God's Gift - 14 Days Review

Title: God’s Gift – 14 Days

Genre: Suspense, Mystery

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2014-Mar to 2014-Apr

Cast: Lee Bo Young, Cho Seung Woo, Kim Tae Woo, Jung Gyu Woon, Baro, Han Sun Hwa, No Min Woo and Kim Yoo Bin.

Kim Soo Hyun (Lee Bo Young) had it all: a successful career, a prosecutor husband and a beautiful daughter Han Saet Byul (Kim Yoo Bin). Though a little rough, Soo Hyun is a loving mother and has a loving relationship with her husband. Everything changes when her daughter gets kidnapped. After a failed investigation, her daughter’s body is found by the river, and Soo Hyun becomes depressed. Unable to forgive herself, she decides to kill herself by drowning. At the same time former detective, now turned private investigator Ki Dong Chan (Jo Seung Woo), is caught by the mafia for investigating their boss. He is shot and thrown into the same river at the same time, but miraculously wakes ups, and saves Soo Hyun. The two emerge from the water, and soon find out that the world aren’t as they left it. They have both returned two weeks before the kidnapping of Saet Byul. 

At first Soo Hyun thinks of it as a dream, but as things seem to repeat themselves, she realizes that she needs to figure out how to save her daughter. And with the involvement of Ki Chan, they soon find out that there are more secrets behind the kidnapping than they initially thought…

This drama is one of those drama that took me so long to finish, mainly because the hype has settled down and the reviews weren’t that positive. When I started it, I was amazed by the acting (especially Jo Seung Woo, who I am a fan of) and the suspense, but very soon I noticed why it got disliked – the storyline just goes downhill fast. I don’t know what they were thinking while writing it, but it just was way too much. Too many secrets and too many twists, leading up to a climax which was dumb and completely out of the blue. Even the acting couldn’t save this one.

I remember finishing and kind of wondering, why did I watch this? I didn’t find it bad, yet it felt like a waste of time. But that is what you get with overly hyped drama I guess.

To sum up: not recommendable, but good acting from everyone involved.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥½ / 2½ out of 5 hearts

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Review

Title: My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
AKA: My Girlfriend is Nine-Tailed Fox
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Fantasy
Episodes: 16
Broadcast period: 2010-Aug to 2010-Sep
Cast: Lee Seung Gi, Shin Min Ah, No Min Woo and Park Soo Jin.

Calling Cha Dae Woong (Lee Seung Gi) arrogant isn’t quite the right word; he is a spoilt airhead to be exact. Ever since little he has seen his grandfather as some sort of money-bank, so when he asked about his future or what he plans to do with his life, he simply replies by saying that his grandfather has a lot of money. Because of the death of his parents, both his grandfather and aunt have been ignoring the selfishness, and most of his friends mooch off of him, except his two best friends. He is an ‘actor-to-be’, or he is going to acting college, and has finally the opportunity to become a star, much to his grandfathers displease.
One day, his grandfather is fed up, and decides to take him to a ‘special’ school, something like a military school. but Dae Woong manages to escape only to end up at a temple where a story about a Gumiho, a nine-tailed fox that eats human livers, lives.
The Gumiho (Shin Min Ah) is locked in a painting in the temple, and as an airhead Dae Woong is, she uses him to get out. On the outside, fleeing for his life, Dae Woong falls down a hill and almost breaks his back, but is saved by Gumiho, who gives him her bead, something like a part of her soul that helps her heal and gives her supernatural abilities. As Dae Woong wakes up, he gets to know the Gumiho, and she does not hide the fact that she is a Gumiho, even though Dae Woong doesn’t believe her. She then decides to not only follow him, but also to prove to him that she is a Gumiho by showing him her tailes, making Dae Woong terrified of her.
Back at the temple another apperent ‘non-human’ appears, Park Dong Joo (No Min Woo) who is some sort of hunter, and wants to catch the Gumiho.
To complicate matters, Eun Hye In (Park Soo Jin), Dae Woong’s noona and crush gets suspicious of the new girl, and tries to “figure her out”.

The moment I started this drama, I fell in love. The comedy was just the right amount, not cheasy and not silly, just perfect. You know, Korean dramas are brilliant because of their extreme lovestories, though 95% suck, the special 5% move you so deeply that you’d wish the drama never finishes. This is one of those. One, where you get nervous when they do, happy when they do and not to mention sad when they do. And honestly, they have to give Lee Seung Gi some award for being perfect as the mix of classical Korean hero/lead and modern humor sorce. The female actress did her job as Gumiho without flaw, and I TOTALLY bought is :P
One more thing I liked was the new personalities of the lead actors. The usual lead actor: arrogant/spoilt rich kid, and usual lead actress: strong/wilful poor girl. This time around it’s different, and these two don’t change each other, they learn from each other.
A complete and total recommendation, and OH! Cain & Abel has been knocked down from its pedestal -> This is officially my favourite Korean drama 

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts (But I want to give even more >_<)