Man to Man Review

Title: Man to Man

AKA: Man X Man

Genre: Action, Thriller, Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast Period: Apr-2017 to Jun-2017

Cast: Park Hae Jin, Kim Min Jung, Park Sung Woong, Yun Jung Hoon, Chae Jung Ahn, Jung Man Shik,

A longtime celebrity Yeo Woon Gwang (Park Sung Woong) suddenly has a need for a bodyguard and hires Kim Seol Woo (Park Hae Jin), a man trained in special investigations and a mysterious man of many talents. In reality, Kim Seol Woo is a NIS black ghost agent who has his own agenda and the role of a bodyguard is only a cover to achieve his goals. The drama is about the twisty events they encounter and the budding bromance between the star and bodyguard. In addition, Kim Seol Woo gets romantically involved with Cha Do Ha (Kim Min Jung), the manager of Yeo Woon Gwang.

Yes! Park Hae Jin in a decent role that fits him so well, was so much more enjoyable than anything else in this drama. I was just really happy for him, that he got this opportunity, and I hope he will get better ones in the future. Storywise I liked, but I think it dwelled too much in the entertainment than the action and secrets society. I know that there should be two aspects to this, but personally I think they considered the one with the superstar actor and his people more than the ghost agent. And that is a little sad, since he should be the focus point. Nevertheless, I did enjoy this drama, and was looking forward to it every week. The romance part didn’t appeal to me, it felt forced somehow, maybe the focus wasn’t on the romance at all, definitely no chemistry. To sum it up, I really liked the drama and I do recommend it. You can find it on Netflix!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3 ½ out of 5 hearts

Mask Review

Title: Mask

AKA: Gamyun

Genre: Romance, Melodrama

Episode: 20

Broadcast Period: May-2015 to Jul-2015

Cast: Soo Ae, Joo Ji Hoon, Yun Jung Hoon, Yoo In Young, Hoya, Jun Gook Hwan, Park Jung Geum, Jung Dong Hwan

They say that some people has a doppelganger, and the first one who see ‘the other’ will die soon after. Byun Ji Sook (Soo Ae) has always had a hard life with her father constantly going into debt and being chased by loan sharks. She desperately wants to know what life is like if she was born into a better family and didn’t have to worry about money all the time. When a series of circumstances brings Ji Sook to Seo Eun Ha (Soo Ae), a woman from a wealthy family who strongly resembles Ji Sook, she grabs hold of the chance for a better life and assumes Eun Ha’s identity and begins to live her elite life. She meets Min Woo (Joo Ji Hoon), a chaebol heir who is mistrusting of the people around him. But when he realizes that Ji Sook is not like the other women he has met, he is drawn to her. How long can Ji Sook keep up the charade and hide her true identity?

Certainly, this has been a crazy 20 hour long yet interesting ride. First of all, the synopsis does not do any justice for the drama, but because I really didn’t want to spoil anything I kept it as minimal as possible. There is so much more going on politically, family stuff and revenge. To sum it all up, people with hidden intentions wearing a mask. After finishing it, it made me think a lot. Aren’t we all wearing a mask from time to time… Anyway hahah, I got carried away. The drama itself was really good, although it made me frustrated a lot in the beginning. The characters were so weak it made no sense, it portrayed a dark world were everything can be done with money. An over-dramatic melodrama, like serious, there were more than 5 different dramatic car chases, and two of them happened in the same episode, but I was hooked. The four main characters were all intense with a lot of hidden feelings, especially Suk Hoon/Yun Jung Hoon, he was so interesting and so despicable. One thing you can say about them all is, whether you hated them or loved them, you can’t deny what an amazing character they were. There were a lot of plot-holes for sure, but either it is strong enough to excuse them or it isn’t. In this case, it’s very close, but it was so intriguing you’ll actually be more concerned about how it would end.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Vampire Prosecutor 2 Review

Title: Vampire prosecutor 2

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Crime

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2012-Sep to 2012-Nov

Cast: Yun Jung Hoon, Lee Young Ah, Lee Won Jong, Lee Kyung Young, Kim Joo Young and Kwon Hyun Sang.

The second season continues with Prosecutor Min Tae Yeon (Yun Jung Hoon) trying to find his sister and the man that bit him 7 years ago, and the appearance of a new enemy.

Now with a new boss and new office the team is made official as “Special Case Division”, but for some reason the boss is not happy with the way the team is handling cases, especially since they tend to do things their own way instead of following the rules or asking the higher-ups. The team still continues with their cases in the way they are used to, and when they get a new member, Forensic doctor Jo Jung In (Lee Kyung Young) joins, they swiftly make him feel at home. But little does Tae Yeon know, the new member is linked to the past - the past where he was bitten by a certain vampire…

Compared to season one this one is way better. They either got a new director or they got a richer producer, because everything seems so good here. The best way to explain it is: think about the old Korean dramas where they pretend they are rich but you can seriously see that the characters have suits they have never worn on, and that they are all wearing fake Rolexes, even if you don’t know the difference. This drama seems more new, and the actors seem more into their characters. And I remember reading a comment that the main actress seems too feminine and weak in the new season, to that I say, just because you got a new haircut, did your eye brows and started wearing expensive makeup doesn’t make you weak, seriously. She is so badass even if she is ready for the catwalk! Besides her everyone else got character development, which is nice, and they storylines are more connected to the main characters than the supporting characters.

So watch it? Hmm, yeah, but you should watch the first season too, even though it isn’t that great compared to season 2.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Vampire Prosecutor Review

Title: Vampire Prosecutor

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Crime

Episodes: 12

Broadcast period: 2011-Oct to 2011-Dec

Cast: Yun Jung Hoon, Lee Young Ah, Lee Won Jong and Kim Joo Young.

While racing after the main suspect that took the lives of many people, including his sister, Min Tae Yeon (Yun Jung Hoon) is hit by a truck as well as the man he chased. Climbing out of the turned over car Tae Yeon sees how suspect is stabbed by a man in a rain coat, and soon after he is attacked by a man who bites him in the neck. Ever since that night he has been able to see things, and visualize things which he never thought was possible. But on the other hand has an urge to drink blood. As the only person Tae Yeon trusted his secret with Hwang Sun Beom (Lee Won Jong), a hardworking and ambitious detective, often asks for Tae Yeons help whenever he feels weirdly about a case.

7 years later, Tae Yeon has been assigned to a special unit called “Prosecutor-Police Joint Special Investigation Unit”, which is also known by law enforcement as “Dead End Team” meaning they are most likely to be abolished and lose their jobs. Being the Team Leader he asks for Detective Hwang to be added to the team, and is assigned two more people: the analyst-intern Choi Dong Man (Kim Joo Young) and prosecutor Yoo Jung In (Lee Young Ah).

Together this team investigates and prosecutes cases, but for Tae Yeon his interest lies in the man with the black raincoat and finding out how his sister died.

Firstly sorry about the weirdly written summary, but I think you should be able to get the main points.

When I started this I had 0 expectations, like look at the name man.. But after I saw that it was the same broadcasting station as SIT10, I had to check it out, and I liked it. Despite some of the repeats I felt it was great storyline, and the cases where good too. Though one thing I really couldn’t wrap my head around was the speed of each case. I mean I know he is a prosecutor but it just feels halfhearted having the trial in the drama as well - and pretty useless also. Another thing I liked was that he isn’t all perfect, which I sort of expected, but more of a person with a problem.

If you are worrying about another “Twilight”, don’t be. I like this more than Twilight, (and I am a Twilight fan) because they make the vampire seem like real bad guys, not just as fantasy dreamy guys or whatever.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts