K-Drama Reviews

Review – W – Two Worlds

/ Lady Divine / 5 Comments

Review – W – Two Worlds

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Every once in a while a drama pops up with a premise so outside the box that you can’t help but love it.  Even if it gets caught up in twists and turns and makes a big messy knot of its own plotline.  Even if describing it to friends makes you tongue tied.  Even if just trying to REMEMBER all the random turns and sharp angles and unexpected twists makes you feel crazy.  Even if you could have chopped off the last five episodes and not missed anything.  You forgive it.  Cause… wow.  The plot!  The amazing, spectacular plot!

W Two Worlds is a story about a hero.  A hero the likes of which only exist in our fantasies.  In comic books.  In graphic novels.  In Korean Dramas….

This drama is full of action and adventure.  It’s a mystery.  It’s a thriller.  It’s a science fiction show.  It’s a dark fantasy and a fairy tale mixed together in a blender.  It’s all over the place!  And it’s fun.  It’s really, really fun… cause honestly, there is NO WAY you will guess what’s going to come next.  From episode to episode.  It just keeps changing shape, changing genre, changing our expectations.  It’s a glorious chameleon of superb and complicated writing, solid acting, and no holds barred imagination.

Our hero is the star of this show (in the general sense and in the meta sense).  He’s an Olympic sharp shooter.  He’s orphaned by an unspeakable crime that he’s framed for.  He’s a man on a quest for vengeance.  And he’s inexplicably wealthy, young, and attractive.  Basic hero formula.

Only he’s NOT REAL.

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He is the creation of a writer in another dimension.  He is the main character in a graphic novel.  The world he lives in exists for him and because of him.  And his story line is about to come to an end… the writer is finishing the series and finishing off our hero with it.

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But our hero is not ready to be put down!

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Remember that old video to Take On Me by Ah Ha?

Rating:  8/10.  A twisted, convoluted, extraordinarily fun show that proves reality is what you make it… and what it makes you.

Let’s Discuss!  SPOILERS AHEAD… but not very many….

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Sinking in the Swamp of Sadness – Review – I Miss You

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Sinking in the Swamp of Sadness – Review – I Miss You

Well, this drama was a big ball of bawling.  If you made a drinking game involving how often the characters broke down into hysterical tears, you’d be drunk off your ass before the end of episode two, possibly a danger to yourself and others by episode four and definitely dead from alcohol poisoning by episode six.  Meanwhile, the show would keep crying without you, pouring booze on your fresh grave until the very end of the drama.  Now we know how Artax felt.

Ironically, the saving grace of this show wasn’t the excessive sadness.  The lighthearted moments, the sentimentality, and the stellar cast managed to pull what would otherwise be a huge disaster up onto the shore – leaving a mangled but otherwise recognizable ship of Korean melodrama.  Thus it manages to be decent.  Not great, not even good… but watchable.  If you’re in the mood.

Overall Rating:  5/10.

Glass Half Empty or Glass Half Full?  Let us discuss….

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Shoot Me In The Face – Reviews of Iris & Athena

/ Lady Divine / 1 Comment

Shoot Me In The Face – Reviews of Iris & Athena

Iris & Athena.  Two BIG-BIG budget action shows.  They even forked out for helicopters.  You’d think that would be awesome, right?  Koreans running around in black tank tops or tailored suits carrying firearms?  Elaborately choreographed fight scenes reminiscent of kung fu movies?  Big explosions?  Improbable escapes from improbable situations?  Porcelain and plate glass breaking apart like candy?  International spies and exotic locations?

Holy Shit!

YES YES YES!

This is so cool!  This is so… wait….. wha-

Huh?

Oh.

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Second Time is the Charm! Reviews – Bad Guy & Secret Garden

/ Lady Divine / 3 Comments

Second Time is the Charm! Reviews – Bad Guy & Secret Garden

 

Some shows just ran through me the first time, like an uncomfortable evening after eating bad sushi.  Two shows in particular – Bad Guy and Secret Garden – pissed me off in almost every episode.  I fast-forwarded through large chunks the first round.  I couldn’t get over the ridiculously flawed plot line of Bad Guy and I couldn’t stomach the douche-bag persona of the male lead in Secret Garden.  Most people agreed with my initial response to Bad Guy.  And most people disagreed with my first impression of Secret Garden.

Then I watched them again.  I had too. I couldn’t stop thinking about them.  I felt I had missed something.  I wanted to see a few key scenes again.  I liked the music from Bad Guy.  I liked the female leads muscular legs in Secret Garden.  So, I popped in the DVDs and gave them both a second shot.

Seriously – how cool is she?  Definitely deserves a second viewing… and third… and…

And like magic – both shows revealed a whole new side to me.  It was like finding out you’re not, in fact, allergic to gluten and enjoying a pizza after fifteen years of abstinence.  What kind fate to bring us back together for such a happy reunion!

