her Uni friend. First, FZY, i am so glad he’s getting more depth ~ I absolutely love love love the convo between him and JY. I so wanted to screenshot the entire thing but managed to decide on my favourite parts from the convo: 

BJY is so lucky to have such a guy as his friend. FZY can obviously tell that JY means something more to BJY so of course he would step in to make JY stay since he knows that BJY would probably fail with his icy words. FZY said the right things to the right person at the right time. He said all these after he confirmed that JY likes BJY so telling her to be more patient is the right thing to say because he gets BJY and is thus in the best position to say such words.

Also, there is the Uni friend. I am gonna assume her and JY are really close coz the show really didn’t establish that well. I love how she didn’t encourage JY to take the job because to follow her passion of solving crimes (she did but only a bit) but more importantly she encouraged her to take up the job because she saw that JY really likes BJY. So with both FZY and the Uni friend as the trigger, I am glad JY not only took up the job because she was following her passion of solving crimes . In fact, if you only consider only her passion, she had agreed long ago. She said so herself. So really, what was stopping her is the ambiguous relationship that she shares with BJY so, the talk with FZY and her Uni friend were encouragement for her to go ahead. FZY encouraged her by telling her it’s not end because BJY is different so whatever he does cannot be interpreted normally. Her friend on the other hand, assures her that whatever her feelings for BJY is so much different from any of her past flings and thus encouraging her to not just let this slip by. So really, JY agreeing officially to be an assistant is really just admitting her feelings and agreeing to take the relationship to the next level.

BJY you adorable little puppy! Took you long enough to find out you love JY! I love how the show kinda pokes fun at his innocence. Like there were a lot of instances when he says something super flirty unintentionally and the whole atmosphere just turns awkward.

I think I could go on and on about how the two of them are so cute together but really I would just be writing down the whole show. If I must must choose one moment, it’s when  BJY keeps coming down to JY’s house for dinner. It’s these little things that show how much you love and need a person. Esp since we all know how BJY complained about her horrible cooking and yet he keeps coming down to eat her food. It just shows how much he has come to depend on her and how she has become indespensible in his life. And she too has become accustomed to his presence, she knows his love for fish and will always use some fish dish to get some answers out of him (or to get him to stop eating the candy). The first time they shared a meal, they sat at opposite ends of the table, now, she sits closer to him and always expecting him for dinner, will remember to prepare his portion. Urgh these two can they just get married already!

The moment he realises his feelings

This moment was so precious omg. Gosh his eyes urgh you love smitten puppy. I love how this was toned down. Like it wasn’t some big reaction like omg omg I love Jian Yao Omg I love Jian Yao what do I do? panic panic. Haha Maybe this is the perks of having high IQ, esp since he studied behavioural psychology. It took him a while to recognise what he was feeling but once he did he did not deny it and went about it logically by preparing to confess to her. I cant really pinpoint what made him realise his feelings tho, maybe it happened when he realised that he cannot stand seeing JY getting hurt? Or maybe it was an accumulation, like he has been having all these feelings all along and that day was the day when it piled up enough to allow him to realise his heart? haha but really, I don’t think there will be a concrete answer because the show does not really show. Actually, I think it was more of a narrative decision by the scriptwriters because the couple definitely needs to get together first if “Moriaty” were to be able to inflict maximum damage on BJY (ie by endangering  JY).

Lastly, I think it’s pretty unwise of BJY to hide the truth about his stalker from JY (duh). Coz by dragging her down to be his assistant, he is already making her the target and he cant possibly have his eyes on her 24/7. So, I feel JY has the right to know about the stalker so at least if she does get captured or something she can leave some kind of clue for him to trace her.