Hyde, Jekyll and I Review

Title: Hyde, Jekyll and I
AKA: Jekyll and Me
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 20
Broadcast period: Jan-2015 to Mar-2015
Cast: Hyun Bin, Han Ji Min, Sung Joon, Hye Ri, Lee Seung Joon, Han Sang Jin, Shin Eun Jung, Lee Duk Hwa, Kim Do Yun

Gu Seo Jin (Hyun Bin) is a third-generation chaebol who runs the theme park Wonder Land. He seemingly has everything: looks, brains and fortune. He is also in line to become the next CEO of Wonder Group, the conglomerate his family owns, though his cousin Ryu Seung Yeon (Han Sang Jin) who oversees Wonder Hotel is his rival for the position, but Goo Seo Jin has dissociative identity disorder, DID. Whenever his heart rate exceeds 150, another personality emerges, and unlike Goo Seo Jin's usual cold, cynical and ruthless self, Robin is kind, gentle and has a savior complex. Jang Ha Na (Han Ji Min) has just returned to Korea after spending several years in the United States with Cirque du Soleil. Like her grandfather and father before her, she is set to take over as circus master of the circus show at Wonder Land, which had once been the park's primary attraction. Jang Ha-na vows to save the failing circus and dreams of revamping it back to its former glory, but she finds herself butting heads with Goo Seo Jin, who wants to get rid of it due to low-ticket sales and high overhead costs. With every antagonistic encounter with Jang Ha Na, Goo Seo Jin notes the alarming spike on his heart monitor, and the two become further entangled with each other.

First of all watching this right after Kill Me Heal Me is not a clever move, because no matter what I would be comparing those 2 and that wouldn’t be fair for Hyde, Jekyll and I. However I will do my best to be as objective as possible. While watching this I had too many opinions about it, on one hand: Hyun Bin, on the other hand: bad writing. I can say that it was good in the first few episodes, but after episode 8 it became too boring they are just dragging and dragging, I don't think that anything new happened after that. My guess is that the writers suddenly quit and the production team had to film something for every week until episode 20. Meaningless plot lines were dragged out, hypnosis was treated like some sort of super power, and I don't know but I'm pretty sure this writer didn't do much research on DID (I'm not saying I know more about DID than she does, but I'm pretty sure DID doesn't work like that!). The plot idea was good and had potential, but the final drama didn't live up to the expectations I had before watching it. I was missing the feeling of a deep, well-elaborated story, it failed to really grip me. It had lovely moments, was overall okay to watch, but it's definitely not the best drama out there. I feel bad for Hyun Bin, this was supposed to be his grand comeback to dramaworld, don’t worry Hyun Bin I’ll wait for your next success ;)
Han Ji Min's character and acting was not up to scratch. Although I have only seen a couple of her previous works, I know she is an amazing actress, but she did not fit at all with her character. Jang Ha Na should be a strong character who is independent when not concerned with her love from Robin/Seo Jin, but Ji Min made her a weak and pathetic character. Chemistry you ask? Nope, nothing. They were cute together; they just never had the kind of love that got you in the gut, or made you think that you’d go move the mountains yourself if it meant that they could be together. They were a sweet, but take-it-or-leave-it kind of couple. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not hating against the drama, the writers or Han Ji Min, I just feel the drama would have been better if it was written differently and executed differently, after all it had the potential.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Bunjis Verdict

Okay, that was an emotional rollercoaster. I don’t remember being this upset about/because of a drama, since Boys Before Flowers, and even then, it didn’t last as long as this. I agree with Kamji that the writes either died, changed, or had so many people, because after episode 8, it just went downhill. I felt that the writer, was like several people, instead of one (DID?). It was uncoercive, messy and quite frankly enraging. I have in my life never experienced so many mixed signals in a drama and end up with something stupid as this. I say stupid because DID is not at all like this version of crap. I am no psychologist, but NO ONE has this kind of second personality. They actually created a main character, so freaking unlikeable, and the second personality, who by the way still is the main character, more likeable and “heroic”. Just to make it clear, THEY ARE STILL THE SAME PERSON. If that doesn’t annoy you, there is the crap about co-existing, and living with both… but he is not real! Urgh… I am both furious and upset, and I very annoyed that Sung Joon’s character doesn’t fit in my brain - like he portrayed his character very well. But I can’t even like him, because everything else about this is so upsetting. Han Ji Min is as Kamji said, just dumb (that is my use of word, not hers). I don’t get any of it.

Thank God, I watched this in one go. I don’t think I would’ve been able to watch it otherwise… And yes, I think I am hating on this drama… sorry Hyun Bin, Han Ji Min and Sung Joon… even of you did a decent job…

All in all, a typical Korean drama, but one I wouldn’t watch ever again… nor recommend.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥ / 2 out of 5 hearts

Birth of a Beauty Review

Title: Birth of a Beauty
AKA: Minyeoui Tansaeng
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episode: 21
Broadcast Period: Nov-2014 to Jan-2015
Cast: Joo Sang Wook, Han Ye Seul, Ha Jae Sook, Jung Gyu Woon, Wang Ji Hye, Han Sang Jin, In Gyo Jin, Han Jin Hee

Sa Geum Ran (Ha Jae Sook) is an ordinary ahjumma, an overweight woman who married a handsome man Lee Kang Joon (Jung Gyu Woon). They have been married for 8 years, he studies abroad while she is supporting him and his family, one day she discovers through a program Change, that her husband is actually in Korea and became a successful businessman and most importantly, he had an affair with a beautiful woman (Wang Ji Hye). When she decides to go to press with this information, she gets into an accident which she survives. That was the turning point in her life, she then decides to go under the knife and change her whole appearance and her identity. The one person that will help her is the mysterious man with a heartbroken syndrome, Han Tae Hee (Joo Sang Wook).

Okay, an interesting story, I admit. It was really good, I liked the comedy and the easygoing plot I even started rooting for the main couple. That lasted for the first 10 episodes… then it started to go downhill. I don’t know what happened; did someone take over for the writers work? Did the production team change? The concept of the drama was okay, shallow, but fine. I personally loved 200 Pounds of Beauty, and the concept is kinda similar. But the drama was such a mess, it preached and tried to show a lot of messages, like “be yourself” and stuff like that, and in the other hand it showed plastic surgery is the cure for all your problems, lol, talk about double standards. Now for the couple, as I said I loved this couple for the first 14-ish episodes, no joke, these two carried the show with a pleasant blend of chemistry and wit. Remember when I said I loved the first 10-ish episodes. All of that was true - until the writers realized that they were dealing with 20 episodes instead of 16, and then they got an episode extension on top of it, and they just threw in the towel. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s say it was like they all got amnesia (no one got amnesia), they freakin all forgot their characters, somehow they all changed for the super typical Korean draggy characters. Thanks for nothing. I’m giving this drama 2½ stars and hearts, because it really started out good, but sadly it left the audience feeling like idiots (for watching it).

☆☆½ / 2½ out of 5 stars

♥♥ ½/ 2½ out of 5 hearts

Please Marry Me Review

Title: Please Marry Me

AKA: All About Marriage

Genre: Romance, Family

Episodes: 56

Broadcast period: 2010-Jun to 2010-Dec

Cast: Baek Il Seob, Ko Du Shim, Kim Ji Young, Lee Jong Hyuk, Oh Yoon Ah, Han Sang Jin, Sung Hyuk and Lee Da In.

This drama revolves around 4 couples where one of each couple is a member of the Kim family.

Kim Jong Dae (Baek Il Sub) is a father of three grown up children, and is married to Oh Soon Ok (Go Doo Shim) a diligent and nice woman. But this doesn’t stop him from getting butterflies in his stomach when he meets his first love again. Kim Tae Ho (Lee Jong Hyuk) a newly appointed professor is the oldest son of the family, married to happy and bright Nam Jung Im (Kim Ji Young) whom he has lost his attraction in. This also made him look at the much younger and single coworker, whom he imagines and dream about every day, and eventually gets noticed by his wife and the two divorce. Kim Yeon Ho (Oh Yoon Ah) is a teacher and the second oldest and the only daughter of the family, with only one goal: to marry a rich man. This goes wrong when she falls for the poor single father Han Kyung Hoon (Han Sang Jin), who is the father of one of her students. Lastly is there is Kim Kang Ho (Sung Hyuk) the familys youngest, and the one called out to be the failure of the Kim’s. He somewhat fulfills that role until he meets Yoo Da Hye (Lee Da In) who adores and admires him for his honest and naïve personality. The two befriend each other and eventually fall in love, and by accident become pregnant.

The drama follows Jung Im’s revenge of becoming so famous that her ex-husband will regret divorcing, but also the family fighting the social situations as infidelity, divorce, premature pregnancy and marrying to the poor.

After dragging this on for 4 years (yes I started watching this in 2010), I finally finished this push-and-pull/melo drama. Even though I spent a lot of episodes just wanting this to finish, I gotta admit I did end up missing the family. I guess that happens after these long ones: I really felt that I was saying goodbye to someone I knew. The storyline is much alike the KBS daily dramas, yet it has a different feel: it kind of is happy and funny, but knows when to be sad (which also might be because it is 4 years old).

The cast is quite likeable, and dislikeable, which makes them great actors if you ask me. And not like the typical Korean overdramatic “trying-to-hard-to -become-so-hateful-making-you-roll-your-eyes” LOL.

All in all an okay drama.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts