Jdrama Review: Akumu Chan (2012)

Akumu Chan
悪夢ちゃん
7/10 ♥

Taking another foray out of my comfort zone (I admit, my zone is pretty limited to rom-coms and the occasional K-melo) comes Akumu Chan. Nightmare Chan, or My Little Nightmare, is a bizarre little original drama about an elementary teacher and her student who have prophetic dreams. Throw in some science fiction technology that makes dreams viewable via a 'dream card' on a TV screen for perusal once a subject is awake, and you’ve got the makings of a what’s sometimes a creepy thriller-paced storyline. Yes, it’s a Jdrama and therefore episodic, but the overall arc is terribly fascinating and each character just nuanced enough to make their growth appealing, and their pasts gripping.

Kitagawa Keiko (Buzzer Beat) plays Ayami-sensei, a cheery faced teacher who behind her smile hides a thorny personality and general distaste for her profession, kids, and of course love. But she’s destined be a mentor for transfer student Koto Yuiko (child actress, Kimura Manatsu). This child’s eyes literally wobble inside her head when she ‘connects’ to another person’s subconscious, and she sees the future. They’re almost always foreshadowing dire consequences, but to change future she needs a dream interpreter. 

And.. is he the hero or the villain?

Rounding up the cast was a new face for me, but very recognizable I'm sure to a few people: Gackt. He's a bit weathered now, and those curls... Ack! But as the male lead in our drama here he is quite something. Is he the Dream Prince, who literally appears in Ayami's dreams riding a white horse? or is he a sinister, ambition driven scientist who only wants the secret to the dream card? He's alternately creepy and endearing, and so makes it difficult to guess. Props to Gackt. And his curls.

Read on for more non-spoilery thoughts, Episode Guide and Episode Reviews. 

Kdrama Review: To The Beautiful You (2012)

To The Beautiful You
아름다운 그대에게
7/10 ♥  

To the Beautiful You snagged my attention the first time I heard it was to be made back in summer 2012, and for good reason. It hadn’t been that long since I had finished Japan’s first Jdrama version of this apparently timeless manga story Hana Kimi. My brain exploded. Korea? Is remaking this? With an idol cast? Save me now… Which is to say, from the moment episode 1 became subbed and available, I was on board – but for all the wrong reasons.

The story should be a familiar one for most drama watchers. American born Korean girl Goo Jae Hee (Sulli from f(x)) cuts her hair, moves to Korea, and dresses up as a boy to attend an all-males sports focused high school for pretty boys, and ends up rooming with the star of her life, a former legend at the high jump Kang Tae Joon (Minho from SHINee). The reasons and explanations vary from version to version, but basically her aim is inspire the injured and lackluster former star back into jumping. And for some reason, Jae Hee thinks she’s the only person capable of doing this – also that she can pull off such an undercover feat without being caught. Why am I picking bones with the story? It’s a manga. We should just be cool with it. 

More on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly coming up! (No Spoilers)

Kdrama Review: Bridal Mask (2012)

Bridal Mask/Gaksital

각시탈
7/10 ♥

I did it! I finally did it! What did I do? Watched Bridal Mask in under a week! 4 days to be specific (though I took a 2 day mandatory drama slump break in between).  Was it worth it? I’m not even sure. I have to be honest with you. I hated a lot of things about this drama.  I also disliked a great many more things. I did so much eye-rolling I once gave myself a headache. Snap decision rates this a 7. You’ll know why if you read beyond the spoilers mark below.

The Synopsis: During the Japanese occupation of Korea (ca. late 1930s) there is Bridal Mask – Freedom Fighter! Or, revenge fighter. Heaping revenge upon revenge, avenging wrongs that in turn incite others to enact revenge, so they can go out and again avenge someone else who died during someone else’s revenge. Yes teacher, I did learn how to properly use these two words. I’m just glad a drama finally gave me ample opportunity to use them.  Did I mention this is a revenge drama? Instead of a he said, she said; he killed, she killed. It’s also got one of the most torturesome bromances I have ever had the misfortune to sit through…

If this doesn't bode well, nothing will, bro. Nothing will. 

Back to the good part: Actually I can’t remember the good part anymore, but I know there was some! Something had to keep me glued to the TV for 28 hours, though it was probably curiosity more than anything else. Just how sucky can these characters’ fates actually get!?!

Probably the most epic of epic dramas (that I have seen recently), Bridal Mask the story of a Lee Kang To: a Korean ‘traitor’ employed in the Japanese Imperial Police. This is my first time with actor Joo Won, and though I can say I was pleased overall by his performance, I'm still not really his biggest fan.  More to my taste Park Ki Woong plays his best friend Kimura Shunji, a civilian school teacher in contrast to his more militarily minded father and older brother.

So how do they get from crying together on a bicycle to arch enemies on either side of a Korean-Japanese mob versus police war? Watch and find out, if you have the stomach to handle it.

Can't we just rationally discuss who gets the girl over tea time? Pretty please?

What I Liked:

For all the plot-wasting time, I found Bridal Mask to be a genuinely good story with some pretty compelling characters, especially in the initial set-up period of the drama: Kang To before he became Bridal Mask and Shunji before circumstances forced him to side with his father against his friend. 

Also, in keeping with my sudden realization that I’m prone to bit-player syndrome (as opposed even to second lead syndrome), I found myself watching more and more for a single character with about 5 seconds of screen time per episode. An unusual fascination perhaps, but I highly respect an actor who in a short amount of time can pull off a decent character with so little to work with.  My bit-player love this time around: Choi Dae Hoon as Lee Hae Seok, the son of a Korean count in cahoots with the Imperial government.  He’s everything a spoiled rich kid is supposed to be: playboy, carefree, friends with everyone, and deep down behind it a yearning that something is just not right with the world he occupies. If you expect to see a huge character arc from this guy, it’ll take a while (with about 1 major development per every 10 eps). I’m just giving credit where I think some is due. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the actor has been in anything else, ever. More’s the pity. I liked him way more than I did some of the main actors.

Ooh boy, do I love that smirk. Couldn't you have been the major player here??

What I Didn’t Like:

The romance – shockingly. I just didn’t feel it, and it’s mostly to do with the main female actress Jin Se Young as Oh Mok Dan. Her backstory is fine and dandy (for Kdrama standards), but as the pinnacle of our love triangle she’s almost too bland, and her acting while not horrid was not as compelling as others. I was mostly bored every time she came on screen, and only tolerated her because she was so vital to the story, and in the motivations behind our two main leads.

Also, I hate to admit it, but there were so many torture scenes in this abominable show that I almost wanted to yawn through them. Just how many times need we depict people being whipped or burned or put in a box with metal stakes. I think it was the writers’ go-to solution. “Well, what should we do now? The story’s slowed a bit.” “Hey, I know! Let’s have them bring this person back in for questioning and torture, AGAIN!” Repeat, two episodes later. And two episodes after that. Tedious, anyone?

Need more masked-man action, pppplease!!

Unfortunately I think Bridal Mask suffers much from a combination of too many small things to count. Almost as if it couldn’t decide what genre it really was (after the revenge drama part).  Maybe the length has to do with most of these faults. Read more for a short conclusion of why I gave this a higher rating than my initial reasoning demanded.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Kdrama Review: Cheongdamdong Alice (2012)



Cheongdamdong Alice
청담동 앨리스
8/10 ♥♥

Get ready for a Park Shi Hoo fest! I’m only half kidding…  Cheongdamdong Alice was one this year’s dramas that I was almost positive I’d be skipping, at least for the currently airing season. Sometimes it’s easier to wait for feedback from the rest of the blogosophere. However, I was more than intrigued after the first couple episodes, thanks in full to the wonderful gif-maker kakashi. Please, see her blog and catch up on the insanity that is Park Shi Hoo acting ridiculous, over and over again in many endlessly entertaining loops. (It was seriously my husband’s favorite thing to do after completing each episode.)

Once started, the first episodes beyond PSH’s craziness were complete snoozers for me. Our main lead girl Han Se Kyung (played by the ever adorable Moon Geun Young) is a fashion designer wannabe struggling to make it in the professional world. She’s got a poor, broke and complete sob-buddy boyfriend (Can You Hear My Heart’s Nam Goong Min), and a crowd of social climber friends urging her to break it off with him and marry a rich man. Enter Park Shi Hoo’s character Cha Seung Jo (or as he likes to be called now, Jean-Thierry). He’s everything a Kdrama lead is supposed to be: rich, rude, rich, president of a fashion company, rich, well-dressed, rude, educated in Europe, and rich. The rest of the drama’s intro is classic and cliché. She mistakes him for a poor secretary, a farce he encourages, and the two fall into step. It’ll soon be love, no doubt.

It’s a story we’ve seen again and again (and I’m about sick of fashion – seriously - I like looking at pretty clothes, but I’m mostly a jeans and T-shirt sort of gal). Somewhere around episode 6 though, I became invested. It hit me so instantly I don’t even remember when it happened. While not everything after that moment was perfect, shockingly this has become one of my more favorite dramas of the season. And because there’s obviously something to this, I think it’s worth a look a few aspects that make Cheongdamdong Alice actually memorable and unique.

Fairytale as Metaphor

This drama certainly isn’t the first to incorporate (or at least reference ad nauseum) a fairytale story (think Secret Garden’s ‘little mermaid’ theme). What’s interesting though is how matter-of-factly the drama takes its Alice character Han Se Kyung.  Se Kyung is the young but not naive girl who finds herself in a the ‘wonderland’ that is Cheongdamdong, a fashionable neighborhood populated by the wealthy and influential, all of whom are probably a little on the ridiculous side (though none so much as the arguably insane Seung Jo). Where the parallel stops though is that Se Kyung doesn’t just haphazardly follow a white rabbit into the hole leading to Cheongdamdong, she actively seeks a white rabbit as someone who will lead her into this new world. Social expert Tommy Hong (Kim Ji Suk) becomes her first target – her goal: an initially nondescript rich husband, and a home and position in Cheongdamdong.

It’s a Cinderella story punctured by one sinister fact: Se Kyung isn’t an innocent damsel in distress waiting to be rescued by her prince charming. As the story progresses, Se Kyung loses more and more of her ‘niceness’ and practically wills herself to become black-hearted for the sake of achieving her goals. She might love Seung Jo, but had he not been a rich chaebol, the story hints that Se Kyung probably would’ve given him up. Her poverty isn’t merely back story. For Se Kyung it is a lifestyle she will give up no matter the costs, and she will give up almost anything to become Seung Jo’s wife, even if it means lying to him, and continuing to lie for the rest of her life.

Se Kyung’s time in Wonderland, however, is forever measured by her continuing successes. One mistake, one fall, and she could find herself back in her poverty-stained reality.  To succeed, she must overcome all the difficulties in her path, particularly those set up by the people who are out to expose her secrets. In relation to the original Alice story, I came across this assessment:  

“The animals of Wonderland are of particular interest, for Alice's relation to them shifts constantly because, as Lovell-Smith states, Alice's changes in size continually reposition her in the food chain, serving as a way to make her acutely aware of the ‘eat or be eaten’ attitude that permeates Wonderland.”

This ‘eat or be eaten’ attitude is especially vital, though perhaps Se Kyung envisions it a little differently: if other people can act like mercenaries, doing whatever they want to achieve or maintain their status, then why can’t she? If they can lie and be backhanded, why shouldn’t she? If she refuses to stick up for herself, unlike heroines in other fairy tale Kdramas, Se Kyung recognizes the possibility of being beaten down, and no one will come to her rescue.  Her journey is marked with highs and lows; sometimes she has the best hand, and sometimes her enemies hold the trump card.

A New Kind of Character

At best, Se Kyung’s blunt and mercenary behavior makes her a unique figure in Dramaland.  At worst, it positions her very close to what the despised second lead character is supposed to act like, and I’m not sure Kdrama watchers are really ready for this kind of development – especially with the ever looming possibility that Park Shi Hoo is going to cry and break the hearts of fangirls everywhere.  Moon Geun Young may receive criticism for her characters’ lack of warmth and ever stony expression; I however believe she acted her part well, consistent to Se Kyung’s emotional hesitancy of becoming the black-hearted gold-digger.

Honorable mention for the twist of character types is So Yi Hyun’s role in Seo Yoon Joo. Initially typecast as the villainous second lead, and first love to Seung Jo, Yoon Joo is actually a forerunner to Se Kyung’s schemes of upward mobility.  Having successfully entered Cheongdamdong, she pities her former school mate and reluctantly aids Se Kyung. They are far from BFFs, but their relationship is every bit as intriguing as the main romance line. As our story progresses, Yoon Joo becomes less and less villainous, and more pitiable. Viewers question her sincerity to help Se Kyung, and wonder at her advice, as every move Yoon Joo makes in her self-imposed Wonderland reveals how hollow her existence is, and how fleeting her happiness may be. Yet, she is a fully fleshed out character, not purely evil nor corrupt, and every bit as relatable near the drama’s end.

Conclusions

I may have painted Cheongdamdong Alice in a rather somber light, but the drama is also hilarious.  Be sure to check out its many comic gems especially in Park Shi Hoo’s zany character, his pricelessly throat-clearing father, every interaction between the main leads’ fathers, Tommy Hong’s ridiculous expressions (not to mention his ‘wtf’ wardrobe), and the great cast of side character friends, all as cute as they are helpful in motivating the OTP.  It’s a cast that adds to the drama more than it detracts, and I can’t often say that about most side characters or second leads. Therefore, thumbs up Alice, and I will miss the time we spent together.

Kdrama Review: Can We Get Married? (2012)

Can We Get Married?

우리가 결혼할 수 있을까
7/10 ♥

Wow, I almost didn’t finish this drama. At least twice during my long run, it ended up on my dropped list. Each time I revived it and kept on going. Overall I’m glad I did. It’s hard to categorize this drama, let alone rate it. My 7 is an estimable guess, an average of the joy and exasperation Can We Get Married? brought to my life.

What's it about and why did I keep going? Four couples from four different walks of life duke it out. Seriously. That’s about it. Some are fighting to get married; some are fighting to stay married.  But while the in-fighting and in-laws are over the top and hair-wrenchingly vexing, somehow, somewhere, a Kdrama did something unlike many a drama: it brought a little realism to this world – not a ton, mind you. This is still a drama after all.  But in the characterizations it brings to the screen, especially in our lead couple, the cute but petty Hye Yoon, and her salaryman fiancé Jung Hoon.

Honorable mention in my book also goes to Hye Yoon’s older married sister and her cheating husband. (Never thought I’d say that before!) But honestly, they kept me more invested in the drama than anyone else.  Who is the real villain? I can’t really say. They are flawed human beings, as human beings are wont to be. It’s a refreshing change, painful as that knowledge sometimes is. Extra honorable mention goes to the mothers. Oh, those women – how I love to hate them, and sometimes I hated hating them. No shallow stereotypical Kdrama moms are these (initial appearances aside). They’re as fully fleshed out as the rest of the cast, and almost as sympathetic (almost).

Think we look cute? Just wait 'til you see our mothers.

I think much has been said about this drama already, but it’s one of the few shows that I have actually recorded my thoughts per episode as I watched them. So instead of trying to fully justify myself on the drama as a whole, I’ve edited out the spoilers from my initial episode commentaries. So read more below for my episode play-by-play, including a few more cute pics of Sung Joon, and some of my favorite drama quotes:

Rosie's Cuts: Full House Take 2 (2012)

 "Of Singers, Designers, Hair, and Fur: Cat Fur"

Full House Take 2
풀하우스 TAKE2
5/10

Let me start you off with a little story.  One night a few weeks ago, I was incredibly bored… that, or I’d just drunk a full glass of sake… take whichever story you like. But I began incredibly to watch a drama that for months I swore I’d never do. Full House. Take. 2. Let me clarify. I watched the original Full House nearly a year ago, and for completely different reasons I gave each of these a 5 out of 10 rating. The first because it was slow as molasses, and despite my love of the two leads (and surprisingly, their roles in the drama); the second because of hair, hair, and skinny pants. Why did I finish? I don’t even know, except to say that the last 10 hours of drama time I probably watched in 4 hours.

So Why Bother Reviewing This?  Simple. The Story.  Completely brilliant and inspired, with drama tropes never used before! Nope, not once. Ever. Because no drama lord has ever written a love triangle quite like this! Oh no, they haven't. ;)



Read more for my first ever Drama Recap, like you've never seen before!

Year In Review: What I Missed 2012

This time last year I'd been puttering around the drama world for barely two months, watching any old thing I could get my hands on, and generally thrilling in this brave new world I'd suddenly found myself in.  I maybe had a tally of 10 dramas when I started noticing bloggers across the board beginning their Year In Review series.  That people could watch that many dramas in a year?  Incredible.  And be able to review them all? Superb.  How would I ever manage to catch up on all the good dramas, let alone all the ones from this year?  That's just impossible. Me one year later, and I'm having roughly the same thoughts...

Total Dramas Watched (or sampled):  65

Dramas Watched (or sampled) from 2012:  12

I actually feel pretty good about that number 12 too.  When you think of the benefits of watching dramas as they air, my main argument is that you get to be apart of the drama-community as it happens.  Spazzing out with other fangirls and bloggers all over the net.  It makes me feel like I'm in touch with the world around me.  Ex: "I was totally apart of that trend! I watched it just like you!"  Unfortunately, I kind of killed the mood when I tallied up another sad stat.

Dramas Watched in 2012 AS THEY AIRED that Weren't Dropped:  6

Basically, this means that I live in my own little drama world.  I'm kind of sad about that.  It's true though that my K-Drama world is lived either marginally to or vicariously with the rest of the online K-Drama community.  Maybe that's why instead of writing up my Year In Review list for the 9 Korean dramas I actually completed this year, I'm kind of more amused at the number of dramas I didn't watch, for one reason or another.

Read more below for a partial list of (by other accounts) popular or at least notorious dramas of 2012 that I missed, why I may have missed them, and if they should be added to the great 'You missed this in 2012, so watch in 2013' list.  I'll be taking suggestions too, so help out a girl in need!

Kdrama Review: Nice Guy (2012)



Nice Guy; Innocent Man

세상 어디에도 없는 차칸남자
9/10 ♥♥♥

It’s 3:00 am in the morning, and I can’t sleep.  I’d like to blame my having watched the series finale of Nice Guy, but sadly I think it’s just my insomnia kicking in.  It’s been a few hours.  I think I can be as objective.  It not, well then you can blame my insomnia.

Nice Guys Finish Last.  Yes or no? See my answer beyond the ‘Spoilers’ mark.  Nice Guy the Kdrama though certainly finishes high up there in my books.  Actually upon finishing episode 20, my instinctual thought was to rate this 8/10.  Then I looked at the other 8’s on Mydramalist, and okay, if I only gave an 8 to City Hunter, then Nice Guy was obviously better than that.

This makes me want to review how I even come up with ratings.   Objectively (which I like to think I mostly am) I look at acting, directing, and most importantly writing.  Subjectively (which, pardon me, I just killed an angsty 3:00am roach; Die fiend! Die!) I have to consider an overall and collective feeling, which leads me to objectively ignore the last few mostly boring episodes, for proximity’s sake, and realize as a whole (wow this is confusing), just what Nice Guy meant to me. 

Nice Guy meant a whole lot to me.  It’s also jam-packed with some of the best collective acting I’ve seen from a Kdrama cast.  And the directing was spot on (when I figure out how I judge a director’s abilities, I’ll let you know).  The story and plot progression, however, is what I believe made this entire show.  The pacing is phenomenal.   I only ended up marathoning the first 4 episodes before catching up to its actual airtime schedule, and since then I haven’t missed a single Wednesday/Thursday evening viewing.  Why?  Because this show successfully kept me completely intrigued for 20 hours!  Yes, City Hunter was a marathon-worthy drama for its crazy plot, but Nice Guy offers far more than mere plot:  It’s literally serving you up a tray of scrumptious characterizations of recognizable human beings, played by a more than adequately-convincing cast.  Putting aside for the moment the majkang premise, these actors conveyed with ease a storyline that is simultaneously stimulating and watchable. 



I’ll try to move from the vague to the specific:  Let’s start with Song Joong Ki, our starring role.  Also commendable as a second lead role: Song Joong Ki’s eyes.  I think they are literally two separate entities.  When one character became too mushy, the second made us pause, and cower in fear.  How about Moon Chae Won:  I must confess I have never really appreciated any of her previous roles.  I was never even sure if she herself was such a great actress, but with a good script, she became alive for me for the first time.   And Park Si Yeon:  I know most people only love to hate her, but it takes some skill to portray a character as outwardly evil as Han Jae Hee while still emoting a sense of fragility.  My hat’s off as well to the array of side characters:  Never before have I appreciated the stereotypical ne’er-do-well character played by Yang Ik Jun as Jae Hee’s brother, Han Jae Shik.  One usually expects a one-dimensional interpretation from these types of hapless side-characters, but like the rest of Nice Guy’s roster, Jae Shik comes out looking just as a real and distinctive a human being.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!