Defendant Review

Title: Defendant

AKA: Innocent Defendant

Genre: Legal, Thriller

Episodes: 18

Broadcast Period: Jan-2017 to Mar-2017

Cast: Ji Sung, Uhm Ki Joon, Kwon Yoo Ri, Oh Chang Sook, Uhm Hyun Kyung, Son Yeo Eun, Shin Rin Ah,

Park Jung Woo (Ji Sung) is a star prosecutor with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. His world turns upside down one day when he wakes up to find himself in a police station jail, accused of killing his wife, Yoon Ji Soo (Son Yeo Eun), while his daughter is missing. What roles do identical twins Cha Sun Ho and Cha Min Ho (both played by Uhm Ki Joon), successors to the mighty Chamyung Group, and Sun Ho’s wife, Na Yeon Hee (Uhm Hyun Kyung), play in Jung Woo’s current predicament? Jung Woo has temporary amnesia and has no recollection of what happened. But with the help of public defender Seo Eun Hye (Kwon Yoo Ri), can Jung Woo find a way to prove his innocence while tracking down the real murderer?

Ji Sung ♥ That drama had everything. Great script and directing, powerful acting, suspense, many twist and not even for a moment was it boring. Cha Min Ho and Park Jeong Woo were such a great duo, they had the most radiant chemistry for a villain-innocent relationship. The prisoners were definitely scene stealers, loved every moment with them, they were in charge of the humor in this really sad and frustrating drama. During the drama I wouldn’t be surprised if Ji Sung shed at least one liter of tears, you could literally see the passion he drew to his character. And that little girl? Damn. Give her an award already. However, not all of it was perfect. Now from a legal standpoint (I’m no expert, but I do know a little), but the system was one big mess, I would really not have anything to do with a legal system like this, a little turn off for this quality of drama. However, I enjoyed it for the acting and effort put into it. I give Ji Sung 10  ♥ from me, and for the drama:

☆☆☆☆ ½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ ½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Bunjis Verdict

This drama is one of those that had hype, but this time I wasn’t aware of it. Which initially surprised me since the lead is Ji Sung, but later I was rather grateful since it didn’t cloud my judgment at all.

The idea of this drama and the casting is seriously on point, but I kind of felt that they dragged some things on for too long. I won’t tell which ones as it will spoil, but things that don’t directly involve the storyline. It didn’t necessarily ruin the story or drama, but it made it hard to take serious occasionally.  Fortunately, the story is intriguing and it is an interesting watch, so things like love story become unwanted - and thankfully it doesn’t really have that. I do have to say, at one point I felt bored - because of the ‘draggy’ parts, and I felt like this wasn’t my ‘type’ of drama at one point, but to sum up: this is a good drama with great acting, and I think no matter which type of drama you prefer, this will be a good watch

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Entertainer Review

Title: Entertainer
AKA: Ddanddara
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Episodes: 18
Broadcast Period: Apr-2016 to Jun-2016
Cast: Ji Sung, Hye Ri, Chae Jung Ahn, Kang Min Hyuk, Jun Noh Min, Heo Joon Suk, Ahn Nae Sang, Jung Man Shik

Shin Suk Ho (Ji Sung) is a successful manager turned director who works for KTOP entertainment, one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea. After deciding to become independent and trying to develop his own company, Mango Entertainment, he suddenly faces many hardships and loses everything he has and goes to prison. After release, while he is trying to find a way back to life, he finds a talented high school student, Jo Ha Neul (Kang Min Hyuk) and decides to turn him into a famous singer. But he realizes that Ha Neul is an ex-convict and was accused for sexual abuse by his friend, Lee Ji Young (Yoon Seo).

The plot of this drama is very normal and ordinary. Me being a big fan of Ji Sung and have watched every single one of his dramas, would not miss this one. So of course I had high hopes for this drama, but the only thing I could think while watching: “What were the writers and director doing with such a predictable and cliché story, and they chose such a huge and awesomely talented star like Ji Sung as the lead?! Why”. I’m not sure I have a single orderly opinion about it. I enjoyed it at points. I found it frustrating the rest of the time. If you are looking for alternate reason to ignore this one, then let me give you several. Besides the unnecessary attempt at a love triangle dead on arrival, the writing is shit. I mean, completely shit. And that two episode extension didn’t help anything. The premise was thin enough without trying to spread it out over two more hours. Some moments and some performances were solid, but overall I felt I might have wasted my time on this one. Since I have nothing better to say, I'll stop here.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥ / 2 out of 5 hearts

Bunji's Verdict

This drama… I went in and expected it to be “shit” (quote from Kamji), and ended up enjoying it. This drama is what you call a “modern” Korean drama, which has ALL the charms of a Korean drama, except it unfortunately falls into the category “another Korean drama”. There are quite a few these days, because the audience has become picky and judgmental. The competition for Korean dramas has also risen, which means now the dramas must be EXTRA creative to be liked or watched. This drama is one that has unfortunately fallen in that category, but it is actually like all the dramas we all liked just 2-3 years ago.

I enjoyed the screenplay, characters and most defiantly the story, but I must say, Hyeri was useless. Her character, her acting and her overall existence in the drama was unnecessary and quite frankly a pain. I understand what Kamji says about the love triangle - UTTERLY DUMB AND UNNESESSARY. I needed up playing on my phone every time she was on the screen – I really don’t understand WHY, she was needed.

Ji Sung was made for this role, and honestly, he made this character alive. Everyone else was good (except for Hyeri), and I think that if they didn’t have the love story forced on the storyline (and down our throats), this would have been great drama. Also, I agree that 18 episodes was too much – why they needed 2 episodes more to show that annoying love triangle beats me.

But to sum up: a good Korean drama that I think I could recommend to new watchers or Ji Sung lovers.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Kim Soo Ro Review

Title: Kim Soo Ro

AKA: Kim Su Ro / The Iron King

Genre: Period, Melodrama, Romance, Fantasy

Episodes: 32

Broadcast period: 2010-May to 2010-Sept

Cast: Ji Sung, Bae Chong Ok, Yu Oh Seong, Seo Ji Hye and Ko Joo Won.

As one of the kingdoms of the North is on the verge of destruction, the pregnant queen Jung Kyung Bi (Bae Chong Ok) flees in order to keep the royal line intact. While doing so she is hit by arrows and barely survives when she boards a ship sailing south. On the boat she gives birth to a boy, but due to her wound and being exhausted she passes out. The ship encounters harsh winds and crashes, leaving only ship wreckage on a shore. A maid from the Iron Masters house spots the wreckage and notices that the newborn baby is still alive, and decides to take him with her. Shortly after Kyung Bi wakes up, but unable to find her child she breaks down. At the same time the Iron Master wife gives birth to her third stillborn, and he is unable to tell his wife. The maid who found the child on shore tells the Master about the child, and in order to save is wife from depression, decides to make the child his son, calling him Soo Ro.

In the south the 12 tribes are having problems agreeing on trivial matters, so they go to the High Priest in order to get answers, this furies one of the richer tribe leaders Shin Gwi Gan (Yu Oh Seong) as the High Priest almost becomes the king, as he is liked by all but also deals with all the main issues. When a prophecy, which says that the future king will be a child born by a woman from north, is given to the High Priest, he meets Kyung Bi and finds out about her background. He decides to marry her, and makes sure that he will be in the same position.

Several years later Soo Ro (Ji Sung) now old enough to learn from his father’s iron crafts, is met with hostility from the High Priests son Lee Jin Ah Shi (Ko Joo Won) and Kyung Bi, since they fear of him being a 'potential' king. And the tribe leader Shin Gwi Gan refuses to let anyone take his throne. Will the real heir be able to become king?

I apologize for the long review; another period/historical story that starts late into the drama.

This is my second drama about the period before the Joseon era, my first being Faith. And comparing those two would not be all that fair, even though I liked this one better. This drama had the element of fantasy, as in magic – which Faith also had, just not the same kind – and prophecies, which apparently used to be quite normal then. I am really not familiar with the story of the pre-joseon era, but from what I know they are coming quite close to the actual story. Though I really don’t understand the use of the second lead – like she was quite unnecessary. I didn’t feel bad for her, and I honestly didn’t get her backstory – not that it was interesting. I get that they were trying to make it sad and heartbreaking, but I actually was waiting for her to leave already… I know: mean. But yeah, I guess people like these types… I just don’t.

