First, let me talk about this cast. Lee Byung-hun (JSA, Iris), Song Seung-heon (You & I, East of Eden), Kim Ha-neul (Piano) and Jun Ji-hyun (My Sassy Girl, My Love from the Star). All big stars, or were at one point. And the supporting cast for this has Cha Tae-hyun and Cho Jae-hyun. Korean dramas weren;t at their peak of the ‘Korean Wave’ but for well known actors starring in the small screen, this is a pretty top period. Most of these names are still fairly big, due to movies or later dramas. Some have simmered down from their earlier status but still retain a respectable career. Either way, it’s a privilege to have a show in this era, in wide circulation.

Happy Together is about 5 people who are related in some way, through marriage or blood, that find themselves at odds with each other. The leading man is Lee Byung-hun, as Seo Tae-poong, an ageing underachiever in Baseball, who longs to bring his siblings back together after he got separated from them following the death of his parents. 3 of the siblings still live together but lead different lives and barely co-exists, Tae-poong is considered an outcast, hardly a brother and there is a younger sister that they both think is lost to them forever. And while Tae-poong’s attempts to bring the family back together aren’t appreciated, the family goes through a tremendous growth, not only as individuals but as a family. It’s a simple premise and a plot. There are added themes about prostitution and gang life through some of the main characters, such as Seo Moon-joo (Kang Sung-yeon) and Jo Pil-doo (Cho Jae-hyun), but the family is the true crux of the story. Even the love triangle is an extension of the story between the two brothers of the family (Lee Byung-hun & Song Seung-heon) The whole trope of an illness for one of the characters isn’t terribly overused by this point and is used to bring the family closer, opposed to Beautiful Days (2001) or Stairway to Heaven (2003). It’s a concise drama that doesn’t go too bold with its storytelling while retaining heart and a good earnest message about family.

Don’t expect a big revenge or love story but expect to be pleasantly surprised by this drama. 16 episodes long and it went by like *clicks fingers*.

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I imagine most of you reading this have never heard of this show, despite its popularity or have heard it in passing. To be fair, its name ‘First Love’ is about as vague and non descript as you can get, but my issues with the names of k-drama’s aside, I’ll continue on with my point. First Love was a huge success in 1996. So much in fact that it’s the second HIGHEST RATED drama of all time. It avarged 52.6% of Korean audiences throughout its run which was 66 episodes (50 minutes each). Huge. At one point, it had a peak audience of 65.8%. Imagine 65% of a country that owns a TV watching something. Despite this, it didn’t get many awards. The only one I could find at first glance (and I mean first glance) was a popularity award for Bae Yong-joon (Winter Sonata), who only got more popular from here and is well known. If there is any 90s K-Drama star well known today, it’s likely him. One thing I’d like to address is that synopsis on wikipedia and other places. Some of it is incorrect. It implies a love triangle between the brothers, which is false. There is one but not with Bae Yong-joon’s character, Sung Chan-woo. Rather it's between Sung Chan-hyuk (Choi Soo-jong, Emperor of the Sea) and Park Sung-won (Sandglass or It's Beautiful Now - something more recent that was popular). Chan-woo had liked Lee Hyo-kyung (Lee Seung-yeon) as a kid and decided to push those aside fairly quickly. Spoilers, Chan-woo and Hyo-kyung hardly speak during the time where Chun-hyuk is disabled. So I’m not sure what those people watched but it wasn’t this show.

The story is part love story and part revenge story. It’s largely about a brewing romance that begins between two kids well into their adulthood that is constantly challenged and thwarted by Hyo-kyung’s uncle and father, who do everything without resorting to murder to keep them apart due to their class differences. He is sent to the arm, beat up, forced to run away and even disabled via a car accident. In the background, Chan-woo struggles to get through law school due to financial difficulties and family problems, flirting with a brewing romance of his own with Kang Suk-hee (Choi Ji-woo, Stairway To Heaven) that is sadly underdeveloped, although a really interesting sub plot of the show, which makes it a pain that it didn’t really lead anywhere despite small glimpses of what could be. Chan-woo goes on his own path on revenge and that is that. He eventually succeeded, all while learning forgiveness and all that good hearted crap.

The Chan-woo character is the heart of the show and carries it through its lulls, which this definitely has. The pacing of the plot was too heavy in the beginning and the end and not enough during the 35-45 stage. There were plenty where little took place or developments were repeated for brevity sake. The introduction of a side character called Ju Jung-nam (Son Hyun-joo, The Good Detective) allowed more depth for the Chan-ock, the sister and some plot outside of the main story. It was entertaining but the plot was a little all over the place. You never knew where he stood with Chan-ock. It was back and forward. If I had to continue talking about the side characters, the characters were fine but the stories often went nowhere. 66 episodes and none of them felt completed. Shame. Not crippling to the show but disappointing. Nevertheless, the overarching story was interesting enough to hook me into actually completing the show. I’ve struggled to complete 12 episode dramas before, and I tend to like those. So it must have been good. The story isn’t totally tight from episode to episode but they rarely are. Of course, the acting generally is what attracts people and Bae Yong-joon, Choi Soo-jong, Park Sung-won are great as leading men throughout this. Lee Seung-yeon is fine as the main lead. She can do a nice cry scene. I think she was a more interesting character when trying to portray a teenager. Perhaps it’s because her role was more intertwined with Choi Soo-jong. Park Sung-won really captured my attention for Sandglass and he was really good in his friendly other man role. He had a few plots where he had to show a more depressive, conflicted state and it was captured well. The star is Bae Yong-joon, easily. He’s really good in anything, even if some of his later works are a tad melodramatic for my preference. And this is just the start.

The music in the show changes between classic folksy music to more contemporary tunes. Nothing amazing. Not a patch on Sandglass which has a fantastic, iconic OST (check it out) but there are some ear wigglers here and there.

Recommended. While not amazing, it’s a good show with a strong leading man and a couple of solid side characters. And while I’ve not mentioned it much, the antagonists were solid too. And their comeuppance is sweet.

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Guys! Korean Romance is back. And it’s all thanks to the wonderful, daring Jeong Ga-young. I’ve only seen a few of her short films but she was able to bring what made those really good - how the writing simply flows in all facets, how clever the humor is, specifically the sexual humour which managed to make it frank and honest without getting vulgar and indulgent. The only difference is that the cinematography and camera work is more mainstream and commercialised than the static, indie nature of her work prior. And we lack her lovely absence on the screen, instead the film follows the perspective of the her surrogate, Ja-young (played by Jeon Jong-seo, who has had two terrific performances in my personal favourite, Burning and a great 2020 film, The Call), who is desperate for love (or sex; it switches a ton) when she meets Woo-ri (Son Suk-ku, who has gotten a rise in fame west of the world after a strong performance in the Korean Drama, Liberation Notes and has had strong seconary male roles in things like Matrimony Chaos and in Mother). Together the art of casual sex and love bloom in this 1 hour, 40 rom-com. This is a hit.

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I'd like to take praise at the cinematography, direction and editing. The film looks so stunning visually, everything framed perfectly, scene transtions done well. Big plaudits for Kim Ji-yong on (Cinematography) and Kim Jee-woon (direction and writing)

This was quite an eye opening film with Song Kang-Ho, once again, delivering an outstanding performance as Lee Jung-chool, the conflicted police captain stuck between the might of Japanese rule and the heart of the Korean Resistence. The fight against the oppressive regime of the Japanses occupation. But along side that and the trueish stories of the time, we have a cat & mouse game of politics between Lee Jung-chool and Hashimoto. The film is jammed with tension filled scenes as well as great, but short action fights. The torture scenes near the end are violent but pivitol to the story and add tons of drama. A very down to earth tale of patriotism with a great unique style of film making on top.

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The story is all over the place. A generic simple detective mystery gets blown to wide proportions with fake deaths, unnecessary twists and turns and poor special effects. However the first edition of Detective K delivered with strong performances from its main cast - Kim Myung-min as Detective and Oh Dal-su as Han Seo-pil. In terms of establishing these characters and their journey with each other, the film was worth watching. Virtuous Widow gave the audience tons of clever gags that ranged from absurd to extremely clever both verbally and visually. Plus the film casted the typical Sageuk antagonist, Lee Jae-youg in his comfortable role and that’s always a positive.

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Jeon Do-yeon as Lee Shin-ae goes through an enormous amount of pain. We are introduced to someone that misses her deceased husband but has passed the stage of agony, only for it to come back when another death comes her way, in a truly tragic way. And we bear witness to the process. Grief. Raw, ugly grief that comes in all different ways. Mostly ways in which were uncomfortable to watch, physically harmful for those involved and, occasionally, amusing in its own sort of way (specifically due to the irony of the situation). Alongside her is the cheerful and helpful Kim Jong-chan (Song Kang-ho), acting as the good samaritan. He, too, goes through some changes of his own. His intentions are very self centred but he too finds peace in God, more so than Shin-ae could, despite her best attempts and in the end chooses to be the good guy and not take advantage of a deeply depressed, grieving mother. There isn’t a lot of joy in Secret Sunshine. There is an endless wave of hurt and visceral emotion, the kind that gets stuck in your throat and you’re in pain at the mere thought of. But there is some solace in the ending. Because despite everything, there is light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how you interpret something as simple as the rays of sunshine.

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This could’ve been yet another quasi-snuff film, instead we get a cult classic

Right, we don’t need yet another key observation regarding the graphic violence, both phiscially and sexually, in the film. But what does need to be brought to attention and be a bigger talking point is how hilarious Ichi The Killer is at times. I’m serious as well. The film blends the tone differently depending on where in the film but in the final scenes, the climax of the film has some brilliant comedic moments. Kaneko’s son booting Ichi on the floor was a legitimate laugh out loud moment. And the actual stand-off between Ichi and Kakihara is very cartoonish. Yet another big laughing moment was Kakihara trying to bring an injured Ichi to his feet, only for Ichi to collapse under the pain once more, much to his disappointment. It’s purposely lacklustre rather than being a big dramatic fight to the death; it’s bold and admirable in that way. Enough about Kakihara and Ichi, what about Jijii’s muscular body? I’m dead.

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Looking at Kim Dae Hwan’s filmography, I see that he had an appearance in the Sageuk, Jang Hee Bin and this is his second film (first being with him writing behind it). It’s clearly a cheap production with a hand held camera for even the tracking scenes but the amateurish camera work adds credibility to the realistic story of two soon to be parents that are forced to meet each other's parents, both of whom have a tense relationship with. There is a bit of a social difference between the two but that doesn’t play too much into the story, only serving to put a slightly wider wedge between Ji Young (Kim Sae-byuk, The Woman Who Ran) and Ji Young’s mother, who pushes Ji Young into doing things that she can brag about to her friends. And likewise for Su-hyun (Jo Hyun-chu, Inspector Koo) and his father, only the difference being that his verbally abusive father thinks it's a step to being a man, likely revealing why the son doesn’t see his family. The family greetings turn from pleasant to awkward very quickly. But the couple are great together. Both are mature and will talk things out when there are disagreements. Both are understanding when it comes to each other’s families. And then in the end, they were happy in their fates, just walking among the nightlife of the city.

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A suicidal road trip taken by a drunken ex-civil servant (Asano Tadanobu) and a depressed bar hostess (Koizumi Kyoko) proves to be threputic and life changing but it takes a while to get there. There is drug taking (sleeping pills, mind you), painful reminiscing and drinking. Lots of drinking. The flashbacks peel back the layers of our characters and what led them to this path, doing it in a backwards manner similar to the structure of insomnia, which only added to the tragic events. Eventually we get a happy ending to the story. A mother changes her life and gets her kid back while a drunk feels satisfied for the first time in a long time without needing the influence of alcohol. I like to think that they eventually would meet up again and become happy together but being happy separately is just as fine an ending as any.

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When they kissed, I felt it. Right there is the momentum when the film came together.

The first part of the film is a documentary piece about the town Gojo City, where a tour guide and tourists see the sights and the residents of the city, who have their tales of their experiences in the town, mostly about love. While it was initially boring (and I can see others thinking the same), it sets up the second part that’s a pure fictional piece that resembles some of the stories we’ve heard before. Kim Sae-byuk and Iwase Ryo fall for each other but Kim Sae-byuk has to return to Korea, return to her unhappy relationship, leading to one of the saddest goodbye kisses you can see in indie cinema.

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Wow, I did it! I completed all 81 episodes. A daunting task initially but the time really flies by once you begin it. Now other sageuks lengths - 40-50 episode spans - will seem easier. And I suggest that people do the same. Apply it to family dramas as well. Jump right into the deep end if you have apprehensive thoughts about long dramas. It’ll make everything else seem easier. Of course, they will have to be great shows with fantastic, strong storytelling and characterization which Jumong excels at.

I’m not entirely sure when the episode count was extended but the pacing was quicker as a result. Being initially a 60 episode Sageuk, the typical first arc where they lay the foundation of our main character’s beginnings - which in this case was the story of Hae Mo-su (Heo Joon-ho) and his demise - is done in a shorter manner than an 81 episode Sageuk would’ve devoted to it. There were other examples of that shown throughout Jumong. There was something always happening throughout the episodes. There weren’t many “filler” episodes or ones that didn’t move the plot forward in a progressive way. That ultimately made the show more watchable and enjoyable.
The characters and character development is the strongest part of Jumong. There were plenty of rich, deep characters with plenty of history to work with and explore. Jumong is based slightly on the tales of myths and true reality but it blends it well together to portray a historically accurate show while retaining the mythos of some of the characters, such as the Jumong himself (Song Il-gook).

Let’s start with Jumong. The show first shows him as a bitter disappointment compared to his true Father. Jumong starts to harass a Palace Maid, Bu-young, who is very keen to get away from the situation - presenting himself as a bit of a creep. However, after going through several trials of self-discovery, including finding out his ancestry and meeting the right people to guide him along the way, he forms himself into being a true warrior, an almost deity-like figure who leads his people to constant victory. And because of the myth around him, he is presented with little weaknesses for most of the show. This may stun a few people because often vulnerability is the biggest cause for sympathy by viewers but they opt for the opposite instead. I enjoyed the fresh coat of storytelling, honestly. He had strong bonds with several characters including Hae Mo-su, So Seo-no (Han Hye-jin) and King Geum-wa (Jun Kwang-ryul). All of these relationships are very well developed and represent pivotal character moments for the Jumong character. However, there is one relationship that somewhat failed to be represented, and it’s the one with his first wife, Lady Ye So-ya (Song Ji-hyo). Their relationship was supposed to mirror the relationship between Lady Yuh-wa (Oh Yeon-soo) - their initial meeting was the exact same - but everything after seemed to be very hollow. The writing preferred to use it more as a purpose to keep Jumong and So Seo-no apart due to the historical factor and there wasn’t much else afterwards since they were rarely seen together afterwards. And this made the final arc of Jumong not as effective as a result. A stronger foundation would’ve made the conclusion that much more compelling. Not that I didn’t care or hated it. It was a clear inferior aspect of the show, to me.

On to the second big character arc, I wish to explore - King Geum-wa. The King went through very stages of himself. Introduced as a brave prince, friends with Hae Mo-su, then becoming a strong King that was wise before losing himself to hypocrisy, power and jealousy when he essentially showed his true feelings towards his step-child and his old friend’s cause. He was sympathetic and hateful. The story allowed me, as a viewer, to root for him to re-take power away from the Crown Prince Dae-so (Kim Seung-soo), while being frustrated at his downward spiral of emotions towards Jumong and his Mother. I didn’t expect the character progression to go the way it did but it was one of the most compelling stories of Jumong.

And it would be unfair of me to end this review without discussing the main antagonist, Dae-so. He is surprisingly nicer than history would suggest but his role as the unloved older brother made his actions predictable. He would challenge Jumong every step of the way, trying to kill him before he could pose a threat and then become obsessed with beating him in battle throughout. The development of Dae-so isn’t as complex as the first two, but the strong sense of emotion boils through. His turmoil with the power struggle against the King and flirting with becoming a tyrant before finally maturing into a more sensible, prideful King, as his Father had always wished for him to be, was a subtle development that may go under the viewer's eyes. However, I thought it was a good choice for the character.

One of the main themes of Jumong was the sense of going full circle and mirroring each other. I mentioned earlier in the review about one thing mirroring each other but the three prince relationship of Jumong, Dae-so and Young-po (Won Ki-joon) comes back again with the Princes of Goguryeo. Plus on a minor note, the friends of Prince Yuri reminded me of Oh-i (Yeo Ho-min), Ma-ri (Ahn Jeong-hoon) and Hyeop-bo (Im Dae-ho). Perhaps I’m just projecting but that was my first thought.

This is a long review for a long show and I’ve still not really covered the tragic tale of Lady Yuh-wa or the loveable yet detestable Young-po (and how even he grows and matures) and I only really covered the scale of the romance between Jumong and So Seo-no - which covers a lot of the first half of the show - as well as the other supporting characters that we are introduced to.

But that is Jumong. If you like sageuks with strong characters, a lot of battles and politics, that surprisingly wasn’t the usual drab that the sageuks that cover the Joseon era dramas, and a bit of romance. This does that. Fantastical elements are prevalent but not overwhelming as this is down to earth. The acting was key as was the writing. I find it hard to pick at its weaknesses. Watch it.

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Before We Get Married was a carefully paced piece of work. IIt was a good show with interesting main characters with strong relationships with each other. Wei Wei and Ke Fei truly felt like best friends with the way they spoke with each other and the way they protected each other throughout. Wei Wei and Ke Huan instantly had a connection and felt deep and exciting in a way. They weren’t afraid to show the hotness of the relationship either. Most cheating dramas attempt to stray away from that kinship but this isn’t shy in that regard at all. Unfortunately it does veer into some trope that I disliked, such as the exes either being 2d jealousy bound nuisances or slowly becoming near crazy creeps. But I enjoyed it most of all. On a different note, there was a clear re-write in terms of Han Ke Fei’s main love interest. I’m not sure what happened with the Yan Bai Yang character but he was clearly written out of the story for production reasons and replaced with the Liu Da Wei character, who was only introduced as the annoying (although still charming) employee. And while I liked the Bai Yang character, Da Wei was a welcome addition to the story, thanks to the strong acting from Leo Lee. Plus he and Phoebe Yuan had outstanding chemistry together.

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After the opening episode, I was left disappointed by the poor editing and camera choices - I am a technical nerd, forgive me - and found the acting and writing to be “hammy”. The writer, Jo Yoon Young, had struggled to convincingly introduce the characters and background. The humour wasn’t totally spot on, although it had its moment. However, those thoughts simmered after a strong second episode that was able to interject life and humour into all the characters, and while there are some minor things, such as the So’s eye being covered up by make-up and the we are led to believe that no one else would’ve had the idea to, especially when it was stated that cosmetics were popular of the time period, the story did progress and effortlessly turn a comedy ensemble into a true tragedy - one that I expected to see in the first place. Continuing on with plot developments that I found flawed, I didn’t think that the 3rd Prince Yo’s fake death was necessary. It felt like a cliff-hanger to draw ratings rather than proper development. Self-imposed exile sounds much better to me; realistic, also.

As for the positives of the drama, it is a strong, gripping experience. It lulls you into a tale of romance and brotherhood but soons into a tragic tale of palace politics, for all involved. The first half of the drama was absolutely crucial for both setting the stages for what was to come, giving each prince a clear motive for each and every action throughout. Unfortunately, despite almost every one of the brothers trying not to fulfil the history of the King needing to kill all male rivals, that tale was inevitable (almost). Honestly, I’ve seen plenty of sad dramas but some of the deaths were tragic, even for my cold eyes. What was the most crushing? Honestly, it might have been the Crown Prince’s. He was the prince that the drama showed the least of but he was a tragic figure, plagued by illness (natural and otherwise) and the way he died was…well heart-breaker. Most of them were, but something about him really touched me. Of course, we may talk about the finale. A not so surprising death was Hae Soo’s. It was fitting of the drama and quite frankly, a needed one. I can often struggle to finish shows, not for any reason but it is a habit of mine. Often, I’ll wait for days or weeks before I do but the last episodes did their job of hooking me as a viewer.

Lee Joon Gi got snubbed at the 2016 SBS Drama awards for his nominated award but Kang Ha-neul won his. I won’t say who deserves what but the acting of the two does warrant praise. Lee Joon Gi was able to be the dark hero - murderous and vengful to the end but I was taken away by Kang Ha-neul’s silent anger. It radiated off the TV screen in such an intense way. Plus, his chemistry with IU was stronger than Lee Joon Gi’s in my opinion. Not that I disliked theirs. And his relationship with Park Shi Eun’s Lady Hae was perhaps the strongest of the show. IU’s acting seemed to get mixed reviews but I think hers was good. Likewise to Lee Joon Gi and Kang Ha-neul’s characters, her character changes to a more reserved one. IU is cheerful and full of life in the first half, in the second she has grown into a true Court Lady, stoic, full of grace and pride. Her acting suited the character. So I don’t see her as a weak link. The weak link was Byun Baek Hyun’ Eun but no one really cared when he was a wonderful bright spark. One that you missed when he was gone.

Would I watch it again? Yes. Absolutely. Not immediately, give me time to breathe. It’s one of those dramas. But I will.

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