K H-C

Finished it, but not sure why

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a definite “meh”.

Usually, I divide out my reviews into ‘things I liked’ versus ‘things I did not like so much’, but since I really didn’t like much about it (except for a Seo In Guk in his early twenties...) this review will not have a liked section. Which is weird, since I finished it anyway—though with some serious fast forwarding starting at around episode 14/15.

I had several issues with the script/character portrayal. The way FL was portrayed/written, it was as if she’d just started seeing ghosts the day before, not five years ago. Her constant screaming, startling, etc. would have made sense if she’d only been living like that for a few weeks or months, but not for years. Humans adapt, even in high stress environments. The other thing I don’t get is why she didn’t just turn it into a business. Granted, this is my understanding from KDramaland only, but it appears that she could have gone into business as a shaman or medium and made some legit cash instead of becoming a hermit. She had the support of her sister who believed her, so why didn’t they just go into business? And why did the dude who supposedly was able to help her out not show up until five years later!? That was never really well explained. Because the female lead was such a hot mess all the time, it was difficult for me to believe that ML fell for her. Their chemistry/connection felt forced.

And why was Auntie so against the FL? The dude was clearly not interested in any of the women she constantly threw at him, so what was the tragedy when he finally picked someone for himself!? So much of the drama felt forced/cliché in a lazy-writing way. Once the mystery about the ML’s past got solved, then the drama really fell apart. I hate it when a lead disappears without a trace for a couple of years and then comes back to find the other lead still pining. And their separation really didn’t make sense. The whole thing just didn’t make a whole lot of sense—hence my “meh” rating.

Read More

Surprisingly not too bad

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

I rather enjoyed this even though it was pretty low budget. This… I guess… is sort of a xianxia. Took me a minute to recognize the ML as the cat demon from Blue Whisperer. He did a nice job. I especially liked the FL. I thought the actress’ appearance was unique for cdramaland in that she was not pretty like a doll but had a strong sort of beauty that matched the intelligence of the character she was portraying. There were a few plot holes, but nothing so bad I had to give it up.

If you’re bored on a Friday or Saturday night and need a movie to watch that won’t make you work too hard, check this out. (If you read a lot of my reviews, you’ll see this expression copied and pasted—you can tell how exciting my social life is!! Lol!).

Read More

A little bit unexpected.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a cheerful “meh”.

Started out as a comedy, ended a tragedy/cliffhanger. Not sure why the ML sacrificed his one chance at life for the SML—never quite explained that well. I also don’t understand the trope of poisoned weapons. The point of a poisoned weapon is to instantly disable your prey/target, not let them linger on in mortal agony for months on end. Otherwise what’s the point of poisoning a weapon!? Just use the weapon then to do the killing! Bit of lazy plot, but then it’s a mini episode series so its not like you can expect grand things. The leads were nice to look at, they were cute together.

If you’re bored on a Friday or Saturday night and need a movie to watch that won’t make you work too hard, check this out. I would imagine another season is in the works to wrap up the unresolved issues of this one?

Read More

Suspend your brain function and just enjoy.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a cheerful “meh”.

It was kinda cute. The ML constantly trying to get the resistant FL into bed was kind of funny (yes, I know that in real life, its not, but in drama fantasy land it was kind of funny)—especially his overweening confidence. I wish there could have been a bit more time for the FL and ML to fall in love realistically, but it was a movie, not a series or mini-series so I understand. The sound track was as annoying as heck, tho.

If you’re bored on a Friday or Saturday night and need a movie to watch that won’t make you work too hard, check this out. I found it both on YouTube and Viki.

Read More

The first ever Korean drama that had me literally crying from laughing so hard...

I enjoyed this drama (though I'm not sure yet if its a "love" versus "like," [my other rankings are "meh," or "nah"]).

You'll laugh, you'll cry--or at least I did. I enjoyed the ghost angle, I also enjoyed the idea of a magician who did all his 'tricks' using ghosts--such a clever approach! I liked the love/hate relationship between the leads that burgeoned into love. I liked the historical flashbacks--especially getting to see Park Hae Jin in historical costume. I enjoyed all the characters, I did not feel that anyone was too one-dimensional (except, perhaps, for the demon who seriously, had only met the FL like once before becoming totally obsessed for 2000 years....). The person I felt most bad for was the SML--especially after he was possessed--I'm so glad they did not have him arrested or anything at the end! I would have totally cried to see that pure-hearted boy go to jail for something he did not do, but that everyone else had proof he did. But I also never really shipped him with the FL (and believe me, I almost ALWAYS get SMLS) because he just waited to long (you snooze, you lose, buddy).

I have few complaints. I do wish the costume designer had put the FL in clothes that fit her--she always seemed to be wearing clothes that were several sizes too big for her. Contrasted against the sleek ML, she always looked a bit unkempt in comparison (unless she was in historical dress or her police uniform). But that is really minor.

I would recommend this one to those who like supernatural but modern K-dramas. Believable relationships and characters, sweet love story, coherent plot, exciting action, hilarity, interesting look into Korean shaman culture (assuming its an accurate representation)--all in all, its a worthy watch if that is a genre that appeals to you! :)

Read More

One of my favorites of the fantasy genre

(Warning: spoilers likely below)

The fantasy genre in general is my favorite, so I'm already a little biased. This one was a gem, however, The world building was excellent, the mystery build up good, and the relationship between the FL and ML was sweet and non-toxic.

The sound track was very good--and used very well, there was this eerie song that really set the mood during certain scenes (like the one where she is revealed to be the Goddess to the entire court...).

Both leads did very well. They were comfortable in their roles and you could really believe in the ML as a teenage king who genuinely wanted to do good by his country (though why he decided to make that one evil guy prime minister....I thought at first he'd done it on purpose knowing that it would drive Yin Xiao [way cool sword btw!] to execute him, but nope, turns out he was serious?). Both evil main characters gave me the absolute creeps which meant they did their jobs well.

And of course, there is the dad who's just great. And for once, they had an actor of the appropriate age play someone's father--in a period drama based on ancient Chinese culture where marriage at an early age was common, a man who, in his late teens, became a father would not be older than forty and that actor was perfectly believable in that role.

If you like the fantasy genre, I don't think you'll be disappointed in this one. Its not perfect (I haven't yet watched one that is), but its enjoyable, the ending for the couple is happy (though, fair warning, for few else). There's also some good lessons about Machiavellian displays of power (e.g. making 'deities' in order to maintain power).

Read More

“Nothing could go wrong! Nothing could go wrong!….oh no! It all went wrong!”

*******Spoilers ahead! You are warned!*****

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this rates a “liked”. It would have been a “loved” but…that ending!

Things I liked:
This is the first true period fantasy Kdrama I’ve seen. Occasionally there’s a made-up king (like Moon Embracing the Sun, 100 Days My Prince) or even a dynasty (Lovers of the Red Sky), but I’ve never seen a truly made up country/world before in Kdramaland (correct me if I’m wrong). And I loved it. I liked the world-building, the costumes, and even applaud the stylists for making short hair a part of the ‘look’ of that world so they did not have to mess with wigs (though I am a sucker for a guy with long hair…). Nearly all of the characters felt three-dimensional. I liked the bromances—especially with the Crown Prince and the ML. At first, I thought the CP was going to be another evil guy, but he grows on you after a while (he was clearly entitled and arrogant, but he never forced Mu-deok to come be with him and he could have). I wanted to punch the evil dude every time he smirked—which meant he was doing his job right. I loved that Park Dang Gu and Jin Cho Yeon got married despite everyone's objections. I also liked that Jin Cho Yeon only did the awful jealous girl thing for a couple of episodes and then got over it. I hate the jealous bat $*** crazy woman trope and am glad they did not use it for long. I thought they did an excellent job of mixing comedy with seriousness—in the way that real life can be hilarious but also tragic at the same time. I liked the magic system (though outside of ‘soul shifting’ it was not all that well fleshed out).

Things I did not like and/or remaining questions:
Why did you have to do my girl Naksu like that!? Wasn’t the whole benefit of her having taken over a divine priestess body so $*** like that wouldn’t happen? She has been used and manipulated her whole life and then at the end she’s forced to kill the one she loves!? Pfftt, I say! Pfft! Season Two had better make up for it! And why was everyone always going on about how weak Mu-deok was!? She was a slave whose daily life consisted of hard physical labor. There’s even a scene where she’s carrying all kinds of luggage up a mountain. And why would you lose your martial arts ability even if you lost your internal power? You could still fight, but just not with magic. Why did none of the ‘grown ups’ realize that just telling the ML he could not do magic was never going to be enough? That it had the opposite effect? They kept taking the ‘because I told you so’ route—and when has that ever worked? And, seriously, it did not matter whose soul was in Jang Kang’s body when the ML was conceived, it was still JK’s body that did the work meaning that the ML was JK’s biological son. I get why he denied him in the end, to save his life, but it was stupid that he had been denying him since the beginning—and even blaming his wife for somehow not knowing that her husband had been soul switched!? Pfftt, I say! Pfft!

Anyways, slight inconsistencies aside, I loved this up until about the last 20 minutes. Season Two has a LOT to answer for....

Read More

cute little rom-com

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this rates a "liked" but I'm unlikely to rewatch.

Things I liked:
This was a cute, funny drama. It was pretty harmless in that (once the leads got together), their relationship was good. I enjoyed the fact that the side characters, including our SML, all wound up with someone worthy (except for Kang Yoo Sung the Second, but he also seemed to get over his crush by the end...?). I thought this was an interesting storyline--and I wonder what it was like for the actors to play the people whose job it is to manage their lives. (Did they develop more empathy as a result? Was it an accurate portrayal? ) I enjoyed the fact that there were no true villains, just some deeply unhappy people that made mistakes. There was no heinously jealous, one-dimensional female antagonist.

Thinks I did not like:
I did not entirely understand the point of this drama. I guess it was "slice of life"? There was no real climax, no real conflict that was not cleared up within a short period of time, no theme or mystery carrying us through the show, the individual episodes fed into each other (versus each one being an individual 'adventure') yet at the same time did not seem to be taking us anywhere. I also do not like plots where the ML treats the FL like crap and then all of a sudden she forgives him and they get together. Granted, they did a slightly better job of this than usual where she gradually realizes that he's done all this stuff for her behind the scenes (and he's totally sweet to her once he does confess instead of remaining a total jerk like in other dramas)--and she even confronts him about how he used to treat her, but since his behavior went on for years, I find her ready forgiveness and falling for him to be a little rapid after years of bullying.

Random question: Does anyone know how Korean law works around free speech and freedom of the press? It seems that you can say whatever you want, but you'll be sued right away if any of it is false. Is there censorship? Or just a highly litigious system? Just curious. :)

Read More

An interesting romance drama about a female-dominated society.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “liked”.

Things I liked:
That it portrayed a female-dominated society. It made for an interesting twist. I liked the chemistry between the leads—especially Shen Ye towards Shu Cheng (gave me some Ye Hua after he found Bai Qing again vibes). I loved the sis-mance between Murong Wan Qing and Shu Cheng. I liked that the Crown Princess and Shu Cheng worked together in end. I liked that Shu Cheng stood her ground against Shen Ye about what she wanted for her life and refused any other option. I liked that Yuan Hao was the ML in this—its actually why I started watching it b/c of watching The Romance of Hua Rong (though if YH is going to wear a wig, it MUST be a sides-braided one like the one he wore for RHR, because…well, just watch RHR and you’ll know why *fans self, contemplates cold shower *).

Things I disliked:
That it portrayed a female-dominated society as if it would mirror a male-dominated one. As in, the only difference in the portrayal of the society was the gender of who was in charge. I would have liked to see a bit more creativity and critical thought going into what a truly female-dominated society would look like.
The MF little bits of hair in front of the ML lead’s face! OMG! Why do that do that? I spend every second fantasizing about cutting them off. The only thing that saved it (I have literally refused to watch dramas [I’m talking about YOU Novoland Pearl Eclipse!] where they do this to the ML’s wig because it bugs me so much) is that when he was in his role as her husband, his hair was different.
I didn’t like that the two servants always with Shu Cheng were treated like background pieces—in that they had no roles other than to stand there and to obey without question. I get that is how many servants were treated in the historical setting this drama was based upon, but they had so much screen time, it would have been nice for them to have actual personalities and interactions.

Final thoughts:
I ended up watching this twice. The first time on YouTube and then again when it came to Viki. I enjoyed it both times. It’s a good pallet-cleanser. I could put it down when I needed to go do something else, but I never left it on hold for a long time, either. I’m curious to see the four main leads in other things. 

Read More

A less stupid version of the “Journey of Chong Zi”

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a "liked"/“meh”.

The deets:
Two preteens have a destined encounter that results in the preteen version of our ML (a crown prince) being framed for murder. He is smuggled out of the palace by his would-be baby daddy to go be a novice in a pugilistic sect instead. Our preteen FL, devastated that she was the cause of the crown prince being accused of murder, sends a prayer to the heavens that he will rest in peace which inexplicably causes a curse to be placed on our ML (wtf!?). The curse will not come to pass if he does not meet with her again before his 18th birthday. But, of course, just before he turns 18, she finds her way to his isolated valley within the sect’s territory. Lots and lots of hijinks ensue…

What I liked:
Getting to see Alen Fang in another drama. Though I’d like to see him as an ML for once instead of the eternally doomed SML (always the bridesmaid, never the bride…). I liked that many of the male leads were easy to look at (an not one of them had the stupid thin and long hair pieces in front of their face). I liked Zhu Yan’s character. At first, I wasn’t sure, but she grew on me. I liked that the younger prince got together with his love despite everyone’s best attempts to keep them apart. I like that the General finally got his girl in the end and she (Bai Xue Lu) turned out to be a decent person in the end (I wonder how tall that actress is?). I liked that this was a xuanyuan/wuxia/xianxia because I’m not into historical reality (much less inaccurate history because that, in many ways, is worse by ‘whitewashing’ history; though if I’m going to watch a xuanyuan with Xiao Zhan, can we please just have a season 2 of DouLuo Continent?). I liked that there were distinct sets and costumes as you went to the different ‘kingdoms’ across the land.

What I disliked:
I totally could have done without the would-be baby daddy character (the sect leader [seriously is there some sort of law in China that Han Dong must be cast in at least 50% of active productions at all times!? That dude is in like every other drama out there]). He didn’t know wtf he wanted and kept messing around with the ML’s head in some bizarre effort to get revenge for ML’s mother (his lost love) and then gave up and went and did it himself. He knew that ML wanted to live like a monk but decided to foist a trifling girl (Bai Xue Lu) upon him, hoping that she would somehow inspire enough feelings in him for a cause the ML had no interest in taking up that he would be able to survive an ordeal that literally no other sect member had ever survived before. When ML displayed interest in another woman, at first Sect Leader tried to separate them and hook him back up with the trifling girl. Then he gives up on that and decides that our FL will do. But then as soon as the ML develops real feelings for our FL, Sect Leader decides that its time for our trifling girl to come back upon the scene and take him back. *sigh *
I didn’t like that the trifling girl’s only goal in life seemed to make a powerful marriage. The way her character was written, she was intelligent enough and strong enough not to need a man to get her what she wanted—yet they forced her into the role of b@t$*** crazy jealous woman and made her spend 2/3rds of the drama going after dudes she didn’t like and ignoring the one she did.
Minor point of dislike: If you didn’t know what “shifu” meant, you will by the end of the drama, since its every third word that Zhu Yan says.

Final thoughts:
I stand by the title of this review: If you were disappointed by Journey of Chong Zi and/or found Journey of Flower too much of a case study in toxic relationships, I recommend this one instead. It’s basically the same idea but involves a lot less yelling at the screen.

Read More

Maid’s Revenge 2.0

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “meh”.

Spoilers ahead b/c I didn't follow the rules of writing a review. :D

The deets:
Young woman is forced to marry a comatose young man to “bring him luck” mainly so she can be blamed when he dies. This comatose person turns out to be the younger brother of her boyfriend (SML—though MDL has him first in the list after the FL. To me the SML is whomever DOESN’T end up with the FL) who is also getting married that same day to her cousin. This is supposedly the best she can get because, through absolutely no fault of her own, she was roofied and assaulted (by said ‘boyfriend’ in the hopes of forcing her to be his concubine—however ML interferes with the aftermath of this plan and SML never gets to “take responsibility” for his actions). However, in the classic manner of all patriarchal societies, it is of course, somehow, the girl’s fault whenever this happens. Anyways, ML does not die and turns out to be a decent chap. There is plenty of framing/blaming/torturing of the FL during this time—including causing her to have a miscarriage. SML succeeds in knocking off ML (or so we think…) and takes FL as his concubine (because she wants to stay in the family home and find out what happened to ML). There is lots of back-and-forth framing/blaming/torture between the SML’s three wives (and we’re expected to believe that SML only made FL sleep with him once more) while SML tries to gain control of a lot of local businesses and essentially makes a lot of dumb decisions and gets himself into a hot mess of debt. Our ML reenters the scene, totally not dead and having grown some huevos during his absence. After only a brief period of doubting our FL’s intentions, he works with her to bring down the SML in a dramatic showdown.

What I liked:
The FL had some steel in her the whole time. She wasn’t an idiot, didn’t take blame for things that were not her fault, and always got revenge. I liked that the misunderstanding between the FL and the ML about why she married the SML was short-lived and that they worked together equally towards a solution. It had a happy ending. I liked that it was a short drama. I liked that the costumes appeared to be a well-intended effort at historical accuracy (I find that, for especially the Western clothing, the attempts are half-@$$ed at best with accurate costuming in Republican-era dramas).

What I disliked:
The assault for one. They did a decent job of not showing a blow-by-blow, but it was still there. Mother-in-law was an awful person, yet both the ML and FL were nice to her and mourned her loss. This drama also asked you to dispend disbelief a great deal and to just trust that things had ‘magically’ happened in a certain way.

Should you watch this?
I don’t know. It was short, the male leads were easy on the eyes, the FL was not a brainless idiot. I only watched this because I watched Maid’s Revenge (…speaking of brainless FLs…) and I wanted to see Dai Gao Zheng in something else. If you’re in a dry spell and can handle the fact that the FL has the trauma of assault in her past, then it’s a quick watch.

Read More

Still mad about the need for a second season but not mad at the second season itself.

I will start out by saying that I did not think this was as good as the first season. This felt more like a really long epilogue to the first season. If they had just dumped the conflict, this could have been nothing more than a couple more episodes added to the end of the first season (as in skipped all the inspection and Princess drama, brought Seo Eun Woo to the royal palace as a female Royal Physician so she could save the Queen’s life and get awarded her annulment).

However, as second seasons go it was not truly disappointing, either. I do like that they gave Seo Eun Woo and Yoo Se Yeop their happy ending (btw: why all the complaints in the comments about their lack of chemistry? I thought they were adorable. Chemistry doesn’t have to be all smoldering, passionate looks. Their chemistry was the chemistry of two compatible minds and souls).

I cried for Granny especially since she’d been done so wrong by her own family (seriously, wtf blame victims/survivors for the horror that befell them!?). I did like that the Royal Physician decided to be a good guy in the end (seriously, how tall is that actor?). I liked that the clinic got to go on with its happy workers away from the drama of the royal court.

If you watched S1, watch S2. Or at least the last episode of S2 to get everything wrapped up nicely. 😊

Read More

I hereby award this drama one of my very rare “loved ratings”…

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “loved”.

