Korean Drama Reviews
Well, I'm haven't seen too many Korean dramas yet, but I will report on what I have seen so far...
Autumn Tale Gaeul Dongwha (aka Autumn Fairy Tale, Autumn Story, Autumn in My Heart, and Endless Love in China)
I'd have to say that this is probably the drama that has recently given korean dramas a new found popularity. I believe that Autumn Tale was originally aired in 2000, and was very popular in Korea at the time. It later gained even more popularity as it was broadcast in Taiwan and China as Endless Love. Anyway, this was my first Korean drama, and I watched it in Cantonese at the time. The story goes like this: Two girls were switched at birth, one lives with a nice rich couple with a great older brother, and the other lives in poor conditions with an often at times violent mother and a mean older brother. The two girls grow up and end up in the same class in junior high where a sort of rivalry has developed. The truth comes out when one of the girls needs a blood transfer. Eventually, the girls are switched back and the rich family leaves for America in attempts to run away from their grief. The show then fast forwards to the future and the kind older brother's search for his other "younger sister". This get complicated and they soon find themselves in a love that everyone disapproves of. A very sad story, it made me cry a lot, I definitely recommend this to everyone.
Full House
No, not the sitcom with Bob Sagget (is that how it's spelled?). This is an extremely funny drama series that stars the heroine from Autumn Tale in a very different role, and frankly she does a pretty good job. I saw a manwha in the book store with the same name, so it's probably based on that. The story starts off hilariously as our heroine, Ji-Eun is tricked by her two best friends into thinking she's won a trip to Shanghai. It turns out that what they were really trying to do was get her out of the house so they could sell it because they needed money for their incoming child. On the plane, Ji-Eun meets the actor Young-Jae who is currently on all the tabloids and is very popular. Ji-eun soon finds herself out of money in Shanghai and plays Young-Jae into giving her money to return to Korea, when she come back, she finds out her house has been sold and her back account emptied - and her friends are no where in sight! As if to make things worst, the new owner of the house is non-other than Young-Jae himself! This is a very funny show and is easily watchable because I was able to get my father and sister to watch with me and we finished the series in about a week. It was very refreshing to watch a drama that didn't involve a car accident, death, memory loss, and the such. Very funny, if your looking for something more uplifting, but still serious at times, this is what you're looking for.
Love Story in Harvard
Set in Harvard, this drama is a love story about a Korean student studying law in Harvard. I've only seen about two episodes, and it's semi-interesting at this point. The English at times is so horrendous that it I get confused trying to follow it and read the subtitles at the same time. May have more promise as I watch more episodes.
My Love Patzzi
A twist on the Korean story that is similar to Cinderella where the girl who appears to be the victim is actually very coniving, and the girl who is rude and tough is actually the poor victim. Two guys like the same girl, the mean friends tries to ruin the protagonist, but in the end, everything turns out quite nicely.
My Sassy Girl movie
My Sassy Girl was an extremely popular movie in Korea. I personally found it hilarious and very touching, the characters are also extremely likable. Unlike dramas, this movie doesn't have a bad guy - it's actually more about people and how they mature and love. The movie starts off with the lead male character reminiscing about the past - which brings us to the story of how he met this girl (who remains nameless throughout the movie) and his sincere desire to help her out. Lots of laughs in this one, but it still remains serious to its core. I think this is a movie that has a very good balance between drama and comedy which is very difficult to pull off successfully, and the guy's face is just hilarious at times.
Prince's First Love
Another one of the newer series, one that I have only seen one episode of, but it's pretty entertaining. The story follows a girl who works at a sandwhich shop who's trying to become a GO (which I still can't figure out what is, but I'm guessing that it has to do with translating). She then wins a trip to a ski resort in Japan and buts-heads with the "prince" of the resort who is played by the same guy in My Sassy Girl.
Stairway to Heaven
Staring the Choi Ji Woo who is also in Winter Sonata and The Truth, this is one of the more recent drama series. It attempts to create a winner out of many of the reused themes in Korean dramas that have proven succesful, and in a way it seems somewhat unrealistic at times (well, more unrealistic than most dramas already are). Stairway to Heaven starts off with childhood friend Jungsuh and Songjoo. Jungsuh lived a happy life until her father remarries the famous actress Tae Mirah and she moves in with her wicked daughter and her new older brother. Things turn for the worst as Jungsuh is forced to stay in Korea while Songjoo goes abroad alone as her new stepmother and stepsister take her letters from Songjoo in an attempt to make him fall in love with the stepsister, Yoori. If that wasn't bad enough, Jungsuh's kindness makes her stepbrother fall in love with her. Once again, we fast forward to the future and Jungsuh and Songjoo are about to be reunited once more, but things go terribly wrong as Yoori runs her sister over with a car and pulls off a plot to make it appear as if she's dead. Jungsuh, who has then lost all of her memory, is taken away by her stepbrother to live a new life. This is an interesting series, but I felt that the characters seemed to behave a little out of their roles at times, and is it me, or did Songjoo change a lot from when he was young? Oh well, it's still a pretty good series to watch, partially because of the suspense.
Winter Sonata (aka Winter Love Song and Endless Love 2)
This is the "Winter" story that was directed by the same person who did Autumn Tale. The show starts us off in the classic "stranger comes to town and stirs things up" setting. Joonsang transfers to a school looking for his father who he thinks is the man in a photo with his mother. A rivalry then ensues between Joonsang and who he assumes is his half-brother, San-Hyuk over San Hyuk's long time friend, Yujin. Later on, Joonsang sees the same picture in Yujins family album, but it shows his mother and two men, and she has her arm wrapped around Yujin's father's arm. After asserting to himself the truth, Joonsang decides to leave for America with his mother, but remembers a promise he made with Yujin to meet on New Years, but in his rush to meet her, he gets into a car accident. Yujin and all their friends are heart broken. The story then fast-forwards to the future where San-Hyuk and Yujin are engaged, but suddenly their old friend Chelin appears with a guy she met in France that looks just like Joonsang, but he says his name is Min-Hyuk. This throws Yujin's heart into confusion as she realizes she still loves Joonsang, and she finds herself looking for him in Min-Hyuk who she must work with as an interior designer. Another emotional drama with beautiful scenes of winter and music. I also highly recommend this one for anyone who is interested in watching Korean dramas.
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