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!

Flower Grandpa Investigation Unit

꽃할배 수사대 (Flower Grandpa Investigation Unit) is a South Korean drama series that aired on tvN from May 9th to July 25th 2014 every Friday and consists of 12 episodes.

Story: Three detectives in their late 20's transform to 70 year old men overnight after getting in contact with a weird liquid. Only the fourth member of the team, Park Jung-woo, doesn't transform into an old man for an unknown reason. While trying to get back their youth and finding an option to become their original age again, the Grandpa unit together with Park Jung-woo and Jung Eun-ji solve crime cases with Lee Joon-hyuk's intellect, Jeon Kang-seok's strength and Han Won-bin's charm.

Cast: For obvious reasons - there are so many people in the cast that it is really difficult to name and rate all of them separately.
Lee Joon-hyuk was portrayed by Lee Soon-jae and Choi Jin-hyuk in the different ages. Personally I think they did show a difference in portraying the character. While Choi Jin-hyuk made Joon-hyuk seem more cold than Lee Soon-jae, they both made him a little bit sarcastic and therefore someone others would hate but I used to like especially for this. The difference in their portrayal doesn't really bother me much since it is something also about the actors and what the audience wants to connect with them.
Byun Hee-bong and Park Min-woo both acted as Kang Won-bin who made this drama hilarious in his own way. Being a flower boy in his first age Park Min-woo portrays the shallow and popular guy very well as a little arrogant and obsessed with his own looks and skin care. Byun Hee-bong did well showing the personal crisis he experienced when Won-bin noticed he got old - wrinkly skin and not the usually perfect hair style was a horrible thing for him. Both actors did well while showing the arrogant and shallow aspects - as well as Won-bin being after pretty much every beautiful female.
In the role of Jeon Kang-seok Jang Kwang and Park Doo-sik both did well. As the character is strong but not really bright he had his own moments to shine and make the audience laugh. The most interesting thing about him was the fact that the character loved A Pink which led to a really cute behavior and a lot of aegyo the actors showed.
Kim Hee-chul of Super Junior is in this drama as Park Jung-woo and I personally think his acting was really good in the emotional parts. He did a very good job in this series and I think I would watch other comedy dramas with him, too.
Lee Cho-hee as Jung Eun-ji was really good, too. Her love for food and her ability to tell smells apart easily seems just a little weird and not really useful for a crime part at first even though it is entertaining but she turns out to be very helpful. As for the acting it was very solid, it somehow worked together even though I wasn't blown away by her acting.
Kim Eung-soo as the leader of the investigation unit Kim Young-chul was very interesting in his grumpy acting while also at some point caring for team members and their safety. The acting was really nice to watch.
And I need to mention Lee Ki-woo as Park Tae-min. I can't help it but I think after The Virus I developed a small weakness for Lee Ki-woo as the intelligent but slightly... crazy doctor or scientist. I think he is doing well in those rather serious roles and I was so happy when I saw him in this drama that I was almost jumping up and down because I got so excited.
Other actors in this drama series include Park Eun-ji as Han Yoo-ra, Kim Byung-se as Choi Jae-wook and Park Hyo-joo as Jun Hae-jin.

Soundtrack: I personally did like the instrumentals in the drama but not so much the songs by K-Pop/K-Indie artists Ladies' Code, Rumble Fish and Sun Woo. It is not a big minus though since I loved the rest of the music.

In total this drama got a 8/10 rating from me. It is a good crime and comedy mix that offers plot twists and a good cast. BUT what leads to this not being perfect is about some aspects that made it too ridiculous to be taken seriously even in a minor way. Sometimes the outcome was obvious while they were still investigating which is a spoiler within itself. Those are some things that did bother me but in the end this drama was still a good, funny and somehow light watch but had his serious moments.
Recommended to fans of comedy and crime in one!

I Need Romance 3

로맨스가 필요해 3 (I Need Romance 3) is a South Korean drama series that aired on tvN from January 13th to March 4th 2014.

Story: Once again this drama revolves around a woman in her 30s and her relationships as well as her 'friends' - which are more colleagues in this case. Shin Joo-yeon works at a home shopping company. Because of some bad experiences she just accepts break-up's. She turned out cold and pretty calculating. When Allen Joo returns from the States after 17 years he can't believe that the cold woman is the same person as the girl he knew while growing up.
Lee Min-jeong, Joo-yeon's colleague, finds herself in a love affair and ends up as a pregnant single woman while Jeong Hee-jae and Lee Woo-young end up with some romantic issues as well. Since all of them are working together, the chaos is perfect when Oh Se-ryeong, a woman Joo-yeon was friends with earlier, appears. Se-ryeong was dating Kang Tae-yoon on whom Joo-yeon has a crush without noticing.

Cast: People asked me "Why do you watch it if you just found the first two seasons 'okay' or 'bearable'?" Well. Excuse you. There are four damn good reasons just in the cast. Firstly, Kim So-yeon as Shin Joo-yeon. That woman is my idol. I loved her more in IRIS and Two Weeks but she still did a good job in here, and just by looking at how different her roles in those series are I can assure you that she is indeed an amazing actress. But her chemistry with Nam Goong-min whom I really liked as well as Kang Tae-yoon could've been better. I don't think I could detect any chemistry between their characters at all. At least compared to the chemistry between Shin Joo-yeon and Allen Joo/ Joo Wan played by Sung Joon. While both of them are good at acting I couldn't really understand Allen's character that well though but then again I feel like that's me and there might have been a reason as to why he behaved that way after 17 years.
The character I hated the most in this drama turned out to be Oh Se-ryeong played by Wang Ji-won though. Geez, I wanted to beat her up. Badly. So annoying but I found myself actually liking her during the last episodes. Now I wonder what made her character change that much. Maybe I missed out on something. Maybe she changed because of hoping to get Tae-yoon back. Or maybe the writer just thought it would be a good idea. I really don't know about that.
Actually one of the reasons to watch this drama is Park Yoo-hwan as Lee Woo-young as well. I definitely hope people will stop referring to him as "Yoochun's brother" once and try to see him as an actor. He did well in this drama, especially with Yoon Seung-ah as Jeong Hee-jae. That clumsy but somewhat shy and loveable couple made this drama totally cute from time to time - and funny. Just let me mention the word "group chat" and you will understand after watching this.
Lastly we have Park Hyo-joo as Lee Min-jeong, a woman who has no intention to get married or think about having a family - until she finds out she's pregnant. And Ahn Min-seok played by Yoo Ha-jun is trying hard to become a good father even before the baby's born. He definitely deserved more time, both together with Park Hyo-joo or alone just because his acting and his character were really cute and seemed a little innocent and clueless.

Soundtrack: Thinking about it carefully, I did like one song. Well, two if we count "Now and Forever", the Allen Joo produced (at least they said so) which was originally performed by Jo Jung-hee. Sung Joon's "사랑이 웃는 것 (Love is Smiling)" made this soundtrack good to me. Now there's nothing wrong with all the other good singers included on the OST just like G.O or Lee Hyori but I sometimes just found myself thinking "Wow, that song's pretty boring..". As a huge fan of music that was and still is a deal breaker for me.


After all this drama got a rating of 8/10 from me. Except for the fact that I didn't like the music I just felt like there's nothing really memorable about the story. It didn't make me laugh too hard nor did I feel really depressed. It's enjoyable but nothing special
But I think it's not the I Need Romance we've seen in the first two seasons. Starting with the first episode, this series has a completely different feeling to it. It focusses more on the male lead than the first two series. In this one, the women aren't friends who've met each other back in school and started to work in different feels, the basically know each other because of working together. And while this is actually a charming point it just doesn't belong to the I Need Romance-series fans might expect.  
So if you want to watch this because you loved the first two seasons - be warned.