Let us explore Bad Guy & Secret Garden with our new rose-colored glasses, shall we?

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Review – Will It Snow for Christmas?

/ Lady Divine / 3 Comments

Review – Will It Snow for Christmas?

Will It Snow for Christmas is a romantic drama about two star-crossed lovers who must first climb Mount Everest, then maybe Mount Olympus, fight off a horde of zombies, learn to breathe underwater, travel through time and cure cancer before ever getting together.  At least, that’s what it feels like.  Saying they had to overcome obstacles is too tame a word.  Ah, but clearly they’re meant to be together, these two unfortunate souls, but first we have to get through the drama.

And what a drama!  This will probably forever remain in my top 10 – because it’s a great story, has an awesome cast and I find myself wanting to rewatch it all the time.

Overall Rating:  10/10

The premise of this show is important – so gather round, ye children, and listen closely as I tell you a story about a very unlucky set of children.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

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Review – Who Are You (2013)

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Review – Who Are You (2013)

So simple.  So small.  So satisfying.  This drama knows its place in the middle, making itself the “just right” cozy bed for Goldie Locks.  It’s a compact little cupcake of a mystery-romance with a low-calorie supernatural sugar coating.  It’s not enough to make a meal of.  It’s just a tasty little treat.

Like a paper back romance you take to the beach with the full intention of leaving it behind in the hotel – you’ll enjoy this drama if you don’t have high expectations.

Overall Rating – 7.5/10

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Review – What Happened in Bali

/ Lady Divine / 10 Comments

Review – What Happened in Bali

Overall Rating – 10/10.

Currently still in a trance from having just finished this perfect character study on love, obsession, ambition, greed, betrayal… and all those other adjectives you find in Bronte novels.  What an awesome show.  Definitely going into my top ten favs… will have to do some shuffling.

The plot in a nutshell:  Rich lady about to marry rich guy still has her old flame in her side pocket.  She runs off to Bali for one last fling, only her future-hubby follows after ruining everything.  While there, the three of them end up with a cheery tour guide.  They all end up back in Korea.  Tour guide girl asks rich guy for a loan… and a job.  Next thing you know, both the rich guy and the rich lady’s old flame start falling for the tour guide.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Review – The Greatest Love

/ Lady Divine / 3 Comments

Review – The Greatest Love

The Greatest Love is by far one of the greatest romantic comedies ever produced in South Korea.  It is side-splitting funny, incredibly romantic, littered with memorable characters, maintains a fast-paced plot that never waivers and even manages to produce genuinely touching scenes that break your heart.  It is both a satire and homage to the celebrity culture that both punishes and produces its inhabitants.

The story revolves around a woman who was once Korea’s sweetheart, the most popular member of an all girl singing band that lost her status and pride after a series of scandals.  She struggles to maintain her career over the next decade by participating in whatever demeaning or ridiculous job she can get – from common promotional gigs to reality television.  On the other end of the spectrum, our lead male is at the top of his game – a box office hit whose career is exploding.  He finds himself inexplicably drawn to our fallen starlet and proceeds to pursue her.  Laugh riot follows.

Overall Rating:  10/10.  This is one of my solid Top Ten dramas… and here’s why…

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Review – The Snow Queen

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Review – The Snow Queen

Let’s start with the basics.

Our main protagonist male is a math genius.  Immediate nerd points.  Super smart  characters are some of my favorites.  Super smart in math, extra bonus points.  Oh Math, you wicked beast of probabilities and undecipherable abbreviations.  In fourth grade I was caught cheating on my multiplication tables.  Did this shame me into a begrudging acceptance of math?  Nope.  Cheated on the next test too.  Instinctively I must have known the Great and Powerful Internet was on its way and all mathematical concerns could immediately be solved via search engine.  What’s 7% of $34,021?  Who cares!  The web is littered with nifty programs that solve all my number problems.  Pi?  Pie is delicious.

MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW (or major if you were drunk during the first episode and missed the billboard sized spoilers embedded in the first scene)

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Review – Shining Inheritance

/ Lady Divine / 2 Comments

Review – Shining Inheritance

Overall Rating – 8/10

Shining Inheritance is one of those “classic” k-dramas that sticks firmly to its tropes, indulges in its stereotypes, and ultimately resembles lessons taught in Vacation Bible School.  At the end of every episode, I half expected G.I. Joe to pop up with their moral tag line “Now you know.  And knowing is half the battle!”  Good people persevere despite obstacles.  Bad people will eventually get their due comeuppance.  You will fall in love G-Rated style and if your love life didn’t work out, you will bow out gracefully, without hard feelings or regret.  Welcome to 28 hours of a feel-good romantic drama.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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