23. The Moon That Embraces The Sun

Broadcast: Jan - Mar 2012
Episodes: 20, Romance/Fantasy/Period
Cast:
Kim Soo Hyun as Lee Hwon
Yeo Jin Goo as Hwon (15 years old)
Han Ga In as Heo Yeon Woo / Wol
Kim Yoo Jung as Yeon Woo (13 years old)
Jung Il Woo as Prince Yang Myung
Lee Min Ho as young Yang Myung
Kim Min Seo as Yoon Bo Kyung
Kim So Hyun as young Bo Kyung

A friend recommended I watch this, so I gave this a go. It was well received during it's airing time in South Korea. I had no expectations because it was in the period of Joseon time with their puffy costumes :P 

This is a fictional story and has no historical background to it. The crown prince Lee Hwon wanted to climb the palace wall one day because he was bored and wanted to see his step brother Prince Yang Myung. Heo Yeon Woo was at the palace for her brother's valedictorian ceremony, distracted by a butterfly, caught him and thought he was a thief. The first meeting was an awkward misunderstanding.

Lee Hwon was immediately impressed by Yeon Woo's intelligence that day and wondered if he'll see her again. When Yeon Woo found out who he was, she was aghast, but nevertheless intrigued.

She was chosen along with Bo Kyung to be the crown princess's study buddies in the palace. The crown princess favoured Yeon Woo as she was in love with her pretty older brother Heo Yeom. Bo Kyung disliked Yeon Woo. Bo Kyung, with her father's influence was able to get to this position today and she wanted to win the crown prince's heart to become the future queen.

Lee Hwon was infatuated by Yeon Woo and thought of various ways to meet up with her. Eventually, he was able to during a party feast. They met/talked and fell in love. So young at 15 years old and it's love. I have to say "aww."  Lee Hwon chose Yeon Woo to be the future queen. Preparations were made and they were about to finish off the ceremony when Yeon Woo suddenly became ill and died fatally as it seemed.

The queen dowager along with the high shaman put a black spell on Yeon Woo. The queen dowayer wanted Bo Kyung to be queen as they were relatives and she wanted her relatives to be royalty.

Unbeknown to her, the high shaman didn't put a spell to kill Yeon Woo. She put a spell to stop her pulse. Yeon Woo was buried and later her coffin was dug out. The high shaman took her away along with Yeon Woo's slave girl to somewhere far away. There, they lived a happy simple life.

Of course, 6 years down the track, the high shaman was called back to the palace. She had to go back.  Yeon Woo and her slave girl went back with her. At this time, Yeon Woo had lost all her childhood memories and she was dubbed a shaman and labelled as the high shaman's spiritual daughter.

Circumstantially, she was used as a human talisman to help the king sleep in his bedroom. Lee Hwon had bumped into her once in the woods and thought she looked so familiar. Now, in his bedding chambers, the same girl appears. His feelings for Yeon Woo had never died and this girl who looked so much like her and acted like her stirred his feelings.

As the drama progresses, the investigation into Yeon Woo's death/disappearance 6 years ago and those behind it surfaced slowly. Yeon Woo regained her memories, she and the king reunited. It was not an easy reunification. They had to be careful and get rid of the traitors in the palace. In the end, this was achieved with the help of Prince Yang Myung. However, it was also to the death of Prince Yang Myung, who deliberately died by the spear of a traitorous soldier. He wanted to die because he no longer wanted to be blamed to be someone who would one day steal the king's throne, and most of all from heartache of his unrequited love for Yeon Woo.

Some funny scenes in this drama was 1. the scene where the king is lifting the chair with the books when the queen dowager charges in. He then pretends to be lifting weights; 2. the king's personal assistant climbing to the rooftop and throwing flowers down at Yeon Woo and Lee Hwon. A lot of the amusing scenes were with the personal assistant. 3. the bedding scene where he had to sleep in between Yeon Woo and Lee Hwon because they were not officially married; 4. the learning of the gayaguem. He was more musically inclined than Lee Hwon. Lee Hwon wanted to learn the gayageum to perform for Yeon Woo's birthday. He was taking lessons and was terrible at learning it. The personal assistant kicked his ass and showed him how it was done by just watching and picked up everything this way.

The superstition in this drama played such a major part in how lives can change. Thank goodness people today is not so superstitious. How awful it must have been to live in those days.

The child actors here were truly talented. Yee Jin Goo as the young king. Outstanding performance at the age of 15. Kim So Hyun & Kim Yoo Jung played their roles very well. Lee Min-ho was very cute as a young Prince Yang Myung. I liked him in Rooftop Prince also.

This is the first time I've watched a drama with Kim Soo Hyun. He is one young and hot looking king. Great acting too. Ha In Ga, hmmm...I thought her acting was a bit bland. She was in Witch Yoo Hee and again quite bland. She did an ok job but the role could've been played better with another actress.

I didn't like any of the songs in this drama so won't be listing any for this review.

Good drama, enjoyable and a lot of eye candy.

Rating: 4.5/5  

22. I Miss You

Broadcast: Nov 2012- Jan 2013
Episodes: 21, Melodrama/Romance
Cast:
Park Yoochun as Han Jung Woo
Yeo Jin Goo as young Jung Woo (15 yrs old)
Yoon Eun Hye as Lee Su Yeon / Joy
Kim So Hyun as young Soo Yeon (15 yrs old)
Yoo Seung Ho as Kang Hyung Joon / Harry Borrison
Ahn Do Gyu as young Hyung Joon
Jang Mi In Ae as Kim Eun Joo
Yoo Yeon Mi as young Eun Joo
Extended Cast:
Han Jin Hee as Han Tae Joon (Jung Woo's dad)
Song Ok Sook as Kim Myung Hee (Soo Yeon's mum)
Oh Jung Se as Joo Jung Myung

I did deliberately choose to watch this one because of my favourite actor Park Yoochun. I'm not a fan of Yoon Eun Hye but she was alright in this drama. I don't think her acting is that great given that she is considered a seasoned actor.

Lee  Su Yeon's dad was a family abuser and mistakenly blamed as a murderer. Su Yeon copped a lot of slack at school because of this. She was bullied and harassed. The only person that befriended her was the new guy Han Jung Woo who just came back from the US. They developed a strong friendship and fell in love at a young age.

Han Jung Woo came from a wealthy family. His father Han Tae Joon  was ruthless and cared about nothing except money. At this time Han Tae Joon had kidnapped his father's second wife to force her to tell where she kept all the money his father had given her. The money, he believed belonged to him and he wanted it. His step mother refused to tell and was kept locked up and eventually went into a mental breakdown later on in the drama.

The step mother had a son, Kang Hyung Joon (aka Harry Borrison later on), a 12 year old who was able to escape with the help of their nanny, Michelle Kim. As revenge, the step mother asked the nanny to kidnap Han Jung Woo so Han Tae Joon knew what it felt like to have his child taken away.

At the scene of the kidnapping, Su Yeon saw everything and ran to try and help, but alas, she as a 15 year old wasn't able to do much and was also kidnapped. Jung Woo and Su Yeon was tied up in an old warehouse. Between the 2 kidnappers, one was a drug addict and a rapist. Su Yeon was horribly raped and abused, while Jung Woo watched unable to do anything. 

When Jung Woo was able to free himself, he was so frightened he didn't know what to do but ran away. This was the biggest mistake of his life which he regretted for 14 years down the track. Later on, he asked his father and the police to help find Su Yeon.

Su Yeon was able to free herself and was escaping with a fever. A car hit her. The people in the car was Kang Hyung Joon and the nanny. They took her along with them and fled to France.

14 years later, Jung Woo has become a detective due to the influence of Detective Kim who took him in when he left his father's house. He lived with Su Yeon's mum and Detective Kim's daughter Kim Eun Joo. During that 14 years, he never onced stopped loving or stopping looking for Su Yeon.

Lee Su Yeon and Kang Hyun Joon returned from France to South Korea for a Fashion show. Su Yeon was now a well known rookie fashion designer. Su Yeon used the name Joy and Hyun Joon used the name Harry Borrison.

It was coincidental that Han Jung Woo met Su Yeon again through the death of the nanny Michelle Kim.  He was investigating her death involving Harry that he bumped into Su Yeon. Su Yeon initially refused to admit that she is Su Yeon. After many attempts, Jung Woo finally got a confession out of her. She initially had hated that Jung Woo left her in that warehouse to die. But as she knew more about his life after she had left for France her heart melted and the love she had for him once or was dormant was ignited again.

Harry got jealous and was very revengeful. He planned to destroy Han Tae Joon and Han Jung Woo. He did not want to lose Su Yeon but still wanted his revenge. Slowly, as Jung Woo investigated the case, he unraveled the truth and discovered Harry was his uncle.  Because Harry's dirty methods had caused several people to die, and evidence had been retrieved, he was able to catch him and lock him up.

The trailer was a bit misleading. It showed Jung Woo being shot and gave the impression of him dying. This thank goodness wasn't the case. Jung Woo and Su Yeon was able to get married and Harry did not get locked up. He had a mental breakdown and was kept in the mental ward. I think his mind died of heart break that Su Yeon chose Jung Woo and not him, or it was an excuse to stay there other than prison.

This drama was full of tears, a lot of crying involved and so sad. Yoon Eun Hye was crying most of the time in this drama. Her acting wasn't very good and the only thing that saved her was that she was partnered with an awesome actor as Yoochun.

The child actors here were outstanding. Such outstanding performances from these young kids. Yeo Jin Goo is an amazing child actor. Saw him in The Moon That Embraces The Sun. He was phenomenal in that drama also. He will grow up to be a big star.

I'm glad this drama had a happy ending. It was depressing and sad all the way through. These people lead such unfortunate lives. Though, I do believe even though life throw curve balls at you, you are the one that make the right choices and control how you live your life. Be the master of your own mind.

OST: I only liked one song here Tears Are Falling by Wax. Funnily, Wax also sang Glass in Miss Ripley which starred Yoochun. Her songs are always very slow ballads. Not a fan of such slow ballads but this song was ok.

This drama is not a happy one. If you are looking for a comedy, something light hearted & fun, don't watch this. Not one of my favourites but it was watchable.

Rating: 4/5

Learning The Korean Language

On my bucket list is to learn the Korean language later, hopefully this year. I still have a few personal things to get out of the way first before I commit myself to this interest/hobby. I'd like to one day be able to speak fluent Korean, watch Kdramas without having to read the subtitles. And, off course to visit South Korea with no trouble with the language.

There's a lot of material online which can help you get started if you are also interested. Some channels and websites I'm subscribed to are below:

Talk To Me In Korean 
Talk To Me In Korean Youtube Channel 
HyunWoo Sun's Youtube Channel 
Ask HyunWoo's Youtube Channel 
Korean Class 101 Youtube Channel 
Mahalo Languages

Just finished watching "I Miss You" with Park Yoochun, and "The Moon That Embraces The Sun" with Kim Soo Hyun. Will be writing reviews for those shortly.
 

21. To The Beautiful You

Based on the Japanese shōjo manga series, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Broadcast: Aug-Oct 2012
Episodes: 16, Romance/Comedy/Drama
Cast:
Choi Sulli as Gu Jae Hee (F(x))
Choi Min Ho as Kang Tae Joon (SHINee)
Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun Kyul
Kim Ji Won as Seol Han Na
Suh Joon Young as Ha Seung Ri
Kang Ha Neul as Min Hyun Jae
Hwang Kwang Hee as Song Jong Min (ZE:A)
Previous versions: Japanese & Taiwanese

I was a bit reluctant to watch this one as it was so similar to You're Beautiful. I gave it a go since I wanted to watch a short and no brainer drama. It turned to be more entertaining than expected. The plot has been done to death and a bit flimsy, however, the very young cast all put together a great performance. I was very impressed by the acting. Usually with kpop stars and young actors, the acting is premature. In this case, all the actors put together a very impressive drama.

Gu Jae Hee idolised Kang Tae Joon. She watches him high jumped in the junior olympics and is inspired by his performance and words. She joined the athletics club at school because of him. After an injury, Kang Tae Joon takes his time to recover and is reluctant to train seriously, especially after his mother's death.

Gu Jae Hee deliberately transfers to South Korea from California to attend Genie High School. There's a catch. Genie High is a prestigious all boys school. She cuts her hair and dresses like a boy and puts on the performance of her life to attend that school so she could be close to Kang Tae Joon.

What are the odds that she ends up being his room mate? :) The initial stages are awkward and uncomfortable as Tae Joon didn't like her (as a boy). She is a transfer student, new, and had no friends. She befriends Cha Eun Kyul and life seems more bearable. 

Because of her sincere and nice personality, Tae Joon relents and softens towards her. He suspected she was a girl but it was not confirmed until he overheard Jae Hee in a conversation with her brother who had come to visit her.  As they get to know each other and spends more time together, Tae Joon falls for her. However, he doesn't reveal to her that he knows she is a girl. Perhaps he wanted her to stay by his side while he trains and is able to high jump again?

In the mean time, Cha Eun Kyul falls for Jae Hee and questions his sexuality for liking another guy. He goes through a lot of turmoil and eventually confesses to Jae Hee he likes her. Jae Hee only has eyes for Tae Joon but treats Eun Kyul as a very good friend.

It gets more dangerous as Jae Hee and Tae Joon gets quite close. In the end Jae Hee confesses to Tae Joon she is a girl and he tells her that he's known all along. Eun Kyul accidentally opens the bathroom door one day to Jae Hee's room to use their toilet and sees her changing and realises she is a girl. He is upset and doesn't speak to her for days.

Living as a male in an all boys school when you are girl will never last. Eventually, you'd be found out and this is what happens to Jae Hee. She eventually transfers her papers back to Cali and flies back to Cali on the day Tae Joon gets into the National High Jumping championships.

Quite a mild ending. You'd think something dramatic would happen as the whole drama has been piping everyone up; what would happen if everyone found out she was a girl? But yep, nothing...she just left. One year later, Tae Joon surprises her by visiting her in Cali. Eun Kyul sends her a video email and updates her on what has happened in Genie High.

Such a good looking, young and talented cast. The whole school was full of good looking guys. Quite unrealistic.

Obviously Jae Hee is adopted into a white family I'm guessing as her name is Jay Dawson in the Cali year book and her older brother is a white guy. The drama never mentions any of this.

Lee Hyun Woo plays Cha Eun Kyul. What a character. He's only 19 years old and his acting is very convincing. The character he plays is cute, adorable, nice, friendly and comical. A very lovable character.

The character Song Jong Min is quite funny, always putting on his lip balm and wearing very feminine colours and clothes. His abrasive manners cracks me up, especially paired up the clothes.

The filming of the soccer playing, you can tell it's an older man maneuvering the ball instead of Eun Kyul. The legs are more muscly and Eun Kyul has the skinniest legs! The high jump scenes are double stunts also but the way they cut and filmed it, looks quite convincing.

Choi Ho Min is very good looking (minus the lazy right eye). Give him another 10 years and he'll be hot. Choi Sulli, not bad acting. I have to say much better than Park Shin Hye in You're Beautiful. This drama is very similar to it and it'll definitely be compared to it. Also similar themed to Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Coffee Prince with the characters questioning their sexuality in liking a guy :)

Funny scenes: the toilet scene and the teeth brushing scene comes to mind. There's quite a few but that's 2 of them that stood out.

Annoying characters: Seol Han Na. Gotta have one of those every time :)

Korean writers should give the audience more credit. The girl looks so feminine, how can anyone believe that she is a boy? The clues given in the drama for this character and also the one in You're Beautiful implies that the girls are quite dense in intelligence.

I loved the sports apparel in this drama. It was a promotion for New Balance. The guys especially Eun Kyul and Tae Joon wearing the nicest sports windbreakers/jackets. The fashion was smart and sporty. 

Awesome OST. Songs that stood out:  Stand Up 일어나 – J-Min. This has gotta be the best theme song I've ever heard. Actually when I heard the theme song, I then decided to watch this drama. To The Beautiful You 아름다운 그대에게 – Tiffany & Kyuhyun; Sky – Super Junior K.R.Y.

A very sweet drama. Enjoyable. Entertaining.

Rating: 4.5/5 ♥

Google Blogspot Page Limitations

Ok, I've just discovered that the Google Blogspot only allows a maximum of 20 static pages. To overcome this limitation, as I have like over 40+ reviews to write, I'll have to write my reviews as posts and then link them as pages. Hopefully, it doesn't look too messy on the main page :( I could create a static home page for everyone to land on from each search, but then, all searches would land on to that static home page which wouldn't be relevant to the user's query. This would be misleading and my CTR and QS would drop which I don't want that to happen. This will have to do in the interim until Google allows more static pages.