Details

  • Last Online: Apr 26, 2023
  • Location: California
  • Contribution Points: 0 LV0
  • Birthday: July 15
  • Roles:
  • Join Date: June 22, 2012

leahakiko

California

leahakiko

California
Completed
Splash Splash LOVE
113 people found this review helpful
Dec 21, 2015
2 of 2 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
If you randomly come across this little special drama, do not hesitate to watch it!

Story | A regular high school senior is struggling in school with tests and college expectations building on her shoulders. One day while on her way to take a test that will "determine the rest of her life", she became able to transport to a different era through the rain. She then enters the Joseon era and encounters a whole new set of problems. Nothing new but for some reason, it's something I don't really get tired of.

Cast | I'm so happy to see Kim Seul Gi in a main role! I've only see her in a few things and adored her unique acting. She gave her character such a refreshing feel. Not sure how others will feel, but nothing about her acting was at all annoying and I quite loved how it was different than the typical main actress. Oh Doojoon. I really need to watch more of his works. He did a lot better than I had expected and in my opinion, I thought he showed perfect emotions in his face, which is pretty big for me. Him and Seul Gi were great together! Again, I wasn't expecting much but their chemistry clicked right away and I enjoyed every second of their screen time together. Their relationship developed so naturally I really can't praise them enough. Supporting cast was great too. Ahn Hyo Seop was a little awkward but his character clicked perfect with Seul Gi's as well and I enjoyed his character.

Music | There were a few songs that were used for this drama, I believe Kim Hyung Joong sang for this special and I enjoyed all the songs used.

Rewatch | Most definitely. Only 2 episodes and I loved every second of it. I already want to go back and rewatch it again.

Overall | Why can't Korean dramas always be this easy to watch?! Minimal drama but still enough to push the story along without anything feeling dragged out. The first episode felt like I had already watched 7 episodes of a regular Korean drama and was extremely content. I'm sad because this special was only 2 episodes but I'm happy because I wouldn't want this to be dragged out to 16 episodes..maybe. I honestly wouldn't mind more episode with Doojoon and Seul Gi. Maybe I'm just too big of a sucker for romance dramas. This is a very easy drama to get through and it's perfect for days when you don't feel like watching your "Currently Watching" list but also don't feel like start another 20-24 episode drama.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Sky of Love
54 people found this review helpful
Jul 18, 2013
Completed 2
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I feel Koizora is that type of movie that can leave you in a short state of depression after finishing. I remember finishing this movie and I literally sat still for a few minutes taking in what I just saw while tears just ran down my face.

This story is supposedly based on a true story and can I just say this is a complete tear jerker. My friends kept pushing me into watching this and even though it's sad, I am so glad I decided to watch it.

This movie is just an amazing story about ones first love. It teases you with so much happiness and then just stabs you in the heart with sadness. I think it hurts a little more inside when you realize this based off true events.

I loved the cast. I really liked Miura and Yui together. There were those awkward acting scenes but I've grown used to them after watching so many dramas. But their chemistry was pretty good. I liked the supporting cast as well. Their characters were shown just enough and all blended well together.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone and if you are still iffy about watching this, just watch it..with a box of tissues of course

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Emergency Couple
43 people found this review helpful
Apr 6, 2014
21 of 21 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Oh where to begin with this drama.
I feel the plot is kind of a cliche but written well, it can be great. And I honestly loved this drama. The actors were great, the progress was good, and overall probably one of my favorite Korean dramas.

I'll admit I only started watching this because of Song Ji Hyo. I haven't seen too much of her work and I'll also admit at times I did see "Running Man's Ace Mong Ji" from time to time during the drama. I feel it just can't be helped though.
I adored the chemistry between Song Ji Hyo and Choi Jin Hyuk. They fit together so perfectly in my opinion. Their cute scenes, fighting scenes, funny scenes etc were great to watch.

The supporting cast was great too. I can't remember all the names but I felt all the family members, interns, doctors and nurses were great. They had enough screen time to move the plot along and were just as important as the main leads. And can I just say the emotional scenes got me wiping the tears away. And that baby. He was so adorable!

One thing I do have to say is that I feel this drama could've been maybe a couple episodes shorter. Some things dragged just a little and I'm glad they didn't make it more than 21 episodes. Compared to others though, the plot being dragged on isn't as bad. Episodes moved by quickly so it honestly didn't feel like I watched 21 episodes.

Music was okay. Same background music and whatnot. Oh, I loved the sound effects that were always used. It just made things even funnier.

This is also one of the few times where I was happy with the ending. When the flashbacks of the drama and bloopers started playing, I sat in front of my laptop feeling satisfied. Wish there could be a special or something later on.

I would definitely watch this drama again and recommend it to anyone. It's a good drama to watch during down time.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Coffee Prince
20 people found this review helpful
Jun 30, 2015
17 of 17 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 9.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
I honestly forgot, or more didn't realize, what a gem this drama is! I just finished rewatching it, and now that I'm seven years older than when I first watched this I can appreciate this drama a lot more. It's always on that list of "must watch dramas" when you talk to someone who's asking around for good dramas, and for good reasons.

Story is the typical girl looks like boy, uses that to "trick" certain people, gets closer to the male lead..the same old stuff back in the last decade. What made this drama different then most was the fact that the lead actor was unaware of her gender and was a poor guy thinking he was confused. That to me, was one of my favorite aspects of this entire drama. This ended up being a romantic comedy without going too overboard on the comedy (in my opinion). The relationships formed naturally on screen between the leads and between all the side characters. There were some slow parts in this drama but for 17 episodes, I thought things moved fairly quickly. This story just has side stories for most of their other characters.

Cast. UGH. I completely forgot how much I loved this cast! Gong Yoo and Eun Hye are seriously a match made in heaven. Their on screen chemistry was simply undeniable. From when they met until the very end, all of their scenes together were pure perfection. Their acting was so perfect it seemed real and I haven't been able to find a Korean drama where two actors grab my attention like these two.
All of the side character actors were just as perfect. The cafe workers (rip Lee Eon), all the family members and others were casted perfectly. Everyone just seemed to mesh extremely well together.

Music, honestly was never a favorite of mine. Though the whole "la la la lala" song would get stuck in my head for days, there was nothing really special about the music used.

As stated, I have rewatched this drama and believe me, in time so will others. It's just that type of drama where you wouldn't mind watching it from beginning to the end again. I always recommend this drama to new drama watchers and I think I always will. It's a feel good drama and it's also up on Netflix for the time being so if you have it, watch it!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Big
116 people found this review helpful
Jul 25, 2012
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 5.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This drama started off so well. The cast was good and Gong Yoo was great at trying to act like a 18/19 year old while in a 30 year old body.
But after a while the drama started to drag on. I dealt with it because it wasn't as bad as other dramas and continued to watch. And after a few episodes the cliffhangers started to repeat themselves and were very predictable.

The ending...oh god i don't know where to begin. This drama had the potential of having a very good ending, but obviously the Hong sisters didn't know what they were doing and I have never seen an ending so bad. i had big hopes for this drama and was let down big time.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Mask
40 people found this review helpful
Aug 27, 2015
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
Well, if you're looking for a drama to keep you hooked from episode 1 to the very end, this is your drama. My god. From the short description on this site, I was not expect so much from this drama but geez did it keep me hooked for a few days. This is also coming from a person who barely watches melodramas.

Story | The whole doppelgänger scenario where something happens to one so the other fills their place. There's also love, loss, family drama etc. The whole works. Story may be a little confusing at first. It goes back and forth through time to explain situations later on. Also give you a headache from trying to guess what is actual and what is not.

Cast | From the main roles to the supporting roles, I loved everyone who was casted. I haven't watched Ji Hoon in a drama since Goong and it was weird seeing him with this serious role at first. But his acting was superb! His character change was natural and nicely paced. Him and Soo Ae were great together. I liked their chemistry but at times I felt like there was more emotion from Ji Hoon's character and it didn't match Soo Ae's as well as I'd hoped. Even so, I loved them as the leads.
Jung Hoon and In Young were simply fantastic! Their acting/chemistry together was spot on. And you know an actor has done their job when you can't fully hate or love their character.
Supporting cast was great too! Family, friends, loan sharks etc I loved. This drama has me waiting for the day when Hoya gets a lead in a drama. And just have to say, Min Woo's assistant was by far the best supporting character in that entire drama.

Music | Besides the instrumentals for scenes, I don't remember much so my score is low.

Rewatch | It's hard to say. There was much suspense in this drama that it'll be hard to watch again since all the twist and turns won't be as surprising. One day I know i'll come back to it because I seriously adored Ji Hoon's acting but as for now, probably not. That's the only reason my score is so low.

