---> LIE TO ME

Broadcast period: 2011-May-09 to 2011-Jun-28


A “little” lie that created a HUGE mess. That’s how this story got started ^^

The female lead from Princess Hours/Coffee Prince AND the male lead from Hong Gil Dong got together to star in this romantic comedy… how special is that or what!

Ok, so im on episode 2 and im sooo loving how it’s going so far. Here I was worried that this drama is not so good ‘coz I heard that they changed director in the middle of production at around episode 10(?). to me when that happens, it spells disaster so let’s see how this drama goes and no worries, despite my obvious bias ‘coz I love the leads here, I will honestly tell you if this drama is great… good… bad or awful!

The STORY… For me who simply likes to be entertained when watching a rom-com, the plot of Lie to Me is… to put it bluntly… good enough. you know me, given a choice I’d always go for the shallow uncomplicated romantic comedy. This one has a cute storyline that could open a lot of romantic and humorous possibilities given the right script and director. Again the plot is sooo similar to one of those cheesy romance pocketbooks I read in my teens. THERE in the book that I read, the junior secretary announced that she was engaged to her boss when she overheard him saying something insulting about her. HERE in this drama, the female lead deliberately made a “poisonous former school friend” believe that she is married, and events that transpired after that LIE now have her “married” to an eligible and rich guy. And all this brouhaha because of a slight accident that happened in a public place that involves her and the rich guy. NOW, he wants to sue her for spreading the rumor while she maintains her innocence ‘coz according to her, she never said the name of the guy she was married to. as if their situation is not complicated enough, let’s add into the picture his “missing” free-spirited younger brother who believes that he is fated to meet this same girl who just happens to be his hyung’s(older brother) “wife”! The younger brother who blames himself for being the cause of his hyung’s broken engagement 3 yrs ago now finds himself again in the middle of a complicated situation... another love triangle with yet again, his older brother! Interesting huh? you bet, specially when the hyung’s ex fiancée(2nd pic below this paragraph), the girl he gave up for his younger brother, comes back into the picture and that relationship still has no closure ^^ Could history be repeating itself??? Welll… not exactly… BUT…

The SCRIPT… What can I say… its not as brilliantly written as let’s say The Greatest Love, welll, but that’s because scripts like that are more of an exception than the norm. this one is more often than not… predictable *have I seen too many dramas that I can predict what’s gonna happen next?*. anyhoo, if I may sum up how best to describe The Script… its ordinary, nothing to get excited about the lines/dialogues. I had no moment of like… “whoa, that’s a great line!” or “excellent come back!”, im afraid no such thing here. Don’t be too disappointed though, truth of the matter is, those moments for me are rare. For some reason, there were 2 or 3 lines in the last episode that I was impressed with BUT, 2 or 3 lines in an entire 16 episode drama is a little, "too little too late"… at least its there^^ but I have to commend the other interesting characters that was a welcome addition to the story… the female lead’s “friend” Yoo So Ran played by actress Hong Soo Hyun AND the love triangle senior citizen edition between the female lead’s dad and his longtime companion/girlfriend and the artist/cook.


The DIRECTOR… what can a poor director do if the problem is the script? I think whoever that person may be, he/she gave it their all, in fact, I enjoyed the first few episodes and there were burst of good cinematic scenes here and there even if its so few and far between specially in the latter part. And what the h*ll happened in that housewarming party… can the host just disappear without explanations as to the reason why? Haaa… sooo badly done >.< its a good thing i was totally distracted by that kiss from out-of-nowhere...

The ACTORS… Yoon Eun Hye(YYH) who plays Gong Ah Jung still does her awkward and funny acting habits. I love her cute adorkable face. I love her sad crying face. I like her fashion sense(well, most of the time^^). She’s one of those rare breed of former “idols” who can actually act. Yes people, they do exist^^ I cant seem to say a lot about her role here because it seems to be a weak characterization that’s why she became unexciting in the latter part. Maaan, Kang Ji Hwan(KJH) who plays Hyun Ki Joon is really good in the crying scenes, im just reminded again of how good he was in Hong Gil Dong. He’s always got this “naughty boy” glint in his eyes that I cant resist. With him it’s the opposite. His character started quite boring and made a turnaround in the second half. His role started acting out-of-character… gone is the stiff businessman and and now comes a man often acting on impulse. Aaahhh, I love their scene in episode5(3rd pic below after this paragraph) among the Sakura Trees(cherry blossoms), sooo beautiful in more ways than one ^^ KJH’s solid acting saved the very public declaration of love in the streets scene(4th pic below) from becoming uber cheesy. Actually, the hopeless romantic side of me luv, luv, luv it!

Something drove my obssessive compulsive(OC) tendencies mad in this drama. im sorry but i need to rant about this. its nothing “big” really, its really tiny BUT its capacity to distract me is tremendous ^^ Whatever it is that KJH is always wearing on his lapel, you know that tiny “thing” that looks like a flower and/or ribbon or whatev, is driving me crazy in its ridiculousness. Everytime our male lead is wearing a suit, my eyes are always drawn to that “thing”, it’s driving me insane. HAAAAAA… what the heck is that??? our business tycoon looks like he is about to attend a wedding instead of just going to the office. Its not even funny to me, I couldn’t find humor in it, not even an ounce of fashion sense in that style. I would have ripped it off that jacket if it was anywhere near me! Haaay, it just doesn’t seem right specially in a corporate setting… wellllll… not unless he is a gay wedding planner ^^ or in some “artsy” business. *hehehe, I really neeeed to calm down, don’t i?*

Cant exactly pinpoint when, how, or why it happened, but halfway through this drama, things just went downhill. It was not a rapid freefall but it definitely didn’t stay as good and entertaining as the earlier episodes. The love story part between the main leads is not the problem. In fact, the occasional “sweet and lovey dovey scenes”, even if our male lead was acting really out-of-character is what saved this drama from falling even further and landing with a loud and painful “thug”. Remember their “cola kiss”?(people, see the 1st pic below this paragraph) Whew… hot, hot, hot! While I may have “some” objection to the marked change of character by our male lead *can somebody really change that drastically because of love? Or was it the change of director midway through this drama that was responsible for it?*, the biggest contributor to this drama’s downhill trend was the “broken” storyline. The two love triangle in this drama was a pretty solid storyline and it has a promising potential to attract and hold the viewers attention emotionally… Two brothers orphaned from a young age found themselves in love with the same girl , and when it seems that history was about to repeat itself this time with another girl, one of the brother(2nd pic below) was conspicuously missing in crucial parts of the story. what happened??? Was it you Mr/Ms Director or you Mr/Ms Writer who forgot his existence and went on to proceed and take on a different path. And then, as if they suddenly realized that someone was missing, he re-appeared in the story with a different aura that seems to be totally devoid of the heavy-hearted “feel” that he was emitting the last time I saw him. Hello, can people “turn off” emotions that easily by a mere night spent in drunken stupor??? What brought this sudden transformation was never fully explained and addressed in the story. the older brother didn’t even know that his dongsaeng(younger sibling) was carrying a torch for his main squeeze, ehem… I mean, his latest love. To make matters worse, the what I thought was the “all-important younger brother character” totally disappeared from the scene in the final episode. Dear god, whatever happened to him??? Haaay, are we suppose to “fill in the blanks”???

SURPRISINGLY, I liked how the last episode turned out. I thought, the final episode will be a disaster and I sure am glad its not. it was mature, non-hysterical, realistic by drama standards. Ah Jung’s realization that she may not be the most suitable wife for Ki Joon is a good and smart twist in the story. A career woman’s fear of losing her independence and be totally dependent on a man is a “real” and a “legitimate” consideration for every woman. To some, its like losing a big part of yourself to be with the one you love. How can you be with someone if you yourself is broken? Its not an easy choice to make for some women and rightfully so. In the end, I don’t exactly know what it is that she was looking for, nor was I able to completely wrap my brains around how she found what it is that she's lost(in that crisis in her Jeju workplace) … aaahhh, I have an idea because of what Ki Joon said to her in that Jeju museum but my brain is too exhausted now to fully grasp it *so no questions please about it and let me watch that particular scene another time^^* Another surprise in the final episode is the poetic lines with a reasonably decent depth that are sorely missing in the script, *practically in the entirety of this drama* is present in the final episode. Hmmm, it’s a testament that the writer is capable enough to produce some good lines… *next time put some of that brilliance on display early and more often in a drama ok Mr/Ms Writer?*
That’s all I have to say about “LIE TO ME” folks. Next stop is a Japanese drama… cya!

---> THE GREATEST LOVE (Best Love)

Broadcast period: 2011-May-04 to 2011-Jun-23



Four and a half minutes into the first episode of this drama and it had already managed to elicit some laughter from me. Im not surprised that im already enjoying it from the get go… well, this just happens to be the much anticipated latest work of the Hong Sisters. Every avid and rabid fan of Korean dramas knows THE Hong Sisters, Mi Ran and Jung Eun. If you’ve never heard of them, you have no business calling yourselves Korean drama addicts…haha ^^ The very fact that they were able to cast A-list actors for this rom-com is most likely because of their reputation for coming up with top raters. anyway, I checked out the TV ratings for this drama and lo and behold, its at par or its even more impressive than that of Secret Garden(the last drama that caused quite a stir and sensation in the Korean drama industry early this year)… is that possible… maybe… the drama reviews are positively glowing too. dear lord, im just about done with the first quarter of this drama, and im thinking… how in the world can I survive it till the end without dying from laughter? ^^

Goo Ae Jung played by actress Gong Hyo Jin is a former leader of a defunct girl group and is currently struggling just to get into tv variety/game shows. To put it bluntly, she’s a “has been” in the entertainment industry with more “antis” than followers in her career. Dokko Jin played by actor Cha Seung Won is a top hallyu(ugh, im sooo uncomfortable using that word… ewww, its giving me goosebumps just writing it) actor. By some stroke of faith they met and a slew of some fortunate and unfortunate events in their lives and careers unfolded. Who would have thought that the arrogant actor will eventually turn out to be the protector/saviour of the “has been” singer. That whole evolution of Dokko Jin starting as an aggressor, to becoming Ae Jung’s accidental “guardian angel”, to becoming her sponsor and benefactor, to her being the object of his affection, is uber hilarious to watch. the comedy of errors in a suspense slash comedy style in episode4 literally had me ROFL, I swear, that was preeetty good ^^ it is so good that they did a some sort of a part2 of the same scene in episode11 and what do you know, to me it’s a winner too ^^

this trendy drama is also a tongue-in-cheek look into the Korean entertainment industry so its bound to be similar or based on actual people within that industry. Let me get this out of the way first… as the character Dokko Jin was being unravelled to me, I cant help but think that its like a combination of both Hyun Bin the man/actor and Kim Joo Won, Hyun bin’s character in Secret Garden(SeGa). WHY, because of 2 things. THE FIRST thing, Joo Won and Dokko Jin are both eccentric rich men who is struggling with themselves trying to make sense to explain their feelings for an unsuitable girl. Actually, now that I have seen both characters, Joo Won is way more “normal” compared to Dokko Jin, hmmm, yeah absolutely waaay more “normal”. One is claustrophobic and obsessed with his infamous flambouyant tracksuits(which are immortalized in this drama too^^), while the other is obsessed with his heart monitor and his “60-90 heartbeat”. I don’t think anybody who has seen SeGa wouldn’t think that there are similarities between these 2 characters specially when they were aired not too far apart and both enjoying tremendous following from the viewing audience. THE SECOND thing, the part about Dokko Jin pretending to be still in a relationship with Ae Jung’s former group mate Kang Se Ri played by Yoo In Na, when they had already called it quits for over a year is like the actual controversy surrounding the lovelife of Hyun Bin himself earlier this year and that whole split-up with famous actress Song Hye Kyo. Some say that they had already broken up last year but are just keeping up appearances for various reasons, all of which are career related… hmmm juicy celebrity rumors and intrigues ^^ is it possible that Dokko Jin the character is loosely based on Hyun Bin the actor??? Tarararannnn… so much for spazzing and back to the drama…


As far as I know, I dont think i have ever seen Cha Seung Won(CSW) in any previous production before. With his overall look, he strikes me as one who should be casted as a villain in an action film or drama and NOT a leading man in a romantic comedy. Maybe that is why initially, the vibe I was getting from him is…that there is something about his face or facial expressions that I find… awkward, weird, unsettling, quirky… my brain is telling me I should be hating him in that role BUT more often than not, when he’s on, I just end up ROFL ^^ I love it that when a particular scene is starting to turn melodramatic, he’d turn on his quirky side and diffuse the overly dramatic tensions. Even if at first I thought, it was a casting fail… but whoa… how wrong am I or what? the guy is a real pro. NO, he did not need to transform himself into the charming clean-cut dashing leading man for me to appreciate him, in fact, he remained the same petty, awkward and creepy character until the very end, WHAT CAN SAY---> he’s totally THE MAN. I have this question on my mind as I watched CSW play Dokko Jin. I wonder how much of what I see onscreen is the Hong Sisters’ brilliant characterization and how much of it was the brilliance that is CSW? Was how he portrayed that role exactly what the sisters had pictured it to be? I have a feeling CSW brought another dimension to Dokko Jin that was never even imagined by the writers themselves! With the kind of adjectives(those I wrote in the first part of THIS paragraph) and description that I showered this character, you can only conclude that with that character and face, feelings of sadness coming from him would be quite difficult to convey to the audience. That we may actually feel uneasy and unsettled OR end up not taking him seriously during the drama/crying scenes. Well… that is actually true IF an actor of a lesser caliber portrayed it. here, CSW’s tears are soo convincing and his sadness is so hearfelt that I actually felt sorry for the weirdo when he’s on the emo mode. What a versatile actor CSW is ~ let’s give credit where credit is due… please let us not forget that the comedy part of this drama basically lies on his shoulders alone. The others contributed some BUT whatever laugher you got from watching this is most likely because of him. Is it just me or did the Hong Sisters and actor Cha Seung Won inject a classic quirky Japanese style in that character??? Its approach is very Japanese, maybe that’s why im not pissed by it nor did I think of it as going overboard^^ his “evil” laugh doesn’t even annoy me… well… not that much ^^ I think what’s amazing about CSW is that to this day, I still think he looked completely psycho in his role and yet thats exactly why he is sooo effective. ^ding dong^ That i was not blinded at all by his charm nor good looks(Dokko Jin, charming? Weh! ^^)… so for me to say that he is darn good here simply means im absolutely stating a fact without an ounce of bias. No, im not and never have been his fangirl and still not likely to be his fangirl in the future BUT I recognize a job well done when I see one.

AND, what about Gong Hyo Jin(GHJ) and her gift of snagging the best roles in the best projects. She landed another winner in this one. Thank god she looks better here than in Pasta, but still the same amazing actress… unconventional, quirky, just the way i like it ^^ waaaa… I was floored by her gem-studded shoulder pads sewn outside her blouse(see the pic below), they look like pin cushions that landed on her shoulders^^ How did GHJ the actress and her character Goo Ae Jung handle and tackle her predicament of having a man as powerful and as strange as Dokko Jin falling for her??? I must say… with flying colors baby!!! She was able to hold her own and effectively balance her character to that of the male lead when she could have easily been clobbered by the presence of such a strong character in Dokko Jin. basically, what I like about her character is she treats Dokko Jin as her equal despite his superstar status. HER initial rejection of Dokko Jin’s love confession and HIS reaction to that rejection and how that entire scene was executed… from the setting, to the lines and its delivery, even to the follow through scenes(to his “storytelling” scene when he followed her until they parted on that night)… what can I say… both HE and SHE remained “in character” at all times. SHE was cool and no-nonsense while HE is weird and creepy as usual^^ No traditional lines here, nothing but real, down-to-earth, everyday ordinary lines… weh? Is there anything ordinary about Dokko Jin and his story ---> All that talk between them about the rejection of HIS GIFT of potatoes and finding HER treasured chicken is, is, is, witty, topnotch HUMOR!!! *clap, clap* ohhh mannn, now Im sooo looking forward as to how this two will finally get together… having said all that, I must also say that there is something about Ae Jung that makes me want to slap some sense into her. You know me, I have little patience for stupid people but im not totally heartless ^^ Selfless acts for another soul as far as im concerned are reserved for people who deserve them. Carrying everybody’s burdens is the height of stupidity specially when the people youre trying to protect are selfish and don’t deserve your good deed. It’s a good thing GHJ was not born in ancient times, otherwise, she would be burnt at the stake ‘coz that’s what happens to martyrs and saints. In the real world now, “dog eat dog” is the norm. so when our female lead starts acting like, im going to keep everybody’s secret and it doesn’t matter if I’ll look bad in the process, that to me is a lot of BS! To Ae Jung what her company wants her to do is selling out her friends(?) and family but to me Representative Moon was just asking her to simply tell the truth. Im sorry but her tears did not gain any sympathy from me, it only adds to my frustration at her pathetic decisions. She should thank her lucky stars that she’s got a “creepy angel” watching her back and ready to bail her out at all times in whatever and every way he can *omigosh, im sooo affected. calm down girl, its just a freakin' drama ^^* Oh, on another note, im sooo grateful that she didn’t sing the “Thump, Thump Song” inside the operating room. The scenes leading up to the surgery had me seriously worried and dreadfully anticipating that the writers wrote that into the story and I was thinking, “oh no, youre not gonna do that to me”. I would very likely throw a fit if something that cheesy will be thrown within my sight. Seriously, I was relieved when my worst fear did not materialize. Halleluja, praise be to the drama gods ^^

Yoon Kye Sang(YKS) who plays the role of Yoon Pil Joo is the dashing doctor who is the “searcher” in the dating game where Ae Jung is one of the “searchees”. When I heard who were casted for the latest Hong Sisters drama, I was hoping against hope that YKS will be the male lead and when I learned otherwise, I was like… darn, why did he even agree to be a mere 2nd fiddle? I’ve always liked him in his previous works that I have seen, I thought he carries himself really well and quite effective in the light lovestory-romantic comedy genre. But now that I have seen the Dokko Jin character I asked myself the question, could he have done a better job of portraying him? I have to admit… with that beautiful face, I highly doubt it. Dokko Jin is one h*ll of a complicated character. The role that YKS got instead was that of the classic, “cursed nice guy”. A name I coined myself and sentiments about this type of men was even acknowledged in this very drama! Don’t take it literally though, when I say “cursed” its just a figure of speech^^ You know how in some dramas there are these men who are rich, handsome, sweet, reliable, good natured and are 100% and wholeheartedly in love with the leading lady. Unfortunately, they are doomed to always fail with the leading ladies… for short, a nice guy who is cursed to always loose out to the complicated and brutish “bad boy”. You should know this by now ‘coz I always say it, nice guys never gets the girls, well at least in most dramas that is^^ The 2nd lead men from “Shining Inheritance”, “Pasta”, “Meteor Garden/HYD/BOF”… these outstanding young men are a fine example of the “cursed nice guy” in “dramadom”. Common sense dictates that we girls should pick these kind of men and yet, time and again, the rude, arrogant, complicated, problematic, yet sensitive “bad boys” are always the hands down winner with the ladies. Haaay, If these “cursed nice guys” are real people, I’d like to one day gather them together and hook them up with good girls with a fantastic sense of humor and fiesty personality to make these men’s lives happier and exciting… hehe, delusional much ^^

To what do this drama owe its huge success??? Nothing extraordinarily exciting in the story… Not much eye candy on this production… No big budget production sets, not even scenic locations. What is it then??? It’s the director, the interesting characters of the main leads, excellent acting, AND, the script, the script and the script! I soo hate it when lines/dialogues from dramas goes on and on beating around the bush, delaying the inevitable, sometimes using words and phrases normal people don’t use in everyday conversations. Unless it’s a period drama, I cannot tolerate antiquated dialogues, please spare me from that. why am I even ranting about this, its because one of things I really appreciate here is its well articulated witty lines and none of those cheesy dialogues. Besides, I cannot imagine Dokko Jin uttering uber romatic cheesy lines to Ae Jung, I’ll honestly die from shock! The metaphors are heavily injected with humor, while those smart and snappy lines were uttered one after another in rapid successions that leaves me in awe of the brilliance of the writers. The awesomeness of the script is displayed in the entire 16episode series but it was more intense and highlighted in the last 2 episodes. I may be a bit disgusted at the format of that tv show where Dokko Jin declared his relationship to Ae Jung, imagine pitting women against each other, discarding on national television those that does not appeal to the male chauvinist p*g and the worst part of it is I know there is really such a show in korea! I find the TV public declaration of love… ahhh, chessy BUT, the actual “I love you” was surprisingly totally devoid of cheesiness. That’s all thanks to CWS’s cool acting. Not to be outdone is Ae Jung’s equally cool reaction to the love confession. And the fans’ reaction to the announcement, their online messages are… waaaaaaa, waaay too funny people, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing in the last episode :):):) while it may be funny, it is also sad to see the bad side of being a celebrity in that country. the Hong Sisters showed us the ugly side of the korean entertainment industry. the fangirls and boys in korea or elsewhere in the world needs to grow up. They are to put it bluntly, immature, scary and are sooo possessive of their idols. The korean celebs are so scared of pissing their fans, they would keep their romantic relationships secret for as long as they can, sometimes even to the extent of only revealing them when couples are already in the middle of a divorce proceedings… really! Remember the brouhaha over Seo Taiji's secret marriage… need I say more? ~~~ I have one complaint though, the ring… that’s suppose to be an expensive ring??? weH? Cincha? It looks lke a costume jewelry! Not even an expensive crystal, much less an expensive diamond. Mannn, it looks cheap! Oh come on Dokko Jin, you can do better than that, right ding dong?

I swear, there is something extraordinary about this production that small details like holding one’s hands, casual embraces, simple but choiced close up shots, expressive facial expressions… to those short but significant scenes, all those made a whole lot of difference to add to the excitement in this drama. The “recharge” scenes between the leads are so heartwarming and funny. Who would have thought that the mere holding of one’s hands, at this day and age, could still be regarded and thought of as… sweet? Was there a part of this drama where I thought its dragging… boring… dumb? No… no…no. We all have to thank the director and the writers for that *clap, clap* lest I be accused of overlooking one of my pet peeves’ appearance in this drama, let me come right out with it. YES, this too fell into one of the “multiple choice” options again. The option that I wrote in the review of Frog Prince… the “one of the leads got seriously ill option”. Why didnt I raise a holler over this twist in the story? because it was excellently handled by the director in the story/script. It was not blown out of proportion by being overly melodramatic. The people around the sick person and the patient himself were cool and yet sympathetic, funny and yet caring, realistic and yet concerned, cheerful and yet heartbroken and sad. How outstanding is the Hong Sisters or what? That they resisted giving in to the temptation to extend this series because of its huge success and decided to stick to the original 16 episodes is a stroke of genius. Who knows what mess could have resulted with an extension. What we got instead is a perfect ending. What an awesome last episode that was. I cant believe that Korean dramas now know how to end a drama on a feel good/satisfying note. This is one of the best that I have seen so far *people, make room as I genuflect!*
As a final thought… You and I, and I mean most of us watch dramas to be entertained. Lets not kid ourselves into thinking we engage in this exercise to be intellectually enriched by the experience. If in the process we find ourselves learning something from the story, well and good BUT that’s just a bonus, that is not what we seek to find in the first place. If we choose to watch a love story, we want to swoon and be giddy and fall in love with the leads. If we choose to watch a melodrama, we would expect to be in tears and be touched by the story and the characters. If our choice is a comedy, it will be great to have a good laugh or betterstill, I want to be rolling on the floor laughing ~~~ question is, did The Greatest Love succeeded in what it is suppose to do? I think I have written enough material above for you to make a conclusion on what I got and did not get from watching this. But boy was I entertained by this drama… yes indeed! so how does this measure up against my other all time favorites, hmmm... the jury is still out on that one. to be on that list means enjoying the drama beyond the initial viewing... it means how many times im inclined to repeat the pleasure of watching it.

---> FYI -1<---

FYI, for those who asked or are wondering… NO, I did not forget to put ratings on my drama reviews lately, I just made a decision NOT to do that for now until such time where I have a more organized and a more clearly defined way to rate them. what brought about this decision was the fact that lately, I am sometimes very tempted to change the initial ratings that I gave each time i would re-visit/re-watch a particular drama. Some dramas look better after a second glance while in others, it seems to have lost some of its brightness after a second glance. So for now, I will just continue with my honest insights and I will warn you if my thoughts on some dramas maybe influenced to a certain degree by my fangirl tendencies…joke^^ I’d like to think that as far as drama reviews are concerned, I just tell it as it is.

FYI, I just recently found out that this review blog is having some pretty interesting internet traffic from all over the planet. I know we fangirls have our own biases and sometimes you may want to write a comment if I am particulary harsh on your idols, so, please do not be aftraid to write me an email anytime, I would love to hear from you. My only reminder is that, just stick to the issues and RESPECT is always appreciated :)

FYI, im currently downloading the following dramas so expect a drama review of the following: Korean dramas, The Greatest Love/ Best Love, Lie To me, Romance Town and maybe, Babyfaced Beauty. An old Taiwanese drama entitled Black and White and an old Japanese drama entitled Hero. And because I do not have the patience to watch dramas on online streaming sites, Im still waiting for all the episodes to be hardsubbed by my friends from SD-AD.net so I can get this party started ^^

---> DELICIOUS PROPOSAL

Broadcast period: 2001-Feb-07 to 2001-Mar-29

This drama was aired in 2001… jeez, that was more than a decade ago. So what am I doing watching a really old drama? Well, check out the casts… four of them went on to become big stars...

Son Ye Jin - Jang Hee-ae, her 1st lead role

So Ji Sub - Jang Hee Moon, female lead's brother

Ji Sung - Jun Su, male lead's friend

Kwon Sang Woo - Choon Shik, delivery guy

Jung Joon as Kim Hyo Dong and Son Yeh Jin as Hee Ae are starcrossed lovers. Their fathers were rivals in the past and one is sooo ruthless as to want to destroy the other, by any means. Faced with that reality, our lovers kept their distance yet all the while supporting each other secretly. While it is true that the love story between our main leads Hyo Dong and Hee Ae is classic and sweet, BUT still, im just a sucker for complicated relationships specially when there is a “bad boy” involved. Which brings me to the second leads and their own love story which I personally feel is more interesting than that of the main leads. Jang Hee Moon played by So Ji Sub is Hee Ae’s brother and seemed determined to carry out his father’s wishes to destroy his rival. Soh Yoo Jin as Ma Shi-nae is the object of Hee Moon’s affection. Unfortunately for him, not only is Shi Nae poor, she has also her sights firmly on Hyo Dong.

After im done with this 16 episode drama, I was like in my “mental” state again, talking to myself thinking… asking… “Dear god in heaven, why did I even continue with this drama till the very end?” lets see, what’s the best way to describe this drama??? If it was food, I’d say it’s bland, many ingredients are missing. If it is a relationship, I’d say its detached, lacks warmth and disconnected with your partner. If it’s a dress, I’d say its dowdy, ill fitted and shabby. If it's a song, i'd say it lacks melody, no harmonious rhythm in the notes. If its… I better stop here before I get even more nasty. anyway, i was wondering... whatever happened to the male lead here? he doesnt seem to have appeared in any significant production after this(?) he strikes me as a very competent actor with a face that definitely has "character". he probably had a short-lived career because of the onslaught of "flowers boys" in the korean entertainment industry. sad :(

Had I seen this 15-20 years ago would I have loved it… liked it??? Love it, maybe NOT. Liked it, hmmm, ok maybe a tinie winie bit. What can I do, im spoiled, after seeing cutting edge and trendy korean dramas… the likes of Coffee Prince, Pasta and Secret Garden, how in the world can you expect me to appreciate THIS. Don’t get me wrong, not every OLD drama sucks, some are classic and could and would always pass the test of time. In fact, my all-time favorite dramas are british productions of English period dramas!!! its just that this one is… is… unexciting… dull… dry. Traditional/retro/old-school type of productions are sooo out of my zone these days, it is totally not my style right now. When I say traditional, retro and old school, I do not mean the story nor the aesthetics, I meant, the lines/dialogues, the twists in the story, the characters.

As I was watching this, I realized that 10 years ago, the korean entertainment industry is not as obssessed at physical perfection as they are these days. Not that the actors here are a bunch of uglies, that’s not what I mean. Its just that im surprised to see visible zits in the male lead’s face and also on the leading lady! Tell me, do you even remember seeing any skin blemishes on any of the leads’s these day’s??? to tell you honestly, I prefer these “real” faces that has not been injected by collagen or botox or even “peeled” to perfection, it shows character and registers emotions. Dear Lord… why am I going back to ranting about my favorite pet peeve??? Just when I have succeeded in avoiding doing so in my last few reviews… haay, how frustrating to fall from grace…

I know this is not exactly a glowing review but please remember that this is just me. I know for a fact that there are people who appreciate old fashioned dramatic lines and scenes and characters. So, don’t let a “little” thing like this review stop you from watching. Besides, if youre a big fan of Son Ye Jin, So Ji Sub, Ji Sung and Kwon Sang Woo, regardless of what I wrote here, I would strongly suggest that you should see them here to see the rawness of their talent. As for me… I’ll move on to the next asian drama…

---> TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI (Just One Love/Love of My Life)

Broadcast period: 2006-Oct-14 to 2006-Dec-16



I usually avoid melodramas and just stick to romantic comedies BUT Iately, while looking around for a nice follow up to Secret Garden, im starting to feel kinda bored with the mediocre Korean rom-coms now available to me, so before I get really sick and tired of them, I’d better set my sights on another direction. In my case, that direction always leads me to… Japanese dramas(dorama). I figured, since jdramas are usually just 10-11 episodes, 45-50 mins each, if it turns out to be a bad production, my misery will be short. With my experience with doramas, when it is done right, it is the very best there is out there. It is the reason why I always go back and immerse myself at the beauty of their productions.

Another classic rich girl-poor boy falling in love with each other story. objections were raised on both sides. Complicated by class issues and health problems that beset our lead girl and our lead boy’s younger brother. Happily, friends interfere to help and cheer on the sidelines. Simple right? Well, it seems that way when I put it like that BUT when the storytelling started, when the story was unraveled, when the sequences progressed and the scenes were unfolded… im only on episode 2 and there was I thinking… hallelujah, im in for another treat, AGAIN!

Who says a character has to be handsome in a “flower boy” sort of way AND rich to be cool and attractive? How in the world has this guy’s charms escaped my fangirl radar after all these years??? I wouldn’t exactly call Kamenashi Kazuya(nickname KAME) as Kanzaki Hiroto, handsome in a conventional sort of way, at least not to me. In fact, I purposely avoided some of his earlier work precisely because the shallow fangirl in me thought he wasn’t goodlooking enough to be a leading man. Actually I only saw one of his previous works, Nobuta Wo Produce, which I watched because of his co-star, pretty boy Yamashita Tomohisa(nickname YAMAPI). Im afraid I may have overlooked at his charms in the past because in the boyband Kat-Tun where he is a member, my favorite is former bandmate Akanishi Jin. BUT I just saw a recent TV appearance of Kame and there is a noticeable weight gain that to me only added to his hawtness(the underground/alternative rockstar style), hence, my watching this drama now. *ok guilty, kill me now for being a one dimensional, superficial being* I love how he carries himself on and off screen… brooding and yet, there is an air of confidence, and brashness with a hint of naughtiness. Some people are just born with tons of charisma and loads of sex appeal :p anyway, in this drama, Hiroto works hard every day and night for the survival of a small ship repair factory (inherited from his late father) as well as the survival of his mother and younger brother. When you look at him you could sense that he feels like the weight of the world is upon his shoulders and yet there is an obvious defiance within him that refuses to be a failure. *how can i not love a character like that?*

Ayase Haruka plays Tsukioka Nao, the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner in a fashionable street in Yokohama. I love how Nao is so innocently straightforward, she was able to unsettle Hiroto a couple of times with her honest declarations of affection for him. Jeez, one of my favorite scenes here was when she wanted to be kissed by Hiroto, sooo… kawaii! The Very Best Scene! She has displayed on numerous occasion that she is such a sweet and nice girl and the fact that she is rich made me think a couple of times… Hiroto is one lucky dude, he hit the jackpot when Nao fell for him big time.

Part of this drama’s charm is that there is really no evil villain here. You can sympathize with all the characters in this drama in a way that even if they are making it hard for our love team to be together, you just cant hate them for their good intentions. You would totally understand why Nao’s family just want to protect her and get her out of harm’s way. truth of the matter is, I admire her family and their behaviour is utterly appropriate under the circumstances specially after the stunt Hiroto’s mom pulled… haaay Okasan, why did you have to make it even harder for Hiroto… honto? I just have to pay a little tribute to one of Hiroto’s two friends, Ayuta. He is the very best kind of friend there is. Ready, willing, and able to help, 24 hrs a day. He is the nicest of guys and I kinda feel bad for him ‘coz he’s got no lovelife because he’s in love with... secret... and why is that the case, what could be wrong with him? Welll, its because nice guys never gets the girl, unfortunately. May I also mention that Nao’s friend Yuka hooking-up after a few meetings with Hiroto’s weird if not downright retard friend Ko is absolutely unbelievable. im not being a snob here BUT, no matter how I look at it, what an odd and awkward pair. my complaint here is not because they don’t look good together nor because she comes from an affluent family while he is a mere truck driver but I didn’t see it coming. I saw a certain degree of admiration and maybe even pity, but, that’s it, that’s all! but when Ko waited for Yuka outside her school and she basically ignored and avoided him… oh mannn, how sad is that and yet how powerful is that scene. Ko was brought down to earth after floating on air with the idea of being in love with a cute and rich chick. Well, im not gonna reveal even more spoilers here so, as far as this odd pair is concerned, watch out for episode 9.

Before I end this, let me go back to the scene that made me fall in love with this drama in the first place. That whole shiny orange ball thing in episode 2 and how he got it for her and then when he was trying to reach for her hand behind him and the silly girl gave him the orange ball instead, wooo, that scene was… silly, but somehow when she finally put her hands in his it was… sweetness in its purest form! That scene was sooo sincere and innocent and… pure love! Actually, that was just the start, its a preview of how love unfolded onscreen and how it was wonderfully presented. This production was never boring… never overly ambitious… never pretended to be anything but a touching and simple love story with a heart. Once again, it reaffirmed why I love Japanese dramas. They have a unique charm totally different from other asian drama productions. It is an unembellished, classic story beautifully told in a sober and toned down quality, without the hyterics nor the histrionics oftenly associated with this kind of stories. i was like racking my brains looking at any distractions or real flaws that I could nitpick on… and i found none. Not the acting, not the story, not the pacing, not the ending… nothing really. Im actually running out of anymore superlatives to say, except maybe, to recommend TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI if you are looking for a good love story to watch, this is it. meanwhile, I will leave you with a video*fanvid* that captured the beauty of the story of Hiroto and Nao and the creepy orange ball that played an important role in their relationship… aishiteru…

---> SECRET GARDEN

Broadcast period: 2010-Nov-13 to 2011-Jan-16



My penitence or abstinence or sacrifice for the Lenten Season came very early this year… I decided to wait until the Holy Week to watch this particular drama even if I have all the episodes safely downloaded many many many weeks ago …haha… seriously, is there any other word to call it? imagine, I have denied myself the pleasure of seeing this highly successful drama starred by 2 Korean actors whose previous work I sooo admire. And as if to constantly tease and goad me into watching it are endless proof of the impact of this drama in the Korean entertainment industry itself. all these time I would see parodies left and right performed by big name celebs, several commercials based on the drama were released during and after it was aired AND, I would hear nothing but good feedbacks and how it did really well in the ratings game. Even Hyun Bin’s house in the drama is quite famous now… haah, that house and Oska’s house is ultra modern and structured yet the grounds/garden is wild and pretty random …that house screams Architectural Digest to me. AGAIN, I feel like im being possessed by the spirit of my father that im actually just a tinie winie bit short of fangirling over a house for chrissakes! and that whole area where that house is located is a dreeeam. what an eye candy for a drama location… In them I saw some of the most picturesque shots in this drama, kudos to whomsoever is the cinematographer/cameraman. Great shot of that area around Joo Won’s estate in spring and winter… picture perfect! fierce!

