Mada Mada Dane!

New Blog-Come Visit Me!

2010-12-14T03:36:00.000-06:00

I still watch dramas. I still love Kpop. I'm an addict to all things Asian. I'm now an American living in Korea for the next 2 years. Come visit my new blog about my experiences in Korea.

The Land of the Morning Calm

Jae! For you......

2009-09-08T16:22:00.001-05:00

Oh, Jae *sigh*

My eyes are hazy, cloudy, and dark.

A storm came.

The tears they fall like rain.

Will my eyes ever be clear again?

Just once, I’d like to walk with you.

Until that day comes,

The sun will never be as bright.

Saranghae<3

To Park Jaebeom......

2009-09-08T08:12:00.004-05:00

Let me start out by writing this. I'm a 38 year old woman. I'm married with 3 kids (2 boys, ages 14 and 12) and one little girl that will be 4. I've been married for 16 years. I've been around for a long time. Even though, I would be considered an "ahjumma" by some, this "ahjumma" has the heart and spirit of any 18-20 year old. Just call me "Noona" or "Unni," please.

In the past 6 months, I have come to love a boygroup called 2PM. I'll admit to thinking of myself as a member of HOTTEST (the fans of 2PM). Don't get me wrong, I still love my SuJu, too.

This past week has been a freakin' unrealistic nightmare for Jaebeom, leader of the boyband 2PM. As most of you know, Anti-netizens invaded Jae's personal life and found OLD responses to a friend's myspace account. I won't lie. The words were harsh, cruel, and maybe unjust. Koreans are "gay". Korea is "whack". And some other not-so-nice words, that at this moment, I can't remember because my mind is filled with sadness.

Last night, before going to bed, someone posted that Jae had quit the band. In the back of my mind, I wondered, but just let it go thinking it was just a joke. To my surprise, this morning, I find that that post was indeed true. And to my amazement, tears rolled down my face, my chest got tight, and the next thing I knew I was sobbing. And right now, the tears are still etching lines down my face........

I haven't felt this pain since the day, when I was a teenager, I found out that Duran Duran was splitting up. That was more than 20 years ago.

So how do I go about my day? I'm afraid to listen to my iPod and having to hear Jaebeom's voice rapping to Again & Again or 10 out of 10. I can't watch the videos. I'm sick. My heart is broken to pieces.

Now, here are my personal views on the situation.............

This has been said time and time and time again. He was a teenager when he expressed his views at that time. He was alone (no family, no friends, no culture, no language). He was training hours upon hours each day, exhausted day by day. To be placed in a foreign country, with no understanding, and hormones that were raging, what did anyone expect to come out of a frustrated kid's mouth?

So, there are these Anti-netizens who are fully against 2PM, find these hateful words and spread the "gospel" of hatred and bigotry throughout Korea, Asia, and everywhere anyone has a computer can read them. The "gospel" then comes around to the Korean media and a backlash of the greatest kind comes around and whips Jaebeom and 2PM in the butt. Jae apologizes to the fullest extent. And I truly believe he was sorry to the infinity power. You can see through old show and the most recent ones how his personality had changed over the years. Even the members of the group mentioned how Jae was very closed off at the beginning but as time went, he became more open and outgoing. You know the saying..."Time heals all wounds". I really believe that happened to Jae. But now, why won't the Anti-netizens let up, and let "time heal their wounds?"

Jae quit, in MY opinion, not for the sake of the Antis, but the sake of the members of 2PM. I truly think he believes that cutting himself off will heal the groups troubles. But instead, I think this is worse. Instead of cutting out the disease, find a cure first. If all else fails, then decide to have "surgery" to remove yourself.

These Antis have truly, wholeheartedly made every word that Jae said over 4 years ago....TRUE. The worst part out of the whole scenario....to make a petition to have him commit suicide. That is absurd. Making themselves into a god, and forcing Jae to decide his fate.

I truly hope that since Jae is coming HOME, that he can rest, cry, hold his family....and revive himself and that one day he will come back to 2PM. That once this whole fiasco is done and buried, he can regain what he once lost.

To Jae,

As a mom, a fan, and an "ahjumma", please have hope and live. You are surrounded by fans who love and support you.

As a mother of 2 boys, I feel strongly to just give you a great big hug. I can understand the worries your family, and especially your mom, are feeling right now.

I just hope that this is a mini-vacation for you. Rest, yes rest and ease you heart and mind. Pray to our God to ease your heavy burden. Right now, I'm sure his "phone" lines are being slammed by HOTTESTS around the world over.

I truly like you as a person. You stood up well. You admitted your faults and apologized. To me, that makes you a worthy man. You are truly honorable so please stand proud and hold your head up high. There is no shame for being human.

To the members of 2PM,

You all are bunch of wonderful guys, loved the world over. Don't lose hope. We stand behind you.

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

2009-08-06T13:50:00.005-05:00

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)

2009-08-06T13:17:00.007-05:00

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)

2009-08-06T12:37:00.004-05:00

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

Romance Zero (하자 전담반 제로 -2009)

2009-07-04T10:32:00.004-05:00

Starring:
Lee Tae-sung as Kim Woo Jin
Kang-in as Na Ho Tae
Lee Da-in as Jo Mi Na
Kim Hee-won as Jang Yeo Sa
Jay Kim as Kim Doo Hyun
Lee Kyung-eun as Oh Soo Jung
Yang Bae-chu as Jung Do Ryung

Kim Woo Jin (Lee Tae Sung) is a manager in charge of a group working at a matchmaking company, all of whom have failed individually to matchmake a couple. While they help others find romance as a team, they themselves have a hard time finding one true love. Each episode carries a different love story involving their customers.

Okay, I wasn't expecting an A+ drama of any kind, but I was pleasantly surprised. Still not an A+ drama but it was well worth your time. It was sweet and romantic and had some unimaginable situations that you would roll your eyes to but in the end would instead be wiping your eyes.

I really wish they had extended this out more episodes and had worked on the casts own personal love situations. I think they held off too much on the love quadrangle with Woo Jin, Ho Tae, Mi Na, and Soo Jung. The ending was rushed but at least it was respectable and happy. I guess enough to leave everything to my imagination, I guess. *I really wanted to see more of Mi Na and Woo Jin's blossoming romance.....ughhhh.*

A feasible, impressive time waster. Jay Kim was wonderful as the devilish Doo Hyun. Actually he was perfect. Maybe it was his eyebrows but he had that naughty look about him that left you knowing he was up to no good. LOL! *I miss the TRAX....need more!!*

Lee Tae Seong

Jay Kim

Kang In

Black & White (痞子英雄 / Pi Zi Ying Xiong -2009)

2009-06-23T11:59:00.005-05:00

Starring:
The Law
Vic Zhou as Chen Zai Tian 陳在天 / Pi Zi 痞子
Mark Chao as Wu Ying Xiong 吳英雄
Janine Chang as Lan Xi Ying 藍西英
Zhao Shu Hai as South District Director 南區分局長
Tang Zhi Wei as Chen Jun Lin 陳俊麟
Qian De Men as Li Jian Guo / Lao Li 李建國 / 老李
Hong Chen Ying (洪晨穎) as Ai Lu / Xiao Lu 艾綠 / 小綠
Hank Wu (吳仲強) as Hao Ke 浩克
Chen You Fang as Ling Wen Qi 凌文琦
Jin Zhi Jie (金士傑) as Shi Yong Guang 石永光
Zhang Fu Jian as Fan Tian Cheng 范天誠
Sonia Sui as Lei Mu Sha 雷慕莎
Tao Chuan Zheng (陶傳正) as Defense secretary
Gao Ying Xuan (高英軒) as Senator's assistant
Huang Jian Wei as Wu Yang 吳洋
Fan Guang Yao (樊光耀) as Sergeant Huang
Zhou Kai Wen (周凱文) as Detective
Zhang Han (張翰) as Detective
Lin Jia You (林家佑) as Detective
Che Guan Cheng (車冠成) as Detective
Huang Lu Wen (黃綠文) as Forensic Specialist
Lai Zhen Ze (賴震澤) as Forensic Specialist
Lin Yi Qian (林伊蒨) as Police
Tang Qin (唐秦) as Police
Qiu Rong Sheng (丘瑢升) as Lieutenant
Xu Bo Qiang (許柏強) as Uniformed police
Lin Ju Xian (林均憲) as Uniformed police

Black and White Correlation Chart
SanLianHui
Ivy Chen as Chen Lin 陳琳
Paul Chun as Lao Tou 老頭
Na Wei Xun as Du Wen Yan 杜文雁
Tang Guo Zhong (唐國忠) as Che Jin 車進

Others in SanLianHui
Zhou Xiao An (周孝安) as A Tang 阿唐
Kageyama Yukihiko (蔭山征彥) as A De 阿得
Zhang Chao Min (張朝閔) as An Zai 安仔
Liu Kai Rong (劉開容) as An's brother
Bu Xue Liang as Logistics manager
Wu Xiang Zhen(吳翔震)
Huang Ding Jun (黃鼎鈞)
Cheng Bo Ren(陳柏仁)
Wu ming Lun (吳明倫)
Ansel
Shao Fu (少甫)
Zheng Wen Hong (鄭文宏)
Zou Zhong Xian (鄒仲賢)
Liu Yi Ru (劉翼儒)
Li Wei De (李威得)

Other Lawless
Kingone Wang as Gao Yi 高義
Xu Ai Xin as Cheng Yuan 程願
Jason Zou as Cheng Nuo 程諾
Huang Tai An as Hacker

Sarkozy
Jimmy Hung (洪天祥) as BOSS
Igor as CJ
Huang Wen Xuan as P
Benji as G
Eric as F
Yang Xiu Wen (楊琇雯) as K
Leandro as L
Ou Si Ka (奧斯卡) as O
Bobby as N
A Liang as M

The Civilians
Xiu Jie Kai as Ma Xiao Ming / Huang Shi Kai 馬小明 / 黃世楷
Yu Hong Yuan (喻虹淵) as He Xiao Mei 何小玫
Patina Lin as Ling Ke Le 凌可樂
Lu Yi Jing (陸奕靜) as An's mother
Zhao Zi Qiang (趙自強) as Attorney Hong
Bao Zheng Fang (鮑正芳) as Ying Xiong's mother
Renzo Liu as Jian Da De 簡大德
Xiao Call (小Call) as Tian Mi Mi 田蜜蜜
Li Lu (李律)
Luo Mei Ling (羅美玲)ring:

Pi Zi and Ying Xiong are two cops who are as different as day and night. One does nothing except for drinking coffee and living a luxurious lifestyle while waiting for information from dubious sources to crack his cases. Another believes law and justice are the pillars of society and is constantly on the street catching criminals… a little overzealously for his superior’s liking. When a case brought these two top crime solvers together, sparks flied and a little light peeked into this dark city where the nation's President is on friendly terms with the local triad and twins kill people while drinking milkshake.

Okay, everyone listen up. First this drama is still airing. Rumor has it that the ending will be open because the director has decided to make the ending into a blockbuster movie.

Having said that.

OMG! (I WILL BE WRITING IN CAPS FROM NOW ON BECAUSE I CAN'T SAY THIS LOUD ENOUGH)

THIS IS THE BEST DAMN DRAMA EVER!!!!!!

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? AN OPEN ENDING? A MOVIE? THAT MEANS THAT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TO SUFFER IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD WILL HAVE TO WAIT TWICE AS LONG BECAUSE OF PRODUCTION, RELEASE, DVD, AND THEN SUBBING. I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!

I'M TELLING THOSE OF YOU NOW WHO HAVE NO FAITH IN TAIWAN DRAMAS.....THIS IS THE ONE. HELL, EVEN IF IT WASN'T TAIWANESE. THIS ONE OUTRANKS ALL OF THE ASIAN COUNTRIES DRAMAS BY 10 TO THE 10TH POWER!

I REMEMBER BEING BORED AND CAME UPON THIS ONE. THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A DECENT TIME WASTER. FROM THAT MOMENT ON, MY SUNDAYS AREN'T SUNDAYS WITHOUT THIS SHOW. NEXT WEEK, IS THE LAST TWO EPISODES UNTIL THE MOVIE. AND FROM THIS SUNDAY ON, MY LIFE WILL HAVE NO MEANING.

THIS IS A COP DRAMA WITH A BIT OF COMEDY AND ROMANCE. BUT THE SHOW RELIES ON THE THRILL RIDE AND MYSTERY THAT THE MOST MAGNIFICENT WRITERS CAME UP WITH.

I'VE LOVED VIC ZHOU FROM THE TIME I SAW HIM IN MARS. THIS MAN HAS MADE IT WITH THIS DRAMA. AT THE START, HE IS MORE COMIC RELIEF BUT AS WE LEARN ABOUT HIS CHARACTER WE FEEL HIS PAIN AND SUFFER WITH HIM.

MARK CHAO IS A NEWCOMER. HIS NAME...."HERO". HE IS THE GOOD COP WHO RELIES ON JUSTICE AND BELIEVES THE GOOD WILL PREVAIL. HE IS THE PROTAGONIST TO VIC ZHOU'S ANTAGONIST.

THEY ARE A PERFECT PAIR. THEY ARE BLACK AND WHITE.

I CAN'T TELL YOU THE ENDING. WELL, BECAUSE THE ENDING HASN'T CAME. I COULDN'T WAIT TO TELL ALL OF YOU TO WATCH THIS DRAMA. WATCH IT AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT LIKE I DID.

I'd better find things to do now because of this coming Sunday and after ward, I will be in severe Black and White withdrawal. *sigh*

And so y'alls know.....Mark Chao/Zhao is really, really, really new. So photos are rare at the moment. So in other words......I can't find good ones. So watch the damn drama! Get your fill of 20 high packed episodes fueled on octane on crack.

That Fool (그바보 -2009)

2009-06-23T11:28:00.004-05:00

Starring:
Hwang Jung Min as Goo Dong Baek
Kim Ah Joong as Han Ji Soo
Joo Sang Wook as Kim Kang Mo (Ji Soo's secret love)
Extended Cast
Lee Chung Ah as Goo Min Ji (Dong Baek's younger sister)
Lee Soo Young as Jo Seung Eun (Min Ji's best friend)
Baek Sung Hyun as Han Sang Chul (Ji Soo's younger brother)
Jun Mi Sun as Cha Yun Kyung (Ji Soo's manager)
Kim Kwang Gyu as Team Manager Go
Yun Mi Joo as Park Kyung Ae
Yoon Joo Sang as Director Yoon
Hong Ji Young as Jo Myung Jin (Kyung Ae's co-worker)
Moon Jae Won (문재원) as Yoon Seop (Dong Baek's junior, post office employee)
Kang Hee Soo (강희수) as Tae Won (Dong Baek's junior, post office employee)
Jung Dong Hwan as Kim Jung Wook (Kang Mo's father)
Ryu Tae Ho (류태호) as Assistant Kim (Kim Jung Wook's secretary)
Lee Hae Young (이해영) as Reporter Baek
Jo Sang Gun (조상건) as President Choi (Kang Mo's father-in-law)
Park Ha Sun as Choi Soo Yeon

Goo Dong Baek is an honest and good-hearted postman. One day he encounters with Han Ji Soo, a top celebrity. However, an ordinary man gets no chance to show his feeling to this top actress who everyone loves. Six months period of time with her elapses like a midsummer night's dream. But he cannot just end up his love like a “dream”. Shouting out love! His love has just begun. --KBS World

Another drama that started off so well......then sort of fell apart.....but then really made no sense.....then the end (to me) was anticlimactic.

Really, the only reason I watched this show was the comedy/acting of Ji Soo's brother Sang Chul. OMG! First of all, he is terribly FINE! But his teamwork with Dong Baek was hilarious. Those two really worked well together through out the show. And the infatuation that Dong Baek's sister had for Sang Chul (well, I knew how she felt) was too cute. I was actually routing for those two even though in Korean culture in-laws are forbidden.

I read so many reviews for the downfall of Kang Mo (the boyfriend who made Ji Soo's life hell). Actually, I sort of felt sorry for him. I mean I really believed he loved Ji Soo but the manipulation from his father made his life a living hell. Yeah, he's a grown man and could have ignored or rebelled against his father but that is so easy to say. Anyway, his relationship with Ji Soo was terminated even though he desperately held on as long as he could. Sang Chul was no help and well, Dong Baek finally grew balls and made Kang Mo miserable as well. *sigh*

This was a great time waster but I probably won't watch it again. It was alright but really could have been written better or added just more depth or fire to the story. Seemed a bit dull with the exception of Sang Chul. *dreaming*

Baek Sung Hyun
Ya know what really sucks? I'm old enough to be his mother. *Ugh!* I graduated high school the year he was born. Life is REALLY not fair.

A Man's Story (남자이야기 / Namja-I-Yaki -2009)

2009-06-23T10:38:00.007-05:00

AKA: The Slingshot

Starring:
Park Yong Ha as Kim Shin
Park Si Yeon as Seo Kyung Ah
Kim Kang Woo as Chae Do Woo
Han Yeo Woon as Chae Eun Soo
Lee Philip as Do Jae Myung
Park Ki Woong as Ahn Kyung Tae
Lee Moon Shik as Park Moon Ho
Extended Cast
Jang Se Jin as Beom Hwan
Kim Hyung Bum as Joong Ho
Baek Jae Jin as Yong Shik
Jun Jae Hyung as Jae Seop
Jang Hang Sun as President Chae
Kim Roe Ha as Director Oh
Park Sun Woo as Danny
Lee Seung Bok (이승복) as Lee Dae Pyo
Heo Wook (허욱) as Kei
Han Song Yi (한송이) as Yeon Hee
Kim Mi Kyung as Detective Kim
Choi Ji Na as Madame Jang
Lee Byung Joon as Do Man Hee (Do Jae Myung's father)
Bang Eun Hee as Myung Sun
Ahn Nae Sang as Kim Wook
Jun Sung Hwan as Mayor
Lee Tae Im

Kim Shin is a man who once had it all. A scam, engineered by Chae Do Woo (the head of a big conglemerate), ruined his family and his father's company went bankrupt because of him. He wants revenge against those who made his life a living hell. Seo Kyung Ah is his girlfriend who works diligently in order to help him repay his debts. Shin along with the help of some people that he's met approaches Chae Do Woo's sister, Eun Soo, in order to start his revenge.

Okay, okay. I started off really, really, truly falling in love with this show. Hello? Park Yong Ha, Park Ki Woong, and Lee Phillip. Total eye candy.....especially Lee Phillip. *swooning*

This show mainly relied on the story of one guys revenge. There was a love story involved but it wasn't worth my time and money. Really wanted Kim Shin to get back together with Kyung Ah but the writers decided to make her into a total ditz. Evidently she was brain smart but stupid smart as well. She knew her husband was the man who killed her exboyfriend's brother and that he was a psychopath but stayed with him. Why? I couldn't figure that out. Eun Soo was supposed to be the new love interest for Kim Shin but she was too "weak". Kim Shin is such a strong character and hers was too juvenile for him. She was a nice character and really thought it would have been sweet to hook her up with Kyung Tae. But like I said, this show relied heavily on revenge. From episode 1 to 16, this show rocked. Then all of a sudden.....the show fell apart instantly. The story lost momentum and started making not a lick of sense. I was so distraught at the end. No love story, no revenge, no nothing. Even Lee Phillip's good looks couldn't keep this story glued together. I'm telling ya.....this could have been one hell of a good show. It was "there". The story was "there". What in the hell happened to make a good show go bad?

Waste of time? Not a yes but a HELL YES!

Park Yong Ha

Lee Philip

This man makes my panties wet! He's too pretty to be human!

Missing in action..............

2009-06-23T10:21:00.003-05:00

......well, not really. LOL! I've decided to post current, on-going, or recent programs, dramas, and/or movies. I not only blog about dramas, I read others as well. Why review dramas and movies that have been reviewed a thousand times....especially those that were made before 2007? I will blog about programs that are obsolete and that I have seen or luckily found. It's time consuming to write about things or interests that have been reviewed to the ground. Yes, I have my personal views on some dramas that might be of interest to someone else....but sometimes they are identical to others also. So..................

........anyway. What I'm watching and planning on reviewing:

City Hall~so far.....insanely hysterical and romantic
Romance Zero~sweet
Black and White~is still ongoing but will review it after this post. Why? You'll find out.
That Fool~started off good..........
Ghost Friends~another sweet Japanese drama
Tokyo Ghost Trip~eye candy galore
Prince of Tennis~so far, so good
Shining Inheritance~it's good but I think they have added toooooo many episodes, should only be an 18 or 20 episode drama....not 26.
Sons of Sol Pharmacy House~love this family drama so far.
Atashinchi no Danshi~didn't think I'd like it, but it's great

These are the only ones I could think off the top of my head.....so I might have forgotten a few. I watch soooooooo many a day that I do get befuzzled........sometimes.

Hand Phone (핸드폰-2009)

2009-05-27T14:08:00.005-05:00

Starring:
Tae-woong Eom -Seung-min Oh
Yong-woo Park -Lee-gyu Jung
Additional Cast Members:
Sol-Mi Park - Jeong-yeon Kim (Seung-min's wife)
Bo-yeon Hwang - Dae-jin Kim (Seung-min's assistant)
Se-na Lee - Jin-a Yun (actress - Seung-min's client)
Kil-soo Park - Choi (loan shark)
Ku-taek Kim - Choi's bodyguard
Nam-gil Kim - Yun-ho Jang (model- blackmails Seung-min)
Yu-seok Kim - Jun-su Han (attorney)
Jin-mo Ju - Captain Kim
Seo Woo - Lee-gyu's sister
Jong-seok Kim - Wedding toastmaster
Ku-ra Kim - Radio DJ (interviews Jin-a)
Bae-su Jeon - Sound enginer @ Radio Station
Man-dae Bong - movie director
Ju-bong Choi - man who lost dog in the store

Talent manager Seung-min sees YOON Jin-ah, a rising actress, as his one last hope to turn his life around. Just as Jin-ah is on the path to stardom, he receives a threat from her former lover and gets her sex clip on his phone. Seung-min tracks down the culprit and retrieves the tape but ends up losing his phone. He realizes there is one last evidence of the sex tape on his phone and anxiously looks for it. Lee-gyu, who found Seung-min's phone, calls Seung-min's wife and asks her to come pick it up. On the night the phone was suppose to be returned, Lee-gyu doesn't show up. Now Lee-gyu is the one holding the leverage. Seung-min tries to do everything possible to get back his phone but Lee-gyu's demands are escalating to the point of no return.

Oh let me count the way of how freakin' awesome this movie was. I will tell you that I had this downloaded for months....sitting quietly on my hard drive....waiting for me to watch. One afternoon, I was bored. No drama updates to be had. Fail safe....the downloaded movies out the wazooie on my ever trusty laptop.

I double click Hand Phone and what I watched was totally amazing.

I will tell you that I was really hesitant with this movie. I only downloaded it because it had Uhm Tae Woong in it. That was it. This movie was over powering. It was non-stop. No time to breathe. I was on the edge of my seat the whole damn 2 hours.

Just like my previous post about Keitai Sousakan 7, we are totally deluded into believing that our cellphones are our life and we can't live without them. *Okay, okay.....I admit my beloved Pantech sits lovingly by my side....shhhhh!*

Just one cellphone wrought havoc to this one man's life. OMG! At first it was kind of funny but as the movie got momentum....what was funny was really quite scary. This one phone changed the lives of many people and became a hell on earth. As time has gone on, our cellphones have progressed from just being phones but cameras, video recorders, mp3 players, voice recorders, maps, computers, typewriters, and memos. Think about it for one second. With all this information that can be established into one phone, what was once safe can be your life taken in a split second.

This is about that one person who saved information into his phone.....and what became a private affair became one person's twisted fate. But not just himself but of the lives of people around him who had to suffer along with the insane escapade of cat and mouse.

All I can say is.......watch this freakin' Grade A movie. You won't be disappointed one iota.

Keitai Sousakan 7 ( ケータイ捜査官７-2008)

2009-05-27T13:30:00.005-05:00

Starring:
Kubota Masataka
Ito Yuko
Tsuda Kanji
Okamoto Natsuki
Matsuda Satoshi
Mitsuya Yoko
Watanabe Noriko
Taguchi Hiromasa
Katsuno Hiroshi
Igarashi Reiko (五十嵐令子)
Katsuno Yosuke (勝野洋輔)
Mickey Curtis (ミッキー・カーチス)
Nagasawa Nao (長澤奈央)

Masaka Kubota plays high-school student Keita, who leads a secret life as a "network investigator" for a secret organization. In the introductory episode, Keita has moved to a new school in Tokyo but doesn't like it. His best friend from his previous school comes to Tokyo and they run away together. Passing through a construction site the pair are attacked by a robot, but are then saved by a man named Takimoto and his strange sidekick — a cell phone with arms and legs.
Notes
"Ketai Sosakan 7" is overseen by film director Takashi Miike.

I'm a freak when it comes to Japanese hi-tech dramas. I was a little let down in the first episode. I don't know why. I thought this show would be soooooooooooo stupid. A cellphone buddy? What-ev-ah.

Okay, I busted through it. Again, after watching it, the Japanese have set the standard on morals and family values. Who would have thought that THIS show would pull that off? The last few episodes...well, yeah, makes you think about robotics and man.

I won't lie. The story lost momentum in the middle. Some of the episodes weren't really necessary or just plain stupid. But once they got back to the storyline and really rallied the value of humanity and friendship, it was bliss.

Again, I won't lie....there just wasn't enough Matsuda Satoshi. The man is a freakin' hottie! Watch Vampire Host. Holy Enchilada!!! Every episode just about wet my panties. LOL! Anyway....where was I? Oh yeah. LOL! I thought he was going to be a main character but was more or less, here and there. His stories were about lost. Only a hand full of him in the episodes and there are 46 of them. Errrrgh!

In all, this drama was a great boredom buster. Very thought provoking but yet again it's not like we haven't seen movies and dramas that depict the inevitability of human nature verse robots. Need I say more. We can't live without our handy cellphone but then aren't we just a tad bit too dependant on anything that requires to live at the push of a button.......

Masatak Kubota

Matsuda Satoshi

My Life's Golden Age (내 인생의 황금기 -2008)

2009-05-27T12:35:00.005-05:00

AKA:The Prime Of My Life / The Golden Period of My Life / Golden Years of My Life / All About My Family

Starring:
Moon So Ri as Lee Hwang
Lee So Yeon as Lee Geom
Jin Yi Han as Lee Ki
Shin Sung Rok as Go Kyung Woo
Lee Jong Won as Yoo Tae Il
Extended Cast
Jang Yong as Lee Man Se
Kim Hye Ok as Bok Mi Ja
Park Geun Hyung as Lee Man Ae
Moon Hee Kyung as Lee Man Sook
Park Jung Soo as Kim Hee Kyung
Kim Ji Young as Grandmother
Lee Joon Ha as Yoo Hyo Eun
Ha Joo Hee as Jung Yoon
Lee Jung Gil as Grandfather
Go Na Eun as Jin Soo Kyung
Lee Tae Im as Yoo Tae Young
Im Chae Moo as Yoo In Sik (Tae Il's father)
Lee Tae Gon as Dong Han
Yang Hee Kyung as Yoo Kyung Ja (Kyung Woo's mother)
Lee Yeon Doo

19 years ago, two previously divorced people got married and raised their children together. But the three children grew up to adopt different lifestyles and values from their parents. Hwang’s divorce sets off a series of unfortunate events that take her family on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs... This TV series is about the relationships between parents and children, and brothers and sisters. It touches upon subjects such as romance, marriage, divorce, unemployment, illnesses, dreams, disappointment, hope, courage and so on. The story follows the tumultuous events surrounding one family as the deal with the tribulations of life.

Out of the three main stories, I only liked one. So this 56 episode drama went pretty quick. Why? Because I fast forwarded through the stories that really pissed me off or bored the hell out of me and just watched the story unfold for Lee Geum and Go Kyung Woo. I only watched this because I love Shin Seong Rok. He's tall, handsome, and in real life a sweet, shy guy. (If you watched We Got Married, you know what I mean.)

I'm a big fan of the love/hate relationship. LOL! Go Kyung Woo is a PD (production director) who is filming a documentary on a pole jumper when Lee Geum, who is a coach for a girl's track team, accidently gets into the way of filming. One thing leads to another, destiny.....probably, they end up in a contract marriage and things go awry. As they date, he realizes she isn't out for his money, and she realizes he isn't a stuck up pig.

The other stories, well......were okay but they just seemed to get in the way. LOL! Geum's evil stepsister is married and has an affair, gets caught, gets divorced, gets pregnant, etc.., etc.., etc. She learns from her mistakes. Geum's brother is an intern but wants to be a musical actor. He quits medical school which pisses off his parents. He falls in love with his sister-in-law, stuff happens, etc..., etc..., etc...

This was a typical Korean drama in every sense of a Korean drama. LOL! But I really liked it. There wasn't an over the top love triangle (well, the story I liked the most didn't). Yeah, there was a medical illness involved, thankfully it was a happy ending. All's well and end's well.

Shin Seong Rok

Super Junior OFFICIALLY releases "IT'S YOU!"

2009-05-12T17:27:00.002-05:00

Like I can't already get "Sorry, Sorry" out of my head....now this song! Aggghhh! It's not like that is a bad thing. LOL!

This song, to me, has more of a grown up feel. I would think it's about time since the oldest, by the Korean year, is 27!! It's time for the girly, girly "bubblegum" pop to go! The diversity this year has been incredible and I'm so happy that I'm now able to watch them grow into adult musicians. Plus, it doesn't make me feel so guilty being a "nuna" by a decade! LOL!

.......is it me but doesn't it sound like their saying "quote, unquote" when they say "neorago".

EUNHYUK) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
EUNHYUK) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Nan neoppoonirago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)

EUNHYUK) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
EUNHYUK) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Nan neoppoonirago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)

D♥NGHAE) Dareun saram piryo eobseo naneun geunyang neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
D♥NGHAE) Dashi hanbeon mooreo bwado naneun geunyang neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
KYU♥HYUN) Imi neoneun dareun saranghaeggejjiman (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
KYU♥HYUN) Nohchil sooga eobseo dashi dorikil soo eobseo Oh~ (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
YESUNG) Nae noonbichi ddeugeoweodeon soongane (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
YESUNG) Gaseum gipeun moseul bakdeon soongane (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
LEETEUK) Miryeon eobshi baro neoreul seontaekhaesseo (KYUHYUN/ Neorago) Geurae nan neorago

YESUNG) Oh nan~
SIWON) Geu nooga nooga mweorado naneun sanggwan eobdago
SIWON) Geu nooga nooga yokhaedo neoman barabondago
RYEOWOOK) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~) Shigani heulleodo
RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~
KANG♥IN) Neol saranghanda marhaedo cheonbeon manbeon marhaedo
KANG♥IN) Nae gaseum sok da booltago mareun ipsool dwedorok
KYUHYUN) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~) Shigani heulleodo
KYUHYUN) Oh nan~

EUNHYUK) Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
EUNHYUK) Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
LEETEUK) Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
LEETEUK) Oh oh only for you (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)

KANGIN) Amoo maldo piryo eobseo nan geunyang neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
Neomoo neujeoddago haedo nan geunyang neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
SUNGMIN) Jalmotdwen sarangin geol algo ijjiman (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
LEETEUK) Pogihal soo eobseo jeoldae nohchil sooneun eobseo Oh oh~ (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
EUNHYUK) Chadachan nae ipsooreun deo booreune (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
SHINDONG) Ddeugeowoopge neoreul chaja wechine (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
RYEOWOOK) Boolleobwado daedapeobneun neoijiman (KYUHYUN/ Neorago) Neol gidarindago

RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~
HANGENG) Geu nooga nooga mweorado naneun sanggwan eobdago
KYUHYUN) Geu nooga nooga yokhaedo neoman barabondago
YESUNG) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~) Shigani heulleodo
RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~
SUNGMIN) Neol saranghanda marhaedo cheonbeon manbeon marhaedo
SUNGMIN) Nae gaseum sok da booltago mareun ipsool dwedorok
KYUHYUN) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~) Shigani heulleodo
RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~

EUNHYUK) Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
HEECHUL) Nan neorago neorago naneun
DONGHAE) Wae moreuni? Wae moreuni?
HEECHUL) Nan neorago neorago nan~

SIWON) Geu nooga nooga mweorado naneun sanggwan eobdago (YE♥SUNG/ Nan sanggwan eobdago)
SIWON) Geu nooga nooga yokhaedo neoman barabondago (YESUNG/ Neol barabwa Hey~)
RYEOWOOK) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~) Shigani heulleodo (YESUNG/ Heulleodo Ah~ oh yeah~)
RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~
DONGHAE) Neol saranghanda marhaedo cheonbeon manbeon marhaedo
DONGHAE) Nae gaseum sok da booltago mareun ipsool dwedorok (YESUNG/ Ipsool dwedorok Oh baby~)
KYUHYUN) Na dashi taeyeonandedo ojik neoppoonirago (jakkoo jakkoo~)
YESUNG+KYUHYUN) Shigani heulleodo
RYEOWOOK) Oh nan~
DONGHAE) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Nan neoppoonirago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)
DONGHAE) Neorago (KYUHYUN/ Neorago)

Credits to La’MISS:fairy at SJ-WORLD.NET

Translations
It’s you
It’s you
It’s you
It’s only you
It’s you
It’s you

I don’t need anyone else, it’s only you
When you ask again, it’s only you
Even if you already have another love
I can’t forget you, I can’t turn back around
Oh ~
The moment my eyes began to burn
The moment my heart was captured by you
I have no regret, I chose you
That’s right, it’s you

Chorus :
Oh whatever anyone anyone says, it doesn’t matter to me
Oh whoever whoever curses me, I’ll only look at you
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

Oh when you tell me you love me
When you tell me thousands and millions of times
Even when my heart sets on fire, my dry lips wear out
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you

It’s you
I don’t need any words. it’s just you
“ It’s too late “ , but for me it’s just you
I know our love is wrong
I can’t give up, I can’t let you go
Ah Ah

My lips, cold as can be, are even more blue
I cry out to find to find your warmth
I call, even though I call for you
And there’s no reply, I’ll wait for you

Chorus :
Oh whatever anyone anyone says, it doesn’t matter to me
Oh whoever whoever curses me, I’ll only look at you
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

Oh when you tell me you love me
When you tell me thousands and millions of times
Even when my heart sets on fire, my dry lips wear out
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you Oh oh only for you
Oh oh only for you
For me, it’s you, it’s you
Why don’t you know, why don’t you know?
For me, it’s you, it’s you

Oh whatever anyone anyone says, it doesn’t matter to me
Oh whoever whoever curses me, I’ll only look at you
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

Oh when you tell me you love me
When you tell me thousands and millions of times
Even when my heart sets on fire, my dry lips wear out
Even when I’m born again, it’s still only you
(Still Still) Even as time goes by

It’s you

Credit : kimchi hana@soompi.com

Perez Hilton does KPOP???

2009-05-10T11:15:00.004-05:00

The King....or should I say....Queen of celebrity gossip has made his way to the East side of the world.

The Korean wave is here people. It wasn't Se7en, Boa, or even DBSK that grabbed this gossip queen's attention. Only 13 hotties with a heart of gold and looks to match.

...."Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry
Naega naega naega munjuh
Nehgae nehgae nehgae bbajuh bbajuh bbajuh party baby
Shawty Shawty Shawty Shawty
Noonee booshuh booshuh booshuh
Soomee makhyuh makhyuh makhyuh
Naega micheo micheo baby"

....Just click on the title to see what I mean......hehehehe!

A Frozen Flower......there's more!!!

2009-05-06T11:20:00.005-05:00

One of my faithful followers (Endroine....Kamsahamnida!!) brought something to my attention.

Now y'all know I love Korean......everything! I do love me some rock. Korean rock is so hard to find. And I have mentioned before that I finally found some in the Korean band called the TRAX. One of the members left the group to pursue other things. I thought it was a change in music genre. I was WRONG-O! He left to pursue a career in acting. This member, the former drummer at that time known as ROSE, is in the move A FROZEN FLOWER as one of the king's guards. (Ooooh! Hancinema states he is now a member of a group called 24/7) His name......is No Min-Woo. Okay, before I get my panties in a wad, I never realized how undescribably gorgeous this guy is. Holy Enchilada! In the band when he had the blonde hair sort of blew me off. He looked tooooo girly for my taste. Kind of reminded me of the "hair" bands in the 80's. But with his natural color.....dark brown/black....just makes me think naughty thoughts. LOL! (Damn! Wish I was at least 15 years younger....*sigh*)

Then as I was going through the list of actors in the movie A FROZEN FLOWER, I discovered that Shim Ji-Ho is the guy who plays Antennae in the movie OPEN CITY. Holy Mary Mother of God! I guess I was so blinded by the "love" scene with Ju Jin-Mo and Jo In-Seong that I didn't see the other hotties right before my eyes. So here are the hotties that I left out in the cold. (I can't believe I did that......somebody slap some sense into me!)

No Min Woo

As ROSE in the rock band the TRAX!

Shim Ji Ho

A Frozen Flower (Ssanghwajeom-2008)

2009-04-28T14:47:00.005-05:00

Starring:
In-seong Jo -Hong-Lim
Jin-mo Ju -King
Ji-hyo Song -Queen
Additional Cast Members:
Ji-ho Shim
Ju-hwan Im - Han Baek
Min-woo No
Wook-hwan Yeo
Se-rang Lee
Jung-ki Song

Under the pressure of the Yuan Kingdom, the King of Goryeo is pressured to produce a successor to the throne. But the king is in love with his loyal general Hong-lim. After seriously pondering the issue, the king asks his lover Hong-lim to sleep with the Queen, with unexpected consequences.

Notes
*"Ssanghwajeom" is an epic drama set at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392).
*The characters played by Jin-mo Ju and In-seong Jo share a homosexual relationship.

Oh. My. God! I have been waiting patiently for this to be released and subbed. Today was a happy day for me.

The first 30 minutes of this movie was..........intense! Sexually provacative. In my case, if I wasn't horny before.....I was then. I never thought I would see Ju Jin Mo and Jo In Sung....naked, licking, touching, sucking....(Oh my eyes! My eyes!). I think my panties are wet. Can I exhale now. I must have held my breath for over 2 hours. Do I love a yaoi movie or what? I do. This movie, if it came out in the US of A would have been rated NC-17.

The beginning of this movie was sweet and yet sexually thrilling. Yeah, the second paragraph should have given you that hint. Then, maybe it was just me, but the movie slowly fell apart in my eyes. Don't get me wrong. There were some seriously awesome fight scenes too. I just couldn't believe that Hong Lim fell in love with the queen after having sex with her. Because...well, because....he'd loved the king since he was a child. To have that change overnight....was totally unbelievable. Anyway, I have to say is that I actually felt sorry for the king. Throughout the movie, I was on his side. He fought for his love even though he got a little crazy at the end. And......for Hong Lim to say what he did....near the end (can't give the ending away) was totally unbelievable. When the king asked if he had ever loved him and Hong Lim said, "????" (sorry can't give that answer either) Aaaaiiiieeeesh! Then at the very end they are riding off in the sunset. WTF? So if someone saw this movie.....was something lost in translation? I need some clarity.

Ohhhh! Let's just say something drastic happened to Hong Lim. Ummm......well, can't say again....but I just don't understand how he was able to ride a horse within a day's time. That part was the most unrealistic out of the whole movie.

In all, I'll give the movie a 4/5. Why so high when I thought it failed at the end? Hello. The answer should be sooooo obvious. Ju Jin Mo + Jo In Sung = sucking face! That got my rocks off in a rush. LOL!

Ju Jin Mo

Jo In Sung

OMG! A new discovery in the "middle of nowhere" Texas!

2009-04-25T15:47:00.003-05:00

Today, just another Saturday. No biggie. I ran 4.5 miles (trust me people, this is by far my worst. I used to run 10-12 miles every other day until I hurt my back.) I watched the newest episode of Calling Love and When It's At Night. I finished off the second time watching Miss Kim Makes A Million. I cleaned house (boring!!). Then after a while decided to go down to the local Asian market we have here. (Just so's y'all know. We are a military family. And every town we live in is obviously military. And where there is military town, there are gobs and gobs of Koreans and Germans and Puerto Ricans) So we head on down to the O-Mart (I'm assuming the "O" stands for Oriental), we grab a cart, and as we walk by the front I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought my glasses were playing tricks on me. No! It couldn't be! But it was........

.......a SUPER JUNIOR CD! I almost passed out from sheer joy. But I won't stop there. There was more eyecandy. BIG BANG AND RAIN!!!!! (Okay, they had SNSD and the WonderGirls...but they don't "trip my trigger".) So, I stood there GAWKING. My son about gave up on me. I swear he rolled his eyes at me. I didn't know what to get. But then, yet, I did. I was not going to leave that store without 13 hotties in my hands. LOL! So there I stood, lovingly holding SUPER JUNIOR's 3rd album. If there weren't people watching, I probably would have been kissing every face on the cover. LOL! I was so happy to find this treasure. Having been "borrowing" music from a site I won't name, is how I had been getting my music fix. So now, when I go back to O-Mart, next on my list........will be RAIN! (I wished they had Se7en!)

Now if they would sell Asain dramas.....life would be REAL GOOD!

*Yeah, I could get this all online....but why the hell would I want to pay the insane shipping charges?*

Withdrawal

2009-04-03T17:31:00.005-05:00

I'm really having a rough time right now. I've watched all the Asian dramas I can watch. I've watched repeats upon repeats of my favorites. I guess at this moment every fansubber on the face of the planet is taking down time. I know there are some dramas I haven't watched. Mainly because they don't seem to my liking or they've been overdone (ex. Hana Yori Dango...I'm sure the Korean version is great but there is only so much I can stand so I have forgone that drama.....Yeah, I'm not following that beaten path and following my own.)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is.....I'm having withdrawal symptoms. I start getting flutters in my stomach, I can't stay focused, I search the internet on a constant basis looking for something to appease me, and now I'm getting depressed. And, ya know, it's the Korean "drugs" I'm wanting more and more. LOL! I think I've watched every episode that every member of Super Junior has put out. I'm about to cruise the net for SS501 (never heard their music before, will give them a try), 2AM (another I've never heard), and I might do some Epik High (LOL! Sounds like the drug I'm needing. Oh, I crack myself up.)

I've just started watching variety shows that I'd probably never have given anther thought too. Star Golden Bell has become addictive. Actually, scary addictive. 2Days 1Night is hilarious...my Thursdays revolve around that one. If I don't have it, my day isn't right. Then there is Family Outing...OMG! If you don't like Korean language or shows, this one could change your mind. LOL! The show makes me so freakin' happy. I love Lee Chun-Hee. You get to see how funny one culture can be. The Koreans have a strange funny bone. But it's nice. Maybe it's the differential to my mundane life. The comedy, the games, the familial backdrop leaves you excited for the next episode. (Yeah, another show that gives me freakin' withdrawl. Ottoke?)

So what do I do? I've never been on youtube as much as I have this week. It's terrifying. I'm even to the point that I'm wanting to go to our local Asian market and buy out the Jjangjangmyun, Ramyun, kimbap, chapchae and Hite beer (and I don't even drink..LOL!)

Ya know what? I think I need a new "drug"..........

*....and no people, I'm not a drug addict. Read BETWEEN the lines.*

SUPER JUNIOR!!!

2009-04-01T08:16:00.004-05:00

I thought and thought and thought last night about this post. I never would have thought the day would come that I would say this.....I LOVE SUPER JUNIOR! Yeah, me, love Super Junior. Yeah, right? It's true.

After watching Bad Family with Heechul, I did web searches on him. I found Good Daddy. It's a reality TV series about 5 men who raise a young daughter. The men being 5 celebrities. One of the men is Hongki from FT. Island. Aye Carumba! Fell in love with that show. I will say my love for Heechul waivered. He was very stuck up and assinine in the show. I wasn't sure if it was for viewership purposes or if that was really his true personality. Okay, my curiosity got the better of me. I was enthralled with him even more. I did another search on Heechul and came across another reality series called Band of Brothers. This time it was 4 celebrities that form a band. One of the other band members besides Heechul....was Kangin (another group mate of Heechul's in Super Junior). Okay, after watching this...found out about The Trax. They are a Korean hard rock band. Two of the members were also in the Band of Brothers.

After all this, my curiosity was still not appeased and really hoping to find something to make Heechul not look like an asshole. After all the searching, I obviously came across lots and mean TONS of stuff on Super Junior. So much that I got a headache going through most of it. But oh lucky me! I came across their new video "Sorry, Sorry". Holy Mary, Mother of God! I can't get this freakin' song out of my head. I go to sleep with it and wake up with it. I have visions of Super Junior running amuck through my head. Thirteen cutie patooties of testosterone. Aiiiiish! Yes, those of you who have no clue who Super Junior are. This is a boy group of 13. Yes, I will post a picture of all 13. I do have my favorites. I won't go on and on about those favorites because I don't have enough time or space in my blog to gush about them. I will say who they are are though......1. Han Geng 2. Si Won 3. Hee Chul 4. Dong Hae 5.Ryeo Wook 6.Kang In 7. Sung Min 8. Yee Sung 9. Ki Bum 10. Kyu Hyun 11. Lee Teuk 12. Eun Hyuk 13. Shin Dong. In that order at this moment. Order might change....who knows. *shrugs*

I know you wonder. Did I find anything on Heechul that eliminated him from being an asshole? Not really. But have decided that is just him and his personality. Doesn't mean he's a jerk....maybe that is just how he is in front of a camera. I did thought find a nice story on the group on youtube made by a girl from China. Some nice person subbed the Chinese into Korean then into English. Everything that was said were quotes from interviews and radio shows of Super Junior. All the comments said they cried. I was like "whatever". I don't think I'll cry. Well, after the second video I broke down. Not a sobbing gush but tears strolled down my cheeks. *sigh* This was such a sweet story even though the title of the videos were called Super Junior Sad Story.

This is just the first of 8. You'll have to find the rest for yourselves. This story, the interviews, everything made me realize that Han Geng is probably the most sweetest guy out of the group. Total marriage material. *sigh*

I changed my mind. I won't post individual pictures. I'll be at my computer all day. LOL!

This the latest picture from their new album that just came out this month...."Sorry, Sorry".

Shining Boy and Little Randy (Hoshi ni natta shonen/ 星になった少年 -2005)

2009-03-21T12:54:00.006-05:00

Starring:
Yuya Yagira ... Tetsumu Ogawa
Takako Tokiwa ... Sario Ogawa
Katsumi Takahashi ... Kosuke Ogawa
Yu Aoi ... Emi Murakami
Mitsuko Baisho ... Asako Fujisawa
Sayoko Oho
Kazuyuki Aijima
Tetsuya Takeda
Brother Tom
Takehiko Ono

Tetsumu, an introverted youth, realizes he has a natural ability of communicating with elephants. This prompts him to leave for Chiang Mai in Thailand to become Japan¡¯s first elephant trainer. Having found his place in the world, Tetsumu develops into a strong, confident young man. He returns to Japan with the dream of building a green ¡°paradise¡± for his ivory-tusked friends. Meanwhile, he starts a career as an elephant trainer for touring shows. He meets Emi, a woman seven years his senior and falls in love.

I write this with tear stains on my face. This movie is so touching. The love of animals and family and the role they play together.....this is that movie. Yagira Yuya, again, has picked a beautiful masterpiece that totally takes the heart and turns it inside out and outside in, in one motion.

You don't have to love elephants or animals in general to understand the mentality of youth growing up. The separation of child with its mother. The bullying and what gains and losses it brings.

Take everything.....the good and the bad of growing up.....

This will bring you heartaches and smiles....not at once....

Be prepared for the onslaught of mixed emotions at the end......bring the Kleenex.

Yagira Yuya

Bad Family (불량가족 / Bul Ryang Ga Jok -2006)

2009-03-21T12:21:00.003-05:00

Starring:
Kim Myung Min is Oh Dal Gun (Na Rim's fake uncle)
Nam Sang Mi is Kim Yang Ah (Na Rim's fake sister)
Im Hyun Sik is Jang Hang Gu (Na Rim's fake grandfather)
Yeo Woon Kye is Park Bok Nyu (Na Rim's fake grandmother)
Kang Nam Gil is Jo Gi Dong (Na Rim's fake father)
Geum Bo Ra is Um Ji Sook (Na Rim's fake mother)
Kim Hee Chul is Gong Min (Na Rim's fake brother)
Hyun Young is Ha Bu Kyung (Niece of man that caused accident)
Park Jin Woo is Ha Tae Kyung (Son of man that caused accident)
Lee Young Yoo is Baek Na Rim
Kim Gyu Chul
Oh Ji Eun

Na Rim (Lee Young Yoo), who came from a wealthy household, lost her family in a car accident when she was nine. After the accident, she suffered from amnesia so her uncle hired Oh Dal Gun (Kim Myung Min), an ex-ganster,to recreate a similar household with parents, sister, brother, grandparents and uncle in hopes that she would regain her memory. In a hurry, Oh Dal Gun ended up hiring all sorts of odd ball characters to act as members of Na Rim's family. None got along at the start and hilarious situation arose when all members tried to cope in front of the little girl and also to protect her from the one who caused her family's accident. Eventually they started to behave like a real family and cared for each other, proving that blood relation is not as important as a caring heart.

This was probably one of the best Korean dramas I have seen in a long time. Again, this was one of those dramas I kept overlooking because the synopsis didn't sound all that interesting to me. But as I was cruising through aznv.tv, I read some of the comments and realized this must not be so bad. This was freaking hilarious. It was more comedy than drama even though the main gist of the story was a serious one. It probably got more dramatic near the last few episodes but the comedy was still there.

Not a typical drama whatsoever. If you are tired of the same old, same old that is typical of Korean dramas.....this is the one. Totally worth watching.

Seriously! I loved this. Okay, and I loved the fact that "Cinderella" was ever so lovingly called the Alien of the family. (For those newbies, "Cinderella" is Kim Hee Chul of the Korean pop group Super Junior. That is his nickname.)

I was so impressed with this whole show. Taking on the fact that not one person in the show was related but in the end.......you don't need to be blood related to be a happy family. This is a total A+ show.

Kim Hee Chul

Kim Myung Min

Umizaru (海猿-2005)

2009-02-27T10:02:00.005-06:00

Starring:
Ito Hideaki as Senzaki Daisuke
Kato Ai as Izawa Kanna
Nakamura Toru as Ikezawa Masaki
Sato Ryuta as Yoshioka Tetsuya
Sato Hitomi as Komori Chika
Suzuki Kazuma as Fuyushiba Kosuke
Natsuyagi Isao as Katsuda Kotaro
Iida Kisuke as Miike Kenji
Sakamoto Akira as Iwamatsu Daigo
Hirayama Usuke as Yamaji Takumi
Miyake Hiroki as Bessho Kenjiroh
Usuda Asami as Hoshino Rei
Ichiki Ami Ono Yui
Okunuki Kaoru Ono Eriko
Yoshimoto Miyoko as Ikezawa Naoko
Masuoka Toru as Tsuda Shinpei
Ibu Masato as Higo Daisaku
Tokito Saburo as Shimokawa Iwao
Sakamoto Makoto as Nagashima Kenta
Ito Atsushi (ep1)
Karina (ep1)
Aoki Munetaka (ep1)
Namioka Kazuki as Tokunaga Masaya (ep4)
Fuse Hiroshi
Suzuki Honoka
Tanaka Tetsushi
Yashiba Toshihiro
Abe Ryohei

A story of friendship, love and the brutal training of 14 Japan Coast Guard officers becoming rescuer divers. The rescuer divers, on the front line in rescue activities in heavy seas and always one step away from death, are a group of specialists in a profession that only 1% of all Coast Guard officers qualify for. In order to receive that qualification they have to undergo 50 days of grueling training in rescue activities. The young Cost Guard officers, including Daisuke Senzaki, take on the challenge of that hellish training. The story concentrates on the lives of the divers after having passed their examination.

OMG! No....OH MY FREAKIN' GOD! This was the most awesome drama. OMG! This was one spectacular heart-tugger. Just the right amount of comedy to keep it flowing. The action was nice...not the karate type stuff type action but real honest-to-goodness, make you wish you were in the coast guard kind.

Ito Hideaki....mmmm-mmmm-mmmm....deliciously cute. Kawaii!

I really want to see the movies. They are copywrited so their viewing is painstakingly hard. Just when I thought I found them......they were gone. "Poof!" I understand that you need to watch the first movie to understand the drama itself. That's not true. They gave us enough information at the beginning for those of us who haven't seen the movie....to enjoy this freakingly awesome drama. Now I want to see the last movie.......I just want more Umizaru because the drama just wasn't long enough. We need another season people!!!

Most definitely!

Nakamura Toru......Hello! The man.....maybe over 40....but is do damn gorgeous for his own good. And to think.....his character would be the one that had me crying myself to sleep. His last scene was the most unexpected..........

The Clue Collector (霹靂MIT / Pi Li MIT -2008-2009)

2009-02-27T09:31:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Aaron Yan as "007" Zhan Shi De 詹士德 (007)
Gui Gui as "Tian Mo Xing" Li Xiao Xing 李曉星 (天魔星)
Lu Ting Wei as "187" Qian Fu Hao 錢富豪 (187)
Huang Hong Sheng as "747" Huang Hui Hong 黃輝宏 (747)
Christine Fan as Tao Mei Ren 陶美人 (Cherry)
Tian Li as Lu Qi Ya 陸琪雅 (Angel)
Zhang Shan Jie as Lu Ke Ying 陸克英
Honduras (宏都拉斯) as Tao Ying Ming 陶英明
Extended Cast
Huang Tai An as Restaurant owner
Wang Yi Wen as 187's intel gatherer
Sandrine Pinna as Wen Xin Lan 溫心蘭 (ep01)
Chang Ai Wen as Xiao Ya Qi 蕭亞琪 (ep01)
Huang Wan Ting as Lin Yi Ting 林宜庭 (ep01)
Wang Xin Ru as Jin Ji La 金吉菈 (ep02)
Wei Wei (瑋瑋) as Lin Li Na 林莉娜 (ep02)
Cai Han Cen as Huang Xin Yi 黄心怡 (ep03)
Huang Wen Xuan as Liu Guan Zhi 劉冠志 (ep03)
Chen Zi Ru (陳子孺) as Li Zi Jie 李子傑 (ep03)
Xiao Lin Wang Zi (小林王子) as Shen Xiu Jun 沈修君 (ep04)
Hank Wu (吳仲強) as Wu Zhi Feng 吳志豐 (ep04)
Gao Sheng Yun (高聖雲) as Zhang Xuan Hui 張玄惠 (ep04)
Zhou Xiao An (周孝安) as Chen Yi Hong 陳逸宏 (ep04)
Jaline Yeh as Xie Yi Qian 謝宜倩 (ep05)
You Ding Gang (游定剛) as Dai Zhi Xun 戴志勛 (ep05)
Guo Cheng Lin (郭承霖) as Luo Jia Hao 羅家豪 (ep05)
Wasir Zhou (周詠軒) as Yang Ming Wei 楊明偉 (ep06)
Xia Ru Zhi (夏如芝) as Lin Yu Jie 林雨潔 (ep06)
Xiang Bo Tao as childhood Zhan Shi De (ep06)
Han Ruo Zi as Cai Ya Qing 蔡雅菁 (ep07)
Zhang Hao Ming as Qiu Shi Hong 邱士鴻 (ep07)
Yuan Tai (元太) as Dai Ming Zhe 戴明哲 (ep07)
Guo Yan Fu (郭彥甫) as Lin Bo Qing 林柏青 (ep08)
Guo Yan Jun as Lin Bo Hong 林柏宏 (ep08)
Xie Yi Ying (謝易穎) as Du Ming Wei 杜明威(ep08)
Cai Yi Zhen as Xu Wan Xin 許萬欣 (ep09)
Peter Peng (彭博劭) as Zheng Wen Long 鄭文龍 (ep10)
Li Xiao Ping (李筱萍) as Yao Qian Hui 姚千慧 (ep10)
Mi En (米恩) as Li Jia Ling 李佳玲 (ep10)
Luo Neng Hua (羅能華) as Zhang Shi Chang 張世昌 (ep10)
Figaro Ceng as He Rui Jia 何瑞家 (ep11)
Xu Shi Hao (許時豪) as Chen Yan Xiang 陳彥翔 / Huang Guo Zhong 黃國忠 (ep12)
Qiu Jia Wei (丘家維) as childhood 187 (ep12)
Peng Wu Jun (彭武駿) as childhood Chen Yan Xiang (ep12)
Zhang Jing Zhi (張靜之) as Lin Xiang Ting 林湘婷 (ep13)
Wang Da Lu (王大陸) as Yang Sheng Kai 楊聖凱 (ep13)
Xu Gui Ying as Cherry's mother (ep15)

The legend of a team called MIT secretly protecting Sheng Ying School was never public acknowledged but nonetheless spread wildly among the student body. For some reason, the team had disappeared and evil began to rack havoc in the school. The last remaining member of MIT, Teacher Cherry, decided to recruit the badest of all bad students, 007, 187, 747 and Tian Mo Xing, to form a new generation of MIT who would solve the crimes and restore the school back to its former glory.

I can't believe this drama is over. I'm a little upset and sad.....and then a little angry with the end.

Come on. I really didn't like the ending. They gave us 16 episodes of awesomeness. They prolonged the agony of our romantic love interests of "007" and "Tian Mo Xing". We ALL watched faithfully....waiting....for something to happen between them. The mysteries were all right...but nothing to cry over. I will admit it...I watched only to see how the romance progressed between our two "lovebirds."

I admit....about episode 5 I figured out who the Game Master was. It was quite obvious really. But I held off thinking they would throw in a twist. Well, they did. "Tian Mo Xing's" relationship with a certain teacher and student threw me for a loop. But it was all good.

The end.....it was a bit much. I really think the whole show could have been summed up around episode 14. The romance fizzled after Valentines Day. They took the focus off the "lovebirds" and went straight to the mystery. I was a bit fuzzled because the focus was primarily on the "lovebirds" throughout the show and then they finally decided to get with the program and focus on the mystery. LOL! I guess if they had just ended the show with some commitment with the "lovebirds".....a big, juicy kiss would have been nice.....I would have left the show with a massive smile on my face.

Don't get me wrong. This show thoroughly rocked my socks off. The first few episodes it took awhile to figure it out but once you held on.....the stories were quite interesting. Aye....the romance was sweet and I'm all about super sweetness. LOL!

I couldn't find any cute pics of "187" and "747".....so we'll have to deal with "007".....and that ain't bad!

Aaron Yan

My Bad!

2009-02-27T09:11:00.004-06:00

This is an apology to all my readers! I know I haven't posted anything this month and the month is almost over.

Gomen..

Mianhe..

Let's just say me and my beloved laptop have had many disputes lately. It started about a month ago. It's no fun while typing a wonderful, lengthy paper or review and then "wham!" the computer would shut down. Yeah....crash! Ugh! And let me tell you...watching dramas and movies were a pain is the ASS! I'd get into it...a good part would appear....and then...."black screen." Errrgh!

I'm not a wizard of any means when it comes to computer technology. Well, some might know that if your laptop is not well ventilated it'll overheat. Well, mine has for some time now and the computer couldn't take it. So to save valuable data it would immediately shutdown. Thankfully, my hard drive didn't suffer much damage. But my heart did.

I got wise...googled...and discovered the wonderful world of laptop ventilation. Now my trusty Toshiba sits on a fan that blows cool air underneath. My Toshiba hasn't crashed since.....

I hope I just didn't curse myself. LOL!

Aigoo!

In-soon Is Pretty (인순이는 예쁘다 / In Soon I Neun Yeppeuda -2007)

2009-01-14T08:53:00.004-06:00

Starring:
Kim Hyun Joo as Park In Soon
Kim Min Joon as Yoo Sang Woo
Seo Hyo Rim as Kim Jung Ah (In Soon's sister)
Lee Wan as Jang Geun Soo
Lee In Hye as Han Jae Eun
Extended Cast
Nah Young Hee as Lee Sun Young (In Soon's mother)
Uhm Hyo Sup as Seo Kyung Joon / Teacher Seo
Lee Hyun Joon as Seo Eun Seok (Teacher Seo's son)
Choi Il Hwa as Yoo Byung Gook (Sang Woo's father)
Kim Mi Kyung as Oh Myung Sook (Sang Woo's mother)
Park Soon Chun as Park Ok Sun (In Soon's aunt)
Cha Young Ok as Nam So Jung (Sun Young's friend)
Lee Mae Ri as Han Mi Jin
Jang Young Ran as Go Mi Hwa
Na Yoon as Song Jin Tae
Jo Duk Hyun as Go Jae Sik
Hong Yeo Jin as Nam So Jung
Kim Ji Young as In Soon's grandmother
Hong Ah Reum

This is the second time I've watched this. I've told y'all that I'm rewatching some shows that I haven't seen in a while. And luckily this is one that I haven't reviewed before. See here I go.......

This is a typical Korean drama. Story is original I will give it that. And I won't lie.......Lee Wan is the finest Korean male EVER. Let's just say that I had a Lee Wan eyecandy fest this past weekend......(Tree of Heaven, Let's Go To The Beach, and Snow White----review on this one is forthcoming).

This started out really well. The plot line, that is. Then as she became a "spokeperson", the story got really stupid and boring. Too the point that I fast forwarded through to the Lee Wan scenes. *giggles* Okay, past the idiot scenes really. There were just tooooo many things that weren't realistic. But the story based on the fact that she murdered someone and how they are treated once released....that I can believe. But they threw that part away near the middle. I couldn't take it anymore.

I didn't like they way they made Kim Min Joon character either. This charismatic actore was made into a pansy whiner. Geez, I wanted him to man-up. The teacher came across more manly. Ugh!

I will give the ending an okay. At least it was happy and smart. I really wanted something a little mushier but it sufficed.

To save this drama......they needed more Lee Wan. But then, I'm biased.

Lee Wan

Kim Min Joon

The Vineyard Man (포도밭 그사나이 / Podopat Geusanai -2006)

2009-01-14T08:36:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Yoon Eun Hye as Lee Ji Hyun
Oh Man Suk as Jang Taek-Gi
Kim Ji Suk as Kim Gyung-Min
Kang Eun Bi as Park Hong-Yi
Lee Soon Jae as Lee Byung-Dal
Jung So Young as Kang Su Jin (30)
Jang Jung Hee as Lee Jang Daek (43)
Lee Dal Hyung as Oh Young Bae (39)

In this romantic-comedy, (an adaptation of the book The Vineyard Man by Kim Rang), Yoon Eun Hye plays Lee Ji Hyun, a clothing designer in Seoul, who reluctantly leaves home for one year to work at her grand uncle’s vineyard in a small village. However when arriving in the country, she reunites with a Jang Taek Gi Oh Man Suk, a local resident who had been wrongfully arrested in Seoul by police after Ji Hyun reported having a dress-which she had designed-had been stolen. The two clash frequently as Ji Hyun has a difficult time adjusting to life in the country and working with Taek Gi. However, after many twists and turns Ji Hyun adapts to rustic life while falling in love with Taek Gi.

LOL! This was a riot. Yoon Eun Hye, the queen of situation comedy, was brilliant. This had the making of a typical romantic Korean drama but the story itself was unique and original. Enough so, that I had to watch it in one go. Oh Man Suk, the not the most handsome of men, but cute as the shy, naive vineyard worker (Taek-gi) who eventually falls in love with Ji-hyun. The bickering that eventually led to understanding then to love was truly heartwarming. Hey, even the ending was nice. This drama not the greatest, but truly original, will gladly put smiles on faces and leave us with a beautiful sigh at the end.

You will truly fall in love with the characters. A very beautiful love story..............

Bloody Monday (ブラッディ・マンデイ -2008)

2009-01-14T08:02:00.004-06:00

Starring:
Miura Haruma as Takagi Fujimaru (Falcon)
Kawashima Umika as Takagi Haruka
Newspaper Club
Sato Takeru as Kujo Otoya
Fujii Mina as Asada Aoi
Tokunaga Eri as Anzai Mako
Hisano Masahiro (久野雅弘) as Tachikawa Hide
THIRD-i
Tanaka Tetsushi as Takagi Ryonosuke
Matsushige Yutaka as Kano Ikuma
Katase Nana as Hosho Sayuri
Ashina Sei as Minami Kaoru
Yoshizawa Hisashi as Kirishima Goro
Nakahara Fumio (中原文雄) as Sonoma Takao
Kubota Masashi (久保田将至) as Kudo Akira
Anan Atsuko (阿南敦子) as Sawakita Miki
Kudo Shunsaku (工藤俊作) as Okita Koichi
Harada Kana (原田佳奈) as Nakagawa Saori
Saito Ayumu (斎藤歩) as Kamata Junichiro
Terrorists
Narimiya Hiroki as J (Kanzaki Jun)
Kichise Michiko as Orihara Maya
TET as Demon Joichi
Yamaguchi Ryuto (山口龍人) as Bluebird (Ando Ken)
Takito Kenichi (滝藤賢一) as Shirota Manabu
Taniguchi Shota (谷口翔太) as Kobayashi Daisuke
Nagakura Daisuke (永倉大輔) as Tanabe Ryo
Tsuneyoshi Rie (恒吉梨絵) as Arimura Nozomu
Abe Marie (安部魔凛碧) as Miyamoto
Tozawa Yasuaki (斗澤康秋) as Nishida
Kojima Koichi (児島功一)
Kaneko Takanobu (金子貴伸)
Officials and Police
Hamada Akira as Yasuoka Keitaro (Chief Cabinet Secretary)
Nakane Toru as Osugi Kenichi (PSIA Chief Director)
Kokubo Joji (小久保丈二) as Ikeda Katsuhiko (Chief of Detectives)
Ryu Raita as Kujo Akihito (Minister of Justice)
Hotaru Yukijiro as Detective Funaki
Ozaki Usoh (尾崎右宗) as Detective Iba
Others
Shimada Kyusaku as Kamishima Shimon
Jinbo Satoshi as Shikimura Sosuke
Nomaguchi Toru as Ishikawa
Saeki Arata (佐伯新) as Asakura
Namiki Shiro as Hikage Kiyoshi
Miyazawa Miho (宮澤美保) as Tominaga Kyoko
Yananaka Atsushi (山中敦史) as Kurosaki
Watanabe Shiho (渡邊志穂) as Murakami Anri
Takeshima Yasunari (竹嶋康成) as Sada
Mihara Iona (三原伊織奈) as Ishikawa Matsuko
Wada Satoshi (和田サトシ) as Yoshioka Keisuke
Seki Keisuke as teacher
Eguchi Noriko as Yasuda Yukiko
Oyamada Sayuri as Yamamura Yoko

After a biological terrorist attack kills off the population of a Russian town; Japan's Public Safety Special Third unit, code name THIRD-i, believes that the terrorist organization responsible plans to unleash the same virus known as Bloody X into Tokyo. Subsequently, THIRD-i recruits the help of genius hacker Takagi Fujimaru to find out what happened in the Russia. However, as Fujimaru becomes involved, he soon finds out that he is in over his head and that the terrorist groups influence reaches not only his school but even the police. Fujimaru must now rely on his skill as a hacker to unravel the organizations sinister plot and find out the truth behind "Bloody Monday."

I don't know if these are tears of joy or happiness. From episode 10 to the end, I have been a blubbering idiot. It's not like this was a sad drama. Well, it was but not like a melodrama. I cried because of the fear of betrayal for Fujimaru. I cried because I couldn't believe his best friend would be "K". Man, I was sick and jittery to the bitter end.

This is by far the best damn DRAMA I have EVER seen. This is now my ranked #1 drama at this moment. The script had me on pins and needles. I couldn't wait find out the outcome. And you know what? They left an opening for a second season. PLEASE SAY IT IS SO! I really didn't want this drama to end. My favorite young actors and older as well were in this drama. The character portrayals were perfectly matched by the actors and actresses who played them.........

This....God!....this was just wonderful. Okay, and I balled and boo-hooed at the very end because there was a sad but beautiful ending to this story. Can I go on living?

The plot twist in episode 10 had me hook. line and sinker. You never really know who we can trust and we we can't. But I was so totally pleased to know that Fujimaru's instincts were true.

Such a smart drama. I might have to watch this again. I might have missed something.........

Now I'll go hide in the corner and suck my thumb because I can't go on living without more episodes of this. Please....oh, please....I hope they make another season.

Damn! This rocked my world!

The Hidden Truth...............

2009-01-10T23:42:00.001-06:00

I've been so busy watching old dramas, new dramas, Christmas came and went, that I haven't posted in here in so long. My sincerest apologies. There have been some dramas that I'm rewatching or giving second chances. I'm so caught up that I'm actually waiting for the newest series to be premiered and subbed. *sigh*

I'm so backed up on reviews, no lie....I have about 25 sitting in my saved list, that it'll take me forever to catch up. But I will eventually get it done today and/or tomorrow. So many reviews and pictures....so little time.

On a good note to all my most fait hful readers and friends, I spoke to my husband and it looks like that we'll be going to Korea sometime next year. I'm so excited and scared at the same time. I've never been out of the United States ever and I'm in the "almost 40" category. Or I will be when that time comes for us to leave.

My oldest son is excited, my youngest son is timid because he doesn't want to leave his friends (but that is the life of a military brat), and my daughter (who is only 3) could not really care.

The kids and I have already made our vacation plans once we get to Korea (station unknown at this time). We plan to visit Japan....oh hell yes! The boys want to see Hong Kong (home of Jackie Chan, you know....LOL!). And I would like to visit Taipei as well. Got to hit all the hot spots where all my favorite dramas are made. Tokyo...yes! My list is set. Akihabara and Shibuya are definites. Seoul...yes! I'm not so sure at the moment but just walking through will be good enough for me. Hehe!

Anyway, this is what is going on. Plans are being dreamt and hopefully will be fulfilled next year. *sigh*

EDIT: Husband put in for Korea. So orders haven't been decided as of yet. Keeping fingers crossed.

Hoo-ah!!!

Iryu Team Medical Dragon (医龍 Team Medical Dragon, 2006-2007)

2009-01-10T15:23:00.004-06:00

Season One
Starring:
Sakaguchi Kenji as Asada Ryuutarou
Inamori Izumi as Katou Akira
Mizukawa Asami as Satohara Miki
Koike Teppei as Ijyuuin Noboru
Natsuki Mari as Kitou Shoko
Kitamura Kazuki as Kirima Gunji
Abe Sadao as Arase Monji
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Fujiyoshi Keishi
Kishibe Ittoku as Noguchi Keno
Ikeda Tetsuhiro
Mukaichi Mion
Kanai Yuta (ep5-6)
Shimizu Koji (ep8-11)

Ryutaro Asada is enjoying his peaceful life in the countryside, when he is visited by Akira Kato, assistant professor of the Faculty of Cardiac Surgery at Meishin University Medical Hospital.

Ryutaro is a genius surgeon who used to lead "Team Medical Dragon," a world-class NGO medical team. In harsh environments that lacked medicine and electricity, Ryutaro witnessed many lives pass away. At the same time, he saved many other lives, helping his matchless skill overwhelm other doctors.

As a female doctor, Akira managed to become an assistant professor. She has ambitions to be promoted to professor by succeeding in a surgery using the Batista technique — an extremely difficult type of heart surgery — and also by writing a paper on it. A year ago, Akira witnessed Ryutaro's skills when he was an NGO doctor. That's why she recruits him and asks him to use the Batista technique. Since Ryutaro's arrival, urgent patients who would have been abandoned in the past, are miraculously saved by the "hands of God." --Fuji TV

Season Two
Starring:
Sakaguchi Kenji as Asada Ryutaro
Uchida Yuki as Kataoka Kazumi
Koike Teppei as Ijyuuin Noboru
Otsuka Nene as Kodaka Nanami
Kitamura Kazuki as Kirishima Gunji
Abe Sadao as Arase Monji
Mizukawa Asami as Satohara Miki
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Fujiyoshi Keisuke
Natsuki Mari as Kito Shoko
Kishibe Ittoku as Noguchi Takeo
Ikeda Tetsuhiro as Kihara Takehiko
Sato Jiro as Matsudaira Kotaro
Shiga Kotaro as Zenda Hideki
Takahashi Issei as Toyama Seiji
Nakamura Yasuhi as Nomura Hirohito
Supporting Cast
Ryo as Togashi Yukari (ep1)
Tanaka Minoru as Togashi Tsuyoshi (ep1)
Itao Itsuji (ep1)
Kawahara Sabu (ep1)
Kikuchi Kinya (ep1-2,10-11)
Nakamura Keiko (中村慧子) (ep1,10-11)
Umishima Yuki (ep1-2,10-11)
Yoshino Maki (吉野真希) (ep1,3,10-11)
Aoki Hajime (ep1,10)
Asari Shogo (浅里昌吾) (ep1,4,10-11)
Okamoto Ryuta (ep1)
Tawaragi Tota (ep1)
Utagawa Shiko (歌川椎子) (ep1)
Otake Koichi (大竹浩一) (ep1,6)
Watanabe Kouhei (渡邉紘平) (ep1,5-7)
Minami Shuhei (南周平) (ep1)
Kobayashi Setsuko (小林節子) (ep1)
Nakazawa Junko (ep1,3-9)
Tsuchiya Fumiko (土屋史子) (ep1,3-9)
Nozaki Kazuma (野崎数馬) (ep1)
Hida Koji (飛田晃治) (ep1,5)
Fujita Sasami (藤田三三三) (ep1-5)
Imamura Koichi (今村公一) (ep1)
Komori Kotoyo (小森琴世) (ep1)
Kato Masato (加藤雅人) (ep1)
Michael (ep1)
Hershel (ep1)
Manfred (ep1)
Takeda Yuko (武田祐子) (ep1,6)
Muta Teizo (牟田悌三) as Nishizawa Takafumi (ep2-3)
Yamamoto Yusuke as Nishizawa Eita (ep2-3)
Kodama Raishin (児玉頼信) (ep2)
Tokunaga Atsushi (徳永淳) (ep2,6,11)
Saeki Arata (佐伯新) (ep2)
Hoshino Akiko (星野晶子) (ep2)
Miyashita Tomomi (宮下ともみ) (ep2)
Fujimoto Itaru (藤本至) (ep2)
Ogura Terukazu (小倉輝一) (ep2)
Hamachika Takanori (浜近高徳) (ep3-4,6)
Ichikawa Chieko (市川千恵子) (ep3)
Mitsue Takashi (三枝貴志) (ep3,5-8)
Hofuku Norihiko (法福法彦) (ep3)
Tsutsumi Masataka (堤匡孝) (ep3,10-11)
Ryu Raita as Onda Tetsuzo (ep4-5)
Kurokawa Tomoka as Ogata Miu (ep4-5)
Ono Ryo (ep4-5)
Yanagida Erika (柳田衣里佳) (ep4-5)
Yoshino Yoshiko (よしのよしこ) (ep4)
Otsuru Gitan (ep4-5)
Uchikura Kenji (内倉憲二) (ep4,10-11)
Haneda Yoichi (羽根田陽一) (ep4)
Okuwa Maimi (大桑マイミ) (ep4)
Ninomiya Satoshi (二宮聡) (ep4,7)
Deguchi Takashi (出口高司) (ep5)
Inaba Daisuke (稲葉大助) (ep5)
Hashimoto Chieko (橋本智恵子) (ep5)
Yamauchi Kumi (山内紅実) (ep5)
Kusamura Reiko (ep6)
Kawashima Umika (ep6-7)
Hiyama Takekazu (樋山剛一) (ep6)
Yamada Goichi (山田吾一) (ep6)
Sugiyama Ayano (杉山あやの) (ep6)
Kurana Rin (くらなりん) (ep6)
Kubozono Junichi (窪園純一) (ep6)
Takehatsu Shiro (武発史郎) (ep6)
Takahashi Hitomi (ep7)
Sunaga Kei (ep7)
Kugasawa Toru (久ヶ沢徹) (ep7)
Nakamura Keita (中村圭太) (ep7)
Inoue Ko (井上康) (ep7)
Nomura Hironobu (ep8)
Hongo Kanata (ep8)
Nakagome Sachiko (中込佐知子) (ep8)
Okazaki Hiroshi (岡崎宏) (ep8)
Arakawa Fumiko (新川史子) (ep8)
Kikawa Junichi (木川淳一) (ep8)
Takagi Ryo (高木涼生) (ep8)
Nagano Satomi (長野里美) (ep9-11)
Tanaka Oga (田中碧海) (ep9-11)
Shimazu Kentaro (島津健太郎) (ep9)
Mukai Osamu (向井修) (ep9)
Hisamatsu Nobuyoshi (久松信美) (ep9,11)
Nakamura Seiya (中村星哉) (ep9-10)
Kishibe Daisuke (岸部大輔) (ep9)
Kojima Yasushi (小島康志) (ep9)
Sugimoto Hitona (杉本妃音奈) (ep9)
Nakamura Makoto (中村まこと) (ep10-11)
Kumabe Youhei (隈部洋平) (ep10-11)
Mori Kouko (森康子) (ep10)
Nishiyama Shugo (西山周吾) (ep10)
Ishikawa Yasuko (石川泰子) (ep10-11)
Sugimoto Jyunya (杉本潤哉) (ep10-11)
Yasuoka Sunao (安岡直) (ep10)
Miyanari Ryuji (宮成竜二) (ep10)
Kishi Hiroyuki (ep11)
Hiwatashi Shinji (樋渡真司) (ep11)

In Iryu 2, Asada Ryutaro wages a new battle against the realities of Japan's medical care system. The government has drafted legislation to tackle the recent inflation of medical fees; hospitals have entered an era in which they will go bankrupt if they aren't independently run. At the same time, hospital mergers and takeovers are also taking place. Additionally, the obstetrics and pediatrics departments are being closed in succession, and there are inadequate doctors in the region - issues that are closely related to these hospital management problems. Now, hospitals, like the average corporation, face collapse if they are not profitable.

OMG! This drama rocked my freakin' socks off! Sakaguchi Kenji is so damn fine. You will know why in the first scene of the first episode in the first season. Naked + godlike body + sex scene = hentai thoughts. OMG!

From there on in, the drama was simply amazing. Both seasons. The second was more repetitive but that was okay. Really. I thought Code Blue was cool until I came across this and decided that Code Blue was a pansie-ass drama. Same idea but this drama was more indepth. OMG! A definite must see. The comedy was just right. You'll know why when you see Ikeda Tetsuhiro's character and Koike Teppei's character intermingle. Go Harry!! (You'll know what I mean by that once you see it......)

Truly touching drama! Truly. Truly!

Nanase Futatabi (七瀬ふたたび -2008)

2009-01-10T15:03:00.004-06:00

Starring:
Renbutsu Misako as Tanaka (Hida) Nanase
Shioya Shun as Iwabuchi Kosuke
Miyasaka Kenta as Hirose Akira
Ichikawa Kamejiro as Detective Takamura
Sainei Ryuji as Detective Eto
Kaku Tomohiro as Henry (Kishitani Naoto)
Mizuno Miki as Sunadori Fujiko
Yanagihara Kanako as Mayumi Ruri
Kohinata Fumiyo as Hida Seiichiro
Kitamura Soichiro as Masuda
Imai Tomohiko as Nishio Masahito
Guests
Nakamura Kumi as Tanaka Shizuko (ep1)
Ito Yumiko (伊東由美子) as Akira's aunt (ep1)
Achiwa Satomi as Nanase's aunt (ep1)
Izawa Hiroshi (伊沢弘) as retirement home director (ep1-2)
Yasuda Sachiko (安田祥子) as Watanabe (ep1-2)
Tashiro Tadao (田代忠雄) as Shinozuka (ep1-2)
Mori Koko (森康子) as Takahashi (ep1-2)
Hirabayashi Kotaro (平林弘太朗) as bartender (ep1-5)
Hamada Michihiko (浜田道彦) (ep1-2)
Oshita Genichiro (大下源一郎) (ep1)
Sakamaki Takahiro (酒巻誉洋) (ep1)
Abe Shohei (阿部翔平) as assistant (ep2)
Nagasawa Nao (長澤奈央) as woman in red (ep2)
Cho Songha (チョウ・ソンハ) as serial killer (ep2)
Yamauchi Nata (山内ナタ) as bank clerk (ep2)
Karauchi Hideki (蔵内秀樹) as guard (ep2)
Shirakawa Masayuki (白川正之) as waiter (ep2)
Yoshida Natsumi as beautician (ep2,4-6)
Nakahira Yoshio (中平良夫) as Sakata (ep3)
Ito Eiko as Masuda Naoko (ep3,5)
Ono Ryo as real estate agent (ep3)
Hasegawa Hiromi (長谷川博己) as Takeda Yuji (ep3,6)
Waki Tomohiro as Sudo Takeshi (ep3)
Takase Misaki (高瀬岬) (ep3-4)
Higashiyama Mami (東山麻美) as Koyama Sayaka (ep4)
Kaku Chie (加來知恵) as woman at Yuji's home (ep4)
Ube Hiroyuki (宇部洋之) as Toshi (ep4)
Abe Shohei (安部翔平) as Kanzaki (ep5)
Miyamoto Yume (宮本侑芽) as Inoue Misato (ep5-6)
Hasegawa Mayumi as Inoue Kaori (ep5-6)
Mitsuishi Ken as Sakura Shogo (ep6-9)
Sakurada Seiko as Gomi Yuriko (ep7-8)

A suspense story about a girl with an ability to read people's mind. Together with her psychic friends, Nanase, the telepath, tries to save others from danger and fight those who try to abuse her power. --NHK

I really, really, really loved this drama. Something about the thought of all of us having a hidden talent like reading minds or controlling our surroundings or even crossing time is really not a new idea but the way it was brought out in this story was amazing. Every character was superb in their abilites. I even loved the "romance" between Nanase and Kosuke.

This scene was so beautiful. *sigh* I wanted to be Nanase!!!

The end....well, I can't say if it was a happy ending or a sad ending. Oh there were some really sad parts. I cried the last 20 minutes of the whole last episode. I was moved beyond to tears and then some. But most of all, the "thought" that Nanase narrated to everyone's mind was so moving.....*sigh* OMG! I think I'll tear up some more. I loved this drama so much I have it downloaded to my hard drive ready for DVD burning.

Brown Sugar Macchiato (黑糖瑪奇朵 / Hei Tang Ma Qi Duo -2007)

2009-01-10T14:43:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Ao Quan as Ao Quan
Wang Zi as Wang Zi
Xiao Yu as Xiao Yu
Xiao Jie as Xiao Jie
William as Wei Lian
Ah Wei as Ah Wei
Ya Tou as Ya Tou
Da Ya as Da Ya
Gui Gui as Gui Gui
Julie Cai as Tong Tong
Mei Mei as Mei Mei
Xiao Xun as Xiao Xun
Xiao Jie as Xiao Jie
Apple as Apple
Xiao Man as Xiao Man
Xiao Ma as Xiao Ma
Li Quan as Li Quan
Ke En as Ke En
The Faculty
Na Dou (納豆) as Homeroom teacher
Li Qian Rong as English Teacher Ms. Miranda
Miao Ke Li as Principal
Xiao Xiang as Gym teacher
Extended Cast
Candice Liu as Rong Jia
Lin You Li as Tian Tian
Kenji Wu as himself (guest star, ep.4)
Guo Zi Qian (郭子乾) as the boys' father
Akemi as father's assistant
Li Xing Wen (李興文) as father's assistant

One day, six boys with different personalities and backgrounds are notified they shared the same father. And on top of that they are entitled to a large inheritance. There is only one catch. They must attend the same school and live in the same house for one year to become loving brothers.

But, the boys not only hate each other, they have to deal with nine mean girls from their class. Will the brothers band together and successfully pass the inheritance test? Or, will falling in love with their classmates pull them farther apart?

Interesting....no.
Funny....sometimes.
Stupid....yes.
Cute guys....yes.
Well acted....no.
Worth watching....sort of.

It was alright. Some of the story was interesting but there were too many people to keep up with and not enough of a plot to keep it together. I really don't want to give this a bad review but as I think about this over again. I don't see myself watching this again. The story between Gui Gui and Wang Zi was pretty much the only thing that kept me watching this.

*sigh*

Fight TVN (맞짱 / Mazzang -2008)

2009-01-10T11:55:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Yoo Gun as Kang Gun
Lee Young Jin as So Hee
Lee Jong Soo as Kang Jin
Baek Do Bin as Choi Dae Ri
Kang Sung Jin
Jung Suk Won
Uhm Tae Woong as Kang Gun's father
Kim Soo Ro (cameo)

The drama about men who engage in fights and the deep bond that develops between them.

OMG! Can Yoo Geon look hotter and Baek Do Bin? Aye Carumba!!! The fight scenes were incredible and so believable. Really scripted and so totally well rehearsed. This was a totally awesome drama. I did have only one beef with this though. The very last episode was almost rushed to the extreme. What the.....??? There should have been at least, AT LEAST, 2-3 more episodes. I really wanted to see more of a fight between Choi Dae Ri and Kang Gun. They were leading us up to it......and "poof".....that was it. I really think more could have been done...but the fight scenes throughout the rest of the drama were so amazing that that is what keeps me from giving this drama a failing review. Holy enchilada! The girl, So-hee, well.....she wasn't all that pretty to me. I guess I was expecting someone more "meatier". She was so scrawny and thin. I just don't like those types. Anorexic is soooooo OUT!

I'll admit that I was so enthralled that the thought of searching for fight clubs DID run through my mind. Whew!! Oh, and the opening song is so freakin' awesome that it is now downloaded to my ever loveable iPod.

GiraGira ( ギラギラ -2008)

2009-01-10T11:01:00.007-06:00

Starring:
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Nanase Kohei
Maya Miki as Sonobe Yuki
Hara Sachie as Nanase Momoko
Miura Shohei as Shoji
Sato Tomohito as Ichikawa Kenta/Hideyoshi
Abe Tsuyoshi as Eiji
Ashina Sei as Yuuna
Tanaka Yoji as Fukami
Kotegawa Yuko as Jinguji Rena
Ishibashi Ryo as Katsuragi Taisei
Yamazaki Hajime as Tahira Hiroshi
Yuki Jutta as Toma
Sakimoto Hiromi as Yuki
Sakuragi Ryosuke (桜木涼介) as Akira
Nishiyama Sosuke as Rikuto
Yuji as Ken
Matsumoto Hiroya as Ren
Nagamachi Taro as Ryo
Matsushita Kouji as Leo
CHIKARA as Sakuya
Suzuki Mie (鈴木美恵)
Fujisawa Karin
Shikanai Daishi as Haruki
Guests
Igarashi Shunji as Eagle (ep1-2)
Hara Mikie (原幹恵) as Sayo (ep1-2)
Toda Keiko as Asaoka Misa (ep1)
Mitsuya Yoko as Kyoka (ep3)
Kobayashi Emi (小林恵美) as Saki (ep3)
Nonami Maho as Kazuki Sarina (ep4)
Kikawada Masaya as Sachiel (ep6)
Nishihara Aki as Hime/Oohara Maiko (ep6)
Wada Masato as Kazuma (ep7-8)

Based on a hit manga, this adaptation depicts the life of a married man Nanase Kohei after he returned to his former job as a male host. He woos the clients with his gentle and caring nature, and soon retrieves his former credit as the ace of the club. However, the transition back for this middle-aged man is not without its challenges. Afraid that his wife will find out about this job, Nanase is also garnering jealousy and displeasure from the younger hosts. Throughout the course of his employment, he demonstrates to others that hosting should not be the vulgar occupation it has become where the entire goal is to make the women frivolously spend money, rather, it is about a human connection that is so often overlooked.

This was a pretty good show. Not the overly best. It started out really interesting but got sorta of boring near the middle. It was the same old, same old where Kohei had to save the day and the woman. I wanted to see more character development with Shoji and the other hosts at the club. More so of Shoji since he was the closest to Kohei.

The ending was sort of abrupt and ended differently to that I thought it would. It was a happy ending but sort of lame. This show was a great boredom buster if and when I ran out of my other dramas to watch. I will say there was plenty of eye candy galore and was pleasantly surprised to see Wada Masato (Shigeshoshi) in the last two episodes. I am so looking forward to his dramas. He is a great actor and hidden talent in the Japanese TV world. If I were to see him on the Tokyo streets one day, I'd be all over him like "a fly on poo."

Another talent, that is starting to show up more often than not is Igarahi Shunji. Cute, not handsome, but something about him draws your attention to him. And he, too, costarred with Wada Masato in Shigeshoshi.

Miura Shohei

Wada Masato

Lobbyist (로비스트 (说客) -2007)

2009-01-10T10:31:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Song Il Gook as Harry / Kim Joo Ho
Jang Jin Young as Maria / Yoo So Young
Han Jae Suk as Kang Tae Hyuk
Jung Yoon Jo as Jang Mi Ran
Yoo Sun as Eva / Yoo Moon Young (Maria's sister)
Extended Cast
Hu Joon Ho as James Lee (Maria's teacher / trainer)
Kim Mi Sook as Madame Chae
Kim Seo Ra as Maggie (Harry's aunt)
Lee Mi Young as Jung Soon (Maria and Eva's mother)
Seong Ji Roo as Yoo Sung Shik (Maria and Eva's father)
Kim Sung Kyum as Mr. Kang (Tae Hyuk's father)
Kim Joon Sung as Michael (mafia member)
Choi Ja Hye as Karen / Kim Soo Ji (Harry's sister)
Kim Da Hyun as Andy (Madam Chae's son)
Lee Jae Yong as Jang Tae Sung (Mi Ran's father)
Lee Jin Ah as Reporter Song
Lee Hyun Woo as young Joo Ho
Nam Ji Hyun as young So Young
Park Eun Bin as young Moon Young

This drama is about a female lobbyist dealing with international arms traders. Kang Tae Hyuk is a successor of a main munitions business company in Korea. He is a young businessman with perfect appearance using a refined phraseology. He has an innate ability as a lobbyist and is a master schemer. He plans to sweep over the whole of Asia.

This was a totally rockin' drama. No, one of the best ever. Not a single disappointment to this drama. Well, maybe the length was a little overwhelming. But then that is typical of most Korean dramas. They could have shaved off about 4 episodes I think.

This was not at all what I thought it was about. I really didn't know what a "lobbyist" was actually. I just wanted to see this because Song Il-gook was in it. *Just discovered that he got married this past year. I'm weeping in agony. Why couldn't he have waited for me? I'll be in Korea in a couple of years. He's my age and he's so freakin' fine that he makes my "girly" parts tingle. LOL!*

Okay, okay.....back to the drama itself. This was a high octane drama. Almost every episode....no, EVERY episode was action packed solid. Not a boring drama one bit. And, I'm happy to say it had a surprisingly happy ending. Not the best of happy endings but happy enough to not make me contemplate suicide. (Note: Watched Heaven's Tree again and made it to the fifth episode before I broke down in tears and wailed myself to a double dose of Tylenol from the headache brought on by the horrible torment of sadness. This drama was so sad that when I had watched it the first time.....I cried straight almost a full month. The story is so beautiful and hauntingly sad. And, yes, I know this has nothing to do with the Lobbyist but just wanted to note about the unhappy endings of some dramas that leave you so distraught that suicide seems like a viable option.)

Anyway, this drama is a shoot'em up, suspense, thriller type drama with a romance set into the background. It has a little bit of everything that will keep both genders equally mesmerized in front of their TV's or computers.

Song Il Gook

Umm......is he not a delectable speciman of the "almost 40" genre?

Shibatora (シバトラ -2008)

2008-12-17T09:37:00.000-06:00

Starring:
Koike Teppei as Shibata Taketora
Ohgo Suzuka as Hosho Mizuki
Tsukaji Muga as Hakuto Shinsuke
Miyagawa Daisuke as Shinjo Toru
Minami Akina as Ayukawa Tamaki
Uchida Shige (内田滋) as Nanbara Kantaro
Sotaro (聡太郎) as Uzaki Tei
Matsuda Tamaki (松田珠希) as Manabe Yuna
Konno Narumi as Miyagi Mei
Maya Miki as Chiba Sakura
Fujiki Naohito as Fujiki Kojiro
Supporting & Guests
Imada Koji as Kinoshita Mitsuo (ep1)
Omiya Taro as Hosho Mitsuhiko (ep1,10)
Tsubaki Takayuki as Iketani Noboru (椿隆之) (ep1)
Yagami Ren as Urazawa (ep1)
Nishiyama Sosuke as Mizumoto (ep1)
Yamane Kazuma as Takagi (ep1)
Haru as Rumi (ep1)
Kawano Naoki as Kusunoki Yuji (ep1-4,7-10)
Daito Shunsuke as Kato Gakuto (ep1-4,9-10)
Miura Ryosuke as Kanazawa Takeshi (ep1-4,8-10)
Suenaga Haruka as Machida Rika (ep1-4,7-8)
Suzuki Ryohei as Mura Hiromi (ep1-4,9-10)
Kuranuki Masahiro as Mori Bunmei (ep1-4,8-10)
Suzuki Taku (鈴木拓) as Class 2-B Adviser (ep1,2,4)
Takahashi Tsutomu (高橋努) as their supervisor (ep2)
Karato Ryo as Mizoguchi (ep3)
Koike Ayame (小池彩夢) as Yagi Yuria / Mary (ep5)
Kono Yoichiro (河野洋一郎) as Yagi Yuria's father (ep5)
Takaku Chigusa (高久ちぐさ) as Yagi Yuria's mother (ep5)
Hiraga Masaomi as Ochiai Takeo's relative (ep5)
Tengenji Ryu (天現寺竜) as an artist (ep5)
Sakamoto Mitsunari (坂本三成) as as a police detective (ep5)
Ito Keita (伊藤圭) as a police detective (ep5)
Kawano Yoshiko (川野良子) as an announcer (ep5)
Hashizume Ryo as Ochiai Takeo (ep5-6)
Harada Kana (原田佳奈) as Chiba Yuri (ep5-6)
Shida Nanako (志田菜々子) as Ikushima Toko (ep5-6)
Aoki Shinsuke as Iwaki (ep5-6)
Ohira Natsumi as Ikuno Yayoi (ep7)
Yuge Tomohisa as Shishido (ep7)
Kohata Ryu (木幡竜) as Kanai Masaki (ep7-8)
Ideguchi Tetsuya (出口哲也) (ep7-8)
Kiriyama Renn as Igarashi (ep7-8)
Haruki Misayo as Machida Rika's mother (ep7-8)
Okouchi Hiroshi (大河内浩) as Kosugi (ep9-10)
Kyo Nobuo as Ino Takayoshi (ep9-10)
Sugiura Takao (杉浦太雄) as Wakabayashi (ep9-10)
Nakagawa Shingo as Fudo (ep9-10)
Toma Sora (藤間宇宙) as Masuda (ep9-10)
Inoue Waka as Tokiwa Ryoko (ep9-10)
Abe Ryohei (ep11)

No matter how you look at him, Shibata Taketora is just a quiet, ordinary junior high student. He looks so vulnerable that bullies try to rip him off on the streets, but he is actually a police detective and an expert swordsman in kendo. Taketora has a special ability to see the "hands of death" around people whose life is nearing the end. One day, Taketora is assigned on undercover operations. He sneaks into a high school, a maid cafe and a juvenile detention center... With the cooperation from his various friends, he gets to the bottom of the matters. --Fuji TV

This was a pretty good series but typical. Nothing spectacular really. The idea of the story was good though. Again another thought provoking Japanese series that left a huge moral to the story.

A good time waster but was hoping for a really good ending. I will say there was a twist that I wasn't expecting. I was really shocked. I really wasn't expecting it so that left a good feeling for this drama.

The acting was average and Fujiki-san looked horrible with that bleached hair. WTF? Go back to dark brown or black, leave the bleach behind. It made my eyes bleed.

I wish there had been more depth to this story and more money spent because this drama could have amounted to something............

.....and poor Teppei-kun. He will always be portraying a teenager as he ages. I don't think he'll ever look mature. Maybe he's lucky....or not.

Around 40 (アラウンド40 -2008)

2008-12-17T08:53:00.000-06:00

Starring:
Amami Yuki as Ogata Satoko
Fujiki Naohito as Okamura Keitaro
Otsuka Nene as Morimura Nao
Matsushita Yuki as Takeuchi Mizue
Tsutsui Michitaka as Ohashi Sadao
AKIRA as Ogata Tatsuya
Sakura as Ogata Maki
Matsumoto Runa as Ogata Ruka
Hayashi Ryuzo as Ogata Tomoyasu
Kaga Mariko as Yoshinaga Haruko
Jinbo Satoshi as Takeuchi Akio
Kimura Haruki as Takeuchi Yosuke
Matsuo Takashi (松尾貴史) as Kawasaki Kengo
Matsumoto Wakana as Katayama Haruka
Hoshino Ryoko (星野涼子) as Uemura Asuka
Hiei Yosuke (日栄洋祐) as Yajima
Katagiri Hairi as Yanagihara Kazuko (Matchmaker)
Kato Masaya as Kanasugi Kazuya
Hashizume Jun as Kanbayashi Shozo
Maruyama Tomomi as Shinjo Takafumi
Oba Kumiko as Nakayama Michiko
Kichise Michiko as Minami Yukari

39-year-old Ogata Satoko is a highly capable psychiatrist who is single. She's forthright, a caring older sister and reliable in her job and in private. Her interests are staying in luxurious Japanese inns and watching stand-up comedy videos.

Satoko hasn't had a boyfriend in the past five years. Nevertheless, she derives satisfaction from work and isn't worried about her finances. Among her good friends that she hangs out with are 35-year-old Morimura Nao, her junior who proclaims that she won't marry, and 39-year-old Oikawa Sadao, her peer since high school. Satoko is happily enjoying the single life.

At an alumni reunion as everyone is on the verge of 40, Takeuchi Mizue, her good friend since high school who is now a full-time housewife, rushes Satoko into action. "If you want children, you should marry now" and "It's women's happiness", but both are lost on Satoko, who isn't convinced.

One day, Satoko attempts to cheer up Nao, who is downcast over a shocking incident, and goes to her favourite hot-spring inn. There she coincidentally encounters a breakup between a handsome but somewhat odd man, Okamura Keitaro, and his girlfriend...--jade_frost

I was only interested in this show because of Fujiki Naohito. That man is too damn cute for his age. *sigh*

This story line had promise but as the series progressed I felt that they focused too much on her profession. I thought this was about love in the 40's. In a way it was but I felt nothing in the progress of romance. So in a way, the story got depressing and lost its objective. Or so I thought.

I will say the character of Keitaro was amusing. He had his quirks but was really endearing and loveable. I never really thought of my trash and water they way they had him focused on. LOL! I guess I'm not environmentally friendly. Ooooops!

If you are of the younger mind set, this show really isn't for you at all. It might be even boring. I myself am pushing "Around 40" so I thought this would be great. Ehhh. It was okay. I was really down trodden about how they portrayed us at this age.................

Hot Shot (籃球火 / Lan Qiu Huo -2008)

2008-12-17T08:21:00.000-06:00

Starring:
Jerry Yan as Dong Fang Xiang 東方翔
Show Lo as Yuan Da Ying 元大鷹
Zhou Cai Shi as Zhan Jie Er 湛潔兒
Coco Jiang as Li Ying 李贏
Wu Chun as Wu Ji Zun 無極尊
George Hu as Wu Ji Wei 無極威
Gu Bao Ming as Li Zi Ping 李子平
Michael Zhang as Can 殘 / Ah Fu 阿福
Zhang Yan Ming (張雁名) as Du Fei 杜飛
Lin Pai Yan (林伯彥) as Qi Xiao Yun 齊嘯雲
Lin Qi Tai (林祺泰) as Qi Xiao Yu 齊嘯雨
Extended cast
Zhao Shu Hai as Dong Fang Xu 東方旭
Yun Zhong Yue as Lao Lu 老路
Wang Xia (王俠) as Dong Fang Shou 東方朔
Ma Zhi Qin (馬之秦) as Tie Lan 鐵蘭
Wang Wei Ting (黃薇渟) as Lin Zi Xuan 林紫璇
Yan Jia Le (顏嘉樂) as Flower store owner
Wang Jian Min as Ji Wang 紀網
Jian Han Zhong (簡翰忠) as Commentator
Qian Ding Yuan (錢定遠) as Commentator
Jiang Wei Wen (蔣偉文) as George
Xie Kun Da as Wang Jing 王竟
Han Run Zhong (韓潤中) as Li Ke 李克
Cai Ming Xun (蔡明勳) as Wen Huai Wen 溫懷文
Li Guo Chao (李國超) as Coach of Xin Rui
Xu Jun Hao (許君豪) as Wang Gui 王貴
Gong Ji An as Sun Hao 孫浩
Renzo Liu as Coach of Xiang Yang
Lan Jun Tian (藍鈞天) as Jian Deng 賈登
Bu Xue Liang as Tang Long 唐龍
Li Jia Hua (李佳驊) as Ge Li Ya 戈利亞
Li Xing Wen (李興文) as Coach of He Yi
Na Wei Xun as Wang Ye 王爺
Huang Tai An as Fan Tuan 飯團
A Di as Wu Ji Mo 無極魔
Chen Bo Zheng as Zhan's father
Lu Jian Yu as gangster

In a school where academic reigns supreme and sports are relegated to a dusty corner of the campus, Li Ying vows to revive the basketball team by volunteering to be the head coach. Her first member is Yuan Da Ying, a country boy who is passionate for basketball but has no skill. Their recruitment goes into high gear when Dong Fang Xiang, a legendary basketball player, transfers to their school.

Around the same time, Yuan Da Ying falls for Zhan Jie Er, a scholarship student who reminds him of his childhood friend. Things are complicated by the fact her family works for Dong Fang Xiang, who she also grew up with. Their encounter may just rewrite the school's basketball history.

Hmm? This show was actually pretty cool. It was Slam Dunk on crack. The action scenes were amazing. I couldn't get enough of that. Really cool moves too the point that actually had me serious about basketball. I'm not a fan of that sport at all but the scenes kept me interested and I learned a few things even though I KNOW some moves weren't real. Even though some things weren't real, the actors knew there stuff and actually played the sport almost professionally. Or they acted it so well they had me believing they could.

Being a typical Taiwan drama, some scenes were overly dramatic (overacted). I'd really like to see a few more of their dramas portrayed seriously. There were times though that this show actually seemed that way.

The story was cute but somed things were a little rushed. I think this series needed an extra episode or two.

This show wasn't disappointing one bit and was really entertaining. Worth watching? Yeah.

Alan Luo

George Hu

Jerry Yan

Wu Chun

Goong S (궁 (宮) S -2007)

2008-12-17T08:15:00.002-06:00

Starring:
Se7en as Lee Hoo / Kang Hoo
Heo Yi Jae as Yang Soon Ae
Kang Doo as Lee Joon
Park Shin Hye as Shin Sae Ryung
Extended Cast
Myung Se Bin as the Queen
Lee Ki Young as Jo Sang Ki
Oh Mi Hee as Hwang Tae Hoo (the Queen's mother)
Yoon Ye Hee as Jang Yoon Hee (Lee Joon's mother)
Chun Ho Jin as Joon's father
Ha Jae Young as Hoo's and Queen's uncle
Cha Hyun Jung as Joon's bodyguard
Ye Soo Jung as person in charge of Lee Hoo's education
Song Baek Kyung as Bulbam
Jung Hye Young as Hoo's mother
Jun Soo Yun
Moon Ga Young
So Do Bi
Lee Joo Hyun
??? as Shin Jae Man (Sae Ryung's father)
??? as Ma Young Nam (Soon Ae's friend)

The Empress (Myung Se Bin) is in her early 30s, but she is still not married. Since, the 1st successor to the throne died, the royal family is in search for a new successor. Incidentally, they come to know of a young man who was in fact a son of the prince to a woman who left the Palace for her to be able to keep her pregnancy a secret. The young man's name was Lee Hoo (Se7en), more commonly known to his friends as Kang Hoo. Lee Hoo worked as a delivery boy at a Chinese restaurant, and was known for his 7-minute maximum delivery time. Lee Hoo had been brought up as more of a punk than a prince so his habits and his way of conversing were very different from the people of royal blood. Although he had never dreamt of living in the Palace, he one day finds himself immersing himself in its grandeur and improving himself to prove that he indeed deserves to be called the Successor to the throne.

He soon finds out that not only will he be facing lessons to the path of royalty, and dilemmas of love and of stature, but he will also learn to compete for the position he had been, first and foremostly, called for.

This drama was not even close to the original Goong. It wasn't supposed to be, I think. I think they were just trying to ride the coat tails of that most famous, exceptional drama.

I made it through most of the episodes but gave up. It bored me to tears.

I will say this. It brought my attention to Se7en. I googled him. I youtubed him. I fell in love with his music. Rain he is not but damn if he doesn't have the most softest voice and awesome dance moves. Okay, lets not forget those lips. This man has the most poutiest, kissable lips I have ever seen. Women pay thousands for collagen injections for those type of lips. Wow!

He isn't the best of actors. I think he has some kind of potential but this drama wasn't it. I think he needed a drama that is more for his genre. Dance and music and then progressed from there.

The other actors had no excuse. The acting was deplorable and emotionally retarded almost to the point of being in a coma. What the hell?

Se7en

Romantic Princess (公主小妹 / Gong Zhu Xiao Mei -2007)

2008-12-17T06:09:00.000-06:00

Starring:
Wu Chun as Nan Feng Jin 南風瑾
Angela Zhang as Mai Qiu Sui (Huangfu Shan) 麥秋穗(皇甫珊)
Calvin Chen as Nan Feng Cai 南風彩
Gu Bao Ming as Huangfu Xiong (EMP) 皇甫雄
George Hu as Nan Feng Lin 南風璘
Li Ang Lin as Nan Feng Ying 南風影
Genie Zhuo as Gong Mo Li 宮茉莉
Hsia Ching Ting as Yi Sen Chuan 伊森川
Bu Xue Liang as Mai Cong Guang 麥聰光
Huang Jia Qian as Mai Ge Hao Wa 麥戈浩娃
Lu Jian Yu as Head of Guards
Ye Hui Zhi (葉蕙芝) as Head of Housekeepers
Long Chen Han (隆宸翰) as Ah Jie 阿傑
Feng Yuan Zhen (馮媛甄) as Ah Bao 阿寶
Qing Xuan (晴宣) as Sha Sha 莎莎
Li Yi Hua (李衣驊) as Maid

Adopted by middle classed parents, Xiao Mai has always had a dream to be an heiress. Who knew that one day this dream would come true. Xiao Mai's biological grandfather is the head of a prestigous aristocratic family and after many years of searching, he finally finds his long lost granddaughter. As she starts her life as an heiress, everyday is filled with excitement, however, everything seems a bit different from what she had imagined them to be.

Hmmm? Another corning Taiwan drama/comedy. This could have went somewhere. Sort of like Goong but not. This story lost focus. Most of it was unbelievable. It was rushed. A love triangle...not. They needed something but whatever it was....wasn't there.

It was okay for a time waster....that's it. If you are a Wu Chun fan, there ya go. Nothing more to this story. Fangirls delight, yes. This drama was a definite waste of money and the ending totally sucked. The ending could have saved this show by about 10% but they failed in that too.

Dal Ja's Spring (달자의 봄 -2007)

2008-12-17T04:02:00.001-06:00

Starring:
Chae Rim as Oh Dal Ja
Lee Min Ki as Kang Tae Bong
Lee Hyun Woo as Uhm Gi Joong
Lee Hye Young as Wee Seon Joo
Gong Hyeong Jin as Shin Sae Do
Extended cast
Seo Yeong Hee as Jang Soo Jin
Kil Yong Woo as Kang (Tae Bong's father)
Kwon Ki Sun as Yeong Shim (Tae Bong's mother)
Kim Na Woon as Go Shil Jang (Oh Dal Ja's sunbae)
Jang Young Nam as Uhm Gi Joong's wife
Lee Kyung Jin as Jung Ae (Dal Ja's mother)
Kim Young Ok as Dal Ja's grandmother
Kim Sung Kyum as Tae Bong's grandfather
Oh Kyung Soo as Nam Dae Soo (the department director)
Kim Jae Wook as Choon Ha (Tae Bong's friend)
Seo Yeong as Hong Ji Hee

‘Dalja’s Spring’ is the story of Dalja, a 33-year old single at a crossroad of whether to remain single or get married before she gets older. The drama aims to comically and candidly portray the reality and undying pursuit of romance of a thirty something single woman.

The love triangle of Dalja, Taebong and Gijoong brews conflicts over love versus marriage. Taebong, a hunk six years younger than Dalja, works as substitute dates and becomes Dalja’s fake boyfriend. Gijoong is the type who dreams of an ideal and rational courtship. The drama also highlights the life and work of women in their thirties through Dalja who is a talented managing director at a home shopping channel.

God I love Lee Min Ki!!! Even though he is so young, he portrays an age above his true self spectacularly! You wouldn't think he was in the low 20's but almost 30. He is very mature for his age.

OMG! The first really serious role for LMK! I got what I wanted. This was a comedy but the comedy was all on Chae Rim not LMK (a first). He was serious throughout this drama. OMG! OMG! OMG!

You never really realize who is really by your side until its almost too late. I couldn't stop watching this drama. LMK was actually the "adult" in this drama. I could almost reach through the screen and just kiss'im. This drama was almost mirroring itself with Soulmate. He was always there for her and she didn't realize it. I will say that I was hoping for a more glamorous ending. A marriage perhaps? Something more "nailed shut". The ending was just a wee bit too open ended but it was atleast a happy ending. *sigh*

Lee Min Ki

Devil Beside You (惡魔在身邊 / E Mo Zai Shen Bian -2005)

2008-12-08T16:27:00.006-06:00

*I have updated this post from the last one since I decided to watch this a second time. Hehehe!*

Starring:
Mike He as Jiang Meng 江猛
Rainie Yang as Qi Yue 齊悅
Kingone Wang as Sang Yuan Yi 尚源伊
Ivy Fan Xiao Fan as Xin Li Xiang 辛莉香
He Du Lin as Jiang You Hui 江友暉
Ge Wei Ru as Huang Xue Wei 黃雪薇
Masuyama Yuki as Yu Yang Ping 于陽平
Tsai Pei Lin as Qing Zi 晴紫
Fu Xiao Yun as Xiao Cai 小彩
Yuan Jun Hao as Guo Kai 郭凱
Katherine Wang Kai Di as Liu Mei Di 劉美蒂
Figaro Ceng Shao Zong as Yuan Chuan Rang 袁川讓
Wu Zhong Tian as Tian Si Shen 田思慎
Wang Jian Min as Chui Ming 椎名
Tang Qi as Grandma Jiang
Meng Ting Li as Yuan Mei Jin 袁美津
Janel Tsai as Chuang Ya Li 莊雅莉
Huang Xing Lun (黃星倫) as Cai Yi Lang
Xu Qiong Yun (許瓊云) as childhood Qi Yue

Why, oh why? How did it happen? They made me fall in love with this drama! It wasn't supposed to happen. I think I have put this drama off for months and finally grew a wild hair and sat down to watch it. The beginning of the drama didn't appeal to me that is why I alway pushed it aside. This time I actually sat all the way through it....to the end. I wept, I cried tears of joy, I cried some more, I yelled, I laughed, I giggled, I cried some more, and then about lost it at the end. Oh yeah, this one was worth the trauma and heart pain. Oh yeah!I'll admit the end could have been better. I wanted more from the writers. Don't get me wrong. It ended well but I wanted more closure from the characters called Qi Yue and Ahmon/Meng. A proposal, perhaps? They went through all that crap and all we got was a........................*I ain't telllin' ya....watch it to find out*

Qi Yue (Rainie Yang) is a cheerful college girl who harbors a massive crush on the captain of the basketball team, Yuan Yi (Kingone). With the encouragement of her friends, she decides to confess her feelings. However, the next day, with her love letter in her outstretched hands and her head bent, Yuan Yi walks right by her. Qi Yue looks up to find Jiang Meng (Mike He), the school director's son, who has a devilish reputation and a penchant to bully girls. Terrified, she drops the letter and scoots away.
True to his nickname, the devil orders Qi Yue to be his personal servant, else her letter will be revealed to the entire college. Embarrassed and angry, Qi Yue has no choice but to follow in his shadow. A bizarre twist later, she discovers she has feelings for Meng, who, beneath the cool exterior, possesses a soft and loyal heart. Meng returns her affections as well, and at last the dreamy Qi Yue, whose head is made up of romantic fluff, thinks she has found love.

One thing stands in the way, however... How can they be together, when they're about to become brother and sister? And what happens when an arranged marriage and an old love enters both of their already complicated lives?

And at the end of it all....I've come to realize that Mike He is one hot dude. He never really turned me on but then I never really watched any of his stuff...until now. Oh man. He reminded me of Vic Zhou in MARS. Damn! Now I'm going to have to watch all of his dramas just so I can get a Mike He fix. Where's the Marlboro's when I need them? Oh, wait and Kingone! Hello? Umm...another hottie in the mix and Meng's friend Yang Ping (Masuyama Yuki). Both cutie patooties! YOU know I'm putting pics up of these guys!

Mike He

You've heard the phrase "hurt so good"? Well, He makes it hurt sooooo good!
Bull Fighting, Yukan Club (includes members of KAT-TUN), Express Boy, Why Why Love, Marry Me!, and others will now be given more chances to appeal to me. Yukan Club, especially, because it was stupid but I'll try again. LOL!
Kingone

Photobucket was limited in their Kingone photos. Eeergh! Ah well. I find more later.
Dontcha just love pretty boys?

I Really Really Like You (진짜 진짜 좋아해 / Jinjja Jinjja Joahae -2006)

2008-12-03T14:00:00.004-06:00

Starring:
Eugene as Yuh Bong Soon (Birth name is Yeo Yoon He, 25)
Lee Min Ki as Nam Bong Ki (Bodyguard, 28)
Ryu Jin as Dr. Jang Joon Won (President's son, 31)
Bong Soon's family
Geum Bo Ra as Lee Han Suk (Bong Soon's mother, 47)
Shin Min Hee as Geum Soo Kyung (19)
Lee Sang Kil as Jo Hyun Joon (9)
Bong Ki's family and colleagues
Jang Yong as Nam Dae Shik (Bong Ki's father, 61)
Yoon Seung Won as Lee Sang Jik (Director Lee, in charge of security for the President, 48)
Yoo Tae Joon as Kim Joo Yup ( Bodyguard nicknamed Robocop, 28
Yoon Ji Hoo as Kang Moon Shik (Bodyguard: Bong Ki and Robocop's friend, 28)
Presidential family
Choi Bool Am as Jang Min Ho (The President, 59)
Kim Hye Ok as Oh Young Sil (Joon Won's mother, 53)
Jung So Young as Go Ji Soo (Joon Won's wife, 31)
Jung Da Bin as Jang Hyo Won (Joon Won's daughter, 4)
Staff people
Kwon Ki Sun as Ma Ok Hee (47)
Lee Young Ja as Song Un Joo (39)
Ahn Hye Kyung (안혜경) as Noh Jin Kyung (Nutritionist in charge of the canteen, 29)
Kim Chang Wan as Kang San (50)
Kim Gook Jin as Ki Hyung Do (35)
Kang In Duk as Bang Pil Do (59)
Yoon Yeo Jung as Goo Hyang Sook (55)
Others
Kim Hee Jung as Soo Jung
Kim Hyung Bum

Yeo Bong Soon (Eugene) leaves her mountain village and comes to Seoul to live and look for her parents after her foster 'grandmother' passes away. She finds a job as an assistant cook at the President's Blue House canteen and later, in the Blue House kitchen. She falls for Jang Joon Won (Ryu Jin), the President's son, a highly intellectual doctor; however, he is married with a five-year-old daughter. His wife is suffering from dementia. As Bong Soon finds herself falling in love with Joon Won, a love triangle builds up when Bong Ki (Lee Min Ki), the President's family's bodyguard, starts to fall for the hillbilly Bong Soon! The drama explores about how Bong Ki gets in touch with his own feelings and how Bong Song's generosity makes the men fall for her.

This was truly a beautiful story. A love triangle, yes. But not overly intense. I will say that the progression for Bong-soon's love for Bong-ki didn't really hit until the last 3 episodes and their were 34 episodes. Don't get me wrong, we see her change attitudes towards him during the whole show but it from total hate, to disbelief, to friendship.......just her love for him was just rushed at the end. That's how I felt anyway.

The whole show really showed how love can change and to love someone unconditionally while sick. I loved Joon-won's character. I really, truly did. You could feel the torment and guilt he felt for both Bong-soon and his wife. That character had depth.

I did not care for the wishy-washy character of Bong-soon. Once she found out about Joon-won's wife, you'd think she would back off. But instead she held on for dear life and didn't give Bong-ki the chances he deserved. They tried to portray her as a good girl but I think that fell through while dealing with Joon-won's character. That part left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Bong-ki. What can I say about him? Lee Min-ki is a freakin' riot. He always leaves me with a smile on my face. He has some great comedic timing and his facial expressions are a joy. He always makes me happy while watching him. I'd really like to see him in a serious role. No comedy involved. I wonder if he could pull it off. I think I might Dal Jal's Spring next just so I can get more of LMK. *sigh* How can someone be that cute?

Lee Min Ki

The Princess Hours (궁 (宮) / Goong (Gung) -2006)

2008-12-03T13:12:00.005-06:00

Starring:
Yoon Eun Hye as Shin Chae-kyung
Joo Ji Hoon as Lee Shin
Kim Jeong Hoon as Lee Yul
Song Ji Hyo as Min Hyo-rin
Chae-Kyung's family
Im Ye Jin as Chae-kyung's mother
Kang Nam Gil as Chae-kyung's father
Kim Suk as Shin Chae-joon (younger brother)
Shin's friends
Choi Sung Joon as Kang In
Lee Yong Joo as Jang Kyung
Uhm Sung Mo as Ryu Wan
Chae-kyung's friends
Jun Ji Ae as Lee Kang-hyun
Lee Eun as Kim Soon-young
Dan Ji as Yoon Hee-soong
Palace
Kim Hye Ja as the Queen Mother
Yoon Yoo Sun as the Queen
Park Chan Hwan as the King
Lee Yoon Ji as Princess Hye-myung (Shin's sister)
Shim Hye Jin as Lady Hwa-Yong (Yul's mother)

Goong (궁) is based on the same titled manhwa by Park So Hee.

Goong is a story about young love in face of tradition, politics, and intrigue. In the imaginary world, modern-day Korea is a constitutional monarchy and the Royal Family lives in a grand Palace, the Goong. Story opens with the sudden death of the reigning the King. Faced with the decreasing popularity among the public for the Royalty, a grand wedding for the Crown Prince, Lee Shin (Joo Ji Hoon), is decided to be the best publicity move to improve the image of the Royalty and at the same time prepare Shin for immediate succession. The intended bride? The headstrong, awkward, and sweet spirited Shin Chae-kyung (Yoon Eun Hye) that just happens to go to the same exclusive art school. Chae-kyung was betrothed to become the next Crown Princess by her grandfather and Shin's grandfather.

After 14 years of living in England with his mom, Lee Yul (Kim Jeong Hoon) appears all of a sudden. He is Shin's cousin as well as the former Crown Prince. Everything seemed to be going normally until Chae-kyung's optimistic spirit wins the heart of internally lonely, Yul. As the Crown Prince Shin and simple-minded Chae-kyung's relationship appear to developing deeper feelings, a series of scandals are exposed to the public right after the pair were officially announced married. Will love prevail all in a world of political pressures and martial hardships? Or will being in the spotlight of the public be too much for the young newlyweds to endure?
This drama is probably one of the best to come out of Korea. And probably the most popular too! I'll admit I loved this one. I actually watched it again last week.....all the way through but skipped parts that bored me. I didn't really care about who was going to get the throne and the crazy Queen wannabe. I think I am not the only one who thought this way. The main gist of the story was about the Crown Prince and his bride.

This story was so touching and hilarious at the same time. Yes, it had its Korean moments when you want to change the scene quick but in all the whole entire form of this drama was exceptional in every way. It brought tears and laughs. And it made those of us who had forgotten Cinderella, that dreams can come true.

I need to say this. Out of all the dramas, including Japanese and Chinese/Taiwanese, this drama had the freakin' best kissing scene ever! Not those damn pressed lips that are touching. No. This looked and felt like a real kiss and nothing left to the imagination. I could watch that scene in itself over and over and over and over and over and over again. My heart melted. The romance between the two seemed believable.

Okay, I do have one question from the end. What?????? Ummm?????? When did they "do" it? LOL! The ending was truly wonderful because they closed the ending. More than just a promise but vows were made. Now that was a truly deep and loveable drama. Indeedy do.

Joo Ji Hoon

Exhibition of Fireworks (불꽃놀이 / Bool-kkot-nol-i -2006)

2008-12-03T12:52:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Han Chae Young as Shin Na Ra / Shin Na Kyung (Cosmetic beauty counselor)
Kang Ji Hwan as Nah In Jae (Cosmetic gallery manager)
Park Eun Hye as Chae Mi-rae (Head of the cosmetic store management team)
Yoon Sang Hyun as Kang Seung-woo (CPA, Nah-ra’s ex-boyfriend)
Park Jung Soo as Nah In Jae's mother
Kim So Yun as Shin Na Kyung (the real 20 year-old sister)
Park Geun Hyung as Shin Na Ra's father
Kim Chang Sook (김창숙) as Choi Soon Young (Shin Na Ra's mother)
Kim Joo Hyun (김주현)

Shin Na Ra, a woman who is almost thirty welcomes her boyfriend of ten years back from his business trip. During their dinner, he tells her that he not only had an affair but fell in love with another woman. Thus their relationship is no more. To make herself feel better, Na Ra drinks a large amount of alcohol and unknowingly dropped the ring her ex-boyfriend gave her into a random stranger’s cup. The stranger, In-Jae, drinks the shot without seeing the ring and both of them end up in the hospital.

To support herself, Na Ra pretends to be her 20 years old sister in order to work as a cosmetic clerk at Mi-Rae (the woman her ex-boyfriend fell in love with)’s shop but fate has brought In-Jae to the shop to. Thus began their surprising journey of love, where In-Jae is in love with Mi-Rae too.

This is my second time watching this. I've been terribly bored lately and have been searching high-n-low for dramas that I had like before. This one I couldn't remember exactly if I did or not. I just remember the main actor was a cutie.

This was a typical Korean drama. One exception. The female antagonist was a little more overbearing. So much so that I really wanted to wring her neck. She started out as a sort of sweet girl and then totally lost it! She did things that most female antagonists would think of but not carry off. This character I really didn't like at all. And to think she was the girl I fell in love with in Witch Yoo-hee. Ugh!

The best moment out of whole show.....hehe!

The ending was typically uneventful. For a romance, you would think they would have sealed this with a kiss or a promise. I felt I was left hanging. Not even a freakin' hug. I think this could have been a better drama if they toned down the female antagonists character and had the leads show a little more love. I felt the romance but it was too late at the end.

In all though, the story was interesting and there enough funny moments to keep me interested but it slowed down nearing the end. I just wanted more........................

Kang Ji Hwan

Lovers (연인 -2006)

2008-11-23T14:15:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Kim Jung Eun as Yoon Mi Joo
Lee Seo Jin as Ha Kang Jae
Kim Kyu Ri as Park Yu Jin
Jung Chan as Kang Sae Yeon
Extended Cast
Lee Han as Tae San (Kang Jae's left-hand man)
Yun Mi Joo as Choi Yoon (Sae Yeon's secretary)
Lee Ki Young as Uhm Sang Taek (Kang Jae's right-hand man)
Park In Hwan as Reverend Yoon Mok Sa (Mi Joo's dad)
Choi Ha Na as Hong Soon Jung (Mi Joo's roommate)
Yoo Jung Hyun as Seol Won Chul (Mi Joo's hospital boss)
Choi Il Hwa as Kang Choong Shik (Mr. Kang)
Yang Geum Suk as Jung Yang Geum (Mr. Kang's wife/Sae Yeon's mom)
Kim Roe Ha (김뢰하) as Nam Chang Bae (gangster)
Jang Hang Sun
Kim Ki Bang

Kang Jae is a wealthy businessman and gangster and Mi Joo is a plastic surgeon. These two meet after Mi Joo mistakens Kang Jae as being her sleazy brother-in-law. Kang Jae just happens to be the boyfriend of Mi Joo's pregnant neighbor, Yoo Jin. Sae-yeon meets Mi-Joo and falls in love with her feisty attitude. Kang-Jae works for the father of Sae-Yeon who is a gangster. Mi-Joo and Kang-Jae fall in love.

I have now officially found another favorite Korean drama. This one didn't disappoint me at all. This was wonderful. This will be placed in my top 5 list, for sure. *How many do I have in my top 5 list?*

I don't even know how to explain how awesome this show is. You just have to see it to believe it. It had just enough comedy to keep you from being bored. Yes. there might have been a few slow parts but the freakin' comedy from Kim Jeong Eun was amazing. She was a hoot and a half. Lee Seo Jin was hotness to the highest power. Geez, the story was just full of martial arts action. So in a nutshell......action, comedy, romance, drama....everything you could ever want. Lee Han was cute as the left-hand man to Kang-jae. His indifference to Mi-joo's friend and roommate was just too good.

This is a definite must see. PLEASE! See it. God, I just want to watch it again. Right now. It was that good!

Bara no nai Hanaya (薔薇のない花屋 -2008)

2008-11-23T13:52:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Katori Shingo as Shiomi Eiji
Takeuchi Yuko as Shirato Mio
Shaku Yumiko as Ono Yuki
Matsuda Shota as Kudo Naoya
Motokariya Yuika as Shizuku's mother
Bito Isao as Hirakawa Tatsumi
Terajima Susumu as Shijo Kengo
Ikeuchi Junko as Hishida Keiko
Miura Tomokazu as Anzai Teruo
Yagi Yuki as Shiomi Shizuku
Imai Yuki as Hirota Shogo
Supporting Cast
Aoki Shinsuke (ep1)
Funaki Sachi (舟木幸) (ep1)
Nishiyama Sosuke (ep1)
Sekiya Kento (関谷賢斗) (ep1)
Chijiwa Yoshiyuki (千々和義之) (ep1)
Hanako (はなこ) (ep1,4)
Isono Arisa (磯野光沙) (ep1)
Kawanishi Mizuki (河西泉妃) (ep1)
Matsumoto Hinano (松本妃奈乃) (ep1)
Morimoto Seina (森本聖菜) (ep1)
Abe Ayuha (阿部歩羽) (ep1)
Tada Hikaru (多田煌琉) (ep1)
Kyo Nobuo (ep2)
Minami Yoshiko (南風佳子) (ep2)
Abe Minami (阿部未菜美) (ep2,4,7,10-11)
Ebisawa Kanna (海老沢神菜) (ep2,4,6,10-11)
Ueyama Naomi (上山奈織美) (ep2,4,10-11)
Yonezawa Shiori (米澤史織) (ep2)
Mihara Iona (三原伊織奈) (ep2)
Kawakura Keizo (川倉けいぞう) (ep2)
Yasuoka Nao (安岡直) (ep2)
Kawachi Namie (河内浪江) (ep2)
Yoneda Takuya (米田拓也) (ep2)
Minami Yoshihiro (南好洋) (ep2)
Urushibata Takeyuki (漆畑武征) (ep2)
Mizusawa Shun (水沢駿) (ep2)
Amano Hiroyuki (ep3-4)
Kubota Maki (ep3)
Izumi Takaomi (和泉貴臣) (ep3)
Watanaka Yuzo (渡仲裕蔵) (ep3)
Ninomiya Satoshi (二宮聡) (ep3)
Nishina Akiko (仁科亜季子) as Anzai Kumiko (ep4,8)
Sakamoto Makoto (ep4)
Takaku Chigusa (高久ちぐさ) (ep4)
Mitsunobu (光宣) (ep4)
Yamanashi Hana (山梨ハナ) (ep4-6)
Dangan Jacky (弾丸ジャッキー) (ep4)
Koichi Mantaro as Hayashi Hisanori (ep6-8)
Sueno Takuma (末野卓磨) (ep7)
Tomioka Masafumi (富岡真史) (ep7)
Izutsu Taichi (井筒太一) (ep7)
Tamayama Tetsuji as Kamiyama Shun (ep8-11)
Nakane Toru as Soma Fuyuhiko (ep9,11)
Maeda Ken (前田健) (ep9)
Matsuda Saki (松田沙紀) (ep9)
Shimazaki Nobuo (嶋崎伸夫) (ep9)
Yoshino Yoshiko (よしのよしこ) (ep9)
Goshu (剛州) (ep10)
Nishikawa Yoshiro (西川洋禄) (ep10-11)

Shiomi Eiji is forced to become a single father when his girlfriend passes away while giving birth to their daughter, Shizuku. Desolate after the loss of the woman he loved, Eiji has little time or desire to even consider remarrying, working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The one thing that gives meaning and joy to his life is Shizuku, but even that begins to trouble him when Shizuku begins acting strange, hiding her face by putting a cloth over her head when around other people.

One day after opening his flower shop, Eiji comes across a blind woman standing by the door, taking shelter from the rain. When he invites her to come inside the shop, she at first refuses, but later gives in to Eiji's kindness. They become intimate friends and she slowly grows to depend on Eiji's sincerity and goodheartedness. After rescuing her a following evening when she walks into the street and is nearly struck by traffic, Eiji himself inexplicably discovers the cold of winter that has saddled his heart all these years slowly melting away...

This was an absolutely, wonderful, exciting, suspensful, fulfilling drama. OMG! Totally loved this. Okay, let's not forget that Shota-kun and my favorite actor of all-time Tetsuji-kun were in it. Some serious eye-candy for me. No joke.

Why, oh why, is my Tetsuji-kun always a bad guy? He sort of redeemed himself at the end but yet......I just wanted to jump through the screen and plant a wet-juicy one on him.

This story was a serious tear jerker with a happy ending. I won't lie....as you all who have read my blog know....I'm a big wuss. LOL!

There were a few parts that were slow but the show never lost its quality. Shota-kun was awesome as the young, immature Baka! I wasn't sure how they could redeem him from his orneryness at the beginning. But, his story came out well in the end. Ahhh.....KOI.

All the characters were well played. I loved them all. Really a truly touching, loving story.

Matsuda Shota

Super Rookie (신입사원 / Shin-ip Sa-won -2005)

2008-11-23T13:33:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Eric as Kang Ho
Han Ga In as Lee Mi-ok
Oh Ji Ho as Park Bong-sam
Lee So Yeon as Suh Hyun-ah
Extended Cast
Jung Jin as Joo Sung-tae (Kang Ho's friend)
Park Chil Yong as Kang Chul (Kang Ho's dad)
Park Hye Sook as Gong Hye-ja (Kang Ho's mom)
Suh Dong Won as Kang Min (Kang Ho's younger brother)
Kwon Ki Sun as Madam Kwon
Yang Hee Kyung as Madam Yang
Kim Young Min as Lee Il-man (Bong-sam's dad)
Kim Se Joon as Chief Moon Young-ho
Lee Ki Young as Chief Goo Bon-chul
Kim Il Woo as Director Song
Lee Ki Yeol as Director Kim Ki-yeol
Kaekeumaen Kim Sook as Agent Na Aeri
Yoo Da Young as Oh Young-ran
Lee Seung Chul as Chairman Maruyama
Suh Bum Sik as Miyazaki
Kim Hun Goo as Yakuza
Jung Joon Ha as Kochi
Kim Sook as Sook-hee

Super Rookie (신입사원: rookie employee) is an intelligent comedy which gives hope and courage to young people going through difficult times.

It is a story of a young man (Kang Ho) who gets a job in a prestigious company due to a computer error. He doesn't have a great family or educational background and is regarded as a slacker in the traditional terms. Worst yet, he seems to spend his life devoted to reading comic books, playing cards, kick boxing, and the like. However he is spirited, street smart, athletic, loyal, and charismatic - especially with the ladies. The drama reveals how he gets his new job, his work-life, and the love and passions in his life in a very interesting way. He never gets discouraged despite all of life’s difficulties. Kang Ho’s high spirits and Mi-ok’s efforts to improve her life give today’s younger generation a chance to look at their own lives and ponder what’s truly valuable.

Source: MBC Global Media

Okay, I loved AND hated this show. This really started out with promise. I was hooked until episode 15 and then got so damn bored that I stopped watching it. So I can't give you my opinion about the end but if it's anywhere near what I went through at episode 15. It was boring as hell.

Where were they going with this story? Was this supposed to be a romance? If it was.....it failed miserably. She, Mi-ok, couldn't seem to figure out who she really loved. I was going for Eric's character. But both mail leads were pretty damn hot....so either or would have been fine. But this wishy-washy storyline was absolute torture.

The only fine point out of this story......Kang-ho's brother. He was absolutely perfect in every freakin' way. I laughed uncontrollably when it came to him and his interactions with Kang-ho. Oh, it was freakin' funny! I so loved him. They should have had the show revolve around him. I'd have probably stuck it till the end.

Okay, I have heard about the ending. Sounds cute but yet I can't bring myself to torture for another 5 episodes. Sorry.

Oh Ji Ho

Baby and Me (Ahgiwa Na / 아기와 나 -2008)

2008-11-20T13:13:00.002-06:00

Starring:
Geun-seok Jang - Joon-soo
Byeol Kim - Byeol Kim
Mason Mun - Woo-ram Han (baby)
Supporting Cast
Myeong-su Park - voice of Woo-ram
Jeong-nan Kim - Ms. Cho (Joon-soo's Teacher)
Byeong-ok Kim - Joon-soo's father
Hyeon-suk Park - Joon-soo's mother
Gyu-su Jeong - Byeol's father
Jeong-hee Jang - Byeol's mother
Jae-han Choi - Jun-seong
Se-hong Jeon
Kwang-rok Oh - older man trying to abandon his baby
Mun-shik Lee - Subway attendant (standing by locker)

Joon-soo is the kingpin of the Myungsung High School and an all around troublemaker who makes his parents even leave home in desperation. While shopping for a party at his now-empty home, he discovers a baby sitting in his shopping cart, with a name tag "Han Wooram" which points to Joon-soo as his father ...

Hmmm? This movie started off really cute and funny but it lost something near the end. I'm not saying this is a bad movie not at all. It was quite good but the ending just didn't satisfy me.

Was there supposed to be a romance going on between Joon-su and the girl? I really didn't see where she was supposed to be in the story except as his personal babysitter. That was just a waste of talent. Yeah, definitely. I was really hoping more from them both in that aspect.

I will admit I liked the twist at the end when we find out who the "real" father was. Wasn't really expecting that. That was really good how they through that in there.

Anyway, I was hoping for more out the ending but it was cute and sweet anyway. I cried a bit. Okay? There.

Jang Geun Seok

Lucky me! I share the exact same birthday as Geun-seok! Well, not exactly....different years. I won't say the age difference. *bummer*

My Name is Kim Sam-Soon (내 이름은 김삼순 / Nae I-reum-eun Kim Sam-soon -2005)

2008-11-13T11:28:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Kim Sun Ah as Kim Sam-soon
Hyun Bin as Hyun Jin-heon
Jung Ryu Won as Yoo Hee-jin
Daniel Henney as Dr. Henry Kim
Extended Cast
Kim Ja Ok as Park Bong-sook (Sam-soon's mom)
Lee Ah Hyun as Kim Yi-young (Sam-soon's sister)
Na Moon Hee as Na Hyun-sook (Jin-heon's mom)
Suh Ji Hee as Hyun Mi-joo (Jin-heon's niece)
Yoon Ye Hee as Yoon Hyun-sook
Lee Kyu Han as Min Hyun-woo
Lee Yoon Mi as Jang Chae-ri
Yeo Woon Kye as Ms. Oh
Kwon Hae Hyo as Lee Hyun Moo (chef)
Han Yeo Woon as Lee In-hye
Kim Hyun Jung as Jang Young-ja

Kim Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On Christmas Eve, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo (Lee Kyu Han), cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. On that same night, she accidentally went into the men's restroom and met Hyun Jin Hun (Hyun Bin), a somewhat callous fellow but sometimes considerate guy. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant's chief baker and the two fights like cat and dog. Nevertheless, they started to have feeling for each other and Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun's girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun's ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back.

Episode-by-episode synopses can be found here.

This is an all time favorite of mine. So insanely funny. Kim Sun-ah is the master of comedy. This is my upteenth time to watch this. And for some reason this last time I watched it......Hyun Bin was more attractive than ever. And I will say this......I think he is now on my most favorite list. Why? Maybe I missed something. Or maybe after seeing my "who knows how many" dramas, I've matured in that aspect. Dunno. *shrugs*

If there is any Korean drama to start with, next to Full House, this is the one. You can't go wrong with this one at all. So much hilarity, sense, originality (one of the few that started the gourmet/cooking genre) and real love.

Ohhhh, those kissable Hyun Bin lips. Yep, definitely on my favorite list.

Another reason I really liked this one. The love triangle/quadrangle wasn't intense. The relationships were respectable and real like. A few twists but that was okay.

The best part out of the whole series........watching Kim Sun-ah have English conversations with Daniel Henney. OMG! The most hilarious sh** that I have ever watched. Insane funny.

Hyun Bin

Daniel Henney

Marmalade Boy (橘子醬男孩 / Ju Zi Jiang Nan Hai -2002)

2008-11-13T11:10:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Stella Huang as Guang Xi
Ken Zhu as Yuu
Zeng Guo Cheng as Ren
Guo Ching Chun as Liu Mei
Zhang Zhi Wei as Yao Shi
Er Shu Ru as Qianlizi
Gina Lin as Mingzi
Gao Hao Jun as Yin Tai
Ling Li Fei as Yalishi
Wu Zhong Tian as Xiao Ming
Joyce Ni
Kimi Hsia

Xiao Shi Chuan Guang Xi finds her life turned upside down, when her parents return from a trip to Hawaii only to tell her that they are getting a divorce. They explain that while they were there that they had met another couple, the Song Pu family, fallen in love, and now decided that each couple would breakup and switch partners. Guang Xi is understandably upset. The whole situation makes no sense to her, and she doesn’t want to see her family broken apart. But if that wasn’t crazy enough, her parents tell her, so that she will not miss having both parents around her, that they, along with the other couple and their son You, would be moving together into a big house making them one big happy family. Needless to say, Guang Xi is not happy about the situation at all, though she does find You to be attractive, a fact that doesn’t escape the notice of her jealous friend, Yin Tai, who has liked her for years, or of Yalishi, You’s ex-girlfriend……
Based off of the acclaimed manga Marmalade Boy by Wataru Yoshizumi

Another one of my previous mistakes in thinking this was a waste of my time. The first episode, I admit, threw me. It was stupid!!!! That's why I've skipped this so many freakin' times. I've been so bored recently waiting for all my newer dramas to be updated that I'm rehashing old dramas and reconsidering some. This one being one of them.

Besides the first episode being stupid, from that point on.......it was really good. Really! Better than what I expected. I liked it so much that I actually hooked up the manga to read.

Surprisingly, as I've told many (I should listen to my own advice....shouldn't I?) that to watch atleast the first two apisodes before making a final decision. This one I didn't and blew off for soooooooo long. *ashamed*

The acting wasn't great but the story itself kept me interested. Original storyling for sure. Definitely worth watching...even if its for Ken Zhu.

Ken Zhu

Battery (バッテリー -2008)

2008-11-13T10:46:00.003-06:00

Starring:
Nakayama Yuma as Harada Takumi
Takada Sho as Nagakura Go
Morimoto Shintaro as Harada Seiha
Saito Yuki
Horibe Keisuke
Miyazaki Karen (宮崎香蓮)
Nagashima Shugo as Sawaguchi Fumito
Matsukawa Naruki
Kim Ji Sun (김지순, ちすん)
Nakao Mie (中尾ミエ)
Ishibashi Renji
Kajiwara Hikari (梶原ひかり)
Chihara Koji

A story about a teenage pitcher and catcher who develop a firm friendship through their battery. Harada Takumi, an aloof junior high school boy who has a great arm, meets Nagakura Go, who can catch Takumi's fastball. Together, they build up a trusting relationship among the teammates. --NHK

Another story about baseball. Hmm? I guess the twist on this story was about the relationship between pitcher and catcher. I will say that this story, out of all the baseball stories so far, touched me the most. Why? I used to be a member of a battery. I was a catcher. If you don't understand or trust "your other half", then there is no battery. As I catcher, I believed in my pitcher and I believe she trusted me.

So this story really delved into my heart. Then almost every episode I had to look back to my high school years and remember................

There wasn't any overly dramatic scenes or exceptional performances. This wouldn't get an Oscar or Emmy (in the Japanese equivalent). But for some reason, I will download this and keep. It really touched me here.......<3

Nakayama Yuma

Cute kid!!!