October/ November 2019 Korean Drama Review December 7, 2019

I was going to watch Strangers From Hell but it honestly started getting too gruesome after two episodes so I decided to not continue watching it.

The first drama I completed was Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency. It is about Gae-Tong (Gong Seung-Yeon) who is woman that has lost her family and is looking for her lost brother. She doesn’t have much and does odd jobs to make money. Lee Soo (Seo Ji-Hoon) is a blacksmith who lives with his father and wants to marry Gae-Tong and he wants to do it the right way so he hires The Flower Crew Matchmaking Agency who is the best agency and when they finally accepts him he disappears on his wedding day. Gae-Tong starts to work at the agency with Ma Hoon (Kim Min-Jae) who is the leader and Do Joon (Byeon Woo-Seok) who is an information broker and lastly Ko Young-Soo (Park Ji-Hoon) who is in charge of the fashion and makeup.

The drama started with Gae-Tong having a character that seemed over the top and somewhat overacted but I figured her character would change with time and she does calm down after a few episodes. It seemed more like a comedy in the first few episodes but the comedy doesn’t seem to stay throughout the rest of the drama. The theme then gets serious and the whole political games that come through with the palace affairs. I feel like they didn’t really want to pick a genre so they tried all of the them. Or they just had a hard time balancing the genres.

Honestly I couldn’t connect to the characters and nothing felt sincere and I just couldn’t buy into the emotions that they were trying to portray. I think the only story that almost made me feel something was Ko Young-Soo but they didn’t even spend much time on it because he is a side character and I feel like they could have gone more into his story. I just feel like this was a typical type drama that just didn’t have much heart.

The second drama I completed was Melting Me Softly. It is about a Ma Dong-Chan (Ji Chang-Wook) who is a PD on a variety show and decides he wants to do a experiment Cryonic Freezing and decides to take part and gets Ko Mi-Ran (Won Jin-A) to participate with him to be frozen for 24 hours. Problems arise and they only become unfrozen 20 years later and they must keep their average core body temperature at 31.5 degrees Celsius.

Honestly this drama made me feel uncomfortable with them waking up 20 years later and him meeting his girlfriend who is 20 years older and it just is weird. Maybe the idea of waking up and everyone you know has aged and they keep pointed it out the whole drama just made me feel weird because it really makes you aware of how cruel aging really is. It made me think about things that I don’t really want to and the whole science stuff seemed weak and got a bit boring after a while.

Again I could not connect to any of the characters. I just couldn’t really feel their pain or felt like their characters were not fleshed out that much and everything felt shallow. I got bored in this drama and the whole separation that happens at the end just felt like the show was never going to end.

I have to say they did have one shower scene that I thought was wow and kinda impressed with the kissing that was happening. It was certainly unexpected and got my attention compared to a lot of dramas where I forget that they even kissed.

It wasn’t a terrible drama but I didn’t think it was a very good drama. I could not connect well with the characters and I feel like it didn’t delve deep enough into the issues have being gone for 20 years. I guess it was supposed to be a more light hearted drama but I feel like it was a bit hollow and empty with the main characters. I was disappointed with this drama.

The third drama I watched was The Tale of Nokdu is about Jeon Nok-Du (Jang Dong-Yoon) who has been kept very sheltered and wasn’t allowed to go to the mainland and forced to stay on the island and is well learned in martial arts and is a good swordsman. Nokdu and his family gets attacked by a group of female assassins and he chases her to the capital and eventually finds himself in the widow village and has to dress up as a woman to stay and try to find the secret that his father has been keeping from him. It also stars Dong Dong-Ju (Kim So-Hyun) who meets Nok-Du in the capital because she wants to kill the King but is unable to so she meets Nok-Du back in the widow village where she lives next to in a gisaeng house because she is an apprentice gisaeng.

I really thought that this drama would be a good comedy as Nok-Du has to dress up as a woman and try to hide that he is a man. Unfortunately I feel like the comedy was so short and then went into trying to be another drama surrounding the palace politics and it just felt same old, same old story line. In theory it seemed like it was a good, interesting drama but again I couldn’t really connect to any of the characters and didn’t feel much empathy or sympathy for the characters.

Even the romance just fell flat for me and it just felt like it was boring and I almost started preferring the bad guy to win. It felt like it was hard to really understand the characters and the reasons they did things just didn’t seem terribly believable and somewhat forced. The chemistry between the main characters wasn’t terribly electric either. It is a fine drama but I just couldn’t get very invested into this drama as well.

The fourth drama I watched was Extraordinary You. It is about the world of comic books. Eun Dan-Oh (Kim Hye-Yoon) is a student of a rich family and goes to an elite school. There she is in love with her fiancé Baek Kyung (Lee Jae-Wook) who does not like her back and even treats her cruelly. Dan-Oh has a heart condition that causes her problems as she can’t be like regular students and she starts getting weird symptoms such as memory loss and being able to see what is going to happen in the future. She meets Jinmiche who tells her that she is in a comic called “Secret” and shows her the book and she finds out she is not even the main character but an extra. Dan-Oh becomes aware that she has her mind and it differs from the book and goes on a quest to to try to change the comic book. This drama is based on a webcomic called July Found By Chance and I have read part of the comic that is translated online. So I was really excited because the webcomic is really interesting to have read so far so I don’t know how the webcomic ends.

I really enjoyed this drama, I think it was the only drama that I actually looked forward to this past two months. I felt connected to the characters and could feel an emotional connection and the unfairness that the characters were feeling. I really enjoyed the fantasy of the story and felt like it was a fresh idea. I know that people will say that it is similar to W but only the part of it being a comic is similar but the story was not the same at all. I really liked both of these dramas but it focused on completely different aspects of being inside a comic book. I feel like the story was well done and kept you interested throughout the whole drama. I thought it was able to have humor and serious themes well done and was well balanced. The acting was good and it was fun to make fun of the typical romantic comic as it dealt with all the cheesy lines that the characters would have to say. It was fun that some of the characters had become self aware and whether or not they had to agree with what they were saying.

I am not sure what to think about the ending because it seems sad even though it was technically happy and I wonder what happens to the characters between comic books. What if the author doesn’t decide to draw some of the characters anymore. That was the only plot hole that I feel like needed to be explained or dealt with. Also I don’t think they ever explained what happened to Baek Kyung in the ending? or maybe I missed it? Not sure but I wished they would have had an ending for him that could have left him happy.

I think this is the only drama that I would recommend from this round of dramas. After the dramas I was wondering if I had become tired of Korean Dramas because I wanted to quit so many and wasn’t sure if I would be able to continue but I started watching some new ones and I think it was just a coincidence that I didn’t enjoy this round of dramas!

Upcoming Dramas

1. Psychopath Diary

It is about a office worker that witnesses a murder and picks up the diary of the murderer and while running away he gets into a an accident and loses his memory. He then finds the diary and starts to believe that he is a psychopathic serial killer. I have watched a few episodes and it captured my attention, I think it is an interesting concept of what happens when we don’t have any memories how could we be shaped if you become a clean slate.

2. Chocolate

The drama is about a boy that gave a girl a meal and later inspired the girl to become a chef. He wanted to become a chef but because of different circumstances he grew up to be a neurosurgeon and they get to meet again as adults and strangers. I have seen two episodes and it is an intense drama and I have been completely sucked into it!

3. Crash Landing On You

An heiress to a conglomerate ends up in North Korea after a paragliding incident and there she meet a North Korean army officer and he helps hide her and take care of her. I am a bit nervous that there won’t be enough of a story for this drama but I hope since it has some big names that it will be an interesting drama.

4. Selection: The War Between Women

This drama is about a woman who is murdered and her twin sister decides to take her place as Queen to find out who is killed her sister. This drama I am most scared to start as I am not sure since I have watched the whole switcheroo so many times in movies and tv and feel like it has been overdone and if it isn’t done well, I scared I will become bored very quickly.

August/September 2019 Korean Drama Reviews September 27, 2019

 

The first drama that I had finished was Perfume which starred Seo Yi-Do (Shin Sung-Rok) who is a fashion designer that is still hung up on his first love as a child and has many phobias that affect his life. It also stars Min Jae Hee who is played by two actors (Go Won-Hee) and (Ha Jae-Suk) and she is a overweight, neglected housewife that doesn’t want to keep living and is given a miracle that allows her to be able to enjoy living again. I was very skeptical about how they were going to portray the storyline but I took the chance because I wanted to watch Shin Sung-Rok.

 

 

I thought that this drama may be insensitive with dealing with body image and especially with modelling and I was actually surprised that it wasn’t terrible. I didn’t really like the idea that they had to have two different actors for one character because it doesn’t really make sense that if you gain some weight your voice and looks would change that much but I get that the logistics would be hard to figure out with only one person. It may look really cheesy and fake if they tried to make the same character have two very different body shape and weight. I get that it would be hard but it still just feels unrealistic either way. The drama isn’t exactly body positive but I think it was a step in a better direction than some of the dramas that I have seen dealing with weight and looks. Again this drama had childhood friends that always seem to equal their soulmate. It doesn’t really make sense to me because memories only seem to get hazier when it comes to childhood. I mean you are not even close to the same person when you are child. I am not sure that those feelings you have as a child really stay that strong.

 

 

I really like Shin Sung-Rok’s character and how he had unconditional love for Min Jae Hee that he loved who she is and not what she looks like and I think it makes me feel depressed because I know there is no one out there that actually exists! It is super unrealistic but at the same time it still is satisfying to watch in a drama. The ending is also a positive one and I think the decision that is made is a good one. I felt satisfied at the end of this drama and was sad that it was over. The drama was filled with lots of fun and hijinks with her changing her form was always entertaining. There are some cheesiness with this drama but in the end it was positive and entertaining and I think it made a good comedy. I think the acting was really good and that Shin Sung Rok did a great job with his physical comedy with his crazy character and both the Min Jae Hee characters did a really good job trying to be the same person.

 

 

This drama was a good comedy and was trying to be more body positive and trying to break the mold on what a female lead is supposed to look like.

 

 

 

The second drama that I watched was Hotel Del Luna which starred Jang Man-Wol (IU) and Koo Chan-Sung (Yeo Jin-Goo). The story line is about a hotel that only serves ghosts as their guests and IU has been the CEO for hundreds of years due to some choices she made in her past and is atoning for actions by running this hotel. Chan-Sung gets involved with the hotel because of his father and is forced to work there even though he could be running prestigious hotels. The hotel has many guests that need their help to be able to go to the after life and Man-Wol is no exception and Chang-Sung brings things from her past that she needs to deal with to be able to take the next step. This drama is written by the Hong Sisters and I knew I needed to watch this drama and I also think IU is so charming and I decided to watch this drama despite the whole ghost thing. I don’t really like watching dramas with ghosts and I think it settled down after a while and wasn’t that scary or anything. Some of the ghosts portrayed was a bit disturbing but the genre definitely wasn’t horror so it was easier to watch than I thought.

 

 

The ending wasn’t the most satisfying but I don’t think it was wrong and it felt fitting for this drama. This drama was more about the human condition than about romantic relationships, which is funny because it was mainly about ghosts than even humans. I can honestly appreciate a drama more when it is trying to say something than just about a romantic relationship. Honestly I am not sure what to think about the romantic relationship in this drama at times it didn’t even seem like the leads were supposed to be a couple. Honestly after watching Yeo Jin-Goo in Absolute Boyfriend, I was sick of watching him but I still wanted to watch this drama and he was okay in this drama but IU definitely stole the show with her character and felt like he was okay but I could be because I am not that impressed with him and didn’t really feel that much chemistry from him. I took this drama as a complete work of fiction because the ideology of dying, ghosts and reincarnation I don’t believe in and honestly makes me feel depressed thinking about what the point of life if you keep living and don’t know what you did before, life kinda feels pointless. Honestly though it definitely makes an interesting drama story.

 

 

 

I loved IU’s character, it felt different from the usual female lead in a Korean drama. It was like the roles were reversed she is the CEO with the money and power and wasn’t the nicest or trying to solve everyone’s problems. She was a badass and could act anyway that she wanted to and it was like Chang-Sung was more like the usual female lead, he doesn’t have money, he is kind and tries to fix everyone problems and sacrifices himself and puts himself in danger for the sake of others. I liked the change and it really made it more memorable of a drama as a whole. I also loved IU’s clothes and hair changes it was very aesthetically pleasing with the sets and clothes. The drama has many serious subject matters about living and dying which was good but I also loved the comedy sprinkled throughout the drama. It was always unexpected and entertaining. I think this drama has a bit of everything for everyone. The side characters and different ghost stories each episode kept the drama interesting and fresh. I feel like the ending episode needed some work because it felt kinda rushed. I wished for more of a confrontational scene for IU with her past, it seemed a bit weak but the drama was about letting go of the emotional baggage that we carry around and letting go. I feel like this is so relatable, we all carry around things that bother us and people that we feel like have betrayed us even if it wasn’t on a large scale it still does affect us and maybe hold us back from different things in life.

 

 

I think this was a great drama that had many twists and turns which isn’t completely unexpected from the Hong Sisters.

 

 

 

The third drama that I finished is Doctor John/ Doctor Yo-Han and it starred Cha Yo-Han ( Ji-Sung) who is a genius doctor that Kang Shi-Young (Lee Se-Young) meets in prison when she meets him at a crucial time of whether she should continue her residency as a doctor or not. She starts to work with Cha Yo-Han and he changes her outlook on her own life and experiences which gives her the strength to make the right decision for herself. They are both work the field of anesthesiology and try to find the causes of patient’s pain.

 

 

So this drama also focuses on the controversial issue of euthanasia as it is not legal in South Korea and I thought that it was really interesting that they decided to go into this issue in a drama. I don’t really believe in euthanasia but at the same time pain is really a hard topic. Pain can change a person and can turn them into someone unrecognizable and if it is impossible to numb the pain, I can’t say what I would do. It is a tricky issue because any system that is put into place can be abused and it is such a hard topic because this is definitely is a grey area and every case is very different.

 

 

One thing that confused me was that they are studying to become anesthesiologist and I thought there main role was using sedatives for surgery and etc. I didn’t think they had much role in diagnosing diseases I feel like that is more likely in a different field. The chemistry for romance I thought was a bit weird as he seemed to old for her and she just seemed more immature and young. Also their relationship really bothered me at the end, if he did that to me I would not have been able to forgive that behaviour so easily. Also it really wasn’t clear what happened to him and what the outcome for him really was and I wish they would have explained it better or even had her address it. I also thought Shi-Young’s hair was really strange, I’m not sure what they were doing with it if there was extensions added but when she had it down it reminded me of a mullet cut. Not that it really mattered but it was so strange that it completely distracted me.

 

 

 

I really liked the patient stories and thought it was interesting when they were trying to diagnose patients. I really loved Ji-Sung in this role I haven’t enjoyed his last dramas as much and his character reminded me of of his Kill Me, Heal Me character and thought it was such a good character for him. I thought that it brought up some interesting thoughts and I was sad to see the drama come to the end. If you like medical dramas this is a good drama to watch because it focuses on both the doctor and patients and it keeps you guessing. The romance could have been improved upon but overall it was a interesting and compelling drama.

 

 

 

 

The fourth drama that I finished was Temporary Teacher/ Class of Lies and this was an OCN drama so I thought that it would be interesting and since it was a large cast that it would have a lot of stories to tell and I was well aware that there wouldn’t be any romance so I thought it would be compelling. It stars Ki Moo-Hyeok (Yoon Gyun-Sang) who is a lawyer that is always willing to play dirty as long as he wins his case and doesn’t worry about people’s feelings. He loses his license when he is put on a murder case and decides to solve the murder by becoming a temporary teacher at the school where the student went to school. It also stars Ha So-Hyun (Keum Sae-Rok) who is a teacher at the school who has a bleeding heart and wants to protect the students and she has to make a decision whether to help or stop Moo-Hyeok .

 

 

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch this drama because I am not a fan of Gyung-Sang but I thought OCN can have some good dramas so I decided to watch it and I was pretty disappointed. I think it was the script that wasn’t that good. The students were definitely were the more interesting and had the best scenes of the drama and all the adults were just so dull and there characters were just so undeveloped and it just fell flat for me. I found So-Hyun teacher just annoying and she kept trying to help the students but she was just making things worse and it was just frustrating to watch her. The whole story just seemed unrealistic as well. Beom-Jin who is so smart and able to control people really easily and what they make them do just doesn’t feel his profile and it doesn’t line up with his character.

 

 

The ending was a total cop out and I think it happened that way because they didn’t have any proof or evidence to solve the murder so they just decided to kill him off and doesn’t explain who or why did it that way. Everything just felt so random and strange and pretty much overkill for what they thought they were doing. I mean killing someone so your reputation doesn’t get ruined doesn’t even make sense, there would have been so many better ways to deal with these issues.

 

 

The only good part of the drama was the students and did a good job in their roles and there was some interesting parts and it would have some twists and turns but as a whole I didn’t really enjoy this drama. This was my least favorite drama this month and I would rather have skipped this one.

 

 

 

The fifth drama was I Wanna Hear Your Song/Let Me Hear Your Song and it stars Hong Yi-Young (Kim Se-Jeong) who is a timpanist that wants to get into an orchestra and she was in an accident and lost her memories about what happened. It also stars Jang Yoon (Yeon Woo-Jin) who is a pianist in the orchestra and works other jobs and offers to help with Yi-Young’s insomnia and calls her and sings her to sleep. He wants to help her find her memories about the accident because he needs to know what happened. It also stars Nam Joo-Wan (Song Jae-Rim) who has just become an orchestra conductor and seems want to keep Yi-Young by his side.

 

 

 

This was a pretty good drama, I wasn’t so sure at first but I did keep getting better. The mystery in the drama was intriguing and I really didn’t know how they were going to solve it and I couldn’t immediately guess what was going to happen. It keeps you guessing and does a good job of keeping it interesting and fresh. Since the drama focuses on memory loss, I was waiting for her to do some hypnosis treatment since that is the go to treatment in Drama land and was really surprised that they never used this technique.

 

The ending was a bit weird and just seemed uncharacteristic by the choices that were made and I didn’t like they did an unnecessary time jump it really didn’t improve or add anything. It just felt like it was a lack of communication and trying to do a twist but was a boring ending. I also thought that they whole murder thing that happened had some messy ideas that they kinda forced into fitting the story. I think a lot of people may find that the story was too slow trying to solve one mystery. I also think they often start with the focus on the character doing some job and in this case she plays the timpani and then after a couple of episodes they seem to abandon the topic and she is barely shown doing this thing that in the first couple of episodes she is so supposedly passionate about. When it comes to Jang Yoon (Yeon Woo-Jin) I found that I didn’t really believe his love for Yi-Young, I find his feels a bit flat in this drama. I think there were a lot of elements that worked for this drama but it did have some faults and parts that were a bit flat, but overall it was an entertaining drama with an unpredictable mystery.

 

Upcoming Dramas

 

 

1. Strangers From Hell

This drama is based on a webcomic and is about a young man moving to Seoul and finds a cheap dormitory and all the residents are disturbing and full of secrets. I tried watching this show and only made it to 2 episodes. I thought it would be like a psychological thriller but instead I found it to be gory, horrifying and disturbing and it seemed to just be about killing people. I really wanted to watch Lee Dong Wook in a new kind of role and it seemed like the acting was really good I just couldn’t seem to stomach it. So this drama was a pass but if you like horror genres then you would probably enjoy this drama.

 

 

 

2. Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency

It is about a blacksmith that wants to marry his childhood love and he hires a matchmaking agency to help him marry her but gets taken away on the day of his wedding. His bride is left alone and starts to work at the matchmaking agency.I have watched a couple of episodes and it seems like a typical historical drama with evil government officials that are trying to control the King. It seems like a decent romantic comedy though.

 

 

 

3. Melting Me Softly

It is about a man and woman who are both experimentally frozen and wake up 20 years later instead of 24 hours and have to keep their body temperature about 30 degrees Celsius in order to stay alive.

 

 

 

4. The Tale of Nok-Du

It is based on webcomic and is set in Joseon and a man who is being forced into a an arranged marriage and in order to avoid it her runs away and dresses up as a woman to live in a widow village with only women. He meets a girl there who is an apprentice to become a gisaeng and she doesn’t want to and they are able to help each other out.

 

 

 

5. Extraordinary You

I am most excited about this drama because I have read some of the webcomic that it is based on and I hope that it will be good! It is about a student at a prestigious academy and she finds out one day that she is actually a character in a manhwa and her character is only a minor character and could be dying soon so she decides to try to change the story plot for her own good. The concept reminds me a bit of the Kdrama W.

February/March 2019 Korean Drama Reviews April 1, 2019

The first drama that I completed this time was The Crowned Clown/ The Man Who Became King. It is actually a remake of a movie called Masquerade which I have not seen. The story line is about a King who finds his doppelgänger who is a clown in the Joseon period. The King is in a time that has a lot of power struggles around the throne and he brings in this clown to take his place in case he is going to assassinated soon. The king “Yeo Jin-Goo” and his doppelgänger Ha-Seon have very different attitudes and beliefs and this becomes a struggle to discover who is the real king.

 

 

I liked parts of this drama, it had some twists and turns and unexpected moments which was what kept me watching. I like how the focus was on the Ha-Seon as the King and his Chief Royal Secretary and the trust and respect that they were building with each other. I also liked his relationship with Eunuch Jo and how he was able to make everyone love and feel loved around him. I also enjoyed how Ha-Seon could get himself out of situations that were unexpected and he had to just bluff or figure out his own way to deal with the problems. It made you think about what exactly it means to be a King and what exactly he has the power to do and were he becomes powerless. It makes you think about what it means to be a good king and leader of the people compared to being a good person and following your own personal beliefs and whether he gets his hands dirty or people that follow him get their hands dirty.

 

 

 

I for the most part did not think it was a great drama. I felt emotionally unattached for the most part and felt like the characters did not have enough depth. The story line with the real king looked more interesting and wished he would have had more a story in the drama. I also didn’t have any interest in the romance between Ha- Seon and the Queen it was boring and I didn’t feel the sparks or chemistry between them. Actually I found the Queen’s character strange with her different problems and how she was so focused on duty and was going to just end her life so easily all the time. I actually was more touched by the relationship with the Chief Royal Secretary and Ha-Seon and how things end with them.

 

Also it always the same story line of the rich man in the government who is stealing from the people and causes problems because he is so powerful. I also felt like with the storyline they had so many missed chances of showing the problems of having someone replace the King. They could have played up more of him trying to replace and be this other person and it felt like everyone just believed him even though he had a completely different personality. I feel like the real King should have had more of a presence in the story and wished something else would have happened there. I also didn’t really like the ending I thought Ha-Seon made a disappointing choice and felt like he had done so much hard work and if things didn’t work out with what he decided, he could never reverse it and they would be stuck in a bad cycle.

 

 

This drama was okay and was interesting enough but I was disappointed and felt like it had the potential to do much more.

 

 

 

The second drama I finished this month is Romance is a Bonus Book/ How To Publish Love. This drama is about Cha Eun-Ho (Lee Jong-Suk) who is a young genius chief editor at his publishing company and is an accomplished writer. Kang Dan-Yi (Lee Na-Young) is a divorced mother who hasn’t been in the job field for many years. She has no money and nowhere to live and is unable to get a job because every company discriminates against her for leaving the marketing work force and won’t hire her because of the break she took to raise her child. She needs a job so she lies on her resume and applies at Cha Eun-Ho’s publishing company as they are old friends and they have to pretend that they don’t know each other.

 

 

 

I really enjoyed this drama, the acting and writing of this drama was done really well. I thought that the writing of this drama was well done and I felt the characters were properly done and given depth. They weren’t just one note characters and they were able to grow and have a deeper story with more than one character. I was at first apprehensive with the older women and younger guy story line but I really enjoyed the two of them together. I mean it is pretty hard not to feel your heart flutter with Lee Jong Suk. I really liked Kang Dan-Yi’s character as well and really liked how they were friends since they were young and it just felt like it was right. I have to say this drama made me bawl my eyes out at the treatment of Kang Dan-Yi and it had nothing to do with romance or love lines which was unusual because usually the separation of love is what makes the audience want to cry but it was different this time.

 

 

I also loved all the side characters and how they all had depth and different ways that they were struggling. I also really like it was based around a publishing company because I think it was interesting to learn more about how a book is published. I was always excited to watch a new episode and felt like it should have been longer.

 

 

 

The one thing that bothered me a little bit was that Kang Dan-Yi has a daughter that is in school abroad and she gets mentioned a little in the beginning but is never mentioned again in the drama which I think was a little weird and it seemed like it was too much of a bother so they just ignored that fact. The fact that Kang Dan-Yi was treated so badly for returning to work made me really sad and I really hope this is embellished and isn’t really how women are treated in the workforce for coming back to work.

 

 

I think this drama was the winner of the month and would choose this one as my favorite.

 

 

The third drama that I completed this month was Spring Turns to Spring/ Spring Must Be Coming.The story is about Kim Bo- Mi (Lee Yu-Ri) an aspiring tv news anchorwoman who is selfish and only cares about her career. It also stars Lee Bom (Uhm Ji-Won) who was a actress but retired and is a content housewife to her husband who is a member of the National Assembly. They take a drug that causes the two of them to switch bodies on the spot and the timing is unknown and random. They have to live each others lives and try not to get caught by the people around them.

 

 

 

This is a straight comedy drama and was really enjoyable to watch and see all the hi-jinks they get themselves into. I loved the lightheartedness of the drama but also had intense moments as well. I thought it was refreshing to not have a romance in this drama and keep it about family and friendship. The acting was soo good and you could always tell when the two of them switched bodies just by the way they were acting. It had a lot of funny moments that were sometimes subtle or sometimes more slapstick. I thought it was a good balance of keeping things funny and serious. There are some serious issues that get addressed like cheating romantically and politically.

 

 

 

It had a good beginning, middle and end at times it may have gotten a bit repetitive but it was still worth it to keep watching. It felt like the episodes could have been cut a little bit shorter because it felt like it was dragging once in a while but for the most part it was a good light hearted drama that brightened my day.

 

This was a fun drama that didn’t take itself too seriously and was charming.

 

 

The last drama that I finished this month was Touch Your Heart/ Reach of Sincerity. I could never remember the name of this drama it felt so generic. The plot is a Oh Yoon-Seo (Yoo In-Na) is a disgraced actress for having been caught up in drug scandal rumours and is desiring to be able to work as an actress again. She is given an opportunity to get a role if she works as a lawyer’s secretary for a while to gain experience for the role since she is considered a poor actress. She goes to work for Kwon Jung-Rok (Lee Dong-Wook) as his secretary and he is considered a serious and boring guy that only knows how to work and Oh Yeon-Seo shakes up his world. The two of them are reunited since the drama Goblin so I think there was high expectations for their chemistry in this drama.

 

 

I really liked some of the comedy in this drama especially with the staff at the law office and thought it had some good funny moments. I think the acting was pretty well done and the story had some interesting law cases that came into play, but I wished they had more of them and had a longer part in the drama.

 

 

 

I didn’t really enjoy this drama that much, I think the writing of the drama was not done that well and the characters just didn’t feel right. I didn’t really find myself caring about the characters and at time I found Oh Yoon-Seo character kinda annoying and it just felt like there was something missing and the same went for Kwon Jung-Rok, I didn’t really find myself falling for his character and instead I just didn’t even care if they were together or not. I thought they should have focused more on the court cases since they were more interesting.

 

 

I also think that they should have had more time spent on the stalker issue because that would had more of an interesting concept and it felt like it was wrapped up so simply. It’s a shame because I was excited to see the two of them reunite but I think the writing of the drama really prevented the two of them to shine the best they could and bring the chemistry that they had earlier and instead just felt forced and limited. I feel like if you want to check out a good romance from this month Romance is a Bonus Book was a better choice.

 

Upcoming Dramas

 

1.

 

He Is Pychometric- Lee Ahn is able to read peoples memories through his psychometric touch and wants to become someone that can help solve crimes but still needs help with figuring out and controlling his powers.

 

2.

 

Kill It – It is an OCN drama that is about a veterinarian who is an assassin who needs to complete a mission to find out more about his past and a Detective who is trying to solve murder cases and they seem unintentionally involved in each others lives.

 

3.

 

Eulachacha Waikiki Season 2- This is the second season with Lee Yi Kyung the only remaining actor from the first season. He is still running the guest house and is joined by his two high school friends and others that live at the guest house. I hope it will be as funny as the first season was..

 

I may pick up another drama but honestly I haven’t’ been very interested in any of the ones airing right now. Let me know if you are watching them and if there is another good one airing currently!!

December 2018/January 2019 Korean Drama Reviews January 23, 2019

 

The first drama that I finished was Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter/Tale of Gyeryong Fairy. The story line is that Sun Ok-Nam (Moon Chae-Won) is a fairy during the Goryeo period and when she came down the waterfall on earth someone stole her fairy dress with wings and therefore could not go back to the fairy realm. She meets a woodcutter who she suspects stole her dress and they get married and have two kids but he meets an unfortunate end and she is left on earth for 699 years.

 

 

 She thinks she meets her reincarnated husband when professor Jung Yi-Hun (Yoon Hyun-Min) and his assistant Kim Geum (Seo Ji-Hoon) find their coffee cafe on the mountain. She isn’t sure which one is her husband but decides to follow them back to Seoul to find out since both of them have no memories of their past selves. It is based on a webcomic which I have not read so I can’t really comment on how it was different or the same.

 

 

This was a strange drama, the dynamics felt weird with the different age differences. The hypothesized mother, father, and child all seem to be close in age and it feels wrong when she changes to her old person form as fairy. The story is okay I guess, I mean I am so sick of reincarnation being the storyline. I don’t like or believe in reincarnation and I think it is a lazy technique in story telling and been so overdone in Korean dramas. For some reason I don’t particularly like Ok-Nam’s character in this drama, I don’t really know why but I found her kinda annoying with what she would do or act like especially when she can’t figure out who is her husband.

 

 

There is some weird backstory with Jung Yi-Hun that felt kinda forced or didn’t come across the best with what exactly happened with him and his past. The ending was okay but I didn’t feel like it had that strong of an impact. They also had some weird other fairy story line that I didn’t really find the characters enduring or have much comic relief. Instead I found them annoying and the love line between the young guy and older fairy was just uncomfortable to me and I felt like their parts where too long. Also I wished that the fairy had more fun powers but it wasn’t that exciting with her just making coffee and talking to plants all the time. The CGI in the drama was far from the most advanced and well done, I did get used to after a while but I am sure they did not have a big budget for graphics. I mean for the cat they could have probably used a real one!

 

 

What I liked about this drama was Kim Geum, his character was really enduring and sweet. I loved when he interacted with Jeom-Soon and thought it was really sweet. I also hung in their with this drama because I wanted to see what Jeom-Dol was inside his egg. I think that really was the best part of the drama when Jeom-Dol came out of his egg. Honestly I wanted to see more of the fairy realm because I love the fantasy part of the drama but they only showed a little bit. At least there was not too many plot holes or something unfinished except maybe with the whole Jeom-Dol and his part and the ability to go through time or something!? There is no ambiguous ending where you feel empty after watching so many episodes. It was a relatively good drama for trying to accomplish a fantasy genre with a limited budget.

 

 

 

 

The second drama that I finished watching this month was Feel Good To Die/ Happy If You Died. The plot of the drama is Lee Roo-Da (Baek Jin-Hee) works under Baek Jin Sang (Kang Ji-Hwan) the manager of the advertising department. Baek Jin Sang is a terrible boss since he only sees life in black and white and doesn’t have any empathy for his fellow workers. He is rude and mean when he finds fault in others. Lee Roo-Da has a lot of anger against Baek Jin Sang and she wishes he would die and later on he gets hit by a truck and she wakes up realizing that she is reliving the same day over.

 

 

This was an unpredictable drama it went from plot twists to filler episodes that got boring. I never knew if I was going to be bored or enthralled with each episode I watched. I was really disappointed at times when they had a chance to relive their day and use it to change what happened and try a different option. I feel like the characters did not use the time loop as effectively as I would have wanted them to use it, like if something went wrong why did they not try to solve the problem more efficiently by going back to starting the day. It didn’t always make sense to me why they did the things they way they did! The reason for the time loop and all that is a bit of a stretch with why it happened and how it all worked.

 

 

 

Also at the beginning you will probably hate Baek Jin-Sang’s voice it is enough to make you want to stop watching the drama, but as he mellows out his voice also does the same. The whole business end of the drama got boring to me after a while and how to fight a big corporation was a used boring idea to me that felt like it got dragged out. Also the chemistry between the characters was really lacking it felt forced and apparently in the manhwa the love interest is completely different.

 

 

I did find the different plot twists interesting and fun and honestly the character of Baek Jin-Sang was kinda fun and how he kept dying and Roo-Da trying to help him even though he didn’t understand what was happening was pretty entertaining. There was good, touching moments in this drama that felt right.

 

 

 

The third drama that I watched was Coffee, Please Do Me A Favor/ Coffee, Please. This drama is about Hyun-Woo (Yong Joon-Hyung) a romantic webtoon writer without actually having any experience in love. His assistant Seul-Bi who is cute and chubby and is made fun of constantly by others about her appearance. She has a long time secret crush on Hyun-Woo. Seul-Bi gets a chance to drink magical coffee that turns her into the stereotypical beauty and takes Seul-Bi’s job with the name Oh Go-Woon.

 

 

This drama does not have a good message to me, it does not celebrate body diversity and the harmful belief that you need to look a certain way to receive love. Seul-Bi gets a chance to change the way she looks and the man that she is in love with will finally be able to love her now. The funny thing is that I wanted to keep watching even though I knew it was not going to have an ending that I would agree with mentally. I can relate to the character of Seul-Bi and cannot deny that if I was given a chance to look different I would be able to say no and not indulge in that fantasy of having the perfect body. So I guess I wanted to keep watching to see if the drama would be able to redeem themselves and I found that they did not. The drama did get shortened it was originally supposed to have 16 episodes which is confusing because it was filmed in 2017 so I’m not sure how they could just cut out many episodes and still have an ending that made sense.

 

 

What bothered me at the ending was it was a cop out, Seul-Bi “decides” she has to work on herself which is fine but that would be the most important message of the drama and they don’t really show us how miraculously she is supposed to love herself when the whole outside world is treating her like trash. Also it makes me sad that they don’t show her in a healthy, romantic relationship because I think not showing this still makes it feel stigmatized that if you aren’t skinny you can’t get a boyfriend. The more they show women of all types in relationships will bring more change in how people are treated. Another problem was the two different characters of Seul-Bi didn’t seem to match well and they seemed like different people and didn’t feel like they was a smooth continuation of the character between them. I found some of the acting to be over exaggerated but for the most part was fine.

 

 

I have to say it was still an entertaining drama and it wasn’t too long since it was shortened, I did find it entertaining and really hoped that the ending would have been good. I enjoyed seeing Joon-Hyung again I really miss him in “its dangerous beyond the blankets” show. I enjoyed the other actors as well and found it funny and entertaining, there might have been a bit of overacting but it seemed to fit the mood of the drama. So if you can ignore the message of the drama I thought it was a nice fluffy drama.

 

 

 

The fourth drama that I finished was Children Of Nobody/Red Moon Blue Sun. This drama is about Cha Woo-Kyung (Kim Sun-A) who is a child counsellor at a children’s centre. At the start she is pregnant with her second child and is content with her life. An accident happens and Woo-Kyung is forced to deal with things in her life she doesn’t understand. It also stars Kang Ji-Hun (Lee Yi-Kyung) who is detective and gets put on a case that deals with the death of a famous child abuser. He believes that even if someone is murdering a child abuser they need to be punished by the law. Through his cases he meets Woo-Kyung and coincidentally she keeps popping up in all of his cases.

 

 

This is a dark drama especially because it is dealing with child abuse although I don’t think they really show any of the child abuse happening. It does have graphic scenes but I don’t think they are really with the children. But I don’t think it is overdone or takes away from the story line. First of all I loved watching this drama which is weird to say because it is dark but it was so intriguing and left me wondering all of the time. I was never bored with this drama and I continued to want to keep watching the next episode.

 

 

The acting is so well done in this drama as well, I felt like I believed every character that came on the screen. I feel like it pushed your boundaries on what you think is morally right or wrong. There is good and evil in this drama but at times the lines seem to blur and you start to wonder what you really believe when it comes to suffering. I just love the complicated characters in this drama, everyone is complex and far from boring. There doesn’t seem to have all the usual drama tropes that you see in so many dramas. It felt fresh, exciting and the mystery always had me guessing and wanting more. I also found it interesting that there is no love lines, it feels refreshing and at the back of my mind I wanted to start coupling the characters out of habit but I am glad that they didn’t try to do that, because that was not what the drama is about!

 

 

The problem that arose with this drama was the lighting, man there were many dark scenes that had me trying to adjust my screen so I could see what was happening. I get that it was supposed to be dark but I still want to be able to see the scene, it was somewhat distracting and took you out of the story. The other problem I had was it felt like I needed more time with Kang Ji-Hun the detective, I feel like he had a background story that was never acknowledged or had time to flesh it out. The ending is good but I feel like I needed more closure with the story and the characters. But overall if you like a good mystery/thriller I would suggest you watch this drama. Of all the dramas I watched this month I would definitely pick this one as my favorite!

 

 

 

The last drama that i watched this month was Memories Of The Alhambra. This drama is about Yoo Jin-Woo (Hyun-Bin) who is the CEO of a large and impressive investment company. He seems to be a guy that is often misunderstood and hasn’t had to lean on anybody since he is self sufficient in every way. He gets a call from a video game creator asking him to buy his video game since he doesn’t want Jin-Woo’s rival and former friend to buy the game. Intrigued Jin-Woo hops on the next train to meet the creator in Granada Spain at an old hostel run by Jung Hee-Joo (Park Shin-Hye). Accidents happen and Hee-Joo and Jin-Woo fates get tangled together while Jin-Woo tries to figure out how to solve everything that has gone wrong.

 

 

So when I first started watching I wasn’t totally sold on the story it took a couple of episodes for me to start enjoying this drama. This drama is about playing a video game that in some ways comes to life and stops being pretend and becomes real to the characters. I really liked this drama and thought it built some great momentum and suspense. I enjoyed Hyun Bin of course because he is a great actor and his character was so interesting. I think this drama illustrated some interesting points about mental health. It showed Jin-Woo struggling to keep himself sane inside a lawless and cruel game. I thought it did a great job of portraying struggles that other people may have had a hard time putting to words of how they feel when every one arounds them is telling them they are crazy. Also it does have some beautiful sites since they did go to Spain for the shooting of the drama. This drama felt fresh and exciting and I did enjoy most of it and the ride you go on while watching it.

 

I have some complaints and that would be Jung Hee-Joo her character started to drive me crazy. She has very little purpose in this drama, she feels like a side kick and acts like a clueless, confused crying heroine that needs a man in her life to be complete. I simply did not understand her character she is faced with a crazy guy who everyone believes is crazy and mind you he is quite handsome but she choices to just accept him. She doesn’t even question all the weird things she sees him doing and I felt like come on that would never fly in real life. I would have loved it if she actually started playing the game and become a more interesting part of the story but instead she has to sit at home waiting for the guy to call her. The romance in the drama was utterly a waste of time and useless especially because it goes absolutely nowhere.

 

 

The ending is so disappointing their is no reunion just left open ended. The logic of the game also is very shaky about where Hee-Joo’s brother is the whole time is never properly addressed. I feel like this drama had so much potential to become a well rounded drama if they would have put in a little more effort into story. They wasted a lot of time in the last episodes watching a scenario from one characters view and then re-watching it from another character, which felt wasteful and super unnecessary. The deaths in this drama felt just shocking like I hoped they could come back to life all the time! The writer made an interesting world for the characters and plot but the ending and love line were disappointing way to end this drama.

 

Upcoming Dramas

1. Romance is a Bonus Book : It is about a genius writer and an editor who meets a lying copywriter who gets a job working under him. It sounds like a complete typical romance drama but I am a sucker for Lee Jong Suk!

2. Spring Turns to Spring : It is about two women who do a body swap. This has been done a lot lately so I guess it is a theme this season. Not expecting too much from this but looks okay.

3. The Crowned Clown: This drama is about a King and a commoner who look identical. The King decides to swap themselves because he feels like his life is being threatened. I have watched a few episodes and I didn’t really like the first one but it did get better but I don’t really care for all the politics that come with historical dramas! with who is going to control the King so I hope it will stay interesting!

4. Touch Your Heart: This drama is about a lawyer and his secretary who is a former hallyu star who is in hiding after being in some tabloids but she really wants to get back into movies. We get to see Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na reunited from being in the Goblin together. Maybe they will get their happy ending in this drama!

5. What’s Wrong, Poong Sang/ Live Or Die: I watched a few episodes and I have already dropped this drama. This drama feels so depressing and everything felt hopeless for all the characters. I honestly found all the characters unlikable and did not feel curious about their lives at all!

 

August/September Korean Drama Reviews 2018 September 28, 2018

The first korean drama that I finished this summer was ID: Gangnam Beauty/My ID is Gangnam Beauty based on a webtoon with the same name. I have not read the webtoon so I am sure people that have read it will feel differently about the drama. The story is about Kang Mi-Rae (Lim Soo Hyang) gets plastic surgery before entering college and is hoping to create a new and fresh start among her peers. Unexpectedly she meets Do Kyung-Seok (Cha Eun-Woo) who was her classmate in middle school and he recognizes her despite her plastic surgery. She discovers that College is still full of bullies and obstacles despite her pretty looking face.

I think this drama started out strong with the different characters and the obstacles that Mi-Rae was forced to overcome and it really hooked people in. I have to say that people seemed to be a bit triggered by this drama of whether plastic surgery is good or bad. I think society feels like plastic surgery is something shameful and something you don’t talk about openly and yet people will do it because it makes them feel better. It is considered shameful because of the vanity of spending that much money on how you look. This must be a very prevalent topic in South Korea since they even have a name for people who get their faces done. By the end I really couldn’t tell if this drama was saying plastic surgery is good or bad. I think that Hyun Soo-A (Jo Woo-Ri) did a good job in acting out her role and was pulled in and got so mad at her. She played the innocent villain so well that it was frustratingly good.

In the beginning I found it absolutely disgusting how women were being treated in this drama and was hard to watch. It did get better but still it was so wrong and treating women like objects just was unbearable. I found at some point I was getting annoyed at Kang Mi-Rae’s character, she was just so weak and only had a surprised look on her face most of the time. I just felt like her character became so uninspiring and I got bored with her actions and thoughts. I also found Do Kyung-Seok’s character a little boring because he was so cut and dry and facial expressions so stiff. I get that it was probably what he was supposed to act like but I found it odd and somewhat lacking chemistry at times. I also found his character a little unrealistic that he would have preferred her original face, I wish this was true but I just found it unbelievable and maybe because I have a heart of ice and have become a cynical through and through I just didn’t find it believable. The ending was pretty decent but it felt like there did not get to tell the whole story and it felt things were just left without a proper conclusion. This may be because it is originally a webtoon and I am unsure if it has even reached a conclusion.

Overall it was a cute drama that will feel the need of wanting to watch a fun romantic comedy and still covers some intense topics and isn’t just fluff.

The second drama I finished was Thirty But Seventeen/Still 17. The story is about Woo Seo-Ri (Shin Hye-Sun) a 17 year old who gets in a car accident and fall into a coma and wakes up 13 years later and has to adjust to becoming a 30 year old. It also stars Gong Woo-Jin (Yang Se-Jong) who is also 30 years old and has faced a trauma and works as set designer and tries his best not to get involved in other people’s business. The two of them become inter tangled into each other’s life and doesn’t know how to deal his feelings.

I really liked the story line of this drama it felt somewhat fresh dealing with the problem of waking up a lot older and yet still feeling like a seventeen year old. It had a lot of humor and emotional moments that were truly enjoyable. It had a good full cast that really made it fun and interesting. I enjoyed the chemistry and the storyline although I think my favorite character was Seo-Ri she did a really good job in acting and the character was really well developed.

The only thing was that I wished she would have found out about her past quicker instead of in the last episode I think the drama could have focused more on her and what happened to her friends and family instead of the romantic story line. I think the romance was very predictable so I don’t think it needed as much time as her storyline and past. I wish they would have done a love triangle between her doctor friend and Woo-Jin although that would be pretty predictable as well.

Overall I think it was cute and enjoyable drama that had many funny and hilarious moments which was the best!It was a warm drama that made me feel good and satisfied when watching.

The third drama that I finished was Familiar Wife/Wife That I Know. It is about Joo Hyuk (Ji-Sung) who is unhappy in his marriage to Woo-Jin (Han Ji-Min). He is struggling at work and he is unhappy with Woo-Jin who is angered by everything he does and he becomes scared of her. He meets a man on the subway who gives him some coins and that he can go back in time and change his life.

This was an interesting drama and it felt different in the way the story was being told. It feels hard to root for anybody because the characters seem unreliable and you don’t want them to be miserable. Mainly it is Joo-Hyuk that seems to keep making mistakes and you don’t know what he should do, I found it hard to root for him and Woo-Jin. It definitely plays on your feelings and it is confusing because it strays from the norm as the main character is at fault and isn’t blameless but instead is flawed. I guess you could say that it a more realistic version of a character that shows his weak and ugly side such as abandoning his wife and children for someone new. This made me feel very uncomfortable as a viewer. It is harder to see such harsh actions.

I found it compelling even though there are parts I didn’t like but it is interesting watching someone get a second chance or more. I liked that it was different, and made me think a different way. Also being able to revisit the same story line a couple of times was interesting to see what changed or stayed the same. I did like the ending to the drama, I think they did a good job of wrapping it up and showing us how a relationship should work and how to be partners.

I think it takes a couple of episodes to get into and it does away from good to less good, it is not really a romantic comedy. The middle of the drama got a bit slow and a bit redundant but it did pick up again.

Overall it was a pretty interesting drama that seemed to show a unique perspective rarely shown in dramas. I think it was a pretty good ride in the end.

The fourth drama that I watched was Life written by Lee Soo-Yeon who also was the writer for Stranger which was very good. I first thought that this was going to be about doctors and there patients but it really is not. It stars Ye Jin-Woo (Lee Dong-Wook) who is an emergency doctor and has a brother Ye Sun-Woo (Lee Kyu-Hyung) who is a paraplegic and is a doctor but is working in the health insurance evaluation. There are changes happening in the hospital with a company buying the the hospital and a new President Goo Seung-Hyo (Choo Seung-Woo). The new President wants to run the hospital like a business which is complete conflict of how doctors want to treat their patients. The drama focuses on the politics within the hospital. The power struggle is front and centre within this drama.

Normally I wouldn’t find this subject matter very interesting or compelling but the writer brings so much depth to this drama. The bad guy is not just a bad guy he is also a good guy. People are not just bad or good. Sometimes bad guys do good things and sometimes good guys can do bad things. I think it focuses on the human condition and what drives everyone. Characters are not just one note they are treated as complex people that they are and some people may be surprised how interesting this drama can be.

I did enjoy the characters in this drama and found myself being swept away when I would start watching. I sometimes didn’t always understand the fine details of the politics but I did get the gist of what was happening. I was happy that there was some love lines happening although I wasn’t expecting much from this writer. I really enjoyed the cinematography of this drama as well. I think it was well written and acted out wonderfully.

I was a little sad that I didn’t get to see Lee Dong-Wook being more of a doctor and treating patients but I was happy to see him act again! At times it was a bit hard to follow with the paperwork and what the politics were all about. I feel like the problems were not resolved so I’m wondering if they are wanting to donate second season since it seemed like a cliffhanger ending. If there is not a second season I feel like it was a bit of a strange ending.

Overall it was a well written drama with interesting characters and good drama.

The dramas that I am watching next are:

1. 100 days my prince: It is about a Prince that loses his memory and marries a peasant woman.

2. Devilish Joy: Also a memory loss drama with a man that wakes up with no memory of the past day after an accident. He reunites with a woman that he loves and he has no memory of her.

3. The Beauty Inside: It is about a top star woman who lives one week out of the month with a different appearance and a man that is unable to recognize anyone’s face except for hers.

4. Where the stars land: It is about a man that is smart and mysterious working at the Incheon International airport and meets a clumsy woman also working at the airport.

5. Room Number 9: It is a body swap drama, a lawyer changes places with a death row convict.

 

Japanese Movie Reviews July 4, 2018

I have been watching some Japanese Movies lately mostly ones based off of a manga. They are kinda like their own genre and often tend to be high school dramas. I find it is harder to find subs for movies especially Japanese movies. They are from various years and I just briefly wanted to talk about them.

