Jdrama Review: Buzzer Beat (2009)

Buzzer Beat

ブザー・ビート
7/10 ♥

It’s been awhile since I watched this Jdrama, but since I’ve been mulling over some recent Jdramas (and their complete lack of credible romance stories), I’ve been thinking more and more about Buzzer Beat, and its extremely capable and compelling love story. Yes, you heard it right. This drama brings out all the stops – or at least most of them – with romance, hugging, kissing, cuddling, and a million other “awww”-worthy moments. Also, there’s some basketball. I actually like basketball, so this drama is pretty well set in my books. Minus a few irritations, side characters, and cliché plot holes, Buzzer Beat’s 11 episodes are a fun watch, and well worth the time.

Want proof about its watchability factor? On the few nights where I couldn’t access my real computer, I savored this drama (meaning, I totally marathoned it) on youtube with Spanish subs. Note to self: my freshman high school Spanish is completely not up to scraps. I needed a dictionary to translate the Spanish subs of a Japanese language drama. Now that’s obsessed.

Buzzer Beat stars Yamapi, or Yamashita Tomohisa, as Kamiya Naoki, a less than stellar pro-basketball player with a low salary and no fans. Kitagawa Keiko is our other lead star Shirakawa Riko, a bummed, single violinist without a job. Both are struggling to stay confident about their sport/art when circumstances throw them together. What follows is a halfway original story of personal growth as the two develop a sincere friendship with one another, and perhaps the chance of something more.  

Up even past the halfway mark, both the story and the romance (aka ‘Total Cuteness-ity’) are riveting. Unfortunately, the show’s failings lay in the last few episodes, where the writers throw on heavy doses of angst and lost almost all of my attention. I mean, I figured there would be a nice sweet ending, but must it really be necessary to suffer so much to get there? It’s a little sad that a perfectly wonderful show was ruined by Kdrama-esque plot holes and noble idiots pandering about in circles, but overall the strength of the earlier episodes (at least 82% of the drama) were fine and dandy. Buzzer Beat even does a good job at not turning every side character into an exact stereotype, a feat for which I am I always grateful.

If only this show was perfect. Our characters were already
great. I guess that'll make up for most of it. 

My vote is that you watch it for the leads, and turn your brain off by episode 9. That should make things all better. Read more for a not totally spoilery episode-by-episode account, and some of my favorite Buzzer Beat drama quotes.

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: