SeRose
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Our story is quite modern, despite it's sageuk feel (It's considered one of the first fusion sageuks out there). Think fusion of detective drama, conspiracy-driven action adventure, with good guys and bad guys, sageuk-era cops and robbers (police and rebels) and they're not all necessarily evil. Sadly, there's no bromance, -- Just a lot of testosterone.
Uhm, what else should I say? It's very much a Kdrama, and the story is built with almost exactly similar tropes: love triangle, secrets, suspense, a love triangle, conspiracies, noble heroes fighting for some very vague cause.. did I mention there's something weird about that love triangle...? *ahem*
The story is fast-paced and exciting! Ha Ji Won is super badass, like she was always meant to be. The men are all bearded in old fashion style, but like all hot Korean actors, they make it look it good. The costumes are spectacular, and the cast doesn't always look all pristine and pretty. And oh - guerrilla warfare! Cool! I'm a sucker for bandit hideout stories and rebel leaders who make use the landscape to slaughter whole troops in a creative fashion making a big ole' bloody mess! Yeeaaaahhhhh!(Whaat? I never said I liked only romance stories...)
WHERE DAMO DELIVERS:
Ha Ji Won is really the best thing about this drama. If you're a fan, you'll like her. If you're not a fan, well you'll still probably like her, depending on your inclination for bloody sageuk detective dramas. Actress aside though, the rest of the cast wasn't too bad either. Every character held their own, and even the comic relief at the beginning will make your heart plunge into an emotion of feels by the end.
Did I mention this drama is fairly realistic in its approach to human life? Don't just assume everyone's gonna make it out of this alive... Joseon Korea in turmoil isn't exactly the most forgiving of places.
WHERE DAMO DISAPPOINTS:
As cool as Damo is for the most part, it requires a willing suspension of disbelief if you try to make sense of the plot. The premise is pinned on one of the flimsiest of causes. The number of times our naively heroic characters yell out righteously "for the people!" was too many times to count. Especially when one knows anything about Korean history, or Joseon Korea's lack of history featuring anything remotely successful "for the people." At least as far as political, anti-political revolts go. This was sort of a killing point for me. When clever characters are mired up in a lame excuse for plot-making, I check out. It's just too unfortunate.
Also ere's one episode that takes place in a cave. Like, the whole episode. In a cave. The whole time. In a cave.
Good luck.
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2 stars for Eps 1-8; 7 stars for Eps 9-16
(How does that average out to a 6? Shhh, I don't know either)
I almost gave up on this drama. The first 8 eps are horrendous, toe-nail curling, cringe-inducing and I'm sure I lost a few brain cells in the process. Ma Hye Ri's character starts off as one of the ditziest, bird-brained Kdrama females I have EVER come across... I only continued because everyone promised me it would get better, which it did - even if that transformation was almost too late in coming.
Honestly, for a drama called "Prosecutor Princess" I thought the plot couldn't possibly be that great, but it's actually halfway unique, and allows for an interesting twist in the romance. We've all seen the typical scenarios where "silly girl learns to grow up and become mature and confident, and thereby wins the love of already confidant man." Here we see the first part of this, but the male lead Seo In Woo (Park Shi Woo) does not fit into the normal Kdrama character stereotype.
Let me repeat! The MALE lead does NOT play the standard, "You're an idiot; You're ugly; go cause drama somewhere Not around me; I hate you, but why do I like you against my will?" -spouting character! Despite HyeRi's ditziness, In Woo never calls her stupid, nor patronizes her. On the contrary, from episode 1 he appears as her superman, saving the day and whatnot, but while doing so he is encouraging and supportive, and given a little time, believably enamored by our silly and naive Hye Ri.
Okay, so there's more to that than meets the eye (but of course! It's Kdramaland!) but that doesn't change the fact that for me - curling my toes and dying in agony at our exasperating heroine - seeing a male lead that unbelievably adorable from day 1 was a very welcome change. I'd like that say that his sobering and non-dominating influence helps Hye Ri become more human, as well as a better prosecutor; or maybe the writers just decided they'd had enough with her being unreasonably ridiculous after a while, but believe it or not: Kim So Yeon manages to flesh out the character of Ma Hye Ri into someone I actually care about, and therefore someone our lead would care about.
My favorite quote out of her:
"My common sense is a bit lacking in consistency."
Yes, well so is mine sometimes, otherwise I may have saved myself the trouble of watching this... but I think this show gives us enough in its second half to make Prosecutor Princess a good watch. You might just have to fast-forward a bit to get to the good parts. ;)
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Where do I even begin? Hana Kimi is equal parts about building friendships, falling in love, hot boys, and over the top goofiness (the kind that's so overboard it's insane, and I don't realize how stupid it can be until I'm so stunned I can't help but giggle ridiculously hard, so that my husband comes running to see what's the matter!). This is one of the few dramas that could move me in ALL of those categories: The fuzziness, the adorableness, the pretty, and the hilarious. I was miserably sad to finish this... guess I'll have to watch it again someday... soon.
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Like many stories, this is a coming-of-age tale for the majority of the characters. Except the kids in Taereung have already had larger-than-life expectations thrust upon them. Hong Min Ki is good at judo, except for that little problem that he becomes physically ill before every single match. Bang Su Ah won an archery medal at the last Olympics, but she's showing signs of a slump this time around. Her boyfriend Dong Kyung is a swimmer who's reaching past his prime before he could ever achieve something glorious, and little Ma Ru is the best gymnast in the village with the whole world in front of her. Don't expect miracles out of everybody. This is a highly realistic snapshot of 4 completely different athletes who are thrust together due to their relationships, and the world makes what it will of them.
Lee Min Ki practically glitters throughout the whole drama. He's hyper, alternately cute and annoying, and makes no secret of his crush for the former gold medal winner archer. He's at his coolest though (meaning dorkiest) when he confronts that girl's hulk of a boyfriend. I'm biased of course, but Lee Sun Gyun is fabulous. He also acts the same as every other time I've seen the man act: confident in the spotlight, with a twinge of vulnerability when he's not. It's not groundbreaking, but always appealing. I give this show bonus points for the bromance. When the two aren't nose to nose, about to come to blows, they're sheltering each other from life and all its dirty little tricks.
Su Ah snuck up on me as one of my favorite characters, mostly for how she maintains her confidence in the midst of career slumps and love troubles. She goes from being a clueless bystander in her own relationships, to seriously considering the whys and hows of all her issues. All this without becoming jealous or vindictive of her rivals in both areas. Her roommate Ma Ru is initially typecast as the clingy would-be girlfriend to Min Ki but for a timely plot device that kind of made me love her. Life works us through many kinds of trials, and Ma Ru went through the pits of character hell into looking and acting like a real human being.
Why watch? I don't know. If you love the actors, if you're in for 4 hours of slice of life. If you're up for watching people learn and grow, and act natural, and still be funny. There's something peaceful about this drama. After the glitz and glam of Kdramas, it was a refreshing, homey watch, and evidently pinned by a production team that knew what it was doing, despite receiving probably no extra promotional material to work with.
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To rate something like this objectively may be hard. This movie comes ready to hit you with every emotional nerve you've got. I may have been a nervous, blubbering wreck by the end, but I still have to admit that the movie is brilliantly filmed, plotted, and acted.
The story may seem generic, but the pacing of the plotline is in itself a masterpiece. The development of our characters from first meeting, to their falling in love, and in the end to their ultimate fate is practically seemless. I usually have a hard time accepting or getting accustomed the the turn of events in a short (2hr) movie, but the plot and characters (even side-plots and bit-characters) were all well done and fleshed out.
I particularly love the script's attention to the themes of love and memory. The very first scene, our male lead sets the pace when he tells a stranger: "When a memory is gone, so is the soul, they say." Who are "they" and is that really what he believes? Another character later will say: "To forget easily is a gift." In the midst of this movie's tragic undertones, A Moment to Remember asks and deals with some hard questions, and we don't need to live the story's exact plotline ourselves to appreciate them.
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Pride sets off with some pretty decent story-telling, and a couple of nicely charismatic actors. Initially I was watching this thing for Kimura Takuya, who plays hockey-player extraordinaire Satonaka Halu. He’s your standard rom-com lead, romantic yet insecure, and to cover up his insecurities, he hides behind the ‘Pride of the Iceman.’ I think that has something to do with being awesome on skates, padded up like an Eskimo, and generally being able (and allowed) to bowl over any man who gets in your way.
Equally impressive as an acting force, however, is Takeuchi Yuko playing Murase Aki as the girl left behind… by another guy/jerk introduced halfway through drama. Here’s the rub: Halu was warned never to sincerely love a woman, lest it interfere with his career; Aki is technically still waiting for her boyfriend to return (after a two year hiatus – and these people obviously don’t believe in phones). So in the meantime, to stave off loneliness and generally have fun, they’ve agreed to date until Aki’s boyfriend returns, and then they’ll part amicably as friends. Maybe…
As a sports drama it’s honestly not too bad. Keep in mind, I’m not a huge sports junkie and I’m not generally fond of the genre, but I’m also not completely averse to seeing hot guys working out. Did I have any genuine anxiety that maybe the team wouldn’t play well in the finals, or that every player would become injured and remain crippled? Not really. Were the slow-motion sequences of pucks magically sliding towards the goal net cheesy? Yes, sort of. Did I really care one way or the other? Nope.
As a romance story, it’s above average with a touch of good chemistry, some fairly hot kiss scenes, and then some… And really up through the halfway mark, I had nothing too bad to say about the development of the couple. Unfortunately then we’re hit with your typical dose of angst, stupidity, and a serious lack of communication.
I give a pass on this, ignoring the random bits of ridiculousness. (For a more indepth analysis, you can visit my blog). I watched this mostly for the romance and for Kimura and I was not terribly disappointed with either. I’d also like to see more of this guy in the future, so I think Pride was far from being a waste of time.
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Maybe I’m hung up on the idea that there is, or should be, something wrong fundamentally with casually switching partners every week. Or maybe this is too much fiction for me to be able to accept that a psychiatrist would really put his suicide-prone patient into the mix. Not that these are even serious flaws for a TV drama, but something from the get-go was telling me, “I don’t like it.” I nearly dropped the show at only two episodes. A week later, and after some serious consideration, I picked it up again.
I’m happy I did so, because there are good themes to this drama. For one, it doesn’t hurt to analyze what’s at the heart of a basic human relationship. These are not your typical marriage-obsessed characters. Indeed, some of them are quite the reverse, and some don’t seem to care one way or the other. In Kdramaland, everything seems to scream of that one fated lover. Miss your OTP, and you might as well resign yourself to a lonely, sad existence.
Here is where Love Shuffle breaks a few boundaries. These are human beings yearning for one other, yes, but not necessarily or exclusively via typical romantic outlets. If I loved anything about this drama, it’s in the friendships that were forged and honed throughout. The foursome that live on the same floor, drinking wine each evening in the hall in their PJs. The women who come together, alternately snarky and supportive. The men who bond both in jealousy and in commonality. The couples who are not destined, but can still inspire.
Love Shuffle is commendable in its uniqueness, and multiple-plot driven storylines. It's even at times hilarious, though be sure to watch with decent subtitle translations, as oftentimes the jokes are Japanese-specific. I’m not sure why, but every now and then I find myself walking around thinking, “Yay, panda...” Sadly, that’s about as much enthusiasm I had overall, though that is not meant to be a discouragement. I thoroughly recommend Love Shuffle, as I don't doubt that I am one of the few people out here too picky for my own good. So what do you think?
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