Jealousy Incarnation Review

Title: Jealousy Incarnation

AKA: Don’t dare to Dream

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Family, Drama

Episodes: 24

Broadcast Period: Aug-2016 to Nov-2016

Cast: Gong Hyo Jin, Jo Jung Suk, Go Kyung Po, Lee Mi Sook, Park Ji Young, Lee Sung Jae, Seo Ji Hye, Moon Ga Young, Ahn Woo Yeon,

Weather caster Pyo Na Ri (Gong Hyo Jin) and news anchor Lee Hwa Shin (Jo Jung Suk) are long-time colleagues at SBC broadcasting station. Pyo Na Ri has had a crush on Lee Hwa Shin three years ago but things change when she meets the perfect man Go Jung Won (Go Kyung Pyo), a chaebol heir and close friend of Lee Hwa Shin.

Meanwhile, Sung Sook (Lee Mi Sook) and Ja Young (Park Ji Young), who are rivals in both love and career, gets entangled with Kim Rak (Lee Sung Jae), a restaurant owner and landlord of the building where Pyo Na Ri lives.

The most bizarre drama I ever encountered. From the description alone you can’t possibly expect how this drama unfolds. I liked it though, despite it’s bizarreness, it portrays some problems in society that’s not being mentioned. This drama might be a way to direct some awareness into the situation. I loved all the characters, except one. I’m not a big feminist or anything, but the way Pyo Na Ri was portrayed, was really pathetic for us woman, I really didn’t enjoy that part, more likely on the verge of uncomfortable. However, I more than enjoyed the fight between the two male leads and their childish jealousy. This drama made me laugh so much I felt like I was watching a variety. All in all, a really weird, different, all-around hilarious, and thought provoking drama. 

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥(0.5) / 3.5 out of 5 hearts

Warm & Cozy Review

Title: Warm and Cozy
AKA: Jeju Island Gatsby
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: May-2015 to Jul-2015
Cast: Kang Sora, Yoo Yun Suk, Lee Sung Jae, Kim Sung Oh, Seo Yi Ahn, Jin Young, Ok Ji Young, Lee Jung Moon, Lee Han Wie

Is an enduring romance between an angry ant and a lazy grasshopper possible? Lee Jung Joo (Kang So Ra) has worked tirelessly for five years for a clothing company to try to improve her station in life. But despite all of her hard work, life keeps throwing curveballs at her and she is left with no job or boyfriend. Angry at the world, she ends up on Jeju Island to start over and rebuild her life. Baek Gun Woo (Yoo Yeon Seok), on the other hand, has always had a comfortable life. As chef restaurateur of a restaurant called Warm and Cozy, he doesn’t have to work that hard to succeed because his family has always paved the way for him to succeed. But falling in love with the scrappy Jung Joo may be the toughest challenge he has faced in his carefree life. Can the two opposites find love in the scenic island of Jeju?

Apparently, the Hong sisters wrote this drama, but as far as I know all their works are mostly enjoyable and fun, plus they are pretty well-known in South Korea. However, this drama couldn’t have been more boring. I found myself struggling to get through it. Now the story sounds simple, but with the Hong sisters I expected it to be easy, to be fun, to be effortless. Yet, it was anything but. Kang So Ra was the perfect Jung Joo, since she’s the best when it comes to naive and clumsy characters (except for Misaeng, still can’t forget her in that one). However, I didn’t enjoy Yoo Yun Suk’s acting as much as So Ra’s. He was okay but not that outstanding, and definitely lacking for a main character. The characters from Jeju did an amazing job and I enjoyed the secondary characters acting as well. It is sad for a drama if the only thing you can say was good, were the cast. I could go on and on about how dull and repetitive this drama is, but I won’t. Instead, I implore you to simply not watch it. If you like a drama with character development, where there’s something to look forward to every week, and where the leads don’t fall into a recycled formula each episode, don’t waste your time with Warm and Cozy.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥/ 2 out of 5 hearts

The King's Face Review

Title: The King’s Face
Genre: Historical, Drama, Action, Thriller, Romance
Episodes: 23
Broadcast date: 2014-Nov to 2015-Feb
Cast: Seo In Guk, Jo Yoon Hee, Lee Sung Jae, Shin Sung Rok and Kim Gyu Ri.

