Reviews

Que Sera Sera is an atypical Korean drama in that it is both mature and intense in the emotions that it evokes.

The plot often turns violent, twisted and sexy as all of the 4 main characters become entangled in this game that is supposedly centered around "love".
The drama challenges you and there are some interesting discussions about this drama on Soompi's forums that are quite interesting to read through. Either you'll love this drama or you will hate it.

There is no stereotypical character. Each and every one of the main characters are imperfect beings, acted to perfection by the actors all across the board.
This drama is also Eric's (Shinhwa) best role to date. His character was hard to really like and his portrayal brought some humanity to his character.

To me, the highlight of this drama was the witty and strong dialogue, compared to other Korean dramas.

All in all, a lovely and intense drama that stands above the other Korean melodramas out there.

Citeste mai mult

So... this drama is FINALLY with subs on dramacrazy, so you can watch it there. YAY ^_^
I read in other reviews, that you can just skip from ep 10 to the end. PLEASE, DONT DO THAT! Actually, the second half of the drama is just the best! You get plenty of romance (plus lots of cute kisses O_o).
But let me start from the beginning.
Story - very original. The mystery in it is really interesting... you just dont know what the hell is going on, or who is the culpit. The romance line is also original - it flows slowly, but later became sooo cute and funny, that you just want mooore! :D
Acting - BEST :D youre gonna love everyone
Rewatch a overall - its great. Im definatelly gonna rewatch it sometimes. I think this is gonna be my favourite drama of all times.

You can not miss it!!!

Citeste mai mult

Stopped halfway: way too frustrating & story that doesn't go anywhere.

I wasn't really convinced by this drama when i read the senario, but seeing how park min young was in it and the positive reviews, i decided to give it a shot. Well after watching the first episode i was glad i did: i though surprisingly it was a very promising start and it got me completely hooked.
But unfortunately, after that one great episode it just gets more and more frustrating, so frustrating that i just couldn't take it anymore and had to stopped. I mean they show us everything in the 1st episode so you want to know how far it will get but after, it just feels like going backwards since the characters keep on doing the stupidest things ever. So we're stuck, the story doesn't get anywhere, on the contrary.
I personally didn't like the 2 male leads either. They get on your nerves, but maybe it has also something to do with the characters they're portraying. Anyway they don't grow on you. As for Park Min Young, for once i didn't like her acting (who doesn't want to pull out her hair every time she smiles like an idiot?)

Anyway, my words may be a little harsh . Of course it's not the worst and has some good points compared with other dramas. Some might even enjoy it. However it was too much of a disappointment : maybe the contrast between its potential and the actual episodes made me lose it. I watched this a month ago but even now i get irritated thinking about it. Too bad because i really felt like this drama had potential: loved the 1st episode and the soundtrack.

Citeste mai mult

I really liked Kurosagi. What hooked me was the manga feel to the writing and episodic set up of the drama. I enjoyed the 'legend' of a swindler of swindlers and Kurosagi's reasons behind becoming who he was. And quite baldly, honestly, Yamashita Tomohisa has never been more handsome than in this drama.

The thing with these 'Avenging Hero' type dramas/stories is the love story orbiting the hero is always a frustrating dance. Perhaps he has been deeply scarred and/or his mission is antithetic to the love that unexpectedly blossoms between the antihero and heroine. Kurosagi is classic in this respect.

Each episode unfolds with Kurosagi swindling a different kind of swindler and it's fun to watch him get into character and pull off his clever cons. I couldn't help but compare this just a bit to Liar Game, in that you have to use your brain and the hero has to work around the trick of the con. I really liked Kurosagi's little personality quirks and his different 'con' personalities.

Having sung it's praises, I still came away from Kurosagi feeling something was missing. It took a little while to put my finger on just why I can't give this drama a 10 but I've figured it out. It feels incomplete. Usually as I watch and then rate Jdramas, the fact they usually only take 9 to 11 episodes to tell the story makes me enjoy them immensely. This speedy and more concise story telling in turn raises the rating for me. But somehow this was not the case with Kurosagi. I felt this story needed more time, more story and I am left unsatisfied.

The acting was great for the most part. Yamashita Tomohisa has impressed me again. I've watched 4 of his dramas now and I really like when he plays more "character" parts like this rather than straight lead (See Buzzer Beat, which I did love). Somehow even with his handsome leading man looks, he feels more like a character actor to me. I liked the lead actress. Some of the secondary characters fell flat for me.

A word about Katsuragi: He is the most original character I've come across in a long time. He was at once; chilling, pathetic, gross, pitiful and scary. He left an impression with me, that is for sure.

The intro song didn't really thrill me but the background song which I will call Kurosagi's 'theme song' was cool. I really dug it.

I am giving the re-watch value a 7 because I think people will want to watch this again. There are already parts I have gone back and watched again.

I recommend this. It's worth your 11 hours. It's fun and if you get into manga turned into live action, I think you will like this.

Citeste mai mult

I'm still giddy from watching the last episode while I'm writing this. Oh my, where do I begin?

The Princess' Man is, as the critics and viewers say, the story of Romeo and Juliet in Joseon style. Moon Chae Won plays Se Ryeong, cousin to the Crown Prince and the Princess Kyung Hye (Hong Soo Hyun).

She is at first betrothed to Kim Seung Yu (Park Shi Hoo)but as things go awry between their fathers, the Grand Prince Su Yang and Kim Jong Seo, they find themselves--and those close to them, inevitably caught in a complicated web of contradictions.

The story is a 9. There are some occasions where I felt the story should've picked up pace especially at those urgent times when it's a matter of life and death. Surprisingly, the side-stories were very well developed and I found the secondary contradictions among the characters much more intense than that of the main one (Se Ryeong-Seung Yu-Su Yang).

I have mixed feelings about the ending. If I had imagined an epic battle scene between Su Yang and Seung Yu, that was a grand, grand illusion. If anybody unlocks the message they were trying to convey at the ending, please tell me. As of press time, my brain can't decipher.

The acting is a 9. The cast did an amazing performance. Among those that really shone in this series are

Hong Soo Hyun for her terrific portrayal of the Princess Kyung Hye--reinventing herself at every turn: a cold princess, an unwilling bride, a woman slowly falling in love, a passionate wife and a calm, collected mother.

Lee Min Woo as the reliable Prince Consort Jung and BFFs to Shin Myun and Seung Yu

Song Jong Ho for his exceptional performance as the ever-tormented and tragic Shin Myun

Kim Yeong Cheol as the terrifying Grand Prince Su Yang, father to Se Ryeong

Park Shi Hoo and Moon Chae Won gave off sparks and did generally well although I felt she was a tad short on facial expressions for a number of emotions she had to portray. (And somehow, I could not appreciate her calling him 'seonsangnim' at the end...come to think of it, did you hear him say her name ever?)

Rewatch value and Overall: Solid 9. If you want a saeguk that tightly focuses on the love story and not so much on politics and war tactics, The Princess' Man is highly rewatchable.

Citeste mai mult

Personal Taste is one of the most romantic dramas I’ve ever seen; however, it’s far from being the best. This show had so much potential and could have been very good if only it were much shorter.

One strength its strengths lies in its characters. The main and the supporting characters are very likable, and the villain(ess) is truly hateful. At first, I really disliked the female lead as she is incredibly pathetic and has no self-respect; however, she grew on me after a while. The personalities of the hero and heroine are a stark contrast with each other, but because of the situations, you'll understand why they fall in love (unlike some dramas that will bewilder you how a very handsome guy suddenly falls in love with a plain girl).

Because it starts out rather slow, it will not completely engage you right away even though it has a promising story and some hilarious moments. As the story progresses, the thrill heightens. Then suddenly all that excitement grinds to a halt after episode 10. Then a series of wearisome, overly dramatic episodes follow.

The ending is ok but could have been better. It would also have been more delightful if it had stayed lighthearted all throughout, but Korean dramas usually follow a formula where after episode 12, the characters have a fight or a misunderstanding and have to separate no matter how contrived the conflict is. Despite all my complaints about this series, I’m giving it a high rewatch value for episodes 3-10; I really liked these episodes and have watched them a few times over the years. On the whole, it is still a good drama that is worth watching.

Citeste mai mult

I would have loved to give this show a higher score, but there were just too many things that got on my nerves far too often! Choi Siwon is my favorite Korean celebrity, so he's the only reason I decided to watch the show. But there were many times I had to stop and take a break. It took me months to watch it all. Sometimes it was because things had just slowed down too much.

But mostly it was because of Lee Siyoung's character. I don't think I've ever seen such a pathetic, stupid and aggravating female lead - especially in an action drama. I remember stopping the media player on many occasions just completely overwhelmed with how annoying that character was. I mean, usually in action dramas I've seen (like Iris...which might be why I was so dissatisfied) the female lead has some spunk and is actually intelligent. But this character was so weak and just kept making absolutely idiotic decisions which could never have been made in a real life situation. I enjoy the fantasy of dramas and can take a sufficient amount of ludicrous scripting knowing it's not real. But this character would NEVER EVER exist in a real criminal investigation. Granted it was the script that did that, but Lee Siyoung comes off as a weak actress to me as well. I will avoid anything she does in the future because of this performance. She's the reason why I can't give a higher acting and overall score because that character just left a sour taste in my mouth after every single episode.

The plot was not too bad. The story was very different from what I've seen in the past. In fact, there were some really nice twists at the end too. There are also a lot of deep emotions in the story, which are expressed well enough by the actors. On a few occasions the acting was quite superb. I do recommend the show to anyone who wants to watch Choi Siwon's development as a actor; he was quite good in a number of scenes. Most of the actors were pretty good actually. Recognizing the comic relief characters early on helped me to be less judgmental of their odd performances and to enjoy them for what they were. A lot of the older male actors were quite good, especially the villains.

The timing and directing at times was unbearable. Especially in the lagging middle of the show and the last 30 minutes of the finale. A number of plot points and characters were never given the attention they deserved, or introduced just to be summarily forgotten about or never resolved in the end. But it's K-Drama, so a certain amount of that is to be expected.

There were some very memorable songs in the show though. Super Junior's Kyuhyun sings a great ballad. During the sappy "love" scenes, his voice got me through it! :)

I'd never rewatch this drama. And I'd only recommend it to die-hard K-Drama Action lovers (for the plot's uniqueness and for the quality of the villains) or for anyone who wants to really trace Choi Siwon's acting. Oh My Lady! wasn't so good...But I'm happy to say that after watching Poseidon, you can see he's got some real acting talent somewhere in him. When that talent came out on occasion, it was really surprising and enjoyable to watch.

So watch it if you planned to...but don't be too surprised when it really sucks for a while at least once an episode.

Then again, if you're a more forgiving person (especially when it comes to disappointing and annoying female leads), you'd probably quite like Poseidon!

Citeste mai mult

Paradise Ranch is the one of the more obscure dramas that I enjoyed watching. I had pretty low expectations when I started watching it, but it was surprisingly amusing and touching as well.

What you might like about it
• The theme - rekindling lost love
• The love triangle/polygon situation
• The attractive male leads

What might put you off
• The charmless female lead (who is actually supposed to be charming in the story even though she’s simple)
• The setting (the ranch) though different, may not be appealing

Though the story is highly formulaic and abundant with sappiness, this show does not fail to excite. And unlike some Korean series that get intolerably boring in the middle, this one doesn’t. While I didn’t exactly love every minute of it, I didn’t really feel the need to skip episodes. The plot can sometimes be unconvincing, but I’ve already trained myself to overlook absurdities in Korean and Japanese dramas, so I am able to find delight in absence of logic.

Citeste mai mult

This has all the elements for melodrama, from story to character graphs. The story, along with the poster image of the couple with the cute boy is what initially interested me in the drama.

The drama delivers on the story. The characters are interesting and even those we come to dislike are shown to have a different side to them.

Through most of the series, you feel sorry for the male lead, for what he goes through. But, in a gratifying sense, when he figures it all out, his reaction and the questions he asks are the very same ones that's been running in our mind until then.
The kid is very cute and has been used to obvious advantage throughout.

Another character that leaves an impression is that of Guang Xi's mother who is antagonistic from the beginning but gets a 180degree change in character later on.

The one problem I had with this drama is that I didn't like the character of the female lead for almost all of the drama. Most of the time, Mu Cheng acted like a damsel in distress, like she needed saving from someone or something. There was some level of sincerity to the character in the first part of the drama which is lost and I couldn't recover it in the latter half. I think all the lies and denial got to me.

The actors (save for the female lead for lack of expressions) are pretty good. The photogenic moments they show in the OST are beautiful but aren't really very significant moments in the drama itself.

The drama in all is very watchable for the situations and overall feel.

Citeste mai mult

I will start by saying what I liked most about this drama was Gong Yoo. I loved him so much in coffee prince, that I just wanted to see him in something else. I couldn't help but be charmed by him as Tae In. The character was so sweet, playful, and heartbreaking all at once. It's his character that kept me watching.

I thought Gong Hyo Jin played her role well too, and loved the chemistry between Na Bori & Tae In, but I didn't exactly love her character. Na Bori was frustrating to watch at times, often silly, and towards the end I found her actions to be almost mean. I also wasn't impressed by the chemistry between her and Ji Hyun Woo. Kim Da Hyun was so passive that he was boring, and they never had any great romantic moments together. There's one scene that I think was supposed to be touching, but I think he came across more as a creepy stalker.

Another thing that I didn't particularly like were all the class subplots. Their stories were sometimes sweet, but usually corny, and often felt like time fillers. I can't say that I honestly cared about any of those characters except for Choi Yeo Jin, who was a more interesting rival than Kim Da Hyun.

In spite of the slightly taboo topic, this is a very basic romance, with family disapproval, and love squares that you've very likely have seen before. There are many Tae in scenes that I could see myself watching again, but not much else. Gong Yoo is the main reason I would ever recommend this drama. His transformation from a troubled and rebellious teen to a maturing young man, and his struggle to deal with his forbidden love, was truly an impressive performance.

Citeste mai mult

Let me start off by prefacing that I never write reviews but I noticed that no one has reviewed this drama & felt I had to rectify that glaring omission.

I stumbled across this drama never thinking I would really like it that much I had read the synopsis in MDL & was intrigued, anyway I was hooked from the first episode (which is rare). The main actors played their roles really well sweet without being saccharine.

What I liked best about it was the story yes its a a makjang & if you don't like that then steer clear, I personally love makjangs :D

The story had twists & turns & always kept you glued to your seat breathless with anticipation as to what would happen next. I found myself shouting at the screen at the near misses/missed opportunities for the protagonists & I am sure you will as well.

The whole look of the drama looks a little dated (fashion wise) as it is from 2004 but that didn't really phase me.

I have given a low score to the music simply because it wasn't particularly memorable to me.

Also a low re-watch score as I rarely re-watch dramas as I have too many to watch on my Plan To Watch List.

If you like dramatic, fast-paced storylines with lots of cliff hangers & good acting then this is the drama for you.

Citeste mai mult

I can't believe that I watched a bread baking drama, that was 30 episodes long, without being bored! It took a lot of persuasion from a friend to get me to watch this. The high ratings didn't even have me fully convinced, but from beginning to end this drama lived up to all the hype.

The entire cast was great. The first episodes are set in the past, and I thought the cast of younger actors were exceptional. I also thought the younger actors matched their older counterparts very well. Younger Kim Tak Goo hooked me into the story, and older Kim Tak Goo kept me hooked from the first time he smiled. I loved that the cast of "villains" had depth, and some characters walked the fine line between good and bad. I liked that Eugene strayed from the romantic lead path into her own interesting character. I thought Joo Won was really good at being very sympathetic, and equally distasteful, though I lol-ed at the look on his face as if something constantly stunk. Even the supporting characters really added to the story, so I had to give the cast a 10.

Though the show is about baking, the story centers around family betrayal, revenge, rivalry, and painful relationships between children and their parents. There are some over the top fight scenes, dramatic rescues, and heartbreaking confrontations, so don't expect to just watch a bunch of scenes about how to bake bread. There's also a good balance of sweet, and humorous moments, and the pacing is good as well. I loved that the romance in this was a bit unconventional, and was touching without being cheesy, or the central focus of the story. This drama also has something I find rare in most dramas, a great ending. They manage to give each character proper closure, and the ending felt just right.

Overall the story isn't necessarily original, but It wasn't predictable either. I laughed and cried many times while watching. There aren't many specific rewatchable scenes, and since suspense is mainly what kept me up nights watching, I'm not sure If I will watch this again. Yoon Si Yoon is so charming, that he may be enough of a reason to give this one a second look.

I definitely recommend this. The 30 episodes will fly by...

Citeste mai mult

I watched the first episode with an open mind and found it interesting. The next couple episodes were kind of boring then I decided to drop. I justified that this was not my kind of drama but at least I tried. Months later after it finished airing I somehow found myself reading the reviews for it and some people mentioned how the episodes keep getting better and better as it goes on and that theres twists towards the end. That intrigued me to give it another go...

Well here I am giving it another go and I find myself easily going through each episode until I marathoned that sucker till the end. The episodes did get more and more interesting with each new case. Not only that but as the overall plot surrounding the mystery of our Vampire prosecutor started to develop the drama became really addicting. The last episode played out like a movie with all the action and excitement.

I liked the characters at first but they didn't offer me anything that made me want to stick to watching before I dropped. After I came back to it though I grew to LOVE all the characters. They really meshed well together. The lead who plays the Vampire prosecutor was perfect!

I probably could re-watch this drama ever year cause its so interesting and i loved the cast.

Except for the 3 episodes that were lacking I really really enjoyed watching Vampire Prosecutor and am looking forward to season 2=D

Citeste mai mult

A real heart-wrenching drama. Even thought I complained at time at the pace of it, I came to the realization that he would not have been this good a drama if it had been fast pace. Kim Rae Won and Soo Ae acting was so real, even all the supporting cast manage to make in sort that this drama set itself apart from all the other. There's nothing really nothing that can't be forgiven about this drama, because of course it would be utopic to actually say that it was a perfect drama, but like I say all the negativeness about it can be forgiven. I would say that to watch people should be ready to acknowledged the fact that life is not always peachy and that not all story have an happy ending.

Citeste mai mult