Poseidon

포세이돈 (Poseidon) is a South Korean Drama that was aired on KBS2  from September 19th to November 8th 2011. It consists of 16 episodes with an average duration of 60 minutes per episode.

Story: Poseidon is the sea special attack team of South Korea and directly connected to the Coast Guard. Kim Sun-woo joins this unit after being a troublemaker in his school days. Because of an incident he is sent to Gunsan city until Kwon Jung-ryul who formed a new crime investigation unit in Incheon asks Sun-woo to join. The purpose of the unit is to stop the "Heugsahoe", an organisation led by Choi Hee-gon, but officially the investigation unit is responsible for unsolved cases.
This drama is pretty much a crime and action drama that could be compared to other crime dramas easily. While I did enjoy the story by itself and I loved the action I feel like it was just too long for the story. I occasionally found myself getting bored and playing with my phone rather than watching the drama. While it is also supposed to be directly related to the coast guard many parts of this drama actually have nothing to do with the coast guard or the sea in general so I would describe it as an ordinary police drama.

Cast: Lee Sung-jae as Kwon Jung-ryul. It hasn't been too long since I first saw Lee Sung-jae in a drama and while I do like his acting I'm not overly impressed. His acting in this drama, too, was good or okay but not really outstanding.
Choi Si-won as Kim Sun-woo. The same could be said for him. He pretty much carries this drama (at least internationally he's the reason why most people even know about this drama, let's face it) but it's not the best role he played in his life and I certainly think that he improved in the dramas he starred in later. In Poseidon, his acting was decent but could've been better.
Lee Si-young as Lee Soo-yoon. I pretty much hated her character. Usually female characters in action or crime dramas should be smart and tough but she is so dumb and makes so many dumb decisions that sometimes I ended up sitting here wondering how someone like that was able to become a police officer. The acting might have been okay but I just couldn't stand her character. Simple.
Jung Yun-ho as Kang Eun-chul. Yunho is the other actor pretty much bringing attention to this drama and I did enjoy his acting probablythe most. There is no real issue with his character or acting and I probably liked him the most when watching this drama.
Jang Dong-jik as Kang Joo-min. Ooh, one of the charismatic characters in this drama with a quite dark and mysterious aura but I really did like him in some twisted way. The acting pretty much delivered exactly that, and it was more than a solid performance.
Other actors in this drama include Han Jung-soo, Jung Woon-taek, Jin Hee-kyung, Lee Byung-joon, Son Jung-bum and Park Sung-kwang.

Soundtrack: The whole OST sung by Yang Yo-seob, Jo Kyu-hyun, Lee Hae-ri, Heo Ga-yoon and Navi was pretty much love but the instrumentals made it perfect. I loved the music and can't really say anything else about it.


6.5/10
Yes, this drama was okay but it was dragged quite a bit and certainly failed the topic. It wanted to be a coast gard/marine drama but ended up being the normal police drama one can think about. Once again the main character has a personal story and is obsessed with catching the criminal because he was harmed. And Lee Soo-yoon as a character was more or less unbearable.

If you're a fan of action dramas you can watch this and might enjoy parts of this drama but if you're not that much into this genre you might just dislike this drama.

Heartstrings

넌 내게 반했어 (Heartstrings; Literally You've Fallen For Me) is a South Korean drama series that was aired on MBC from June 29th to August 18th 2011. The drama consists of 15 episodes with a duration of 65 minutes.

Story: Lee Kyu-won is a Traditional Music (Gugak) major student and plays the Gayageum. Lee Shin attends the same university and majors in Applied Music. After accidentally bumping into each other and getting into conflicts they decide to have a contest - traditional music band Windflower vs rock band The Stupid. The loser will be the winner's servant for one month. Of course while being close together as master and servant Kyu-won and Shin eventually start to develop feelings for each other even though their personalities are still really different.
When preparation for the 100th Anniversary performance of the university start they eventually have to start working together when arranging the music.
At the same time Director Kim Seok-hyun, who came from the Broadway and used to study at the same university, seems to prefer Kyu-won over the daughter of an important person, Han Hee-joo, which eventually causes some trouble for Kyu-won on an entirely different level.
I love how the two line description speaks of a youth melodrama. Personally I didn't feel like it was a melodrama but just a pretty basic teen love story - despite for the fact that they are not in highschool but in university at this drama. It does have the typical antagonists and the typical asshole-male-lead and cute-but-confident female lead in this case in the beginning. Most of the side characters and their stories were only partly developed but it was okay. It was about the main couple after all. I don't see anything outstanding about this drama in the end though.

Cast: Jung Yong-hwa as Lee Shin. His acting in this drama was alright but honestly, it could've been better. Sometimes I had a feeling it was either too much or not enough to make me actually believe in the struggle his character was going through.
Park Shin-hye as Lee Kyu-won. Personally this drama might have been one of her better ones for me. I know in other dramas I absolutely hated her as an actress because she didn't show any emotion. This drama was far better but there were many times when I just couldn't believe her acting as it was just over the top and definitely too much.
Song Chang-ui as Kim Seok-hyun. If there was a character I absolutely adored it was Director Kim Seok-hyun. The acting was done so well that I actually believed a musical director like that exists. I just still don't get why the character was favoring Lee Kyu-won so much but maybe I missed it somewhere along the way and it's not a huge thing.
So Yi-hyun as Jung Yoon-soo. At first I didn't really like her as an actress in this drama to be honest but it got better and her acting seemed much better starting from some point. I don't know why but in the beginning I needed to get used to it I believe. After all I would say her acting was good.
Kim Yoon-hye as Han Hee-joo. As much as this type of character can annoy one, I have to admit her acting was good as well as her singing and her dancing (which was necessary for this role). Yes, some parts were a little bit overdone. I can imagine a girl with her background to behave like this though so it was nothing that bothered me much.
Kang Min-hyuk as Yeo Jun-hee. Such a cutie pie and a character that was written to be weird and a little too much to handle unless you're used to it. Personally I really enjoyed the acting and can't really say anything bad about it.
Lee Hyun-jin as Hyun Ki-young. I absolutely fell in love with his voice! I quite liked his acting and was happy whenever he appeared on screen so I can't say anything bad about his acting. Especially the beginning and the musical rehearsal/preview in front of the potential investors was great, the fear was shown well in my own opinion.
Other actors include Im Se-mi, Jang Seo-won, Lee Jung-heon and Im Do-yoon.

Soundtrack: I personally wish they would've used more songs. It felt like only 3 or 4 songs were always returning during the drama in so many different seems that a song could not support the atmosphere all the time. However, my favorite was and probably still is (after watching the drama) "그리워서... (Because I Miss You)" by Jung Yong-hwa. I absolutely love the band version and the song combined with Yong-hwa's voice.


6.5/10
In general, as a light romance drama between university students, this drama is enjoyable. The main things that bothered me that a huge amount of the characters seemed to be a parody of who/what they were supposed to be, especially Park Sa-rang and her two minions. Also, I really hopes Park Shin-hye finds a balance that seems more realistic one day. I know many people love her but I think this is one of her best dramas for me - and it still wasn't realistic.
What I really found terrible about this drama though is that it sometimes was difficult to focus on the characters, especially in the beginning, because it looked like it was filmed with a smartphone camera (from 2016 and not 2011 to be fair). I got used to it but there are dramas from 2008 to 2010 that look far more professional.
Recommended to fans of music, the lead actors and cute, funny love stories. You will enjoy this drama for sure.

Athena: Goddess of War

아테나: 전쟁의 여신 (Athena: Goddess of War) is a South Korean drama series that aired on SBS from December 13th 2010 to February 21st 2011. The 20 episodes have an average duration of 1 hour and 2 minutes. The series is a spin off of the IRIS series that aired it's first season on 2009.

Story: While planning the reunification of the two Koreas, South Korea is developing a new technology referred to as TWR - a high speed nuclear reactor technology other countries and organisations are also interested in. To prevent terror the NTS (National Anti-Terror Service) is created by the South Korean government.
Lee Jung-woo transfers to the NTS. One day, he's ordered to go to Italy with Kim Ki-soo, a North Korean defector, to track down terrorists. At first they don't know the exact target but soon Jung-woo and Ki-soo figure out that Soo-young, the daughter of the current South Korean president who came to Italy to study architecture, is the target. When she is kidnapped, the South Korean government sends more NTS agents to negotiate but the American DIS, more specifically the East Asian branch, also gets involved in the case. In the aftermath NTS and DIS have to work together which is against the actual rules of the NTS.
Other mysteries occur and it becomes more and more likely that a huge conspiration is behind all of those incidents that involve Jung-woo and other NTS agents as well as Yoon Hye-in who joined the team not too long ago.
Summarizing this whole story is literally impossible. It has various layers from top to bottom regarding the NTS and the government, a love story (of course, what else) about forbidden love, later on a hint of one-sided love.. You have a lot of things in this drama. I personally didn't feel like it was strongly connected to IRIS (since the second season of IRIS wasn't around when Athena was aired I'm going to neglect that part) and you don't need to know IRIS to understand what is happening which is a huge plus (it has been almost 4 years since I watched the first and second season in a row and it's natural I don't remember everything). I personally think that the story is also less complicated because - compared to the parent story - I felt like Athena had a clear goal even though that might have been different from Son Hyuk's.
I quite enjoyed the story line, it was well written in my opinion. I would watch it again for sure.

Cast: Jung Woo-sung as Lee Jung-woo. As an actor, I can't really criticize him. As a character, he certainly did have his strong his points but was a creepy stalker sometime in the beginning and got me literally annoyed. But then again; writing. Jung Woo-sung is still a good actor for sure and this drama suited him well.
Cha Seung-won as Son Hyuk. I honestly love a good villain in its own way and and Cha Seung-won makes an awesome villain! It is a little bit too obvious that he's not the good guy. I really liked his acting though, I totally enjoyed watching him in this drama.
Soo Ae as Yoon Hye-in. The character is badass and I somehow really liked her. As for the acting, I felt like her facial expression was nearly the same so often that I don't really know what to think about Soo Ae as an actress. However, she still pulled off the emotional parts quite well, and the action scenes didn't show her face that much so I would say her acting was okay overall in this drama.
Lee Ji-ah as Han Jae-hee. Another badass female in this drama and I adored her character in some way. As an agent of NTS she for sure has to know how to fight and she does well in this role. As for the acting I really liked Lee Ji-ah as an actress in this drama. I kinda could imagine her to be a real person working for a government agency so she was probably one of my personal favorites in this drama as well.
Kim Min-jong as Kim Ki-soo. Ki-soo is one of the characters I didn't quite like at first but grew on me as the story proceeded and he got to proof why he had such a huge part in the drama. I would say the believable acting was a huge part of what made me like him not only because of sympathy but he was a strong character while Kim Min-jong is a good actor in this series.
Choi Si-won as Kim Joon-ho. Before anyone claims I'm biased - no, I'm not. I'm not a fan of Super Junior nor do I like Siwon. However, I think he was really good in this drama and totally deserves respect for his acting. While some of the scenes made him seem a little bit childish and insecure in my honest opinion this might have been intended (you know the reason when you watch this drama). So thumbs up!
Yoo Dong-geun as Kwon Yong-kwan. The director of the NTS actually shows his full strength at the end of this drama, and so does the actor. He definitely deserved his spot - the actor as well as the character - and I personally think the acting was well done as well. I don't really know what I should say about this but I tried.
This drama also includes two characters of the IRIS seasons: Kim So-yeon makes a cameo in the last few episodes (and I personally think it was more or less pointless to bring the character into this series as it was not really connected to the main plot of Athena) and Kim Seung-woo as Park Cheol-yong, one of the characters that still left a deep impression on me after IRIS and now after Athena as well.
Also, a bunch of idols makes cameos in this drama; Shim Chang-min of TVXQ is in the last episodes, BoA appears in one episode, Onew and Taemin of SHINee are there and Hoon of U-KISS. I wouldn't recommend watching it because of the cameos though as some of them are really short!
Other actors (in bigger roles than cameos) include Lee Jung-kil, Kim Young-ae, Lee Han-wi and Oh Yoon-ah.

Soundtrack: I usually love the soundtracks of actions series and this is not really an exception. The instrumentals fit the atmosphere so well that I really loved the soundtrack a lot. And let's not forget about the OST that includes lots of famous (and great) singers. My personal favorite is most likely 박효신 (Park Hyo-shin), a singer I love to death for his voice, and his song "널 사랑한다 (You Who I Love/I Love You)". The second song I really liked a lot would probably be TVXQ/DBSK's "아테나 (Athena)" for the awesome feeling that it has to it. I know that many people also loved Tae-yeon's song for this OST, "사랑해요 (I Love You)". So to summarize: This OST consists of great names with even greater voices.


8/10
I quite enjoyed this drama, maybe I liked it even more than the first season of IRIS but I know I shouldn't compare the dramas. Still, Athena is a spin-off that could totally stand on its own feet. IRIS tells some background story that was not necessarily necessary and the only clear connection is the government - and Kim So-yeon's cameo that still seemed a little bit forced to me as it didn't belong to the main story. I personally think that the idea of love connecting enemies is way more interesting than a love triangle between agents of the same agency and this drama balanced action, political and romance well enough for me to seriously like it and not skip any scenes.
Recommended to fans of action dramas that include romance and can handle a bit of creepy stalker behavior. Also, if you liked IRIS I think this is a must-watch.

Killer K

소녀 K (Little Girl K, Killer K) is a South Korean short drama series described by channel CGV as a TV movie consisting of 3 episodes. It aired on CGV from August 27th to September 10th 2011.

Story: Cha Yeon-jin is a highschool student who was taught various martial arts starting from her childhood. One day she meets her friends at the port and in a shooting where many people get killed she and police officer Choi Tae-young are the only survivors.
In the same night, Yeon-jin's mother disappears and the young girl who got suspended from school tries to find and save her with the help of Yoo Sung-ho, an old friend of her mother.
Two years later, Yeon-jin is supposedly dead and sneaked into SS1 to get revenge. Going by the name Kim So-yeon she is a professional killer taking out those who are working against the company. Chief Min Ji-young took care of and trained her during the past years which gives Yeon-jin professionalism even though she wants to stop working for the company.

Cast: This drama was the first role for singer-songwriter Han Groo as Cha Yeon-jin and it was just a badass but also multidimensional character that her acting was awesome for a debut.
Kim Jung-tae as Yoo Sung-ho was also very good as a protective father-character. I would've wished to know more about his background though, and why exactly he decided to leave SS1 back in the days.
Baek Do-bin as Choi Tae-young gave it some comedious feeling which was just nice and refreshing to watch in a series that is 95% based on action (what I'm totally in for though).
Park Hyo-joo as Min Ji-young was definitely also a character that was so badass in so many ways. The acting was great but I would've loved to know more about the character and why she started working for the company.
Kim Roe-ha as Jang Se-wook was just annoying me so much. The acting was great but I was hoping for someone to at least make him shut up.. Probably not a character you will be able to stand if you like religion as much as I do.

Soundtrack: Oh, the soundtrack.. a very difficult thing. I loved the music they used but of course there aren't many songs you can listen to to remember this drama since it is only short and the OST literally consists of two parts. However, the instrumental music was good and I really enjoyed it.


In total I rated this drama as a 8/10. It is packed with action and an independent female lead, it was interesting and also included some lighter scenes like highschool lovey-dovey but it also had dark moments. While I personally really enjoyed the story I couldn't stand Jang Se-wook and was close to turning off the sound.
Another problem about this series was the lack of background information. It wouldn't have been that hard to give some more information in one or two lines. Oh, and making the mother that stupid (yes, she's worried about her child but runs into a trap) was just unnecessary. So it could've been better but that still doesn't mean it is bad.

That was me in highschool every single day when I was finally allowed to go home!

Jiu

ジウ　警視庁特殊犯捜査係 (jiu: keishichou tokushuhan sousakei; Jiu: Special Investigation Team) is a Japanese drama series that aired from July 29th to September 23rd 2011 on TV Asahi and consists of 9 episodes.

Story: Motoko Izaki and Misaki Kadokura couldn't be anymore different. One is a tough fighter, one of the strongest in her police unit SIT and prefers to take action to protect people. The other is a gentle and calm girl also referred to as "Miss Cannes" and wants to be responsible for negotiations - her job is talking. After an important incident both of them are transferred to different units and work to track down the mastermind behind the plan. All that is known about him in the early stages is the name "Jiu", a good-looking young man with blonde hair usually appearing in white clothes. But is he really behind all those deeds? And why do people follow him if they aren't doing it for money?

Cast: I know what people want to hear but I will just start off with Meisa Kuroki as Motoko Izaki. She is actually a singer if I'm informed correctly but she rocks her role in this drama. As a tough and fit woman Izaki is definitely someone I would look up to. Mikako Tabe as Misaki Kadokura on the other hand is the gentle and kind, naive girl who tries to get along with everyone. I know that this type of character does have a certain difficulty to it so I respect the actress but it is just the type of character that is popular among males for the fact that they are so cute and usually willing to follow.
Yu Shirota as Takashi Amamiya is a character that is just suspicious from the beginning. I don't fully know why but I never trusted his intentions in this drama, just the beginning and the first episode made me doubt everything but he added something to the story that was important. As for the acting, it was very secretive and mysterious and totally worked with the overall atmosphere.
Yukiya Kitamura as Hiroki Azuma did a good job overall trying to protect Kadokura while trying to solve the case of Toshinori and track down Jiu, the mysterious man he sees behind all the happenings. The acting was good but seemed a bit hesitant to me from time to time.
And lastly, yes, I have to mention Kim Myung-soo or L depending on what you want to call him as Jiu. Now first some questioning: Why in the world did they name the drama after a character that rarely appears until episode 7 or 8? And why did they need to use a Korean idol in an all Japanese drama? While I don't really mind it, let me talk about my theory: Attention. They just wanted attention from Korean fans of Infinite by making him the character that also gives the story the title. What they get especially on MDL are bad ratings by disappointed fans and I do believe that many people will just watch his scenes specifically. Anyway, I considered his acting to be good as far as he was shown but then again most of the time I think he had to stand somewhere with no expression on his face.. which can be difficult to but I got a feeling that he's good at standing somewhere with an emotionless face.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack is hardly memorable. The only thing I remember is the ending. Seriously, Lady Gaga? Edge of Glory? Now it is one of the songs I don't hate but I don't get how this is connected to the drama at all. Plus, since it plays while the last minutes of the episode are airing, it was sometimes too loud so it interrupted the dramas flow.


I personally didn't find this drama to be as boring as many other people but then again I didn't have that high expectations. However, sometimes I just wanted to scream because of the side characters. It seemed more like a piece played in theatres. A person finished a sentence, and the next action takes place two or three seconds later - they obviously waited and sometimes too long so it was just obviously faked.
But then again the mystery in the plot and the characters made up for some negative stuff which is the reason for this drama getting a 7/10.
I DON'T recommend to watch this only for L/Myung-soo.

Little Black Dress

마이 블랙 미니드레스 (My Black Mini Dress; Little Black Dress) is a South Korean Movie that was directed by Heo In-moo and released in 2011. It has a running time of 107 minutes.


Story: The movie deals with the friendship, hopes, wishes and failures of four 24 year-olds who just graduated from university.
Yoo-min still doesn't know what she wants to do but ends up working as a supporting writer. Going to the interview in a sports suit because she was told to her new boss sends her off to buy clothes with the credit card given to her and she ends up buying a black mini dress at a luxury department store and accepts the job. However, her job mainly consists of organizing papers or taking care of the main writer's twin sons. She runs into Young-mi one day, a girl she knew from highschool, who also works as a supporting writer.
Hye-ji is a party girl and busy enjoying life to its fullest. One day she is scouted by a talent agency because the manager saw her dancing in a club. Shooting to stardom quickly she experiences her friends' jealousy as well as the problems of sudding stardom.
Soo-jin tried to become an actress but failed and is most jealous of Hye-ji. After failing in many auditions she faked her degree and started to work as a tutor.
Min-hee has rich parents who are going to get divorced. In order to avoid the drama she wants to study abroad but her language skills are not good enough so she wants to get Hye-ji to attend an academy with her.


Cast: Yoon Eun-hye portrays the kinda clueless character of Yoo-min good but it wasn't really an outstanding performance. In certain parts her acting seems a little bit bland.
Park Han-byul as Hye-ji did a good job portraying her character and the problems of the sudden rise to fame as well as the regular fights with Soo-jin. An actress playing in actress - it sounds a bit ironic but the role was played fairly well.
Cha Ye-ryun was best in her role as the jealous and unsuccessful tutor who just wants to become an actress instead of teaching. As mentioned just above the fights with Soo-jin are portrayed well.
Yoo In-na as Min-hee is of course incredibly beautiful but just seems to be the typical, dumb kid born to rich parents. I won't say the acting was bland but it was just ridiculous and unrealistic.

My rating for this movie is a 3.5/10 and it is not only a little bit disappointing.
While it does remind me of Sex and the City in certain ways it is just a pointless movie - what are they trying to say with this? In the very first place, why are the girls still friends? If they are jealous of each other and don't get along what is the reason? Is there a special bond? Why did they even bring in a male character? This movie was somehow funny just because it did not make sense and didn't really have a point or a plot at all.

e

Perfect Partner

완벽한 파트너  (Perfect Partner, also known as My Secret Partner) is a South Korean comedy adult movie directed by Park Hyun-soo and released in 2011.

Story: Joon-suk is a screenwriter who needs new inspiration and gets into an affair with a young female writer, Yeon-hee, who lacks some creativity. Yeon-hee's mom Hee-sook is a cook researcher looking for new ides since she is just recycling old recipes. Her student, Min-soo, Joon-suk's son, is full of new ideas and willing to try a lot of those. These two also find a way of helping each other.

Cast: Kim Young-ho as Joon-suk was a little bit.. ridiculous in my opinion. He is not the type of adult or teacher you meet or see often so it makes him funny but at the same time a little bit annoying in my honest opinion. The acting is nothing especially outstanding but also not really bad, honestly just something you expect from an actor.
Kim Hye-sun as Hee-sook on the other hand seems to be a somehow strict adult who also knows exactly what she wants. She is a strong woman and that is portrayed well in this movie. In the beginning she might seem a little too cold to be taking serious but personally I consider her character to be one of the most realistic in some aspect
Kim San-ho was doing a good job as Min-soo. He seems a little bit naive in this movie but actually that as well as some interesting situations he got himself into and the fight with Hee-sook's actual assistant makes him even more funny. Personally I would say that his performance was the best in this movie.
Yoon Chae-yi as Yeon-hee showed a solid performance as well but sometimes there was something I felt she lacked. I cannot really explain what it is so I just hope others who watched the movie understand what I mean.. in the end it wasn't that bad though.

Soundtrack: I can't say much about the soundtrack but it did what it should've done for me - it supported the humorous aspects well but not so much the serious parts so it is neither bad nor incredibly good.


After all my rating for this movie is a 8.5/10 even though I can criticize many parts of it. The story is actually basic in many aspects, and the cross relationships between parent/teacher and the other persons child was a bit confusing at first and honestly didn't do much for the story - except for the last scene, which is still very much in my memory but didn't explain anything clearly and didn't last for too long either.
The comedy part of this movie was great! As for the adult part (yes, I'm talking about sex scenes) I wonder if it was necessary. It wasn't too much but the story would've worked without it most of the time, too.
And sometimes, just sometimes, I wanted to punch the characters for being stupid and not thinking stuff through carefully but I guess this is a problem within the comedy genre anyways.

I recommend this movie to.. comedy fans who are clearly 18+/19+, it's not really a movie to watch with your family or your child so don't think I didn't warn you.

Pained

통증 (Pained, also known as Pain) is a South Korean movie that was released in 2011.

Story: Nam-soon works for a loan shark as a human punching bag to scare people into paying back their debt. He lost the ability to feel pain after a car accident in which his family died. Since he feels responsible for the accident he lost his will to live as well.
Dong-hyun is a young woman who's parents died both because of illnesses. She has high debts left to pay though she only makes money selling handmade items and additionally suffers from hemophilia.
One day Nam-soon and Bum-no visit Dong-hyun to collect a debt. Bum-no has to leave, and Nam-soon quietly waits outside until Dong-hyun comes out of her house. The police soon arrives and finds the two of them fighting which makes Nam-soon leave.
When a few days later a group of homeless approach Dong-hyun because of her father owing them money, Nam-soon helps her out and since she had to left her apartment because of him, he decides to let her live with him..

Cast: Kwon Sang-woo as Nam-soon wasn't too bad of an actor. Same goes for Jung Ryeo-won as Dong-hyun. But their chemistry could have been better and I honestly felt like something just wasn't right. Their acting in itself was pretty much okay anyways, so there's nothing special to really say about them.
However, Bum-no played by Ma Dong-seok was the highlight in this movie. The acting overall was great and I did like his character and how he worked with Nam-soon. I can't really explain the reason but I just liked it.

Soundtrack: While I don't know the title of the song, I did like the song at the end of the movie. The music was one of the things I enjoyed about this movie.


I'm sure a rating of 5/10 is kind of surprising to some of those who read this post thus far. There are a few reasons to it but let's just start with the most obvious one:
This is a melodrama. It's also categorized as "tearjerker" and I was far from crying. There were romance-comedy dramas that brought me closer to tears. Besides I'm not a huge fan of melodrama but still ended up watching this movie (that's my bad but I still have hope I'll find a melodrama that captures my attention).
The whole plot isn't that unique as well. A man who can't feel pain and a woman who thinks stuff over and over again because of her disease. But really, it doesn't feel like there's a unique touch to it. The story itself wasn't really able to keep me interested.
The fighting scenes were nice and also some scenes with the two leads but I still got the feeling they just lacked something.
And what was worse to me was the ending. I don't get why they did that. First, it would've made sense for all those people around to call an ambulance. If you've watched this movie before, you might understand what I mean. Secondly, it would only make sense for Dong-hyun to die. Of course we don't know that (I won't tell you what's exactly happening) but the part including Nam-soon's prayer just seems randomly placed there. It's not like a prayer could heal a genetic disease. Well, yes, of course, a melodrama should be more based on emotions than on logic but still, that's what actually bothers me.

However, it's not a waste of time if you're bored and have nothing else to watch. Though you might need to like melodramatic love stories. I probably won't watch it again or maybe when I'm in a bad mood because of being love sick.

God's Quiz 2

신의 퀴즈 2 (God's Quiz 2) is the second season of OCN Original series God's Quiz and aired from  June 10th to August 26th 2011.

Story: Han Jin-woo and the team of Hanguk University continue to solve cases involving rather rare diseases. But it turns out that some diseases should be hidden behind simply causes of death for some cases and the SCD, a national agency, tries to stop the team from investigating desperately.
I won't go into this topic too much because things would be boring if I would tell you everything about this but the background story kinda reminded me of The Virus - but there were differences as well. It gave me goosebumps and this season did well in keeping up the level of suspense.

Cast: As for the cast, there were indeed some changes but many actors who took important roles in the first season were in this one again so I don't want to comment on their acting over and over again - maybe I will do that later. I still enjoyed seeing Ryu Deok-hwan as Han Jin-woo. As a character, he became more complex in this season and I just wanted to find out why things turned out the way they are. Yoon Joo-hee as Kang Kyung-hee was awesome in this season as well, her character didn't really mature, that's not the right word, but her acting seems more confident than in the first season - and usually less cold. Another actor remaining in the cast is Choi Jung-woo as Jang Kyu-tae and I know why I'm talking about him as 'everyone's favorite ajusshi'. Though he loses the image of a caring father in this season, his acting was on spot and believable and I actually loved how he still tried to follow his principles after all. Park Joon-myun also appeared again as Jo Young-shil, and though she still doesn't belong to the main cast I did like her acting though it seemed too emotional sometimes. It's just that I know people can be like that from time to time and I suppose the writer wanted her character to act like that.
Way more important in this season than in the first became Na Yoon as Kim Sung-do who's trying his best to support Jin-woo no matter what happens. His acting was on spot, this is what one expects friends to be like to be honest and everyone should have at least one good friend like him.
Now this might be a spoiler but Ahn Yong-joon is back as Jung Ha-yoon as well! How is this possible after the first season? Well, you'll have to find out on your own but his acting turned out even better in this season. And I honestly think so because there are two sides of his character shown in here that couldn't be more different and making the audience believe in the different characteristics. Judging by his ability to manage that well I'm looking forward to seeing him in other series.
Someone I didn't mention in the cast for first season because he didn't appear to frequently is Choo Seung-wook as Detective Park Do-joon. Since he became more and more important in this season (I loved him in the last episode) I needed to mention him on here. Such a cool cop.
Talking about differences in the cast we actually notice.. we have a new character, Min Ji-yool, a profiler, played by Lee Seol-hee in this season and though one might hate her at first it turns out that  her support in fact isn't that bad. Acting or not, her cold character actually opened up and the audience suddenly starts to like her somehow.
And instead of Dr. Nam whom we've seen in the first season, this time Dr. Cha is responsible for most of the forensic work, played by Kim Se-hyun. It's hard to really judge his acting since most of the time it just feels like he's following orders - which might be true at the end of the day.

Soundtrack: Can we please talk about Hlin performing "Redd" for the OST of this season? Hlin are a band I mostly compare to Nell and when I heard the song I admit I thought about Nell at first when hearing the song but I love it. 10/10 just for this song. There's a song by Untouchable included in the OST as well called "Question" which I didn't really like at first but then I definitely grew attached to the song.


After all I found this season to be more emotional than the first one and therefore had to give it a better rating. Since this is nearly perfect, no one should be surprised about the overall 10/10. A great cast showing their abilities, well-written and sometimes really deep stories and at least the last three episodes were perfect and kept my heart beating faster and faster. All in all a great season and I'm curious as to what might follow in the next season(s).

I Need Romance

로맨스가 필요해 (I Need Romance) is a South Korean drama series that was aired from June 13th to August 2nd 2011 on tvN. It consist of 16 episodes with a duration between 40 and 45 minutes.

Story: The story is about Sun-woo In-young, a 33-year-old woman, who has been dating Kim Sung-soo for 10 years when they face a crisis. After he cheated on her for the second time, the couple breaks up but In-young can't forget Sung-soo until she starts dating Bae Sung-hyun.
In-young's best friends, Hyun-joo and Seo-yeon, both also 33 years old, both face difficulties with love at the same time: While one tries to get rid of her virginity desperately, the other has to go to court because of 'adultery' after finding out one of her countless lovers was married.

Cast: The lead 'triangle' was played by Jo Yeo-jeong as Sun-woo In-young, Kim Jung-hoon as Kim Sung-soo and Choi Jin-hyuk as Bae Sung-hyun (who left me with a serious love for his character). While their acting was well done - at least I think so - it might be mainly because of me being able to understand Bae Sung-hyun's reactions. God, how I just wanted In-young to grow the fuck up! (Sorry for using that kind of language but the character seriously got on my nerves). As for Kim Jung-hoon, his 'suffering' was nice in the end but I still hated his character. Full stop. Maybe some of you will understand after watching the drama, some might not be able to. I can deal with this.
Anyway, I happened to find the side story between Choi Yeo-jin as Park Seo-yeon, Ricky Lee Neely as Alex and Lee Kwan-hoon as Seo Joon-Yi the most entertaining part of the whole drama. Though everything 'happens' rather late, I came to not only like their acting but also the development of the characters, especially Seo-yeon who has been present for such a long time.
Also, the relationship between Kang Hyun-joo and Kim Duk-soo played by Choi Song-hyun and Kim Hyung-min was somewhat cute and amusing and Hyun-joo was definitely one of the best and funniest female characters I've ever seen in a K-Drama. Especially the wedding was such a beautiful and perfect 'scene' that I couldn't help but watch it again and again.

Soundtrack: This is once again one of the soundtracks I don't know a lot about. While I did happen to like it somewhat it was too passive, mostly in the background and I just couldn't get used to it. I have to admit that I love the song Choi Jin-hyuk performed in Ep.14 (?) but it's sadly not included in the OST so I can't really count it.


What's left after watching this drama in about 3 days.. is a rating of 6/10. Maybe I lack some kind of sensitivity, that's possible. But:
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD A WOMAN TAKE A GUY BACK WHO CHEATED ON HER TWICE?! WHO WOULD EVEN CONSIDER THIS?!
What the fuck is wrong with this woman? I don't get it. While I do see that it's important to love yourself and your dreams more than a man I wonder what would be bad about staying alone..?

That's actually the main point that bothered me. But when it comes to talking about positive aspects, let's face a fact: When the leads are making out - it IS passionate and it IS awesome to watch.
Some scenes are funny, especially those involving the two best friends.

Would I watch it again? The whole drama? No. Scenes? Yes.
Recommendation? Well, give it a shot if you like Sex and the City and/or romantic comedies. At least if you're not bothered by a female character that doesn't know what she wants you should do well.

This scene broke my heart though, I just cannot deal with this..

Takumi-kun: That Sunny Blue Sky

!Warning! This is a Boys Love movie - don't like it? Then ignore it.

あの、晴れた青空 (That Sunny Blue Sky), also known as the fifth and final part of the Takumi-kun series, is a Japanese movie that was released in 2011.

Story: This movie actually starts with the ending of the third one and therefore ignores the side story (which wouldn't change anything anyways).
The death anniversary of Takumi's older brother is getting closer and he receives a phone call from his mom. Actually Takumi still hasn't forgiven his parents nor his older brother and asks Gii to go with him. Gii promises to join him.
But on the same day, there's a snooker competition in which Gii wants to take part. Takumi feels betrayed and the whole situation obviously creates some tension.

Cast: Ah, one last time we have Daisuke Watanabe as Giichi Saki and Kyousuke Hamao as Takumi Hayama. I have to admit that they've developed a lot through the movies. While in the second movie, there was some good chemistry but they didn't seem to be that comfortable with their roles, they really improved and this might be the peak. I'm really curious how they would've developed if there was another movie. Sadly, we'll never know.
And also, we have Yukihiro Takiguchi as Shozo Akaike. I really have to praise him as an actor like I did through the whole series. As a good friend who's always helping the clueless couple and a shadow just carefully watching over everything I came to wish for a friend like him as well. And did you notice? He's basically the only actor who appears in all movies.
We also see Ryoma Baba as Arata Misu in this movie once again, and one shouldn't underestimate his role in this movie. Though I know I've said that before - his charisma is no joke, and though he keeps saying that he hates Gii, he cares for Takumi somewhat. A character I didn't like in the beginning but will surely miss somehow.

Soundtrack: Just as a short review of the whole series, I loved the music and the use of moments of silence which made me expect something to happen. I loved the sounds they used in general, not only the music, but simple background sounds. I know it works similar in many movies but they just managed to support the atmosphere through music and sounds a lot better than some other movies.

My rating for this movie is a 9/10. It's cute, it's lovely - and I'm dying because I know the whole series is over now. If it was about me, they could go on forever but sadly all good things come to an end.
But I still have to mention some points I've been criticizing before - well, mainly the flashbacks. If they had to change the setting and even what was spoken, at least a little bit, they should've tried to make it more clear that you're watching something that happened in the past. Sure the change of the lead actors made it difficult since they had to film all those scenes again but then again it was quite confusing. And even if they would've used something like a special frame or a color filter. It would've been a lot easier.

I'll miss this series, and I think I'll watch the movies again for sure just because I love all of them.. except for the second movie which made me feel depressed. I remember how often those movies made me smile, sometimes laugh, and at times it made me want to hug the characters..

Vampire Prosecutor (Season 1)

뱀파이어 검사  (Vampire Prosecutor) is a Korean drama series that aired from October 2nd to December 18th 2011 on OCN.

I'm not a huge fan of vampires. Like not at all. Personally, I think that since Twilight it's already a good sign if vampires don't sparkle. But then again, thanks to this topic being used over and over again after the hype a certain movie series caused, I just came to think that it's all about popularity and I probably shouldn't watch anything involving vampires anymore except for the good old horror movies.
So how did I end up watching this? Just by reading the first paragraph of this entry, you might be able to notice something. It's an OCN Original series, and that's basically a guarantee for a crime series with 100% quality.
That being said, this entry might include fangirling, ranting and cursing because of a certain love-hate-relationship I've mentioned already like ten times before.

Story: Prosecutor Min Tae-yeon becomes part of a Joint Investigation Unit consisting of detectives and prosecutors. He seems to have worked with Detective Hwang Soon-bum before who's one of the few people who know Tae-yeon's secret: The prosecutor, after being bitten by someone he doesn't know one day, became a vampire and uses his abilities to solve mysterious cases. Soon, he figures out that a serial murder called the 'Vampire case' from years ago was committed by a vampire and while solving some cases with his team, he tries to find the other vampire.

Cast: Yeon Jung-hoon accepted the role of Min Tae-yeon, and to be completely honest, if vampires would be like this - I'm want them to come out, we need them. Speaking all honestly I loved his acting from the first minute to the last. It's as simple as that. Lee Young-ah as Yoo Jung-in is the female member of the team, and she's one of the strong and confident female characters in a drama series that I come to like a lot usually. Lee Won-jung as Hwang Soon-bum is a detective who works well with Min Tae-yeon. After having roughly 25 years of experience, he has seen a lot of things. To be honest, after watching the first season, I still wonder why he knows of Tae-yeon being a vampire and basically no one else does but then again I'll try to be patient and I hope I'll be able to figure that out when watching the second season.
Kim Joo-young joined the cast as Choi Dong-man. Though the use of his character might not be that obvious at first, I found myself thinking that he lightens up the atmosphere with his bright and somewhat funny character.
Jang Hyun-sung can be seen as Chief Prosecutor Jang Chul-oh, and while one cannot understand his intentions at first, I was confused even in the end. But nonetheless, I feel like this role was perfect for him, the whole atmosphere fit well. So either he's just good at playing that kind of characters or he's simply a really really really good actor.
As the bartender Ra Jae-Wook (and yes, I did look this up because I think all we get in the first season is "Mr. La") we seen Park Jae-hoon. Sure he did something bad when he was still a doctor but then again I seriously can't judge him for doing that and as someone who has been helping Tae-yeon all along I really liked this role as well.

Soundtrack: Oh, there was a soundtrack? Okay, okay, joking, I did notice like one song and after looking that up I think it was performed by Lee Jung but that's basically everything. And since it is not used that often, it doesn't get boring. I'd love to listen to the instrumentals played during the action scenes though since especially crime series tend to have a quite interesting and exciting soundtrack.

Conclusion? 9.5/10. The first episodes seemed a little bit chaotic to me but good nonetheless.
But then again I'm a huge fan of crime series and to be completely honest I think the 'vampire'-element wouldn't have been necessary. They could've just used a human who's good at observing as well so I think THAT actually was to get attention for the series. And that's not bad at all, sure they need people to watch a production.

*I never thought that a Korean with bright blue eyes could be that attractive since I usually prefer dark eyes but then again it's perfect.

**One of my favorite scenes, I had to laugh so hard and that smirk is seriously worth to capture.

***Excuse the quality of those screenshots, and yes, it's pretty much not my style but I've been watching a few episodes online due to some technical issues. BUT why am I sharing those screencaps? To be completely honest it's just because.. I went to that place. And my friend and I took a photo using that mirror as well. Forgive me, I was pretty much done seeing those pictures in a drama series now.

Lie to Me

내게 거짓말을 해봐 (Lie to Me) is a Korean drama series that aired from May 9th to June 28th 2011 on SBS.

Story: Gong Ah-jung is a woman in her late 20's. Her best friend stole her first love, and when she meets her best friend and her first love who got married one day, she tells the lie that she got married before as well. Without mentioning whom she got married to, the small lie develops into a big issue and rumors are spread of a civil service officer being married to World Hotel's president Hyun Ki-joon. In order to avoid the truth being exposed, the two of them come to an agreement. Signing a contract, the two of them are married for a certain time to protect Ah-jung's pride and to help Ki-joon to sign with Chinese investors. As if it'd be as easy as it sounds.. Yoon-joo, Ki-joon's ex-fiancee appears, and also his younger brother comes back and so the chaos evolves.

Cast: The two main characters Gong Ah-jung and Hyun Ki-joon are played by Yoon Eun-hye and Kang Ji-hwan. Those two actors have a great chemistry and I really hope I'll see them once again in a drama that might be a little better to show off their great chemistry and abilities. Sung Joon appears as the second male lead character Hyun Sang-hee, Ki-joon's younger brother. While I totally fell for his character in the first few episodes, it seems as if the writer's simply forgot about him later and his acting seemed a little bit.. forced? The same issue appears when it comes to Oh Yoon-joo played by Jo Yoon-hee. Probably the last two characters I'd count to the main characters are Chun Jae-beom played by Ryu Seung-soo and Hong Soo-hyun as Yoo So-ran. To be completely honest those two seemed to be way more important characters than Sang-hee and Yoon-joo somehow, and I admit that I loved to hate So-ran but I seriously don't get who thought about the sudden change of her character.. what in the actual world happened?! Oh, right, the write changed after episode 10 I think..

Soundtrack: The OST is one of the better parts of this drama for me. I'll tell you more about what I personally think about this drama later but M to M's "안녕 정말 안녕 (Goodbye, Really Goodbye)" is pretty much awesome, beautiful and definitely not overused. Probably one of the best drama OST song's I've ever listened to. Comparing it to other ballad songs used in different dramas I definitely fell for this one. I also really liked Kim Hyung-joon "이 밤이 지나가면 (Midnight Passes)". Except for a few really adorable things about the theme song by Yoon Eun-hye and Kang Ji-hwan themselves called "Lovin' Ice Cream" (who in the world thought about that title? geez) and the OST itself I personally feel like the ballad songs were definitely the better choices in this drama.


Conclusion? If someone dares to mention "Lie to Me" around me it's the best to hide because my only reaction by now is:
YES! I'VE MADE IT! HA! I'VE FINISHED THIS DRAMA AS WELL.

Honestly, I've never dropped a drama I've started - not even You're Beautiful which has a really critical review and the lowest rating I've ever given a series - but I was so close to just stop watching this.
I readily admit that this drama has it's up's and down's - and I admit that the kiss scenes are pretty much awesome (I would've loved to add a gif of one of those scenes but such a spoiler would be unfair). What is sad, is that the down's appear about 100 times more often than the up's.
In fact I feel like I would have to rate two parts of the drama. I remember until episode 8 everything was fine. Episodes 9 and 10 were okay. But following episode 10 I found myself thinking "Why am I even doing this to me?.."
The first part definitely deserves a rating about 7.5 or 8/10 because it's cute and funny, a typical romance-comedy serie, nothing special in the plot but at least entertaining.
The second part therefore would get a rating of 1/10 maximum just because there are some cute things about it - but the characters completely change, the story loses it's natural and adorable flow.
Just look at this.. ew. Ah-jung was so strong before and then suddenly people ask her what's wrong and that's her answer? Ew, ew and ew.

As for the rating, the average of those makes 4.5/10. The last episodes ruined that drama for me, I just didn't want to watch it but I kept telling myself that it might get better. In the end. And well, at least the scenery was beautiful from time to time, so there were actually interesting things to look at.

At least it is not completely bad - it also might appeal to those who are new to K-Drama - but I refuse to even consider watching this again. Yes, some scenes, maybe in youtube compilations. That's all.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. Maybe I've finished too many K-Drama's before and couldn't deal with this because it's so much of a typical K-Drama (look at the entries about 'tropes' I've written earlier - everything is included in this one) but also be reading other reviews I've seen some mixed opinions. People either love it or they hate it. Easy as that. I belong to the latter category.

And this picture is perfect to show me while watching it..

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

꽃미남 라면가게 (Flower Boy Ramyun Shop) is a Korean drama that aired on tvN from October 31st to December 20th 2011. It's the first part of the Oh! Boy-series.

Story: Yang Eun-bi is a college student preparing for her civil service exam. She wants to become a high school teacher. She starts an internship at a high school run by Chasung company. On the way to school on her first day, she almost gets hit by a car and Cha Chi-soo saves her.
Cha Chi-soo is the only son of Chasung company's president. After returning from New York the only way he's allowed to stay in Korea is going back to school where Yang Eun-bi is his teacher.

Cast: At first we have Jung Il-woo as Cha Chi-soo. Yes, he is a pretty boy so I get why he was casted. And he's actually a good actor I think but I barely found any actors who weren't that good. I just feel like it has to be weird for an adult male to return to being a high school student.
Lee Chung-ah accepted the female lead role of Yang Eun-bi. What can I say.. Eun-bi is actually a naive but cheerful character. But she has this 'annoying female character' aura since she is TOO naive, TOO innocent and it takes a long time for her to expect something fishy.
And when it comes to typical Korean dramas, we need a second male lead, right? Lee Ki-woo as Choi Gang-hyuk appears at some point. He appears as the clumsy and lovable, faithful and honest male many women dream about. But then again, it's a Korean drama.. You know what to expect. But I admit that he did a good job in this drama, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Other members of the cast include Park Min-woo as Kim Ba-eul, Jo Yoon-woo as Woo Hyun-woo and Ho Soo as Yoon So-Yi.
Whenever it comes to this Oh! Boy-series I have to admit the cast kinda safes the whole drama for me. Some scenes are way too overacted and therefore incredibly funny but then again this is hat makes those dramas enjoyable.

Soundtrack: The OST will not attract anyone. Except for Jung Il-woo singing a song on the OST and C-REAL being featured on the OST I've never heard of any of the other artists. The songs are alright, it's a typical romance-comedy K-drama soundtrack, many people enjoy that a lot but there was no song that really caught my attention and that I've listened to after finishing the drama. I wouldn't say it's bad but nothing special either.


My personal rating is 8.5/10 though I have to criticize a few things. And those mainly go back to the fact that it's pretty much high on the list of the most typical Korean dramas. Basically every single typical pattern works for this drama.
Korean viewers love certain patterns and tropes.
The Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome, the Male-Lead-is-a-Chaebol-son who believes he can have everything just by spending money, the Protect-me-Female-Lead, the True-Love-Changes-a-whole-Character-effect.. I don't remember a piggyback ride but I think we have the wrist-grabbing as well. If this isn't your first or second drama you'll get what I mean - and if it is you'll find out a few things when watching a few more dramas later on.
Yes, it is good and funny, especially because of Eun-bi being superstitious but then again some parts are unnecessary and rather annoying.

Special Affairs Team TEN (Season 1)

WARNING!
Both reviews for Special Affairs Team TEN (Season 1 & Season 2) will be loooong and full of me fangirling about the drama itself. If you think me fangirling over my favorite group you so don't want to see me and my friend Jessi fangirling about this series. To me it's like the most perfect drama series ever, a mix of my favorite US series (Criminal Minds) with an interesting and exciting case in the background. Yes, it's definitely not one of the most unique drama series on Earth, I agree. But it's definitely something completely new and amazing to Korea (at least it was at that time.)

특수사건전담반 TEN (Special Affairs Team TEN) is a Korean drama series consisting of 9 episodes that aired from November 18th 2011 to January 20th 2012 on OCN.

Story: The first episode consists of two parts and takes about two hours. This is basically how Team TEN is founded. The team consist of team leader Yeo Ji-hoon, a former detective who worked as an instructor in the police academy but wants to get back to crime-solving after his wife was murdered, profiling specialist Nam Ye-ri, veteran cop Baek Do-shik who has an incredible intuition, and Park Min-ho, a rookie agent and "flower boy" who does all the running work but impressed Yeo Ji-hoon during a lecture.
The team tackles the most hardcore and violent crimes in South Korea, usually with a rate for arrests that's less than 10%. The cases in itself couldn't be more different, as well as the locations. I mentioned this before, it's similar to Criminal Minds so the cases are really different and a variety of skills is needed to solve all of them.

Cast: The whole cast is doing an awesome job. At first we have Joo Sang-wook as Yeo Ji-hoon, "the monster who catches monsters". He's a really good cop and team leader with an impressive logical thinking. I think that's exactly what makes the character Yeo Ji-hoon as attractive and impressive as he is. The acting itself definitely is amazing, I sometimes had to remind myself that it is actually a TV series..
Jo An excepted the role of Nam Ye-ri. She's pretty but what's more interesting is her skill when it comes to observation and interpretation of contexts. The smart female member of the team, such an awesome combination.
Than there's Kim Sang-ho as Baek Do-shik. You wouldn't expect a veteran cop to be as good as he is, and he's indeed really important for the team with his experience and knowledge of humans. Some people might argue OCN could've found someone to get to the female audience as well but come on, that's superficial. The character as well as the actor have other qualities, it's like impossible to separate the actor and the character, they're the same person.
The last member of the team is Choi Woo-sik as Park Min-ho. In the beginning one might say he's acting too cute and too much like a puppy (which might be partly true) but he's courageous and smart and has a great logical understanding - and well, rookie officers need to learn and someone needs to do the running work. Plus he's developing quite fast and has some other.. 'reasons' why he's even more important for the team itself.

Soundtrack: Sadly I couldn't find the whole soundtrack to listen to it but then again I'm not even sure if there are more than two or three songs that appear again and again because the cases require different atmospheres. But the sounds are placed well, it doesn't disturb anything but go with the story.

The only thing I've really hated about the first season is the end. Because it is so definitely not complete. It's frustrating that when you watch the last episode which seems pretty much okay for itself but when you start the second season you notice that OCN split the episode in two parts. The first being the last episode of the first season, the second being the first episode of the second season - and that left me hell of frustrated!
It's still a 9/10 season though and I definitely should and want to watch it again~

Identical Criminals

동일범 (Identical Criminals) is a Korean drama special that aired on August 21st 2011 on KBS2.

Story: After a woman is murdered Choi Kyung-rok who was released from prison around two months ago is arrested as the prime suspect. But Detective Han Sang-won has doubt about the Choi's guilt since he was only involved in minor crimes before. On the other side Detective Han's partner Detective Kang Dae-woo wants to close the case as soon as possible. After checking his partner's file case Detective Han has more doubts about the case and starts to feel uneasy because of his partner's behavior. Detective Han then meets the senior officer Jung Jong-doo and they decide to work together and catch the real murderer.

Cast: Lee Ji-hoon acted as Detective Han Sang-won. I feel like sometimes his character was a little too naive and didn't really think. Definitely not a good detective but that's not something the actor did wrong but actually the writer. Lee Sung-min took the role of Detective Kang Dae-woo, Detective Han's partner. Lee Hee-joon as Jung Jong-doo decided to solve the case together with Detective Han. Sure there were a few more actors involved but those are the most important ones. Their acting skills are good, yes. But I somehow feel like something was missing, just a spark, that might be because of the lack of logical thinking from time to time (which isn't their fault but the writer's).

After all it's not that much of a usual police crime drama, I liked it but it's definitely not one of the best dramas I've seen, maybe it was too fast from time to time as well. It's a drama special, sure they didn't have time but turning this into a four-episode-series wouldn't have hurt anyone. So my rating turned out like 7/10 which definitely is a good rating but still not one of the best. (I think you've noticed by now that I rarely give ratings lower than 6 and I think 4 was the worst rating).

Men Cry

남자가 운다 (Men Cry) is a KBS2 drama special that aired on June 19th 2011.

Story: Nam-soo is a high ranking gangster and one day, he's diagnosed with cancer. After finding out that he will die. He starts to look out for Young-chae and finds her and her daughter in Kangwon province.
Since he was the one who killed his friend Jong-kil who was about to marry Young-chae he feels a heavy sense of guilt.

Cast: Son Hyeon-ju as Nam-soo played a really emotional character. Or more like.. a melodramatic character. Sure he wants to make up for his mistakes in the past but I feel like it definitely was a little overacted. Jo Mi-ryung took the role of Young-chae, and I feel like her character was a little overacted as well but it's actually not that bad. I think both are good actors and that they just were told to overact.

Soundtrack: Once again I can't say anything about the soundtrack since it's a drama special and I usually don't pay that much attention to the OST when it's a special. But well, you'll be able to guess there won't be any bubbly and happy songs included.

After all this is a 7/10, good but not perfect and definitely with a surprising ending.. which I would describe as unrealistic but it's a Korean drama so nothing is impossible! At least it's not a waste of time regarding the fact that it only has a one episode

.