This is a story that I would love to hate, but I can't because it's beautiful. It plays a trick on you. It shows you how two attention starved souls meet and find comfort in each other, so you end up wanting those two to spend more time with each other. Then you question your own judgment and morals. Do I really want two people to cross the line and cheat?

The characters are so incredibly real. The people in this story are flawed, but relatable. I felt very invested in their lives. I liked all the main and the secondary characters in their own way. These could be my family members, friends or neighbors. I think that this story might be for a more mature audience, though, because it tackles a lot of issues that people in their 30s and 40s struggle with. The question of whether people have the right to be happy is not a trivial one because happiness comes at a high price in this show. Do people deserve a second chance after they made a mistake or not? Should mothers see themselves as women with needs or just parents? What constitutes a working marriage?

What makes this story even more intricate is the extraordinary connection plus sizzling chemistry that the two main leads develop very early on in the drama. Also, the cinematography is beautiful. The leads will only exchange a look and the screen seems to be burning. You feel their pain and their longing. Most of the actors did a great job in this show, but I feel like Lee Sang Yoon, Choi Yeo Yin and Shin Sung Rok were especially amazing. This show might be worth watching just to see Shin Sung Rok as another cold-hearted jerk (he was the bad guy in YWCFTS).

I honestly loved the story, but I can't give it a 10 because it was a bit slow at times. I generally enjoyed the slow pace, but the amount of flashbacks and fillers was a bit too much. I also found the idea of fate in the show a bit naive and too obvious from the start. Apart from that, it was a really good drama.

Read More

I recently re-watched it because I wanted to see if I still would rate it a solid 10 and I came to the conclusion that I still simply adore this movie.

I like the down to Earth portrayal of young adults in this. Relationships are messy. Good people sometimes leave or do unfair things, successful relationships fall apart, people find new partners etc. It's like the lead said: people meet, fall in love, leave and then meet someone new. It's possible that they get married solely to avoid this vicious cycle. Ultimately though, people crave intimacy, which also includes physical intimacy. I am so done with the story line in which 35 year olds have their shy first kiss because they were patiently waiting for their first love for 20 years. I love this movie for showing all shades of adult relationships. Yes, it is a movie with adult content and explicit sex scenes. I thought it was refreshing to finally see that in a Korean production. It's like Korean dramas have no problem dealing with sexual violence, corruption or murder, but are too scared to tackle sex in a real, mature way.

I felt that the characters were pretty multidimensional. The movie plays a trick on us: we root for a looser musician with no clear future and a woman so dissatisfied with her relationship that she is willing to cross lines that maybe should not be crossed. Even the beginning of their relationship is messy. If I had a situation like that happening between my friends, I would probably be very disturbed by that. Not so much in this film, though. The chemistry between those two is absolutely unbeatable. Even the conversations between the two leads were hot. However, what was even more intriguing was the deeper connection that slowly developed between the two.

Sure, the story is not groundbreaking and there are not millions of twists, but I don't think that there need to be. Fast pace ts not what makes this film unique.

Read More

I can't say that I liked the movie. It seems like it consists of two completely different movies strung into one. It didn't seem right to me. If you like dark, suspenseful movies then the first half was way too long. On the other hand, if you got interested in the family drama, it got cut way too quickly. I guess that the twist in the middle surprised me in a way, but it was put exactly in the middle of the film that I don't think it was a good idea. I watched the first half of the movie and got kind of interested in where the story is going and then after the twist just quickly fast forwarded to see how it ended. Despite really good acting, I wouldn't recommend it.

Read More

It's a fun drama with some untypical elements in the story, but if you don't appreciate the over-the-top humor, it's nothing special. I felt that it dragged at times. The story dealt with corruption, connections and covering up big schemes. Those themes are nothing new. For example Pinocchio, Healer or Uncontrollably Fond dealt with similar issues. However, there are enough comedic elements in Chief Kim to make the story way more balanced. I also appreciated the variety of female characters, none of which try to fight over a cute guy. That's a huge plus of the show. There are many references to other dramas in Chief Kim and those are honestly the funniest scenes in the show.

The main conflict between Kim Seon Ryong and Seo Yool reminded me of Falling for Innocence. It has a similar vibe. There is virtually zero romance in this show which was refreshing, but was also a missed opportunity. I thought that the initial scenes between Seo Yool and Ha Kyung were promising and I was waiting for more scenes between the two of them. I am not saying there had to be any serious romance, but this showed did a good job showing the progression of many cool relationships except for this one. I think the writers dropped the ball with those two characters.

Most of the actors did a good job in this. Personally, I am not a fan of Namgoong Min's acting, though. I didn't like his style of acting in Beautiful Gong Shim and I didn't quite like it here. I was totally flabbergasted about Ha Dong's performance after seeing him in Suspicious Partner. What a versatile actor!

Read More

Initially, I wanted to give this a solid 10, but after thinking about it for a while, I came down to a 9.

I loved everything about the first 10 or so episodes: the first meetings between Bo Jin Yan and Yao Yao, the mansion scenes and the first cases those two (those four, to be exact) worked on. I also loved how the scenes were shot. There was darkness, close - ups and mystery in all the right places. That got me invested into the story. However, let me just say that the story got progressively creepier and I had a hard time binge watching the last couple of episodes because of that. I have a very vivid imagination and even if the torture scenes were not always explicit, my memory overcompensated for them. The last 8 episodes were too much: the crimes were too perfect, the pace was too fast for me and the tricks were just too well thought out.

I was also not a huge fan of the romance in this drama. It progressed too quickly and it wasn't all that great. It did move the story forward, but it didn't make my heart race. I liked the initial attraction between the main leads, but I didn't think they fit together as a couple.

Wallace Huo really is an incredible actor. He does a good job in the first half of the show, but a remarkable job during the couple of last episodes. There are scenes acted out by him that blew me away. I liked his scenes with Sandra Ma, but I can't say I loved her equally much in this. As usual with East Asian dramas, a lot of the non- Chinese actors were so so. I do think that LMiYD had better English speaking actors than most of the shows out there, but many of them were not even half as good as the Chinese protagonists. That ruined some scenes for me. It was difficult for me to rate the cast because of that.

Overall though Love Me if You Dare is really a great show and I recommend that you watch it and see for yourself.

Read More

I think that this drama had a lot going for it, but despite some really great things about it, it didn't quite do it for me.

I tried to start the show 3 times and each time something annoyed me in the story. Despite that, I kept watching to get to the good parts because of the high rankings the show received. I had a really hard time with the first 3-4 episodes. I found No Ji Wook and Eun Bong Hee's encounters to be rather awkward; not pleasant to watch at all. On top of that. I felt that there were way too many unlikable characters (evil killers, mean girls, cheating boyfriends, uncompromising DAs) and I didn't like the twist in which a girl suddenly became a suspect and there is literally nothing anybody saw or heard because of some ridiculous blackout. It was too unbelievable for me. However, it did eventually get to the good part.

--This part of the review can spoil parts of the show, so don't read it if you didn't watch the show. --

The criminal part of this story that pertains to the serial killer is its best part. The plot twists are surprising and interesting and I can't believe how amazing Dong Ha was in his role. Hyun Soo was probably the most interesting villain I've seen so far. He was scary, creepy and intriguing at the same time. His interactions with the people around were always tense and made things more interesting. I mean, Dong Ha really stole the show here. I felt like I feared him but was also curious about him. Just when I felt like I knew everything there was to know about him, it turns out that I was wrong all along. This was one of the best stories like that out there. However, I can't get over how unrealistic the lawyers' jobs were portrayed. I mean, this show was more of a police drama than lawyer drama. This is not what lawyers do! This really annoyed me throughout the show.

------ end of slight spoiler part -------

I think that the weakest part of the show was the romance. It started off kind of promising, but it quickly became bland and boring. They kept moving around in circles and almost no interaction between the two was interesting. I couldn't really see Ji Wook and Bong Hee as love interests and I don't think that I particularly liked Bong Hee's character. It's not that I disliked her; she was just very lukewarm to me and I don't want to feel this way about the main character. I also didn't feel much chemistry between the actors. I wonder if it was the writing or Nam Ji Hyun's acting. I mean, after watching Healer I can't get satisfied with the level of chemistry that I saw in Suspicious Partner.
I really liked how the relationships between the lawyers and other people developed and how natural the progression was. I regret that I didn't feel like that about the main couple.

All in all, I'm glad that I watched this show but it didn't make it into my all time favorites.

Read More

"Always" was one of those movies that made me feel emotions that I'd rather not feel. Let me just say that from the minute I started the movie, I was immersed in the world that the writer created.

I would describe this movie as painfully beautiful. It was dark both metaphorically and literally since most of the movie was shot either during the night or in the small, poorly lit places. This was a great metaphor of the character's lives: the male lead's life was dark since he didn't have much to live for and the female lead's life was literally dark since she couldn't see.

The chemistry between the leads was off the charts. This was one of the best couples I've seen so far.
I really had no idea how amazing So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo's acting is. I saw them both in different Korean dramas, but I now realize that Always really let them shine as actors. I am in awe. The characters felt so real to me that I almost had a feeling that they'll jump out of the screen and appear in front of me.

The ending was very bittersweet. "Always" is ultimately a movie about sacrifice, redemption and finding hope where there seems to be none. There are some incredibly romantic moments, but even when the mood in the movie lightens up, I could feel something ominous in the air. It's a type of story that makes you hold your loved ones after you finish watching it. Some people seem to find the ending to be satisfying, but I had some mixed feelings about it. I understood the writer's message and intention; however, I'd prefer the ending to be a little more uplifting even if it wouldn't exactly match the general tone of the movie.

Read More

The Greatest Love was okay. If you are a fan of predictable love stories with very cliche love triangles then by all means give it a try. It wasn't an unpalatable show and many people can find it enjoyable. I guess I am just a little done with the same kind of protagonists and storylines in all kdramas all the time.

Story: the story seemed a bit weird to me at first, but it wasn't too weird after the first 2 episodes. However, it was so similar to other shows like that that I just couldn't find it appealing. The typical situation in which the guy is rich and dreamy and the girl is either cursed, poor, pathetic or just fell down on her luck. The arrogant guy thinks that there is no way he is ever going to fall for "someone like that", but then miraculously ends up madly in love to the point where he is willing to sacrifice his pride and life for her. I've seen it in Lie to Me, Marriage not Dating, BoF, The Master's Sun, You're Beautiful, Cinderella and 4 Knights... shall I keep going? We also have the ever present love triangle in which the second lead is so dreamy that you can't help but feel bad for him. No matter how bad you feel though, he is a very flat character. In a story like that there must also be a jealous mean girl and all sorts of people against the developing relationships. Even in this regard the story is very predictable. I generally am not all opposed to a good love triangle, but this one just didn't give me the feels.

The acting was ok, too. I am a fan of Gong Hyo Jin, but she always gets stuck in almost identical roles and most of her characters seem very similar to me. I could barely discern between her acting here, in Pasta and in Master's Sun. She showed her real potential in That's Okay, It's Love and I wish people gave her more complex roles. I really liked Cha Seung Won in You're All Surrounded, but here I kept comparing him to So Ji Sub and couldn't help but think that the latter would be a better fit for the role. Cha Seung Won's character also somewhat reminded me of Jang Hyuk from Fated to Love You. Maybe it was because of the weird laugh? No matter the reason, this left me with a feeling that the main male character could be any of the big name rom-com actors and the story would be unharmed.

I was not a huge fan of the music. I would describe it as very cheesy and anti-climactic most of the time.

All in all I can't help but think that The Greatest Love will be one of those dramas that I finished because I started it, but it won't stick with me for long. It gave me a very very similar vibe to "The Master's Sun", except that the latter had way better dialogues, a better story and chemistry between the leads.

Read More

My rating of this story depends on whether I rate based on my immediate emotional response or my logical analysis several weeks after I finished it. I watched W in one go. I was basically glued to the monitor for two days until I finished. I loved the idea for this show.

However, when I read the criticism towards the show, I kind of agree with it. The story was too rushed and all over the place and it often lacked internal logic. It was too much, too soon. It would probably be much better if the writers took time to develop relationships and some reasonable pace for twists and turns. The first 3 to 4 episodes were absolute deabak and left me craving more of the same thing. Unfortunately, the story became a bit messy later on.

I also loved Han Hyo Joo's acting. I wish I could say more about Lee Jong Suk's acting, but honestly I can't since he kept distracting me with his good looks. I don't know if he is a good actor or just a good looking one. I'm not sure I would care either way, to be painfully honest.

All in all, I still totally recommend watching this show and seeing for yourself what the hype is about. I can't give it a high rewatch value mark, though, since the drama is about surprising twists and turns and once all the secrets are out it's just not the same when watching it again.

Read More

Descendants of the Sun is one of those shows that are difficult to forget. If there is a canon of Korean dramas that everyone should watch, than DoTS belongs there. However, I can't give it a 10 due to several reasons.

The story is very unique, but messy. It deals with different type of setting and conflicts than usual in kdramas. There are no love triangles and rich chaebols. Usual signs of being successful, such as money and a position, are somewhat meaningless in this story. It does deal with very popular high brow topics like honor, duty, death, love, friendship and connections, though. It is also very non-linear in the sense that it could be divided into several different episodes pulled together by the same characters.

The Korean actors gave a flawless performance. I can't even express how in love I was with Son Joon Ki's acting. However, I was deeply disappointed by the usage of the non-professional actors in this show. The Korean actors plus Argus were spectacular, but I couldn't help but cringe when I saw and heard the non-Korean characters in this show. I tried to get over it, but it honestly ruined a bunch of scenes for me. This show takes the cake for the worst acting by the non-Korean individuals up to date.

Some people say that the story was cheesy. I could agree with that; however, it was cheesy in the way that it makes you swoon, not in a way that makes you cringe. I honestly liked that about this show.

Best things about the show:
+ non-typical story
+ amazing male leads
+ good supporting role stories
+ no love triangle in the typical sense
+ great acting
+ very romantic moments
+ good mix of comedy, drama and romance
+ choices that are difficult to make
+ very limited usage of Kdrama cliches
+ another great bromance
+ eye candy

Weak spots:
- amateur actors (foreigners apart from the main bad guy)
- messy story
- stereotypical hero
- kind of old-fashioned idea of honor and duty

Read More

Before you roll your eyes at how high of a rating I gave this show, hear me out.

The Heirs is one of those shows that is my guilty pleasure. It's like wearing a shirt that you love but everyone else hates: you know it's not flattering and it doesn't make you look sophisticated, but you just can't stop liking it nonetheless.

Objectively, The Heirs should be so- so. The story was the regular he was rich and she was poor; they can't be together but could love conquer it all? Top it with a couple of mean girls, preppy school for ridiculously rich, spoiled brats and the unavoidable love triangle, put in as many Kdrama cliches as you possibly can and give it a go. Objectively I know that the Heirs wasn't a masterpiece yet I had a ridiculous amount of fun watching it. Sure, it was stuffed with cliches like a Thanksgiving turkey, but most of the wrist-grabbing, love quibble scenes were just entertaining for me. I'll even admit that the story fell apart towards the end of the show and I ended up fast forwarding 2 episodes.

The acting was ok for me. It is probably true that Kim Woo Bin's acting stole the show. Once again, I can admit that he was the highlight of the show even though I didn't particularly love his character nor did he give me a bad case of second lead syndrome. Some people didn't like the acting of the female lead. Park Shin Hye has a particular style of acting that not everyone likes. She pretty much acted here the same way as she acted in other shows I saw her. Can't say she was worse here than in You're Beautiful or Pinocchio.

All in all, I just had fun watching it and this is ultimately why I watch Kdramas in the first place: to have fun.

Read More

Let me just start by saying that I have tremendous respect for the writer of this show for crafting a story that tackles so many difficult issues in such a beautiful, touching way. No other Korean show did as much in terms of humanizing mental health and everyday struggles the way this show did.

The characters are adults that act like adults, talk like adults and struggle like adults. It's not another story of 30 year olds acting like 10 year olds. The writing touches on such issues as stigma, struggles surrounding intimacy, emotions, trauma, the necessity to choose between happy marriage and career and more.

I'd also like to say that Jang Jae Yeol is one the sexiest, most irresistibly crafted male characters I've seen. He has this aura of intellectual cockiness around him that is very alluring. I'm also happy to see Gong Hyo Jin in this production as she often plays characters that are not as sophisticated as this one is. I did find her character to be a bit weird at times, though.

Now I didn't give this show a 10 because even though I love the concept behind the story and I love how multidimensional the characters are, I felt that the middle of the show dragged despite the fact that the story unfolded in a kind of unpredictable way. The pacing just seems to be off.

Read More

I wish I could like this drama, but it honestly annoyed me beyond belief. The first 2 or 3 episodes showed such promise. I loved the young characters and the story of how they met. It was very warm and bittersweet. Unfortunately, the story went downhill from there. I didn't care for most of the characters, including the main characters. I really didn't like Soo Wan's transformation at all. She was just kind of.... annoying and not really that interesting. I also didn't like the story and wholeheartedly hated the ending. I am aware of the fact that this was supposed to be a melodrama, but ithere was just too much sadness. To me it looked like a bunch of unfortunate events strung together by a loose plot. I desperately waited for some relieve and it never came. On top of that, a lot of dialogues seemed stiff to me. It was one of the earlier dramas I watched, so I thought that many kdramas are so melodramatic. After watching the show, I really thought of giving up on kdramas for a while.

Read More

I honestly loved this drama to pieces. I almost didn't want to watch it, but decided to just give it a go in between other, more emotionally demanding dramas. I think that the main advantage of this drama are the dialogues and the dynamic between the main characters. It's just pure joy to watch. The other great advantage of this show is a clever usage of music. It had me laugh out loud many times. That being said, I was not as engrossed in the lives of the office couple as I was in the story of the two friends. I really liked the fact that I was able to relate to many of the issues in this drama. The characters are just regular people who have dreams or are just trying to survive. It's also an interesting analysis of the Korean society in which we see that having a certain position makes you immediately more attractive and seemingly raises your value as a person. I went through similar issues myself. Things like friendship, confusion, awakening feelings, moral dilemmas, struggles of finding employment and climbing the corporate ladder.. are a part of life. I loved how real the problems in the story were at the beginning of the drama. It gets a little more fairy-tale like towards the end and we also have an unexpected turn during the last couple of episodes, but nonetheless the show is just really enjoyable to watch. I actually watched it twice already even though I don't re-watch dramas too often. In many ways it reminded me of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo and the Sassy Go Go, but it seemed to be a more adult version of those shows. If you liked WFKBJ, I think you will enjoy this drama as well.

Read More