Overall | Honestly, maybe the best drama for 2015. I loved it. Truly. I had so many emotions while watching, god..it was terrible! So many twists and turns to keep you into the story. At some point you may think "ok, really. more?" but I was honestly ok with all the back and forth-ness of it all. It made 20 episode go by fairly quickly and though some may say it dragged, there wasn't a boring episode in this entire drama. Give it a try, at least the first 3-5 episodes.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
The Girl Who Sees Scents
23 people found this review helpful
May 22, 2015
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 3.0
This was an okay drama. It was good, the story was interesting, the cast i loved and it was a nice drama to keep up with for a few weeks.

Story wise, it's unique. The whole seeing smells is something I never would've thought would work but it was all written in extremely well in my opinion. There was plenty of suspenseful scenes throughout the whole drama which kept me hooked for at least 14 episodes. I'd say overall the story was planned nicely, some things were left dry but had they gone into anything more there would've been more then 16 episode, and I think 16 episode was just enough for this drama.

Cast I really, really loved. I liked Yoochun and Se Kyung as the leads (heard people aren't fond of her acting but most like her in this) Their chemistry was enjoyable to watch, especially their comedic scenes. But what really made this drama was Goong Min and all the other character actors. I've never seen a drama with Goong Min and boy did he impress me. He played his character so perfectly it'll be hard for me not to imagine Kwon Jae Hee whenever I see him. The police force was always entertaining to watch. Jin Seo's serious character fit in too well with the three detectives, though they were somewhat useless at time, they were much needed comic relief at other times.

Music wise, I can't really remember much, just the music they always used for Kwon Jae Hee (which I weirdly liked) but OSTs weren't anything to remember.

Overall it was a good drama but nothing to be wow'd about. Unfortunately the last few episodes were kind of a disappointment considering how good the 13ish episodes were, hence the low score. I felt after a while they geared away from Cho Rim's ability and it was hardly used like I thought it would be. Even with the disappointment, I don't regret watching this, and I would recommend people give this drama a try. It's also nice that it's only 16 episodes so anyone could really plow through this drama.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Love for Beginners
19 people found this review helpful
Jul 4, 2013
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
I didn't know this manga was made into a movie. I jus recently started reading the manga also so I decided to watch this.

It's cute. It's your typical popular boy, unpopular student romance. But I still liked it. I think this would've been better as a drama since everything seemed extremely fast. The whole teasing phase then relationship phase all seemed rushed which is uncommon for movies.

I think if you haven't read the manga you would probably like it more.

I loved the cast. Matsuzaka is some serious eye candy ~ all the characters were really likable but I feel like some of the supporting cast should've had a bigger role like in the manga. It's kind of like they were just there to be there. I liked the two main leads but I feel like their chemistry didn't develop well enough. They were cute together but I just didn't seem like they really liked each other, it was rather lacking.

The music was pretty good. The audio for the whole movie was a little weird so it was hard to hear the music clearly but they were enjoyable tunes.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Mondai no Aru Restaurant
16 people found this review helpful
Sep 6, 2015
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
Before I even get into my pros and cons, I just want to say I am in love with the concept of this drama and it's story. I am extremely glad I came across this and decided to watch it before others on my list!

Story | Sexism in life is the main theme. Several women who are in the work force deal with sexism constantly and due to certain circumstances end up working together at a restaurant started up by the main heroine. Just like the title, it is a restaurant with many problems. Exactly like women in the work force. But the restaurant becomes a safe place and a place for them to work without the prejudice and discriminations that are usually used against working women. These are real life issues that real life women (and even men) deal with daily.

Cast | At first I was kind of "meh" about the cast but as the episodes went on and the characters started to develop, I had zero issues with the actors or their acting. Everyone had great chemistry together and it worked out perfectly. Though there is quite a number of serious moments, the actors were able to also give off comedic vibes to keep the drama going and I loved those moments. Maki Yoko was a strong in this drama. She gave her character the perfect amount of courage, sympathy, anger etc. Can I just add how much I loved Yasuda Ken's character. Best. Character. Ever. Anyways, I believe every character had their own unique color and the actors were able to portray that extremely well.

Music | Instrumentals during scenes and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's OST Mondai Girl was the ending theme. I scored low only because I'm not much into that type of music. The song is ok but just not my style.

Rewatch | Not too sure. I think I'll more recommend this people than actually rewatch it myself.

Overall | It's not a bad drama. I actually think it's quite an important drama because these types of issues aren't usually the main theme of a drama. These are real life issues that happen everywhere in the work place and it's disgusting. So many double standards and the following of Confucianism in the Asian culture is a big issue that I wish was talked about more. Unfortunately, I am only disappointed with this drama because 1. it was only 10 episodes long (which is normal for Japanese dramas) and 2. because it was so short, a lot of situations that should (or I thought should have) have been focused on more were only glimpsed at and a lot of big situations in this drama were opened and instead of being closed completely, they were slightly left open leaving me not feeling content.

I can't lie though, the issues and how things were dealt with and positive things that were said, made me happy. I can genuinely say I liked this drama. It's a nice short drama that you can get through in a couple of days or a weekend. Please give it a chance!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Rookies
16 people found this review helpful
Aug 21, 2012
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
I'm a little biased when it comes to sport movies, especially baseball ones. One of the main reasons why i decided to watch it. Ive seen other baseball dramas and I've always been eh about them..

but this one was great. i absolutely loved it. It's more than just a baseball drama. it's about coming together as a team again after all hell breaks loose. It has it's real serious moments but it also has a lot of comedic moments so it balances out well.

I love the cast. they all work well with each other and all play yankees i guess well lol

love the music. GReeeeN always has great songs and kiseki is just simply an amazing song.

would easily recommend this drama to people

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo
14 people found this review helpful
Jul 20, 2013
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
I held off on this drama when it was first airing but caught up right before the final episode was aired. I was iffy about this since I really loved the Taiwanese version but I was surprised at how much I actually liked this.

Most people know this story so I won't bother talking about the plot.

My only complaint about this version is the pace during certain episodes and the ending. The first 10 episodes moved fairly quickly to me. Not in a bad way though. It kept me wanting to stay up longer to watch another episode. But episode 11-15 moved slowly. Everyone (well those who have seen the other versions) knew what was coming and I felt that the drama was just dragging on.

The ending, I was expecting too much. I was slightly disappointed to be honest. I felt like a lot was left on in the last episode.

I enjoyed the cast. Kotoko's character wasn't as annoying as all the other versions thankfully. Naoki was calm cool and collected, I liked how Yuki played him. The family was cute. Naoki's mom is always one of my favorite characters. Kotoko's friends were extremely entertaining too.

Overall, I really liked this version. Hoping for a second season or a special but I would definitely recommend this to those who have seen the other versions and aren't sure about this one.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
99-nen no Ai ~ Japanese Americans
13 people found this review helpful
Jun 24, 2012
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I decided to watch this in May due to the fact that I had to write a research paper about Japanese-American history. Being said, this short tv special was a great inside to what it was like to be Japanese-American from the start of the 20th century. Each episode tells a different story and though it may seem educational it was really extremely interesting. I loved how they showed things that really happened back during World War 2. Gave me an idea of what my family went through back then.
Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Maou
10 people found this review helpful
Oct 10, 2013
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
I have no idea why it took me so long to watch this drama, it was unexpectedly really good.

I'm usually not into crime/detective dramas but there was just something about this drama that kept me hooked.

The story seemed quite unique to me (I know this is the Japanese ver of the Korean one) Everything that happened in the drama was brilliant. I want to describe in detail on what I mean but I don't want to spoil it. I'll just say the way everything turned out made sense. There are always those movies or shows that have confusing parts where you sit there and go"..but how/why?" Everything was pretty much clear.

The cast, Oh how I loved the cast. This was the first drama I've watched with Toma being so serious. Besides the fact that most of the time he was running and screaming lines that probably didn't need to be shouted, I thought he did a great job.
But Ohno. Oh my god Ohno. I knew he could act but I never knew how well he could act. He played off that Angelic/somewhat bad character so well.
Both of their crying scenes always felt so real. A+

The supporting cast was perfect too. Maybe 1 or 2 characters I felt could've had different actors but overall I thought the cast was great.

Music wise, all I can remember is Arashi's song for the theme. Which I felt fit perfectly with the whole story. (I've already liked that song since it came out so that's why I gave music a 10)

As for rewatching, I probably won't be rewatching this drama anytime soon or possibly at all. I feel like dramas with suspense can really only be watched once. But I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone who's considering watching it!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
The Eternal Zero
8 people found this review helpful
Sep 11, 2015
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
I know this movie is more fiction than nonfiction but wow, I would say it's one of the best war movies I have ever seen.

Story | In modern day Japan, Kentaro finds out that his grandfather is not his biological grandfather. So his grandchildren set out to find out more about their grandfathers life during World War Two as a Kamikaze Pilot. They hear story after story to help reveal the true story of what really happened 60 years ago (assuming the present time takes place in 2004/2005)

Cast | For the most part amazing. Okada portrayed Miyabe's character so well. I don't know how to really explain it. He had such a calming feel yet but was able to show his desire to live at the same time. I actually have an issue with Miura Haruma in this movie. I personally love him as an actor and for the most part, him as Kentaro was fine, he showed character development and whatnot but my only problem was that his facial expressions and some actions were a bit of an overreaction. And it's a shame because he's suppose to be a character that us, as a younger generation, should relate to (if we are basing this off the younger generation's ignorance of war). That was the only unfortunate part. Moving on, the pilots and the older actors of those pilots were terrific. It was amazing how even though the story wasn't about them, their (younger pilots) character developments throughout the movie were fluid, believable and are a big reason why this movie turned out as great as it did.

Music | I was actually going to score music low because there wasn't much, but the ending theme song deserved a higher rating. Hotaru is such a heart wrenching song after watching that entire movie. I'm going to assume it was written for the movie and the lyrics are simple yet explain the theme of the movie perfectly.

Rewatch | Definitely. It's a movie I'll recommend to friends and if I can watch it with them, I will get the popcorn and tissues ready.

Overall | I can't say "great" enough times. Me, personally, I love movies about WWII. I have family connections to both the Japan and the U.S side during WWII so any chance I get to see a movie, I'll watch. And this definitely didn't disappoint. Though it is fiction, it was a nice little insider to what it might have been like for the Kamikaze pilots. Something most people know very little about. The struggles of knowing you are suppose to die honorably for your country but still wanting to live..that's something we as a younger generations will never fully understand and I'm glad this was a main theme for the movie.

I also believe another reason why this movie turned out so well was the connections that had to be made to tell the whole story. Everything started off in a rough patch and then the haze started to become clear and then everything just made sense. Everything making sense makes me extremely happy because honestly in the beginning I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. I also loved it because it's not just about war and finding one's self, it's so much more than that. This movie provides life lessons about living one's life and knowing that life is a precious thing even though at the that time/era it was seen as an act of cowardliness.

I hope people can give this movie a chance. Stories about WWII are slowly being forgotten or untold and this movie is a good reminded that people in that era has their own story; everyone just kind of hid it in their heart and carried on as if nothing happened. Even if war movies are not your genre, it's a movie that should be watched.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Miss Granny
7 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2015
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
Shout out to Netflix for looking out for me and showing me all these great movies!

I had seen the trailer for this movie on tv and kept telling myself to watch this but never got around to it and I'm mad at myself that it took me as long as it did. This is a feel good movie that you can't help but love. But be warned, if you're looking for romance more than anything else, this isn't that type of movie. Don't pass it up though! It's great either way!

Plot | An older woman is given the chance to go back to her younger years and live the life she always wanted. She has the chance to finally go out and do something for herself instead of always having to think about her family first. Of course not realistic and it's nothing new but to me I found it more interesting because the older woman grew up pre Korean War and times were much, much different compared to if this was an U.S citizen (I hope that makes sense to people, might when you watch the movie~)

Cast | Shim Eun Kyung is hilarious! Hands down. I knew after I watched her in Sunny that she was going to be perfect for these types of roles. She's still pretty young but got the whole ajumma talk/walk down perfectly. I also loved how well her and Lee Jin Wook meshed. Finding out their age difference in real life had me a little shocked but I loved their chemistry and you didn't really see age as a factor here. Loved all the other side characters too. (Jinyoung and that face paint was just…)

Music | GREAT. No words can describe it. Raindrop and White Butterfly are amazing OSTs and Eun Kyung's voice is perfect for them both.

Rewatch | I'm not too sure at the moment. It was a fun movie but the romance it does lacks is what I usually crave in movies/dramas. I get it, some things just couldn't happen because of the whole plot. I 100% accepted that. I just love me some romance. Maybe in a few years I'll come back.

Overall | It was a great movie to watch. Pretty simple. Yes it had a lot of comedy but it had some serious moments that put a lot of things into perspective, which I liked. Not to mention the ending was seriously too perfect. If you have netflix or just need a random movie to watch, this is a must watch!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?