December 2023 and January 2024 Drama Reviews January 13, 2024

December 2023 and January 2024 Reviews

A Good Day To Be A Dog

This drama is about Han Hae-Na (Park Gyu-Young) who is a young woman with a family curse that causes the people in her family including her to turn into a dog when they are kissed at midnight and then turn back into a human in the morning. The curse can only be lifted if the person kisses them in dog form but if they kiss a new person it will happen again. Hae-Na makes a drunken mistake and ends up kissing Jin Seo-Won (Cha Eun-Woo) who is a fellow teacher at the school and unfortunately he doesn’t seem to like Hae-Na very much. This drama is based off the webtoon with the same name. I have read the webtoon but it was a while ago and I don’t really remember too many details but this drama definitely felt different than the webtoon, at least to me.

This drama felt really dragged out to me and I think part of the problem was that it was only airing once a week and even missed a week at the beginning and then they seemed to make special episodes on top of it. I really don’t like when they do that and make these filler episodes and they also relied on a lot of flashbacks which I tend to skip over in all dramas. They seemed to hype up this drama to a ridiculous degree when it wasn’t anything that exciting or better than any other drama. I didn’t love the whole backstory of the curse story line, I thought the webtoon was much different in that area as well. I think they should have stuck more to the webtoon then invent their own story. I didn’t love the whole reincarnation plot in the drama and skipped over parts that I didn’t want to watch. For some reason I just had a hard time buying Cha Eun-Woo as a teacher when I have only seen him in roles where he is a student and for some reason I don’t know if it was his character but he seemed really stiff in his role. I noticed some people complaining about his acting skills and just relying on his good looks and that might be the case to some degree but I think it was partly the characters he is playing who are all aloof and don’t show much emotion.

I did enjoy the basic story line of the drama where she is trying to get him to kiss her as a dog and all the hi jinks that happen because of it and it is a very sweet type of romance. The story may flow better as well now that it has all aired and you don’t have to wait so long to get through the drama. It was interesting and the romance was sweet and funny. I thought it was decent drama but not worth the hype of it and had way too many flashbacks.

Perfect Marriage Revenge

This drama is based off a webtoon and it stars Han Yi-Joo (Jung Yoo-Min) who lives a pitiful life as she was adopted by parents that do not love her and treat her badly. She gets married to man that is actually in love with her sister and ends up getting into a car crash and dying but when she wakes up she realizes she has gone back in time and decides to take revenge on her adopted family and the first thing she does is approach Seo Do-Guk (Sung Hoon) and ask him to marry her. This drama is based off a webtoon and I think they stick pretty well to the general story of the webtoon but there is of course some differences but the big picture stays the same.

I think this drama did a good job of telling the story without becoming too over the top like a soap opera even though it definitely is more along the lines of that kind of drama. I liked how fast paced the drama was and there was no boring episodes as something was always happening and lot of plot twists. As I have read the webtoon I wasn’t as shocked by anything in the drama so I think it would be more fun and exciting if you didn’t know how things were going to turn out. The changes that are made I understand some of them because they didn’t have the time like a webtoon and had to speed things up or the character was a bit different because it would give a bigger plot twist later. I enjoyed the acting and the characters. I really don’t have any complaints or nothing stood out that bothered me about the drama. I thought the villains did a good job making us hate them and the main leads did a good job making us love them!

My only complaint was that the drama seemed too short on time like it was somewhat rushed through the drama but it was understandable! I wish the love story could be more developed like they would have more time to slowly open up their hearts to each other as it seemed like they needed more time to tell the story. I also don’t care when dramas need to go into supernatural, going to see a psychic or whatever you call them, I always skip over those parts.

Overall it was pretty good drama if you like romance, revenge and drama!

The Matchmakers

This drama is about Jung-Woo (Ro Woon) who is an intelligent young man that was the youngest to place first in the state examination but he was instead chosen to be husband to the Princess so he wouldn’t be allowed to participate in politics and then the princess ends up dying on her wedding day leaving him stuck unable to remarry or take a government post. It also stars Jung Soon-Deok (Cho Yi-Hyun) who is a widow in a very prominent family but secretly sneaks out and lives the life of a matchmaker under the pseudonym of Yeojoo-daek and has the reputation of being an excellent matchmaker. Jung-Woo gets roped into matchmaking some older sisters that have sworn off marriage and he recruits the help of Yeojoo-daek to help them do the impossible.

I thought it was a pretty interesting drama as it doesn’t just focus on the overthrowing of the King which what seems to be most historical type dramas focus on, I mean that is still a focus in this drama trying to choose the heir of the throne but I liked the whole matchmaking theme and it feels like a more interesting focus. I have to say the whole widow thing and devoting your life to serving the family is one of the most frustrating ideas to think about! I think how they dealt with the problem was stressful and really sad. I really liked the humor and the fun characters in this drama and made it really enjoyable to watch. I don’t know if I really thought there was much chemistry between the main leads, I don’t know why I wasn’t totally buying it but I seemed to enjoy the side characters love stories like the youngest sister’s romance and I also really liked Yeojoo-daek’s sister-in-law’s romance, they were really sweet.

There was also kinda of a controversial match that is made in the drama between a young man that is like 14 or 15 and the woman who was at least over 20. It was just too weird and I don’t like how they did that match, I know some people are saying that it was normal for a young man to get married young but I highly doubt they would be matched with someone older than them. Also I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have chosen the younger sister to be the one to end up with the young man? It would have been less disturbing in my mind. Not to mention the young man looked , sounded and acted much younger I would have thought he was like 12. I just don’t understand this type of writing it seemed highly unnecessary. Also it was kinda insulting when they are saying these men and women are so old and they are in their twenties, it was just laughable but again it was different times.

The ending was good and I was happy that it ended well but at the same time I expected the main lead characters would have had some secret plans and some well thought out plan to get out of the predicament. Instead it was just fly by the seat of my pants and if we die then we die. I was kinda disappointed that Jung-Woo who is supposedly the “smart” guy was doing something so reckless and not even trying to properly solve the problem. I also was confused how the evil character was barely punished even though they were committing treason. I just had higher expectations for the characters and writing of the story.

It was generally a good drama that has humor, romance and tension!

The Deal

This drama is about Lee Joon-Sung (Yoo Seung-Ho) who has lots of regrets and still has debt that he owes and meets up with his high school friend Song Jae-Hyo (Kim Dong-Hwi) who is also in trouble and needs money and he hatches a plan after a night of drinking with another high school friend Park Min-Woo (Yoo Su-Bin) to kidnap Min-Woo as he comes from a rich family.

This is a short series with only 8 episodes about 45 minutes so it isn’t a long series and it is a very tense action-packed type of drama. You keep thinking it can’t get worse than this and then it just keeps getting worse. It is a roller coaster of emotions and you can’t even root for the main characters of the drama and you aren’t even sure how to feel anymore by the end of it. It is definitely full of plot twists and turns. I think if you like thriller dramas you would definitely enjoy this drama. There are many times you think this is it they are going to finally get caught but yet it keeps going. I found Jae-Hyo’s motivation and ideals just don’t really make sense how does he think that he is going to become a doctor after all that has happened and I don’t think money will fix his problems. He really seems like the most delusional of the characters and is not thinking realistically at all.

I just didn’t care for all of the swearing and cursing in the drama it was really over the top for me. At times you just wanted to scream at the characters actions but I can’t say I was disappointed at the end and was actually surprised at how it could all turn out that way. I think if you can get past the cursing and violence it was interesting drama.

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract

This drama is about Park Yeon-Woo (Lee Se-Young) in the 19^th century who is forced to get married by her family and ends up marrying a man that she knows and he tells her that he a heart disease and apologizes for his family’s deception and dies in front of her eyes. Yeon-Woo then gets kidnapped and gets thrown down a well and when she opens her eyes she is in water and the man who saves her looks like her husband Kang Tae-Ha (Bae In-Hyuk) and ends up asking her to get married to him because his bride has not shown up. She has appeared in present day and doesn’t understand how she has time traveled from her time.

I really enjoy time traveling dramas because it is so fun to see someone try and navigate modern times and it was fun for a while but she adjusted too well to the modern times. She had no problem wearing the modern clothes and all of a sudden can work in a modern office with computers and cell phones. No one was really teaching her anything and yet they didn’t want to spend anytime on that aspect of her character learning the modern ways. I think it would have been way more funny and enjoyable if they spent a little more time letting her get used to the modern tech stuff. It just felt a bit ridiculous as someone watching her having no problems fitting into the culture and actually succeeding on a huge scale.

I also found the plot holes to be aggravating in this drama, they just made up random rules and then all of a sudden those rules aren’t a problem anymore with no real explanation. The mysterious person that would keep showing up but was literally no help and gave them no advice was annoying. For some reason with the inevitable separation of the main couple I didn’t even feel sad for them or have an emotional reaction.It seemed to me that it wasn’t written in a way that I felt the strong emotional tug between the two characters and I felt more of a longing and emotional response to the 19^th Century couple. They really did the 19^th century Tae-Ha dirty though, he really got the short end of the stick and it made me frustrated and upset. The way they ended the 19^th Century storyline I kinda wanted to slap Yeon-Woo for the way she was acting. The plot hole of everyone from the past being in modern times which means there was 2 of everybody but Yeon-Woo and her maid. Why wasn’t there a modern version of Yeon-Woo if everyone else was around. I would have preferred if she never went back in the past but instead would have just fixed the problems in the present.

It wasn’t a sad ending at least but in some ways it didn’t seem like a happy ending in my mind either. Overall it was decent drama that kept me guessing and kept me interested all the way to the end.

Upcoming Dramas

My Happy Ending

It is about a woman who is a CEO of a very successful furniture company and has a wonderful family with her husband and child but she has troubles with a stalker. She find herself being physically attacked in her company and she starts to have doubts about the people around her. She doesn’t know who she can trust as people start acting and looking suspicious to her.

Love Song For Illusion

It is about a crown prince who has two different personalities that developed over the trauma of watching his Father overthrow the royal family that allowed him to become King. It is also about a young woman who vows to avenge her family killed by the King’s hands and she sneaks into the palace one night to assassinate the King but ends up becoming the Crown Prince’s concubine which is down by his different personality.

June-July 2017 Korean Drama Reviews July 19, 2017

1. Circle/ Two Worlds

The first drama that I finished watching was “Circle: Two Worlds Connected.” It stars (Yeo Jin-Goo) as Kim Woo-Jin who has a twin Kim Beom-Gyoon who is currently obsessed with finding a woman who he thinks is an alien and Woo-Jin is trying to keep his brother balanced because he just got out of jail. Then the story splits off into the 2037 where there is a detective named Kim Joon-Hyuk who is trying to figure out how to get into this other “world” where there is no crimes and everyone’s emotions are controlled. So the episodes are split into two shared between the present and the future. There is a lot that happens and I don’t want to give anything away because I really liked this drama and I think that it is a worthwhile drama to watch.

I personally love the futuristic shows where you can explore the different situations that aren’t possible right now but I like that it makes you think. It has such an interesting mystery and story line that I was never bored and I felt like I could never get enough because they would split the episodes so it always left me wanting more. I feel like Yeo Jin-Goo is starting to get really popular in drama these days! He has such a low unique voice that makes hims sound so manly! There was also a newcomer (Kong Seung-Yeon) who is Han Jung-Yeon and I recognized her from “We Got Married” and so I was pleasantly surprised with her acting skills and I really enjoyed her performance.

I think that this drama could have done a lot more with it but it only has 12 episodes and I feel like the ending was a bit rushed or unfinished. I have to say I wasn’t that happy with the ending, it felt kinda resolved but I didn’t like the turn of events and wished for a different ending. Overall I think this is one of the best futuristic dramas that I have ever watched. I would recommend this drama I think the acting is perfect and the story is really fun ride to go on!

2. Lookout/The Guardians

The second drama that I finished was “Lookout/The Guardians”. I really wanted to watch this drama because (Lee Si-Young) who played Jo Soo-Ji was starring in it! I really like her from her past works and I think she is really cool and she hasn’t been in much lately. I was also impressed with (Kim Young-Kwang) Jang Do-Han and chose to watch this drama. This drama had 32 episodes but they were half an hour and shown back to back. So basically it still had about the same as usual the 16 episodes. This drama is about trying to fight corruption which is a topic in almost every drama it feels like! Jo Soo-Ji becomes a fugitive and this is her fight to win against the corruption. It also stars Key from Shinee and I have to say I loved his character, he is just so loveable! So this story mixes detectives, prosecutors and politicians.

I think this was a very well done drama and I always enjoyed every episode. I also have to say this drama had an awesome sound track that just fit the episodes and got you really excited. Although the last couple of episodes at the end they played a song and I still haven’t been able to find it! Does anyone know what the song is? I think that this was so interesting trying unweave all the stories of this drama. I have to say that the ending was sad so I warned you! but I would still have watched it even if I had known. It is a thrilling drama series and I think that it will keep you interested. I would recommend this drama if you like this genre, I have to warn you there is very little romance!

I think this drama did okay in the ratings and I think this drama was one that started to gain more viewers as it went along and things started heating up. I have to say the high schooler thing was a bit strange that he could basically fight with adults and do things that are a bit too advanced but I just went with it! Also I found it problematic with Do-Han’s father and what he did, he still isn’t an innocent person in the end. I understand the circumstances but yet not really. For the most part I really enjoyed this drama!

3. My Sassy Girl

The third drama that I finished was My Sassy Girl which is based off of the korean movie with the same title. I have not seen any My Sassy Girl movie or dramas or anything. I had no expectations when coming into this drama although I was expecting it to be good because it seems like that movie gets referenced a lot in other shows. The plot is that it is set in the Joseon Dynasty period and is about Gyun-Woo (Joo-Won) who is a scholar and a Princess who is quite sassy and good and getting into trouble.

Basically it seems to start off with the plot of the movie with this sassy girl causing misunderstandings and making Gyun-Woo’s life hard by getting him involved with her. It seems like at the beginning they did try to make it like the movie but it seems to stray with that and it became a much more serious drama and I found that it lacked the funny story line. Although in the original movie I think what probably worked was that Cha Tae-Hyun Jun Ji-Hyun and exceptional comedy actors and I am sure that is why the movie did so well. On the other handI do not find Joo-Won to be very funny and found him to be kinda bland in this role. I know that it seemed like people were complaining about the princess (Oh Yeon-Soo) and that her acting was to over the top and that she was annoying. I personally didn’t that it was that bad and I didn’t think that was the worst part of the whole drama.

Personally I didn’t really like this drama that much, I mean it wasn’t terrible but I found myself not being very invested emotionally in the drama. There were a lot of emotional type scenes in the drama but I didn’t tear much at all in this drama. I felt very disconnected to the characters and wasn’t that upset about the things that happened. It felt like this was a typical drama and I didn’t feel like anything special or different was brought into it. I didn’t care much for Gyun-Woo’s character it just felt very bland. I also thought the character of the head guard (Jung-Shin) was strange and it was like he was supposed to be part of a very weak love triangle. I had really hoped for more in this drama but in the end it just seemed a bit typical. I think the ratings weren’t bad for this drama so maybe I have become a bit jaded but this drama didn’t do to much for me! Compared to other dramas airing I would choose others to watch.

Dramas that I am watching and plan to watch

1.Queen For Seven Days- This drama from the first moment warns  you that this will not have a happy ending and yet there is a tiny little part of me that is hoping that it won’t end that way!

2. Secret Forest: This drama is again about corruption, prosecutors and detectives. I don’t know why but I like this drama. I don’t always understand everything that is going on and the motives of others but the actors are just so good at playing the characters that I keep coming back for more! It seems like an unlikely drama to pick up but it is really well done so far!

3. Bride Of The Water God: So I have read some of the manhwa and this drama is nothing like it, I wasn’t expecting to be so different from it! I can see fans of the manhwa getting pretty angry over this but I have to say I feel disappointed by this drama so far! I was really expecting something else!

4. The King Who Loves- I feel like this drama is getting the most hype because it stars  Hong Jong-Hyun and Im Yoon-Ah. It is about the Crown Prince, his childhood friend and a beautiful wealthy woman. It is basically about their love triangle. I hope that it won’t be to typical!

5. School 2017- This looks like a typical high school drama but I feel since I have watched the past ones that I will watch this one too!

6. The Man Who Dies To Live: So this is a family comedy drama and it stars Shin Sung Rok which is another reason to check it out! It also stars Choi Min Soo and he comes back from the Middle East to Korea and tries to reconnect with his daughter.

High School Love On Episode 14 Recap December 7, 2014

The 14th episode starts with Mrs. Ahn in the infirmary and Woo-Hyun and Seul-Bi are with her and she calls out for Sung-Yeol and Woo-Hyun leaves the room because she is going to be okay. Seul-Bi goes to the roof and fights with Sunbae and he interfered because he wants things to go back to the way they were. Seul-Bi disagrees with him and tells him that she is never going back to being an angel and he tells her future with Woo-Hyun will not be good. At the shop the kids from school give Seul-Bi and Woo-Hyun a hard time for living together and her arm starts glowing when Jae-Suk gets to close to her. Mrs. Ahn tells Seul-Bi that she wants her to move to her place because the rumors are hard on Woo-Hyun and she doesn’t like them living together alone either. Seul-Bi tells her that she will think about it.

Jae-Suk is with his tall friend and they are calling Byeong-Wook the shorter guy and he isn’t answering. He sees Da-Yeol a girl from school go into a club and Jae-Suk tells him to go find Byeong-Wook. Mrs. Ahn is going through Sung-Yeol’s room to find her necklace and he finds her and tells her that he threw it out and she starts hitting him and he grabs her arm and then his dad walks in and gets angry and slaps Sung-Yeol.

Mrs. Ahn tries to calm down his dad and tells him that is was her fault for going through his room and he tells her not to treat him like someone else’s child but her own. Seul-Bi and Woo-Hyun at home get awkward when using the bathroom and watching dramas with kissing.

Sung-Yeol asks his dad if Seul-Bi can live with them because of the rumors and his dad is mad at him and makes him apologize to Mrs. Ahn. Mrs. Ahn talks to Sung-Yeol later and tells him that he doesn’t want him to be hurt but she especially doesn’t want him to hurt Woo-Hyun and Sung-Yeol is upset and tells her that she is finally being honest and that he just wants to hurt Woo-Hyun. At school everyone is talking about Woo-Hyun and Seul-Bi living together and makes them uncomfortable. While cleaning up the gym Seul-Bi tries to help Sung-Yeol but he gets mad and dumps all the balls and she falls. 

Woo-Hyun helps her up and gets mad at Sung-Yeol. Sung-Yeol and Seul-Bi talk and he threatens to tell everyone about Mrs. Ahn and Woo-Hyun and she tells him that it is a secret for Sung-Yeol’s sake so that nothing is taken away from him. Sung-Yeol tells her that she is his weapon now and she should think about how to protect Woo-Hyun. Mrs. Ahn talks to Woo-Hyun and tells him for everyone’s sake he should help convince Seul-Bi to come live with her. Seul-Bi locks a lock on the fence outside the restaurant and tells him that she is locking her heart here and is never going to leave but her body needs to leave. Woo-Hyun tells her not to go and that it hurts if she leaves her heart here and she says she wants to protect him. They go over to Mrs. Ahn’s house to drop off Seul-Bi and Sung-Yeol meets them. 

Jae-Suk and his gang are teasing the student that Byeong-Wook helped before and Byeong-Wook comes up to them and sends her away and they ask why he hasn’t been in school. Jae-Suk is mad at Byeong-Wook for talking back to him and punches him.

Woo-Hyun finds the dolls at home and brings them over to Mrs.Ahn’s and looks for Seul-Bi in the window.
Seul-Bi went to Woo-Hyun’s house but he isn’t there. Jae-Suk finds Da-Yeol walking with older men and he confronts them and they start beating him up. Their old teacher is patrolling and finds Jae-Suk and protects him and gets beat up as well. Da-Yeol pretends she doesn’t know Jae-Suk and runs away. 

Ki-Soo finds Byeong-Wook beat up on the ground and helps him over to Woo-Hyun’s house and they both take care of his wounds. 

Sung-Yeol finds the dolls Woo-Hyun brought and left there and Seul-Bi finds them and Sung-Yeol gets mad at her for always talking about Woo-Hyun and then he tries to see her wrist but Mrs. Ahn interrupts them. Mrs. Ahn tells Seul-Bi that she has to stay away from Woo-Hyun and even takes away her cellphone. Seul-Bi wakes up the next morning and makes breakfast for everyone and Mrs. Ahn tells her not to do it because they have simple breakfast and it makes her feel bad. Sung-Yeol comes and eats the food and tells her to do so and Seul-Bi gets up and stumbles and he figures out she has a fever. 

She tries to go to school but Sung-Yeol tells her not to and she tries to go but he doesn’t let her out of her room and she agrees to stay home. Woo-Hyun waits for Seul-Bi and when he sees Sung-Yeol he asks but he doesn’t tell him.

Woo-Hyun asks Mrs. Ahn where Seul-Bi is and she doesn’t know and she gives him her cellphone to give back and she tells him that she will check on her and that he shouldn’t. Woo-Hyun finds Sung-Yeol outside and tells him to give Seul-Bi her cellphone back and he sarcastically tells him that he should live there with his mom at his place and Woo-Hyun replies sarcastically that he should live with his biological mom because then he could see Seul-Bi. When they leave a policeman with a mask on takes it off and it is Sung-Yeol’s dad and he overheard everything. Jae-Suk followed Mrs. Ahn and sees Sung-Yeol come out of the same house and he takes a picture. Jae-Suk goes and shows it to Woo-Hyun and Woo-Hyun talks back to him and doesn’t tell him anything and makes him mad. He threatens him that if he lets Byung-Wook stay here again he will destroy the store like he destroyed him.

Woo-Hyun goes to the roof and while he is there Sunbae uses his magic to move the clothes on the line and freaks him out. Sung-Yeol’s dad comes home and confronts Mrs. Ahn and tells her that she is a terrible mother. 

Woo-Hyun comes over and Seul-Bi answers and he is wondering if she is okay and she reassures him. He wrote on his hand that he missed her and Sung-Yeol comes back with her medicine and asks why he is there and Woo-Hyun answers he won’t have what is his taken away from him anymore and this ends episode 14.

 

Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou- Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia’s Case Files Review April 4, 2013

 I was having trouble finding a drama that looked interesting to me and I came across this Japanese Drama and I found it to be a nice break from the usual romance drama. I would classify it as a mystery and a psychological drama. There is a bit of romance that still peaked through in the different stories but overall it was more of a human interest story where the main characters tried to figure out how and why people did what they did in a specific situation. The main plot of this drama is it starts off with Goura Daisuke who goes to a rare second hand bookstore to sell his grandmothers books and meets Shinokawa Shioriko who runs the bookstore. Shinokawa is very talented at solving mysteries and making inferences and Goura is very interested in this and they are often working together solving mysteries. All mysteries are surrounded by books and how people have their own stories connected to books.

What I liked about this drama was that it was always interesting because there was a different case study and in every episode you are introduced to a new book that does exist. A lot of them are by Japanese authors so I pretty much had no idea who they were or how the books go but that doesn’t matter to the story because it was usually explained because Goura does not know them either. The mysteries were also not too predictable and occasionally would find myself tearing up over different peoples stories. I like the characters in this drama they are quirky and interesting and funny. Jesse Lewis (Sprout, Hayato) is also in this drama and he plays Shioriko’s younger brother. I did not even realize this after the first episode! maybe because he doesn’t look as tall because Goura is very tall next to him. I have always loved reading so maybe I have a bit of basis for this drama but I think that it is really relatable to anybody even if they do not like reading because Goura cannot read and so there is a character for everyone to relate to or whether you love somebody who loves to read. I always love a good mystery and especially if it is not about murder, those types of mysteries are not interesting to me.

 

What bothered me about his drama was for one was Shioriko’s shawls! I cannot stand them or wears shawls they are so burdensome!! always having to pull up and hold onto making it hard to carry anything. They just made her look like an old lady and it just looks dumb, if you are cold put on a sweater or even a poncho they at least make it easier to work with. Another thing was sometimes the inferences that Shioriko made were a little hard to believe and it was like how you would you put those things together to get that answer. Another thing that may bother people was that the ending did not exactly tie up the loose ends and that makes me wonder if they are planning to do a second season, but for some reason I was okay with how it ended.
 

I really did enjoy this drama and was surprised it was already over with 11 episodes and if they make a 2nd season I will make sure to watch it. I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves a good mystery, books, or likes to understand what makes people tick!! I love how the drama played with the characters and different stories of books. It was a well done drama and cannot wait until I get to Jesse Lewis in a bigger role again!!

In case if you are wondering the exciting song at the end of every episode is called “searching” which is produced by Taku Takahashi. I would find myself trying to figure what this song was at the end of every episode and I did finally find it.

Piece Japanese Drama Episode 10 Summary January 16, 2013

 

The tenth episode starts with Mizuho and Yanai visiting Hikaru’s mother. Mizuho asks where Hiro is living now and she replies that it is odd and wonders why Haruka’s parents were so eager to find their daughter’s boyfriend. His mom asks her what Haruka’s ex-boyfriend did and Mizuho tells her that Haruka was pregnant with his child and had to get an abortion. Yanai yells what and stands up in surprise and Mizuho says sorry that she couldn’t tell him before and then he sits back down. Hikaru’s mother says if that was the case it was not Hiro and Mizuho explains that his personality and situation point to it. Hiro’s mom says that the one who got her pregnant was definitely not Hiro because Hiro can’t touch girls because he has heterophobia and it makes him physiologically unable to be with a woman let alone get her pregnant. Mizuho think that it is not right and in that case who is it? Hiro’s mom says obviously thinking shouldn’t it be Hikaru and Mizuho jumps in saying that Hikaru is different from the image we have of that person.

Hikaru’s mom then asks Mizuho who she is to Hikaru and she tells her that she was his classmate and they used to hug and kiss but she wasn’t his girlfriend and she used to run errands and they slept together. His mom smiles and says tells her that Mizuho wanted to see a thread of sincerity in Hikaru so she is trying to set someone else as the culprit. Mizuho says that is not like that and that she has talked to various people and taken into accounts only facts and his mother says that people are easily deceived by their own minds and that she fell in love with such a guy and now to suit her convenience she is trying to justify her action by distorting the facts. His mom goes on saying that he is not a bad person but he is just a little weak and a pitiful person and that she gets a lot of girls here saying things like that as patients and she touches Mizuho’s shoulder and leans in saying that if she doesn’t have confidence in her judgement she is free to come here anytime. His mom is walking away and Mizuho asks her to tell her where Hiro is now and that she wants to find out on her own whether Haruka’s boyfriend is Hiro or not. His mom tells her that she doesn’t know and that he left the house on his 20th birthday and hasn’t been in touch after that.

Yanai and Mizuho are at a restaurant and she tells him that she is sorry that she kept Haruka’s pregnancy a secret from him. Yanai says its is shocking and that he is more than shocked but he did say he wanted to know more about his unknown girlfriend. He then asks what about her that when she finally got to know the Hikaru that she didn’t know will she be able to accept him. He continues saying that in high school he saw him lashing out whenever he broke up with a girl and that he doesn’t think that he would be able to accept a person who treated him like that and that he doesn’t think he can or want to understand such a person. Mizuho says that Hikaru’s mother did not want Hikaru and his brother to have any connection with each other so she had separated them early on whether it was the house or housekeeper they were brought up in similar environments. Yanai asks why she would do that and Mizuho recalls what Nanao-san told her which is that their mother separated and raised them apart without having any contact because she wanted to see how they would be affected by their environment. Mizuho continues and tells him that it continued that way and when Hikaru entered primary school he had already become emotionally unbalanced and self-centered. She continues saying that Hiro was different from Hikaru and that he was a quiet child and constantly picked on by bullies and that Nanao-san who knew about Hiro frequently used to take Hikaru to Ibaraki where Hiro lived.

Mizuho continues and says that Nanao wanted to raise Hikaru to be kind and gentle even if he was sightly warped she wanted him to connect with others but Hikaru, Yanai stops her because she sees that she is crying and she then also notices and wipes the tears. Yanai gives her a napkin and asks if she is okay, she takes it and wipes her tears. He says that Hikaru had an abnormal childhood and Mizuho thinks that that too is a  part of him. Yanai asks how she is going to search for Hiro and she tells him that she is going to go to Ibaraki tomorrow and that the neighbors may know where he moved to. Yanai says that he has to go to the university tomorrow but once his class is over he will catch up with her.

Hikaru is walking on a bridge and looking at letter. Mizuho is stopped on a bridge and she thinks that she doesn’t really know the parts that make up Hikaru. Mizuho phones Hikaru but his phone is turned off or he is not answering.

Hikaru is at an apartment complex and looks at a piece of paper. A guy comes out of a room and recognizes Hikaru saying that it has been awhile. A girl comes out of the apartment. The guys asks him why he is here and Hikaru says that it is not like he wanted to come but he was asked by Haruka.

Mizuho is walking and Remi greets her. They are walking and she has explained what has happened so far. Remi tells her that she also wants to come look for Haruka’s ex-boyfriend and Mizuho is surprised because at first she had hesitations about doing it. Remi explains that she still feels the same but that she is like Mizuho because she had a change of heart that the Mizuho who didn’t care about others all of a sudden started meddling in other people’s affairs and she wanted to know the reason for the change. Mizuho thinks that ever since back then Remi would often say things that would stab at her heart. Mizuho asks if Remi hates her and she says no that she always had unrequited love for Mizuho and that it is one-sided on her part but even though she feels miserable she wants to be with her and that sometimes when she is with her she feels terribly sad. Mizuho tells her sorry and Remi says that it is okay and that unrequited love is like this and that she is good at one-sided affairs.

Yanai is walking and Koike comes up behind and jumps on his back saying that he thought he would never find him because the campus is so huge. Yanai tries to get him off and Koike says that he wants to have a class reunion and was wondering if he would help.

Mizuho is with Remi and shows her Hiro’s house and they decide to search the area and visit a lot of neighbors.

Mizuho and Remi are standing outside and Remi says that even though Hiro lived here there is no one that actually knows him and that it is sad that no one has a memory of him and cruel. Mizuho says that the search has just started and that until Haruka’s funeral she had forgotten all about Haruka and that no one remembered her and was a lonely girl she thought but while searching she has understood that she was loved by many people and that someone had even fallen in love with her and that is why she doesn’t think that the world that she sees now is all there is and that she is sure there is a person out there who knows Hiro. Mizuho thinks Hiro, Hikrau’s other half, having loved him so deeply, Haruka couldn’t control her feelings as well and that is what she felt too, and what is it we feel when we first start liking someone she wants to know all that and more. Mizuho phone rings and it is Yanai, she answers and he tells her that he found someone that knows Hiro his name is Kido and according to him Hikaru had killed someone before and that he met him at the class reunion in the school that Hiro had attended and from him I got the contact addresses of the guys who used to bully Hiro and he tells her to go meet a guy named Sakata Kouji and that he will get more information from Kido.

Yanai is with Kido and he says he doesn’t know where Hiro lives but he may know the whereabouts of his younger brother and that he came to see him last week because she was searching for someone.

Remi tells Mizuho she wants to come with and meet Sakata Kouji very urgently. Mizuho go the address and she says that it looks like he has moved and Remi walks down the stairs and they meet Yanai. Mizuho asks him if he found anything about where Hiro is and he says no but he knows where Hikaru is now and she asks where. Yanai says he is begging her to not get involved with Hikaru anymore and that he told her that he has killed someone in the past. It flashes on the screen please forgive me for thinking that I need him and this is how the tenth episode ends.

Wow!!  this episode is a doozy!! it is almost just getting weird like Remi is in love with Mizuho?? like WHAT? that is just so weird I did not get that vibe from her but whatever it seems like an unnecessary part of the story to me? Now Hikaru has killed someone that is just CRazY! I really hope he has not done it though and I am assuming he did it for his older brother who was being picked on? Hiro apparently has a phobia of women that is kinda weird because he obviously spent time with Haruka because she has his painting but maybe he wasn’t her boyfriend? but it seems pretty sure he is and so Hikaru has this complicated past with his brother but I am not sure where it is leading yet?? I kinda think Yanai is starting to fall for Mizuho because he wants to keep protecting her but I don’t think they will end up together because Mizuho is in love with Hikaru.

Piece Japanese Drama Episode 9 Summary January 13, 2013

 

Episode 9 starts off with Mizuho going to Hikaru’s brothers house and she realizes that they grew up in identical houses. She thinks that she has always badly wanted to know more about Hikaru, she wanted to touch his smile and see what was behind his guarded look and thinks by meeting his brother she will finally be able to reach Hikaru’s heart. She sees the name on the door is Naruse not Narumi. She thinks then that his brother is in the same situation and she recalls Hikaru telling her that he is dependent until his is 20 and then the house will be sold off. She realizes that he turned 20 a year ago so he had to leave the house.

Mizuho is sitting down with the current owner of the house and she tells her that Narumi-san was the person that lived here before and he was a painter. The owner takes her into a room and Mizuho smells the oil paint that permeated the room. She asks her if she knows where Narumi is now and she says sorry that she doesn’t know anything about him.

Mizuho is walking away thinking that she thought she would find the hidden piece of the puzzle is she came here and that until a year ago his brother used to paint there and that Hikaru will have to also leave his house on his birthday next month. She wonders if he will disappear from her sight. Mizuho gets out her phone and tries phoning Hikaru.

 Hikaru is on his couch picks up his phone and sees that it is Mizuho and then turns off his phone. Hikaru looks at the painting and has a flashback he is with Haruka in a cafe and she has the same painting with her. She asks Hikaru not to see him from now on and to move on that he is different from Hikaru because he is weak, innocent and kindhearted.

Yanai and Matsuura have met Mizuho and she has explained the situation with Hikaru and his brother living apart in different houses. Mizuho says based on the description that her ex-boyfriend smelled of paint and was kind-hearted she thinks that Hikaru’s brother is the one. Yanai says that he doesn’t think that they should jump to conclusions based only on that. Mizuho says she wants to stay here and ask around the neighborhood and the minute she finds anything she will report to him. Mizuho starts walking away, Yanai asks her to stop and grabs her arm saying that it is getting late and to keep it for later and that if she should ask Hikaru about Haruka being his brothers ex. She tells him that it is impossible because Hikaru is not answering his phone and that she thinks he is doing it on purpose. Yanai tells her thats an assumption on her part . She goes on saying that Hikaru has always played the fool, has been aimless and reckless and that he is not honest about his feelings. That they have never talked about anything essential and he doesn’t trust her enough to talk about his fears and things that matter. Yanai tells her to calm down and she says she is calm and tells him to go back before her because she is taking his desire to find out about Haruka’s ex very seriously. Mizuho starts walking away again and Yanai goes after her yelling that even though she has reached her limit to not selfishly shut other people out and then tells her to wait until she calms down because these things are hard to talk about and that once she has explained everything properly, he’ll understand

Yanai, Mastuura and Mizuho are at a restaurant and Mizuho says sorry to Yanai and that it could be because she is bad at conveying her feelings to others. She goes on saying that people think she is cool but the truth is she has come this far without being able to convey her feelings properly to others. Matsuura joins in and says that there are lots of people like that if they are not goo with words, they try to express themselves by singing or painting. He goes on saying that if he was the only one in the world he would never paint, sing or argue and that there would be no point in thinking or feeling. Yanai agrees and says that we start doing something because they want to connect with others. Matsuura agrees and says that even those who are hard to understand and he also wonders if Haruka was also like that.

He goes on saying that how he came to know Haruka was, he flashbacks to his class sketching outside. Haruka is sitting on a bench in front of him and he comes over and talks about the colors she is using in her picture of a tree. He is very friendly with her and tries to grab her sketchbook out of her hands to look at the painting and she runs away. Matsuura explains that to him Haruka was just overflowing with the bright colors that kids love like yellow, pink or green. He goes on saying that he it is quite different from what she seems and that he is sure she had feelings that couldn’t be expressed through words. Matsuura goes on saying that even if you feel like you can’t express yourself properly, if you try hard one day your feeling will get through.
 

Hikaru is lying on his couch and has a flashback he is visiting Haruka in the hospital and she tells him that she is going to die soon and that she would like him to do her a favor. He says he doesn’t want to and why him, she says because he is part of him and that she believes in him. Hikaru is holding a letter that says to Hiro-san and he throws if on the floor.

Yanai and Mizuho are walking and she tells him that tomorrow she is going to visit Hikaru but she doesn’t know if he will talk to her but she will make an effort to convey her feelings to him. He agrees and says that he wasn’t lying when he said that through this search for Haruka’s ex-boyfriend he wanted to meet his unknown girlfriend and that maybe at some point he wanted to change himself and that she shouldn’t give up because the person she loves is still alive. They then say goodbye and she thinks as he walks away reality is something like this and to not shut yourself again, shine brightly and give your all to create a future full of rainbows. She calls out to him and tells him that he is very kind and that he is not incompetent and is a good man and that she means it.

Mizuho is ringing Hikaru’s doorbell and wonders if he has gone out and tries to open the locked door. Nanao-san asks is something is wrong and she says she has come to help her. Mizuho goes in and they both can’t find Hikaru and Mizuho waits for him. She goes into the living room and the painting is broken into two pieces. Hikaru is shown in the room earlier and he kicks the painting into two. Mizuho tries phoning Hikaru and his phone is turned off. Mizuho thinks that if she continues with her efforts to convey her feelings one day the closed world will break apart and when that happens even if its imperfect, she thought that a shining rainbow-filled future will open up but she was naive, dreaming more worthless dreams than others. Mizuho falls to her knees in front of the painting and clutches her chest, Nanao-san comes to her asking if she is alright. She says she is and Nanao-san tells her that the reason she is feeling anxious is because he is important to her and that it is such a wonderful truth. Mizuho then thinks that she had always wanted to know about Hikaru and that curiosity led her to hold much guilt but if there is even a little bit of this wonderful feeling mixed up with that desire to know Hikaru she would like to affirm this desire. She then says that she wants to meet Hikaru’s mother.
 

Hikaru is walking with a letter in his back pocket.

Mizuho is walking with Hikaru’s mother business card in her hand. Her name is called by Yanai and she thanks him for coming and he says lets go. They go in and are sitting at a table with tea and he asks if she is alright and she says yes. The doors open and Hikaru’s mother comes in, Mizuho thinks Hiro and Hikaru were both made by this person and this is how the 9th episode ends.

I was expecting something different to happen in this episode!! I thought Mizuho was going to meet Hikaru’s brother but instead it gets her to meet his mother instead! It has been made clear to us that Hiro is Haruka’s ex-boyfriend and that Hikaru has known this the whole time. He has been leading her down rabbit holes telling her that Yanai liked Haruka and this lead her to other places. No wonder Hikaru has been kinda weird in the past episodes he knows the truth will come out eventually and it is as if he is waiting around for her to figure it out and to question him about it. It makes sense why he has stayed out of the investigation which doesn’t seem like his personality, he seems like he is also a curious person needing to know all the answers but he already knew it.

 I am curious though why Haruka came to Hikaru and told him to stay away from Hiro? that is just weird and almost possessive! Of course it probably has to do with Hikaru and Hiro having a falling out because the picture and painting obivously angers him and he wants to destroy anything that has to do with his brother. I wonder if Hikaru is on his way to deliver Haruka’s letter? Or if he is too angry and he is going to destroy it in front of his brother or something really mean?

It was interesting with Mizuho who wants to try to convey her feelings better and that it seems like she is really similar with Yanai. Yanai and her both were unable to convey their feelings to their loved ones they were both scared of the rejection and decided against it.  It seems like Yanai has realized this and encourages Mizuho to be truthful with Hikaru and she reassures him that he is a kind person and that she is not incompetent which is what she also struggle with. I wonder how Hikaru’s mother is going to act towards her visiting her maybe she will not talk to them or maybe she will be very honest with what she did to her sons? It just keeps getting more intriguing!!