What I liked: Thank you to the writers, directors, etc. for opening this with a disclaimer that was the equivalent of “in a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away…”. Setting this up as alternate reality gave everyone more freedom to enjoy this drama since it, in many ways, had nothing to do with historical reality. So if you’re one of those complaining about the lack of historical accuracy, I respectfully refer you back to the first five minutes of the first episode. Kim Young Dae is just as adorable in period costume as in modern attire. He did a great job of portraying a range of human emotions without ever overdoing it or making his character seem inconsistent. The character of Ye So Rang was great. She was funny and smart—and best of all, stayed that way throughout the entire drama instead of suddenly becoming dumb to make the ML look good. Lee Shin Won was adorable from start to finish and I love that, at the end, they hinted he would get to be in a relationship with an amazing woman, too. I loved the head lady and head eunuch—they were fun to watch, as well as the shaman. In fact, I pretty much loved all the supporting characters, except of course, for the evil ones (is it just me or did the main evil guy always looked stoned!?). There were some great scenes, too, that I had to rewind and watch at least once more: the scenes of the boys reading erotica for the first time (and the one of YSR jumping up and down to get all of the books out from under her skirts…lol!), when the King went to rescue YSR from jail, any scene where the King was being awkward or unsure, when LSW rescued YSR first and they’re both all “aren’t we missing someone?...” and more.

What I did not like: There was not really much. I was not interested in the side romance between the writer and the waitress at the tea shop—though his side kicks were hilarious—but that’s a just personal “meh”. Any objections I would normally have with a lack of historical accuracy were solved by the opening disclaimer and since I prefer fantasy over reality in dramaland, I was relieved not to have to worry about it. I did wonder how such an independent woman like YSR would take to being queen (like I did the FL in 100 Days My Prince), but they even addressed that on her wedding day so I was satisfied. Other than that, nothing horribly obvious comes to mind.

Would I recommend this? If you’re like me and prefer period costume dramas over historical drams, then yes. If you like a happy ending, then yes. If you cried during the Red Sleeve and need to make it up, watch this. If your cup of tea is gritty, dark reality, then no, this will just make you mad. :D

Read More

Not a bad prosecutor show.

Spoilers.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a cheerful “meh”.

I neither disliked nor liked this one. It was fast-paced enough to keep me interested. Not sure why they thought that hair was a good look for Doh Kyung Soo, but I guess it fit with the ‘crazy’ theme? I usually like a little romance but wasn’t mad that there was none in this show. There were decent moments of comedy. I like that the FL was smart and brave, but I thought she unconditionally supported JJ a little too much. There were some things I did not expect—in a good way. I thought it was a little unrealistic how Jin Jung always seemed to have it together and was a step ahead of the bad guy (it was also equally unrealistic that he could beat up people and not get fired--and thrown in jail...). I liked that Oh Do Hwan decided to be a decent person in the end (though I was always a bit unsure of his original motivations—like why was he always attaching himself to powerful people? What was the objective?). Bad guys defeated, good guys win.

Conclusions: Not a bad watch. If you’re in a drama dry spell, I would rec’d checking it out.

Read More

For when you need your Lee Soo Hyuk fix

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

I just watched this for the second time and thought I’d do a review.

Things I liked:
This was a short, sweet, and to the point little fantasy where LSH is actually the male lead who (supposedly?) gets the girl in the end. It was a drama about emotional healing and facing one’s feelings.

Things I disliked:
ML’s back story could have been fleshed out a bit more—but as this was a mini-drama, I get why they did not. It was unclear how much time the FL actually spent working in the shop. If not, she fell in love awful fast. The inaccuracies around sewing and tailoring: I’m pretty sure you cannot make a custom outfit in 3 days; you never actually saw them making anything; that is not how you cut out patterns; and the clothes never actually looked that spectacular.

Inconsistencies aside: check it out for LSH. Its free to watch on YouTube. 😊

Read More