She Was Pretty Review

Title: She Was Pretty
AKA: Puzzled by Love, Pretty Woman
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: Sep-2015 to Nov-2016
Cast: Hwang Jung Eum, Park Seo Joon, Go Joon Hee, Choi Siwon, Hwang Seok Jeong, Shin Dong Mi, Ahn Se Ha

Kim Hye Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) was a very pretty girl from a rich family. After her family's publishing company went bankrupt, she experienced hardships then lost her beauty too. Ji Sung Joon (Park Seo Joon) was an unattractive boy with low self-esteem, but grows up as a handsome and successful editor. The two decided to meet again as adults, but Sung Joon was unable to recognize Hye Jin. Ashamed to meet her first love and ruin his perception of her, Hye Jin asks her attractive best friend, Ha Ri (Go Joon Hee), to appear in her place. Things, however, soon get complicated as Hye Jin was assigned to work at The Most magazine publishing office where Sung Joon is the deputy chief editor. He openly mistreats and belittles her for her clumsy nature, not knowing that she was his real childhood friend.

I did enjoy She Was Pretty a lot but when it came down to the story I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. The drama was so full with so many side characters and problems that were not used enough. A lot of them could be used as factors to explain some situations and filled up the time that were used on scenes that had no meaning AT ALL. I’ll give u an example. When they brought in Hye Jin’s younger sister, I thought she would have more factors in the story but was just another unused side character. Moving to something else; What I’m going to remember the most about this show is Kim Shin Hyuk (Choi Si Won). Never before have I had such a ridiculous second lead syndrome. Hwang Jung Eum and Park Seo Joon, had funny, warm, enjoyable characters too, separately! Together, they got NOTHING. I really couldn’t watch them with the romance stuff. Bad bad bad chemistry. The plot got so cheeeeeesy, it was hard to watch. Anyway, I don’t want to say it was a bad drama or anything, after all it had it’s good times too. I just don’t understand why it got so popular… But that’s my mystery. Despite its many faults it was an enjoyable drama.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Kill Me, Heal Me Review

Title: Kill Me, Heal Me
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Medical, Mystery
Episodes: 20
Broadcast Period: Jan-2015 to Mar-2015
Cast: Ji Sung, Hwang Jung Eum, Park Seo Joon, Oh Min Suk, Kim Yoo Ri, Kim Young Ae, Shim Hye Jin, Choi Won Young

Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) is a wealthy businessman with a warmhearted personality who loves to help others. However, 11 years ago, after he realized that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder, he has been desperately trying to hide it from his families and friends. He has six other identities: Shin Se Gi a vehement guy with a devil-may-care demeanor who appears when Do-hyun experiences violence. He may be violent, but he never hurts children and women. Perry Park is a 40 year-old man with an aficionado for fishing and building bombs. Ahn Yo-seob a suicidal, intelligent 17 year old boy and artist. Ahn Yo-na's twin brother, she is an extrovert and mischievous 17 year old girl who loves idols. Cha Do Hyun tries to regain control over his life with the help of Oh Ri Jin, a first-year psychiatry resident who tries hard to maintain her seemingly perfect image to cover for her real personality. At first glance she looks elegant and genteel, but she is actually messy and short-tempered. Ri-jin then becomes Do Hyun's secret psychiatrist, and slowly falls in love with him. Ri Jin’s twin brother, Oh Ri Ohn, often gets mistaken for a goofy simpleton, but he is actually a famous mystery novelist under the pseudonym Omega who investigates about Seung Jin Family.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I knew this would happen. I tried to prepare my heart and mind for the ending since episode 1, but then the ending came and I’m left alone with thousands feeling I don’t know what to do with. How do I go back to living my life again?  Where do I start… That couple. What kind of chemistry is that! First they overwhelmed me in their previous work Secret, and know they do it again, just stronger! Although Ji Sung did a lot of the work this time, I mean he singlehanded made me fall in love with SEVEN amazing characters with the same face! Before he was on my favorite list of actors, but now he is THE TOP ONE! No.. He need another list only for him, this man need an award already! Also Hwang Jung Eum did a pretty good job, she just nails those feels, and throw them at us so we just end up sobbing like her. Throughout the drama what I liked the most about them where that they don’t seek recognition or validation from anyone but each other, that’s all they need… That’s all I need(hahah). The storyline, the journey they go through to put back together the broken puzzle was just a delight to watch, even the message of the show, leaves us with no less than satisfication, that it’s energetic to depend on our loved ones, and to seek out the truth despite our fears.
Okay, so just to be fair I want to pin out a little detail that might have been a little too much in the drama, and that was the flashbacks! There were too many and too much, but I didn't think it would reduce from my experience as an audience. *happy face*
This dramas soundtrack is also an example of how much impact a song has on the drama, I dare to go as far to say that if not for one specific song in the drama I don’t think it would have been able to deliver everything the way it did.
After a rather-dull 2014, I must say 2015 kicked off with a loud bang. With dramas like Pinocchio and Healer concluding in the first two months, setting solid standards, it was rather difficult to surpass them. But Kill Me Heal Me did exactly that. I wouldn't say it exactly 'surpassed' them. More like it carried on their legacy.

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Bunji's Verdict

Hmm, this drama was one of the few extremely popular ones of 2015, and yeah I was expectant. It is good, it just didn’t satisfy me. Actually I dislike dramas (and movies) where the lead actor/actress falls in love with a look-alike of the lead or a person reminding them of someone else (like someone falls in love with the lead that looks like his/hers first love, or like in this case: the same person but different personality). It just feels wrong, and already from episode 4 I was kind of annoyed - and that went on for another 16 episodes. And tbh I didn’t really feel the leads chemistry as I did in Secret, but I guess it’s kind of the idea - like so have her fall for both personalities. I dunno, I disliked it - Also I didn’t really fall (like most did) for the violent Se Gi like everyone else did, nor did I feel bad for him, which just shows that the director and screen writer didn’t do a good job.

Besides that the drama was okay. The psychological part was okay: quite reasonable actually, though I didn’t get why all personalities come out - only a few of them make sense, but then again it’s a drama.

I won’t spoil anymore, so a good and interesting drama - which you might like more than I did.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Secret Review

Title: Secret
AKA: Secret Love
Genre: melodrama / romance / suspense / mystery
Episodes: 16
Broadcast period: 2013-Sep-25 to 2013-Nov-14
Cast: Ji Sung, Hwang Jung Eum, Bae Soo Bin, Lee Da Hee, Lee Duk Hwa, Jo Mi Ryung, Song Min Kyang, Yang Jin Sung, Kang Nam Gil, Ahn Ji Hyun, Joo Soo Young, Moon Ji In, Hwang Suk Jung, Yang Hee Kyung, Kang Shin Il, Kim Hyun Kyoon . . .

Kang Yoo Jung (Hwang Jung Eum) is the kind of girl who dedicates her everything to her boyfriend, Ahn Do Hoon (Bae Soo Bin). They have been together for several years and Yoo Jung is supporting him in becoming a prosecuter, something which isn't easy considering their circumstances, all while waiting for him to propose to her. Then one evening it happens. Do Hoon takes her out to the café they usually go when celebrating occasions. He finally proposes to her and Yoo Jung's world is all bliss. They head back home with the car, Yoo Jung is all smiles and is living the fairytale of her life. However there is an uneasy feeling over the night. A heavy rain starts to fall and they can barely see anything. Suddenly an accident happens. The car starts slipping and Do Hoon loses control and hits something. He goes out to check and Yoo Jung shortly follows, however he says there is nothing and they get back in the car. A few days later, cops arrive at Yoo Jung's place. She gets arrested for a hit and run. What even worse, the victim is dead and it was the girlfriend of a man she had accountered before, a young heir chaebol, Jo Min Hyuk (Ji Sung). This is the start of a story of revenge, where love is a test.

This drama is one of those you don't watch while it's airing. Because it drives you absolutely crazy. The first couple of episodes it isn't that bad and you just go with the flow. However then all the tragedy starts. If you aren't into heartpaining dramas then this really isn't for you. You just keep wondering, how many bad things can happen to one person. Of course we've had the story of a chaebol and a poor girl before, and yes typical korean, they do this a lot, but I liked this one. Not to mention Ji Sung. His acting is so crazy, all you see are his eyes and all the feeeels. When he is sad you are sad, when he hurts you hurt. He just conveys alll the feelings to you. Hwang Jung Eum as well did a great job again. Not much to say. I recommend this drama. Even though we've seen it before again it's in a new way, new actors bring new kinds of feelings. Definitely a great drama to watch if you feel for being all emotional :P I almost thing 16 episodes is abit short. They should have made it 20 episodes. But still alright ending and all, not gonna spoil anything :D

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 stars

Bunji's verdict
Holy… Wow, this is one heck of a ride. I think I yelled most of the time while watching this since I was so shocked. I mean the twists and the turns makes you stare confused, and made me seriously think too much. I could not imagine the ending unless they all die, which usually happens in these dramas. The main leads were wow, no more said. I couldn’t take my eyes off so that says it all. And besides the two annoying clichés at the ending I have to admit it mostly is a great drama. In order not to spoil I am going to stop here and say watch it. No matter what kind of drama you like, watch it.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Can You Hear My Heart Review

Title: Can You Hear My Heart
AKA: Do You Hear My Heart / Listen To My Heart
Genre: Romance, drama
Episodes: 30
Broadcast period: 2011-Apr to 2011-Jul
Cast: Kim Jae Won, Hwang Jung Eum and Nam Goong Min.

Cha Dong Joo (Kim Jae Won) is the grandson of the chairman of Wookyung corp. After his father dies, his mother re-marries to Choi Jung Chul, and because Dong Joo isn’t in age yet, Jung Chul becomes the chairman. One day, Dong Joo runs away from his parents and meets a girl (Hwang Jung Eum) whose name he doesn’t know, he finds out that her mother is deaf, so she was never able to give her a name. The two become friends, and he promises to teach her piano.
At the girls house her mother is marring a mentally retarded, but nice man, who is the father of Bong Ma Ru (Nam Goong Min). Ma Ru doesn’t like the way his family is living, poor and full of defected people, basically embarrassed, and when he meets Dong Joo’s mother, he dreams of having a mother like that.
When by accident Dong Joo witnesses his grandfather being murdered by his step-dad, he falls off a latter, and losing his hearing in the fall. At the same time the girl loses her mother in a fire, which Wookyung is responsible for, and Ma Ru runs to Dong Joo’s mother for help. But Dong Joo’s mother had earlier that day found out that Ma Ru is the real son of Choi Jung Chul, and decides to take Ma Ru in as her own son. A year later, Dong Joo still unable to hear, becomes close to Ma Ru now Jang Jun Ha, but his mother refuses to have him labled as handicapped, so she decides to make him fake that he can hear. That’s how the revenge against Choi Jung Chul begins…
16 years pass, and the girl has become Bong Woo Ri, she lives with her step-father and grandmother, and lives most days looking for Ma Ru. On the other side, Dong Joo comes back from America with his ‘brother’ Jun Ha, and surprises his father with an amazing piano performance. Nobody knows about his handicap, no one except Jun Ha and his mother, the revenge plan seems perfect, until Woo Ri happens to see Dong Joo, thinking it’s Ma Ru…

Omo, long review, sorry :P
This drama is the typical ‘right-owner-back-to-right-place’, lol, with the fight in order to get the business back, and etc. Only with the difference, that the lead is deaf, which sort f spices the drama if you ask me. The fact that he keeps it hidden and that he is able to read lips too. Okay, yeah it’s a drama, but it’s pretty neat, with the entire 16 years in hiding in order to make my step-dad pay. All in all, defiantly worth a watch, and if you’re not into the entire ‘chaebol’ thing, just watch it because of the brothers, they are so good together, real fun. The entire feud is DAEBAK, and the love story makes it even better. I do recommend it, but it’s not that action pacted, so don’t expect the world :)

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
This was one of the best dramas in a very long time! I really recommend it seriously! And dont give up after watching first episode, it's really not what you expect. I watched first episode and just didnt feel like it, months later I decide to give it a shot again and wow! only one regret, not giving it a chance first time I checked it out. The whole thing about being deaf and all, it just twists the typical drama so much so its like something new, doesnt have that annoying typical feeling. The lead actor, so lovely! everything about him! And the brother relationship is one of the big pluses in this drama, those scenes were just on replay every single time lol. I really loved it. The whole story is great too, and all the actors too. I really loved that it wasnt too much of fighting over one girl. It wasnt all too much, very bearable. I absolutely recommend it. Very enjoyable and easy to watch with a lot happening but it still doesnt feel all too complicated.


☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts