The Suspicious Housekeeper

수상한 가정부 (The Suspicious Housekeeper; formerly known as House Keeper Park Bok Nyeo) is the South Korean remake of the Japanese drama series 家政婦のミタ (kaseifu no mita; I'm Mita, Your Housekeeper). It was aired on SBS from September 23rd to November 26th 2013 and therefore consists of 20 episodes with an average duration of 60 minutes.

Story: Woo Sun-young, mother of Han-gyeol, Du-gyeol, Se-gyeol and Hye-gyeol and wife of Eun Sang-chul suddenly passes away. 49 days after her funeral Sang-chul tells his children that he hired a housekeeper to help them out while he is busy at work.
Park Bok-nyeo is an extremely serious person that never smiles, has all sorts of things in her bag and does everything she is ordered to do - going as far as killing when she is ordered to do that.
All of a sudden the family receives letters that their new housekeeper is a murderer. The children try to figure out what happened on their own after a fight with their father but even though they keep on following Park Bok-nyeo, Du-gyeol, Se-gyeol and Hye-gyeol fail to find out about her secrets. Bok-nyeo threatens to quit when the children won't stop asking her private questions so that the family who learned to appreciate their housekeeper as a kind of second mother, especially Hye-gyeol, stop and ask Bok-nyeo to stay. But the curiosity stays for sure.
At first this story really sounded interesting to me, especially the title. I never watched the Japanese version so I can't compare them at all and didn't know what I was getting myself into. This story itself is like a rollercoaster - at first it goes up all the way just to let you gain speed during the first drop. When that excitement disappears you have some time to calm down and just let it flow before it picks up speed again to get you to a second exciting point - and after that it slows down and slowly takes you to the end. This was my impression after 11 episodes and after finishing it I can say that the second "drop" is actually really interesting and probably one of the reasons why I kept watching. The main problem I have with this drama, however, that the slow paced parts of the track are just too much. There are so many stories and you know they are just supposed to make this drama longer. It cannot keep up its pace for 20 episodes and that makes it lose some quality.

Cast: Choi Ji-woo as Park Bok-nyeo. Thinking about it Park Bok-nyeo is not the most exciting but probably the most developed character. The background story and the effects she experienced all make sense and I couldn't help but pity her. As for the acting, I think it was outstanding. I see why people might disagree with me but emotionless acting to me would be incredibly difficult. Always maintaining the exact same expression for - just guessing, I don't remember the exact episode - 10 episodes is extremely hard to do. Still, the chemistry (not in a romantic way) she had with the children, especially the youngest daughter, made it seem as if there were some feelings shown. It is difficult to explain but it really impressed me.
Lee Sung-jae as Eun Sang-chul. As a character I still don't know what I should think about him but the development the character went through - from a terrible husband and father to an actually caring person who tries to do what could be best for his children - was a huge step. So I kinda admired the character in that way. From one of my most hated characters he made it to one of my favorites. As for the acting, it seemed true to its nature. Lee Sung-jae was good in this role but I wish he would use stronger facial expressions from time to time. However, it was still a solid and actually good performance.
Kim So-hyun as Eun Han-gyeol. Han-gyeol is a typical teenage girl going through puberty and her first love while being the oldest daughter of the household and somehow taking the role of the mother and a student before Park Bok-nyeo starts to work for the family. The rebel character actually suited Kim So-hyun and her expressions, especially the huge problem with her father, were good. I enjoyed her acting in this drama and don't think they could've found a better actress for this role.
Chae Sang-woo as Eun Du-gyeol. As the oldest son he feels like he needs to act as the head of the household when his father is gone. However, his biggest issue is that he feels like he can't do anything and that gives him quite a hard time. I would say he is going through puberty as well and has to find himself and his dreams. Chae Sang-woo did well in this role, playing sometimes the tough guy and sometimes the emotional boy Du-gyeol is according to his age. So he was good in this role.
Nam Da-reum as Eun Se-gyeol. The younger brother is the opposite of Du-gyeol. Se-gyeol can't fight but is extremely good at studying and wants to make his deceased mom proud while being probably the most rational sibling in this drama. I really imagined Nam Da-reum to be Se-gyeol. Maybe it just suits his character, maybe he's just a good young actor but Se-gyeol was great.
Kang Ji-woo as Eun Hye-gyeol. The youngest sibling, Hye-gyeol, suffers the most after losing their mother. Her character is heartbroken and accepts Park Bok-nyeo as a "second" mother soon. While sometimes children can be quite annoying it was heartwrenching to watch her in this drama. Kang Ji-woo is incredibly cute but she did so well in this drama and was either getting along quite well with Choi Ji-woo or they both are just great actresses. I sometimes wonder how child actors even manage to deliver really good performances but she did.
Other actors in this drama include Wang Ji-hye, Song Jong-ho, Jung Moon-sung, Park Geun-hyung, Shim Yi-young, Kim Hae-sook and Jang Seo-won.

Soundtrack: Actually the soundtrack of this drama doesn't include many songs. About the instrumentals I really loved the one playing everytime Park Bok-nyeo was about to appear - I guess it's one of the Park Bok-nyeo themes.
As for the songs sung for this drama by idol singers my favorite is "Twilight" by Yoo Sung-eun. Except for that, Lim Kim sang a song titled "부탁할게요 (I'm Asking You)" which I personally liked, too. The song I can't stand, however, is sadly the one on the drama performed by Kim So-hyun and the band. I don't know why but I'm not a huge fan of her singing or the song.


5.5/10
I see why the rating might seem bad but it's mostly because of the long times without anything happening that was worth noting. I found myself on my phone way too often while just listening to what was said but this drama failed to keep me focussed. Now you can say that it is just not the perfect drama for me - while I love the mystery and suspense I found myself bored by the daily life of the family and the hint of romance that were supposed to be there but probably wasn't. And for the story itself 20 episodes were too much, 14 to 16 would've been completely fine. The length however might be the main problem about the episodes that were just used to fill in without anything, really. Plus, I personally found the first two episodes incredibly boring so I wasn't sure if I should continue watching at all. I'm still glad I did though as this drama has more to it than one expects.
Recommended to fans of family and melodramas. According to what I heard and read the Japanese version is much better so if you know and liked that maybe you should skip the Korean version as most people were disappointed.

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~.

Dr. Frost

!Warning! This post may contain some ranting, fangirling, spoilers and everything that just comes out from me being in a love-hate relationship with OCN!

닥터 프로스트 (Dr. Frost) is a South Korean television series that aired from November 23rd 2014 to February 1st 2015 on OCN. The series consists of 10 episodes with a duration of about 60 minutes.

Story: Baek Nam-bong became a professor of psychology at an early age. After some traumatic events in the past he lost his emotions and studied psychology in order to get to know himself and other humans better. After being asked to work there he becomes a counselor at Yongang University and works as a bartender at night. Working with Teaching Assistant Yoon Seong-ah, he helps the police to solve cases. While he has problems sympathizing with other, Seong-ah is an emotional person and therefore helps him to connect with others.
While a mysterious case of manipulated memories appears, Dr. Frost and the people around him also find themselves in danger.

Cast: Song Chang-eui took over the role of Dr. Frost. And let me tell you that I had a really interesting time analyzing this character. I'm not a psychologist and far from knowing a lot about the human brain but just by observing we can usually figure out some things. Now, in this drama, the mask was basically perfect. But it's good to see a completely different side of the character in the end.
Jung Eun-chae becomes similar to an interpreter to Dr. Frost as Yoon Seong-ah. Does anyone on here know the US series Scorpion? There's a reason why I mention this on here. The team in that series consists of four geniuses but because of a high IQ, their EQ (emotional quotient) is rather low so they need someone to help them understand the world. While Seong-ah couldn't think this logically without Dr. Frost, he actually needs her to understand emotions. Their relationship doesn't seem like sympathy but because of different characteristics, they're an incredibly good team.
Sung Ji-ru as Detective Nam Tae-bong is their connection to the police. At some point we get to know that he has been working with Dr. Frost before but we don't know when they met and why or how exactly their work started.
Others in the main cast include Lee Yoon-ji as Song Seon, Choi Jung-woo as Professor Cheon Sang-won, Song Jong-ho as Moon Sung-hyun and Lee Shi-kang as Detective Cha.

Soundtrack: How I'd wish I could listen to the OST on CD or anything else.. there are very few songs but just by listening to the instrumentals while watching the drama, I loved how the music supported the atmosphere, be it mysterious or calm. The last two songs that are actually song by female vocalists in the end wouldn't have been necessary at all but since that's pretty much popular in Asia, I'm alright with that - and I can proudly say that there was no song that pissed me off.


My rating is a definite 10/10 and there's no need to discuss that.
But then again I am in love with crime series. If you want to watch this drama, give it a shot but there is no 'real' love story - people just love to interpret some things.
If you enjoy the American series Lie to me (not to be confused with the Korean series that has a completely different story!) and Sherlock Holmes this drama is like perfect for you.

The only thing I need to mention is the end again.. OCN, you seriously want to drive me crazy? It's not like I've been waiting for TEN's 3rd season now for a loooong time already - now you want to drive me nuts while waiting for a 2nd season of Dr. Frost as well?! If they continue like this, my hair will become as white as his just because of frustration..
Oh, mentioning white hair - there are two possibilities. Either I didn't realize the reason why his hair was white even at an early age or they didn't mention that at all. As a naturally curious person I need to figure that out..

Long story short: Great series, many mysteries left, now the long wait for a second season starts - if there'll ever be one. If they don't give me a second season, I might start seriously hating OCN but their OCN Original series are just way too good to be true. I'll just drown in feels and look for the next series to watch so I want fall into the post-drama depression.

Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome

Welcome to a journey through the tropes of the K-Dramaland!

After watching some TV series, especially Korean ones, I came to realize that they love their tropes. Oh, yes, the writers do love their tropes.

The first thing I want to talk about is the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome. It sounds longer than it actually is but if you've watched five Korean drama series you probably realized what happens to the poor second male lead.
When the male lead lets the girl down, the second male lead comes over and comforts her. He treats her like a princess, is ready to help her anytime with almost everything - and still is the forever alone friendzoned character in the end while the one who treats her like sh*t usually gets the girl.

I remember once reading a discussion on forums why good guys always end up like this. But I don't think they always do. Honestly speaking I get the excitement girls feel while chasing the one we like. And I do understand that this leaves a lot of options to use it in dramas in various ways.
BUT we all know the effect by now. Once I start a drama and there are two male leads, I can already make a guess how it's going to end. I would be more surprised when a girl would suddenly turn to the second lead and act like "Well, YOU, Sir, treated me like I'm worthless, your loss" towards the male lead. But as long as the Korean audience doesn't think that it's boring and that the writers probably should change something about it - they won't do anything. Who cares about the international audience? After all it's not us who watch dramas for free online who's paying them.

So, who were victims to the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome so far in the dramas I've watched?


The very first friendzoned Second-Male-Lead I've seen is Lee Hyun-woo in To The Beautiful You.
Sure there's another problem - the female lead character dresses up as a boy so he thinks he's gay after falling for him eh, her - but even after he figures out the truth and forgives her, he's not the lucky one.

The second victim I stumbled upon is Song Jong-ho in Reply 1997. In this drama the one who gets the girl in the end is even a member of his family. In this drama it wasn't as bad though - there were times when I was seriously wondering whom the female lead will choose.

A really popular victim was Kim Hyun-joong in Boys Over Flowers. While the female lead fell for him first, he lost his chance and became friendzoned. Sad, sad, he actually had a chance but didn't want it then.. His own fault.

In You're Beautiful we see Jung Yong-hwa struggle with the same effect. Sure it's a genderbend drama as well but he figures out that the female lead actually is female quite fast. I'm not sure whether he's the first one to know but he somehow knows. However, being a close friend trying to protect her and her secret, he ends up in the friendzone as well. Sad for the character that actually made the drama bearable.

In the first season of IRIS we see a really serious case of this Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome since the poor friendzoned guy ends up suddenly fighting against both, his former best friend and the girl both of them love. Jung Joon-ho even tries to kill the male lead from time to time. Now this is a friendzoned character that shouldn't be pitied. But then again he's just like that because of being hurt and jealous.

In Monstar Kang Ha-neul gets dumped in favor of Yong Jun-hyung. Now he was really someone who didn't deserve this at all, I felt unbelievable sorry for him. He's not even one of my favorite actors but he definitely didn't deserve it. He even broke some 'rules' but still - it didn't help him out.

After winning the girls heart in Reply 1997 Seo In-guk ends up friendzoned by Gong Hyo-jin in The Master's Sun. He's not as poor as one might think since he's not alone in the end.

Of course there are many more friendzoned male second leads! But I don't want to write something about all of them. Just mentioning the dramas, we have Lee Ki-woo in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Kim Ji-hoon in Flower Boy Next Door, Park Hae-jin in You Who Came From The Stars, Park Yong-ha in Winter Sonata and Park Hee-soon in All About My Romance. Looking at the number of victims of this syndrome I just listed - well, you can guess that this syndrome is one of the most common in K-Dramaland.

But let's be honest, ladies - if the female lead doesn't want them, there's more left for us!

Reply 1997 / Answer Me 1997

응답하라 1997 (Reply 1997; Answer Me 1997) was aired from July 24th to September 18th 2012. Set in 1997, at least partly, it made me feel quite old somehow. Because I remember a lot of things that were around at that time. (1990's babies will understand what I mean.)

Story: The series follows a female high-school student, Sung Shi-won, who is a huge fan of H.O.T. She's last in her class and instead of focussing on her studies she supports the group unconditionally. She's a straight-forward and sassy character. Yoon Yoon-jae is her best friend and a boy next door. As if it was fate he falls for Shi-won. So does his brother, Yoon Tae-woong. And there's the typical triangle we face in a lot of dramas.

Cast: The cast includes quite a few idols once again. First we have Jung Eun-ji as Sung Shi-won and Seo In-guk as Yoon Yoon-jae. The two of them make a quite adorable couple though they actually aren't a couple. Also Hoya of Infinite acts in this drama, as Kang Joon-hee and he was especially praised for taking the role of a gay character (which actually in our society shouldn't be a huge deal anymore but we don't need to discuss this here).
Also part of the cast are Shin So-yul as Mo Yoo-Jung, Eun Ji-won as Do Hak-chan and Song Jong-ho as Yoon Tae-woong.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack includes a lot - and I mean a lot - old school sounding songs. The most popular song was performed by Seo In-guk and Jung Eun-ji. "All For You" is a cover of a song by Cool released in the 1990s though. Songs by Fin.K.L and Sechs Kies were also included in the soundtrack. Personally, I'm not that much into old school (K-)Pop but I really liked the remakes of 1990s songs, maybe because of an improve in production quality.


Rating this one is kind of difficult. I'd say 7/10 just because after all I'm not that interested in the topic. But it was a really good way to spend my time watching this one. After all it was too good so that I'm kind of scared of watching Reply 1994, thinking they might have ruined the nice story.

And now, some wise words by Kang Joon-hee and an adorable scene: