You're Beautiful

You're Beautiful (He's Beautiful, 미남이시네요, Minami Shineyo)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Starring Jang Geun Suk, Park Shin Hye, Jung Yong Hwa, Lee Hong Ki, UEE

The management company of the idol group A.N.JELL insisted on adding a new singer to the group as the lead vocal, Tae Kyung's voice was hurting. However,the new member, Mi Nam, had to go to the States to repair a botched eye job just before signing the contract. His agent came up with the idea of having his twin sister, Mi Nyu,to stand in for him and pretend that she was her brother. The two of them grew up in an orphanage and Mi Nyu, who was all set to become a nun, agreed to this charade as she didn't want to spoil her brother's chance of fame which would make it easier to look for their mother.


Pretty much the best drama ever. I really fell in love with the characters. Especially Mi Nyu. The main girl isn't usually my favorite character in dramas, as they are totally eclipsed by the awesome male lead. But Mi Nyu was definitely my favorite. She was just so adorable, I wanted to pull her out of the screen and squish her!! Tae-Kyung was perfect for her, and it was so cute when he would be sweet to her, even though he usually acted mean and reluctant about it. And Jeremy, oh Jeremy. Jeremy was AWESOME. I am a big FT Island fan, so seeing the lead singer in such a funny role. He was so...stupid. I can't say I cared much for Shin Woo, though. He was nice and everything, but he was also kind of boring. I could also tell that Yong Hwa was new to acting.
This show is great because there are no characters to really hate. Though Hae-yi was a jerk, I could see from her point of view and sympethize with her. I also laughed a lot in this drama. The Hong sisters, the writers of this series, never fail to entertain. Everything was perfect; the plot, the characters, the ending. There were cute moments that just made me roll around on my bed squealing. Pig Rabbit, AAAAW, Pig Rabbit!! I'm getting fuzzy feelings just thinking about it. I highly suggest this drama to anyone.
Five stars!! Heh, stars.

Full House

Full House (풀하우스, Pool Ha-woo-seu)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2004
Starring: Rain, Song Hye Kyo
Han Ji Eun is a naive writer who got swindled out of everything she owned including her house by her best friends. Stranded in China, She managed to borrow money from an actor Lee Young Jae to return to Korea. On her return, she found out that her house was bought by Lee Young Jae. In an attempt to get her possessions back, she entered in a contract marriage with Young Jae for one year. In spite of losing all, Ji Eun manages to be cheerful and takes things in strike and the business relationship between the two becomes personal as they start to rely and care for each other.
Okay, this is one of my favorite dramas. Rain, as I have stated before, is an amazing actor. And Song Hye Kyo's character is COMPLETELY different than she was in Autumn in my Heart. She's sassy and drives Young-Jae crazy.
THERE IS SO MUCH CLEANING. All the time. I've never seen anyone so picky about a house as Young-Jae. I really felt bad for Ji-Eun. Though she really did need to fix those dirty habits.
In this drama I was perfectly fine with Ji-eun being with Young-jae. Usually I feel a little bad for the second guy, in this case Min Hyunk, but not this time. I didn't really like him.
Rain was really, really funny and cute in this drama. He's such a jerk, and is so good at picking fights. What I really loved was when he realized he was starting to like Ji-eun and she started giving him the cold shoulder, having given up on him. She hurts his feelings and he goes off to pout and it's adorable. And the part when he acted like she was pregnant to ward off Min-hyuk...I laughed really hard.
I definitely suggest watching this drama. Four stars!

Autumn in My Heart

Autumn in My Heart (가을동화, Gaeul Donghwa, Autumn Fairy Tale, Endless Love)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2000 Starring: Song Seung Hun, Song Hye Kyo, Won Bin, Ha Na Na

Yoon Joon-suh and Yoon Eun-suh grew up as siblings, but Eun-suh was in fact from a different family as there was a mixed up at the hospital when she was born. The switch came to light when Eun-suh was involved in a car accident and it was discovered that her blood type was different from her parents. Eun-suh's life took a complete turn when the 2 girls were returned to their respective families. Soon after, the Yoon family left for the States and Eun-suh was left living in sordid condition with her real family in Korea. Years after, Joon-suh returned to Korea and by chance the two former siblings were reunited.

Okay, so the reason I watched this show is because this is considered the ULTIMATE Korean Drama. It pretty much single-handedly started the Hallyu, aka the Korea Wave. It was a huge it and brought tears to the eyes of millions.
Honestly, I thought it was...lame. And creepy.
It would have been okay if Eun-Suh and Joon-suh had gotten separated earlier, like at age seven or eight, then met years later and fallen in love. But instead they are around fourteen or fifteen, and things are already kind of 'cesty between them while they think they are siblings. When all the drama happened where she got seperated from all her family, honestly that made my cry a little. It was sad, and I felt really bad for her parents. But couldn't they call each other? Write letters? Why would they just pack up and leave the girl they thought was their daughter for fourteen years and not communicate with her?
And what was really weird was when it goes forward ten years and Joon-suh was engaged and you find out how he decided to marry whats-her-name. Seriously. I can just imagine how that conversation went.
*Joon-suh is with a friend and they go to a restaurant to meet some collegues. Whats-her-name spys Joon-suh and, attracted to his extremely square hair, goes over to strike up a conversation*.
What's-her-name: Hi, I'm What's-her-name. Nice to meet you.
Joon-suh: Oh hello.
What's-her-name: So, how do you like -
Joon-suh: What do you want to be reincarnated as?
What's-her-name: Excuse me? Uh... well...uh... a tree, maybe?
Joon-suh: Let's get married.
Yeah, that was kinda ridiculous.
But what really freaked me out was then Eun-suh dramatically finds Joon-suh on the beach and they are automatically in love. INCEST, PEOPLE. I could not get past the incest feeling. I mean, if you lived with a guy for fourteen years thinking he was your brother, then found out he wasn't, would you think it was normal to suddenlly want to marry him? No. And if you did, you are messed up in the head.
And then there was the ending. Anyone who has ever watched Kdramas has heard of this show and already knows that Eun-suh gets leukemia and dies. First off, SHE DIES ON HIS BACK. He is giving her a piggy back ride on the beach and she DIES. He asks her a question, she doesn't respond, he knows she's dead, he starts crying, and keeps walking into the sunset. And then, the final scene...call me heartless, but I seriously laughed out loud. So Joon-suh went back to their hometown where all their happy memories were (cuz they seriously had NONE when they were adults, they cried the ENTIRE time), and as he is crossing the street, he just stopps. Then you hear a truck honking. You look, and Joon-suh is about to get run over. The thing is...THE TRUCK IS GOING LIKE TWENTY MPH. SERIOUSLY. Even though Joon-suh WANTED to get run over, what truck would just keep going like that?! It honked its horn like twelve times! IT COULD HAVE STOPPED. But instead you just see it coming for a solid minute while Joon-suh cries some more, and then you cut to a slo-mo scene of Joon-suh flipping backwards. Yup, he got hit by a truck and died.
I thought this show was dumb. How did I watch it for sixteen hours? It was so pathetically written, and the acting was so lame, but somehow you just kept watching.
Two stars. Watchable, but stupid.

A Love to Kill

A Love to Kill(이 죽일놈의 사랑; I Jukilnomui Sarang)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2005
Starring: Rain, Shin Min-a, Lee Ki-Woo, Kim Sa Rang

Okay, this drama is so complicated that I am going to paste this from mysoju.com.

In A Love to Kill, Rain plays a tough guy as the role of a K-1 Fighter, Kang Bok-gu. Bok-gu is a character who is dynamic in nature and grew up in a foster home. He falls in love with a woman whom he should not love. It was because of the woman, his emotionally-wounded brother fell off from the rooftop and became a human vegetable. So, his love is forbidden and inevitably tragic.

The woman is Cha Eun-seok (Shin Mina) who is a TV talent and movie actor. It was not that she jilted his brother on purpose, but upon a basis of misunderstanding, his hatred toward Cha Eun-soek grows more and more burning.

By becoming Cha Eun-seok’s private bodyguard, Bok-gu keeps concretely practicing his revenge upon her. He only desires ‘to bring his brother’s woman to her knees.’ He is gradually taking Cha Eun-seok to destruction, while he feels his love toward her growing deeper and deeper in his heart.

Yes, it's complicated. Yes, it's over dramatic. Yes, Rain is the most AMAZING ACTOR FREAKING EVER.

The beginning is actually quite lame and unbelievable. Not because the actors are incapable, but because whoever wrote this stretched the imagination a little too far. Her hiccups always last three days? Whatever.

This show was pretty boring for the first, well, ten episodes. It's very slow paced. Eun-seok and Bok-gu don't even meet until episode four, I think. But at episode ten it gets very good and you can't stop watching it.

I have a new respect for Rain as an actor. I have never in all my life seen a guy - or girl either - act like that. He was incredible. So believable, and his crying- oh, his crying! I was stunned. Although I wished he would wipe his nose, haha.

The ending is sad, but I didn't cry. I think it was because Rain was SITTING UP. I mean really, he sould have fallen over or been leaning against a tree or something. That just killed the image to me and made it less believable.

The soundtrack to this show is absoloutely gorgeous, especially the song 'Dream' which is in the video below. Love it so much.

I give this drama three stars. Good, but I wouldn't want to buy it or watch it again any time soon.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana Kimi, 花ざかりの君たちへ イケメン♂パラダイス)
Japanese Drama
12 Episodes plus Special
Year: 2007
Starring: Maki Horikita, Shun Oguri, Toma Ikuta

Ashiya Mizuki is a Japanese girl who lives in America. After seeing Sano Izumi high jump in a competition, she begins to idolize him. Because of her he is hurt and quits the high jump, so she decides to go to his school and help him. The problem is, he goes to Osaka High, an all boys boarding school. Mizuki disguises herself as a boy and moves to Japan. She and Sano are roomates, and at first he dislikes her. But he finds out her secret (though she doesn't know it) and starts warming up to her. She also befriends Nakatsu, a 'hot-blooded soccer player'.

This show is absoloutely hilarious. I love it. Nakatsu develops feelings for Mizuki and is freaking out through the whole show because he thinks he is gay. Nakatsu's best friend sees ghosts and auras and looks just like a friend of mine. The head of dorm 3, Masao, calls himself Oscar and is completely insane, from wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask to dancing tangos to being possessed.

The downside to this show is that the drama in it gets really lame. REALLY LAME. I can't tell you how tired I got of seeing Sano high jump in slow motion. And the drama in the beach episode was pathetic too. SHE HAD A FREAKING PARASOL.

And the ending was perfect (I LOVE HOW THE DOCTOR ENDED UP!!!), but so sad! But still perfect.

The funny parts totally make up for the lame dramatic parts. This show will make you pee your pants. Seriously. Go watch it.

Four and a half stars!





I chose this music video cuz I loved it. Nakatsu is awesome. Sano is boring. And this video is hilarious.

Attic Cat

Attic Cat (옥탑방 고양이, Rooftop Room Cat, Cat on the Roof)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2003
Director: Kim Sa Hyun
Starring: Kim Rae Won, Jung Da Bin)

This is a romantic comedy that was pretty funny. It's about Nam Jung Eun, a girl in her twenties with a humble background. She doesn't have the money to go to college, and is unable to find a full time job. She has been saving up money for an apartment of her own, but her brother steals her money so she can't afford to move out.

Lee Kyung Min is an orphan who was raised by his rich grandparents. His grandmother has spoiled him rotten. He blows money constantly, playing poker, and is very irrisponsible. He is a law student in college studying for the Bar Exam. He lives in an apartment funded by his grandparents. He is a player with a huge crush on a beautiful girl named Hye Ryun, but Hye Ryun pays him no attention.

He meets Jung Eun and, finding out that she is a friend of Hye Ryun's, loans her the money for the apartment's down payment. He is very nice to her, very friendly, but it is because he is trying to make Hye Ryun notice him. Jung Eun has no idea of this and developes a crush on him.

Kyung Min ends up being chased by loan sharks whose money he borrowed for gambling. He is unable to go to his apartment, and can't go to his grandparent's house because his grandfather, though he loves him, refuses to help him again. Kyung Min, having nowhere else to go, forces himself into Jung Eun's home. She doesn't like this situation at first, but she grows used to him being around all the time. She learns that he was only being nice to her so that he could get to Hye Ryun, and she is hurt by this, but she still likes him. Throughout the show Jung Eun's responsable and strict ways clash with Kyung Min's bratty ones, and that often provides funny moments.

I can't say that this drama is one of my favorites, though. While it was interesting at first, around episode 11 it really started lagging and I was ready for it to end. Kyung Min never seemed to become a responsible adult, and they never officially became a couple. There wasn't the closure I need. Although the ending was cute, it was so confusing. I mean, she leaves mad, then comes back two years later, and it's all forgiven? And where did they go from there?

Two and a half stars out of five. This one was good, but not really worth 16 hours of my time.

A Moment to Remember

A Moment to Remember (내 머리 속의 지우개, Eraser in My Head)
Korean Movie
Running time: 144 minutes
Year: 2004
Director: John H. Lee
Starring: Jung Woo-sung, Son Ye-jin

This movie begins as what seems like a romantic comedy. Su-Jin is 27 years old, and is moving home after having an affair with a married man. She is rather forgetful.

One day she goes into a convenience store and buys a coke. However, she leaves the store without her drink. She returns to the store, and coming out the door is a man with a coke. She looks inside and drink is gone. Thinking the man had taken hers, she grabs his soda and gulps it all down, then burps in his face. She turns and leaves.

On her way home, she realizes that her wallet is gone as well, so she goes to the store again. The man behind the counter gives her her wallet and coke. She gets embaressed over taking the other man's drink, but he is long gone.

Su-Jin's father is the owner of a construction company, and she is going somewhere with him when he has to stop on a job sight where a foreman is causing a fuss over an unstable building. Who should the worker be but the man she stole the drink from.
His name is Chul-Soo. And thus begins their romance.

They get married and are so very sweet together! Su-Jin loves Chul-Soo very much, and, though Chul-Soo won't say so, he loves her too. They are a perfect couple. Su-Jin is still so forgetful, so she goes to the doctor to see what the deal is. It's Alzheimers.

I'm not going to tell the rest of the story, because I don't want to give it away. This movie coaxed my heart out of it's guarded home, deceived it, threw it to the ground, stabbed it, then proceeded to tap dance on it in stilletto heels. I have never flat out BAWLED at a movie before. But I did in this one. It is such a good love story, and, even though my eyes were puffy for about four hours after watching it, and I was sad every time it crossed my mind for the next three days, it is one of my favorites. Amazing. Five out of five stars.



(This video made me cry all over again!)