Brilliant Legacy/Shining Inheritance

Shining Inheritance (KDrama)


Summary from Wikipedia:


Go Eun Sung (Han Hyo Joo) was studying overseas in New York and she returned to Korea during her vacation to bring her autistic brother, Eun Woo, to the United States to study music. Sun-Woo Hwan (Lee Seung Gi), who was also studying in New York, was ordered to return to Korea by his grandmother, Jang Sook Ja, to learn how to manage her food company. Eun Sung and Hwan, who were on the same flight back home, accidentally had their luggage bags exchanged, which led to several misunderstandings between the two of them.

Go Pyung Joong, Eun Sung's father, struggled to save his company from going bankrupt. One day, his wallet and valuables were stolen by a thief who subsequently died in a gas explosion accident. The police, upon finding Go’s belongings on the thief, mistakenly identified the thief as Go and a death certificate for Go was promptly issued. Go decided to lie low and not tell his family that he was alive so that his family could claim his life insurance money and use it to clear the debts. However his second wife, Baek Sung Hee, kicked her stepchildren, Eun Sung and Eun Woo, out of the house after collecting the insurance money and moved into a new home with her daughter, Yoo Seung Mi.

Eun Sung asked for help from several of her friends, including her senior, Hyung Jin, who avoided her because she was no longer rich. She managed to find a job at a nightclub with the help from her friend, Hye Ri. At the nightclub, Eun Sung met Hyung Jin's senior, Park Joon Se (Bae Soo Bin), who was shocked to see her working there. She also met Hwan, who caused her to lose contact with Eun Woo. Realising that Eun Woo was missing, Eun Sung was devastated and tried searching for her brother but to no avail. With the help from Hye Ri and Joon Se, Eun Sung rented a small room and started a small dumplings stall while continuing her search for Eun Woo.

Meanwhile, Jang became deeply disappointed in Hwan as Hwan had no direction in life and did not know how to cherish her company and her employees. While pondering over what to do about her grandson, Jang visited a neighborhood that she used to live in when she was poor and encountered Eun Sung who was selling dumplings. Jang met with an accident and received help from Eun Sung. Jang, seeing that Eun Sung tried her best to take care of her even when she could not afford her own daily expenses, was touched by Eun Sung's compassion. Jang brought Eun Sung home and announced to her family that she was going to appoint Eun Sung as the heir of her food company...

***Modern Cinderella story at it's best! For those few people who haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend this drama. It focuses not only on love but tackles family relationships and one's philosophies or ideals about life.

Pros:

- Excellent direction
- Excellent writing
- Great acting by the whole cast (I can't even think of one actor/actress who didn't act well in this drama)
- I love the OST!

Cons:

- Common storyline but excellent delivery
- A few questions about the plot ("can it happen legally?" sort of questions)


Click HERE for the OST.

Boys Over Flowers (KDrama)

Boys Over Flowers (KDrama)


Summary from Wikipedia:

While delivering a student's dry cleaning, Geum Jan Di saves the life of a student at the most prestigious school in South Korea. Her actions soon became public and exposed the bullying within the school. To silence the public's attention, Jan Di is offered a swimming scholarship to Shinhwa which she declines but her family forces her to attend.

During her first day at Shinhwa, Jan Di learns of the famous F4 and of the other students' adoration and fixation with the boys in the group. Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jung, and Song Woo Bin are the richest and most powerful kids within Shinhwa and South Korea. Subsequently, they use their power to terrorize weaker students or those they do not like. Jan Di, instead of being impressed, becomes enraged and fantasizes about confronting Gu Jun Pyo, the leader and initiator of many of the bullying acts. She gains courage to confront him when a friend , named Oh Min Ji , accidentally spills ice cream on his shoes and he demands the girl to lick it off. Jan Di defends her friend and attempts to reason with Jun Pyo's tyrannical demand. When he refuses to relent, Jan Di turns violent, knocking Jun Pyo to the ground. Engaged by this, Gu Jun Pyo declares war on Jan Di and encourages the other students to bully her. Jan Di, however, is resistant, refusing to apologize to Gu Jun Pyo, and stands by her decision to fight him.

Ironically, Gu Jun Pyo, having never been stood up to, begins to develop feelings for her. He tries unsuccessfully to woo her as she slowly begins to spend more time with Jun Pyo and his friends. Jan Di teaches Jun Pyo that money cannot buy everything and in order to have real friends, he himself must be real or use his heart, but Gu Jun Pyo still does not understand why someone like Jan Di should dislike him. As the story progresses, Jun Pyo falls deeper in love with Jan Di and she learns how to open herself to his love as well.

As love begins to blossom, Jun Pyo's mother discovers them and deems it unsuitable. She does everything in her power to keep the two apart, even arranging a marriage for Jun Pyo. The other F4 members and Jan Di's best friend, Chu GaEul try to make their relationship better. So Yi Jung and Song Woo Bin came up with a few plans but it fails. They left with no choice but to use the last plan. The plan is So Yi Jung have to make a fake date with Ga Eul. At first their plan is successful but because of Jun Pyo's mother the relationship between them is getting further again.

After the fake date, Ga Eul finds her self falling in love with So Yi Jung. So Yi Jung feels the same way, but he won't admit that he is falling for her. Other factors keep arising as another member of the group falls in love with Jan Di (which was Yoon Ji Hoo) and in a twist of fate, Jun Pyo loses his memory. A girl named Jang Yu Mi which was on the same hospital where Jun Pyo was confined, takes advantage on him to make him fall in love with her. Geum Jan Di never gives up for Jun Pyo to remember his love for her, she falls in the swimming pool letting Jun Pyo reminise his love for her. On Jan Di's graduation, Jun Pyo proposes to her on the cable car at the NamSan Tower where their first date was held. Gu Jun Pyo told Jan Di that he needs to study abroad to fix problems regarding Shinhwa. Jun Pyo asks Jan Di to accompany him as his wife but Jan Di refuses because she has also plans for her future becoming a doctor. The two agreed but Jan Di told Jun Pyo that she will be waiting for 4 years in one condition--if Jun Pyo comes back as a handsome and charming man.

The story ends with F4 four years later with each cast revealing happenings on their current life--Yi Jung coming back form Sweden for helding his art exhibit and visits Ga Eul to a kinder garten and she was surprised , Ji Hoo who just opened his Grandpa's clinic, Ga Eul who was teaching the art of pottery to preschoolers and Woo Bin becoming a happy man but his career was never mentioned in the story. Lastly, Geum Jan Di went to the beach to see Jun Pyo.He then proposes to Jan Di but the answer was still a question among viewers because when Jan Di was about to answer--Ji Hoo, Yi Jung and Woo Bin arrives saying that they object to the proposal because Jun Pyo and Jan Di didn't ask for their permission first....and they live peacefully.

***Who wouldn't want to watch the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango? With all the hype that surrounded it? Even if just to compare it with the Taiwanese and Japanese versions? Although, if I do say so myself, the Japanese version was way better, plot, script and direction wise.

Pros:

- Two thumbs-up for the props, set and wardrobe designers

- A bit on the shallow side, major eye candy (It doesn't hurt, right ladies?)

- Over-all, it was just fun to watch

- Nice OST

Cons:

- Let's just say, the viewers can tell it was rushed from the script to the production itself!

- I have read a lot of harsh reviews about BOF particularly about the acting of the the main leads (F4 & Geum Jan Di) but for me it was not that bad particularly LMH's acting


Click HERE for the OST 1.
Click HERE for the OST 2.
Click HERE for the F4 Special Edition Album songs.

Goong/Princess Hours (KDrama)

Goong/Princess Hours (KDrama)


Summary from Wikipedia:


Set in an alternate 21st-century reality where Korea possesses a royal family, since 1945 to present, this show revolves around the lives of the Crown Prince(Hwangtaeja) Yi Shin, and his new bride, Chae-kyeong. The depicted royal family in the show is modelled after the last royal family of Korea, which in reality reigned until the start of the Japanese Occupation in 1910 and was not reinstated after Japanese surrender in Second World War, 1945.

The series starts off with the news that the King, Shin's father, is very ill. With the grim outlook on the King's health, the royal family scrambles to find a wife for Shin, so as to allow him to take over the royal throne if the situation requires. Despite being in love with another girl, the ambitious and talented ballerina Hyo-rin whom Shin initially proposed to (she rejects him to pursue her ballet dreams), Shin eventually marries a commoner to whom he was betrothed by his late grandfather in an old agreement with the girl's grandfather. Shin marries the headstrong yet lovable Chae-kyeong after Hyo-rin's rejection. Despite initially feeling nothing for Chae-kyeong, love eventually blossoms between the couple.

In the meantime, however, matters are further complicated with the return of Yi Yul and his mother Lady Hwa-Young, who was once the Crown Princess (Bingoong) before the death of her husband, the late Crown Prince, older brother of the current King. Yul and his mother were chased out of the palace some time after the death of his father, and it is later revealed that this was due to the King's discovery of an affair between Yul's mother and the current King who was his father's younger brother. Yul's mother had returned with a sinister motive in mind; to restore her son back to the throne, which would have been his eventually, if his father had not died. A series of events befall the palace with the schemes Yul's mother carries out, and is further intensified by the various scandals involving the royal family, which are inclusive of the Shin's continuing relationship with his old flame Hyo-rin, and the budding love Yul develops for Chae-kyeong, his cousin's new-found bride.

***Fourth in my list. What interested me about this drama is the storyline. Who wouldn't want to be a princess, right? And have the haughty prince fall in love with you? It is every girl's dream. Also, the response to this drama was amazing!

Pros:

- Storyline's appeal
- The cinematography was amazing
- For newcomers, Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye, their acting was quite good (They won Best New Actor and Best New Actress, respectively)
- Great acting by the rest of the cast particularly Kim Hye-ja (the Queen Mother) and Yoon Yoo-seon (the Queen)

Cons:

- It started out great but by the second half of the drama, I was waiting for it to end already
- Some of the scenes were dragging and repetitive
- Shin Chae-kyeong (Yoon Eun Hye) was lovable and funny @ first but by the 2nd half of the drama, i thought to myself, what happened to her?

Click HERE for the OST.

Coffee Prince (KDrama)

***photo credit as tagged

Coffee Prince (KDrama)

Summary from Wikipedia:


Choi Han Kyul, played by Gong Yoo, is the cocky son of a very rich family who runs a damaged food corporation. He doesn't believe in love and certainly doesn't want to get married despite his family's requests. On the other hand, Go Eun Chan, played by Yoon Eun Hye, is a 24-year old tomboyish female who gets mistaken as a guy quite often. She takes up every job possible — waitress, food deliverer, etc — and has the responsibility of taking care of her mother and younger sister. Eun Chan accidentally meets Han Kyul twice, once on a delivery and once during a robbery. During the robbery, Eun Chan's delivery motorcycle ends up being damaged. Han Kyul, not knowing that Eun Chan is actually a girl, decides to hire Eun Chan as a false "lover" so that he can escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother. Meanwhile, Han Kyul's cousin, Choi Han Seong, is an established music producer and his ex-girlfriend Han Yoo Joo, who Han Kyul secretly loved for nine years, is a famous artist who studied in New York. The two were lovers for about 8 years but their relationship ended when Yoo Joo broke up with Han Seong. Two years after they separated their paths cross again when Yoo Joo returns to Seoul.

After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han Kyul takes over a run-down severely damaged old coffee shop, later renamed Coffee Prince, to prove his ability, both to his grandmother and Yoo Joo. In order to attract female customers, he only hires good looking male employees. In a struggle with money, Eun Chan, whom Han Kyul has already mistaken as a boy, hides her gender identity to get a job at Coffee Prince. Soon feelings start to spark between Eun Chan and Han Kyul. Because he's unaware that Eun Chan is a girl, Han Kyul starts to question his sexuality.

***Third in my list of favorite asian dramas, tied with You're Beautiful and not because of the similar story line, "girl pretending to be a boy", but because I can't decide which one i like better. I think Jang Geun Suk has a lot to do with my indecision... keke...

Pros:

- Hands down the best acting of two leads in a Kdrama, Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun Hye particularly Gong Yoo. Great work! (both won Best Actor & Best Actress, respectively)
- Excellent acting of the supporting cast, I love their chemistry
- Excellent direction (won Best Drama of 2007)
- Excellent writing
- Great OST


Cons:

- Same old story line (thankful for the wonderful script and great director)
- Same with You're Beautiful, a question persisted in my head, "How can Han Kyul not notice Eun Chan is a girl?
- I was not satisfied with the ending. It left me hanging.
SPOILER ALERT: (for those few people who haven't watched it yet)
It seemed Eun Chan doesn't want to get married (scene inside the car when she arrived after 2 years) or were they setting it up for The 2nd Shop of Coffee Prince that didn't materialize?

Click HERE for the OST.

You're Beautiful (KDrama)

You're Beautiful (KDrama)


Summary from Wikipedia:


Go Mi Nyu is a sister-in-training. When her identical twin brother Go Mi Nam was reported to be in the United States having surgery to fix his previous plastic surgery effort, she was approached by the Manager of the singing band A.N.JELL to pose as Mi Nam for the time being that he is away. Mi Nam had just recently been accepted by the President of A.N.JELL to join the group. Against her wish, Mi Nyu accepts after remembering why her brother wanted to be a singer in the first place (to find their mom). Now posing as Mi Nam, Mi Nyu enters the group A.N.JELL and meets the members: Hwang Tae Kyung, Kang Shin Woo, and Jeremy. Initially disliked by Tae Kyung, the group's leader and composer, Mi Nyu later falls in love with him and finds herself being entangled in a love triangle between him and Shin Woo, while Jeremy harbors a one-sided love for her. Additionally, Mi Nyu finds herself being rivaled against Yoo He Yi, an actress who also has feelings for Tae Kyung.

***Third in my Best Asian Dramas list!!! (Tied with Coffee Prince) My current obsession: Jang Geun Suk and You're Beautiful. Obsessed more with the former, of course. Shoot! I can't think of anything to write because I'm still experiencing withdrawal symptoms. IT IS EXCELLENT!!! You have to watch it, trust me.

Pros:

- Excellent writing (as can be expected from the Hong sisters)
- Excellent acting by the cast especially by the two leads (Jang Geun Suk & Park Shin Hye)
- Good direction even though at times, a bit over the top
- I love the comedic factor (just right)
- I liked the transitions & continuity
- Good cinematography
- Nice OST

Cons:

- Just a bit sceptical about the whole 'Mi Nyu is Mi Nam' thing since it is obvious Mi Nyu is a girl with the singing voice and all...
- The story line is a bit exhausted but still good @ the execution
- Since they are in a band, i expected more from the OST but they still delivered even though
somewhat lacking

Click HERE for the OST.

It Started With A Kiss (TDrama)

It Started With A Kiss (TDrama)

Summary from Wikipedia:

Yuan Xiang Qin (Ariel Lin) is a bumbling, naïve, but optimistic high school girl. Ever since she met Jiang Zhi Shu (Joe Cheng) at the freshman orientation, she's been in love with the genius with an IQ of 200. After two years of having a crush on him, she finally musters the courage to confess her love to him at school with a love letter. Zhi Shu is not impressed, and Xiang Qin is left humiliated publicly in front of their entire school.

That afternoon, the new house she has just moved into with her father collapses in a minor earthquake. She and her father are instantly left homeless because they lacked the foresight to pay for earthquake insurance. Fortunately, her father's old college friend extends a helping hand and invites both of them to live at his house. Little does Xiang Qin know that the kind Uncle Li is actually the father of Jiang Zhi Shu.

Because of this unexpected turn of events, Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin begin living their lives under the same roof. Zhi Shu's mother aspires to bring them together, coaxing Zhi Shu into tutoring Xiang Qin and taking numerous pictures of the couple together. Zhi Shu remains cold towards Xiang Qin, however, thinking her to be one of the dumbest people he has ever met, and refuses to speak to her at school. Through the course of the series, Zhi Shu slowly warms up to Xiang Qin, who tries her hardest to do better in school for him, as they deal with romantic rivals, their futures, and their relationship.

***Second Best Asian Drama for me!!! Even though this is the first of the series, the sequel is better for me but I'm loving this one for it shows how their love started. It makes you understand and appreciate more They Kiss Again, the second installment. This will be the deciding factor, either you'll love the series (ISWAK & TKA) or hate it.

Pros:

- The family dynamics in this installment was the deciding factor for me. I loved it!
- Great direction
- Excellent acting by Ariel Lin endearing Xiang Qin to us (a somewhat impossible feat, in my opinion but she succeeded)
- Awesome OST!!!

Cons:

- Very long series (30 episodes total)
- Somewhat mediocre acting by some of the cast
- Some scenes made me think ERM... RELEVANCE PLS.??? (3 scenes @ the most)

Click HERE for the OST.

They Kiss Again (TDrama)

They Kiss Again (TDrama)

Summary from Wikipedia:


It Started With a Kiss ended with odd couple Zhi Shu (Joe Cheng) and Xiang Qin (Ariel Lin) getting married in characteristically comical fashion, and the sequel picks up the story right away with their honeymoon and married life. Xiang Qin is as ham-fisted as ever, creating many funny situations as she learns the ropes of being a wife and tries hard to become a good nurse and work alongside her genius husband. Aspiring doctor Zhi Shu meets some obstacles at school when he encounters both academic and romantic rivals who are determined to overrule him. The pressure of balancing marriage, work, and school often leads to mistakes and misunderstandings, and Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin soon learn that marrying young isn't all it's cracked up to be.

As Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin struggle with their professional ambitions, they also struggle with their personal relationship. Many times, Zhi Shu's coldness and harshness drives Xiang Qin to tears and she tries to run away. Zhi Shu himself tries to push Xiang Qin to higher ambition and making a life for herself. Zhi Shu soon learns to love Xiang Qin and forgive her bumbling ways, and Xiang Qin tries harder to become a better wife and nurse to her husband.

Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin are not the only ones having problems with their relationship. Xiang Qin's childhood friend Ah Jin (Jiro Wang) deals with the affections of Christine, an English exchange student who latches onto him against his will. Xiang Qin's friend, Chun Mei （Petty Yang), gets pregnant by her boyfriend, Ah Bu (Aaron Yan), but his wealthy, highbrow mother is desperate to keep them apart. Zhi Shu's younger brother Yu Shu (Zhang Bo Han) deals with his own first love and their story remarkably resembles that of Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin.

***For me, They Kiss Again is the best Asian Drama of all-time!!! Other dramas I have watched pale in comparison. This is the sequel to It Started With A Kiss which is my second favorite drama. I don't know if I should do a review of ISWAK first since it all started with ISWAK (get it?! it all started with It Started With A Kiss... hmmm... never mind) but TKA is IT for me.

Pros:

- The chemistry of Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin onscreen is unbeatable.
- Two thumbs-up for Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin's acting (she won Best Actress @ The Golden Bell Awards for her role as Xiang Qin).
- The family dynamics is to die for. Kudos to the supporting actors & actresses. Jiang Mama, you're the best!
- *Bows* to the director... no need for words.

Con [only one]:

- Honestly, when I first started watching ISWAK (the prequel), I couldn't stomach Xiang Qin's stupid, idiotic ways or whatever you call it so I stopped watching it but I tried again because the reviews were so good. Boy, am I glad! And that is her character. Only Ariel Lin can endear Xiang Qin to us. I can't imagine another actress pulling it off.

Click HERE for the OST.