It looks like, this is going to be a long review. Tell you honestly, lately, im trying my best to write brief reviews but sometimes I have so many things to say about a particular drama and when that happens, you will be gratified to know that it means only one of 2 things, that the said drama is either very good or it is very very good(yikes! i think im infected by the "korean english syndrome", im subconsciously copying their penchant for repeating words to stress a point ;p… very very very very ^^). First off, I wasn’t too crazy on the publicized plot. A romantic-comedy-fantasy about body swapping didn’t sound like a good enough material for this 2 celebrated actors. Im not as well versed in the goings-on of the people behind-the-scenes of any drama so I have no idea what the “attraction” of our superstar leads to this particular production given its somewhat unimpressive plot. Judging from episode 1, It seems to me that the director, scriptwriter and the rest of the production are no lightweight in the industry. from the result of the pilot episode, I can only assume that the “attraction” must be the quality of the production people involved. Their work here is anything but the usual rom-com, there is a semblance of uniqueness that I completely approve of. The general texture, design, style and approach of this drama is modern, cool and casual …nothing heavy in most parts. The general direction of the storytelling was clear, intelligent and exciting, the script/dialogues are witty and was effectively articulated, the pacing is just right, the acting of the cast is …wait, I think its more like, im totally loving the characters here and how the actors portrayed them, and I mean all of them! just to prove my point, I was totally convinced as to the how or why our egocentric, arrogant, narcissistic rich male lead was absolutely smitten by our tough and cool leading lady on the strength of the frst episode alone. From previous experience, as far as I AM concerned, the whole process of being attracted first, then eventually falling in love, is one of the hardest transition to interpret onscreen and be believable at that(from my previous reviews, you know that im preeetty hard to convince about these things). it usually takes time and excellent acting to explain how a burgeoning love can happen AND chemistry between the leads is a must, to be credible in my eye. So, it is a small miracle that with the limited scenes of episode 1, I was already sold to the idea that, h*ll yeah, it is possible for our male lead to fall for our female lead. I fell for it, hook, line and sinker :)

Yoon Sang Hyun as Choi Woo Young / Oska (Joo Won's cousin). I dunno about you but to me the funniest character is Oska(what’s up with the missing “R”?). he only has to be onscreen and I couldn’t help but smile or laugh at his “ celebrity look” and persona. He doesn’t even need to open his mouth to say anything, just to see him in his uber trendy clothes and hairstyle at his age, is enough to elicit a laugh from me. I was laughing sooo d*mn hard each time he appears doing his song and dance a la “idol” group style …haaaaaaaaaaa, sooo absurd and ridiculous and preposterous and hilarious that im surprised at myself for not being annoyed at the whole act!

Our leading man, Hyun Bin as Kim Joo Won and his famous, or is it, infamous yet definitely ridiculous and flambouyant sequined dark blue tracksuit is… im at a loss for words. Actually, when he wore the animal print and the black lace variation of that famous “tracksuit”, I almost fell off my chair, the shock of seeing someone that is suppose to be rich and classy and fashionably chic dressed in that tacky and loud get up is just way too funny for me. ***no worries Hyun Bin oppa, I still respect you after the things that you did in this drama*** With the same preposterous’ness, the same absurd’ness, the same bizarre’ness, the same ludicrous’ness, outrageous’ness and whatever’ness, Joo Won and Oska are indeed blood related no doubt about it, no question about it, they share the same DNA! I have this feeling that Hyun Bin purposely lost weight for this role. He was not this slim in his last drama BUT whether he did or not, what matters is that he rocked the screen in his dark tailored suits. ***wooot***

Our leading lady, Ha Ji Won as Gil Ra Im is the tough stuntwoman looks like a casting coup to me BUT, her fangirling on an outrageous aging popstar is something that to this day, im not too sure how I would take.

SHE was confused and quite at a loss by HIS strange behaviour towards her. HE is also confused by the intensity of HIS attraction to HER. HE was bewitched! HIS endless daydreaming of HER presence in HIS immediate vicinity, keeping HIM company in his reverie, most notably in the early episodes, is sweet, original, and highly amusing, specially the parts when HE couldn’t believe that HE was falling for a poor and ordinary girl. What’s funny is, the more SHE pushes HIM away, the greater HIS affection becomes. HE totally doesn’t get HER simply because HE never had any experience with HER kind of a girl before. Dear lord, as if I don’t already like Hyun Bin enough, when he started to verbalize his feelings to the girl he likes, how he felt sad and distraught because of her destitute and impoverished state, boy oh boy, somehow, he is starting to feel and sound “ a little bit” like “Mr. Darcy” to me, minus his silly humor of course. FYI, “Mr. Darcy” just happens to be my all-time favorite male character in any love story novel/English literature. He is the main male character from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” written in 1796-97, published in 1813. His somewhat accusing lines to Gil Ra Im on that Action(stunt) School rooftop in episode 3 is like the modern day version of Mr. Darcy’s famous lines to Lizzie(Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine) in the book after her rejection of his love …”you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections… whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?” and Lizzie’s equally memorable rebuke …”it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner”. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writer of this drama is a fan too… Haay, it may be time to revisit my Pride and Prejudice dvd, I think I miss it. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy …simply the best!

What I saw from episode 1-12 is mostly comedy and fantasy coupled with strong attraction and flirtation. I didn’t feel the "real" love story part of Secret Garden until I saw episode 13. expect the unexpected in the next episodes after that. BUT ohhh boyyy I just need to mention this, that whole Ra Im transformation in ep14 with a little help from her fairy godmother Oska was ooohlala… she and Joo Won were uber sweet that night, ants were crawling all over that V VIP party venue :) I have a question though ‘coz I swear its one of those things about Korea that’s driving me nuts… am I just dumb or what, but, is the use of the acronym VVIP common outside of Korea? What’s sooo special about these group of people that one single “V” wont do??? Another question, if there is a VVIP, could there be a VVVIP? Or VVVVIP? Or a VVVVV …never mind… it’s a joke ..haha, along with their use of words like, “fighting” as an encouragement or cheer like “you can do it” or “goodluck”, and “debut” is when an artist is being introduced/launched in his/her first major project, and “CF” for an endorsement or TV commercial, and “selca” when somebody takes a picture of themselves, "idol groups" are "boybands or girl groups" and something that sounds like “umaigad” is “oh my god” :):):) ok, that’s your korean english tutorial for today… :p

Even if it is basically one of the backbone of this drama, and even if it was the source of some loud laughter from me, I never liked the body swap plot to begin with specially when it dragged on for I think 5 episodes initially and then came back again in later episodes. It came to a point where they seem to get out of each other’s body at the drop of a hat… ooops, more like “each time the rain drops”. At first I thought, I do understand the analogy and logic of it all, its like putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes to better understand their plight. But later on, when it seems like the reason for the body swap has something to do with a promise made to a dying man, all the logic and reasoning that I have concocted in my brain quickly evaporated. And with that final scene on the final episode, I was scratching my head asking, “what was that scene for?” aside from letting us know Joo Won visited and saw Ra Im when her father died, is there a special significance in that scene that it deserves the distinction being "The Final" scene? Will somebody please enlighten me… I may have lost a lot of my brain cells due to the confusion brought about by the frequency of the body swapping :)

I think what made this drama a big success in korea and what separates this from the usual Korean drama is the script. it was in-your-face and straight to the point. just the way i like it. The way they addressed the rich man-poor girl relationship is anything but typical kdrama. Joo Woon in an attempt to rationalize his overwhelming attraction to Ra Im, inspite his eccentricities and oddities, is level-headed enough to figure out and tried to convince himself that it is possible that whatever attraction he may feel for this poor girl may be temporary and he may get tired of her and if he acts weird and seriously fall for her, he begged his mother to do everything and anything to stop him from his madness. For Joo Woon to tell THAT to his mother, in front of Ra Im is a scene that is unheard of as far as I am concerned in “kdramadom”… Ooops... Wait a minute, have I spoken too soon? I think I did. For some reason, the director and scriptwriter it seems and in all probability lost steam, and fell in the same trap this kind of story usually does before it folds. In the rich boy-poor girl plot scenario, the creators of this production eventually ended up choosing a twist from one of the multiple choices, AGAIN! WHY for crying out loud??? And they were doing so well at doing unconventional things in this drama too… haay, is there really no other way than going the same way that all the others went to??? Haaa, thank you lord, at least, im just relieved that the “choice” did not drag long enough for me to get really pissed and it was able to recover really nicely, quite beautifully actually, in the last 2 ½ episodes ***hurray*** In case youre confused and do not understand what I meant by “multiple choices”, I wrote about them in a previous review, you can read it in the review of the drama entitled “ Frog Prince”.

Im afraid in this drama, Ha Ji Won as Ra Im was not given enough scenes to shine… she was overshadowed by the presence of the 2 leading men who are quite impressive in their portrayal of their roles. The boys were given the best lines, the funniest scenes and they delivered some decent acting on their drama scenes. SO, without a doubt, the acting honors for Secret Garden goes to Hyun Bin as Joo Woon. Now I absolutely understand why the whole of Korea was going gaga over this man after the conclusion of this drama. There are a lot of things in his character that doesn’t leave much to be desired in the the early episodes BUT he’s injected tons of simple mindedness and silliness and cuteness in that character that he perfectly portrayed and maximized it to the hilt! The guy owns this drama totally and completely. He uttered and brilliantly delivered the most beautifully written lines in this cutting edge drama. He was seriously funny without much effort in his “body swap” scenes and his unforgettable tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a man who thinks he is wholeheartedly bewitched with the most unsuitable girl for him. He is a man desperately trying to cope in a situation where he found himself in love with the wrong chick! I just love, love, love how he would often over analyze his feelings for Ra Im. He would examine every option open to them and would study what would be the ramifications for choosing each option with his outmost, or should I say in-your-face honesty and/or tactlessness that is sooo funny and amusing and yet, it totally makes sense! Just one tiny critique though, that scene when he read whatever it is that Ra Im wrote in that note she left inside the Alice in Wonderland, or is it Wizard of Oz book, well whatev, when he cried …is it just me or was that cry that he did, lacking in some way? I cant put my finger on exactly what it is that was lacking in almost all of his “crying” scenes, could it be his body language? His facial expression? Perhaps his eyes did not convey to me the deep hurt and longingness he was suppose to feel under the circumstances they were in. bottomline is, whatever those feelings are, it failed to reach me in its entirety. I received some, but not all of that emotion he was trying to transmit. I could visually see that he was hurting and maybe even felt it to a large extent BUT, I was not THAT affected by it …im sorry but it failed to touch a raw nerve in my heart. ***there ive said it*** Even at the risk of annoying and raising the ire of his fangirls which includes my one and only sister, mianhae unnie. To all the unnis out there, lemme just stress that aside from the “crying” scenes, everything else that he did here was just perfect… waaahaha ***this is my sorry attempt to lessen the blow :p*** So spare my life and don’t scalp me alive ..haha… When you think about it, WHO AM I to criticize the acting of our beloved Hyun Bin anyway, so, don’t mind me and my opinionated opinions!

WOW!!! That’s all I can say about the last episode. I honestly thought no Korean drama will give me the kind of ending that I want, EVER, specially in a trendy drama like Secret Garden BUT lo and behold, believe it or not, the ending was a classic “AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER”… without giving out spoilers to those who have not seen it yet, you all know how I feel about wanting to see what happened to the leads in the future, wellllll… here, its 5yrs into the future. what can i do, im concerned about our leads, I need to make sure that they are still happy together years after… those 3 b*bies are sooo adorable, waaaaa!/%#*! How can I explain my delusional tendencies to a normal person… im sorry but I cant explain it, I have no sorry excuse to justify my being mental ^.^ its just that in my world, i check the ending first before even starting on a drama. if one of the leads die, i at least want to prepare myself for the disappointment. no bad surprises please, otherwise, i will be depressed for a few days. Silly me is sooo affected by a mere drama production… haha.
YES peeps, I never thought I would live to see the day when I would say this of a korean drama but... “I love that ending”.