A Completely Beautiful Love Story Of ..... "The First Love Is My Last Love" .... My Forever Love

I was still swooning from the aftermath of Seven Tan and Ren Jialun romance in Under The Power, when I clicked into another Seven Tan's drama "Road Home". Being a hopeless romantic, I immediately got hooked into this drama, curious to watch the really mesmerizing male lead Jing Boran. His manly, cool and man of few words Lu Chen character who only has eyes for Seven Tan's - Gui Xiao will simply take one's breath away.

The story itself is nothing new and yes, the pace was really slow. Therefore, the two leads had an immense responsibility to make their chemistry work on screen. Their un-said words, their internal struggles, their facial expression, their body language, yearning, happiness and love were all felt throughout the drama. The director's request for this love story to be played out in such pure and raw emotions amidst the beautiful backdrop of Xinjiang Autonomous Region allowed me to soak into the characters so comfortably. 30 episodes went by too fast for me.

Till now, I am still replaying many memorable moments between Lu Chen and Gui Xiao in my head. The love at first sight at school. 8 years later, bumping to her again after breaking up. Another 2 years later to meet again. Him singing his song for her whilst cuddling on the ground in the snow. Both of them watching the sunrise they name "Chen Xiao" and many many more. Everything that a die-hard romantic like me will find endearing is found in the Chen Xiao love story.

The drama however, is not perfect. The many repeated throwback scenes were a slight off to me. But, everything else made up for it. Two second couple love stories, Ming Yu's delightful son Xiao Nan, Gui Xiao and Lu Chen's parents drama and on top of this, an appreciation for military police S.W.A.T work which I did not know much about, until I watched this drama.

Road Home is a slow paced emotional drama for die hard romantics. If you are not into hugging, kissing and natural love interactions, you can give this drama a miss. As for me, this drama will be one of the classics, in my books. I will be re-watching this drama again whenever I feel like having a dose of positivity in my life. Scoring 10, for an overall entertaining drama.

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Pathetic Female Lead Roles

This drama was really hard to watch, but somehow managed to complete. 40 episodes of pure torture with two second female leads who were thoroughly pathetic in their outlook and depiction of love, where they have no comprehension when the man says 'no' it means 'no' ... crikey!

Then we have the female lead who is constantly pitiful, sad, hesitating and running away from the one man who not only tells, but shows how much he loves her. The female lead's face is throughout always caught up in tears and frowns which gives me goosebumps.

The two main male leads got it slightly better. They got the slightly better part of the script. The main lead Ming Dao/Liu Huo acting was good and played his role pretty convincingly. The only redeeming part of this drama was watching the relationship dynamics between Liu Huo and his mother played by the legendary Tien Niu/Xue Dong Na. It was memorable.
Regardless, this drama is a poor watch and not worth the time spent.

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Sorry, Nothing Personal

Kim Min Gue in 'Business Proposal' as Cha Sung Hoon was pretty spectacular. The script made his role a mature, strong and somewhat cool character which had sizzling chemistry with Jin Young Seo (played by Seol In Ah). With that, I was looking forward to see him in 'Heavenly Idol'. Hmmm..... the idea of a Pontifex with divine power from heaven who accidentally lands into the body of a washed out Pop Idol, Woo Yeon Woo appeared interesting and the nice poster of him with
Go Bo Gyeol as Kim Dal left much to anticipate.

However, sad to say from get go, from the first episode, I could see this drama was heading south for me. The script, the direction and characters were all over the place. The child-like fantasy story was further marred by low budget special effects. Even with seasoned actors in Lee Jang Woo and Ye Ji Won could not save the day. Chemistry between 'Idol' Yeon Woo and 'Manager' Kim Dal...??? Thankfully, it is only 12 episodes.

However, this does not deter me from keeping a look out for Kim Min Gue's future work. Hopefully, he will choose his scripts and drama carefully as he has so much potential.

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Water Sample Ain't Good News

Future earth is running out of water. Water is rationed and distributed through a ' hierarchy' system. In order to save his daughter who needs this water desperately, Captain Han (Gong Yoo) agrees to lead a team to the moon to retrieve a mysterious 'sample' believed to multiply water generously, which is intended to save people on earth. Along in this team is Doctor Song (Bae Doo Na) an astrobiologist determined to uncover the truth behind an accident that killed her sister in this same station on the moon that they are now going to.

To be honest, I was waiting eagerly for this drama due to Gong Yoo and produced by Jung Woo Sung. Yes, I am big fan of them both. However, the drama did not turn out as the action packed space drama that I had expected. It had a slow start and the excitement started to kick in for me from Episode 5 and before I knew it, the ending arrived at Episode 8.

All in all, it was worth the time for me, as it will be a while before we get to watch another drama from Gong Yoo.

Oh, and that so called 'water sample' ain't good news ........

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A Drama Full Of Memorable Moments

I enjoyed this drama very much because the lead actors Yoo Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan had good chemistry and did a really good job. I did not have background or knowledge about this drama prior and clicked on it by curiosity. Thought I'd watch a little and let it go .... but somehow I got engrossed!

A handsome rich hotelier, Hyun Gi Joon and a beautiful tourism government officer, Gong Ah Jung. A couple faked to be together through course of circumstances. Embarrass that she is still single, Ah Jung co-oerced Gi Joon to be her husband, lying to her friends who are married. Keeping to his pretense, playing along, both eventually fall in love with each other. And then, his ex-fiance returns in the midst .......

Somehow, I liked the way Gi Joon managed his relationship from beginning to the end. Ah Jung's re-action to all her emotions were touching and sincere. And the best part is the drama had many hilarious, cute and memorable scenes. From the time they meet by accident, to the moments that they slowly realize they were falling for each other, the re-action to the return of the ex-fiance, then the entire process of owning their love. Simply memorable.

However, my only snag was the last few episodes after all the highly strung emotions, Ah Jung's heart slow burned a little, but thanks to Gi Joon, he kept the momentum going.

Overall, I highly recommend watching this feel good drama, especially for the memorable scenes which I watched over 3 times already.

Cheers! K-drama Forever!

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I Enjoyed And Love This Drama VERY MUCH!

I guess there is just something truly magical, having a warrior like, tall, handsome, introverted, endearing General......slowly getting drawn to, and falling in love with, an independent female plastic surgeon, determined and fiery , (WAIT...did I say this in one breath??).

All this through time travelling, brought from modern 21st Century South Korea, Doctor Yoo Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun), back to Goryeo Kingdom by the famous General Choi Yeong (Lee Min Ho). In reality, General Choi Yeong was a great warrior, served three Goryeo Kings and lived till he was 72 years old.

After some research, I found out that the Goryeo Kingdom characters of King and General actually existed. As for the wife of General Choi Yeong, Yoo Eun Soo, it was not known who she actually was. But, it is written in history that Eun Soo was the much loved wife of General Choi Yeong, from his 2nd marriage, after the death of his 1st wife. For dramatic reasons, wanting to create a historical drama with romance and fantasy, Eun Soo's character and some of the story line of General Choi's 1st relationship were re-written. And what a great job they did!

I enjoyed the entire 24 episodes from the get go. Every episode was very well written, acted and directed and I delighted in the relationship of the lead couple. Lee Min Ho was so believable in his role as the young General Choi Yeong, whose temper and determination matched Kim Hee Sun's, Eun Soo. In the beginning, their relationship started with a lot of arguing, and difference in opinion, as they were from different centuries. However, eventually they grew to love, trust, communicate and protect each other, which alone made female viewers heart swoon like crazy and the men wanted to go out and find a woman to tame, love and protect. The script and characters were so well written that lots of kissing were not required. Even if there appeared to be some dry moments of political conversations, and maybe some flaws here and there, the feeling that came with watching the character's relationship evolve and develop was so overwhelmingly good that I had to score an overall 10 for this drama.

Surprisingly, the King and Queen's love story was also shared beautifully. Ryu Deok Hwan's, King Gong Min lacked self assurance due to his young age, not knowing what to expect returning from Yuan, China to Goryeo after 10 years. However, he loved to paint and had a softer, more gentle approach during his reign. Constantly needing guidance and protection , he was determined to keep General Choi Yeong next to him. Moreover, the King also had the support of his beloved wife, Queen Noguk (Park Se Young), a Princess from Mongolia, China. Though rocky in the beginning, their deep love and support for each other grew.

And of course, the struggle for King Gong Min to keep his throne did not come easy. For General Choi Yeong to protect the King's throne, came with a lot of blood and sacrifice. And to watch Eun Soo from the 21st Century eventually falling madly in love with the General was memorable.

There were many memorable scenes which I watched over and over again 5 times.

Well this is my emotional journey watching FAITH. Watch and enjoy if my recommendation motivates you. However, try not to carry high expectations after reading my review, and watch with a sense of curiosity. This way, you might find it more enjoyable.

Cheers! K-Drama Forever!

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Oh No!!

MAJOR SPOILER (Do Not Read If You Are Planning To Give This Drama A Try)
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Just finished watching this lengthy drama in this day and age, in year 2020. My first 50 episode drama, and hopefully, my last. I did not get the overall satisfactory enjoyment expected of this show and it has left me with an irked/irritated feeling over the story line and the script that went with it.

The female lead character was played by Kim Hyun Joo (Do Hae Gang) whom I have to confess, is a beautiful woman. The comfort of looking at her face was settling and I can see how her husband played by Ji Jin Hee (Choi Jin Eon) was so madly in love with her. Then comes the script where Hae Gang begins as an ambitious, cold, heartless woman, then the divorce, then to a fun caring person when she loses her memory, back to a spiteful, angry, revengeful woman full of resentment when she recovers her memory. Her mind and emotional games keep coming and going throughout the entire show using her beauty and the fact that she knows her ex-husband still loves her very much and is apologetic of his past affair. At times, she can be quite a tease. As a woman myself, even I am tired of watching this character. Drained the life out of me! As one of the other reviews wrote, I agree that the drama should have ended, clean and happy at Episode 24 or 25, instead of dragging us though the agony of 50 episodes.

However, the script of Jin Hee as the husband/ex-husband was relatively acceptable. If I had to live with such a cold, ambitious and heartless woman, it would not be hard for a man to walk into a pair of warm, caring arms. To have that peace of mind for even a little while would have been welcoming for his character. The sincerity of his love for his wife showed throughout the drama, holding on, believing his heart is with her until the very end, even though his ex-wife had him twirled around her finger, becoming hot and cold, caused by the "Joan-of-Arc" syndrome. So-called sacrificing her love to protect her husband, keep him from harm and hurt, which got the poor man even more confused, feeling guilty, lost and emotionally detached. Phew.... and he still loved her till the end.

For seasoned K-drama viewers, I do not think you will be interested to give this drama a try. No matter how good or bad the characters are, it is important that the story is believable and that we can accept the characters played out comfortably especially in melodramatic series or dramas. I took a few days off at episode 45 and had to continue to the end after that, so as I could do justice to my time committed to the entire drama.

I scored 8 for Acting as the actors played their part well to the point that I managed to get myself so frustrated. I think, even the lead actors had a laugh or two by the characters they had to play, especially the episode where Hae Gang invites her husband for a perfect evening, grocery shopping, promise of a 'together night', cooking for him and over dinner says she wants to 'break-up' again with him!

I scored an overall 4 as the drama was good to watch until Episode 24. After that all my eyelashes dropped off one by one till I could breathe again on the last episode which was finally acceptable. Honestly, Episode 50 should have completed the series as Episode 25. The the drama would have very good reviews with this arrangement.

Sorry everyone for the detailed spoiler. I feel a lot better and can move on. Cheers!

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A Long Watch

...(sigh).....honestly the only reason I watched this drama was to see Oh Ji Ho. It was a long watch for just 16 episodes as I found the drama dragged on a little bit too long, for so little material. The most agonizing to watch was Han Ye Seul's character Na Sang Shil which was obnoxious, arrogant and full of herself. This attitude carried out throughout the drama, though I was hoping it changed during the middle of the series. But it did not.

What a waste of talent as I think the characters of the main lead Oh Ji Ho and Han Ye Seul had great potential for a more memorable couple as they looked great together.

As for the story, full on amnesia.

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This Drama Did Not Work For Me....sorry

I chanced upon this drama from a YouTube pop up. The title was nice enough and after doing a bit of searching on the show, I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I struggled through the 20 episodes after the 4th episode. The love story grew a little bit more dramatic as it went along as everyone tries to break the couple up to the extend that it appeared a little bit silly.

1st, why would it be a problem to reveal that Han Ki Joo's (Park Shin Yang) sister is actually his mother?? After all, even though he was born of a different father, his mother is still the daughter of the rich father, who is in reality Ki Joo's grandfather. Ki Joo runs the car manufacturing business well, upright, decent and experienced enough to hold the fort. So, how could the fact that his parenting issue even over-shadow such a successful person?? A bit too dramatic.

2nd, how would this be also the main reason for Kang Tae Young (Kim Jung Eun) to separate from Ki Joo just because his 'secret' is exposed? Any normal couple will talk it over to manage such incidents, but this character chose to run away from it all fearing that this is affect Ki Joo's career. Appeared a bit too naive for me for a grown adult.

3rd, it seems also a little bit too weird of Tae Young's expression towards Yoon Soo Hyuk (Lee Dong Gun), Ki Joo's uncle/brother, even though her character is supposedly not in love with him but Ki Joo. For someone who feels guilty about hurting Soo Hyuk (by turning him down and choosing his uncle/brother), she showed too much care to the extent that she is continuing to encourage Soo Hyuk. Even towards the final few episodes, she held so much guilt, sympathy and feeling for him, enough to leave Ki Joo, made me want to punch something, anything....eeeek. So this direction of the story did not do too well for Tae Young's character.

Last, but not least, I found there is too little chemistry between Ki Joo and Tae Young. For a couple who is so in love, there is just not enough of holding, kissing or warm affection from the moment they confessed their love for each other. To the point that there was too much politeness and distance. The Director should have created a more emotionally connected couple. The couple look distant, even when they are close together.

What was consistent and stood out well in the entire drama was the closeness between the uncle/brother relationship between Ki Joo and Soo Hyuk. I find that this was written well and earned 4 points in my story score. One could feel the brotherhood, love and forgiveness of each other through their trials and tribulations. I also personally felt that the ex-wife played by Kim Soo Hyeong is a much better fit for Ki Joo as her character had a sense of maturity, understanding and warmth well suited to Ki Joo.

Well so much for the story. As for the actors, I was glad to have been introduced to Park Shin Yang and Kim Jung Eun. Did some research and reading on these two actors and I must say they have had a long career and a lot of good dramas and accolades of the past and I am going to enjoy watching some of them. In fact, surprisingly, Lovers In Paris had very high rating when it aired 2004, however I do not think this drama will do as well in the current climate of 2020 due to strong competition in Korean dramas.

In the meantime, watch Lovers In Paris only if you have run out of K-Dramas to watch and is not too sticky about story line that makes sense. Sorry, overall scoring 4 and I will not be watching this drama again.

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WHAT A GREAT SHOW

Here I am. A late bloomer of Jang Hyuk dramas, discovering him only in 2020. I kept Beautiful Mind on the back burner a bit and saw most of his other dramas which started with Fated To Love You, Thank You, Robbers, Chunno which were all done with great acting by him. To guide me to his next effort, I read all the reviews on DramaList and just completed watching this great show 'Beautiful Mind'.

Beautiful Mind has a very interesting medical mystery murder story line surrounding the hospital that Dr. Lee Yeong Oh (Jang Hyuk) works after returning from overseas back to Korea. He suffers from an antisocial personality dis-order where he is unable to emphatise with people and situations around him. However, through a series of events involving a murder case in the hospital, he is suspected by a traffic policewoman Gye Jin Sung. It was enjoyable to watch how this traffic policewoman evolved from a naive rookie police who is a bit clueless of her actions to being transferred to Criminal Police division and slowly mature to a more rounded cop. Her character is pure and simple (but I do find the character a bit too young) and is quite a good change from the heavy and interesting drama in the hospital. Her simplicity also helped to draw out Dr. Lee's journey in discovering his emotional side and hence beginning to help him deal with changes and acceptance of situations around him in spite of his personality dis-order.

The show has a great story line with every episode, surprises, joy and I also cried a little. Each cast did justice to their performance and of course, Jang Hyuk (Dr. Lee) is exceptionally talented. As always in his performance, again in Beautiful Mind he is able to take us through the complexity of Dr. Lee Yeong Oh's character. His ups and down and the variation of situations he has to deal with to bring the entire drama from a great start to a super ending.

Love the show, suggest to watch it.

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No Hesitation - Entertaining Drama

Loved this drama so much. Very entertaining from first Episode right until the end. The plot, the acting, the script kept my attention each episode. I find the characters of the divorce couple Choi Jin Hyuk (he acted as Lee Minho's older brother in 'Heirs') and Song Ji Hyo very entertaining as their relationship had to struggle, when the meet again as interns in a hospital Emergency Ward. Each episode gradually sees them re-discovering their respective qualities which they did not notice before, when they were married at a younger age. I found myself laughing quite a bit too. Lots of highs and lows emotionally and would definitely watch again one of these fine days.

I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. It was very entertaining from the first episode to the last. The chemistry between the two leads were perfect. Imagine a divorce couple, meeting again after many years as interns in the hospital Emergency Room. With a bad history in their relationship, it was good to see as tempers and resentment flares in the place of work, but it was obvious also that there is much feeling of love and care un-resolved. Through all the trials at work, they begin to support one another and are able to come to a more mature feeling of love and support. Of course, to add to the tension there is a triangle with the senior but the roles were managed well and tastefully and the ending was perfect towards the end of an eventful drama series. Highly recommended for those who loves being entertained from beginning to end.

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The Royal Consort?

Apparently, this drama is a depiction of a real life story. I could not enjoy Sung Deok Im (The Royal Consort) character who did not seem to have reciprocated in terms of showing great affection to the King who loved her deeply, and demonstrated to her his affections in anyway he could. The actors however did a really good job especially with Lee Jun Ho who acted as the King but the show dragged on in most parts for me. ...............................................................................................................................................................

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Good Entertaining Romance, Kick-Ass Ghosts Action and Comedy Drama

Just managed to watch this 2016 drama as I chanced upon it on YouTube and found it interesting enough to go to one of the drama websites to watch. And I was not disappointed.

I found Bring It On, Ghosts did well on the acting, story line and provided 16 episodes of good entertainment. As the idea of human falling in love with a ghost drama is not new, it was important that the chemistry between Male and Female lead did well together. Ok Taec Yeon and Kim So Hyun led the show satisfactorily and they look good and comfortable as the lead couple. The good thing also is that all other cast members had a fair share of acting to do and the overall feeling was a full and complete show. I laughed, I cried and also enjoyed the tingling light kissing scenes.

The action scenes and the ghosts stories were each interesting to watch too. It was cool to see the Male and Female lead join forces to fight the ghosts. As the show will tell, not all ghosts are bad or have evil intentions.

If this drama was watched week after week during it's release 2016, I would have given it a score of 10 as it is a really good drama. But, because I marathon watched it in 2020, I rate it a strong 9 and do recommend to those who like watching romance, kick-ass ghosts action and comedy.

Cheers! K-drama forever!

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Not So Innocent .....

Picture a man in his 30's, not much of a winner in his life. Married a woman whom he got pregnant after many years of dating. She comes from a rich family who helped him get a teaching job in a community all girl school. Then picture a student who was born out of wedlock as her mother is the mistress of a rich corporate businessman. Traumatized, feeling un-loved and mentally disturbed.

When these two meet, TROUBLE follows. Teacher gets into a weak moment of escapism from his not so ideal life lusting for the student who goes all out to possess this man and his love. In her mentally deranged way, she eases herself into his life, his home, unable to let go. Whilst the teacher realized he should not have encouraged her in the first place, everything becomes a little too late to reign the student in. Thus we have a very exciting, thrilling movie well played.

Jang Hyuk as usual magnificent and believable in the role of this unlucky teacher who truly got the greatest lesson and regret in his life, The nervous and naturally selfish wife played by Sun Woo did a really good job trying to keep and protect the family she has and Jo Bo-Ah was mesmerizing and nerve wrecking perfect in the mentally disturbed student role. This movie reminds me of "Fatal Attraction" played by Michael Douglas and Glen Close. This Korean movie with Jang Hyuk and Jo Bo-Ah did an equally good job in keeping us at the edge of our seat. Highly recommended to watch. Enjoy!

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Mother Wife, Truly A Woman Of Substance

I have been binge watching chinese dramas of late focusing on love, romance and hardship faced during China republican era of 1912-1949. There are many things that I find intriguing of life and cultures during that time. Even the clothes, fashion and styles are interesting to watch. The actor that really portray this era well to me is Harwick Lau. I have been binge watching his dramas of late and I picked this drama Mother Wife because of it's interesting title. From what I have read, male children from rich families in that era were often betrothed at a young age (some even from babies) for business purpose, to ensure obedient daughter-in-laws, maintain friendships and lots more. Therefore, roles of girls/young ladies become demeaning and powerless as they are being forced into loveless marriages.

Crystal Zhang Yu Yuan, veteran of bitter sweet dramas plays the doomed Qiu Ju. Married off at 18 to 8 years old Yao Zong (played by the cute Leo Wu). His mother was dying, and wanted a Wife who also will carry the role of a Mother to her son, protecting his position and wealth from her husband's devious second wife. Qiu Ju had to endeavor a lot of torture, pain and hardship until she found happiness at 80 years old!!! Truly a woman of substance and Crystal Zhang was perfect in her role.

Harwick was also very good in depicting Yao Zong as a bitter, revengeful, ambitious young adult who went through extremes to get what he wants. He made the role really hateful and yet at times he could make us feel his warmth and love for Qiu Ju. A man caught in his own devious plans and in the end forced to walk that route of guilt and regret.

Wow, all 38 episodes of a full on drama worth watching even though it was released in 2009. The drama is not perfect and can get really angsty. However, I am just glad that I watched something a little different from the norm where the overall entertainment value is at 8 for me.

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