High School, Love On Review

Title: High School Love On

AKA: Hi! School, Love on

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, School, Youth

Episodes: 20

Broadcast Period: Jul-2014 to Dec-2014

Cast: Nam Woo Hyun, Kim Sae Ron, Lee Sung Yeol, Choi Soo Rin, Jung Jae Soon, Jo Yun Woo, Shin Hyun Tak, Kim Young Jae, Lee Shi Hoo

Lee Seul Bi (Kim Sae Ron) is an angel with an honest and pure wish to become a human. One day when she was on duty, with no other choice she saved a human male student in danger. That is one thing an angel can’t do, which is meddling in the life of humans. The consequences of the accident is that she turned into a fallen angel on earth, not a human nor an angel. The only one she can seek help from is that human student she saved, Shin Woo Hyun (Nam Woo Hyun). Because she saved his life he had no other choice but to bring her with him home to his grandmother, and there she starts living as if she was a human being. However, there is too many obstacles on the road to become a real human being, and a lot more danger to it.

Okay, so this show has been going on since summer until December, there were a lot of cancelations and moving the timeslots every week, so you never knew when a new episode would come. Was this KBS2’ idea of promoting? More than anything, it just ridiculed the show in that sense that it would give others a negative thought of it before they even started it. I think it deserves better recognition than it got, the drama was interesting and distinctive and a little weird (in a good way). I started it with no expectations whatsoever, and got out with an enjoyably surprise. On the side note it made me feel old too :/ I felt like going back to those teenage/high school years, lol. On top of a quirky supernatural premise, it had endearing characters and a seriously beautiful camerawork with a skillful directorial touch that lingers on lovely little moments. Plot-wise this concept is well known in dramaland, the passion to be human, but somehow they fused many stories to get this new and fresh plot together. The main couple I actually fell too hard for them, they were actually not romantic or mushy… they were mostly practical and fuss-free. All the actors were okay, but throughout the drama you could feel the idols inexperience in the acting field. It bugged me A LOT in the beginning, but somehow they grew on me, I can see a future for them :b
Kim sae Ron, for gods sake she’s only 14! I don’t know what to think of her to be honest, she did an okay job, but failed at impressing me. Anyhow this show was really cute, I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I did and more. If you are looking for something not heavy with a nice story, this could be it.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts 

The Queen's Classroom Review

Title: The Queen’s Classroom

AKA: Class of the Queen

Genre: Drama, Social, School, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2013-Jun to 2013-Aug

Cast: Ko Hyun Jung, Kim Hyang Gi, Chun Bo Geun, Kim Sae Ron, Seo Shin Ae and Lee Young Yoo.

This drama is the remake of the popular Japanese drama with the same name.

Shim Ha Na (Kim Hyang Gi) is a bright girl with a bit of a goofy personality, always smiling. Looking forward by sharing class with her best friend and it being her last year of elementary, she greets her class with joy and optimism. But when the class meets their new homeroom teacher Ma Yeo Jin (Ko Hyun Jung), the class is thrown into despair, and the one with the shortest straw is Ha Na.

Ma Yeo Jin is a cold and never smiling woman, who with her tyrannical ways makes her student gang up on one another, and favors the smartest students. She makes the class take tests every week so that the two bottom students become class presidents, having them do the cleanup jobs every week. The students with the worst results and the ones that are slowest in most things are ridiculed and made fun of by her. Any form of resistance is made futile by bulling them without any resistance from the teacher’s staff.

Since day one Ha Na’s personality makes her not only an easy target, but also very individual, so she doesn’t get manipulated as the rest.

Now she is stuck in a fight she didn’t sign up for, and Yeo Jins relationship with the principle seems understanding… What is going on?

I was really excited when I started watching this drama, because I was completely sucked in the amazing acting of these children. Even though people really liked Kim Sae Ron (because of her new drama High School Love On) but I really was captivated by Kim Hyang Gi. Yes she was the lead actress; however I found every scene she was in believable and honest – as if she really ends up in this situation. The rest were good too, another reason why I don’t find they should use idols as actors, unless they know how to act (TO CLEAR UP: many idols are used because of their fame even if they can’t act - this doesn’t apply on all idols though).  The actress playing the ‘witch’ was quite good, though I felt they kind of didn’t make her story that important (dunno if that is bad or good).

About the story, well I can’t say I hated it because it was almost identical with the Japanese one, except maybe the ending and some of the last episodes.

So to sum up: a good remake with great future potential.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

The Man From Nowhere Movie Review

Title: The Man From Nowhere
AKA: This Man / Ahjussi
Genre: Action, Drama
Origin: Korea
Release date: 04 August 2010
Cast: Won Bin, Kim Sae Ron, Kim Tae Hoon, Kim Hee Won and Kim Seong Oh..

This story is about a man who had lost everything in his life and lives just every day at a time.
Cha Tae Shik (Won Bin) a former cop owns a pawnshop in a rough neighborhood. Everyday a little girl Soo Mi (Kim Sae Ron), visits him, because she doesn’t like to be home with her junkie mother, who works at night as a stripper and would do anything for money. The two find a mutual understanding: she is the person helping him to stay sane and he treats her as a human being not as garbage.
When her mother gets involved with stolen drugs, Soo Mi and her mother are grabbed by gangsters, who start knocking at Tae Shiks door. At first he thinks it’s a robbery, but shortly after he realizes that they have Soo Mi.
The gangsters run away after finding out that he is ‘a crazy dude’ who beats the shit our of a huge guy they had brought as a bodyguard, but this only makes Tae Shik run after them. This starts the war between a man who has nothing to lose and the underground Korean mob organization.

I stumbled across this movie by accident to be honest, but I remember that it was extremely popular some time back: fans going crazy when Won Bin and Kim Sae Ron came together to the award thingi. Big deal. The main reason for me to watch this was because of the fuss made around Won Bin. Apparently he was a big shot, but I never saw anything of his works, so I had to watch something. The fact that it was one of his most popular ones was not intentional :P And honestly, I get it. He is fine. Loads of mucsles, talent actor, and one good looking fella, A+++!
The movie is not that bad at all. I have to admit, very well executed and amazing cast. Lol, but seriously the one shocking me the most was Kim Seong Oh, the younger brother. My first time watching him was in Secret Garden as this goofy secretary, then suddenly serial killer guy in SIGN followed by a sicko in The Man From Nowhere. I have fallen.. For him..
Okay, back to the movie. Its good, somehow recommendable, I just am not a fan of gangster movies, and the reason it’s not a 5 star, it’s just that this guy played by Won Bin is actually willing to do crazy things for this little girl, but we just don’t get that much ‘connecting’ with them, well not enough considering he declares war against an entire mob family / organization.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
First of all, this movie is for those who love blood splattering with great exaggeration! Its one of those real, guy movies?. I mean I like gangster fight movies but then again, Im not a fan of body parts being taken out of bodies and put in a truck, nor eyes being taken out of people and played with. The movie itself is not bad, at all, and the actors, wow, about the younger brother, the secretary from Secret Garden, I was trying to convince myself that it isnt the same guy because dayyummmm,, what a difference, he's a really great actor, and Won Bin, wow, I had no idea,, this guy, I dont think Ive ever watched any of his movies before and I didnt realise it was him at first. But Im impressed, really. Its a really sick movie, hahah, not necessarily bad-sick, but just sick people who do sick things like use kids for drug dealing. But then again it seems a bit like its just a movie for its sickness and not for the focus on child workers for drug.. which I wasnt a fan of.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts