49 Days: First Episode Summary

I have been avoiding 49 days like the plague only because 49 days doesn’t necessarily sound like a happy ending. But apparently, viewers were pleased with the ending of the drama so I decided to give it a shot. At first, I wasn’t  impressed with it. It’s only now that I am recapping it that I realize how kick ass the story line actually is. Sadly, I have a long list of dramas that I want to finish before I even look at this one. But I’m definitely planning on finishing this.Summary
Shin Ji Hyun is our main girl. She’s an atypical drama character in the sense that her life seems near perfect. She lives a privilege lifestyle as the daughter of a rich chaebol, she has an adoring fiance, and a loyal group of friends. We can also see that her bubbly, innocent personality is the result of living a well-sheltered life. The drama starts with her rushing to get to her engagement party. There, her handsome fiance, who also works for her father, Kang Min Ho, is waiting for her. They entertain guests and show signs of being a happy couple. In comes a late Han Kang; he is both her classmate from high school and Min Ho’s friend and despite his good job at hiding it, he is obviously in love with Ji Hyun as well. The drama cuts to a girl who is living a totally different life. Song Yi Kyung is a poor girl who spends her time living alone in her apartment and going to work in a convenient store. She seems hunted by something, which we later find out is a loved one’s death. Cut back to Ji Hyun. Her father urges her and Min Ho to move up the wedding. They are surprised by this but they decide to go along with it. It’s excitement all around, except for poor Han Kang who is even more miserable. Ji Hyun goes shopping for bridesmaid dresses. In the mean time, Yi Kyung is seen at the side of a road. That day is the anniversary of her loved one’s death and she is visiting the site of the accident. Suddenly, she decides that she can not bear to live any longer and throws her self in front of a truck. Luckily, a kind stranger grabs her and shoves her away from danger.
The whole ordeal causes cars to come screeching to a halting stop in a disastrous clutter. A motorcyclist cuts in front of our other main girl, Ji Hyun, which causes her to slam on the breaks and slam into a truck. She gets up, unharmed, only to realize that she is a soul staring at her own body, which seems to be in a bad condition. No one else seems to be able to see her soul except a mysterious figure dressed in black who disappears. Not knowing what to do, she follows her body as it is rushed to the emergency room. The situation doesn’t get better and she has to witness her parents grieving over her. In the hospital, Ji Hyun spots the mysterious figure again and follows him. She finds out that he is some sort of modern Grim Reaper. He had come to the accident scene because someone else was ‘due for death’, but because of Yi Kyung’s spontaneous decision, it had caused Ji Hyun to lose her life as well. Normally, Grim Reaper would guide souls to heaven but in this special circumstance he gives her a choice: she can either go directly to heaven or if in 49 days she can find three people who truly love her, she can return to her old life. The condition of the second is that she must inhabit another body in order to do so, which is coincidentally Yi Kyung’s body. She enthusiastically chooses the second option, confident that she can get the task done. The next day Ji Hyun awakens as Yi Kyung.

Comment
I love stories that address questions of mortality and the after life. They’re just incredibly fascinating because no one really knows what happens when you die so you just have to temporarily accept the ‘facts’ that the writer/director gives. The drama seems really beautifully written and the plot sounds amazing. I’m impartial to the acting so far, but we’ll just have to see. You know what I really love though? The Grim Reaper. The writers of the drama brilliantly injected a hint of humor into the drama by creating some kind of sarcastic yet totally relate-able Grim Reaper. He has that ‘I’m just trying to do my job here’ air to him along with a precocious and arrogant attitude  and I love it! I can already tell he’s going to be my favourite character. The rest of the character also seem alright; I don’t think I’m going to have a problem with the cast. However, I am wondering how they are going to go about this, especially the ending. Obviously, when Ji Hyun takes over Yi Kyung’s body, there’s going to be a drastic change in Yi Kyung’s chracter. So, wouldn’t the people who love Yi Kyung in the end technically only love Ji Hyun? Doesn’t that mean that Yi Kyung would end up once again with no one in her life? Anyway, I heard the drama ends well so I’m looking forward to how the writers solve that issue.

Why I am going to continue to watch

• interesting plot
• solid cast
• nicely written
• love the Grim Reaper character
• pretty drama

First Episode Ratings
How much I liked it: 8/10
How good it was: 8.5/10

Watch it HERE

OT: Sorry for the sucky images. Do you guys know how hard it was to look for images while avoiding spoilers? Gahhh >.< My. Eyes. Must. Forget. What. They. Have. Seen.

Should I watch Flower Boy Ramyun Shop?

I don’t know. People keep saying it’s good but I’m a little skeptical. Also Scheduler from 49 Days is in this! Exciting stuff. I might just have to wait until all the episodes come out and see what people say about it, then watch it. lol I know that’s lazy but a drama is a huge time investment and it pisses me off when it turns out badly. Lie to Me, for example. Can someone please tell me what was the point of Lie to Me? Anyways, that’s a whole different rant.

Hunks That Can Act: Goong Yoo

HUNKS THAT CAN ACT (#4)

Goong Yoo: He’s arguably the most seasoned actor in my list. He captured my heart and my respect by perfectly portraying the role of a sexually confused main character in Coffee Prince (homosexuality is a pretty controversial topic in Korea) and he never gave neither back. More recently, he has acted in the movie The Crucible which tackles the heavy subject of abuse in a school for mentally and physically disabled children. I would need to gather all my emotional courage to watch a film like that, let alone act in it. So huge props. He has also acted in the film Finding Mr. Destiny which I have been meaning to watch forever. Really, the only reason Goong Yoo is not higher in this list is because I have yet to watch most of his works but I’ve heard from many people that he is a phenomenal actor so I’m really looking forward to getting to know him better.

*excuse the ridiculously blurry middle picture but I just could not leave out topless Goong Yoo. *___*

A Thousand Days’ Promise: Update

Hello! ^^ So I’m still hooked on Thousand Day Promise. I just finished episode 7 and I’m waiting (rather impatiently) for episode 8. And let me just say that… you guys. This drama just excels at everything. You know when you watch a drama and you can already predict what is going to happen but it takes like 308976 episodes to get there? Isn’t that the most infuriating thing ever? It makes me appreciate the writer of Thousand Day Promise that much more because she delivers the plot when it’s supposed to be delivered. I don’t think I’m even halfway through the drama yet but I’m getting all these good plot actions that usually are only saved for the last 3 episodes of a drama. Another thing I’ve noticed is the writer’s subtle use of suspense. Not every episode of Thousand Day Promise finishes with a an enormous turn-of-events cliff hanger but it still manages to make you curious enough to tune in for the next episode. All in all, this is a very hearty and filling drama in the sense that it leaves you feeling satisfied. The plot has an assured pace and it doesn’t feel like we’re heading nowhere. I highly recommend this to any one who is on the hunt for a good drama to watch!

Hunks That Can Act: Vaness Wu

HUNKS THAT CAN ACT (#5)

Vanness Wu: Purely based on Autumn’s Concerto, I can safely say that the boy can act. He played the head strong and rebellious Ren Guen Xi in Taiwan’s 2010 hit drama and he played it with gusto. Strong when the character called for it and emotional when it was needed, I was absolutely satisfied with his performance. I even might have fallen in love with his character a little. -welp-

Hunks That Can Act: Almosts

This is the start of yet another one of my silly lists to amuse you guys while I decide what drama to review or recap next. Originally this list was supposed to be about whom I believed to be the best actors in k-dramas, j-dramas, and tw-dramas but then I realized how difficult it would be to comply that list. There are so many actors and so much criteria to grade on. It would take me months to come up with a legitimate list! So, my solution? Let’s drastically narrow the selection and maybe make this a little more fun. Hence this became: Hunks That Can Act. There are exactly two criteria to make this list: 1) the actor must be hot and 2) he must be a good actor as well. Much easier to do. lol And to add to the excitement let’s do this in descending order so I get to reveal my all-time favourite at the end! To start up let’s look at the individuals that couldn’t quite make the list but I felt bad leaving them totally out of this post.

HUNKS THAT CAN ACT

~Honorary Mentions~

Jang Guen Seuk: He was the hardest one to leave out of my top 5! This Korean actor is more pretty than handsome but he’s got a smile than that can warm just about anyone’s heart. Casting directors can not bear to let his amazing singing voice got to waste so he’s usually cast in music-related dramas.  See him in You’re Beautiful and Mary Stayed Out All Night.

Roy Qiu: To be honest I have only ever watched him in one drama. He was the second male lead but he definitely stole the spot light from the primary lead with his adorable character and genuine emotions. I had the biggest drama-crush on him in Easy Fortune Happy Life (TW).

Mizushima Hiro: Okay, so his acting is not top notch but it’s bearable. lol His mediocre acting skills are a small price to pay to see his pretty pretty face on the screen. Have fun watching him portray wacky characters in Hana Kimi (JP) and Absolute Boyfriend (JP).

Ryo Nishikido: His heartbreaking performance in the Japanese tear-jerker 1 Litre of Tears immediately put this young talent on the map for me.

Jerry Yan: I’m not completely convinced he is a good actor but he was really cute in Down with Love. His greek statue-like features help a lot too. (Also do you guys see the resemblance between him and DBSK’s Changmin? It’s crazy!)

Where the HELL have you BEEN?

Needless to say: I have returned, if anyone still follows this blog…. *cricket* *cricket* *tumbleweed*

Where have I been? Nowhere and everywhere. Summer’s passed (which was supposed to be when I would post the most, ironically) and autumn’s is halfway to it’s end. After a short vacation in California (which was AWESOME by the way), I started university. Then it was just a lot changes, work, assignments, tests etc etc. I’m still not convince I love it to be honest. Believe it or not, throughout ALL THIS TIME, I hadn’t watched a single drama. I finished Lie to Me and Sunny Happiness before school let out and started some (City Hunter, The Greatest Love, 49 days) before that. But for nearly 4 months now I watched zero dramas. Zip. Nada. 0. Lately, however, I’ve been hearing good things about Protect the Boss so I made a resolve to watch it but somehow I ended up hooked on A Thousand Days’ Promise instead and now I don’t want to watch anything else because it might ruin the ~mood~ for me (I’m weird).  So yeah that’s what I’ve been up to. There was also this friend of mine who kept asking for advice on what dramas to watch because she is still fresh in her drama phase. Of course, I gave her the most opinionated and long explanation as to why My Princess was definitely better than Marry Me Mary (but it all ended in my recommending Snow Queen instead lol) and suddenly, I missed my blog. Since then, I had been conflicted on starting up this blog again because it takes a lot time commitment but nostalgia got the best of me. So here I am. Back and with lots of fresh ideas. ^^

A Thousand Days’ Promise: First Episode Summary

I know, I know: where the hell have I BEEN? I’ll try explain that in my next post.  But for now, have a first episode recap.

I actually stumbled across this drama by chance. As my ‘Where the HELL have you BEEN?’ post that will closely follow will tell you I haven’t watched a drama in months (blasphemy, I know).  But I recently got a new netbook and I wanted to check if it could accommodate all my regular websites so of course I headed on to dramafever. On the front page I saw A Thousand Day’s Promise and sincerely not thinking much of it (“Oh here’s another one of these overacted soap-opera-esque melodramas” were my exact thoughts) I clicked on it. BAM. Love at first episode.

Summary

So the writer immediately goes for for the hook in the very first scene. It starts with Park Ji Hyung, whose identity is still ambiguous at this point, confessing to a woman he likes, Lee Seo Yeon, in a car parked in the middle of a field. Seo Yeon admits that her feelings are mutual and their dialogue is followed by a steamy sex sequence. Perfect way to captivate a watcher, to be honest lol. Some time later, Seo Yeon is rushing to get to somewhere but gets lost in the way. We shortly find out that her rendezvous was with Ji Hyung, who had been impatiently waiting in a hotel room for an hour and a half. When she finally arrives, he blows up on her, telling her that he had been worried sick and now half their time was wasted. They argue for a while but then they start making out.

Just as it’s getting all hot, a call for Ji Hyung interrupts them. Ji Hyung reluctantly picks up the call and on the other end of the line is a cute bubbly girl (Noh Hyang Gi)  informing her ‘Oppa’  that she just came from the doctor and she was advised to use more contraceptives. At that point, I was all wtf, he’s cheating on Seo Yeon? But no. As Ji Hyung and Seo Yeon sit down for a chat, the mood obviously ruined, we find out that he’s cheating WITH Seo Yeon. Apparently, Noh Hyang Gi has been Ji Hyung’s fiance for nearly ten years. Their parents are friends, her dad is a big boss at the hospital Ji Hyung’s dad works at, and on top of that Noh Hyang Gi has been in love with him her whole life which all somehow ended up in both families expecting and planning their marriage. However for the past year he’s been having an affair, knowing that the day would come when he’d have to get married. That day, as he tells Seo Yeon, has finally been set to be in a month; they both understand that this means that this last encounter was their official break-up. Seo Yeon is heartbroken but she puts on a calm front saying she knew their break-up was coming, and she had prepared well for this moment. Ji Hyung who honestly looks like he’s ready to burst into tears asks if it’s that easy for her to let him go. That sends them in a familiar argument: Ji Hyung had proposed that they get married but Seo Yeon had refused saying that she didn’t want all the drama that would impose in her life. (To be fair to Seo Yeon though: who the hell would want some guy to propose to them by saying “Even though my parents wouldn’t approve of you and this is going to put me and my family in deep shit, would you marry me?”. It wasn’t his exact words but that was the idea and I understand that it might make Seo Yeon feel like a charity case.) Anyways, they sadly part ways.  Ji Hyung is an emotional mess and he spends the rest of his work day in a reverie as he recalls the past. Through his flashback we are given a little more information on Seo Yeon’s background. Her father died when she was young which prompted her mother to abandon her, then six years old, and her brother,then four, to fend for themsleves.

After a couple days of near-starvation Seo Yeon’s aunt finally discovered them and took them in. Ji Hyung had been a longtime friend of her cousin, Jae Min, before he fell for her and he had first seen her over at his house. In present day and on the other side of town, Seo Yeon is putting on a poker face and ignoring all of Ji Hyung’s calls but secretly crying to herself whenever she’s alone. Her brother, Moon Kwon, calls to remind her that that day they were supposed to be dining at their aunt’s. Seo Yeon seems a little alarmed since she’s been quite forgetful recently and rushes over. At their return, they realize that she left the gas stove on when she left, which could’ve been really dangerous. Once again, she freaks out that she’s forgotten such an important detail. That same night, Ji Hyung calls Jae Min, Seo Yeon’s cousin who is also his friend, out. He had been avoiding him for the past year, and he just now finally decides to admit that he had been fooling around with Seo Yeon. He asks that Jae Min take care of her for him. (I rolled my eyes at this part– drama leading males are so stupid at times, aren’t they? Men.) Jae Min is infuriated when he learns that Ji Hyung has involved his cousin in an affair when he had specifically told him to treat her right (and by ‘right’ he meant as a little sister, not a lover) as she had had a tough life. Both men part and Ji Hyung arrives home feeling even more pathetic then he really is. (He should feel pathetic. Hmph.) He finally gathers enough balls to tell his mom that he is in love with someone else and doesn’t want to marry Hyang Gi. Close up on mom’s shocked face. End scene.

Comment

Love, love, love.  The first thing I loved about this drama is that not everything is quite as it seems at first sight. We start the drama thinking this is like any old regular story about two people in love. But wait. There’s another girl involved? What? The other girl is actually the fiance and Seo Yeon is in an affair? Wow. Ji Hyung’s a jerk. Wait a minute. Seo Yeon knows she’s participating in an affair? lol That was basically my exact thought sequence for the first 10 minutes of the drama. But I love how the writers did that. It’s like we are learning more about the characters as we observe them and in this way, it’s like the characters are developing and shaping themselves right in front of our eyes. Kind of like how it would be like in real life. I’m also such a sucker for strong female leads like Seo Yeon. I love how she’s a tough cookie and although she’s had a sad past, she works hard to make a better future for herself and her brother. I really hope the writers don’t mess her up or something. Kdramas have this bad tendency to take strong female leads and turn them into these weaklings that cry in almost every episode (coughGoongcough).  But then again, the whole drama revolves around her getting amnesia so I guess that would soften anyone up. :/ Oh yeah.  Another thing I love is how a lot of the first, second, and third episode revolvearound memories sequences but the premise of this drama is that Seo Yeon is losing her memory. It’s ironic in a sense because those flashbacks are really important to the watchers to make them understand more about the characters but Seo Yeon is about to lose that hence highlighting the gravity of that loss. All in all, so far so great.

Why I’m going to continue watching

• Great acting from the cast
• Interesting premise
• Tough cookie female lead
• I want to see Ji Hyung grow some balls so I can start to like him better
• Intricate and purposeful writing (you can tell when I writer is writing with a purpose and not just to pad the drama with enough material to cover 16 hours)
• Interesting use of character development

First episode ratings

How much I like it: 8.5/10

How good it was: 8.5/10

Watch it here.

Miss Ripley: First Episode Summary

Miss Ripley was not in the least what I expected. I think I have gone soft from watching too many cute rom-com dramas because this drama struck me as very hard-hitting and serious. It’s intriguing and suspenseful but it’s neither a melodrama or a thriller. It’s hard to classify going by the first episode alone.

Summary
The drama starts with Jang Mi Ri, a young woman who works as a bar hostess in Fukuoka, Japan. She is a Korean immigrant who was adopted by a Japanese family. However, her adoptive father’s gambling habits (ohh, drama parents~~) put her in a position in which she has to work off all his debts by working in a bar. It is a job that she detests and endures solely because she was promised a visa to return to Korea the day she successfully pays everything back. Her mother, who lives in Korea, is still alive and Mi Ri wants to find her.Such a day eventually comes, and as she is promised she is given her visa. Her boss is still reluctant to let her go so she practically has to run away from him. With the help of a distraction, she is able to board her train and plane; a few hours later she lands in Korea. The difficulties don’t end here however, with only a high school diploma and no contacts, she must find a full-time job that gives her a work permit in order to be able to stay in Korea.
Meanwhile, Hotel A’s director, Jang Myung Hoon, is under pressure as a Japanese VIP guest is set to arrive soon and his only employee that could speak his native Hakata dialect has just quit. His hotel rival, Mondo Resort, already has an employee that can accommodate the Japanese guest so, the fear of losing business has him desperately searching for a replacement. We switch back to Mi Ri who is currently lodging at a boarding house. There, she bumps into our second male lead, Song Yoo Hyun, a sweet caring guy who despite his ‘normal’ exterior is also the heir to Mondo Resort.
He immediately is drawn to her at first sight but she is too cranky/tired to care or notice. After resting for the night, she begins her mission to find a job. We see her struggle and be rejected again and again because she lacks in education and experience. One interviewer even tries to take advantage of her situation by demanding a sex favor of her.  At the end of it all, she feels exasperated and tired as it all seems impossible. She’s not the only one having trouble; inside Hotel A, Myung Hoon is having a hard time finding someone with the specific Hakata accent. On top of that, he catches his attention-derived wife cheating on him and she is the one to demand a divorce. On his drive home, he nearly runs over Mi Ri who, having just escaped from the sexual assaulter, mutters angrily in Japanese. Myung Hoon immediately picks up on her Hakata dialect. He offers her a job, to which is reluctant to accept, but eventually agrees. As a condition, she asks if she is could be granted a work permit. He answers that that would be really difficult and it’s not something he can do which urges her to fib that she graduated from Tokyo University. That changes everything for Myung Hoon and he immediately hires her on the spot.

Comment
Miss Ripley for some reason reminds me of the movie Sleeping with the Enemy. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because I am watching too many dramas with a main lead with a neat-freak-on-verge-of-OCD personality (Sunny Happiness and Lie to Me, in case you were wondering). Maybe it’s the similar theme of starting a new and better life for yourself under difficult circumstances. Anyway, the plot is nice and the characters (Yoochun’s character fits him like a glove-I love it!) are well-acted but I’m still not crazy about it. This is also one of these drama where every single detail is important so you need to watch it with full attention. I’m feeling much too lazy these days to do that. Also, there is an implied sad ending happening here. And you know how I feel about those (ie. scared of them). All in all: It’s nice but somehow, I cannot get into it. I already watched the second episode and to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to watch the rest of this drama.

Why YOU should start/continue to watch

• great cast
• promising plot
• Yoochun acting cute and sweet ^^
• the intrigue of where The Lie takes her

First Episode Ratings
How much I liked it: 4/10
How good it was: 7/10

Watch it here

First Impressions: Baby Faced Beauty

I finally came around to watching the first episode of BFB and it was so good. Some things annoyed me though,  like the name of the fashion company is “THE style”. Why, oh why must they do this to English speakers? -.- Also, the overall budget of the drama seems rather low in my opinion. The characters, on the other hand, are pure all-around win. Daniel Choi is incredibly hilarious and Jang Na Ra is awesome albeit a little on the boring side. There’s this one scene where Daniel Choi’s character accidentally walks a fashion show runway… comedy GOLD. Anyway, I shall leave some of my rant and raves for the First Episode Summary, which I’m working on.