Whisper Review

Title: Whisper

Genre: Legal, Chaebol, Melodrama

Episodes: 17

Broadcast period: 2017-Mar t 2017-May

Cast: Lee Bo Young, Lee Sang Yoon, Kwon Yeol, Park Se Young and Kim Kap Soo.

After covering a case with one of South Koreas biggest law firms Taebak, Detective Shin Young Joos (Lee Bo Young) father gets caught up in a murder trial. He is accused of killing one of his friends, and due to the overwhelming evidence against him, he is sure to get convicted. Refusing to believe her father could do so and confident that he is set up, Young Joo decides to investigate the case herself, and decides to meet up with the judge of the trial, as she is afraid Taebak might cover the whole thing. Lee Dong Joon (Lee Sang Yoon) is the judge on the case, and as fate has it, he is known to be honest and fair in his judging.

The two meet, and Young Joo finally sees hope, deciding to trust her most important evidence to Dong Joon. But soon enough Taebak begins to bother and threaten Dong Joon, and is unable to judge fairly. This infuriates Young Joo, and she decides to take revenge on Dong Joo and Taebak with all means possible…

So apparently this drama was hyped because of the lead couple - they acted in another drama together, and it was very popular. Considering the supposed chemistry, it wasn’t that great. As a whole the story is weak and so is the overall backdrop, even though the idea is good, but with such a weak story I wasn’t really satisfied. I think I was expecting much more than this offered, but once I got over that it was okay to watch. I still felt that those “oh yeah!” moments were either forced or just simply blown out of proportion. If you think about how ‘easy’ the last few episodes were, with the evidence piling up against the antagonist, the beginning seemed a bit dull. Luckily the chemistry was good, and it was interesting to watch, so it didn’t feel like a complete waste.

All in all an okay drama to watch, but has a bit too much seriousness for a casual watch.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Beautiful Mind Review

Title: Beautiful Mind

AKA: Dr. Frankenstein

Genre: Medical, Thriller, Romance

Episodes: 14

Broadcast period: 2016-Jun to 2016-Aug

Cast: Jang Hyuk, Park So Dam, Yoon Hyun Min, Heo Joon Ho and Park Se Young.

This drama tells about Lee Young Oh (Jang Hyuk); a genius neurosurgeon with a brain injury to his frontal lobe, making him unable to show or feel sympathy and empathy. As a very young boy his father had intensively taught him how to read facial expressions, as he was afraid his son would be labeled a psychopath due to people with the same condition being known as either sociopaths or psychopaths. This results in Young Oh being able to hide his real nature even from his girlfriend Kim Min Jae (Park Se Young) and his fellow co-workers.

Everything changes when he's one day involved in a range of deaths at the hospital, with patients dying with no reasonable cause. This leads to policewoman Gye Jin Sung (Park So Dam) suspecting Young Oh after being involved with one of the patients right before they went to surgery. Soon after everything around him starts to crumble as the people he thought he had trusted, suddenly work against him...

Okay, so I am aware this drama isn't as famous as many other Korean medical dramas, but compared to all other medical drama I have watched, this is probably one of my favorite. You might find this one to serious and quite confusing, but I enjoyed it a lot. I am not a fan of Jang Hyuk, but I really didn't mind him here. Sometimes I would think his acting was off, but it didn't bother me at all. Maybe because of the storyline or the dialogues, but it was quite good to be fair. Park So Dam I am seeing for the first time, and I loved her. I think she made me a fan. There was something tomboyish yet very feminine about her – like a young and less experienced Gong Hyo Jin. And I am a huge GHJ fan :)

Besides that, I found the pace great, like it made me tune in every single week, and I was always excited for the next episode. But on the other hand I understand why people would dislike it – as the subject is something not everyone is fond of. Also the idiot who cut this 2 episode short should die. Seriously. There was WAY too much happening in the last 2 episodes - because it was cut.

To sum up: a great drama, but not for everyone's taste.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Fashion King Movie Review

Title: Fashion King
Genre: School, Drama
Origin: South Korea
Release Date: November 6, 2014
Cast: Joo Won, Choi Sulli, Ahn Jae Hyun, Park Se Young, Kim Sung Oh, Lee Il Hwa, Han Hye Jin

Woo Ki Myung (Joo Won), a completely ordinary high school student, has a crush on Hye Jin (Park Se Young), the prettiest, most popular girl in class. So to win her heart, he decides to transform his image and become the coolest, best dressed person in the world. As his mentor Nam Jung (Kim Sung Oh) introduces him to the world of fashion, Woo Myung finds himself entering into a rivalry with Won Ho (Ahn Jae Hyun), the school's toughest fighter. Meanwhile, he doesn't notice Eun Jin (Choi Sulli), who harbors a secret crush on him.

I really liked the plot of this movie, but it didn't quite hit the right spots for me. The main reason why I watched this movie is for the casting mostly. I mean gaah Joo Won?!  As expected from Joo Won he also proves once again how good an actor he is, in a dorky and cute way this time. I'm not sure about Sulli since I haven't really seen her in much, but I thought she did OK. The universe here is fashion, school & rivalry. I must say that the combination of the three of them is rather great. I didn't laugh as much as I expected, but I felt very entertained. I definitely think this movie is worth watching, but comparatively it wasn't as great as other things I have watched.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Glorious Day Review

Title: Glorious Day
AKA: A Good Day
Genre: Family, romance, comedy, drama
Episodes: 44
Broadcast period: Apr-2014 to Oct-2014
Cast: Park Se Young, Kim Mi Sook, Hwang Woo Seul Hye, Go Woo Ri, Lee Sang Woo, Kim Hyung Kyu, Choi Bool Am, Na Moon He

Han Sung Jung (Kim Mi Sook) is a novel writer and a single mother to three daughters. Usually she is an anonym writer and writes biographies for other people, but then she releases her first novel with a publisher she has been working with for over a decade. After 2 weeks her book became a bestseller and she becomes a bestseller author for a short while.Until she realizes she has been scammed. Han Sung Jungs only wish is to  marry her girls to good and respectable men. Her oldest daughter Jeong Da Ae (Hwang Woo Seul Hye) works at a pharmacy, she introduces the man she fell in love with to her mother; a doctor, the only problem is that he is a divorcee and with a kid. Jeong Da Jeong (Park Se Yung) is the second daughter, she is a free spirited tomboyish girl, who protects her mum and sisters from any harm. Han Da In is the maknae, the father of the girls died while she was still in the womb, so she got her mums last name instead. Her dream is to be a famous photographer, but first she needs to graduate university.

I like it. I really like it. This is by now my favorite family drama of all time. Okay, not THE best, but definitely in my top 5. I liked everything about it, from the multigenerational family to the single-mother family and all the multiple encounters between them. It was a well-written drama, actually the writer is the same as the one behind Smile, You, which is also one of my favorite family drama. The same concept and some of the actors are the same too. Glorious Day was so delightful to watch, there were of course a few clichés, but a drama with that length would need a miracle to deviate it. All the characters were very well written, with each episode I was excited to see where things would go, even with the side stories. I have to highlight the best thing with this drama in my opinion; the grandparents! They were so lovable, kindhearted and loyal to each other and the family, best couple keke! If you’re looking for something extremely enjoyable to watch, but don’t trust all the family dramas out there, I can ensure you this one isn’t your average. Even if some of the storylines are cliché, there is enough cuteness to keep it interesting. The lovely, close family dynamics are a joy to watch.

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

School 2013 Review

Title: School 2013

AKA: School 5

Genre: School, Friendship

Episodes: 16+SP

Broadcast period: 2012-Dec to 2013-Jan

Cast: Daniel Choi, Jang Na Ra, Lee Jong Suk, Park Se Young, Hyo Young and Kim Woo Bin.

This drama is the fifth season of the popular “School” serial, which was the stepping stone for many famous actors and actresses.

Jung In Jae (Jang Na Ra) is literature teacher at Seungri High School, and with only 5 years of experience, she has never had a class on her own. When she is told she is to be the homeroom teacher of 2-2, she is somehow excited but also frightened. No other teacher wants the class, mainly because the class is unmotivated and rude, but also because of the infamous Oh Jung Ho (Kwak Jung Wook), a bully with no respect for anyone.

