Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo Review

Title: Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
Genre: Romance, Sports, Comedy
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: Nov-2016 to Jan-2017
Cast: Lee Sung Kyung, Nam Joo Hyuk, Kyung Soo Jin, Lee Jae Yoon, Jo Hye Jung,Choi Moo Sung, Jang Young Nam

Kim Bok Joo (Lee Sung Kyung) is a student in Haneol College of Physical Education. She has shown strength like no other since she was a child and was influenced by her former weightlifter father. She looks thoughtless at a first glance, but inside she’s as fragile as glass and has deep recognition.
Jung Joon Hyeong (Nam Joo Hyuk) is Kim Bok Joo’s best friend. He is a born swimmer but ever since he was disqualified from his first international event, he suffers from ‘start trauma’. Along with Kim Bok Joo, he overcomes his troubles and finds his dream and love.
Song Shi Ho (Kyung Soo Jin) is a rhythm gymnast who also attends Haneol College of Physical Education. She started gymnastics since she was 5 and won the Asian Games at the age of 18. She’s always been the best since then but mental pressure caused her to break up with Jung Joon Hyung and regret it.
This drama is inspired by the life of South Korean Olympic weightlifter gold-medalist Jang Mi Ran.

Sometime after I finished this drama, the dating news of Lee Sung Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk got out, and I just couldn’t believe how surreal it was. They had by far the BEST chemistry I’ve ever seen in a drama. Okay, I admit I might overreact to this, but I can’t remember a drama were I enjoyed the relationshippy part of a drama so much as this one. Everything else is good too, but you kind of only remember those 2. Lee Sung Kyung has definitely become one of my favorite actress’, she’s so real and talented.
A really nice drama about the hardships one may face on the road to success, especially while being in college. Storywise there could have been more in it, but I guess it’s one of those ‘no-major-plot-just-enjoy’ kind of dramas. One of those youth dramas I kind of dig lately. So, I'll definitely recommend this to anyone, despite what your preferences are, I'm sure you'll enjoy it and it will bring you joy.
Kim Bok Joo is SWAG! :)

☆☆☆☆/ 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryou Review

Title: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryou

Genre: Historical, Romance, Time-travel 

Episodes: 20

Broadcast Period: Aug-2016 to Nov-2016

Cast: Lee Jun Ki, IU, Kang Ha Neul, Hong Jong Hyun, Kim San Ho, Yoon Sun Woo, Byun Baek Hyun, Nam Joo Hyuk, Ji Soo, 

During a total eclipse of the sun, a 25-year-old 21st century woman, Go Ha Jin (IU), is transported back in time to Goryeo Dynasty. She wakes up in the year 941, in the body of 16-year-old Hae Soo and there, she encounters the many royal princes of the ruling family. She initially falls in love with the gentle and warm 8th Prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha Neul), and later Wang So (Lee Joon Gi), the fearsome 4th Prince who hides his face behind a mask and is given the derogatory label "wolf dog". Meanwhile, rivalry and politics ensue among the princes, in a fight for the throne, as Hae Soo finds herself unwittingly caught between it all.

Throughout the drama I had a lot of problems with the plot, like major problems. One of them is the total neglecting of Go Ha jin/Hae su is from the future. We can’t really categorize this as a time-travelling drama, since the only factor about it is in the first episode where she went back in time. After that… NOTHING. Some other problems came along too, but somehow when I finished the drama, and started thinking about it, I couldn’t have felt more satisfied and in love with it. There is something about it, that kept me watching till the end, and got me hooked week after week, just waiting for a new episode. So yes, those problems I had just vanished after a while, and Moon Lovers got a special place in my heart. The actors were all so good! I loved them all, I had some problems with one of them (Ehm-Baekhyun-Ehm), but he matured throughout the drama and some character growths. Lee Jun Ki and IU became one of my favorite drama-couple this year, they had a magical chemistry that’s rare to find, maybe it’s all the tragic, dark and bloodthirsty surroundings that enhanced it all. This drama is also another drama I would recommend to everyone, saeguk fan or not! 

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Cheese In The Trap Review

Title: Cheese In The Trap
Genre: Melodrama, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: Jan-2016 to Feb-2016
Cast: Park Hae Jin, Kim Go Eun, Seo Kang Joon, Lee Sung Kyung, Nam Joo Hyuk, Park Min Ji, Son Byung Ho, Ahn Kil Kang

Having returned to college after a yearlong break, due to her family's poor background, Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun), a hard-working over-achiever, inadvertently got on the wrong side of Yoo Jung (Park Hae Jin), her senior who is athletic, good looking, gets good grades and has a kind personality, but also a hidden dark side. From then on, her life took a turn for the worse and Seol was almost certain it was all Yoo Jung's doing. After almost a year of weird behavior around her, such as getting dropped from important courses and others suddenly mistreating her, Yoo jung, the person she least expected anything from, suddenly is friendly towards her. He keeps asking her out, and help her around school, but somehow Seol doesn’t want to trust him. How will this shape their relationship?

Wow, what an unfair plot I just wrote there, I really didn’t know where to stop, I’m not quite satisfied with what I wrote, but oh well. You have to know that this drama is based on a webtoon, and has gained quite an audience, me included. I started the webtoon before the drama, so I knew what I was going into. I got to say that I think the scripters did a good job, staying true to the original story while still adding new details that gave something fresh to the drama. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the drama. I would be the last person to question why someone feels the way they do about it. If someone felt it went downhill and was terrible, that's valid. If someone thinks the overall experience was amazing, that's valid, along with all the other opinions people may have. I belong to the later opinion. I loved this drama and everything in it (except for the ending, but I won’t comment on that!). An extremely realistic, slice-of-life drama depicting a love story in the context of university life. Since I’m a university student too, I could REALLY put myself in Seols shoes, and feel her frustrations. A pity that the drama experienced some controversial issues over the directing as well as bad publicity from the original webtoon. I didn’t read so much about the controversy, since I loved the drama and appreciated the actors hard work, and was afraid I would get influenced about the millions of opinions out there. To sum it up, I think this is one of the good dramas out there, and I really did appreciate it.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Who Are You ? School 2015 Review

Title: Who Are You?
AKA: School 2015
Genre: School, Mystery
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: Apr-2015 to Jun-2015
Cast: Kim So Hyun, Yook Sung Jae, Nam Joo Hyuk, Lee Pil Mo, Lee David, Kim Hee Jung, Lee Cho Hee, Yoo Young

Go Eun Byul and Lee Eun Bi (both Kim So Hyun) are identical twins separated at birth. Lee Eun Bi lives at House of Love, an orphanage in Tongyeong, where the younger residents look up to her as a mother figure. However, she hides the fact that a gang of mean girls, led by Kang So Young (Kim Hee Jung), while teachers turn a blind eye, bullies her at school. On the other hand, Go Eun Byul is the most popular girl at Sekang High School, the most prestigious private high school in Seoul's Gangnam District. Go Eun Byul shares a mutual attraction with Han Yi An (Nam Joo Hyuk), the school's star swimmer. They have been friends since childhood. Lee Eun Bi and Go Eun Byul look exactly alike, but only Go Eun Byul is aware of the others existence. Unlike the cheerful Lee Eun Bi, Go Eun Byul is prickly and secretive.

Overall, the story is really good, and it had a lot of potential which I think the writers could have done more out of it. The drama itself feels a little bit lacking, after the huge success with School 2013, you kind of have expectations for this one too. However, it just didn’t work out as thought so in the beginning. I won’t lie, it was entertaining and I don’t dislike the drama, it just leaves you wanting more. Kim So Hyun did really well, I was pleasantly surprised by her acting, and I would watch her in other things, but the most outstanding one in this drama were Yook Sung Jae *clap-clap*. He did SO WELL. His character was sweet and funny and I loved how he was a little shit but still really cared about the people around him. The writers created such an amazing character and did nothing with it, I will never forgive them for that. Nam Joo Hyuk did great too, but I didn’t like his character… somehow the writers overdid it (again blaming the writers :b ). One last thing I wanna comment on is that I really wanted more from the other students. Not just a 30 second montage. This drama is called School 2015, so there should be more! I’m looking forward to a School 20XX ;)

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars
♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts