Brillliant Legacy/Shining Inheritance (찬란한 유산 / Chanranhan Yusan-2009)

Starring:
Han Hyo Joo as Go Eun Sung
Lee Seung Ki as Sun Woo Hwan
Bae Soo Bin as Park Jun Se
Moon Chae Won as Yoo Seung Mi
Extended Cast
Kim Mi Sook as Baek Sung Hee
Min Young Won as Lee Hye Ri (Eun Sung's friend)
Yun Joon Suk as Go Eun Woo
Jung Suk Won as Jin Young Suk (Hwan's friend)
Han Ye Won as Sun Woo Jung
Ban Hyo Jung as Jang Sook Ja
Yoo Ji In as Oh Young Ran (Hwan & Jung's mother)
Kim Jae Seung as Lee Hyung Jin
Son Yeo Eun as Jung In Young
Choi Jung Woo as Park Tae Soo
Lee Seung Hyung as Pyo Sung Chul
Jun In Taek as Go Pyung Joong (Eun Sung's father)
Baek Seung Hyun as Manager Lee Joon Young
Park Sang Hyun as Han Soo Jae

Go Eun Sung's life is similar to Cinderella's. After her father died, her step-mother, Baek Sung Hee, took away all of her assets and her younger brother, Eun Woo, suddenly disappears without a trace. Despite this, Eun Sung preservers and works really hard to fulfill her dreams. When the CEO of a food company, Jang Sook Ja, suffers amnesia and can't remember who she is Eun Sung takes her in. However, Eun Sung does not know that she is the grandmother of Sun Woo Hwan, the man who she switched bags with at the airport. How will their constant bickering lead them to realize that they care more about each other than they let on?

Where to start? There was good and there was bad...but not so bad. Bad, I guess, was the fact that SBS decided to string us along for another 4 episodes and make us all go bald going crazy waiting for a conclusion. The extra episodes were added when SBS realized that Lee Seung Ki is one hell of a money maker. LOL!

The good was surprising. I started watching this when it was halfway through. I think everyone was on episode 11 or 12 when I got bored one day and decided "what the hell." Don't get me wrong. Lee Seung Ki is a cutie patootie but not so much as to make me go epileptic ga-ga. Okay, I'll admit I watch 1N2D's like anyone who knows how good that variety/reality show is. *Going off topic....Mianhe* This was a long story of a girl who pretty much gets the worst kind of Cinderella treatment ever. Worst kind being that her autistic brother was tricked by the EVIL stepmother (who by-the-way was the most perfect at this role) and taken away and "lost."

Typical is most Korean dramas....bad boy treats good girl (thought to be bad girl) rotten and then realizes his mistake. Good girl falls for bad boy (who isn't really bad at all but mistaken). Yes, kissing scene included. At least there seemed to be some pucker other than sewed lips pressed together. But it wasn't the best. (The best so far is Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng in ISWAK) It was at least slightly different.

I know Han Hyo Joo is a much sought after actress but really.....she bores the heck out of me. Every romance I have seen her in has been....typically....unemotional. If you are going to hug....then squeeze. If you are going to kiss....then atleast pucker (it's not like you have to stick your tongue down the guys throat). Other than Kim Sun Ah, is it a cultural thing, that the female leads act all unemotional when it comes to love and affection on TV. In the movies, it's totally different....definitely different. That is why you never really here me talk nice about the female TV leads (exception Kim Sun Ah). I want a romance to bang a gong in my heart.

Okay, on to someone who was surprisingly realistic. YUN JOON SUK was the amazingly sweet, endearing, autistic brother. Damn, I really would have thought he was the real thing if I didn't know any better. This kid RULED! I want to see a WHOLE lot more of him. I really do.

Lee Seung Ki

I love, love, love this pic.

City Hall (시티홀 -2009)

Starring:
Cha Seung Won as Jo Gook
Kim Sun Ah as Shin Mi Rae
Yoon Chae Rin as Mi Rae (child)
Choo Sang Mi as Min Joo Hwa
Lee Hyung Chul as Lee Jung Do
Extended Cast
Cha Hwa Yun as Jo Yong Hee (Jo Gook's mother)
Yoon Se Ah as Go Go Hae
Jung Soo Young as Jung Boo Mi
Lee Joon Hyuk as Ha Soo In
Yang Jae Sung as Kang Tae Gong
Kim Gun as Yang Kye Jang
Choi Sang Hoon as So Yoo Han
Kwon Da Hyun as Sun Hwa
Kim Neul Mae as Go Yang Yi
Choi Il Hwa as BB
Shin Jung Geun as Ji Gook Jang
Park Joo Ah as Yoo Kwon Ja
Kim Jin Seong as Jo Rang
Yum Dong Hun as Go Boo Sil
Park Tae Kyung as Boo Jung Han
Im Dae Il as Director Moon
Ryu Sung Han as Director Byun
Kang Joo Hyung as Mang Hae Ra
Lee Jae Goo as Ye San
Kim Ah Rang as Ha Ni
Choi Dae Sung
Kim Dong Gyoon

City Hall is a drama that will deal with politics in a romantic comedy genre. It’s about the happenings between a young woman mayor and an elite bureaucrat. Jo Gook is an exceedingly smart government official. He passed the Higher Civil Service quickly, and basically is the perfect guy. But being a deputy mayor is not enough for him. He lives with the dream of becoming South Korea’s President. He should have easily gone straight to the top, but due to an unexpected incident, he gets dispatched as a deputy mayor for a provincial small town, Inju City, where Shin Mi Rae was working. Shin Mi Rae is a low-ranking secretary in Inju, but she works her way up in becoming the youngest City Mayor. As their paths met, they have to deal with each other’s personal and social differences. But despite their constant bickerings, would they end up in each other’s arms? -KoreanDrama

I will admit that at first, the very FIRST episode bored the living hell out of me. I had to force myself to watch it. Well worth the torment.....

OMG! This is TOP ranked. Kim Sun Ah....the QUEEN of comedy...RULES!! This show was the most amazing Korean Drama I have seen in a long, long, long time. Only 20 episodes (I wished they had added a few more), the romance between Mi Rae and Jo Gook brought friggin' tears to my eyes. I can't count how many. Oh...oh....oh...let's not forget that this drama DID NOT have the classic, horrendous, boring-as-hell kiss scenes that director's force us to watch. You know what I mean. Sealed lips that are pressed together does not a kiss make. Errrrgh. Oh no! This was some serious kissing that left you breathless. Oh God just thinking about Cha Seung Won pressing his lips to mine..............*cough, cough*...........I mean to Kim Sun Ah's was true blue. Nothing left to ones imagination. Those kisses were what it was all about. *sigh*

I'm not all about politics. So some things went over my head and under my feet, but the story itself was really, really good. You don't have to know legal mumbo jumbo to understand the story.

This was not your typical love story. No real love triangle to make you want to pull your hair out. This was some real entertainment. My God....will Korean dramas ever follow the City Hall formula? It works. It was real. And the chemistry between CSW and KSA was perfect. Move over Hyun Bin....Sam Soon has a new boyfriend and was he ever H. O. T........HOT!!

Cha Seung Won

Family's Honor ( 가문의영광 -2008-2009)

Starring:
Ha Family
Yoon Jung Hee as Ha Dan Ah
Jun No Min as Ha Soo Young
Kim Sung Min as Ha Tae Young
Shin Goo as Ha Man Gi
Park Hyun Sook as Ha Joo Jung
Suh In Suk as Ha Suk Ho
Park Joon Mok as Ha Dong Dong
Kim Young Ok as Yoon Sam Wol
Lee Soo Min as Yoon Jo Man
Lee Family
Park Shi Hoo as Lee Kang Suk
Jun Hye Jin as Lee Hye Joo
Yeon Kyu Jin as Lee Cheon Gap
Seo Kwon Soon as Choi Young Ja
Other people
Lee Hyun Jin as Jung Hyun Kyu
Shin Da Eun as Oh Jin Ah
Maya as Na Mal Soon
Nah Young Hee as Lee Young In
Shim Hyun Sup as Kim Byung Do
Lee Jong Min as Officer Lee
Kim Ye Ryung as Young Hee
Seo Yoo Jung as Kim Hyun Ok
Lee Won Jae as (Joo Jung's boss)
Jung Chan as Yoon Tae Joo (Kang Suk's friend)
Jung Wook as Kim Sun Tae

Ha Dan Ah (Yoon Jung Hee) is very dignified and beautiful yet she also had a sad life. Dan Ah was married in her 20's, but her husband died in a car accident during their honeymoon. She will be pursued by two men, a man from a rich family, Lee Kang Suk (Park Shi Hoo) and a man who is younger than her, Jung Hyun Kyu (Lee Hyun Jin). The drama chronicles how the Ha Family upholds their aristocratic reputation.

I LOVED THIS DRAMA!

This drama is a no joke, glorious look on family. What is family? Who is considered family?

Park Shi Hoo was friggin' amazing as the "devil" with a conscious. The man has an amazing funny bone. You couldn't help but laugh at his antics as the story progressed. He was so seriously mean at the beginning. I wasn't all that into the character of Dan Ah. Yoon Jung Hee is a great actress but she seemed to aloof as the love interest of Kang Suk. I felt she could have been more "loving". I don't know how to describe it. But then, PSH surpassed all things and made up for YJH's "non-involvement".

The most interesting love development was between Hyun Kyu and Hye Joo. Jun Hye Jin was sweet and endearing and really portrayed the "traumatized victim" really well. Her acting might have been better but I really think she was the perfect "other half" for Hyun Kyu. I really routed for this couple and thought that their love was sweet. It might not have been passionate like Dan Ah's and Kang Suk's but the relationship was just a perfect plus like a cherry on top of a fudge sundae.

For those of you who just hate long dramas....it was, but wasn't. Only 54 episodes compared to some that are over 100, this one set the right pace and left you wanting to see more of Dan Ah and Kang Suk's family. Ahhhh! If only there were more episodes. Park Shi Hoo, was serious and controlled in Iljimae, but in this drama.....a whole other side of him is revealed to leave you wondering if he really portrayed Iljimae's Ja Dol.

Park Shi Hoo

You can click on these pics to get a better view!!

Lee Hyun Jin