PrettyCarEye

Hi. Saw your post in the forum. There are actually several other threads with the exact same request so if you dig a little I'm sure you'll find some great recs. Anyway, off the top of my head I'd like to recommend you the following:

Dramas:
Orange Days
Aishiteru to Ikketure
Brother Beat - it's a family drama, but with a # of different love lines featuring average joes and janes
MARS
Nagareboshi

I loved all of these dramas, except Nagareboshi which I only liked. I was also a little dissatisfied with the ending of Aishiteru, but it's still definitely worth the watch. I'm sure you'll love it! No one gets sick or dies.

Movies:
Happily Ever After
Wanee and Junah

Hope you enjoy! :)

Bettyboo, thx for the rec of Arrow. I'll look into it. I see it stars Moon Chæ-won. I've always wanted to see her perform. I hear she's quite good.

Did you check out any of the jdramas I rec'ed? Are they something for you? I'm not surprised Nodame Cantabile was a little 'meh' for you. From what I've heard it's a very light drama with lots of good music. Even I, who like romances, am not in any rush to watch it, but it's on my list.

Are you still watching & enjoying Ugly Alert? I think the first several episodes are on dramasmurf, but you have to register with the site to gain access to the streams. Moreover, I don't know if it's something with my internet connection but the videos on dramasmurf won't work properly on my computer. They keep pausing to buffer ... which is kinda annoying! By the way under which name have you found it on drama.net? I searched for both Ugly Alert and its alternate name 'Bravo My Life' (or something). Didn't find it.

Thx for the rec, Mickey. I'll keep Master's Sun back of mind. Maybe one day I'll be in the mood to be irritated and watch it. Hey, it happened with The Greatest Love, so no kidding! :)
I actually don't mind arrogant, bastard heros in dramas. They make things a lot more interesting, imo. But in real life ...? Well, that's a different story! :)
What's happening on your end? Started anything good?

I have seen Cruel City, yes, and I liked it even though I had some issues with it. I keep meaning to write a review and have actually started on one, but can't seem to find the time to finish it! Not enough hours in a day ...
I quite liked Golden Empire. It was pretty good. Stronger than Cruel City in writing and acting, but just as exciting. This show really packed a punch. Lots of lessons here to learn. What about you? What do you think of it?
I'm keeping an eye out for Secret Love (I hate that they changed the name from Secrets because when I see Secret Love I think of the movie, not the drama). Anyway, I might be interested in watching it, but the female lead puts me off. I saw her in Can You Hear My Heart and really couldn't stand her.

I liked it better than some of his more gore focused pictures. This one leaned more toward mystery/suspense/a dash of romance even ... with some horror thrown in at the 3rd act. The movie still bears Miike's usual signatures ...a diabolically weird protagonist, hacked off limbs, that strange uneasy atmosphere ... it's all there.

I've completed the show. I'm still thinking about how to rate it, but it's definitely going to be a very high score, either a 9 or 10. I don't know how far along you are, but the show didn't 'grab me by the horns' so to speak until the middle episodes. I'd say anywhere from ep 12 and onwards.

My allegiance completely switched to Tæ-joo around this mark too even though I was rooting for Seo Yoon in earlier episodes. That's because for a while there I thought Tæ-joo might be a horrible person, but then I started to understand his motivations better. The thing with Tæ-joo (unlike most people in the carnivorous Choi family, with the exception of perhaps Seo Yoon) is that he always has good intentions, but as the saying goes, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'.

By ep 15 I started to marathon the drama because the chess game between the 3 competitors (Tæ-joo, Seo Yoon, Min-jæ) for the Golden Empire intensified and became wickedly exciting. You just never know what's about to happen next as each player became more and more desperate to crush each other.

An excellent show, I must say. Lots of lessons here to learn. As usual I have an issue with Kdrama endings, but overall this show is extremely well written & the actors totally killed it. I definitely think Go Soo (Tæ-joo) & Son Hyun Joo (Min-jæ) deserve some sort of medal. I eventually got used to Lee Yo Won (Seo Yoon), esp when we got into her head a little more. But the guys, wow, they blew me away. Son Hyun Joo stood out for me & where I used to love Go Soo mostly for his looks, I'm totally 100% his fan now. Amazing actors, both of them! Actually, everyone delivered stellar performances. This is absolutely THE best acted Asian drama I've ever seen.

Mary Katherine (such a pretty name!).
Pleased to meet you as well! Welcome to MDL. I'm sure you'll love it here.
Let me know what you think of Always & The Greatest Love once you get around to them.
What are your favourite genres? Romantic comedy is clearly one! :) Any others?
And just out of curiosity how did you get into Asian dramas?

What's my name? Have a good look at my profile and I bet you'll be able to figure it out.

Interesting that you don't rate after watching something! May I ask why? Is it that you can't decide on a rating? Or you just don't want to? Sometimes I have difficulty deciding on what rating a show deserves so I'll think about it for a few days, but eventually I always rate.

As for my fav genres ... it varies between dramas & movies. With movies I basically watch everything depending on my mood. With dramas I'm very picky because I don't like anything that plays too much with my emotions. I hate tragedies, melodramas and to a minor extent slice of life, but only when it's too realistic & there's little room for escapism.

Crime, thriller, drama, suspense, mystery blended with romance are more to my liking. I like family dramas too.
Are you watching anything at the moment that you find particularly exciting? I just finished Golden Empire. Good drama!

Edu, dongsæng, did you like Never Forever?

By the way, I came across a comment you made on someone else's profile. You said you like the writer of Heirs who is also the writer of one of my all time favourite dramas, Lovers.

I can't remember if I already tried to pimp that drama out to you, but I see that you've watched the other dramas in the 'love' trilogy. You should not miss out on Lovers! I haven't seen the others, but I already know they won't be as good. Why? Because the more you write the better you get. Lovers is the 3rd installment in the trilogy.

What other dramas have you seen from the writer? I have City Hall lined up to watch soon. What did you think if you've seen it?

And cham, maybe uri Nina-ssi has tried to get you to watch it, but I just had to put in my 2 cents. Based on the criteria on your profile Golden Empire is a drama you should watch. Seriously. I think you'll appreciate characters (some of the best I've ever seen in dramaland) & the sensational twists and turns in the story.

Aigooo!!
Bimba, you're right! Jesonghæyo.
I looked at the link and saw Rich Man Poor Woman! haha
The japanese drama ... and I was like huh? Why is bimba sending me this???
So NO, you're NOT confused. I am! lol Guess I'm really turning into a soft-headed ahjumma! :p
Thx for the link, bimba, dear! :)

When?

Hehe, why are you sending this to me, bimba? Did you get me mixed with someone else or what? lol

WOW! Chinguya! That's some deep sh*t!!! Pardon the french ... LOL

A GREAT analysis! Much of which I agree with, but I also have a different perspective regarding Tæ-joo's right to the Group & what (I believe) really led him astray.

But I can't do it now because I'm at work and I already slack off waaay too much to watch drama! The show actually inspired me to work even harder at attaining my very own Golden Empire! haha :p

So I'll write later with my own analysis!
Glad to know you've been having a great time with Pops. Don't worry about your schedule (but respond to me)! :)
Just enjoy having him around. I wish I had my mom and or my dad here with me!

As for you being fussy about your tastes. Yup, you totally are! How do I know? The way you choose what you want to watch! :p I'm a bit fussy about my drama choices, I'll admit. It's only because I'm quite busy even though I spend an unconscionable amount of time on MDL & sabotage my beauty sleep (and my relationship! Ha!) every night just to watch drama. And as I mentioned before I tend to get strongly attached to the characters so I want to be sure that I'll be fairly satisfied with the outcome at the end of it. I hate being left with negative emotions after a drama. It kinda disrupts my inner balance because I'll sit & wonder & brood about WHY they had to end the show like that. lol yup, I'm totally ape crap crazy. LOL

As for 'napun sækia' being 'my lovely darling' ... LMAO!!!
More like the complete opposite! It means 'that bastard'. Or more literally translated 'bad person'. Girl, you should get with the programme with your Korean! haha :)

But most Asian dramas have a weird (and annoying for me) habit of completely glossing over their characters' sexuality. So much so that you get the unnatural impression they're not sexual beings. To me it's so ridiculous, esp when it comes to young men who you know are bound to have some woman they can turn to for sexual release, friendship, love, all of the above. Women too, but given that society still expect women to be chaste I can buy them living like old maids more than a man doing the same). So to not see this side of the characters makes the show feel less credible to me.

Nevertheless my dear chingu Nina insisted I give it a go. So I did. For her. AND I thought at least I'll get to see my beautiful Sooya.

It wasn't a bad decision, it was a great show, though from now on I certainly will not watch dramas like these unless I'm in the right mood for them. It's the second time this year the ending of a drama kinda ruined the ride for me. The first was Cruel City. Where GE is concerned I knew there would be no fairytales for anyone from day one, but the choice of a certain character didn't really sit well with me. In fact it upsetted me a great deal.

Anyway, where CC was actually quite poorly written (but still exciting), GE ticked all the boxes. Overall, this drama offered up one powerhouse performance after the other. The cast was totally the life's blood of this drama because while the story is decent & the characters well crafted, if you don't have good actors who can bring both story & characters to life, all that good writing is for naught. GE is an example of how true this is. You become totally wrapped up in the characters. I'm scoring this pretty high. Look out for my review of it later on this week.

Alright I'll look for Lee given that I plan to watch City Hunter sometime soon. But trust me the idea that he can overtake Go Soo in any way in my heart, especially now after seeing both my Sooya's stunning good looks AND powerhouse acting talent on full display in Golden Empire, is indeed an illusion. It will never come to pass! haaha
But, ok, I'll give the dude (Lee) a fighting chance to win me over!

Speaking of Golden Empire, I doubt I'd have watched this if I wasn't such a great chingu! Hahaha ;) I'm being totally immodest, but it's true. Even though my darling was in it, I wasn't interested because 1) I heard it didn't have any romance and 2) I can't be bothered with business dramas. I mean every drama you watch pretty much has a chæbol family fighting over some company or another so I was like nah, not this again. And while I can overlook no romance in a 2hr movie, I'd prefer to have some romance when I invest large chunks of my time to a drama where I'm bound to become attached to the characters. It doesn't have to be the focus, but it should be strong.

When I become attached I want to see all aspects of the characters' lives: not just their family life and their work life, but their love life too because at the end of the day LOVE is the biggest part of human existence. Wanting to receive it and give it. Wanting to have that connection with another human being whether it's in a relationship or just for sex.

Hello Leslie, thx for the add.
LOL, I had a look at your list just to see if we might have any dramas and movies in common. But almost everything on your completed list doesn't have a rating? What's up with that? :)
Anyway, what genres do you tend to enjoy the most, if any?

I just read your review of Master's Sun. If you like So Ji Sub, a nice movie of his to watch is Always, also known as Only You. I think you'll enjoy it.

And another funny drama with the same leading actress as Master's Sun is The Greatest Love. I think you'll enjoy that one too.

Sorry for spamming your wall with all these posts (esp the empty ones). I'm a perfectionist & sometimes I can't overlook my own typos.

Well, I finished it.
The actors made this show. This is THE most well cast series I've ever seen in dramaland. Everyone delivered such powerhouse performances, I was riveted to the screen. Go Soo's Jang Tæ-joo, mesmerizing! And the guy who played Min-jæ, WOW. WOW! More of him I need to see.

I'm a little bit disturbed by the ending, but Tæ-joo seems to think he has won so trying to accept it. Like he said he's the judge & jury of his destiny. He went down into the bunker just like Hitler, but he didn't take Eva with him. However, I just don't see (possible) suicide as acceptable retribution (though many Koreans may). How did you interpret the ending? I read up on a couple a blogs for a second opinion. Some people are saying that he was rescued by that boat and that's him telling Seol Hee about his brush with death & his experience with Sung Jin Group. Gosh, I really hate these lame ass open endings!

I'm still thinking about how to rate.

By the way, I'm sitting over here pouting.
The 3 people who pushed for me to watch this drama has not been on MDL pretty much since I started the show so I haven't had anyone to spar with/rant at while I was watching. No fair. :(