Jdrama Review: Kazoku Game (2013)

Kazoku Game
家族ゲーム
9/10 ♥♥♥

As usual, I make sure I receive good recommendations on Jdramas before I watch them – and supposedly Kazoku Game, or The Family Game, is one of the year’s best? I think can understand why now this drama was winning awards left and right, particularly with respect to its casting and the myriad of complex characters.

I looked into the plot as little as I could before diving straight into this, but it might be worth knowing that Kazoku Game is no easy breezy drama. At its heart is the character building, or un-building, of those who would be bullied, and those who would be bullies. Granted, the theme of school bullying is hardly unheard of in Asian drama (it’s basically got its own genre), but what sets this apart is in the unique perspective of family life and how it effects not only the children but the parents themselves.

Meet the ‘home tutor’ of a lifetime, Yoshimoto Koya (Arashi’s Sakurai Sho) and his charges. 

He’s going to help the Numata boys Shigeyuki (Uragami Seichu) and Shinichi (Kamiki Ryunosuke) do better in school, and train their parents to help them become a more loving and caring family. 

Or is he?

Welcome to the mystery, and the ride – whatever it is.

What’s crazy about Kazoku Game is that we really have no idea what’s going on, or what’s going to happen from minute 1:00 to the ending scene. What’s real, who’s genuine? Starting with Yoshimoto, the biggest creeper of the entire drama – I should admit that he scared the shit out of me. What’s his story and what’s his game? No one knows, and no manner of digging ever seems to unearth the real personality underneath. It’s a great thriller. Is he a psycho teacher/tutor or just a really unconventional do-gooder? And just how much will he push his charges until they become just as psycho as he is (if they weren’t already before?)

Spoilers Beyond + Thoughts on Character Relationships 

DRAMA CLUB: Mischievous Kiss, Episodes 15-16

One of my favorite shows of the year is over.. *sniffs*

But at least it gave me the best non-back hug hug ever seen in a drama. Ever.

Read here for reviews of Episode 15 and Episode 16 Part 1 and Part 2 on DramaFever.

Kdrama Review: Pasta (2010)



Pasta

파스타
9/10 ♥♥♥

I’ve been re-watching Pasta this week, because there’s nothing like a post-turkey hangover to make a family sit down to watch Koreans making pasta, throwing pasta, and eating pasta.  I wonder what this show’s food budget was.  I wonder how much these actors had to diet after filming…. Oh yes, food aside, more fantastical things happened this week.  My mother started watching her first genuine K-Drama.  I was concerned, but she’s a Food Network junkie so really, there’s no better drama to begin with! I’m also seeing it for the second time.  My husband is also watching it for his second time.  We’re all still sitting on the couch laughing our heads off.  Something seems strange about this, but I’m not going to argue.  I’ve got more than myself watching dramas now, and I couldn’t be happier.

My first run with Pasta came after a long line of mediocre dramas. (Take Care of the Lady, Can You Hear My Heart?)  I remember feeling the despair, almost sure that I’d reached to the end of my K-Drama mania.  What Pasta did for me (besides crave Italian food) was bring me back into the light.  It’s fun, it’s zany; it has a wacky cast of side-character that I’d need a third hand to even count.  And best of all, it features an almost sickeningly cute kitchen romance between leads Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Sun Gyun. 

These two really do make one of the best pairings I’ve ever seen.  They may not have that mythical chemistry we’re always looking for in Dramaland, but each play such a unique character that they really don’t need it.  Gong Hyo Jin as kitchen assistant/cook Seo Yoo Kyung plays the adorable without resorting to the dreaded aegyo.  Lee Sun Gyun (aka The Voice) plays Head Chef Choi Hyun Wook with all the pizzazz of the overbearing, rude, misogynistic male, yet never comes across as obnoxious.  His strut and posturing at the chef’s table may have something to do that (“Table number 6 – Vongole – HANA!)

Just a normal day in the life of an OTP

I think the real success of Pasta is that it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously.  Abysmal plot-devices are at an all-time low.  Mischievous side-characters are more for comedy than for angst, and rarely take up too much screen time as to become unbearable.  At 20 episodes I can almost believe that Pasta, while not being too heavy on the plot to begin with, has almost no wasted scenes.  It’s compact, humor-laden, and seamlessly weaves its enormous cast into kitchen fiascos, competitions, and epic almost-battles (Frying Pan vs. Lighter, Round 1!) Best of all, we don’t have to wait until episode 20 for our romance to finally kick in. 

Even the intrusion fo this brooding guy (Clazziquai's Alex) can't make our lovers budge.

Something else to look forward to: If not for eye-candy, then at least for hilarity, these guys put the show over the top. 

Meet the Korean Team:

Featuring Lee Hyung Cheol (far left) awww… from City Hall.

 And the Italian Team:

Including No Min Wook (2nd from right), currently starring in Full House 2. 

Even here he had some strange hair…

Female character: "Is that a man...or is that a man?"
My mother: "I don't know. Is that even a man?"

Point is: Watch or Rewatch Pasta, unless you hate cuteness, or food.

"Yae shep!"

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!

Jdrama Review: Bloody Monday (2008)

Bloody Monday, Season 1 
ブラッディ・マンデイ 
9/10 ♥♥♥

Here’s an anomaly. I profess to love Kdramas, and yet the first review I shall make here is of a Jdrama. Be not concerned; I haven’t abandoned my first love! I just haven’t completed an actual Kdrama in some time. (Watching Nice Guy as it airs has been truly unbearable – I’m much more of a marathon watcher.) 

I only began Bloody Monday because I was told by a dear friend that Miura Haruma was hot. And come on; look at the boy. He is a hottie. He also happens to be a damned good actor, of which I suspected but needed some time (about 2 episodes) to confirm. But there you have it. The reason why I watched a Japanese drama about a terrorist cell intent on destroying Tokyo with a deadly virus known as Bloody X was because of Miura Haruma. Our 18 year old lead star plays Takagi Fujimaro, aka Falcon – an internationally acclaimed master magician hacker who of course becomes unwittingly involved in… dun Dun DUN… saving the world. Or at least Tokyo. Because I would be sad if Tokyo was wiped off the map before I had a chance of becoming interested in this particular Asian capital that isn’t Seoul, South Korea. 

Needless to say is that Bloody Monday is an intense action-thriller that successfully kept my interest in its 11 episode run. Before I get down to knit-picking it, let me just say that for the most part I was pretty sure on how much I liked it. It was a staunch 8/10 from at least episode 3 onwards. Whether that was because Miura Haruma proved to be so efficient at portraying a genius high school boy/hacker whose world is thrown off balance by the intrusion of downright evil and plot-twist-worthy terrorists is a moot point. I try to be objective, but the only proof I have right now is to say that when he cried, I cried. No Kdrama heroine-esqe tears from this boy. I believed him! I was also impressed with the nearly endless series of plot twists, some of which I predicted from day 1 and some of which I never in my wildest dreams saw coming (and I seriously dream plot twist detection - it’s my one consolation before bed that at least my brain is smarter than Dramaland-ish plot twists). In the last five minutes, I hastily changed my 8 to a 9. I like a good emotional twist. So sue me. 

Here’s where I would normally drag a drama to pieces. I’ll tell you all the reasons why on a scale of 10, Bloody Monday ultimately loses a whole point. 

• They speak Japanese, not Korean. 
• This is a thriller, not a romantic comedy. 
• The occasional computer-generated graphics in 2008 are just not refined enough— 

Oh, sorry... I got off topic. Here are some actual reasons: 

While Bloody Monday is an overall exciting watch with notable acting (even among the supporting cast), I’m just going to have to say that thrillers, even more than comedies, come under my scrutiny for gaping plot holes. For instance, I’m pretty sure I could hand in my current resume, and instantly get a job with the number one Japanese intelligence agency (in this drama, Third-i), because obviously my rationale for thinking out logical strategies is higher than half the plans created by the master spooks in Bloody Monday. I also know that when you’re gearing up for a gun-fight, you really shouldn't walk up to your intended target close enough to where your target can easily disarm you and aim that gun directly at your own head. But I digress. 

Did I mention there’s a Bloody Monday, Season 2? Yeah, I’ll get around to that someday. In the meantime, Season 1 was ultimately an exciting change of pace from my usual norm of Korean rom-coms and melodramas. And all plot holes aside, I really did have shivers most of the times I sat down to watch this drama unfold. Having genuine anxiety for fictional characters goes a long way in my book of Appreciating Entertainment 101.