The first one I watched this month was called The Anthem of the Heart which is based on an anime with the same title. The premise of the story is about a girl named Jun Naruse who learns that her words have ruined her family so she believes that an egg fairy puts a curse on her and is unable to speak. After that whenever she tries to speak she is plagued by a terrible stomachache. Once she attends high school people seem to just ignore her until she is forced to join a committee by her teacher. She want to refuse but she hears Takumi making music and she feels compelled to join the committee and take part in creating a musical that could express her thoughts and what is stuck in her heart.

So there are parts of this movie that are interesting and compelling but it seems super unrealistic. The idea that since she was a child she has not been able to speak and her Mother just seems angry at her but doesn’t deal with the problem by getting her help. I don’t think a school would be able to have a student that doesn’t speak without wanting to get her help. I know that psychological help is taboo in Japan it still doesn’t seem that realistic. Also I don’t really think that she has never tried to sing anything until high school, to me that seems impossible to think you would never sing along to a jingle or song, even by accident. I have not seen the anime so maybe they express things differently and in a more realistic way that the movie doesn’t seem to cover? I did enjoy the characters and the love triangles were interesting. They did not give enough time to really develop the love triangles since the confession at the end was surprising to me since they gave little time to the two of them developing affection for each other.

I did like the music in this movie, it was interesting how it mashed the songs together and I thought the acting was believable. I don’t think this is the best fantasy high school movie that I have seen but it had some interesting thoughts and feelings portrayed in the movie.

 

The second movie that I watched was Kyo Koi Wo Hajimemasu (Love for Beginners) 2012. It is based on a manga which I did read. I really think it makes a difference whether or not you have read the manga before the movie. When you read the manga you know the story line better and understand the characters better and the movie will feel rushed since it only has a limited time to tell the story. So yes the story was very fast moving and it seemed to feel really rushed but it was a cute movie. I obviously liked the manga better but it is interesting to see the manga story line in a live action version.

The movie is about Hibino Tsubaki who is considered old fashioned and tends to dress in an unattractive way but she is very good at styling other people’s hair. There is a male Tsubaki that she meets in high school who seems to have a problem with the way that Hibino Tsubaki is acting and declares that she is his and no one else can touch her. So it is a bit of typical idea of a girl going through a makeover by taking off her glasses (Big eye roll) and becoming the perfect girl for the popular boy that could have any girl that he wants. So I don’t think that this movie has a lot of depth but it is more of a fun movie that doesn’t make you do any thinking. It is okay, but not the greatest of movies.

I think I preferred reading the manga!

 

The third movie I watched was Sakurada Reset 1 and also Sakurada Reset Part 2. It is two different movies but I will talk about them together they were both released in 2017. It is based on anime and light novel. The plot of the movie is that within the town of Sakurada people are able to possess special abilities and will forget them in they leave the town. It is mainly about Kei Asai who is able to remember everything and works together with Misora Haruki who is able to reset the town for maximum of three days after she saves the time. Kei is able to remember everything even with the reset while most people aren’t able to remember and never know that the town has been reset. They get involved with the Administration Burea that monitors all the abilities and they become a part of a bigger picture where they need to save the town.

So I found these movies a bit hard to follow because I have not watched the anime or read the books. Some of the abilities were confusing to me but it left me wanting to watch more. I think it is confusing since they redo the same day over and it is hard to keep track what day you are on. I am happy they did another movie which I think a lot of manga turned into movies need to do to tell the story to the best it can. I found the use of the abilities interesting and really made you think about how everything is connected and it really drew me in. I thought the plot was really interesting and wanted to keep watching more! I am starting to watch the anime because I want to understand the story better and usually after watching a movie I have no desire to watch the anime. So I think they did a good job in getting people interested in the story.

 

I would recommend these movies if you like the fantasy and interesting story lines that mind you can be a bit confusing or maybe that is just me !?

 

The fourth movie I watched was Orange which again is based on the manga with the same name. I have not read the manga so I don’t know how they compare to each other. This drama is a fantasy school drama. It is about Naho Takamiya who is in high school and on her way to school she gets a letter from herself from ten years in the future. The letter contains details about what will happen to her this year and she wants to make some different decisions so that she can correct some mistakes that the future Naho has made. The events she wants to change seem to be around a new transfer student Kakeru Naruse and about a bad event that seems to involve him.

I really like time travel type movies and this one is very interesting with sending mail to your past self. I enjoyed the way that the story was developed and found it interesting thinking that past events can have such a profound effect on our future. It is a simple story and yet has some complex thoughts and feelings that come from watching it. I think because we all have things that we wish we could change about our past. I found this movie very moving and I thought the movie was well done and I don’t really have anything negative to say about it.

I really liked this movie and would recommend it although there are parts that made me very sad!

 

The Fifth movie I watched was Daytime Shooting Star (Hirunaka no Ryuusei) which again is based on the manga with the same name. This movie is a again a high school movie which is about Suzume a high school girl that moves in with her Uncle in Tokyo because her father is moving to Bangladesh because of his job. She hasn’t lived in a a big city so she gets a bit lost and runs into a man that helps her to her uncle’s house. She later finds out the man is to be her homeroom teacher Satsuki Shishio and she starts to develop feelings for him.

So this movie is great for those who like teacher student romances! I did read the manga before watching the movie but it had been a long time and I didn’t remember what happened at the end so I still found the ending surprising. I liked this movie it was interesting and the romance keeps you guessing about who she is going to choose. All the actors are cute and I thought the acting was decent. Of course the manga goes into more details and you feel you get a better idea of the characters as the movie is always rushed. So it may not feel as developed as one would like when it comes to the relationships but I think it was sweet and cute movie which was enjoyable.

I really liked the ending more than I thought originally in the manga!

The sixth movie I watched was Hyouka: Forbidden Secrets which was first an anime Hyouka. The movie is about Hotaro Oreki who in his first year of high school and his sister writes and tells him that he has to join the Classic Literature Club or else it will be dissolved and that he has to save it. When he joins he meets Eru Chitanda who is a girl who is always curious and she asks Hotaro to solve the mystery of the words that her Uncle told her about the club Hyouka. Hotaro can’t seem to say no to Eru and so he tries to put together the pieces about what happened 33 years ago.The movie focuses on the first couple of episodes of the anime Hyouka except that it focuses and goes deeper into the mystery of Chitanda’s Uncle. I have to say even though I watched the anime it has been a while and I completely forgot about the mystery of Eru Chitanda’s uncle and I really liked how they went deeper into the mystery although it still makes me sad that they can’t really get to the bottom of what happened to her uncle. I wish that they would do another movie and have more mysteries for Hotaro to solve!

 

I know that a lot of people didn’t like the choice of actors for the characters but I didn’t think they did a bad job picking them. It is hard to convert from anime to live action because there is a charm with anime and the way the characters can act and then transfer to live action and try not to make it to silly and cartoony. I didn’t mind the actors though and I think they had the essence needed for the characters in the movie. I think if you like trying to figure out mysteries that you will like the movie and it will make you interested in watching the anime.