Go Nam Soon (Lee Jong Suk) is a student in that very class tries to stay out of everything from studying to other class related stuff. He is not interested in studying or getting involved with other classmates, and he usually sleeps in class.  One day, doing his part time job as a delivery boy, Nam Soon delivers to a lesson school  (sort of like a cram school, but paid by the students’ parents), he encounters Kang Se Chan (Choi Daniel) a cocky but famous lecturer, and also his fellow classmate Song Ha Kyung (Park Se Young) dressed in a different school uniform. On his way out, he is stopped by Ha Kyung wanting to pay him to keep his mouth shut - so that her cram mates won’t know - but Nam Soon has no interests.

The next day a classmate gets bullied by Jung Ho, and Nam Soon stops him by throwing a book at him. Nam Soon, who is usually targeted by Jung Ho, gets nominated as class president, and ends up being chosen which results in him getting involved in his classmate’s problems, with or without his consent.

At the same time Kang Se Chan gets enrolled in Seungri High School, as a literature teacher. And due to his famous reputation, parents want Se Chan instead of In Jae as homeroom teacher for 2-2. Se Chan’s teaching ways are different than In Jae, mainly because he is focusing on grades and tells students to leave the classroom if they don’t want to go to college, whereas In Jae just wants the students in class. This results in Nam Soon and Se Chan having a feud.

The two teachers end up both being homeroom teachers for 2-2, and Nam Soon starts to get used to school life, until one day a familiar face from his past, Park Heung Soo (Kim Woo Bin) joins the class. The class fears him, and the ‘top’ Jung Ho, tries to overpower him, but not with much success. For some reason Heung Soo resents Nam Soon to the core, and tries nothing to hide it - and Nam Soon for some reason would do anything to obey him…

Most defiantly my favorite drama of the year, or half year (2012-2013?!). I have to say my review/summary does not in any way make the drama justice - so bad. Like this drama made me do a varity of sounds from happy, to sad, to sobbing, to laughing and most yelling out loud. I mean, it’s been a while where I didn’t just focus on the heaviness of the love stories, like or the family problems, I could seriously sit back and enjoy the drama completely. Every single moment and also, for the first time in maybe ever, I found that 16 episodes was just rude. I mean, I wanted more, waaaaaay more, and I really wasn’t satisfied with the ending. Okay, good ending, but I didn’t want it to end! I loved all characters, some I wanted to punch, but still good acted. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 stars is mainly because the drama should have been at least 2 episodes longer, I really didn’t feel it as finished and maybe just a little love story, nothing hardcore, but just a tiny bit more. But the drama is worth 5 stars, and really recommendable. Kim Woo Bin and Lee Jong Suk make a great performance, and so do the rest also - for newbie actors they are amazing.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars (5 stars actually!)

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
This drama really has all a high school drama needs. It has the good bad boys, the cool bad boys, the uncool bad boys, the bad boy followers, the best friends, the making up, the bromance, a tiny bit of romance which is perfectly fine in my opinion, and it has the korean crazy we-have-to-study-all-the-time, the crazy study-system, the crazy parents, the dedicated teachers, the "scary" teachers/ the tough punishing teachers, ect ect ect.. wait why did I mention all that? Anyway, just the bromance and friendship story is enough for you to watch this drama. It is one of my favorite things (kekekeke) and the actors WOW! did an amazing job playing their roles. It did remind a bit of the japanese high school dramas because we saw a lot from the teachers and they would "preach" to the students but it wasn't that much again. Though we did see alot from the teachers, and their personal lives. Or at least the struggles the teachers have to go through, that is if they are dedicated to their job. I definitely agree with Bunji that the ending could have been better, or they could have added more since it ended a bit too loose, or the story was a bit too thin. But then again it was decent. I recommend this drama to anyone who likes, well all the things I mentionen in the beginning. Especially bromance... hah!

 ☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars 

♥♥♥♥½ / 5 out of 5 hearts