I Remember You Review

Title: I Remember You
AKA: Hello Monster
Genre: Romance, Thriller, Mystery
Episode: 16
Broadcast Period: Jun-2015 to Aug-2015
Cast: Seo In Guk, Jang Na Ra, Choi Won Yung, Lee Chun Hee, Park Bo Gum, Min Sung Wook, Son Seung Won,

A criminal profiler, Lee Hyun (Seo In Guk) who previously work as a consultant at the police department in New York and had given a lot of lectures in Seoul University has received a mysterious mail about his past. Drawn by this mail he returns to south Korea, and gets to work with a special criminal investigation team. Due to his special insight, he can analyze the crime scene and the suspect at one glance. He works together with an elite detective, Cha Ji An (Jang Na Ra) to solve one murder case after the other. Cha Ji An already knew about Lee Hyun since she has been stalking him every time he was in Seoul. Together they unknowingly unlock the mysteries of the past.

The plot make it sound like this drama is going to be a romance drama, I thought it would be like that. Sorry if it’s misleading, but the drama really do start like that, but the more you watch, the more you realize this drama is not focusing on the main couple but rather the main siblings! I really did enjoy the two brothers hate and affection for each other. I don’t know why, but I preferred that over the main couples relationship. The drama is filled with gominams (flower boys)! It was thrilling and pleasant for the eyes at the same time. I can’t believe I wasn’t going to watch this drama, but an interview with Seo In Guk made me want to watch it. Oh boy, this is definitely one of my favorite drama of the summer, maybe the best actually. The mystery caught me from the beginning with all the psycho profiling talk and it made me really interested in profiling. It’s not like CSI or anything, it got its own flavor in this drama, hmm.. maybe that’s why I fell for it from the beginning. The story is filled with thrilling murder cases (one more plus), but because it had a 15 age restriction you don’t get to see any hardcore murder scenes, but somehow they made it creepy anyway. That must have been a hard job for the production crew and writers, but they managed it with awesome results. All of the actors were brilliant, I can’t pinpoint just one, that would not be fair to the rest, they were all amazing with their respective characters. I really don’t know what more to say to make you watch it :b

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Bunji's Verdict

After spending a lot of time trying to start, which by the way has a both confusing and quite dull introduction, I managed to start this drama and to my surprise I finished it in matter of 2 days. As profiling/psychological/crime dramas go, this one was quite close to what I expect from a complicated yet interesting plot. As a Korean drama I have to admit it was a bit darker than usual, but still managed to add the ‘typical flavor’ of both overdramatizing and over sentimentalizing both the sob story and the ‘bromance’, as all of us Asian drama lovers adore. To be fair I get all characters – which I very important for me when I am watching a drama – but I felt as if they were too much of stereotypes. It’s not as if it ruins everything, it is just too typical. And I have to say that the romance was weird – not bad – just felt out of place. A lot of you will probably disagree, as it is a typical Korean drama move (the entire know each other from childhood blah blah… and the second lead trying to ruin all), but I was just annoyed most of the time.

On the other hand, this has to be hands down the most decent portrayal of a female cop. So far most female cops in drama are damsel in destress and THANK GOD Korea has understood the meaning of COPS... Like don’t they do training or anything like that... seriously… But this drama showed what I was waiting for, and even if the female would be kidnapped or whatever, she’d kick ass… Though most of the time she’d still be saved by a male, I think that Jang Na Ra was the one fighting the most in this drama... Which is cool. Seo In Guk was cool as always, and those tight fitted suits really suit him!

Okay so all in all, a quite interesting drama, but a bit too typical for my taste – though I liked the darker elements.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

The Great King Sejong Review

Title: The Great King Sejong

AKA: King Sejong The Great

Genre: Period, Family

Episodes: 86

Broadcast period: 2008-Jan to 2008-Nov

Cast: Kim Sang Kyung, Lee Yoon Ji, Kim Kap Soo, Lee Chun Hee, Lee Won Jong, Cho Sung Ha, Lee Hyun Woo and Park Sang Min.

This story revolves around the entire life of the 4th king of Joseon, one of the two with the title ‘great’, King Sejong.

As the third son of the third king of Joseon, Prince Choon Nyung (Lee Hyun Woo) has been raised not to be too involved in politics, but due to his natural curiosity and good heart, Prince Choon Nyung believes to find that the books on Confucius are the ones that are correct: that the citizens of Joseon are pure and righteous. His teacher on the other hand decides to give the prince a lesson and tells him to walk down to the city, instead of keeping his nose in the books. Accepting the challenge Prince Choon Nyung walks down the city and for the first time ever realizes how, not only poor, but grotesque all the people of Joseon are. And with the Ming dynasty in the city, the rebels are trying to destroy the treaty that the king made. In utter shock the prince returns home and tells his father about the situation in the empire, only to have the king use that knowledge and punish the citizens – as they are ‘complaining’ against the king. Once again Prince Choon Nyung decides for his own and rings the bell of complaint, this furies the king and he decides to punish Prince Choon Nyung by executing one of his closes friends.

This makes Prince Choon Nyung retreat completely from politics, but due to kind heart and jealous family, he is pulled into a whirlwind of betrayal and lies…

Out of all the Korean period dramas this one makes most sense – might be because I knew the history behind it – but it still was good in the sense that made a person like me (one that is not so much period drama fan) like it. The story of the great King Sejong is one of the most curious ones, as I never really understood their love for him, and I know that they do exaggerate in period dramas, but I sort of understand this one and it fits the history part of the king’s life. I mean I am kind of history biased, but they really are almost at point – though with a bit of creativity in the spots that have a kind of unclear story.

As far as acting, besides being a Lee Yoon Ji fan I haven't really seen works of any of the actors (of course Lee Chun Hee but that’s it), so it was kind of being thrown into a drama with "unknown" actors and a lot of “back-actors”: the actors that have supporting characters in almost every drama. The drama was okay acted, but not really that amazing though. And kind of weird yet beautiful love stories.. I guess that is those day time period drama, a lot of episodes with kind of mediocre acting, though that didn’t make it less good, just made it kind of regular.

So sum it up: an interesting drama with an honest approach to the actual historical events, but on the other hand mediocre acting.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Cyrano Dating Agency Review

Title: Cyrano Dating Agency

AKA: Dating Agency: Cyrano

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2013-May to 2013-Jul

Cast: Lee Jong Hyuk, Choi Soo Young, Lee Chun Hee, Hong Jong Hyun and Jo Yoo Woo.

Believing in true love and ultimate romance Gong Min Young (Choi Soo Young) works at a dating agency that puts people in classes, then setting them up for blind dates. When one of her clients, a low class, asks Min Young for a favor: to set him up with a top class girl, Min Young isn’t sure due to the agency’s policy. The policy says that a top class can’t date a low class, but after being persuaded by the client she agrees. After setting them up in a restaurant, thing start smoothly until the top class confesses to a waiter out of the blue. Bummed by the failed love mission, she by accident sees a surveillance set-up inside a van, and meets the owner, but stumbles and passes out. She wakes up inside a closed theater, and meets the three men of Cyrano Dating Agency who helped the waiter getting the top class girl: Seo Byung Hoon (Lee Jong Hyuk) the owner and a former famous producer, Moo Jin (Hong Jong Hyun) a genius computer engineer, and Ah Rang (Jo Yoo Woo) a stage artist student. Confused, yet curious about their work, and when she is offered a job in the agency she can’t help but being interested.

Next to the theater, a restaurant owner named Cha Seung Pyo (Lee Chun Hee) with a mysterious personality and background seems to have an intense interest in the theater and Seo Byung Hoon, and for some reason starts to find an interests in Min Young…

I didn’t expect to like it this much, but it was very good and very interesting. It wasn’t as stuffy and draggy as I was expecting, which might be because there were many side love stories, which were also very romantic and heartfelt. I’m not a fan of either Soo Young or Lee Jong Hyuk, but I found them very cute and very good at acting. Also Jong Hyun, Chun Hee and Yoo Woo were great, but I have to admit that cameos were great, every single one of them. So I enjoyed it, a lot.

Recommendable!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 stars

Only You Review

Title: Only You
Genre: Romance, Cooking
Episodes: 16
Broadcast period: 2005-06 to 2005-07
Theme song: Only You originally performed by The Platters
Cast: Han Chae Young, Jo Hyun Jae, Hong Soo Hyun and Lee Chun Hee.

Wanting to achieve her dream, Chae Eun Jae (Han Chae Young) left her disappointed family in Korea, to study cooking in Italy. Her best friend Jung Hyun Sung (Lee Cheon Hee) comes along, to help and to study cooking himself. As Eun Jae tries to find a pepper paste recipe, in order to pass her final test to make one step closer to achieving her dream, she bumps into Han Lee Jun (Jo Hyun Jae), who is looking for a woman. The woman happens to be the woman who has the recipe and happens to be the mother of Lee Jun. The two of them get a mutual understanding, and end up having a one-night-stand, which later, due to misunderstandings, ends up with them parting. 3 months later, Lee Jun joins the army, and Eun Jae finds out that she is pregnant.
6 years later, after giving up her dream and returning to Korea, Eun Jae takes lousy jobs, in order to make a living and to support her son as a single mother, but it doesn’t come easy, since she together with her family, tries to pay off her father’s debts. Lee Jun on the other hand, gets a chance from his strict father to deal with the no. 1 business in the firm, Italian food. As he is searching for a new cook, he happens to eat Eun Jae’s cooking, and is stunned, so he starts to look for her, but she has no interests in meeting him...

I think I have a thing for premarital-pregnancy/children love stories. My first impression was that this drama was like Autumn’s Concerto, but it turned out to be a bit different. In Only You the couple face opposition like no other, like the ONLY ones that wants them to be together is, well, the lead actor... Even the lead actress is against it, occasionally moved, so she is all lovey dovey until she remembers that it is apparently impossible for them to be together. Both supporting actors / actresses are like at war, so love is impossible. Lols, I have to say, I figured everything out, so no surprises at all. Okay, the pregnancy I didn’t expect, nor the one night stand, but to be honest, everything was ‘see through’. Still, it had its charm, though I would’ve liked the son to be more in the story, and gotta admit the food looked delicious.

☆☆☆½ / 3,5 out of 5 stars

♥♥½ / 2½ out of 5 hearts

Smile, You Review

Title: Smile, You
AKA: Smile, Smile Honey
Genre: Comedy, Family, Romance
Episodes: 45
Broadcast periode: 2009-Sep to 2010-Mar
Cast: Jung Kyung Ho, Lee Min Jung, Lee Chun Hee, Choi Jung Yoon, Kang Suk Woo,Heo Yoon Jung, Choi Bool Am, Chun Ho Jin and Song Ok Sook.

Being the youngest daughter of the Seo family, Jung In (Lee Min Jung) had been spoilt to the extreme. Her father, Seo Jung Gil (Kang Suk Woo), is a wealthy CEO, had inherited everything he owns from his father. After going bankrupt, Jung In’s groom leaves her due to her situation, leaving her completely humiliated. Raged, she leaves for her chauffeurs, Kang Man Bok (Choi Bool Am), house. Feeling indebted bye Jung In’s grandfather, the one that had hired Kang, he helps her, even though his daughter-in-law opposes. As her son, Kang Hyun Soo (Jung Kyung Ho), returns from America, he tries to connect with his very first crush, Seo Jung Kyung (Choi Jung Yoon), a doctor and fellow school mate, whom he had loved for over 8 years. Seo Jung Kyung on the other hand has a relationship with her director, so she has no interests in Hyun Soo, happens to be the sister of Jung In. Jung In and Hyun Soo meet several times, unfortunately none of them are good, so they end up having a feud.
Much happens and the Seo family ends up having to live with the chauffeur and his family, which consists of the son, Kang Sang Hoon (Chun Ho Jin), the daughter-in-law Baek Geum Ja (Song Ok Sook), and the son Kang Hyun Soo. Matters complicate as the son, Seo Jung Soon (Lee Chun Hee) of the Seo family returns, and crushes the hope of the snobby and wealthy family as he says that he had used all of his assets, gambling. After losing all hope, the Seo family becomes part of the Kang household, and the war between the Seo and Kang family begins..

As I was watching Shining Inheritance I found myself wanting to watch more Korean drama, and I wanted to watch a long one as well (completely different from someone – Jenji). So I searched and found Smile, You. I read the intro of it, and didn’t really like it, but I decided to give it a go – which happened to be a smart move. I loved Smile, You. Most Korean-comedy’s are funny at the beginning, but end up being sad, and loooong. The thing about Smile, You is that when you begin, you can’t stop, and the as you think its cant go funnier than this, it exceeds your expectations and make you fall down your chair! The love story isn’t bad either. I have very few dramas that make my stomach go “wrrruuuh”. When that happens, I become hyper and fall in love myself. The family fued and the moral/living difference are amazingly done, and I tend to go, “are there REALLY so snobby people in the world?” and “are they really OKAY with living sooo poorly?”. BUT! All in all, a great watch!

☆☆☆☆½ / 4,5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
I never ever thought I would watch a long drama, and yes I know there are longer dramas, but this is seriously very long for me. But it was surprisingly really good! I had never expected it would be this way. When it comes to these genres it might even be better than the "short" ones. Because its a comedy its more relaxing when there are many episodes and you dont have to "try to figure out what is gonna happen in this and this episode" because it is so long! Just sit back and enjoy! It is actually really sweet and I loved how it, like Bunji said, kept those moments. It didnt fade out, even when things got serious. Actually, near the end, I was thinking I might not like the drama if it ends the way it looked like it would, but they also managed to close it up pretty nicely. I'm thinking it must be hard to end a long drama, what is a satisfying ending? It's a drama for those who want to watch a drama for fun and entertainment without having to worry about anything, just to watch.


☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts