Korean Drama

Review – PUCK! – (2 ep miniseries)

/ Lady Divine / 1 Comment

Review- PUCK! – (2 ep miniseries)

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Jaime the Drama Noona recommended PUCK! starring Lee Kwang-Soo and I’m glad she did. Some K-Dramas just make you feel better about yourself.  For example, this K-Drama made me feel better about how crap my finances are… and my mismanagement of them.  Apparently I am not alone in the world of hopeless debt and broken dreams.  This was strangely comforting to me.  It also made me feel better about how lonely I am and how difficult it is to connect to people, but that’s a tale to be saved for my shrink.

PUCK! is the story of a loan shark… or rather, an “enforcer” who works for a loan shark.  You know, the guy sent to beat you up and scream “Where’s My Money?!”  That guy.  It’s actually great casting for him.  He’s a big dude.  This is the first time I’ve seen him play someone openly hostile.  I’ve seen him fall in love and sob-snot-cry and be adorable and funny and lovable.  I have not seen him throw someone down a flight of stairs before, however, so let’s just say this little show let Lee Kwang-Soo stretch his legs a bit.

The plot didn’t interest me at all.  I didn’t care one bit whether or not the good-hearted hockey underdogs ever won a game.  I didn’t care that Lee Kwang-Soo magically mastered some impressive ice skating abilities in… what?  One day?  The time line of this show was rather ambiguous but however long it was, it wasn’t long enough.  Anyways, it doesn’t matter.   None of it mattered.  This was more of a character study than anything else:   A brief glimpse into the psychological life of what is usually a cliche one dimensional character, the loan shark.  It’s like when a random storm trooper took their helmet off in The Force Awakens and suddenly there was a character there instead of a blank slate.

So, it’s basically about this horribly depressed and hopeless loan shark lacky.  And the things he has to do.  And the toll it takes on him.   Whether or not you considered this little show to have a happy ending or not depends on what you were focusing on.  I thought it had one of the most devastatingly sad endings of all time.  And I liked it.  It was different.  It was short.  It was nice to have Lee Kwang-Soo as the main character and the handsome boys play the second leads for one.  The bleak focus on poverty, the precarious financial stability of the average person, and the desperation it can create really worked for this little show.  It reminded me, in a way, of What Happened in Bali… where Ha Ji-Won was basically ruined by her dire financial circumstances.

So check it out.  To take a break from the longer dramas.  To enjoy Lee Kwang-Soo.  To explore the dynamics of loan sharks.  To watch some unbelievable hockey.  There’s more than one reason you might enjoy this show…

Overall Rating – 8/10

 

Gong Yoo is Too Sweet to be Scary

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I’ve been loving Goblin… even though it has SOOO MANY PROBLEMS… I don’t care one bit.  I absolutely love this show so far and don’t mind it’s many, many issues with pacing, plot, and irregularities.  Gong Yoo is too freakin’ sweet, that’s why!  Pair him with the most adorable lost puppy eyed Grim Reaper of all time and you’ve left me with a shameless school girl crush on a show that doesn’t really deserve it.  But it does.  But it doesn’t!  But it does.  Oh… Goblin… my love for you is as ridiculously irrational as my crushes in real life.  The heart wants what it wants and it wants to see you wandering around a city with your ankles showing from under your short hemmed pants, apparently.

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I mean… look at him!  Look at this handsome, sensitive man who smiles too easily to ever be a believable army general.  It’s like casting Tom Hanks a serial killer.  It just doesn’t work… his soul is too pure, it shows through the eyes… even if he is an amazing actor, there are some things that just don’t work.  Gong Yoo covered in blood?  Uhm… no.  Preposterous.  Outrageous.  Ludicrous.  And I still don’t care cause I love it so… they could have him run down the street with a chainsaw at this point and I’d still go “Oh my gosh, he’s soo sweet!  Look at him go!”

I look forward to reviewing this show when it’s done crossing the great subtitle divide to dramafever.  Until then… just had to take a moment and gush over it.  So cute!  So, so cute… gah…

Review – Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

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Review – Scarlet Heart Ryeo

Scarlet Heart Ryeo… can we just give you an award for having one of the sexiest ensemble casts in history? I mean… good Lord… that’s a lot of handsome devils in one show.

I don’t want to over-review this drama because it’s better to just watch it unfold. So I’m gonna keep this short. Well… short for me.

The first 8-10 episodes of this show were solid.

They were sweepingly romantic, filled with tense political intrigue, familial love and hate, and suppressed emotions. All the sexy brothers and in-house fighting. All the playing and flirting! The love triangles! The rescues! The bickering and jealousy and shenanigans! I loved it so much.

But Do Not Be Fooled! These gorgeous achingly beautiful people and their full hearts are only bait to lure you in to one of the most tragic, depressing dramas of all time!

Moon Lovers is a romantic dream… until it gets serious… and bloody… and depressing as hell… as will happen when you base your drama on the sons of King Taejo, founder of Goryeo. But strap in – cause as far as melodramas go, this is top tier. Death by a thousand cuts! You will bleed out slowly as this drama consumes you body and soul.

No one is going to have a good time. NO ONE. It’s brutal.

This show has some of the best villains, which are really essential to a good melodrama. Just… cruel people. Some are genuinely evil, but most of them have very human motivations for the things they do. Jealousy. Being misguided by the people they trust most. Familial devotion. The best villains are the ones that kinda make your heart break, after all.

Behind the scenes footage of our villain (in orange) played by Hong Jong Hyun, who can seduce me to the dark side any time he wants to.

Anyways, it’ll end in tears. Your tears, specifically. You have been warned.

Though it’s a time travel story, you’d never really know it. The female lead, our time traveler from the future, doesn’t do much other than start out a little hellion rule breaker and before she slowly, sadly, adjusts to the past and all the impossible restrictions and repressions it affords its people, especially of the female gender. The modern woman was literally beaten out of her, as she went from defiant and interesting to suspicious and fearful.

Honestly, I suppose that’s realistic. Goryeo is not exactly on the top of the list for a modern time traveler, even one lucky enough to jump into the life of a privileged person living comfortably in the palace. 

I really like Lee Joon-Gi. His anime boy bangs in this show were really working for him, too.

Lee Joon-Gi career is almost all wins. He has a cute devious smile and gives us some of the firmer K-Drama kisses on the market. He was well-cast as the tormented 4th prince destined to ascend to the throne via murder and betrayals. Other than Yoo Ah In from Six Flying Dragons, I’d say he’s one of the best portrayals of the fourth son of King Taejo. Plus he just looks sexy as hell in all black. 

Lee Ji-Eun was unknown to me before this show, but delivered a convincingly cute duck out of water, with her beautiful face and her beauty industry skills. Then she basically just had to look sad and miserable most of the show, which she delivered on. But damn, I missed the plucky gal from the start of the show so much… it was Empress Ki all over again.

Confession Time: I did not like this drama the first time I watched it. I know, right?

But it’s one of those shows that kept calling me back… and I liked it more and more every time I watched it. I think the more K-Dramas I watched, the more I realized I had a unquenchable craving for melodramas… and tend to repeatedly watch any story that is soaked in tears and blood.

This is me. 😉

Now, it’s safe to say Scarlet Heart Ryeo is one of my favorites.

Overall Rating 9/10.  

Review – Oh My Venus

/ Lady Divine / 1 Comment

Review – Oh My Venus

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When I read what this drama was about, I was worried.  I can’t think of one movie or show that actually dealt with weight issues or weight loss in a way that wasn’t 100% fat shaming, other than Bridget Jones.  Especially considering the Korean obsession with perfection seems to mirror our own in America.  But… I absolutely love the two leads.  Is anyone cuter than Shin Min-A and So Ji-Sub?  So I took the risk and settled down for Episode 1 fully expecting to be disgusted, annoyed, outraged or offended.  But none of those things happened.  Sure, the overweight girl wasn’t terribly overweight… but that wasn’t the plot.  This show wasn’t about morbid obesity, it wasn’t about societal stigmas or culture wars, and it wasn’t about the deeper philosophies of aesthetics.  It was about a beauty who had let herself go, the pressure of school, of work, of a stagnant relationship taking its toll on her physical and mental well being.  Yet she persisted on, pushed forward with as much optimism and confidence as she could muster – even as her world broke down around her.  It was a standard rom com.

To say I was charmed immediately is an understatement.

This show is sweet, light on the serious drama, and aimed to please.  It hits the bullseye.  It’s a fluffy romantic comedy with just enough conflict to throw our main characters together and make it deeply satisfying when they both fall head over heels in love.  It’s a big “Awwwww” moment in K-drama form.

Overall Rating:  8.5/10.

So, how did a show about weight loss manage to overcome all the usual hurdles and actually be a sincerely adorable romance?  Let’s discuss…

MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW

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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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Oh, Noona! Oh, No.

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Oh, Noona! Oh, No.

This morning I woke up still high as a kite from the ten-star romance of Dr. Kkang.  I did a quick scope of my que in dramafever, cruised a few blogging favorites to see if anything jumped out at me… and was knocked in the face by everyone’s gushing over Secret Love Affair.  Okay, sure, I’ll probably watch it eventually.  But my gut reaction is to empty my gut.  Gross.  I don’t particularly care for stories involving old dudes hooking up with nubile young women and I am an equal opportunist with my disgust over the opposite scenario as well.

Secret Love Affair. Keep it a secret, please.

READ MORE…

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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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