36. The Good Doctor

Broadcast: Oct – Dec 2013
Episodes: 20, Medical Drama, Romance, Comedy

Cast:
Joo won as Park  Shi On
Moon Chae Won as Cha Yoon Seo
Joo Sang Wook as Kim Do Han
Kim Min Seo as Yoo Chae Kyung

Joo Won. What more can I say? I’m a big big fan of this guy. He is talented. His acting performance never disappoints. He is flexible in the roles he chooses. He can dance and sing. 

This drama, The Good Doctor where he plays a mentally challenged (savant syndrome and a developmental disability bordering on autism) genius who doesn’t function 100% normally in society. He stutters at times and can’t talk properly, but has the memory of genius and his medical knowledge is astounding, even more so amazing than specialists in the field of paediatric surgery.

With difficulty and the help of an old mentor/friend, the chief of the Sungwon University Hospital, Park Shi On manages to secure a 6 month internship as a resident in the paediatric ward. Things do not go smoothly as he is criticised and bullied because of his “abnormality.” At the same time, people are at awe with his genius ability to diagnose medical conditions and his phenomenal memory.

We see his character develop over time, discovering the feeling of love for his colleague Cha Yoon Seo. Due to his warm, kind and caring personality for his patients, the people around him learn to love and embrace him.

There were many scenes which were quite amusing. There were many scenes which were sad and touching. It’s nice to see in the end Cha Yoon Seo accepts him as a love interest.

The drama mainly focuses on the different scenarios of saving patients, and at the same time the life of Park Shi On, how he affects the people in his environment with his love and kindness. Park Shi Oh is truly an inspiring character.

Joo Sang Wook plays the chief surgeon. His appearance is cold and authoritative but deep down he is gentle, kind and righteous. I liked him in this role.

Park Shi Oh, this character who appears to look retarded is a very difficult character to play. Casting  Joo Won in this role was the right choice. He pulled it off well, and very convincing as well. Outstanding performance once again by Joo Won.

The OST: I Am In Love 사랑하고 있습니다 by 2BiC (투빅); How Come You Don't Know?
모르나요 by Kim Jong Gook (김종국); Love Medicine 소독약 by Joo Won.

I enjoyed this drama. It was sweet, entertaining and I was touched by characters and the storyline.

Rating: 4/5 ♥

35. The Heirs

Broadcast: Oct – Dec 2013
Episodes: 20,  Romance, Comedy, Drama, School

Cast:

Lee Min Ho as Kim Tan
Park Shin Hye as Cha Eun Sang
Kim Woo-Bin as Cho Young Do
Kang Min Hyuk as Yoon Chan Young
Choi Jin Hyuk as Kim Won
Kim Ji won as Rachel Yoo
Krystal Jung as Lee Bo Na
Kang Ha Neul as Lee Hyo shin
Park Hyunk Sik as Jo Myung Soo

When I saw the promotional poster for this drama, I thought “such a young and beautiful cast.” I know Lee Min Ho will do great in whatever role he is cast in. Park Shin Hye, not too sure. I’ve always thought her acting was mediocre. The last drama I saw her in “Flower Boy Next Door” was so bad, it’s not worth writing a review as I rated it below 4. However, she did a good job in this drama. Her acting is improving.

As with all Kdramas, too many coincidental occurrences. Eun Sang goes to California to look for her irresponsible older sister who has jibbed both her and mute mother of money sent to her as school  fees. Not only did has she dropped out of school, she is broke and working in a café and living with an American guy who doesn’t treat her well. The two sisters have a full frontal confrontation near the beach in front of the café. Kim Tan happens to be joining breakfast at the café and views the entire scene.

Eun Sang’s sister runs off and Eun is stuck in Cali with nowhere to go and no money. Kim Tan feels sorry for her and was probably attracted to her beauty, takes her in at his luxurious beach house. Yep, the guy is a rich boy from a super-rich family. Attraction is built already from the start. Two very different people, one a rich boy and the other a very poor girl.

Not wanting to rely on a stranger, Eun Sang calls her bestie Yoon Chan Young who happens to be in Cali at the same time. They both return to Seoul, Korea together. Kim Tan was disappointed that she had left and wondered when they would meet again.

Kim Tan returns home to Korea because he wanted to see his older step brother and mother. Because he is the child of the second of wife his father took in, both he and his mother are mistreated by the first wife. His older brother Kim Won is cold towards him all the time as he fears that Kim Tan is the favourite son of his father and would eventually inherit the family company.

Life back in Korea gets interesting as Kim Tan goes back to School. His best mate, Cho Young Do during their younger days is now his number one enemy over some misunderstanding due to miscommunication regarding Young Do’s mum’s abandonment of him. There’s many scenes involving bullying etc which is portrayed typically of rich Korean private schools.

Funnily, Eun Sang’s mute mother is the house maid to Kim Tan’s family. Because of little or no money, the mother had moved into the house to stay working as a maid full time. Eun Sang had no choice but to also move into the house with her mum. They both lived in small room in the maid’s quarters. It was only later that Kim Tan found out she was the maid’s daughter and was actually living under his roof.

Things get even more interesting when Young Do falls for Eun Sang. The conflict between Young Do and Kim Tan worsens. Young Do sorts of bullies Eun Sang playfully but really is only looking out for her. Kim Tan is very protective of Eun Sang and comes to the rescue all the time.

The drama climaxes and is very exciting, but then just kind of stops there. It didn’t really have a final conclusion, but just pacifies out and ends like that. It’s a nice happy ending but I was expecting more. The storyline is so similar to Boys Before Flowers, but I have to say BFF was much better in how things panned out.

This drama was full of eye candy, good looking guys and gals. It’s about relationships between family, between lovers, between friends and teenage school life. The chemistry between Eun Sang and Kim Tan was electrifying. Some scenes were so strong it was heart wrenching. The scene where Eun Sang left with the mum and Kim Tan found them in living in the country side.  The bullying scenes were intense.

I was never a fan of Kim Won Bin. After this drama, I started noticing him. I first saw him in “To The Beautiful You.” Although, he only had a cameo there. He plays the bad boy very well.

Love the OST. So many good songs: Love is by Park Jang Hyun & Park Hyun Gyu of Bromance (박장현 & 박현규 of Bromance); Moment by Lee Chang Min; Biting My Lower Lip 아랫입술 물고 by Esna (에스나); I'm Saying 말이야 by Lee Hong Ki; Only With My Heart by Lena Park (Park Jung Hyun)

I really enjoyed this drama. It portrayed that teenage life/love can be so dramatic and intense. Only in Kdrama.

Rating: 4.5/5 ♥

34. My Love From Another Star

Broadcast: Apr - Jun 2013

Episodes: 21,  Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Melodrama, Thriller

Cast:
Jun Ji Hyun as Chun Song Yi (28, top actress/university student)
Kim Hyun Soo as young Chun Song Yi / Seo Yi Hwa
Kim Soo Hyun as Do Min Joon (alien/university professor)
Park Hae Jin as Lee Hwi Kyung (28, youngest son of S&C Group)
Yoo In Na as Yoo Se Mi (28, supporting actress)

The plot sounded interesting before watching this. Jun Ji Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun as lead actors were appealing. I love them both.

Chun Song Yi is a nationwide famous actress who captivated all men’s hearts. She is clumsy, a bit blurred and downright obnoxious at times, but oh so beautiful. She worked hard to be where she is today, but definitely her beauty contributed to a major part of her success.

Do Min Joon, a very young university lecturer has been on this earth for a very long time, and has seen society change and the environment change over hundreds/thousands of years. He is tired of seeing repetitions and generations change over and over again. He’s bought land and accumulated a fortune of wealth over his time on earth. He wants to go back to where he came from. Wherever that may be, alien land where all the aliens are extremely good looking!

Coincidentally, Song Yi and Min Joon bumps into each other in the elevators and they both happen to live next to each other in a very luxurious apartment. The beginning is a bit frictional and the two don’t seem to like each other much. The annoyance between them grows into love.

Min Joon uses his powers to save Song Yi several times when she is in trouble. Song Yi is the target when she overheard a conversation between her friend’s brother and his lover. When that lover dies, the police are investigating whether she is the suspect as the deceased was a rival of hers. However, the killer wants her dead in case she says something which may lead the police to him. The killer being a wealthy chaebol didn’t want to be caught.

Best scenes from the drama for me was the scene where the car slides near the cliff end with Song Yi in it and Min Joon appears out of nowhere and stops the car from falling. Another scene is when Min Joon reveals everything to her and makes her slide back and they kiss passionately. So romantic ^^

When the killer has been caught, the problem now is that Min Joon is fading away because he has been using his powers to intervene in human relations. He now doesn’t want to leave earth that fast as his love for Song Yi grows.

The drama ends with him flitting from his alien land to earth and staying on earth long stints of time to be with Song Yi.

I loved this drama. It was so romantic, and full of fantasy. It was like a dreamland. Very kdrama plot. Out of this world. At times funny and very entertaining.

OST: My Destiny by Lyn; Goodbye 안녕 Goodby/Hello by Hyorin; Tears Like Today 오늘 같은 눈물이 by Huk Gak.

After this drama, facial paper masks and Chimek (Korean combination of the words chicken and beer) became very popular.

Rating: 4.9/5 ♥

An American Version of "My Love From Another Star?!"

Apologies, I have not posted anything for a while. Been busy with life and work in general.

When I read this article about another American remake of a Korean drama, I was like “oh no, please do not ruin it.” However, they are getting the creator of the original series, Park Ji Eun, to be one of the  executive producers alongside Bomi Moon from HB Entertainment, which produced the Korean version.  The screenplay will be also adapted by experienced drama writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain (CW's The 100, 666 Park Avenue, The Vampire Diaries, Dollhouse). A sigh of relief there. “Boys Before Friends” the remake of “Boys Before Flowers” was disastrous. We do not want a repetition of this.

I’d be interested to watch this since it sounds quite promising with well know people behind it.

I’ll write the review for “My Love From Another Star” very soon.