Review: Rich Man, Poor Woman

In a Nutshell:

A rom-com series that is poised to tackle the more important issues in the story such as the friendship between two individuals who are both inclined of the same interest in the business world. This humanistic drama will take us a ride of emotion through the good memories and bad times.

Commentaries:

The story was a pleasant surprise. It's because the title is deceiving me of what I should expect from it though it was expected from j-doramas already that they would never fail to exceed assumptions. I finished the series proudly for 3 days while I'm busy. It's a big thing for me since I've always felt productive after finishing a drama that I was curious about but never really got me interested until 3 days ago.

This drama is a heartfelt story of friendship. But if you are looking forward to the romantic side of the story, then you will not be deprived of it either. As for me, I was satisfied in both aspects.

Halftime Report: Can We Get Married?

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Synopsis:

It’s a story about a couple who’s been together for three years and now, they have thought of marriage as the next chapter of their relationship. However, there are a lot of preparations that couples have to go through which is why the title leaves you with a question mark in the end. Those hardships include the stress of introducing your family to each other in order to get used with life of being part of each other’s family. In this case, Hye Yeon and Jong Hoon is just a normal couple who went through a lot of ups and downs in their relationship that served as a test to their love. Now, since we know that we have to consider a lot of things before the day of the wedding, can we expect a happy ending for them? Most especially that in the story, their family has the key influence in their lives and most especially, in their marriage.

Reaction:

I am starting to really appreciate Cable dramas more than ever. Nope. Scratch that, ever since I saw Reply Me 1997, I thought that it was the beginning of things changing in favor of cable dramas in the context of producing and directing quality series.

Yeah, like what has been said, Cable dramas are painfully awesome that I come to a point wherein I have no interest or faith in dramas broadcasted by the three big TV stations in Korea like I used to, unless otherwise recommended by many and is approved by the general public through high ratings. But then, yes, I still have a long list of must-watch from them which I think are 3-5  years old as we speak. With regards to the current trend, cable dramas are damn amazing.

Review: A Gentleman's Dignity

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Premise: It tells the story of how the life of four men started at the age of forty through the course of friendship, romance, personal growth and career development.

Characters:

Kim Do Jin (Jang Dong Gun) - He is an architect by profession and a bachelor that has typical playboy skills due to his incessant appeal and charisma. This has changed when he met that someone who is extra special to him who could make him quit his vices with women.

Seo Yi  Soo (Kim Ha Neul) – She is high school teacher who has devoted herself to teaching her students thus, she has no time for love life. One of her leisure is to attend the baseball practices of one of her friends to assist in the pitch.

Im Tae San (Kim Soo Roo) - He is a baseball player who has sincere intention of marrying his girlfriend Hong Se Ra (Yoon Se Ah), a badminton athlete. However, her feelings are ambivalent in prioritizing between love and career.

Choi Yoon (Kim Min Jong) - He is a lawyer by profession and is a widower who tries to move on and recover from the loss of his wife. After years of grieving, his feelings were somewhat awakened by the return of Mi Ah Ri who is much younger than him.

Im Mi Ah Ri (Yoon Jin Yi) - She is the younger sister of Im Tae San and was a former student of Seo Yi Soo. She went abroad to study fashion designing but then she decided to quit her studies to come back  and meet Choi Yoon, whom she holds feelings for.

Lee Jung Rok (Lee Jong Hyuk) - He owns a coffee shop funded by his wealthy wife Park Min Sook (Kim Jung Nan), an older woman that he married for a comfortable lifestyle. However, he often commits infidelity that might cause him to lose every valuable of his including his lavish lifestyle.

Kim Dong Hyub (Kim Woo Bin) - He is a troublesome student under Seo Yi Soo's class. He shared friendship with Collin (Jong Hyun of CN Blue), a transfer student from Japan who went back to Korea to search for his father. 

Review: The King 2 Hearts

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Release Date: March 21, 2012
Genre: Romance, Dark Comedy, Action

Casts:
Lee Seung Gi - Lee Jae Ha
Ha Ji Won - Kim Hang Ah

Introduction:

One of the national issues of Korea that remains to drop headlines all over the world is about the endless word war of its divided Peninsula: the South and the North. As it has been going on for years, putting a stop over the unresolved matter between the two governments seems to be a difficult assignment for anyone whether it be an individual, an organization or even a government. Both stands on the grounds of their rights rather than to entertain the idea of sitting together for a settlement which seems to be a very complex thing to do. If they could think of its benefits which is to avoid hurting and shedding blood of the innocent citizens of both countries, they could always choose the better deal.

Synopsis:

It's clear that this series wanted both sides to come together but with a purpose of fighting a common enemy of the two who has an agenda of running his power all over the two countries. It is quite a symbolism because they gathered a cast composed of English speaking individuals that would represent other nationalities. Moreover, it wanted to go beyond the friction of the two countries as they involved other issues such as the involvement of the different nations to their dispute. Anyhow, as brave as this series can be, there are still lapses which they failed to attend to. Despite of the efforts exerted by this drama, it was clearly disturbed by too much idealism.

Review: A Werewolf Boy

Blu-Ray DVD

Taiwan Version

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Family

Release Date: October 31, 2012

Casts:

Song Joong Ki - Chul Soo

Park Bo Young - Soon Yi / Eun Joo

Synopsis:

This is a story of a werewolf that has a physical attribute that of a human being. However, his behavior is in the likeness of his identity. One day, he appeared out of nowhere at the yard of a house where Soon Yi's family are the newly transferred residents. They relocated themselves in the village far from the city as advised by the doctor of hers due to her weak lung condition. She is to stay at home where she could do self study for exam qualifications.

They reported the case of Chul Soo, the werewolf boy to the authorities. But for the mean time, while the authorities investigate and are looking for a better place for him to stay, and since the family are the first to find out about him, they had to take over the role of being his guardian. 

Review: Nice Guy

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Release Date: September 12, 2012
Genre: Melodrama, Romance
Casts:

Song Joong Ki - Kang Maru
Moon Chae Won - Seo Eun Gi
Park Shi Yeon - Han Jee Hee

Movie Review: Gwanghae (Masquerade)

First Press Limited Edition

Blu-ray First Press Edition

Release Date: September 13, 2012

Genre: Period, Political

Casts:

• Lee Byung Hun as King Gwanghae and Ha Sun - Iris
• Han Hyo Joo as the Queen - Shining Inheritance, Iljimae

Synopsis:

It tells the story of the King's doppelganger, Ha Sun who temporarily assumed the role of a King in the palace. It started when King Gwanhae felt a conspiracy building up against his throne. He suspected the perpetrators of plotting to poison him. To avoid such danger, he ordered the councilor to find someone who would look exactly like him as his replacement in the palace while he exits to avoid the danger and also, to sneak into his mistress' home during the night in his advantage. With the process of searching, they found Ha Sun, a clown who greatly resembles King Gwanghae and could even imitate the way he speaks.

Review: Reply Me 1997

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Release Date: July 24, 2012
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Youth

My August-September 2012 twitter timeline was mostly filled with rants over Reply Me 1997. At first I wasn't confident in giving it a try for two reasons. First, I wasn't familiar with the casts and second, they are rookie actors not to mention idols as considered by Kpop fans. Thus, I was hesitant in putting my time and effort on it until last February. Beforehand, I have heard good reviews about this tvN drama made mostly by TVXQ fans and even TVXQ themselves. They once shared in a radio show that they were an avid follower of each episode of the drama despite of their tight schedule. That gave me interest to the series despite of pushing it aside for other dramas which are readily available to watch. By  February this year, it was recommended to me by a friend and she's lend me a copy of it for me to watch.

Review: Wolf Children Ame and Yuki

It is an animated film with a box office hit success in Japan on 2012. It received numerous recognition from the different award winning bodies and positive reviews from critics. The movie was highly recommended by JYJ's Yoochun which he mentioned in one of his interviews  and that's how it caught my attention.