Night Watch

불침번을 서라 (Night Watch, also known as Neighborhood Watch) is a South Korean drama special that was aired on KBS2 on August 7th 2013 and has a duration of 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Story: Kim Hee-chan is an unpopular novelist and usually stays at home during daytime. On the other hand, his wife Jo Min-sook works during regular work hours. One morning she leaves for work and finds a blue bag filled with food trash tied to her car. She suspects Kim Soo-ji but the next morning, Soo-ji finds a blue bag like that next to her door and assumes it is revenge. However, during the next few days, blue trash bags appear in front of other neighbor's doors as well and cause a lot of suspicion and even one accident. Trying to find the "culprit" the residents start to check the CCTV and literally go on night watch.
I'm not fully sure if I understood the point of this drama. Yet it is a cute watch and keeps you busy for 1 hour. I actually caught myself being suspicious of everyone at one point and trying to figure out why someone would place trashbags in front of random doors.

Cast: Ki Tae-young as Kim Hee-chan. I don't really know what I should write here, it's not like I did not like his acting but more that it was again over the top and I think it was supposed to be like this to light up the mood a bit but.. I wish the whole special would've been just a tad bit more serious. But after all it was good and I have no idea what to criticize.
Lee Seung-min as Jo Min-sook. Oh, I liked her acting but not her character! I guess I just generally have a problem with female characters in dramas sadly but the jealousy was no joke and I hated it.. Well, I can't change that at least but a part of her character was actually understandable.
Kim Yoo-hyun as Kim Soo-ji. I found her character to be much more interesting for a female character. I can't pinpoint what it is but maybe it was just that she actually seemed interested at one point and wanted to find out what was going on (if I remember right).
Kwak Hee-sung as Kim Jin-hyuk. Oh, his character is a sweetie in this one and he reminded me of a puppy, especially the way he cared for his parents even though they were not present in this drama directly was quite sweet. I fairly enjoyed his acting, too.
Keep in mind that after just 1 hour you're usually not able to talk a lot about acting skills unless you really focus on that.


6/10
This was an entertaining, light-hearted watch but I probably wouldn't rewatch it because yes, it got me bored here and there and I still don't understand what the big deal is about a trash bag if you carry out your trash every single day anyway. I probably wouldn't bother to do research but rather rely on surveillance cameras or anything but I certainly wouldn't care enough to sit outside during nighttime and observe the building.
Also, parts of this looked more like a play that could've been performed on stage but not really like a drama special. This bothered me slightly but it wasn't terrible.

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.

Healer

힐러 (Healer) is a South Korean drama series consisting of 20 episodes that were aired on KBS2 from December 8th 2014 to February 10th 2015.

Story: Seo Jung-hoo is a night errand boy under the name Healer and he's known as one of the best in his field. One day, while completing an assumingly easy mission, he gets into trouble. Shortly after that Go Sung-chul, the man who Healer got something from, is found dead - and the Healer framed to be the murderer. Trying to clear his name he starts looking for the actual murderer. Before that, however, he has a longer order to find a girl and get her DNA.
That's how he meets Chae Young-shin, the bright and cheerful daughter of a lawyer but she has one weakness - she can't see violence happening.
The person asking for Healer's help was Kim Moon-ho, a famous reporter and Young-shin's idol. To find out more about Young-shin, Jung-hoo starts working at Someday News next to Young-shin who is currently investigating a story that might involve the people who also framed Seo Jung-hoo for the murder.
I'm not sure if I was good when it comes to explaining this story but personally I thought it was very interesting even though everything was very close together. How the characters were connected as well as the different parts of the story - 1980's, 1992, and today - were well done. As complicated as my explanation might sound actually it is not that hard to understand when watching the drama. One thing I really enjoyed about the story and the way it was written was that it doesn't lose the action and/or excitement around episode 16 like many other dramas do that just clear up the whole stuff. Even in the last episodes were some things I didn't expect and it was a great finale for a good series. The love story was for sure in the center of this drama but it still wasn't overdone and not too cheesy even though in a few episodes I personally got bored. The lead actors' chemistry made it better though.

Cast: Ji Chang-wook as Seo Jung-hoo. I somehow liked his character but also disliked some parts. He's a good actor, no doubt, I willingly admit that! Now the change in his character irritated me a little bit though. From a logical thinker trying to survive in this world to someone who's incredibly driven by emotions. I see where the writer was coming from but throwing rational thinking out of the window didn't really seem to fit the character we are introduced to in the beginning of the story. I believed the actor but something about that just seemed off.
Park Min-young as Chae Young-shin. As an actress, she seemed perfect for this role, and I mean it. But her character sometimes was difficult to me for understand. While there were always a lot of people around her father's house that taught her things she didn't use those normally. Now as she can't see violence it makes sense but despite of the ability to fight back verbally it makes her seem like the kind of helpless female again and I totally didn't expect a character like hers to be like this. It just seems strange and made me wonder why they didn't turn her into the weak female right away like Korea usually does.
Yoo Ji-tae as Kim Moon-ho. The rebellious journalist was just brilliant and by far my highlight in this drama! I loved Yoo Ji-tae's acting and believed every single line he said. Why he tried to keep something from Young-shin, the relationship between Moon-ho and his brother, the interactions with the colleagues - I know why he was in this drama and I just loved it, I don't know what else I can say.
Park Sang-won as Kim Moon-shik. Do you know the feeling when you see an actor all nice in a drama and you just can't buy it? Yes, that was me with Park Sang-won so in the end I wasn't really surprised about his character actually being one of the antagonists and quite manipulative. As much as I hated his character, the acting was totally awesome!
Kim Mi-kyung as Jo Min-ja. I've actually seen Kim Mi-kyung in smaller roles in countless dramas before and she's in a bunch of dramas I'm still planning to watch as well. In this drama I really liked her in the ridiculousness of her character that sometimes lightened up the mood by some funny comments or her singing. She somehow fit in here but I would've loved to know a little bit more about her history.
Do Ji-won as Choi Myung-hee. I quite enjoyed her in this drama even though I got quite confused trying to calculate the age of the characters because she doesn't look much older than Yoo Ji-tae but much younger than Park Sang-won in my honest opinion. She's still a gorgeous woman though and a good actress. Her acting felt real and I really enjoyed her in this drama.
Other actors in this drama include Park Won-sang, Park Sang-myeon, Oh Gwang-rok and Woo Hee-jin.

Soundtrack: This actually is one of the best experiences for me with this drama. The instrumentals really do a great job highlighting the atmosphere. I can't point out a specific piece as I don't know what they are called (I will find out about that though because it is really great). As for the songs by bands/singers, it is surprising at first to find Michael Learns to Rock on the OST. A danish band and a Korean drama? That's a rare combination but since I first listened to it I absolutely adored "Eternal Love" so it's not surprise I caught myself singing along way too often. The other song I really liked for some reason was Ben's "You" even though it does have a typical K-Drama-OST feeling to it.


9.5/10
I know I usually claim to have issues with very popular dramas and I still think that it is a problem for me but just like Healer there are exceptions. To me, this drama is not one of the best I've ever seen but I still enjoyed it a lot. The main weakness, to me, was the lack of differentiation between love and passion when it comes to the character of the Healer. And I think some characters just disappeared within the last 5 minutes. I don't think we were told what happens to Choi Myung-hee and Kim Moon-shik? I guess he gets punished and they got divorced but it's nothing the viewer knows for sure. Now I finished this drama last night and I still have those things on my mind; and the question whether I missed that part or whether it wasn't there in the first place.
Anyway, it is a solid drama with a mix of action and romance and if you like this mix I'm almost sure you will like Healer.

A small treat for the Ji Chang-wook fangirls at the end.
 

Trot Lovers

트로트의 연인 (Trot Lovers) is a South Korean drama series that aired on KBS2 from June 23rd to August 12th 2014. It consits of 16 episodes with average duration of one hour.

Story: Choi Chun-hee is a marathon athlete who caught singer Jang Joon-hyun cheating to win a medal in a competition. As fate kicks in, the two meet again when Joon-hyun gets into a scandal. Meanwhile, Chun-hee's father disappears and leaves her and her sister Byul behind with loan sharks following them around. Joon-hyun gets involved in the trouble and is ordered to be Chun-hee's manager so he can release a comeback album after his scandal while Chun-hee's main reason for agreeing to work together is the fact that she needs money and she hopes to get in contact with her father. She eventually signs with Shine Star Entertainment and meets Jo Geun-woo, the new CEO after his father went on a "holiday" as well as Park Soo-in, Joon-hyun's first love.

Cast: Jung Eun-ji as trot singer Choi Chun-hee gave me life! I'm sad the songs she sang in this drama are not part of an album but they are totally great. Regarding her character I did like the sassy part but the sensitive parts she showcased didn't seem to work well with the beginning of the story. As for the acting I can't really complain, Eun-ji is a good singer but also a good actress in her own way.
Ji Hyun-woo as Jang Joon-hyun seemed a little bit bland to me. The character was a whole new level of jerk even though he did have his sweet moments. I don't think Ji Hyun-woo really suited this character though so I don't quite know what to think about him as an actor after all.
Shin Sung-rok shows a totally different side of his acting skills in this drama as Jo Geun-woo. While I did sincerely enjoy him in his villain-roles the awkward yet sweet President of Shine Star Entertainment was very good and well-portrayed. Even though the behavior of the character seemed a bit too awkward from time to time I think that was part of the writing.
Lee Se-young as Park Soo-in was not really good. It's not that I hated her as a character or anything, it's just that the drama lost all of the energy whenever she appeared which was not good for the pacing nor for the story itself. While she's a pretty woman I think this drama was not made for her - or the other way around. Shin Bo-ra as Na Pil-nyeo seemed to be a much better antagonist in the beginning and her character turned out much better than I thought it would. As a female who has been training for 10 years waiting for her debut the main sentiment at first is jealousy and all her actions portrayed that well. Well, until she met Seol Tae-song played by Son Ho-jun. Seol Tae-song as a character seems kinda clueless but he's not bad, just a kind of confused, cute male side character. I kinda liked the side story between him and Pil-nyeo. As for the acting, it really seemed fine to me.
Other actors in this drama include Jang Won-young, Yoon Bong-kil, Park Hyuk-kwon and Lee Yi-kyung.

Soundtrack: Personally I'm not a huge fan of the OST but as I mentioned above I loved Eun-ji as a trot singer. The problem is just that the songs she sang are not part of the OST even though all of them are awesome, especially the one she sang first, "고추 (Red Pepper)" but as I said it is not part of the OST.


Now this sounded like a solid and fun drama and in the beginning it seemed to be exactly that but turned out that I rated it as 6/10 for reasons.
The positive things that I have to say about this drama only evolve around the cast, acting and the music but that's all.
It started off funny, light-hearted and cheerful but eventually the energy disappeared and was replaced by one K-Drama cliché after another - an evil mother, evil second female lead, poor second male lead, terminal diseases, amnesia, wristgrab, past accidents - this drama literally has everything and it almost made me puke how cliché it is. Just like a poorly written fanfiction in some parts. I was close to dropping this drama after episode 11 but eventually decided against it since I'm still proud I never dropped a drama.
Yes, it eventually got back to the light-hearted and cute atmosphere it had in the beginning but that didn't safe it in the end and I'm glad I finally finished this.
Recommended? Well, if you're a fan of clichés and the typical cheesy love stories in K-Dramaland with an extra portion of famous jerk you might enjoy this. If you don't like that - don't watch this drama or you will end up hating 90% of the characters.

Producer

프로듀사 (Producer) is a South Korean drama series that aired on KBS2 from May 15th to June 20th 2015 and consists of 12 episodes with an average duration of 80 minutes.

Story: Baek Seung-chan joins a KBS Entertainment World team as the new PD rookie. In the first place he decided to become a PD because of his first love. Right on the first day he gets into an accident with one of his senior PDs, Tak Ye-jin. Tak Ye-jin currently lives with her childhood friend who happens to be another PD, Ra Joon-mo, for KBS Entertainment World and above all Seung-chan's direct boss.
While helping out in one of the shows Seung-chan meets the famous singer Cindy who causes some trouble for Ye-jin. As the chaos evolves around the relationships between the four characters they try to overcome hardships in the entertainment business as well.

Cast: I think the cast is honestly what made this drama as well known as it is. At first we have Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Seung-chan. As the main character of this story the viewer becomes most familiar with him and the stubborn, puppy-like behavior makes him a total sweetheart. But I have to admit that this role didn't suit Kim Soo-hyun perfectly. His acting was good but I feel like sometimes the very goofy, innocent acting just didn't feel right.
Gong Hyo-jin as Tak Ye-jin is a good actress and in this drama she showed some huge differences between the professional and the real person Ye-jin. It was good to see Gong Hyo-jin in this role as her performance was really nice.
Cha Tae-hyun as Ra Joon-mo has the loser role in this drama, if there is one character I would have to name as that character that is. When it comes to his career, if I remember right, every show he touches ends up being ruined and he is trying to safe his current variety show "2 Days & 1 Night". That's when Seung-chan joins and Joon-mo's team is definitely not happy about it at first.
And who could take the role of a famous singer better than a famous singer? So IU is in this drama as Cindy. The change within her character is the most fascinating thing about her. The acting was maybe a little bit too sweet partly but then again idols have to be like that.
The cast also includes Lim Ye-jin, Kim Hee-chan, Kim Hye-ok, Park Hyuk-kwon, Kim Jong-kook, Na Young-hee, Jo Han-chul and Choi Kwon.

Soundtrack: The OST in fact includes a lot of very good singers and some indie bands. My favorite song has to be from a singer called Ben "두근두근 (Palpitations)" followed by "러브스윗 (Love Suite)" which was performed by EXID's Solji.


My personal rating for this drama is a 7/10 not because it is bad but it failed to deliver something special in the world of romantic comedies. As rom-com is the dominating genre in K-Drama land it is hard to deliver something innovative and new, that is for sure, and the only new aspect this drama added to complicated relationships was the entertainment industry. But in that way it actually gives you a nice impression how things might actually be working as a writer or program director and how hard the competition is. So as it was in that aspect a really good drama I was willing to give some bonus points even though it didn't impress me much. Recommendation? If you want to watch it, go ahead, it's not that long after all and I've seen worse than this drama.

Descendants of the Sun

태양의 후예 (Descendants of the Sun) is a popular South Korean drama series that consists of 16 episodes that aired from February 24th to April 14th 2016 on KBS2.

Story: Yoo Si-jin is a Captain in the Korean army and specifially in the special forces. He catches a thief with Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young one day and sends him to a hospital with the medical notes written on the thiefs arm. Soon they figure out Seo Dae-young's phone was stolen and go to look for the thief who is in big trouble at the moment.
Kang Mo-yeon is responsible for the patient and suspects Yoo Si-jin and Seo Dae-young of beating him up but a CCTV record shows the truth.
Because of a wound that needs to be treated Si-jin decides to drive one and a half hours to the hospital where Mo-yeon works in order to see her and get treated by her specifically.
The two of them start to date but their dates don't go well due to their jobs - emergencies just keep on happening and eventually they break up.
Si-jin is transferred to Urk for eight months with his unit. Haesung Hospital is supposed to send a medicube and doctors who volunteer.
Instead of volunteering Kang Mo-yeon is sent to Urk as the leader of the team as a punishment by the director of the hospital for personal revenge. Eventually, Si-jin and Mo-yeon meet again and work together in a country devastated because of war and starvation.

Cast: Song Joong-ki as Captain Yoo Si-jin is incredibly popular everywhere. His acting was good, he managed to balance the cute charm and the tough and loyal sides of Yoo Si-jin quite well. I personally did like his acting in this drama and think that the role suits him well.
Song Hye-kyo as Kang Mo-yeon did well, too. I personally saw her in one other drama before and was honestly not that impressed with that so I wasn't too happy about her being in this drama. But she is a good actress and she did deliver her parts nicely, especially as the professional doctor saving someone's life. (I considered her English pronounciation to be a little weird though.)
Jin Goo as Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young mainly impressed me with his strict discipline when acting in military bases. I guess he has to be my favorite character and actor in this drama because I really enjoyed watching his scenes.
Kim Ji-won as Lieutenant Yoon Myeong-ju. She is a great actress and I really liked her in this series, too. The romance between her and Seo Dae-young was really good and they did have a good chemistry on screen.
Kang Shin-il as Lieutenant General Yoon and Myeong-ju's father was for a long time the typical father in many stories you personally want to just ignore. But he changed and it made me like him a little bit more. Of course as an actor the character was portrayed well.
Other actors in this drama include (prepare for a long list): Kim Byung-chul as Colonel Park Byung-soo, Park Hoon as Sergeant Choi Woo Geun, Choi Woong as Staff Sergeant Gong Chul-ho, Ahn Bo-hyun as Sergeant Im Kwang-nam, Kim Min-suk as Private Kim Ki-bum, Lee Seung-joon as Song Sang-hyun, Seo Jung-yeon as Ha Ja-ae, Onew as Lee Chi-hun, Park Hwan-hee as Choi Min-ji and so many more that it would take me years to name all of them.

Soundtrack: When I came to Korea, the soundtrack for this drama was played all day in the Ewha shopping street, especially in spring, and I started listening to the songs before I even knew that they belonged to this drama. Some of my favorite songs are Mad Clown's and Kim Na-young's "다시 너를 (Come Again)", and K.Will's "말해! 뭐해? (Say It! What Are You Doing?)". I honestly love both songs in their own ways a lot. But also "Everytime" by EXO's Chen and Punch is a song I really came to like a lot.


I honestly did not plan to watch this drama this year. Or to review it in 2016. But after hearing about the big hype and seeing Song Joong-ki's pictures at every corner in Seoul because of this drama I think I had to find out what it was about.
I personally rated this drama as an 8/10 which might surprise some people since it is so damn popular and has so many fans.
Let's say I do get the hype but I can't really follow it. I loved the military and the medical scenes. I loved the romance between Seo Dae-young and Yoon Myeong-ju, and I really liked Song Sang-hyun's and Ha Ja-ae's story a lot. But the main story was cheesy (I like cheese but somehow.. so much cheese that you feel too full after some time).

It is far from bad but also some plot-twists especially in the end didn't do much for the story so I thought they just started dragging it. However, a bonus is that I finished this quite fast actually and didn't start to skip scenes.

Orange Marmalade

오렌지 마말레이드 (Orange Marmalade) is a South Korean drama series based on a webtoon that aired from May 15th to July 24th 2015 on KBS2.

Story: In a fictional world, vampires and humans coexist in the same society. However, vampires are still discriminated against so they have to hide their true identity. Baek Ma-ri is a high school student who had to move with her family after being found out a few times already. After moving again, she becomes more careful so she won't need to transfer to another school again. In school she meets Jung Jae-min who hates vampires because of past events involving his mother. Jo Ah-ra who has a crush on Jae-min creates some difficult situations for Ma-ri while she's getting closer to Jae-min. Shortly after that, Han Shi-hoo transfers to the same school. Since he remembers Ma-ri from his childhood, he recognizes her in a tough situation and decides to help her out a few more times.

Cast: The cast and the acting in general is okay. Yeo Jin-goo did a good job as Jung Jae-min though I felt like sometimes he was too cold - something was missing in his expression. Kim Seol-hyun in general did have similar issues as Baek Ma-ri. She seemed too stiff but overall her performance in this drama was okay, nothing especially good or bad either.
Lee Jong-hyun as Han Shi-hoo simply delivered. Now I am not biased but I liked his acting and I liked his character - probably these factors are basically the same but I'm not really sure how to describe it. When the first highschool part ended, I was frustrated because I just thought they couldn't do that to him. Jo Ah-ra played by Gil Eun-hye was someone on the other hand I hated at first but came to like during the "past events" part. Her character in itself was understandable but the change from liking one person to just accepting without doing anything was faster than I expected but then again that's what I liked about her.
A rather unknown actress, but I loved Oh Kyung-min as Choi Soo-ri in this series. Sure she did have some of her insecure moments but she's definitely an actress I should look out for.
Lastly, I need to mention Song Jong-ho as teacher Han Yoon-jae and Lee Il-hwa as Kang Min-ha. While I personally liked Han Yoon-jae more that might be because he was in more scenes - a caring teacher always trying to support his students. Kang Min-ha, Jae-min's mother, was a respectable person, too. She didn't try to force her son into seeing her. She just accepted his wishes though it was obvious how glad she was when he finally met her again.

OST: There were basically two songs included in the soundtrack I sincerely loved and still love. One of them is "끌리는 여자 (Attracted Woman)" by Monsta X's Kihyun and Jooheon. It's a beautiful and light song that captured the atmosphere in quite a few of the scenes, not some overly dramatic sad love song. And then there's Hwanhee's "아프다 (Heartbreaking)", the kind of rather sad but beautiful songs performed by a great vocalist.

In total this drama received a 7/10 rating from me. The first few episodes were okay, the parts playing in back in the Joseon Dynasty were awesome (I loved that, they could've turned that into another drama..) and the last high school part was also nice but nothing too special. The ending was a rather open one but did not leave too many questions. It's something short and fun to watch and plays with tropes while I did see some critical ideas in this drama as well. (E.g. bullying someone because he/she is different.)
Something short, light and nice to enjoy between melodramas I'd say~.

Wonderful Days

참 좋은 시절 (Wonderful Days) is a South Korean drama series that was aired from February 22nd to August 10th 2014 on KBS2 and consists of 50 episodes.

Story: Kang Dong-seok comes back to Gyeongju after studying and working in Seoul for 15 years. Back in his hometown, he finds himself confronted with issues of a messed up family with his siblings, their children, their relationships - and his own past with his ex-girlfriend Cha Hae-won and her family.

Cast: Even if I wanted to - I just cannot list all the actors that took part in this series, even listing the family around Kang Dong-seok alone would be too much since I have a limited number of tags and don't want to write 20 pages only about the family.
There are good actors in this series though sometimes the emotions weren't perfectly shown but still good.
At first we have Lee Seo-jin as Kang Dong-seok who's in the center of this whole mess. A prosecutor as cold as the Syberian winter. If I remember right. Kim Hee-sun appears as Cha Hae-won whom I clearly preferred in the beginning but then again it might be just me having a thing for strong women.
The reason why I even stumbled upon this series is definitely Ok Taec-yeon as Kang Dong-hui, and I honestly consider him not bad at acting. Like not bad at all though people are always criticizing idols.. I'm looking forward to see more series with him though (and still have at least one on my list).
Lee Elijah appears as Kim Ma-ri in this drama, and while one might think that her character isn't important at all.. One shouldn't underestimate her.
Once again I've been watching a drama with Ryu Seung-soo (accidentally), this time as Kang Dong-tak, Dong-seok's older brother. I start to really enjoy his acting though his characters always seem to be the less serious characters that make you laugh though their actually in a sad situation. Jin Kyung joins him as Kang Hae-ju, Hae-won's older sister, in this drama. While their relationship is completely weird in the beginning, it gets better and better.
The last actors I need to mention are Kim Sang-ho as Kang Ssang-shik, Park Bo-gum as young Kang Dong-seok and Choi Woong as Dr. Min Woo-jin. Now why did I have to add this mix of actors? Mainly because I know that I did watch/will watch another drama with them in the cast, or because it's pretty much likely I would watch a drama for their acting only, and that's perfectly fine!

Soundtrack: The soundtrack has cute instrumentals but rarely anything memorable. Even now, 10 minutes after finishing the last episode, I just can't remember anything about the soundtrack either. And I've been watching the whole drama in two weeks! But let's say there wasn't anything too bad either, otherwise I'd definitely remember the bad parts.

I gave this drama a 6.5/10 and this is of course only my opinion! While to me, the most interesting part of the story is over around Ep. 25, they introduced a 'father' I came to dislike for various personal reasons - let's just say he really pissed me off because he reminds me so much of someone I know - and I did skip a lot. The story is slow and focussed on the character development but sometimes, just sometimes, a rather fast-paced story would've made sense.  And while I did like the character development in the beginning, the harder it was in the end to watch one episode dealing with family issues after another.
And 50 episodes definitely aren't a quota the story can keep up unless you're really into family stuff and slow character development. I have seen worse dramas though and expected worse just because of the number of episodes.
Rewatch value.. no, 50 episodes is too much, but I'll definitely rewatch some scenes. That's enough.

Korean TV Stations: KBS

Another information series. Yes, I know that you do miss the international feeling on here. And I do know that you're waiting for some new reviews.
However, it might be only my opinion but I think that some general information about what you watch is always good.

KBS stands for Korean Broadcasting System. At least two other channels are operated by KBS, most commonly known as KBS2 and KBS World.
KBS World also has a Youtube channel where many shows are uploaded with English subtitles.

The Korean Broadcasting System was founded in 1927. Today, the station operates radio, television and online services.
In 1927 the radio services were launched, television programs started airing in 1961. KBS is owned by the Korean government.

Fulfilling the People's Devotion Through Broadcasting

Some of the most popular drama series aired on KBS and KBS2 include Boys Over Flowers, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Dream High, IRIS, Bridal Mask and their drama special series.

Winter Sonata

Welcome to this review of the oldest Korean drama I've ever watched.

겨울 연가 (Winter Sonata) is a Korean drama series that aired from January 14th to March 29th 2002 on KBS2.
It was one of the first Korean drama series that were aired in Japan, and there it was known as "冬のソナタ" (fuyu no sonata).

Story: The story starts with Kang Jun-sang transferring to a high school in Chuncheon because of the desire to find his father. He meets Jung Yoo-jin in school and the two of them fall in love. But one day a horrible accident happens and Kang Jun-sang dies.
Years later Yoo-jin and her highschool friends started working and most of them live in Seoul. Oh Chae-lin, a girl who had a crush on Kang Jun-sang, brings Lee Min-hyung from Paris with her - surprisingly Min-hyung looks like Jun-sang and Yoo-jin starts to wonder if it's possible Jun-sang didn't die back then.

Cast: At first we have Bae Yong-jun as Kang Jun-sang and Lee Min-hyung. Choi Ji-woo appears as Jung Yoo-jin. Her close friends are played by Park Yong-ha as Kim Sang-hyuk who's deeply in love with Yoo-jin and one of the first victims of the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome, Park Sol-mi as Oh Chae-lin, Lee Hye-eun as Gong Ji-sook and Ryu Seung-soo as Kwon Yong-gook.
It's a good cast but I didn't know most of the actors before. It's not surprising though since most of them aren't that active today anymore (and Park Yong-ha committed suicide a few years ago, may he rest in peace).

Regarding the age, the drama is good. What is actually interesting is that sudden patterns and tropes even appeard in 2002, so roughly 15 years ago. Sure the style is kind of old school, yes, but it would so definitely work. Maybe we should sign a petition for a new version. (Just jokin', though I'm sure it'd be a huge success just by adding new actors and rewriting the story a little.
So my personal rating is 6.5/10 because it seems too old but I'm pretty sure it would work again today. So check it out if you're in the mood for some romance next winter!

Sirius

시리우스 (Sirius) is a Korean drama special that aired on KBS2 from January 6th to January 27th 2013. It consists of 4 episodes in total.

Before starting the review I have to mention this
(←) awesome picture they used. I really think the whole card design looks awesome and I could talk about my interpretation for hours - maybe I'll do that in the last part of my review - because it leaves a lot of impressions.

Story: The story evolves around the identical twin brothers Do Eun-chang and Do Shin-woo. Thought they are twins, their characters were always different. Shin-woo got into trouble a lot, while Eun-chang was a good and bright person and a good student in his teens but went to jail for his brother. So Eun-chang's life changed a lot.
On the other side Shin-woo always felt inferior to his brother but his feelings changed after Eun-chang went to jail. Now a chief detective of an investigation team, Shin-woo works mainly with drug investigations. Eun-chang, after being released from prison, works as an errand man. But due to a plot planned by Ko Seok-min the two brothers change their positions. While Eun-chang accepts the current state, Shin-woo tries to get his position back.

Cast: Both twins are played by Seo Jun-young who manages to play both different characters quite well. Especially since they aren't close at all I think it requires a lot of skills to do this job well. ZE:A's Park Hyung-sik accepted the challenge as well taking over the teen roles of the twins.
The main gangster Ko Seok-min is played by Ryu Seung-soo. Two female characters appear as well and so we see Uhm Hyun-kyung as Kim An-na and Jo Woo-ri as So-ri.

After all it's a 6/10, though I think it's still a rather good 6~ basically I think it's too short, I would've wished for more contexts and by far more story. Because actually this drama special has so much potential! Regarding the dark angel Shin-woo and the white-winged angel Eun-chang more information would've been a good thing but obviously the producers only wanted a short drama special so - they should've either turned this into a mind-blowing movie or just use the story for a full drama, at least 8 episodes would've been possible to answer some question and to give the viewer some more insight-

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).

Looking Forward To Romance

연애를 기대해 (Looking Forward To Romance/ Waiting For Love/  Hope For Love/ Expect To Date) is a Korean mini drama series consisting of two episodes that aired on September 11th and September 12th 2013 on KBS2.

Story: The drama centers around Joo Yeon-ae who is a romantist in a world where dating is about money and brain. Though she has the looks and a good personality she never gets the man she wants and is therefore quite unexperienced when it comes to relationships. Cha Gi-dae is a dating coach and starts to coach Yeon-ae through SNS. Though he is an expert at dating he has trouble getting the girl he wants as well.
This drama focusses on the love stories that evolve between two young adults and their different views on relationships.

Cast: At first we have Boa as Joo Yeon-ae. Though I'm definitely not one of her fans (one of my friends once asked me how I can be a K-Pop fan but not care about Boa at all) I think she really did a good job in this series. It was fun to watch her. Choi Daniel accepted the role of Cha Gi-dae and watching him was definitely entertaining, mostly because of his sometimes overly self-confident character who claims to be an expert at dating but fails to get the woman he wants. I think his character was really awesome. Im Siwan of ZE:A was acting in this drama as Jung Jin-gook and.. he's adorable in this drama, I totally fell for his character though I can't really explain why exactly. And last but not least is Kim Ji-won whom I've seen in To The Beautiful You before as Choi Sae-rom. As far as I remember (yes, it has been a while since I've seen this drama) her character in this series wasn't annoyingly cute but pretty much alright. She'll probably never be one of my favorite actresses but hey, her acting was good, not that much overdone.

After all this series got a rating of 8/10 from me but that's mainly because I'm not that much into love stories, especially not into the typical ones. It's something I definitely would rewatch (maybe just with a better subtitle or in a few years completely without subtitles) around Christmas because that's the only time of the year when I end up completely overly emotional.

Adolescence Medley

사춘기 메들리 (Adolescence Medley) is a Korean drama special consisting of four episodes that aired from July 10th to July 31st 2013 on KBS2.

Story: Choi Jung-woo has transferred schools for seven times and finally learned that it's easiest to live as if he was invisible and to not get involved with anyone. But after transferring to Namil High School Yang Ah-young talks him into doing lots of school chores. Meanwhile his seatmate is bullied. Though he doesn't want to get involved he ends up yelling at the bullies and gets into a fight with "Brown Bear", a school legend at fighting.
When he learns his father isn't going to be transferred to Seoul Jung-woo can't run away from his problems anymore and therefore has to face those.

Cast: Kwak Dong-yeon plays the teen Choi Jung-woo. Personally I like the way he's acting in this drama, sure it's the role of an impulsive teenager, maybe because he was 16 when this drama was filmed and aired as well. Lee Se-young as Yang Ah-young is the one talking him into school services and also the one he asks out for his revenge. Kwak Jung-wook as Im Deok Won is the bullied seatmate because of whom Choi Jung-woo becomes active.
Others include Choi Tae-joon as "Brown Bear" Lee Yeok-ho, Park Jung-min as Shin Young-bok and Baek Sung-hyun as adult Choi Jung-woo.

Skipping the part soundtrack because I can't really say something about that, I really like this drama, it's the story of a loner who suddenly sees himself confronted with the world and has to deal with the consequences. Friendship and first love - completely teenager things but I still think that this drama is nice compared to others.
With a rating 8/10 I think it's really a good way to spend a day.

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

.

Pianist

피아니스트 (Pianist) is a Korean drama special that aired on November 27th 2010 on KBS2.

Story: Oh Je-ro is a musical genius and wanted to learn how to play the piano but works at a piano factory as a tuner to support his sick father instead. He thinks the name his father gave him sounds like "Oh, Zero" and symbolizes the lack of hope for his future. One day he meets Yoon In-sa and falls in love with her. When she was younger In-sa dreamed of becoming the world's best pianist but had to give up her dream as well and works part-time as an elementary school music teacher. When the two begin their love story they eventually start healing each others souls.

Cast: The cast includes Choi Minho as Oh Je-ro and Han Ji-hye as Yoon In-sa. Choi Phillip took the role of Han Jung-woo, and those are basically the three involved in the love triangle. The acting wasn't that good but not that bad either. But regarding a rather typical story one shouldn't expect too much, it doesn't really need the best actors to portray those characters.

Soundtrack: The piano pieces are quite nice, but besides those I don't remember an OST because it is only a drama special. Nothing more I could tell you about that.

My rating is 7/10, it's not that great but also not bad and something nice to watch if you're bored and need to kill time. Around 70 minutes aren't that much but I think they definitely couldn't have made this longer even if they wanted to because it would be like many other dramas out there. However, as for Minho's acting debut, I think this was decent enough.

White Christmas

화이트 크리스마스 (White Christmas) is a Korean drama special consisting of 8 episodes that aired in 2011 from January 30th to March 20th on KBS2 and let me tell you one thing - every review I've seen so far said that this one is one of the best Korean dramas the writers had ever watched. And I fully agree with them! But let's start this slowly.

Story: Soo-sin is a private school in the mountains of Gangwando. The area is isolated, all students and the staff stay in dormitories and there is a good reason: The students can't do anything but study so the top 0.1% attend Soo-sin.
Usually everyone's leaving for Christmas because the eight day holiday is the only holiday they have all year. Park Moo-yul decides to stay because of a hateful letter he received a few days ago. In the end, seven students and a teacher remain in school.

Cast: This drama is actually one of the first dramas that helped some actors gain attention. First would be Sung Joon as Choi Ji-hoon, followed by Baek Sung-hyun as Park Moo-yul, Hong Jong-hyun as Lee Jae-kyu and Kim Woo-bin as Kang Mi-reu. This was one of the dramas that actually helped some of them to get into the spotlight and it was also the drama that made me a huge fan of Hong Jong-hyun while my respect for Baek Sung-hyun grew as well.
Other included in the cast are Kim Sang-kyung as Kim Yo-han, Kim Young-kwang as Jo Young-jae, Lee Soo-hyuk as Yoon-soo, Kwak Jung-wook as Yang Kang-mo, Esom as Yoon Eun-sung and Jung Suk-won as Yoon Jong-il. Because it's set in an isolated school those are all characters that appear.

Soundtrack: I.. I do not remember the soundtrack.. I know there was music played, yes, but I don't remember a thing. Why? Because it all just fit together too well, the music highlighted the story but didn't try to get into the spotlight so I just noticed the smooth flow.

Another straight 10/10 drama. Probably the only one I've watched about three times now. The story is perfect, the cast is perfect, the setting is perfect and I just love this. And like I mentioned in the introduction, almost all people I've talked to loved this drama as much as I do. Watch it, it's only about 8 hours (sadly) so you can't go wrong if you like some psychological thrillers.

IRIS 2

아이리스2 (IRIS 2) also known as IRIS II: New Generation is the second season of IRIS, like the name actually says, and aired from February 13th to April 18th 2013 on KBS2.

Story:The story starts three years after the end of the first season and the death of Kim Hyun-joon. The story tries to reveal what happened in the past while the new agents of the NSS also have to deal with IRIS and the attacks this organization plans. Nothing more to be said about it. If you've watched the first season you'll understand that this is enough to fill the 20 episodes.

Cast: Almost the complete cast changed. The male lead role Jung Yoo-gun was taken by Jang Hyuk. The female lead, Ji Soo-yun, was played by Lee Da-hee. Oh Yun-soo was included in the cast as Choi Min. One of the very few actors also active in the first season is Kim Young-chul as Baek San. And Mr. Black or Yoo Jung-hoon finally has a face more commonly known as Kim Gab-soo. Im Soo-hyang is one of the more important female members of IRIS as Kim Yun-hwa.
There's another person who appeared in the first season: Kim So-yeon has a cameo in episode 20 as Kim Sun-hwa.
As for the reason why this might be a good option for K-Pop fans: There's Yoon Doo-joon of BEAST/B2ST as Seo Hyun-woo included in the main cast. Yoon Shi-hyuk was acted by Lee Joon of MBLAQ (I hated this character deeply after some time). And there's Kim Hyeong-kon of A-JAX as Song Young-min, a rookie agent (and an adorable agent). Last but not least, belonging to the North Korea Party is Park Se-joon of SPEED as Ri Hyuk-soo.
The acting was great after all, I loved this drama to death (and finished it in about three days) and I think that's mainly because all of those people and also the rest of the cast did an amazing job.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks I've ever listened to. I enjoyed the instrumentals that actually fit the atmosphere almost too well. But there are more treasures.
At first there's Davichi's "모르시나요 (Don't You Know)". I love Davichi's vocals a lot, both of them are great vocalists. My personal favorite track is "Black Paradise" by BEAST (B2ST), it's one of my favorite songs by BEAST and I love this song a lot. It works fine with the drama but is not a typical soundtrack song after all.
And there's one song they reused - originally it was sung by Baek Ji-young, the remake was performed by So Hyang and it's called "잊지말아요 (Don't Forget)". Since this song was basically the most played song in the first season I wasn't really happy about a remake version but they didn't overuse it and So Hyang's vocals are impressive.


Rating this isn't difficult, for me it's a 10/10 and there's no need to discuss the reasons. The soundtrack is amazing, the cast flawless, the acting really good and the story still really interesting and less focused on the love story which makes this season so much better in my opinion. And I do need to mention Baek Sung-hyun. Thanks to this drama I became a huge fan of his though he's not even included in the main cast.
As a K-Pop fan there's one thing that was really too much for me. Hyeong-kon is one of my first bias' ever, I can fangirl way too hard because of him. Also, Doo-joon is my bias in BEAST and I like and respect him a lot. And then there's Park Se-joon who managed to ruin my whole ranking already a long time ago. That's enough to give me a heart attack, alright? Thanks to Lee Joon I've felt my heart breaking from time to time in this drama and got really mad at his character but it's not his fault and I actually like Lee Joon a lot as well.

So, yeah, my ranking is biased - but how is it possible to dislike those cuties?