Ji Sung was cool as always. I remember him in The Great Seer, which I watched fondly, but here he was younger, which is nice to see. And he just fits those mischievous characters, I dunno why. Also the lead actress was okay, though I don’t know her, she was quite good, but yeah, still a typical lead in period…

But yeah, I found it pretty interesting to watch, so all in all fairly good watch.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 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

The Great Seer Review

Title: The Great Seer

Genre: Historical, Period, Politics, Action, Romance

Episodes: 35

Broadcast period: 2012-Oct to 2013-Feb

Cast: Ji Sung, Song Chang Ui, Ji Jin Hee and Yoon Ji.

When the head priestess of the royal court sees the eternal land Ja Mi Won, the prophet with the holy eyes Mok Dong Yoon (Choi Jae Woong) is sent out to find it. When he finds it though, the prophecy says that the true heir of the land, the future king, is the only one that’ll be able to have it.. in 50 years’ time. Pressured by rebels and the Ming Dynasty, the king orders the prophet to be tortured for the location, and that goes on in 10 years, but all in vain. With a chance to flee Dong Yoon does so, but is followed by the princess and the love of his life Young Ji (Lee Sung Yun) follows him and demands the map of the land so her brother can get the power he is entitled. As the two spend time together and the enemies are closing in, the princess buys Dong Yoon time by following the guards back, but as it turns out she is pregnant with the prophet’s child. In order to save herself and the child she marries the man Lee In Im (Jo Min Ki) who has wanted her almost all his life, but has had an affair with the priestess underling. She also becomes pregnant, and as time pass the two give birth to sons, but In Im is determined to kill the son of the man his wife loves, though is a split second Dong Yoon manages to survive, and the princess takes the priestess son in as her own.

11 years pass and the king believing he has the eternal land has announced independence from the Ming Dynasty, and as time passes he becomes more and more paranoid with his underlings. When the priestess murders the head priestess in order to become it herself, she and Lee In Im decide to plot a coup d’état against the king, and when they hear that Dong Yoon is in the town they try to find him and his son in order to kill them both. At the same time a general Lee Sung Gye (Ji Jin Hee) famous for his military abilities surfaces and enters the palace, leaving much havoc wherever he goes. Will 50 years manage to pass in order for the Ja Mi Won to surface? And what are the roles of the two children born in the strife of their parents in this?

Sorry about the major summary, but you know with these period dramas, they really start at the episode 10 marks. Okay, so this is one heck of a drama, besides it being made extremely well, the storyline and the characters are very well written. Though I really didn’t like the choice for many of the actors (hint: lead actress) the general story is not only interesting, but it’s very close to the historical part - which I did not expect since the ‘good’ guys aren’t as good in real life. But they did add the bad part, which makes the story amazing but the character less likable.

Another thing that made me intrigued is that the secrets that usually take forever to be revealed are revealed in matter of episodes, and some are never told. So it depends on who watches it to distinguish what you would think of it. I liked it, because it made it more real.

All in all a fine drama might be one of the only period dramas I actually genuinely like.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ 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

Protect The Boss Review

Title: Protect The Boss
Genre: Romance, comedy
Episodes: 18
Broadcast period: 2011-Aug to 2011-Sep
Cast: Ji Sung, Choi Kang Hee, Hero Jaejoong and Wang Ji Hye.

No Eun Seol (Choi Kang Hee) used to be a punk as a kid, which concluded in her having bad grades, joining a 3rd rate college, and in the end, a bad education. But that doesn’t bring her spirit down; she uses all her efforts in getting a job, which doesn’t get further than the job-interviews. One day she manages to get a job, but unfortunately not a clean one. As she rebels against her pig-of-a-boss, she bumps into Cha Ji Heon (Ji Sung) in the hallway, and involves him in a fight.
Ji Heon is a chaebol of one of the biggest co-operations, he is different than the usual chaebol; he’s lazy, a clean-freak, is childish and not to mention useless, so it seems. His father finds out about the fight, finds the people that were involved (except Eun Seol), gets busted and ends up doing community services. To make things worse, his sister-in-law, from his late brother and the mother of Ji Heon’s rival and cousin, Cha Moo Won (Hero JaeJoong), tries with all her might to make Moo Won the successor.
At Eun Seol’s new job-interview, in Ji Heon’s company, Moo Won finds an interest in her and makes her Ji Heon’s new secretary…

Okay, first of all, this is somewhat THE funniest drama I’ve seen in a LONG time; I mean how can something so childish and crazy be so sweet and funny?! GOD, I loved it! Enjoyed all of it!
That said, I have to admit 18 eps is just too long, I think they could easily have made it 16, by not adding the break up and just jumping forward in time. Anyhow, the drama is neat, defiantly one of the good ones, and like most of my watches, I rooted for the lead couple, but honestly I wanted more of the supporting couple, believe it or not I really really liked that girl! Of course my prince Jae Joong, who made me fall head over heels for him, had stuff to do with it, made it so nice..
Ji Sung is AMAZING, didn’t even realize he was the guy from ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’.
On the other hand, the drama does get heavy. It’s a real roller-coaster, by laughing your lungs out, to feeling that knot in your chest, and it just gets complicated..

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
One of the funniest korean dramas I think, it was REALLY funny, it had all those crazy funny moments which was mostly the reason why I liked it. I agree with Bunji that 18 episodes was too long and I even stopped watching at some point because it was getting too much. But then again when I started it was fun, really fun and it was nice seeing both couples and even though also that it wasn’t really one of those “who to chose/who do I really love” dramas, it was at the beginning but that is solved pretty nicely fast (does it make sense -.-“). At first I couldn’t stand the actress Wang Ji Hye I think because i’ve only seen her in those Bitch/mean girl characters but here I actually started liking her hihih. I enjoyed watching it and the acting was good too I think. Really nice, relaxing fun drama. And maaaaan!, Ji Sung was sooo good here too. His character too I loved it! Plus Jaejoong, Fangirling! Hahha.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Save the Last Dance for Me Review

Title: Save The Last Dance For Me
AKA: The Last Dance Is With Me
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 20
Broadcast period: 2004-Oct to 2005-Jan
Cast: Eugene, Ji Sung, Lee Bo Young and Ryu Soo Young

Kang Hyun Woo (Ji Sung) is the only son of the Kang family, and the only heir of the billion dollar business, but he only dreams of becoming a photographer. He arrives home, after being away for a long time, only to end up in a huge feud with his father, and leaving home in rage. As he rests on a parking lot, he picks up a man, who turns out to cheat him; he stabs him and ’throws’ him off a cliff. Hyun Woo then wakes up at a hospital with memory loss, there he meets Ji Eun Soo (Eugene) and her father who take him in. Back in Seoul, Hyun Woo’s parents think he’s dead, whereas his long time girlfriend Yoon Soo Jin (Lee Bo Young) refuses to think of him as dead.
A year passes, and Hyun Woo is now Baek Chang Ho; he hasn’t regained his memory, but he has started to live with the Ji’s. He and Eun Soo fall in love, and are to get married, but when the current heir Jung Tae Min (Ryu Soo Young) finds out about Hyun Woo’s presents, he tries to kill him by sending gangsters after him, only to make him regain his memory. But on the other hand, he has forgotten the year he had spent with Eun Soo…

This was a drama me and Jenji were to watch together, but it sort of ended with us only watching 8 episodes together -_-. This drama is not something I would watch, very unlike what I usually watch, but it was recommended so..
Anyhow, I think 20 episodes is way too long, especially this drama, and the last episode is just a bit too much. It’s as if the leads hadn’t suffered enough, so they chose to give them extra hard time.. Tsk! But the acting was good, considering it’s the year it’s from. I wont recommend it, but it’s not bad. Just not my preference :P

☆☆☆½ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts