Tv Drama Review 14 - Goong, Ooku, MAM

[宫 Goong/The Palace] MBC Actors: Yoon Eun Hye, Joo Ji Hoon, Kim Jung Hoon, Song Ji Hyo
A drama adopted from the manhwa. It was extended to 24 episodes and there will be a season 2 next year. Basically, the plot was about modern Korea still having a monarchy. Crown Prince Lee Shin (JJH) had to marry common gal Chae Gyung (YEH) due to a promise between the past emperor and CG's grandpa. Before that, CG heard Shin proposed to his secret lover Hyo Rin (SJH) in school, but he was rejected as HR wanna concentrate on her ballet. Just then, Prince Yul who was the original crown prince returned from UK with his mum after 14 yrs. While he fell for CG, his mum was planning for a revenge so that she could get rid of Shin.
Basically the plot was fast-paced and interesting initially, but it started to drag because it was extended to 24 epis. The mood was rather sad when it reached 3/4 of the drama. The last 2 epis were partly shot in Macau when both Shin and CG were finally together again. Not to mention the love triangles in between them la. I would say Yul was pretty pathetic because he was used by his mum lah..and his love for CG was like fu shui nan shou and his character started to "rot" when he told so many lies to CG.
The other characters in the palace and their classmates were there to balance the drama. Gd performance from them.
I would said most of the actors here improved alot as the drama went on. That's a good sign coz most of them were newbies. YEH was an ex-Baby VOX member, if u know the group. I love the costumes worn by CG in the drama..very classy ne! As for the worst costumes, it gotta be Shin lor..the fashion taste was kinda weird lah. KJH was a member of e grp UN..which broke up le..i think. Overall, would recommend this drama to K-drama fans. The ost is not bad too.
[大奥 Ooku] Fujitv Actors: Kanno Miho, Asano Yuko, Ikewaru Chizuru, Harada Ryuji, Kitamura Kazuki, Okada Yoshinori, Kimura Tae, Adachi Yumi etc
The first drama of the "Ooku" series. However, the storyline was abt the downfall of the Edo period, or the Tokugawa family. So, this drama's storyline was after "Ooku chap 1" lah.
This drama involved 3 generals. The first general Iesada(KK) had a birth mark on his face and he married a Satsuma general's daughter Tokuko(KM). Tokuko's lover Togo(HR) decided to invade the Edo palace and rescued her out. On the other hand, Ooku's overall in-charge Takiyama(AY) was actually Iesada's inner concubine..ai mei relationship la. This part of the story would end with the death of Iesada and Tokuko's departure.
Tokuko's personal maid Maru(IC) would remain in the palace to serve her next mistress who was the Emperor's daughter, Chikako (AdaY) 2nd general was quite pathetic lah, his mum played all day long in the Ooku and drink sakae like nobody's biz. So in the end, Maru requested Takiyama to return to Ooku. This part of the story would show the most loving couple in the Ooku for hundreds of yrs and the inner war which broke out in Japan. In the end, the general died in Osaka and Tokuko would come back to dismiss Ooku. That means, everybody is to leave the place after the Satsuma generals took over Edo castle. The story ended with Tokuko and Takiyama being the last 2 to leave the palace while Maru went to Osaka to find her lover Shinnosuke(OY).
Recommend to those who like historical dramas and those who had seen other Ooku series. Personally i preferred "Ooku chap 1" becoz the plot was better.
[Marry A Millionaire] SBS Actors: Go Soo, Kim Hyun Joo, Son Tae Young, Yoon Sang Hyun
Quite a disappointment coz the plot was too plain. Ex-lovers Young Hoon(GS) and Eun Young(KHJ) reunited again after participating a tv reality show like "joe the millionaire" So basically YH was a fake millionaire lah..and only EY knew from the start. So, during the trip when they filmed the reality show, both of them kinda fell in love with each other again, but this time round, 2 more ppl joined in lah. One of them was the tv hostess Soo Min(STY) and the producer of the show Jin Ha(YSH). So, the rest of the plot went on with the love triangles. Super sianz..
I think it was a waste for excellent actors like GS AND KHJ. Their characters were simply boring. The idea of the plot was special actually, but the storyline just bored me.
KHJ AND STY were beautiful in the drama though. I guessed was partly due to their dresses and partly becoz they have good looks. Hahaha! Go Soo looked very smart in suits too.
Finally, would only reco to ppl who liked GS and KHJ. Lucky it is only 16 epis.

Tv Drama Review 11 - GL, Pride, Hotman I, II

[Good Luck] TBS Actors: Kimura Takuya, Tsutsumi Shinichi, Shibasaki Kou, Uchiyama Rina, Kuroki Hitomi, Kaname Jun etc
Kimu-taku fans should know this 2003 drama with an excellent plot. Besides having a nice OST, everything is just right for a good J dorama. KT acted as a 2nd pilot Shinkai Hajime who would have a romance with SK's Ogawa Ayumi. Also, he would have a gd dui shou xi with TS's Kouda Kazuki. Honestly, i like TS alot too..another excellent but very COOL actor. Hahaha! Plot mostly revolves at the airport, cant say much as the drama is short. Basically Shinkai would face ups & downs in his career lah. A must watch for all J dorama fans!
[Pride] FujiTV Actors: Kimura Takuya, Takeuchi Yuko, Sakaguchi Kenji, Nakagoshi Noriko, Sato Koichi etc
Actually i felt disappointed with KT's 2004 drama. The plot just went downhill, quite boring in the middle. This drama is about ice-hockey lah. KT's Haru is the soul person in the group and he would have romance with TY's Aki. Actually Haru this fella doesnt believe in love, and Aki was waiting for her bf to return. So they played a love game while she continues to wait lah. SK's character was average though, but i think he did well overall. The theme song is an old song from Queen..."born to love you". Overall, the drama is just above average, but KT fans shld not miss it lah.
[Hotman] TBS Actors: Sorimachi Takashi, Yamauchi Nana, Yada Akiko, Konishi Manami, Ichikawa Yui, Saito Shota & Keita etc
The 1st series had a higher rating, but personally i preferred the 2nd series more. A warm family drama; ST's Furiya Enzo had a daughter Nanami (YN) who had skin disease. Thus, he made everyone in the family to eat those healthy food prepared by him. But until now i dont know Nanami's mum is who leh. (think Nanami is not his own child lah) Enzo worked in Nanami's pri sch as an art teacher and YA's Misuzu Kaneko had a crush on him. The rest of the cast acted as Enzo's siblings with different fathers. Amazing right? Hahaha! Actually i dont like the scenes when the siblings quarrelled lah...it seems like Enzo always started it and took the blame in the end. Haiz~ Nanami is a very cute girl...love her so much in the dorama!
[Hotman II] TBS Actors: Sorimachi Takashi, Yamauchi Nana, Ito Misaki, Shiraishi Miho, Ichikawa Yui, Saito Shota & Keita etc
I watched this series first before catching the 1st part. It started off by saying Enzo and Nanami went to stay beside the sea. Enzo is still a teacher while Nanami has a small bf whom she always played with..haha! The other siblings all lead their own lives in the city lah. IM's Shima came to visit them, but actually her organic shop was closed down lah. Thus, the family lost their mum's house as it was mortaged to the bank i think. So, Enzo returned to the city with Nanami and started to save money to get their house back. One by one the siblings would come back and stay with Enzo lah...but again they would quarrell lah. Really hate those scenes man! As for Nanami, she had some trouble in school with the gal sitting beside her. Actually she backstabbed Nanami by saying she is country pumpkin etc and destroyed her textbook. But Nanami is a really good child and forgave her lah..so in the end they were 2 good buddies lah. So, what's the ending leh? Check it out yourself lah...
The Hotman series had themesongs sang by Exile..all very nice to hear k! Dont be too surprised to hear Nanami calling her dad by his name "Enzo~"..haha! Actually she did tried to call him daddy but Enzo found it weird himself. Hah! Also, love the family names hang outside their house gate. Initially only Enzo & Nanami's name, while the other siblings' names were covered. So one by one their names would be uncovered until the whole family is together again. So heartwarming sia~~recommend it to u guys!

Tv Drama Review 9 -TGWT, LWNR, LSIH

[白色巨塔 The Great White Tower] FujiTV Actors: Karasawa Toshiaki, Eguchi Yousuke, Kuroki Hitomi, Yada Hitomi, Ito Hideaki, Mizuno Maki, Kamikawa Takaya
People who like this drama would most probably like to see how Zaizen sensei (karasawa) battled up to become professor and went downhill when he kenna the courtcase and finally, lung cancer...Those people who dont like this drama simply because they find it boring..as romance is not the main thing in the drama.
TGWT didnt disappoint me with the plot, though it was quite boring in the first 10 epis. Hahaha!
The cast's performance was splendid, especially karasawa-kun. Though Eguchi's Satomi was terrific as well, i think Zaizen this character was more interesting. Like the chemistry b/w keiko (kuroki) and zaizen too..The whole plot went fast and became exciting with the lawyer(kamikawa) fighting the case with zaizen...I would say zaizen is luckier than satomi as both his women supported him and he fighted his way up to achieve his goals..though the method he used was incorrect. As for satomi, his wife didnt quite understand his ideals in life and didnt support him at the critical time...though eventually she returned to his side. There's some ai mei guan xi b/w satomi and saeko(yada)...too bad xiang jian hen wan...Finally the themesong "amazing grace"....marked the ending of the drama...
[足秤老婆八两夫 Love with No Regrets] TVB Actors: Amy Kwok, Bosco Wong, Annie Man etc
Well...this drama has an average cast, given that Bosco Wong was a newbie at that time. Amy Kwok was a tong yang xi married to Bosco's character Ah Dou, who was a bully lah. Hahaha...the plot cycled ard the jiang you factory and of coz bosco' character is a bai jia zi...so ended up who saved the factory leh? Annie Man's character really sux...she acted as the 2nd sis of Ah Dou..a qian jin xiao jie and wanted to marry a rich guy lah...Something blossomed b/w Jin Yu (Amy Kwok) and Ah Dou's shi fu (mai bao)...but ended up mai bao took revenge on Dou's family because of his real identity. Basically, the plot was ok, though i wish Ah Dou and Jin Yu could end up together...haiz. I think Jin Yu ended up with someone else lah...Last comment abt it is..if u have time then u can watch lah...or else u can give it a skip.
[爱在哈佛 Love Story in Harvard] SBS Actors: Kim Rae Won, Kim Tae Hee, Lee Jung Jin, Kim Min
Kinda regret to watch this show. Plot was boring from the start and mr Kim and mr Lee's english really couldnt make it..not convincing at all to be harvard's law students lor..hahaha!
Lucky tae hee's english was alright...and she looked different from her evil character in stairways to heaven..hahaha! first half of the story happened in harvard and we wld c the love triangle formed b/w the 3 above. Sadly, kim min's character only appeared in a few epis...haha!
2nd half happened in korea when Mr Kim set up his own legal firm..and Mr Lee returned to korea with kim min to fight a court case...and of coz his opponent was his friend and foe in harvard lor...sianz... The most sian part was only 1 court case occurred during the 2nd part of the show, really can drag sia...haha! tae hee also returned to kr...and zai xu qian yuan with mr kim, but she found out she kenna cancer...haiz....See why i find it boring? hahaha! The ang moh guy in Stairways to heaven acted as a super bad devil this time round..and he spoke english wor..hahhaa!Anyway, the ending was quite a surprise with Mr Lee's character but then ...happy ending lah.
As for the acting skill...think Mr Kim was abit overacted lah..he kept screaming in the drama leh...Tae Hee definitely had improved from her first drama...hahaha! She's really pretty lah..
Not much comment for Mr Lee..though i find his expression kinda same throughout. Didnt really like the songs in the ost too...that's a pity.