Pyjama Thoughts

2 of my favourite kdrama will be ending soon. I’m sporting major withdrawal syndrome ahead!

Year 2010 marked a new beginning for my drama watching days. I’ve been avidly watching J and K dramas in high school but for some reason stop completely when I moved overseas and started uni. And then I started watching Jdramas because I was bored during the holidays. And then there’s Your Beautiful and IRIS, and then there’s addiction to Kdramas all over again.

I lost count of how many dramas I’ve watched over the past year, but I don’t think I’ve missed out on any of the good ones. And ever since I found dramabeans.com I realised that it is ok to be picky with what we watch. In fact, we SHOULD be carefully choose with what we watch especially when it is going to be a 16 hour investment, time or emotion. So here it is, a list of everything I remember watching and some commentary, in no particular order. It is for my own record and for those who, like me, chooses only to watch “good” kdramas.

1. The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry
   Understated and throughly charming. Kim Bum and Park Jin Hee is adorbs, sometimes I forget she is 34 and he’s 10 years her junior. Forget Kim Bum in BOF, his character in this drama is the real deal.
   
    
2. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
   So. Cute. Lovely OST and lovable Shin Min Ah. My only complain is the side characters aren’t very compelling, but thank goodness the main couple manage to hold it together.
   
   
3. Secret Garden
   After this drama I’ve decided that I can watch Hyun Bin in anything. Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin has sizzling chemistry! I’m even willing to overlook how pointless the whole fantasy aspect is, and the lack of reasoning to the body-switch. The side characters are a standout, and equally as lovable as the main. 
   
   
4. Mary Stayed Out All Night
   Good start off, and then the story took a turn to boring, pointless, and lost sense of logic. My interest pretty much went down the drain together with the show. That being said, the Geun-Geun couple are very adorable and deserve to be seen in a better drama! Such a shame.
   
   
5. Personal Taste
   Again, I was pretty invested in the beginning of the show, and then the whole gay lie became too much to handle. And I couldn’t see why Jin Ho have to continue with it. Son Ye Jin is pretty even in drag, and that isn’t that much unusual in this drama. Her sense of fashion leaves a lot to be questioned but thank goodness Lee Min Ho’s stylist has better taste. I would watch it for three things: The Cute, Sanggojae (my my what a darling of a house), and the In Hee bot (see her get rejected over and over again, only to be reset and restart - hence the robot reference?). Also they could’ve explained the Apple Concept in the end a little better.
   
   
6. Cinderella Unni
   This show tested, and challenge the amount patience I have in my system. Needless to say, I did not finish this. Another wasted one as it was so compelling and unapologetic in the beginning. Every scene took my breath away! Not only did the promotional videos and posters did not live up to expectations, they did not even once submerge in the drama. I can see that this has potential to be a gem of a drama for some drama watchers, but for me, it just wasn’t it.
   
   
7. Prosecutor Princess
   While Cinderella Unni gradually eats up my drama sanity, Prosecutor Princess brought back some of it in the form of Ma Hye Ri, the fluff and fashion-loving prosecutor who crossed paths with mysterious man Seo In Woo. He approaches her and secretly lends a hand but there seems to be a whole lot more to the story… It took me 3 episodes to decide to follow through with this one. Hye Ri isn’t very easy to love in the beginning, she’s reckless, spoiled, and clueless. But as we progress this becomes her redeeming factor, she grew and learnt to be a better prosecutor and eventually come to understand the impact of her decisions. Park Shi Hoo is swoon-worthy in this one, by the way.
   
   
8. Oh! My Lady
   Breezy but not much progression between the leads. Ye Eun is so cute squee.
   
   
9. Coffee House
   Easily my favorite drama of all time. And I don’t even know why! I just love it. 
   
   
10. I Am Legend
    Ahjumma band is rocking the scene yo. Storyline regarding the band is pretty awesome, but the market case dragged it down. 
    
    
11. Sungkyunkwan Scandal
    I’m still in episode 12 but it’s pretty good so far. Go Daemul! :D
    
    
12. Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy
    Is brilliant! Definitely worth sitting through 28 episodes.
    
    
13. City Hall
    I never thought I’d come to like Kim Sun Ah (as I never did for Sam Soon) but thanks to this drama I did! I also thought the politic plot line would be boring but instead I became engrossed to it. Glad I gave this drama a chance to show me how great it is and how wrong my assumptions can be.
    
    
14. Dal Ja’s Spring
    Chae Rim’s make up is too thick but otherwise everything is great.
    
    
15. IRIS
    I don’t know about you but regardless of everything this drama is hella addictive. Forget about logic and acting abilities (*cough Kim Tae Hee), just watch… and then forget about the ending. 
    
    
16. You’re Beautiful
    Park Shin Hye is cute, and Jang Geun Seuk is… *faints. And I haven’t even mention Jung Yong Hwa and Lee Hongki. This is the drama people unconditionally love and can’t explain why.
    
    
17. Smile, You
    Family drama at it’s best. That being said, the story line grew fatigue after confirming the 15 episode extension and I confess never gotten to finish it. Still, Lee Min Jung is my ultimate girlcrush and she and Jung Kyung Ho is easily the sweetest couple in Kdramaland. Also Lee Chun Hee got married with his co-star in this drama how cool is that. *hopeful
    
    
18. Playful Kiss
    Storyline couldn’t sustain my interest, though I think Jung So Min is doing a great job. I love her but I not the pace of the story. 
    
    
19. Who Are You? 
    A body-switch story done well! This is now one of my favorite dramas of all time. Yoon Kye Sang may not have the prettiest face but he got my heart. :D
     
     
20. Tamra the Island
    When the DVD set came out I almost got my hands on them. Almost because I’m not sure if I’m moving overseas in near future and if I do the region thing will be an issue. The drama is definitely worth getting a DVD set for, especially the director’s cut version which wasn’t broadcasted due to low ratings *curses. Otherwise, Tamra is fun-loving, Seo Woo is fun-loving, and Im Joo Hwan is OML so hawt!!!! *fans self. The whole drama is pretty to watch too, and the soundtrack perfect with the setting.
    
    
21. Worlds Within
    A “writer’s drama”. Also not something for everyone. It took a long while before I fall in love with this drama. But love I did.

Right now, these are keeping me busy:

• Dream High. Fame and all other music school dramas, KINDLY STEP ASIDE. 
  
  
  
  Squee.

• My Princess. This one makes me giggle like an idiot at times it’s not even funny. I love this OTP to no end. 
  
  
  
  

(Screencaps and images from dramabeas.com and other places)

So apparently the live-action of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time/Time Traveller took nothing from the original anime, except for the fact that there will be time traveling involved. I haven’t seen the anime (I’m a drama person), and since I have a feeling the it will be heaps better than the live-action, I opted to watch the latter first.

It’s kinda weird how the whole film is structured to begin with. We get lots of characters who doesn’t really impact on the overall plot, and messes of sub-plots that only made me more confused about where the whole thing was headed. Nothing makes sense. Fine. But also, nothing strikes out in particular. I’m not sure which one is worst. I drifted through the entire movie until the final 30 minutes, where it finally got interesting. And what I say is interesting isn’t even the main plot.

So mom gets Akari to go back in time to look for her ‘lover’ that will never be and should never resurface in memory, then she met Ryouta and fell in love. But also found out that tragedy is just a bus ride away. I was on the edge of my seat as everything is unfolding so quickly. Then it became awesome! But that lasted only throughout one particular scene (if you watch the movie you’d know which one). The plot pretty much fell into non-existent once again. So much wasted potential for a better/more interesting ending. By setting up selfish (mom) and know-it-all (dad) characters and have them as the main drive of the plot, then have Akari fall in love with a guy from the past, and eventually killed him off, then have her memory erased.. Sorry if I’m spoiling it for anyone but honestly, no one should be sitting through 2 hours just to come to that.

Apart from the bus scene (I cried heartbroken), the rest of the show was unbelievably dull. Apart from Akari and Ryouta no one else was memorable much less likable. Great, cuz now I gotta watch the anime version to improve whatever impression I now have of this show.

I really want one of these Meat Plushies! Especially after watching My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.

Meat, oh glorious meat.

(You can get them here)

She’s finally showing signs of thawing his icy heart (when the hell is he gona realize he DOES indeed love her??? I have no patience!)

I think I wouldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for Jung So Min as Oh Ha Ni (I wonder if they meant for the name to sound like: Oh! Honey. Hope not, that would be lame :p). She is definitely one of the most endearing actress on screen. Her character is not one that’s easy to play out, not without annoying you to the far east… or in this case, west. Annoying she is not, thank goodness. Seeing her school girl crush progress to real romance (getting there) is a real joy. Heck, parts of it even reminded me of my first crush experience!

Anyway…

Jung So Min, good on you! and your 2319857 different hairdos! You probably have one extra factor Ariel Lin lacks for playing this character. Of course, I’m not saying I don’t like Ariel. In fact, I adore her and everything else she’s acted in. But I somehow couldn’t get on the train of “It Started With A Kiss”. Somehow. People who love and absolutely ship the couple, don’t fire at me! *hides

Mom, played by Jung Hye Young is really cute. She befriends all the younger kids, acts as a mother figure to Ha Ni(well, they’re more like friends), and do a paparazzi mom when there’s a school event.

Duckie (this is what they call Bong Joon Gu at dramabeans. I think it fits him perfectly) is applying the “don’t run to her, let her come to you” tactic, and it’s working. On me. Hah! It was the first time I felt sorry with sympathy for him ever since the drama aired. But this is not enough to start making me root for him. Not just yet.

I’m just not too sure if he’s able to endure through the end. 

Not while he’s making Ha Ni’s face out of food.

Oh Duckie, your hair is better now, and because of that I can overlook the fact that you speak with heavy country accent. Then again, that coffee house manager dude was pretty awesome in his scruffy curls AND country accent (Oh, the days of Coffee House). 

I think the noodle shop as a backdrop is awesome. It’s so colorful and beautiful and very Oriental.

I realize I haven’t talk one bit about Kim Hyun Joong’s character Baek Seung Jo, the humanly impossible perfection of a man in Ha Ni’s universe. Well, there’s nothing much to say about him, you see. He’s just… there. Yes, the drama will not have happened/existed without this character, and I assume that I’m meant to go ga-ga over him and root for the both of them. But funny how it didn’t happen? I want them to be together because of Ha Ni. I want him to like her because she’s worth it. But I didn’t really care about him and at times, he’s forgettable. All that said, I’m still thankful that he wasn’t awful. And there’s still 8 episodes worth of chances for me to like him. 

But I wouldn’t worry. With the new look, I’m sure I KNOW there are plenty of others (think thousands and millions) to swoon over him. 

Lastly, some cute moments…