Happy 2014!

New Year, New Goals

       I hope everyone has a great 2014. 2012 and 2013 have been the hardest couple of years of my life thus far but I am determined to make 2014 and the years after great. I plan to put up best and worst drama lists as well as more reviews and finish up challenges that I've started. 2013 was a great year for dramas and I am still finishing up some. I have also started making youtube videos reviewing dramas and will post those at least once a week.

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-25th Genre

Crime

God's Quiz

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-24th Genre

Psychological

White Christmas

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-23rd Genre

Political

Everything About My Relationship

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-22nd Genre

  

Supense

Who Are You

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-21st Genre

Music

Monstar

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-20th Genre

Detective

Cruel City

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-19th Genre

Historical

Jang Ok Jung: Live in Love

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-18th Genre

Thriller

Two Weeks

52 Week Drama Challenge: Week 51-52

  

Week 51

White Christmas

9/10

Week 52

Reply 1994

8/10

Asian Drama Review: Heirs

Heirs

Score: 6/10

Country: South Korea

Number of  Episodes: 20

Episode Length: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Air Date: October 9, 2013

     Heirs was arguably the most hyped and anticipated drama of the year. It had a lot going for it-it starred Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, was written by Kim Eun Sook (who wrote Secret Garden) and was being called the next Boys Over Flowers. It had so much potential but ultimately failed to live up to it's own hype. I felt that the cast was excessively large and there were too many characters, they are thrown into the mix but ultimately are not utilized well enough or their individual stories given enough focus. The plot was nothing new and combined with poor pacing made the drama a boring affair. There are cute and funny moments throughout but not enough to make up for all the negative aspects that brought the drama down. I really like Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, I've seen them in a few dramas and I always enjoy their performances but I felt that they constantly play similar roles. I believe that they are capable of much better and I wish that they would take on more varied and challenging characters.  

60 Day Asian Drama Challenge: Day 15

Your Favorite Actor?

Hyun Bin

      Hyun Bin is one of my favorite actors of all time, not just my favorite Asian drama actor. He is the main reason that I am now completely obsessed with Korean dramas all thanks to his role as Joo Won in Secret Garden. I have watched him in more dramas and movies since and I have yet to be disappointed.

2014 Drama Goals

Goal #1

Finish All On-Hold Dramas Before Starting a New One

      I am horrible about starting multiple dramas at once and although I never drop dramas, I do have quite a lot I have yet to complete. I plan to complete all my unfinished dramas before starting any new ones. That was one of my resolutions for this year and I totally failed so I am going to really try to accomplish this task next year. I will list all the dramas and my progress thus fa, as I finish each subsequent one I will make a new post with mini review. I have 41 dramas currently uncompleted so I probably won't watch anything new until April or May. That will kill me a little on the inside but I really want to finish all these dramas before the list gets too out of hand.

On Hold Dramas

1. A Step Into the Past (4/40)
2. Absolute Boyfriend (2/13)
3. Autumn's Concerto (3/21)
4. The Best Lee Soon Shin (8/50)
5. Boy and Girl (1/23)
6. Inborn Pair (10/84)
7. It Started With a Kiss (8/30)
8. Itazura na Kiss (3/16)
9. Ja Myung Go (2/39)
10. Haeundae Lovers (2/16)
11. Love at First Fight (1/33)
12. Fated to Love You (6/24)
13. Gu Am Heo Joon (9/135)
14. MARS (10/21)
15. Meteor Garden 2 (2/31)
16. My Daughter Seoyoung (2/50)
17. My Lucky Stars (8/20)
18. The Legend (3/24)
19. Sukeban Deka (3/24)
20. Say That You Love Me (16/32)
21. Rich Man, Poor Woman (2/11)
22. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (26/49)
23. Orange Days (1/11)
24. Happy Michelin Kitchen (6/32)
25. Hana Kimi (7/15)
26. When Love Walked In (7/32)
27. Vampire Prosecutor (2/12)
28. Unstoppable High Kick (2/167)
29. Tiamo Chocolate (7/80)

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-17th Genre

Family

Manny

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-16th Genre

Action

Level 7 Civil Servant

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-15th Genre

Drama

Secret Love

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-14th Genre

Tragedy

A Love to Kill

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-13th Genre

Supernatural

The Master's Sun

2013 K-Drama Challenge: Genre Edition-12th Genre

Mystery

Nine: Nine Times Time Travels

52 Week Drama Challenge: Week 42-50

Week 42

Yankee-kun to Megane-chan

7/10

      A super cute and funny jdrama about school and friendship with a hint of romance.

Week 43

Soulmate

7/10

     Interesting and adult kdrama about love and relationships but I didn't like any of the female leads.

Week 44

Tumbling

9/10

      An inspirational jdrama about friendship and sports. I cried, I laughed and I cheered.

Week 45

Last Cinderella

8/10

     Funny and romantic jdrama about a romance between a young man and an older woman.

Week 46

Secret Love

9/10

    An amazing kdrama about a woman who takes the fall for her boyfriend's hit and run and the man whose girlfriend was killed in the accident. The story was great, the pacing was good and the chemistry between the leads was superb but unfortunately the ending left me underwhelmed. 

Week 47

In Time With You

9/10

     Wonderful Taiwanese drama about a great friendship that becomes something more.

Week 48

Manny

7/10

     A cute kdrama about a male nanny and the family he moves in with. The kids were adorable and the male lead was delicious but the story became a bit frustrating near the end without a proper conclusion. 

Week 49

Lie to Me

5/10

      A super popular kdrama, Lie to Me failed on so many levels. The main characters were inconsistent and bipolar, the story dragged for most of the second half and plot just wasn't that interesting. The kiss scenes are amazing and the leads had great chemistry but everything else was a complete mess.

Week 50

Level 7 Civil Servant

7/10

      Decent kdrama that wasn't well received. The lead actress was noticeably older than the age she was portraying, made even more obvious by her much younger co-star but their chemistry made that detail insignificant. The parents of the main characters really brought down the drama with too much screen time given to their incessant bickering and meddling. The story also ran out of steam as it went along but not enough so to hamper my enjoyment.

Fall 2013 Kdramas: Mini-Reviews

Secret/ Secret Love

Episodes Watched: 8

     This is my kdrama crack for fall and I'm loving every episode. Revenge is a common theme in dramas but Secret feels fresh and continually surprises me which few dramas tend to do. I love the actors and the story keeps me glued to the screen. 

Heirs/ The Inheritors

Episodes Watched: 4

     The most hyped drama of the year and the most disappointing. It seemed like it was going to be amazing-written by Kim Eun Sook (who wrote Secret Garden), starring Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye who have both been in really popular dramas and have a strong fanbase and it was being hailed as a mixture of Boys Over Flowers (arguably the most popular Korean drama of all time) and Gossip Girl (a popular American tv show). I went in with low expectations but I still ended up confused and disappointed by the first episode. The first and most obvious flaw were the American actors, they were all terrible. If you have watched more than 5 Korean dramas then you have probably run across some white actors with terrible acting skills. Although annoying, I find this more acceptable when filming in Korea because it would make sense to have a very small pool of talented actors to pick from. However, Heirs was filmed in America, California no less, and there are many actors available. Another immediate flaw was Lee Min Ho's English, he was supposed to have lived in America for 3 years but I wouldn't have been able to understand what he was saying if it weren't for subtitles. I also am not happy with the extremely large cast, I'm sure as the drama progresses further that I'll be able to distinguish everyone but I just felt that there were way too many characters. Also, I feel like the relationship between the leads is moving a bit fast. Granted it's not completely western because they didn't jump into bed together in the first two episodes but it's still progressing faster than I'm used to in a drama.  I don't hate or dislike this drama despite my many criticisms, I just expected more from the drama than I got. Lee Min Ho isn't my favorite actor but I like him in this so far-he plays a rich guy but he's not a cold arrogant jerk. Park Shin Hye is fine, she's playing a part similar to her other character but it works here. Time will tell how the story plays out but I'm hoping it gets better.

Top Medical Team. Medical Top Team

Episodes Watched: 4

       I wasn't planning on watching this one right away but as soon my cousin (and mini drama partner) heard that Choi Min Ho aka Flaming Charisma would be in it, that was all she wrote.  My first medical drama and I'm, enjoying it so far. I like most of the cast and I'm sure the hospital setting is ripe with story line possibilities.

Reply 1994

Episodes Watched: 2

     I was excited when I heard that they were making another installment in the Reply series because Reply 1997 was my favorite drama from last year. It's a new cast and new story but there are a lot of common elements that tie it to the previous drama-fangirling (basketball players instead of kpop groups), physically abuse female lead, mystery future husband, close friendship between a boy and girl to name a few. It's similar to it's predecessor but not a carbon copy which I appreciate. It's funny, a bit more racy than the average kdrama and surprisingly sweet.

Marry Him if  You Dare

Episodes Watched: 4

      Yoon Eun Hye's dramas are usually hit (Coffee Prince, Goong) or miss (Take Care of the Young Lady, Lie to Me) although I find her to be a good actress. This is yet another time travel drama but it's a bit different than the others-the female lead's future self visits her in the present to change the course of her life. So far the acting is good and the story is interesting. I am suffering from a bad case of second lead shipping at the moment but that may change along the way.

52 Week Drama Challenge: Week 41

Kou Kou Kyoushi 1993

Score: 8/10

Switch Girl!!

Score: 8/10

Switch Girl 2

Score: 7/10

Innocent Lilies

Score: 7/10

60 Day Asian Drama Challenge: Day 14

What Drama(s) Are You Currently Watching?

    

A Step into the Past (2001, Hong Kong)

Asuko March! (2011, Japan)

Bump Off Lover (2006, Taiwan)

Creating Destiny (2009, South Korea)

Dream of the Red Chamber (1987, China)

Goddess of Fire, Jeongi  (2013, South Korea)

Gu Family Book (2013, South Korea)

Inborn Pair (2012, Taiwan)

Innocent Lilies (2013, Japan)

Kou Kou Kyoushi 2003 (2003, Japan)

Lovers (2006, South Korea)

My Daughter Seo Young (2012, South Korea)

Secret (2013, South Korea)

Say That You Love Me (2012, China)

Sukeban Deka (1985, Japan)

Yankee-kum to Megane-chan (2010, Japan)