Mask Review

Title: Mask

AKA: Gamyun

Genre: Romance, Melodrama

Episode: 20

Broadcast Period: May-2015 to Jul-2015

Cast: Soo Ae, Joo Ji Hoon, Yun Jung Hoon, Yoo In Young, Hoya, Jun Gook Hwan, Park Jung Geum, Jung Dong Hwan

They say that some people has a doppelganger, and the first one who see ‘the other’ will die soon after. Byun Ji Sook (Soo Ae) has always had a hard life with her father constantly going into debt and being chased by loan sharks. She desperately wants to know what life is like if she was born into a better family and didn’t have to worry about money all the time. When a series of circumstances brings Ji Sook to Seo Eun Ha (Soo Ae), a woman from a wealthy family who strongly resembles Ji Sook, she grabs hold of the chance for a better life and assumes Eun Ha’s identity and begins to live her elite life. She meets Min Woo (Joo Ji Hoon), a chaebol heir who is mistrusting of the people around him. But when he realizes that Ji Sook is not like the other women he has met, he is drawn to her. How long can Ji Sook keep up the charade and hide her true identity?

Certainly, this has been a crazy 20 hour long yet interesting ride. First of all, the synopsis does not do any justice for the drama, but because I really didn’t want to spoil anything I kept it as minimal as possible. There is so much more going on politically, family stuff and revenge. To sum it all up, people with hidden intentions wearing a mask. After finishing it, it made me think a lot. Aren’t we all wearing a mask from time to time… Anyway hahah, I got carried away. The drama itself was really good, although it made me frustrated a lot in the beginning. The characters were so weak it made no sense, it portrayed a dark world were everything can be done with money. An over-dramatic melodrama, like serious, there were more than 5 different dramatic car chases, and two of them happened in the same episode, but I was hooked. The four main characters were all intense with a lot of hidden feelings, especially Suk Hoon/Yun Jung Hoon, he was so interesting and so despicable. One thing you can say about them all is, whether you hated them or loved them, you can’t deny what an amazing character they were. There were a lot of plot-holes for sure, but either it is strong enough to excuse them or it isn’t. In this case, it’s very close, but it was so intriguing you’ll actually be more concerned about how it would end.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Answer Me, 1997 Review

Title: Answer Me 1997

AKA: Answer to 1997 / Reply 1997 / Answer 1997

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Youth, School,

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2012-Jul to 2012-Sep

Cast: Jung Eun Ji, Seo In Guk, Shin So Yool, Hoya, Eun Ji Won and Lee Shi Un.

Sung Shi Won (Jung Eun Ji) is the ultimate H.O.T fangirl, to the point of her sleeping outside her idols house. She doesn’t care about school, or about being the second worst on her class. All her money, time and thoughts go the either H.O.T concerts or her swooning over Tony An. Her next door neighbor Yoo Yoon Jae (Seo In Guk) is quite the opposite, being number one in school, and actually being the best at everything. They two grew up together, and after Yoon Jae’s parents die in an accident, he and his brother Tae Woong (Song Jong Ho) tend to almost live with the Sungs. The two share a special bond, fighting and bickering all the time. Their friends, Kang Joon Hee (Hoya) number two in school and with a secret, Moo Yoo Jung (Shin So Yul) a ’loose’ girl loving falling in love, Bang Sung Jae (Lee Shi Eun) a pervert and Do Hak Chan (Eun Ji Won) the new kid from Seoul, wonder how on earth they manage to stay friends, but when Yoon Jaes brother one day tell Yoon Jae something, everything changes…

Wow. All that I can say is wow. I really didn’t expect it to be so good. I have heard a lot about it, but I never thought it to be as good as people said it was. Honestly, from the beginning all the way till episode 13, I didn’t feel bored at all, completely entertained. The actors were brilliant, the screen play, the dialogues and hell, even the nonstop jumping back and forward in time was genius! Like it made me really interested in the relations, and the script was written so good, that it kept you intrigued all the time. I totally understood every emotion, and reaction, though the brother-brother relation was a bit annoying, yet livable. Thumps up!

The reason it wasn’t 5 hearts is just the little dragging from episode 13 till 16, annoying me a bit, but if yo ignore that, it’s almost perfect.

☆☆☆☆☆/ 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts