Secret Forest Review

Title: Secret Forest

AKA: Forest of Secrets / Stranger

Genre: Drama, Legal, Law, Mystery, Thriller

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2017-Jun to 2017-Jul

Cast: Cho Seung Woo, Bae Doo Na, Yoo Jae Myung and Lee Joon Hyuk.

Hwang Shi Mok (Cho Seung Woo) is prosecutor known for his cold and logical attitude. He is never fazed by anything, and has no greed for power or money. Unbeknown to everyone else, he had a brain surgery as a kid, which changed his emotional status, unable to show emotions and has a lack of them as well. As a grownup he has learned to use this logical mind for justice, as that is one thing he values. Though this value isn't appreciated by everyone.

One day everything is set into turmoil when a "sponsor" for the wealthy and powerful is murdered in his home, and Shi Mok is the first on sight. Trying to preserve the scene, he meets Han Yeo Jin (Bae Doo Na) a police officer as bent on justice as he is, but is more open to working with prosecutors than her co-workers.

After catching the suspect, and putting him behind bars, Yeo Jin finds some evidence that might just put everything back to square one. This also shakes thing up with the higher ups, so the duo starts to do their own investigations, and they find that they are each others’ counterparts, making them perfect partners to take down the corrupt...

This drama has two of my very favorite actors in the lead, which is why even though the storyline didn't speak to me at first, the two made me start it. As the drama progressed, the drama did also, and thankfully it just became better and better. I have to say though that the drama would not be as good if there were other actors in the leads, and to be fair it is very legal/investigatory, so it can be a bit boring for those that aren't into those things. It has quite a lot of talking, and not so much action when comparing, but I personally didn't feel any loss because of it. Another thing I really enjoyed was that there wasn't any love story - at least not a forced one, which makes it much more focused on the story.

So all in all, a great story and superb acting – but it is based on the legal part, so if that is not your thing, you might not agree with the rating.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

God's Gift - 14 Days Review

Title: God’s Gift – 14 Days

Genre: Suspense, Mystery

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2014-Mar to 2014-Apr

Cast: Lee Bo Young, Cho Seung Woo, Kim Tae Woo, Jung Gyu Woon, Baro, Han Sun Hwa, No Min Woo and Kim Yoo Bin.

Kim Soo Hyun (Lee Bo Young) had it all: a successful career, a prosecutor husband and a beautiful daughter Han Saet Byul (Kim Yoo Bin). Though a little rough, Soo Hyun is a loving mother and has a loving relationship with her husband. Everything changes when her daughter gets kidnapped. After a failed investigation, her daughter’s body is found by the river, and Soo Hyun becomes depressed. Unable to forgive herself, she decides to kill herself by drowning. At the same time former detective, now turned private investigator Ki Dong Chan (Jo Seung Woo), is caught by the mafia for investigating their boss. He is shot and thrown into the same river at the same time, but miraculously wakes ups, and saves Soo Hyun. The two emerge from the water, and soon find out that the world aren’t as they left it. They have both returned two weeks before the kidnapping of Saet Byul. 

At first Soo Hyun thinks of it as a dream, but as things seem to repeat themselves, she realizes that she needs to figure out how to save her daughter. And with the involvement of Ki Chan, they soon find out that there are more secrets behind the kidnapping than they initially thought…

This drama is one of those drama that took me so long to finish, mainly because the hype has settled down and the reviews weren’t that positive. When I started it, I was amazed by the acting (especially Jo Seung Woo, who I am a fan of) and the suspense, but very soon I noticed why it got disliked – the storyline just goes downhill fast. I don’t know what they were thinking while writing it, but it just was way too much. Too many secrets and too many twists, leading up to a climax which was dumb and completely out of the blue. Even the acting couldn’t save this one.

I remember finishing and kind of wondering, why did I watch this? I didn’t find it bad, yet it felt like a waste of time. But that is what you get with overly hyped drama I guess.

To sum up: not recommendable, but good acting from everyone involved.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥½ / 2½ out of 5 hearts

Horse Doctor Review

Title: Horse Doctor

AKA: The King’s Doctor

Genre: Period, Melodrama, Medical, Romance

Episodes: 50

Broadcast period:

Cast: Cho Seung Woo, Lee Yo Won, Son Chang Min, Yoo Sun and Lee Sang Woo.

Lee Myung Hwa (Son Chang Min) is the son of a known vet, who becomes an herbalist after a recommendation from a merchant. While studying to become a physician he meets and befriends Kang Do Jun (Jeon No Min) and a soon-to-be nurse Joo In Ok (Choi Soo Rin). The three become very close, but due to a plot by the royal queen, their lives take a drastic turn: she wants to kill the Crown Prince. In order to kill him she hires people to test a new way of killing: putting poison on needles and thereby killing the victim without leaving any evidence. This testing and the plot is noticed by a local, who in fear runs away and is saved by Kang Do Jun. Afraid something might happen, Do Jun leaves to meet the Crown Prince. At the same time the local man’s wife gives birth to a daughter. And shortly after, Myung Hwan is forced to point Do Jun out as a traitor in order to save himself.

As fate has it Do Jun’s wife is also pregnant, and due to the marking as a traitor, Do Jun’s child will be killed if he is a boy and put to slavery if it is a girl: unfortunately, it happens to become a boy. The local man then decides to switch the children and take care of the boy as his own.

Several years later, Do Jun’s son now Baek Kwang Hyun (Ahn Do Gyu) is a boy who dreams of big city, but the local man, now referred as father, tries to keep him safe and make him a doctor like Kwang Hyuns real father.

But fate again intervenes as Kwang Hyun (Cho Seung Woo) becomes a vet instead of doctor, though his interest for treating humans seems to lie in his blood…

I started this drama long time ago because I felt like watching a medical drama, and somehow this popped up. Not that I am a fan of period dramas, but I thought I’d give it a chance: and I really don’t regret it.

The drama is quite typical in the royal/political sense, but I enjoyed the main focus being on the medical part, as I always has the idea that they weren’t “up-to-speed” with the medical part, but I guess I was wrong. It really wasn’t that horrible to be a patient in the Joseon times apparently. Heck even animals had it okay – in the veterinary sense. Or this drama may be blowing it bit out of proportion – I will never know. BUT nonetheless, this drama has charms beyond expectations.

The lead actor is really a charmer, and I don’t really remember him in other dramas/movies, but till this date I remember his face and voice, and that itself is an accomplishment if you ask me. The female actresses are not horrible, but I have to be honest I am a bit bored with these type of female character portrayals – pretty and demure. They really do nothing except ruin the overall idea of woman in general.

As for the rest; story, screen-play and everything else, I really liked it.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts