---> YING YE 3 + 1

Broadcast period: 2007-Jul-29 to 2007-Nov-11


As I have promised myself, I will look into the other works of Taiwanese actor Ming Dao. Sure enough I found one starring him with the same girl from Frog Prince. Lets see if our leads, Ming Dao as Yang Jia Jiang and Chen Qiao En as Xia Tian still have the magic… Omilord, Ming Dao is STILL uber cuteness in some of the scenes even if he does not play a rich kid here. Not fair! …haha…
What is there to say about this drama, good acting by the leads BUT a light weight story and script! BUT, I definitely have to hand it to the main love team here, they most certainly have the elusive chemistry that is sooo hard to find between actors. They totally and absolutely saved this drama from being a complete failure. D*mn cute those two, specially in the early episodes when they are literally at each other’s throats. Another fine example of love manifesting itself thru aggression. if there’s one thing that I may single out as something I totally like here, it’s the crying scenes of both lead actors. The sobbing and the tears that fall on-cue are so cute and real and I find myself feeling sorry for them as if it was the real thing. I think I should also mention that if there’s anything I really appreciate in taiwanese dramas, it’s the kisses that looks real and not done for cinematic purposes only.

I have to admit, I fast forwarded on most scenes without the leads. It just seems pointless to watch some of them because sometimes a couple of irritants pops up and I couldn’t help myself, I just need to move along. lets see… the overly exaggerated gunshot sound effect is annoying in its frequency and loudness. Does it have to be THAT loud??? Sound effects are suppose to be just that, “for effect”, not to distract and take away attention from important scenes. Also, the tall mestizo member of the Ying Ye 3 who looks old enough to be their teacher. When I see his scenes wearing a highschool uniform, im like, weH, you got to be kidding.

Im not too crazy about that particular twist in the story where one of the leads decides to do what he believes is the selfless act of “giving up on a love one, pushing them away, all for their own good”, what can I say, you know how I feel about those kinda things ….at least there was no amnesia BUT, there was something else that they substituted the amnesia “thing” with one of those usual “multiple choice” answer in every drama conflict that I have mentioned before. That twist was passe and rehashed, but I could happily bear it because Ming Dao displayed some brilliantly sensitive acting on those scenes that got my mind wondering and asking …will somebody please give this guy a good material to work with. …anyway, my frustration is slightly pacified ‘coz he plays a pretty cool character here. How ingenious was that birthday gift that he gave Xia Tian or what…

If I gave the acting honors to Chen Qiao En in Frog Prince, here in Ying Ye 3+1, the acting honors belongs to Ming Dao. Really, his talent is totally wasted on these kind of roles. As far as his acting prowess is concerned, I feel that we’ve barely scratched the surface. To me, he comes across like the type of actor that would and could internalize his role and be the character that he plays as soon as the director screams the word “action!”. Good actors appears every so often but great actors are few and far between and the same goes for dramas. His facial expressions and body language is quite fascinating to see on the boob tube. this is what they call “method acting”, where an actor forgets who he is and immerse himself in a character or role oftentimes taking it even off camera. Ming Dao is seriously beginning to have the “kimutaku” effect on me im telling you, of course, with a crucial and important difference as yet so far, he doesn’t have Kimura Takuya’s excellent body of work, but who knows… maybe, after i see a few more of his works(if i can find an english hardsubbed copy that is) this guy can be elevated to the status of being my favorite taiwanese tv drama actor:)

of course, this drama has a happy ending, it is a romantic comedy after all and even had a glimpse of the future of our main characters BUT the last episode was anything but satisfying. That whole going back to the “love game show” which I totally don’t get in its idiocy in the first place, was anything but a win for me. It was a fail the first time and they had to repeat a failure, ugh. They could have done better. 3.5 out of 5.

