Ghost-Seeing Detective Cheo Yong Review (SPOILERS)

As Ghost-Seeing Detective Cheo Yong is a cable drama and thereby supposedly  superior in quality and short in episodes, it was an easy fit into last years Cramming In Kdrama. Unfortunately, while it was indeed short in episodes and had a hero who was so beautiful it was distracting it was unfortunately, not superior in quality.

So why, months later, am I choosing to throw it in front of all the other dramas I’m supposed to review? News came down the kdrama pipeline that they are making a season two. My thoughts? What the freaking fudge? COME ON. Out of all the dramas you had last year, including the killer Bad Guys you choose this piece of badly written poo to do a second season?

Okay, that was overly dramatic. The drama isn’t a pile of poo.

Hwai: Monster Boy Review (SPOILERS!)

Its the return of the Korean Movie Night and I’m happy to say, this was was AWESOME! Hwai: Monster Boy is one of those movies where, in the first few minutes, you know you are in for a good time–an incredibly violent time–but still a good time.

I’m not entirely sure where to start on this. The acting? The storytelling? All was exceptional.

Lets go with plot. A brutal gang of five men kidnap a boy and, unsure of what to do with him, decide to raise him as their own. The story restarts when the boy is seventeen, has five ‘fathers’, and has been trained to be a killer. When the fathers force him to join them on a job, he finds out who he really is, and begins to extract his revenge.

Woah. That’s a lot to take in.

Somewhere Only We Know Review (Spoilers)

I was a super, duper lucky dog and Lady G of the Kfangirl blog offered me up a ticket for the Chinese movie Somewhere Only We Know, which is now playing here on the big screen. Funnily enough, I had been chatting with friends earlier that same day and one said, “I want to see that movie with Kris Wu, he’s supposed to be a dad.” And I was all, “Umm….isn’t he like five himself?” Who knew, just 24 hours later I’d be sitting in the theater watching that same exact movie.

Going in, I really wanted to like this movie because it was like a little present to me, but in all honesty I didn’t. I sat there, in the theater, wanting to love it, wanting to be enveloped into the story, but the story would turn, make a narrative leap, assume an emotional attachment with the audience it hadn’t earned, and I couldn’t get absorbed at all.

And before I go any further, to any fangirl reading this, no, it’s not because I don’t like EXO. Kris Wu was actually really good in the movie, I just wish he’d had a better conceived script to work with. Also, by the sounds of the awkward, inappropriate laughter around me by actual fangirls, I was not alone.

Healer: A Romance Addicts Paradise

I have no problem admitting I’m a romantic sap. I’m one of those people who likes the way romantic Kdramas focus in on handholding and longing glances and back hugs. It’s adorable. And I melt into a puddle at the sight of a passionate Kdrama kiss. So, I was in Kdrama heaven with Healer. Let’s start with the premise of the story.

A Brief Word About the Premise….

Ji Chang Wook is “Healer”, a night courier/errand boy who (for an appropriate price) will complete any task, as long as it’s not connected with murder. Healer is a superhero of sorts, so there is definitely some action in this show, as well as romance. Only a couple people know Healer’s real identity – his teacher, Ki Yeong Jae (played by Oh Gwang Rok) and his partner, a genius hacker he calls “ahjumma” (aka Kim Mi Kyung). However, there are organizations that are “out to get him” either for what he knows or for what he’s done. One of the tasks he is hired for puts him in contact with Chae Young Shin (played by Park Min Young), a young girl who is a tabloid reporter. This show tells the story of their relationship and how they discover their common past, including a mystery about their parents and the friends of their parents.

Love Sick: The Series Review (Spoilers)

I talked a little bit in my last post on Crazy about this drama, Thai Dramas, Not My Cup Of Tea, which I’ll repost here on the new site. As more and more time passes between me and the watching of this drama, I’m looking fonder upon it. Figuring it was best to bang out a review before my rose-colored glasses of nostalgia renders everything with a rosy, “wasn’t that so freaking cute” glow, I sat down to work.

Although, in all honestly, it might be a little late for that already.

The glow of love around story is multiplied by the fact that I managed to find someone who is subbing the web book that the story was originally based on. While the storyline sticks fairly close to the source material, there is so much more to the book that I’m really enjoying and makes me love this couple even more.

Although let me tell you, if I get to the end of all this and these two guys don’t get to stay together in the end? There is going to be some first level retribution plotted in my head. Seriously, Noh and Phun are freaking adorable and if they don’t get their happy ending merely on the grounds that they are gay? It will be completely unfair and I will lose all faith in drama-love.

Perhaps I should back up a bit.

Pirates Movie Review (Spoilers)

The other night I was lucky enough to get into the Korean Movie night screening of the giant Korean blockbuster,Pirates. (I’ve learned my lesson from not getting into Roaring Waters, and park my butt in line waaaay before the movie starts.) As the effusive host leaped to the front, he proclaimed we should check our brains at the door.

You know. In a good way.

As I was watching the movie, there were several times when my logical brain tried to fight it’s way to the top, through the laughter, when the first seeds of “Uhhh what the…” attempted to bubble through–but each time I managed to beat it back and remind myself–you know what? Sometimes it’s okay to turn your brain down for a couple of hours and just have a good time.

Answer Me 1997 Review (Spoilers)

When I did the show intro for this post, I was so excited to rewatch. Answer me 1997. While I knew I didn’t love it as much as others do (as it is one of those shows which has received an almost instant cultish following.) I did remember liking it a lot.

In many ways, Answer Me 1997 is unlike other kdramas (thank you cable networks) and is thereby refreshing and deserves to stand out against the others.

With it’s unique editing, sound effects, and non linear storyline, a viewer can’t help but be caught up in this world.

Kimura Takuya: Revisited

A while back, my attention was temporarily diverted from Kdrama and I was swept into the land of the Jdrama. Or I should say, pulled in by a certain actor named Kimura Takuya. After watching him in the drama Pride, I was hooked, and I vowed here to watch everything of his that I could get my hands on. Of course, with my squirrel like attention span, I didn’t quite make it. Partly because I ran out of interest (not because the shows were bad, I just don’t have staying power–it’s why I can’t watch American TV either) and partly because there are just so many of them! Here’s a list of the dramas I made it through and, briefly, my thoughts on each.

Long Vacation

Honestly, I didn’t get much past the first episode on this one. I hated the heroine so much, and when she forced her way to live with the hero, I just couldn’t take it anymore and moved along. Sorry, not even the young Kimura Takyua and his lovely long hair could make me continue with this.

Spotlight On: Kdrama.com

Breaking news! I’m so happy to announce a brand new site for legally streaming kdrama, conveniently named, Kdrama. The site is actually kdrama.com which on the one hand, makes me think, “How cool is that?” and on the other hand, I wonder just how long ago they were able to grab that prime piece of internet real estate. Either way, its cool and easy to remember.

Kdrama is a revamped version of the kdrama site powered by Crunchyroll. With a new focus, they are updating the entire system, bringing on new dramas, and are taking on the daunting task of simulcasting.

Currently simulcasting 7 dramas, their professional translators plan to have the newest episodes subbed and up on their site within 12 hours of their original broadcast in Korea. Current titles include:

Pride Review. (Spoilers. Big Love. Big Rants.)

This is the first time I’ve done a review for a drama without more pomp and circumstance. I just can’t stop thinking about it. I was chatting last night with Cherry Cordial and Thea and when I told them about it, I basically hijacked the entire conversation with my rants. That’s when the thought struck me. Dur. This needs a post. Stat. (Stat being actually two weeks ago when I first started writing this post. I’m such a slacker…)

Completely by accident, I spent this weekend watching Japanese dramas. Now if you know me you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of the J-dramas, so the fact that I found one I enjoyed so much was a complete surprise. However, the fact that I loved the first part of the drama and hated the last few episodes? This, unfortunately, did not surprise me. What up, J-dramas? Why you got to be like that?

But the thing is, when I went to go put a rating for Pride on my Mydramalist, I was torn. As much as I hated where the story went, I loved the beginning just as much. Can I discount the ending for the beginning? Or the other way around?

I get ahead of myself.
Lets take the drama in two parts, so I can squee my head off before getting to the hair pulling.