Face reading is an art in which by looking at a face; its form, condition, the skin, the shape and so on, it is possible to learn things like a person's characteristics, personality traits and innermost secrets, but also the possible future.
Before stepping on the throne the current King (Lee Sung Jae) was told by the royal face reader that if he ever were to become the King, Joseon would suffer and fall into despair. By luck he becomes the King, and soon after, Joseon falls into anguish with diseases killing the civilians and hunger striking the country.
Several years later, the King has four sons, all from concubines due to the Queen’s infertility. The two oldest are from the first concubine, who passed away, but the Queen took in as her own sons: Prince Imhae (Park Joo Hyung) and Prince Gwanghee (Seo In Guk). Due to his jealousy of his sons and fear that he would lose his position as the King, the King refuses to announce the Crown Prince even though the both princes expect Prince Imhae to be crowned. Though Prince Imhae is short tempered, he cares dearly for his younger brother, and protects him with all he has. Prince Gwanghee, fully devoted to brother and father, never even thought about taking the throne from any of them. But due to his complex about never getting the face of a King, the King’s jealousy strikes Prince Gwanghee the most, as he not only has every quality of a Crown Prince, but also the face of one.
When Prince Gwanghee is attacked in the royal library, he decides to seek out the culprit, and finds out that a rebel group called the ’Dedong society’ is behind it, the King sends out a royal command, having them all arrested. Little does Prince Gwanghee know that this decisive act ends him up in a struggle of political war, with not only him and the royal court, but also the future position of the King…

I was quite excited while watching this drama as I am Seo In Guk fan, but also the story is again of my favorite royal history. And they are almost completely true to the real life story, though as always a bit dramatized. I am fond of In Guk playing love stories as he is good at playing in love, but the screenwriters really made me dislike the lead couple, because of several reasons (not gonna tell them haha). I did feel they were in love, might also be the reason for my dislike, but it was really just annoying to watch. The more the writers tried to make it more tragic and more heartfelt, the more I hated the female lead (I think you understand who was tragic in the drama here). And the supposed second female lead, which by the way was one of my favorite characters in Korean period drama of all time, had so little screen time and influence in the kings eyes that she was less on screen that the royal eunuch – which by the way does not make any sense! (You’ll understand when you see the drama). On the other hand the political and war part was quite good, yet the last 2 episodes felt rushed (they are like spread in 7 years man - crazy).
The actors were good though, especially In Guk and Shin Sung Rok, though I found the female lead to be as typical as they come.
To sum up: a good drama with good content, but bad love story.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

The Suspicious Housekeeper Review

Title: The Suspicious Housekeeper

AKA: The Strange Housekeeper

Genre: Family, Mystery, Melodrama, Suspense

Episodes: 20

Broadcast period: 2013-Sep to 2013-Nov

Cast: Choi Ji Woo, Lee Sung Jae, Wang Ji Hye and Kim So Hyun.

After the sudden death of his wife Eun Sang Chul (Lee Sung Jae) decides to hire a housekeeper to do the housework while the family starts to deal with the passing away. But when the housekeeper arrives he and his four children are surprised to meet Park Bok Nyeo (Choi Ji Woo) a cold woman, who doesn’t change her facial expression, nor does she meddle in family affairs, and weirdest of all she will do anything she is ordered to - no matter what it is. The youngest Hye Gyeol is smitten by her and accepts her right away, while everyone else is suspicious. And it doesn’t help that she refuses to talk about her past or family.

Things go crazy in the house when the children find out that their father had an affair, and that the mother might have ended her life because of it…

The less you know about a drama, the more interesting it is! I honestly didn’t expect this to go this way, it ended up being pretty action packed! Or whatever you would call it. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how they managed to fool me, and I really have started to like Choi Ji Woo. And OMG, that stalker! I mean I was so crept out.. Like I get murderer, even killer, but damn he was creepy - even though he was handsome.. Besides that the fathers character was one of my favorites, he was honestly one of the best characters in this drama, some might disagree, but out of all the most humane of all and the one that showed most growth out of all. Like in 20 episodes, he grew. Which is most important, honestly. Same for the neighbor, really didn’t expect it.

That said, there are so many bad things as well. To start off it really is official, I don’t like Wang Ji Hye.. No matter if she acts like a villain, the heroine, side kick or just is there, she annoys me.. Every single time I see her I just get disappointed. So Hyuns story started well, but then she got an unnecessary love story which didn’t even get any attention, and left me just angry at the end. Now that we are on the subject of love, they should have given the main love story a bit more space.. Seriously, words are not enough.

Lol, when I started this, I sort of thought I had a lot, not as much as I though. :P

Anyways, I didn’t give many stars, but it really is a new kind of drama, much different than the usual Korean melodrama.. Occacionally too much, but surprises you often.. So I would give it a shot if I were you :) 

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out 5 hearts

Gu Family Book Review

Title: Gu Family Book
AKA: Ancient Medical Book / The Writings of Nine Houses / Book of the House of Gu / Kang Chi , the Beginning
Genre: Fantasy, human, melodrama, historical, romance
Episodes: 24
Broadcast period: 2013-Apr-08 to 2013-Jun-25
Cast: Lee Seung Ki, Bae Suzy, Lee Sung Jae, Jo Sung Ha, Yoo Yun Suk, Lee Yoo Bi, Sung Joon, Choi Jin Hyuk, Yoon Se Ah, Lee Yeon Hee . . .

In the deep forest there are some mythical devine creatures that protect and take care of nature. They have special powers such as making nature bloom, but if they are treathened they might turn into a dangerous animal, a beast. To the people these creatures are known as monsters or gumihos. This is the story of the creature Wol Ryung (Choi Jin Hyuk) who falls in love with Yoon Seo Hwa (Lee Yeon Hee & Yoon Se Ah) and decides to turn into a human, a process which takes 100 days. 20 years later, it is the story of Kang Chi (Lee Seung Gi) now half beast half human, the son of Seo Hwa and Wol Ryung. Kang Chi has been taken in by the a great nobleman and raised as human, but will soon have to face his true self, and even experience being an outcast.

What is really nice about the drama is the continues presense of Wol Ryung and Seo Hwa, otherwise it would have just been a repeat of history, quite boring. I really liked that couple and that they appeared again, and not just stayed as the couple that failed in the past. For a fantasy drama I think it did really fine. It touches the story of mystical creatures in the fores which is quite famous in asia, mainly china and korea. But it is not quite about Gumiho's which could be a bit confusing. The people in the drama call the beast a gumiho but it isn't the story of gumiho.. The actors did a great job, I did see some awkward acting from Sung Joon.. But overall it was good. In my opinion Suzy did well as well, also the character fits her good. Seungi did good althought I just couldnt see him as a 20 year old. Anyhow, nice drama, it was very alright but not the one you burn for watching. But close to it. I recommend it, a nice historical drama.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Bunji's Verdict

To start of I don’t think there is a drama like this one out there, in the positive way. But the storyline is seriously typical. You know the entire ‘monster-wanting-to-be-human-falls-in-love-with-a-human-who-loves-him-for-whatever-he-is” kind of drama. Though the beginning was fresh, even sad, and the drama continued in the same tragedy kind of feel, I was a bit annoyed by the general story of ‘history’ being repeated. Even though I can say I was excited at the ending by the thought there might be a season 2, I remembered how the first season started, and how they would just continue to repeat the story.

I love Lee Seung Gi and his characters, also the way he is portraying them, which is always a treat. Though this is my third time seeing Suzy in a different role, I can’t seem to enjoy her acting. She seriously needs a better character to portray. Generally the entire cast was good, so not much to say there.

Now, should you watch it? I think it is a good story about the Gumiho’s and a decent love story, so yeah go ahead!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Poseidon Review

Title: Poseidon
Genre: Action, drama
Episodes: 16
Broadcast period: 2011-Sep to 2011-Nov
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55
Cast: Lee Sung Jae, Choi Siwon and Lee Si Young

Lee Soo Yun (Lee Si Young ) became a coast guard officer after her father goes missing, and dreams of finding out the truth of his dissapearence. Kim Sun Woo (Siwon) is MPCO in the Korean coast guard, after being degraded from the special force unit for an incident that lead to his co-workers death. Kwon Jung Ryul  (Lee Sung Jae) is a CO also of the KCG, he lost his wife in a similar case as the one of Sun Woo where the coworker had the same tattoo mark on her chest as his wife.  That tattoo is known to be from the infamous Choi Hun Goon, the leader of the black trade almost like a ghost. Everyone getting close to him ends up being murdered or disappears.

When Jung Ryul   fails a mission by mistaking a ship for CHG’s ship, he is called up by his boss, who tells him to make a team of police officers that are going to be under the section 9; unit for  unsolved cases. But in reality it’s a section for the search of CHG. The tomboyish and rude Soo Yun, and the Casanova and pretty face Sun Woo get to work together: even though they didn’t see eye to at first, they somehow evolve as partners…

Hmm, I usually like Korean police dramas, they somehow have intrigue and character, but this was just boring. I was yawning most of the time, and even the action, the corruption and the love story didn’t get my attention as it should have. I can’t really put my finger on the reason, but somehow it just became a bad drama. The lead actress was infuriating me, like if you can’t rely on someone else don’t talk big, seriously. And somehow Siwon wasn’t able to overcome his looks, somewhere in the drama I went, oh good acting, but suddenly he would change, and I would get annoyed. As I said the love story was way too shallow, they should have just left it as friends, like it felt like a teenage push and pull game, dumb really.

On the other hand, it has funny moments, where I laughed, Siwon is hot and the story somehow gets your attention, but you’ll lose it with ease, or I did anyways. So if you want light version of the police confusion, this is your pick.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts