Gye Baek Review

Title: Gye Baek

Genre: Period, Historical, Romance, Revenge, Melodrama

Episodes: 36

Broadcast period: 2011-Jul to 2011-Nov

Cast: Lee Seo Jin, Cho Jae Hyun, Oh Yeon Soo, Song Ji Hyo, Cha In Pyo, Hyo Min, Lee Hyun Woo and No Young Hak.

Due to the Queen being of Silla blood, an elite group of assassins try to kill her and the Crown Prince Ui Ja on a regular basis. This has prompted the King of Baekje to assign his most loyal and skilled swordsman Moo Jin (Cha In Pyo) to guard them.  But due to unforeseen events, the Queen dies to save her son, and Moo Jins wife dies while giving birth to a son, Gye Baek.

Several years later, Gye Baek (Lee Hyun Woo) now a youngster, works odd jobs, so he can take care of his drunk father. Here he meets merchant-in-training Eun Ko (Park Eun Bin), whom he immediately falls for. Moo Jin, who has lost his arm, has remarried, so the past is unknown, and Gye Baek believes his stepmother and stepbrother, are his real mother and brother. Though mourning, Moo Jin meets the Crown Prince Ui Ja (No Young Hak) again, now a regular Prince due to the new Queens (Oh Yeon Soo) son taking that title and sees right through his pretense, about not caring about the past.

While trying to uncover the truth, and helping Ui Ja, Moo Jin dies, while Gye Baek witnesses it. Filled with anger, Gye Baek blames Ui Ja for the murder of his father but ends up as a hostage of Silla. As years pass, Gye Baek (Lee Seo Jin) lives only for one sole purpose: to kill the man, who killed his father, unaware that there is more to the story than meets the eyes…

Yeah, I know this is very detailed, and yes, I did spoil a bit, but I tried to stay off the details, so if you decide to watch it, you will get several surprises and you will notice the details I left out.

Out of all the historical dramas out there, this one is the first one where I was in awe of the quality of the costumes - like the first 10 min seemed extremely well. I don’t now much about the uniforms of Baekje, but I know that the armor was iron, and it kind of looked like iron. In most dramas I can see that they are made of plastic (or whatever it is) but I didn’t in this one - at least not in the beginning. Also, it might be because I had the first episode in HD quality (I think 1080p), that might have something to do with it too. What I mean is, it was nice to see that there exist good costumes out there, like realistic ones anyways.

This is also one of my first dramas where the lead actors are over 30 years old, as they (directors, or whoever casts these actors) usually have young actors doing quality and popular dramas. And they were all ‘veteran’ actors, with skill, which was extremely nice to see. I have to admit, I was amazed by Song Ji Hyo. I never knew she could act mean or evil - she can officially do both. I liked her in this, and she is very good at acting. Though I noticed that she was tired (haha, blaming RM for that). The rest were good too.

The lacking thing in this one is both pace and extreme character development, which I couldn’t really comprehend. Though the fact that these developments are the reason the story end as it did.

But all in all, an alright drama that made me emotional, and confused at the same time.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Jumong Review

Title: Jumong
AKA: Prince of the Legend
Genre: Period, Historical, Romance, Melodrama
Episodes: 81
Broadcast period: 2006-May to 2008-Mar
Cast: Song Il Kook, Han Hye Jin, Kim Seung Soo, Jeon Kwang Leol, Oh Yeon Su and Song Ji Hyo.

This is the story about the creation of Kogoryeo, and the people who started it.
While trying to fight the corrupt noblemen, Hae Mo Soo (Heo Jun Ho) and the crown prince Kum Wa (Jeon Kwang Leol) get caught up in political turmoil. The king saves the crown prince, but Hae Mo Soo is caught and tortured. Yoo Hwa (Oh Yeon Su), the only survivor of her clan had always admired Hae Mo Soo, thus the two had become lovers, but after Hae Mo Soo gets caught, the crown prince saves Yoo Hwa, by making her his concubine, while carrying the child of Hae Mo Soo.
Several years later, the son of Hae Mo Soo and Yoo Hwa, Ju Mong (Song Il Gook), now all grown up, was raised as the concubine’s son. Earning the utter contempt from his two older brothers, who believe that the now king prefers Ju Mong, rather than the two older sons. Though a brat, and quite useless, Ju Mong tries his best to be seen at “a piece of trash” so that he won’t get attention, but the jealous brothers try to kill him numerous times. After being thrown out of the royal house, Ju Mong ends up on the streets and meets So Seo No (Han Hye Jin), daughter of a merchant, again, where the first time she had saved him, after his brothers had attempted to kill him.
He starts working for the So family and becomes familiar with the world. At the same time the two princes desperately want Ju Mong dead, though fate has other plans for him…

This drama has been one of those that I watched the beginning of, with interest, but accidently read about the evolvement of the story, so I had it put on hold. As time had passed, I’d forgotten about the evolvement, and I decided to watch it again, so when the “thing” I wasn’t interested in seeing appeared, I remembered it, but had an easier time sitting through it. After watching the entire thing, I had mixed emotions, mostly frustration due to the love story, but as many of the “older” dramas, the romance is usually the subplot, so it isn’t given the same amount of “care” as the main story. That said, I didn’t care for the romance aspect, as it made me annoyed, and I ended up going: whoever, just save the wife please.
The main story is very interesting, and one of the better Korean period pieces, as it is action packed most of the way through - though it has moments where I was bored. But it tries to keep you invested.
It was funny seeing Song Il Kook so young, but honestly, I didn’t see much of a difference. The rest was alright, though there is something annoying about the female lead, even if she was the most bad-ass female lead I’ve seen in a long while, but I can’t really put my finger on it.
To sum up: a great and interesting drama with a frustrating love-triangle, but still decent storyline.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Ex-Girlfriends Club Review

Title: Ex-Girlfriends Club

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Episodes: 12

Broadcast period: 2015-May to 2015-Jun

Cast: Song Ji Hyo, Byun Yo Hyo, Lee Yoon Ji, Jang Ji Eun and Hwa Young.

Kim Soo Jin (Song Ji Hyo) is a movie producer at a small film company, while dreaming of becoming noticed for her hard work. This dream is shattered when her CEO of the company makes the company go bankrupt and runs with all the money. The only way she'll be able to get the company back is to work with the last movie deal she had put in motion: a movie based on a webtoon called Girlfriend Buffalo/Buffalo Girlfriend - a story about the authors three ex-girlfriends. She soon finds out that the writer is called Bang Myung Soo - which is her first love and ex-boyfriend.

The two agree on making the movie, and in a drunken frenzy decide to call the three girlfriends: Na Ji Ah (Jang Ji Eun) is an elegant divorcee owning a restaurant, Jang Hwa Young (Lee Yoon Ji) a bossy and demanding manager at a famous movie company, and Go Ra Ra (Hwa Jung) an actress known for her looks and her aloof personality. As the four meet for the first time and the three ex's refuse to allow this movie to get going, as they want create their own characters - so Hwa Young buys the movie rights.

Things become even more confusing as Hwa Young's current boyfriend is the CEO of the famous company, but unaware of Hwa Youngs past - so the 5 have to pretend to be friends...

Hmm, I found this funny, cute and extremely over-the-top ridiculous, which made it really fun. The leads are good at playing opposite each other, but the supporting actors, the ex-girlfriends, are really good at keeping up with the leads. There are actually several thing I could point out here which were annoying, but the most annoying one was the lead actress, Song Ji Hyo. I like her and she was the main reason for watching this type of drama, but she seriously let me down. I am not sure whether it is because of the bad character, or Ji Hyo's bad acting that made the female protagonist so dull and boring that I really didn't feel like watching her. Maybe it is because the other three actresses where strong characters that the character drowned.

Okay not to ruin it for you, and you might not agree with me, so as whether you are to watch it or not, I would say, give it a try - it really is good for the laughing muscles.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Kamji's Verdict:

I loved it. So interesting and hilarious, and the actors were all awesome! Song Ji Hyo daeebak! Where do I start explaining this feeling. It’s not one of those dramas that just have all the feels and tension and excitement, no. But it’s easy to follow, the story unfolds gradually, there is no secret or backstabbing what so ever (maybe a liiiitle in the beginning, nothing serious though), the chemistry between the leads is amazing. PLUS the chemistry between all the exgirlfriends are so speciel I loved it, yeah it sounds weird, but the writers did a god job with the story so you can’t really do anything than love them. Last time I watched Byun Yo Hyo was in Misaeng, and I gotta say he got them charms :b Ehm-ehm.. I mean the talent for acting. 

All in all a really nice drama, soooo damn sad TvN decided to cut it down. Just because the ratings in Korea are bad, doesn’t mean us overseas fans won’t like it. They should stop doing that seriously. 

☆☆☆☆ ½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ ½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Emergency Couple Review

Title: Emergency Couple
AKA: Emergency Man and Woman / 911 Couple
Genre: romance, comedy, family, medical
Episodes: 21
Broadcast period: 2014-Jan-24 to 2014-April-05
Cast: Song Ji Hyo, Choi Jin Hyuk, Lee Pil Mo, Choi Yeo Jin, Clara, Yoon Jong Hoon, Im Hyun Sung, Chun Min Hee, Choi Bum Ho, Park Sung Geun, Lee Mi Young, Jun Soo Jin, Park Doo Shik

Oh Jin Hee (Song Ji Hyo) and Oh Chang Min (Choi Jin Hyuk) are a young couple who meet at college and fall in love. They decide to get married despite Oh Chang Min's family opposing, since his family is a doctor's family and Jin Hee is a dietist, and doesn't even come from a wealthy family. The two of them get married and have their stuggles living as a young newly married couple, trying to afford a living. Chang Min goes around hospitals trying to sell medicine and often comes home late drunk. Jin Hee stays at home developing depression. They end up fighting more and more often and in the end decide to seperate ways. 6 years later somehow destiny brings them together at a wedding and things only get more interesting when they meet as interns at the same hospital.

I absolutely loved this drama because of it's romance and comedy. It was hilarious all way through and kept me going. The only downside was the last two episodes which didn't really have thaaat much going on again. It was a very stable ending or just a plane ride through. However that is just a minor thing if you enjoy this kind of drama. The couple did great and the acting was just great. I liked that the second lead couple didn't "interrupt" the lead couple's story too much but just enough to keep me staying haha. I recommend this drama it's exciting, fun and romantic.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of hearts

Bunji's Verdict

Besides this being a great drama, I think I was a bit too expecting of this one, since everyone was praising it. And yes, the beginning is brilliant, and even so the love story - like really my type of love story with the same kind of effects and emotions. But somehow I found it to be both draggy and kind rolling around in its own little world, wanting me to shake them up. I found that the second (and third) love story was dull, and completely unnecessary, even though the actors are brilliant. And somehow along the way they lost the entire ‘medical’ drama, along the way, and made it just a bit too melodramatic. Though I gotta say the medical part is daebak, also the situations are reasonable, meaning not those crazy ass procedures with heart surgery: I mean how would interns/residents be able to even do that?! But they keep it reak in this drama, and the growth is reasonable.

THAT was the negative about it: the good part is it is a very good Korean drama, which I can’t say for many. It has good social issues and kind of gives you a vibe of society as it is - which is bad LOL. And yet it is a romantic comedy with seriously the funniest scenes I have seen in a long time… And creative to.

To sum up, and great drama.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Fugitive of Joseon Review

Title: The Fugitive of Joseon

AKA: Heaven’s Order / Mandate of Heaven / Heaven’s Will

Genre: Historical, Thriller, Medical, Political, Period

Episodes: 20

Broadcast period: 2013-Apr to 2013-Jun

Cast: Lee Dong Wook, Kim Yoo Bin, Song Ji Hyo, Im Seul Ong and Park Ji Young.

When the ill king decides to abdicate from his position, the crown prince (Im Seul Ong) is left in a dilemma: if he takes the throne he’ll be seen as a bad son by not waiting for his actual time to reign, and if he denies he’ll be seen at a traitor for not accepting the king’s order. All his life the crown prince had been fighting every minister, and ill-fated people who were trying to kill him, leaving only a handful of people he can trust. One of the people he trusts is Choi Won (Lee Dong Wook), the grandson of the crown princes’ doctor who was executed after making a mistake. This has left Choi Won with resentment and disappointment in the crown prince, also not being able to forgive him for not helping him then. Working as a doctor in the royal clinic, Choi Won has been known to be a ‘quack’ for not wanting to do his job, as he is too busy taking care of his sick daughter at home.

When the king passes out, the royal clinic sends out their best acupuncturist, but the crown prince refuses him, asking for Choi Won, whom he knows is a talented doctor. But knowing the consequences if he makes a mistake, Choi Won declines, leaving a bad impression on everyone, especially Hong Dain (Song Ji Hyo) a royal nurse who is more talented than many of the male doctors in the palace. She became a nurse due to her being saved by a doctor she doesn’t remember well, but dreams of meeting.

After the crown princes’ royal doctor is murdered, evidence are starting to pile up against Choi Won, and for some reason he is not able to prove his innocence, in order to save his daughter he makes a the decision of becoming a fugitive…

Besides the fact of having an amazing cast, this drama is an incredible piece of work. I have to say I was sad that it finished, made me feel a bit empty at the end. The characters and the storyline grow on you, and you cannot take your eyes of the amazing screenplay. I know I’ve said this before, but I really am not a fan of historical dramas, because honestly I don’t understand any of it, especially everything about the king and his royal court. But I think I didn't mind this because it was very clear, also most of the story was outside the court (though the things happening inside I really didn’t understand, I didn’t really care). On the other hand, it really ends up being all political and confusing in the end, making the rating drop - they REALLY drag it out at the end.

All in all, a recommended drama.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

The Jackal is Coming Movie Review

Title: The Jackal is Coming

AKA: Code Name: Jackal

Genre: action, comedy

Origin: South Korea

Release date: 15 November 2012

Cast: Song Ji Hyo, Kim Jaejoong, Oh Dal Soo, Han Sang Jin, Kim Sung young . . .

Bong Min Jung (Song Ji Hyo) is a female killer on a mission. She was hired to kill the famous singer and actor Choi Hyun (Kim Jaejoong) by his ex-girlfriend. Min Jung follows Choi Hyun to the unfamous hotel “Paradise” with the alias of a Japanese tourist. At the hotel, Choi Hyun was planning on meeting Angela, the wife of a CEO, whom he has an affair with, but is held hostage by Min Jung. In the beginning Choi Hyun thinks this is another act by his sesaeng fans and tries to prove that he isn’t the famous hallyu star, but several things happen and the two end up helping each other. All meanwhile the detectives are in the same hotel waiting for the killer Jackal to strike, searching the whole hotel and end up chasing the man they think is Jackal the killer all over the hotel. But in the end the story is more twisted than it seemed.

This movie is SO Korean. And I’m talking about those weird Korean movies with the weird characters and weird situations. Throughout the movie I wasn’t really satisfied and actually disliked it, but it’s Ji Hyo and Jaejoong so I wanted to give it a shot. If it were some unknown actors I would probably have given up in the beginning. But I guess it actually turned out to be pretty alright, the actors did do a good job and the ending was pretty alright. But it as an action comedy it wasn’t really my cup of tea I guess. But it isn’t a movie I would tell you not to watch. Because it does have some scenes I had to rewind and watch again because they were pretty hilarious. 

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥  / 3 out of 5 hearts  

Bunji's verdict
I am not sure about the rating since I really don’t what to rate this movie. It gave me huge laughs, confused me, occasionally bored me, and took me by surprised honestly. But it doesn’t leave me all into it, and the fact that this movie only happens in a 2 days span is not much help. As I watched this, I so felt bad for the lead actor, like poor guy - even though he was a prick - meeting 3 woman who make that night pretty hell. I wish there was more story behind, or after; I just felt a bit incomplete when it finished. JaeJoong and Song Ji Hyo do a great job, really entertained me and made the movie worth the time.

All in all, a decent movie :D

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½/ 3½ out of 5 hearts

Crime Squad Review

Title: Crime Squad
AKA: Homicide / Detectives in Trouble
Genre: Action, crime, police, (romance)
Episodes: 16
Broadcast period: 2011-Mar to 2011-Apr
Cast: Song Il Gook, Lee Jong Hyuk and Song Ji Hyo.

This drama follows the detectives of the Special Task Force. Park Se Hyuk (Song Il Gook) left his teaching job, so he could become a detective, in order to bring light on the case which caused the death of his 6-year-old daughter. Five years he has been solving cases and is known to be hotheaded, aggressive and stubborn, but has not been able to find out anything about his daughters case. He lives his life in depression and rage, until he one day gets a new Team Leader, Jung Il Do (Lee Jong Hyuk), the man responsible for his daughter’s death.
Jo Min Joo (Song Ji Hyo) just got a new job at a third rate website as a reporter, but hot-blooded as she is, she tries to get scoop, really close up, ending her meeting Se Hyuk, and they somehow become a dynamic duo; the reporter and the cop.
As a new case shows up; a bank robbery and a kidnapping, Se Hyuk soon finds out that the man behind it, is the man who also lost his girlfriend in the same accident where Se Hyuk lost his daughter, and he tries to make Se Hyuk even more confused about his daughter’s death…

I actually didn’t expect to like this drama as much as I did. It’s fresh, different from all the other Korean police dramas (if you ask me), and pretty good, as an action/crime drama. It has a very light feeling to it, and I have to admit, the actors are great, even the dude from T-MAX…
The storyline is strong, and goes pretty neatly, I’m just surprised about the deaths, and the corruption, all within the main characters. Anyhow, a great drama with great actors and great storyline… Sort a recommendable, for some…

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts