Arang And The Magistrate

Cast :
Lee Jun Ki, Shin Min Ah, Yeon Woo Jin, Hwang Bora, Kwon Oh Jung, Kang Moon Young

Language : 
Korean 

Synopsis :
A nobleman named Kim Eun-oh comes to town searching for his mother after hearing a rumor that she is staying at the village of Miryang. He has the special ability to see spirits, but pretends he doesn't because he gets annoyed when spirits come up to him asking for a favor.

Arang has lost all her memories when she became a ghost and is unable to rest in peace until she finds out how she ended up dead. However, after appearing to three magistrates, none of them survive the fright of seeing her. When she finds out that Eun-oh is able to see her, she begs for his help.

At first, Eun-oh rejects her request. However he changes his mind after seeing that Arang is somehow in possession of the hairpin that he gave his mother at their last meeting. He believes that if he helps her, Arang will regain her memories and give him information about his mother. He exasperatedly (then affectionately) nicknames her ‘Amnesia’ and as the town's newly installed magistrate, he teams up with her to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death, which may involve the mysterious nobleman Joo-wal and have supernatural ramifications.

Remarks :
One of my most anticipated dramas in 2012^^ I thoroughly enjoy this show from start to finish, because it really did feel like thought and care was put into the construction of an entire world, where mythology and rules were important. And visually, I’m a big fan of this director. I did see a huge gap in quality between the earlier episodes and when the show began to catch up and shoot live, so I think it’s a show that benefits massively from the extra edit/CG pass, but it was certainly a show that cared to tell its story visually, which makes me a fan.

I thought the contemplative goodbyes in voice-over for each of our main characters was a nice touch, and reinforced the life-affirming, cyclical nature of everything in this world. I’ve always had a soft spot for the epic romances that span multiple lifetimes, but they can be tricky to pull off in a satisfying way. It might’ve worked even better for me if they had crossed paths again as adults, but I do enjoy the humor in having a pair of kids meet with their adult personalities and memories. The chemistry between the leads was so good that it actually transfers onto the little kids, because you can see their characteristics so clearly. I think at the end of the day that’s what made the show so compelling—the world was populated with rich, distinct characters, and they had a sparkling kind of chemistry. It was nice to come along for a ride with a planned story from start to finish, and a really successful balance of humor, action, mystery, suspense, fantasy, and romance. It’s not often genre shows can manage to do all that, with so much heart to boot. And I’m not even mad at the moon anymore.

Faith @ The Great Doctor

Faith @ The Great Doctor

Cast :
Lee Min Ho, Kim Hee Sun, Ryu Deok Hwan, Park Se Young, Yoo Oh Sung, Phillip Lee, Sung Hoon, Shin Eun Jung

Language : 
Korean 



Synopsis :
In the mid-1300s, approximately 1351, Choi Young is a bodyguard to King Gongmin of the Goryeo Dynasty. He’s 29 years old and has no regrets in life, no ambition for women or money, and whose hobby is sleeping. Because he lives a life of no regret and gave up on love to be an unflinching warrior, he’s not afraid of death. He is a brave general of the Wudalchi warriors and loyal to the king. Choi Young believes that people who do not fear death need not spin their wheels scheming, so he takes that to the extreme — he’s a warrior who doesn't strategize, so much as attack everything head-on. If he happens to succeed, great; if he fails and dies, so be it.

Yoo Eun-soo is a 33-year old plastic surgeon in the year 2012. She was originally a general surgeon, but quickly found that it was an overworked, under-paid profession and jumped ship to plastic surgery. Her dream is to someday open her own practice. But one day a strange man she thinks is dressed as a drama extra kidnaps her and takes her back to the Goryeo era. In Goryeo, she is believed to be the apprentice of the famous Chinese surgeon, Hua Tuo and from heaven. Their love story spans centuries but also warring beliefs.

Remarks :
I’ve been waiting for this like ages due to its scandal. I had anticipated a lot from this drama, especially with a team who did ‘The Legend’ back in 2007. Though it did disappoint in certain parts.

This drama is such an interesting case of having solid parts… but put together all wrong. It’s painful to know what a scene is intending to do, and then have to watch it flounder time and again. The end result is that no matter how impactful a line of dialogue or a written heroic action, we don’t feel the full effect onscreen. There’s nothing worse than seeing the emotion that you know is supposed to be there, but not getting to feel it with the characters. And for me, there’s no coming back from that, as a drama. I enjoyed the characters and I liked the setup and the world. But the directing and the editing left me cold, which means I watched it all at arm’s length, excavating what was intended from what was given. There were certainly moments that got through to me, but they were far too few in 24 hours of screen time to get me on the hook.

I don’t even think that it’s a case where they took stellar writing and just shoved it through the wrong delivery device either, because there was maybe enough story for a 16-episode series. I feel like precious time was wasted recycling a handful of conflicts over and over, and meanwhile all sorts of things just fell by the wayside. And if getting the lovers back together was going to be the only central conflict we really deal with in a satisfying finale-worthy concluding arc, then why did we spend so much plot time in the political arena? I expected a much grander closing for King Gongmin, who carried so much of my interest through the show.

All told, it was still a fun show. I can’t in good conscience call it an excellent show, but it was enjoyable, mostly because of the hilarious band of baddies (I’ll miss you, Ki Chul!), and the thread of wit that carried through. That was something evident in the writing that the directing couldn’t mess up; in fact, the wit was probably this show’s saving grace. I came to this party for Epic; alas, it was a no-show, and instead I walked away with a sweet love story^^

Gaksital @ Bridal Mask

Gaksital @ Bridal Mask

Cast :
Joo Won, Park Ki Woong, Jin Sae Yeon, Han Chae Ah, Chun Ho Jin, Jeon No Min, Shin Hyung Jun

Language : 
Korean 

Synopsis :
Two brothers - Lee Kang To and Lee Kang San – live in Seoul in the 1930’s, oppressed under the Japanese rule. Kang To, the younger brother, is a rising star in the police force and works with the Japanese police to capture “Gaksital" a mysterious freedom fighter who fights for independence wearing a Korean Bridal Mask. Later when Lee Kang To’s life is turned upside down, he dons the Bridal Mask and fights injustice and rights wrongs against the Japanese during one of the darkest periods of Korea’s history.

Kimura Shunji is a gentle Japanese teacher who has come to teach in Korea against his father's will. He is best friends with Kang To and shares a loving relationship with his Korean nanny. He also falls in love with the fiercely patriotic Mok Dan, a woman who is in love with Kang To, a twist that begins to change him into a darker person.

Remarks :
A.MA.ZING! And I approach this drama nonchalantly without fully knowing what is all about. And I’m glad I did!

The casts for this drama were stellar, though Mok Dan was the weak link—she wasn’t bad, but she didn’t quite have the same range as the rest, which was a shame. I loved her as a character though, so I don’t think Jin Sae Yeon did wrong by the character. She just lacked layers—the stuff underneath the obvious emotion and written words. Joo Won and Park Ki Woong have to be hands-down the best hero-villain pair I’ve seen in a long time. Their friendship-to-bitter-enemies story was the heart of the series, and they really carried every moment of that emotion, whether it was rage, betrayal, longing, or heartbreak. Theirs is the relationship that hooked me, and the one that broke me in the end. I still find myself agape that a show would stick to its guns and go as dark as it did with both of these characters, from beginning to end.

And what I love about this drama is that I can relate to it, though I’m not a Korean and I didn’t live there. History tells us that Korea didn’t find independence for another decade, but the people living in that time don’t know that—you fight for what you believe, not for assured victory. That’s something Mok Dan noted recently, and it bespeaks the spirit of the drama.

The fight goes on. And ultimately, what’s important isn’t who Gaksital is, as the drama’s final, powerful scene shows us. You’re all Gaksital, you’re all living in oppression, and you’re all fighting together. I love that: Unity, solidarity, independence.

Nice Guy ^___^

Nice Guy

Cast :
Song Joong Ki, Moon Chae Won, Park Si Yeon, Lee Kwang Soo, Kim Tae Hoon, Lee Sang Yeob, Lee Yoo Bi

Language : 
Korean 


Synopsis :
Smart and promising medical student Kang Maru has been in love all his life with his slightly older next-door neighbor Han Jae Hee, a television reporter. He is an adoring boyfriend and she always considered Maru her home. But when her situation takes a turn for the worse and Jae Hee becomes desperate to escape poverty, she meets a man who changes everything—a rich CEO who introduces her to a life of comfort. So she turns her back on Maru, choosing money over love.

The brutal betrayal leaves Maru fractured - not just angry, but a completely changed man. A few years later, Maru is now 30 years old and works as a bartender and gigolo, no longer a "nice guy." He then meets Seo Eun Ki, a young chaebol heiress who's being groomed to take over her father's conglomerate. Eun Ki is a cold and calculating, business-savvy, and raised by her father to never show emotion to anyone. But Maru intrigues her, and she becomes curious until she can’t stop thinking about him.

Maru decides to take advantage of her as a pawn in his plans for revenge, and Eun Ki falls in love with him, not knowing that he’s using her to get back at his ex Jae Hee, who happens to be Eun Ki's young, gold-digging stepmother. Just when Maru is beginning to genuinely care for Eun Ki, she finds out the truth and they break up. But a car accident causes Eun Ki to lose her memory, and she enters Maru's life again.

Remarks :
I’m actually impressed with this drama. Knowing fully what kind of drama, a Korean melodrama is. This drama is hands down a masterful brilliant work of art that can take its place in the pantheon of great K-melodramas of all time. Its flaws are overcome by exquisite directing and excellent acting, and even the stretches in the script have built in room for the narrative to breathe and form into a cohesive structure. Isn’t it incredible to watch a melodrama that is so stunningly restrained in the pathos and unwilling to fall back on the hysteria? So this is what it’s like for a melodrama to cut it with the slapping, the hitting, the screaming, the tossing things, the general gloss of male rage and female backstabbing. Nice Guy doesn’t rely on any of that, and instead relies on complexities to drive the conflict.

Nice Guy was bolstered by having some of the best directing I’ve seen in years. The expertise and finesse is all there in how seamlessly we are carried from scene to scene without realizing the transitions of camera angles and cut aways are happening. If you turn off the sound, watching this in silence will truly highlight what a visual feast it is. Quiet but so impactful. I wasn’t that taken with the OST, but I do love one, the first part with Xia Junsu. Thankfully it never strayed over the line, but I often wonder what this drama could be if even the music was less in-your-face and more quietly powerful the way the directing was. I’ve already thrown accolade after accolade to all the actors on the across-the-board stellar acting by the cast so there is no need to repeat myself. I wouldn’t say that the three leads deserve awards for blowing me away, but all three definitely took their previous personal best acting performance and one-upped themselves. I find awards all a popularity contest anyway, and the true value of delivering a great performance is for the actor to feel personal validation and to take away a genuine improvement in their skills. Nice Guy ‘s definitely a keeper that I’ll heartily recommend to anyone looking for a great melodrama fix.