Aryael

The appeal is more likely because of "Three Kingdoms" than because of Yoona. The Japanese love the 'Three Kingdoms' story and Zhao Yun is one of the five tiger generals under Liu Bei. I'll have to say that he's the smartest of the five tiger generals. The series "Three Kingdoms" (95 episodes) won many awards in Japan. My SIL and her mum (both Japanese) spoke highly of the Three Kingdoms series and when they found out about this drama about Zhao Yun, they were thrilled to learn more on the story of this famous general. None of them know about Yoona. I think Yoona will only appeal to younger generation viewers. The Three Kingdoms story and this drama on Zhao Yun will have a larger of cohort appealing to older viewers, eg: aunties, uncles, housewives, fans of Chinese literature and history. Hence, it is a good import for Japan.

Wonderful to read you, Ams! Yep, absolutely cliche-filled! And yes, I think you'll like this drama. :)

I am not sure which ones you'd watched but if you are looking for more recent ones (post-2012), I'll recommend Murphy's Law of Love and Rock N' Rock. Have you tried watching mainland China romantic dramas? The Chinese have significantly upped their game in modern romantic dramas in the past couple of years. Let me know if you are interested in Chinese dramas and I'll recommend a few. :)

KDW is my favourite Korean actor. He is what I consider as a real actor; not some pretty face idol who acted in some sub-par drama and then call himself an 'actor' but a real serious solid honest-to-goodness actor. Haunters is by far, my favourite of all of his works. The story line is perfect! The characters are excellent! In Haunters, he starred alongside Go Soo -another serious and solid actor. KDW + GS = mind blowing! :)

I can understand conversational Korean, hence not reliant on subs. Sorry, can't help you there.

Slow and draggy. Story so simple, could have finished it in just 10 episodes without all of the dragging out scenes. Now, it's just a slightly less than mediocre offering. Even the actors look like they are bored acting same ol same ol stares and can't wait for it to end. Too bad.

The synopsis is waaay off. Perhaps the above synopsis is from the novel but the drama has a different background.

For those of you who love the OST and wish to sing along, here's the lyrics in Mandarin with its pinyin:

如果紅顏命不曾單薄
Rúguǒ hóngyán mìng bùcéng dānbó
這世間有沒有傳說
Zhè shìjiān yǒu méiyǒu chuánshuō
生為飛蛾若是不敢撲火
Sheng wéi fēi'é ruòshì bùgǎn pū huǒ
這宿命憑藉什麼壯闊
zhè sùmìng píngjiè shénme zhuàngkuò

Chorus:
似綾羅纏繞著
sì líng luó chánrào zhe
似枷鎖金裝玉裹
sì jiāsuǒ jīn zhuāng yù guǒ
似雪花飛舞著墜落
sì xuěhuā fēiwǔ zhe zhuìluò
美麗啊向死而活
Měilì a xiàng sǐ ér huó
愛若能參破
Ài ruò néng sān pò
終究是寂寞
zhōngjiū shì jìmò
忘卻了前因後果
Wàngquè le qiányīn hòuguǒ
苦守的執著
Kǔ shǒu de zhízhuó
虛幻的一諾
Xūhuàn de yī nuò
空耗這青春許多
kōng hào zhè qīngchūn xǔduō
*Repeat chorus

年月裡蹉跎
Niányuè lǐ cuōtuó
輪迴中錯過
Lúnhuí zhōng cuòguò
被遺忘的人是我
Bèi yíwàng de rén shì wǒ
熟悉的輪廓
shúxī de lúnkuò
淚眼中斑駁
Lèi yǎnzhōng bānbó
望著卻無法觸摸
Wàng zhe què wúfǎ chùmō
愛是可念不可說
Ài shì kě niàn bù kě shuō

Got some requests for the translated lyrics. Thought it's better to post here than replying one by one. Here goes:

Translation by Aryael.
Title: 可念不可說 (Can be longed, can't be spoken) by 崔子格. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYRrAjOZYoI)

If the life of a young woman wasn't frail,
Will there be legends in this world?
If born as a moth but dare not flutter to the fire,
How can (this) wretched life be turned into magnificence?

Chorus:
Like the pestering weaving silk,
Like shackles made of golden jade,
Like snowflakes fluttering down,
Ah, beautiful! Facing towards life and death.

If love can be broken,
In the end, (what is left) is loneliness,
Forget the causes and consequences,
With bitterly guarded stubbornness,
With an untruthful promise,
Taken away much of this youth.

*Repeat chorus

All of the wasted months and years,
(And even) missed reincarnation,
The person who was forgotten is me!
(The) familiar silhouette,
Mottled in tears,
Able to see but unable to touch,
Love can only be longed, can't be spoken.

Note: This is not a direct translation but translation in meaning and context. Words in brackets are added to help English readers to understand the meaning of the phrases.

Highly recommended! Quirky, funny, racy, provocative and sad. Viki has a channel dedicated to this drama but we are still awaiting licensing. I've translated the lyrics for the OST though, if anyone is interested, please PM me. The lyrics reflects the story. :)

To be exact, this is not a melodrama but comedy romance with mature contents.

This drama special features yummy food, beautiful scenery, touching stories and simply perfect handmade, traditional products that I'd loooove to get my hands on! My only beef is the over the top cutie style acting by the female lead (Taylor). Sure, she's cute but the cutie acting (so popular in many manga/anime turned JDorama) is at odds with the more serious, documentary/interview style parts of the drama. Perhaps they added that for the comedic relief but really, I think it is not needed. All of the products (and the stories of their makers) are beautiful and breathtaking enough that they can speak for themselves! Otherwise, this little gem here is 10/10.

This drama is progressing better than Bromance which has an interesting story to start with but has tapered off into dragging scenes now. In contrast, Marry Me Or Not started out slow but it is picking up momentum and the story is progressing well.

I have decided to drop this drama after watching episode 13. There is a limit to my patience. For the past 3-4 episodes, the drama's simply dragging on and on. For such a simple story line, it should have gone for 11-13 episodes instead of 20 episodes. Sorry, but I could not stand the delaying tactics any longer. This drama has lost its appeal.

Healer, Kill me Heal me are the big winners for 2015.

You can watch it in any chinese entertainment websites such as iQiyi, Letv etc. problem is...can you understand mandarin? If you are VIP member of these websites, you can even watch it in advance (currently 5 episodes in advance of what was already released). There's also a youtube account dedicated to this drama but the episodes are at least 1.5 weeks behind. All episodes are raw at the moment.

Funny series with a surprisingly interesting story. I'm at ep 16 now and am thoroughly entertained.

Absolutely entertaining with a nice and straightforward story line. Highly recommended!

I haven't watched many korean dramas and movies in 2015, preferring to focus on chinese productions instead. So here's my small and hopefully significant contribution:
Best Korean Drama 2015: Healer, Kill me, Heal Me.
Best Korean web drama: Noble, My Love
Best actor: Ji Chang Wook (Healer) or Ji Sung (Kill me, Heal me).

Guilty! I am currently enjoying this drama. :)