---> MY COUNTRY CALLS

Broadcast period: 2010-May-10 to 2010-Jun-29



Finally got to watch this drama after planning to do so several times in the past year. Two reasons why i always set it aside is, 1st , and the more important reason I think is, i wasnt too excited about the leads(I have never seen any of their previous works and their charisma hasn’t reached me yet) and 2nd, the story is not interesting enough for me. An action-rom-com between an NIA(Korean equivalent of CIA or FBI) agent and a local police officer. HE is a stickler for procedures and rules while SHE, is always saddled with money troubles. HER money problems are brought about by what else but, a pain-in-the-neck family member, in this case, an irresponsible and immature mom. A series of unfortunate encounters/coincidence brought them together and one day, they found themselves working with each other. How that will develop into romance specially when they are always at odds is what I want to see…

Aaahhh …uuuhhhmmm …why oh why is it so hard to write about this drama? Admittedly, its not the best drama I’ve seen but it is also far from being the worst that have ever finished. Believe me, I may sound preeetty mean at times BUT it takes a lot before I would give up on a particular drama. Im quite stubborn and would insist on finishing it not unless the feeling of wanting to pull my hair out of frustration OR I would start to feel like smashing something within my reach out of anger, comes too often. When that happens, its safer for everybody if I just call it quits…haha… anyway, the lead girl, Lee Soo Kyung as Oh Ha Na tried to be funny all too often and she did succeed at times but to me, sometimes it’s a bit trying hard and she lacks the charisma to pull off a more satisfyingly adorable character. Again that’s just me. The male lead, Kim Sang Kyung as Go Jin Hyuk is a stiff character. His interactions with the female lead has its moments and they were good sweet moments too.

If there’s anything lacking in this drama, maybe it’s the absence of charismatic lead actors. The kind that makes viewing an exciting exercise. I don’t have to be a big fan of any of the leads to begin with, if the drama is well made, I will be their fan after I’ve seen it …wellll, hopefully. The drama PASTA comes to mind, I know the leads and I was not their fan BUT they 100% won me over with an excellent production :) What saved this drama from oblivion is the second male lead, Ryu Jin as Han Do Hoon, the suspected druglord himself and his penchant for jumping to the wrong conclusion. In this drama HE WAS THE COMIC RELIEF. Im not saying he’s great, im just saying he provided “some” laughs and dry humor. Wasn’t I just laughing my a** off when he very excitedly surprised our female lead with a gift that he thought she would like …a box of …I’ll let you discover it yourself. Let me put it this way, to a certain extent, he can be funny in his eccentricities, absurdities, weirdness, tactlessness and his self worship. Actually, some of you may even roll on the floor laughing at his character, and I wouldn’t be surprised, its just that I AM as eccentric and as weird too so my tastes may differ from your average normal people:)

Let me also commend the ensemble cast, a special mention to the senior cast. they are a bunch of colorful characters. Well done:)


I would still recommend it for viewing to anybody who’s just looking for some light action and a few laughs. Don’t always take my word for it you know, who knows, you may find not a “few” but a lot of laughs here. Your sense of humor maybe different from mine. iam after all a self confessed first class cynic anyway so don’t mind me and go ahead and enjoy watching this one. I’ll give this one a 3 out of 5 rating.

---> PARADISE RANCH

Broadcast period: 2011-Jan-24 to 2011-Mar-15

So, the only reason why I wanted to watch this drama is for one reason and one reason alone, The Story. It is like a plot straight from those cheesy romance pocketbooks that I use to drown myself in waaay back in my early teens. ok, in a nutshell this is the story …A very young couple getting married when she was 19 and he was 21, only to break up after only 6 months, and 6 years later meeting again, both in a relationship with someone else. Not too interesting IF the story ended there right? But, in this convenient and supposedly happy set-up of everybody having a partner, what is the “green-eyed monster” doing rearing its ugly head? Why should an ex be uncomfortable seeing an ex in a romantic relationship with someone else…haaay, jealousy, it makes life more colorful and exciting. Nice, I super like :) So on the strength of the story alone, I was drawn to this drama even if there are others on my hardrive.

let me get this off my chest first, Im not too crazy about the leads, particulary the “idol” leading man, and I have not seen the leading lady in any of her previous works. I am always wary of these type of “instant” actors nabbing lead roles in their acting debut. On what grounds have they earned that right? I know their management companies have managed to create this larger-than-life image for them therefore blinding a lot of fangirls to worship whatever gig they get themselves in, still, it is unfair to the legitimate actors who is still out there struggling and waiting for that big break. Sorry for the rant, its just that sometimes there are some things that nags at my sense of fairness. I don’t even care if these said idols can give justice to the roles they were given. To me that is not the point. ALRIGHT, lets give credit where credit is due …Shim Chang Min didn’t mess-up in his portrayal of Han Dong Joo. its a good enough performance for a first timer. ALRIGHT again, maybe my problem is im not a fan of this guy??? Maybe. Moving on…

At first, and I mean from episode 1-5, I thought “there is something seriously wrong in this production”. It seems to be lacking in every way. I felt no sense of attachment or attraction in any of the main characters, nor anticipation for the next episode. I found the leading lady, Lee Yeon Hee, and the character she plays, Lee Da Ji, quite cute even if her acting sometimes border on trying way too hard, but from ep1-5, that cuteness was not enough for me, not even nearly enough. Don’t I just want to slap some sense into her when she told Yoon Ho “ahjussi” that she would wait for him and not content with that, she had to repeatedly ask him if its really over? Haaa, stupid girl!!! You have no pride. I hate to use this word but there is no other that would best describe this girl’s effort but …pathetic!!! Thank goodness the “ahjussi” is not exactly a player and told her honestly to not wait for him. Girlll, when a man says he doesn’t want you, even if you are still panting after him you say, good riddance!!! Ok? As I was saying, ep 1-5 was anything but interesting, BUT im a patient girl, I gave it a few more episodes and IM GLAD I DID. by ep6, the story and the pacing of this drama begun to pick-up and by ep8 when ahjussi’s “nearly” ex-wife made her appearance, I was thinking, this is getting preeetty exciting :) here I was thinking that the ex-wife’s appearance will be just long enough to create a ruckus or a “slight “ chaos within the “foursome” BUT when she came back with a vengeance, it is a twist that I sooo welcome. Rock the boat, she certainly did! From then on, I was laughing, and swooning, and eager to see the next episode …when you cant wait to see what will happen next, that’s a good sign and it says a lot about a drama as far as I am concerned.

I like the honesty between the leads, they tell each other what's on their minds. I also like how they are often at each other’s throats …you know what they say about love, it often manifests itself thru aggression …haha, I just made up that one myself, so it is definitely not gospel truth :) Despite Dong Joo’s squabbles with Da Ji, I just love it when he would instantaneously, quickly run to her defence each and every time somebody makes the mistake to speak ill of his ex-wife. Theirs is a cute kind of lovin’ that seems to be a resumption from where they left off 6yrs back. Its tumultuous, its loud, its petty one minute but totally mature the next minute … but it is definitely LOYAL and SWEEET.

Id like to give the acting honors here to the second male Joo Sang Wook as Yoon Ho the “ahjussi”, it was a perfect portrayal of an honest man with a strong sense of obligation and loyalty. His play on emotions like loneliness, apathy, amusement, sympathy, compassion, hurt, resignation, love …is done with a large dose of sensitive acting. This sophisticated ahjussi can be sooo nice and charming and sweet and to top it all, extremely loyal to-the-bone that for the affection of our lead girl, he certainly gave our leading man a run for his money. I even felt sorry for him, he paid dearly because of his loyalty to his troubled “ex” wife. In the end he could no longer regain lost ground.

Everything considered, to me it has what it takes to be a good romantic comedy. I have to commend the ending ‘coz it showed an important lesson to our young people that marriage is a serious business and in this drama, our leads somehow showed that they have learned from their youthful indiscretions. For the first 5 or 6 episodes, I would give it a rating of 2.5 out of 5 for being so-so, neither good nor bad. for the rest of the episodes I’ll give it a 4out of 5.