Surplus Princess

잉여공주 (Surplus Princess) is a South Korean drama series consisting of 10 episodes that aired on tvN from August 7th to October 9th 2014.

Story: Aileen is the 18th mermaid princess and has a crush on Kwon Shi-kyung. She wants to become a human and steals a potion from An Ma-nyeo. The big problem after drinking the portion is - that she has to find true love within 100 days or she will die or, more correctly, disappear without a trace.
She moves into the "Surplus house" and her new housemates are all unemployed job seekers who experience various difficulties together. Trying to hide her real identity Aileen, going by the name Kim Ha-ni,  tries to gets closer to Shi-kyung not only because of her feelings but also to save her life.

Cast: Another drama on this blog with Jo Bo-ah, in this case as Kim Ha-ni or Aileen. I really like her as an actress but I have a feeling the very bright and cheerful (and somehow stupid) character didn't really suit her well. Also the helplessness in some scenes just didn't feel right.
Ohn Joo-wan as Lee Hyun-myung definitely did an awesome job acting in this drama as the hero always around to save the damsel in mistress. Definitely a very likeable and sweet character but somehow his relationship with Jin-ah in the beginning just made him seem too weak.
Chef Kwon Shi-kyung was played by Song Jae-rim and I think he did a very good job regarding the disease (you will find out more about this when watching the drama but it is not thaaaat bad). For a male lead in a rom-com drama he was actually very nice and charming.
Park Ji-soo as Yoon Jin-ah probably became my most hated character in the drama. The acting was really good and I really enjoyed hating her character a lot. I'm just going to mention the second-female-lead-syndrome and I guess many of you actually understand what I mean.
Kim Seul-gi as Ahn Hye-young was just brilliant in my opinion. I really love her as an actress by now, her singing in this drama was also nice and she was weird at first but turned out so supportive. The character was well played and I don't know what else I should say.

Nam Joo-hyuk as Big was the youngest person in the sharehouse. His character was acted well, too, but I feel like sometimes it lacked some depth in writing or acting, I don't know what is the reason but it was just my impression.
Ahn Kil-kang as An Ma-nyeo had the weird darkness that totally didn't fit the drama this much and that is 100% about the writing. The acting was nice and fit the actor but I personally liked the less mysterious parts of him a little better and thought that it works better with this drama.
Other actors in this drama include Jin Hee-kyung, Kim Min-kyo, Kim Jae-hwa and Lee Sun-kyu.

Soundtrack: I don't know how they did it but a lot of songs that were not the OST for this drama were played. However, sometimes it was just not the right timing and sometimes the songs were a little out of place for me but in total I would say they supported the light and humorous atmosphere.


My rating of this drama is a simple 5.5/10.
The reason is simple: I was so close to dropping this drama during the first episodes. Somewhere in episode 4 or 5 it became bearable and I didn't want to kill the main character anymore (yaaay). Still the humor in this drama was so flat in the first episodes that I could just sit here, shake my head and hope the writer stopped taking whatever he or she took while writing the first episodes. If a drama has 10 episodes and I would rate the first 4 episodes as a 0 or maybe 1 of 10 something is seriously off.
However, as I said it became bearable and even enjoyable even though some of the jokes were still stupid but maybe I just got used to it.
The idea itself wasn't bad, it kinda reminds me of the little mermaid, but also has it's differences.
Oh, and what is still in my mind is the ending. I'm not sure if I like it or not but.. it is refreshing but something I would wish for in any drama with those annoying and rude male leads..
I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone, honestly, unless this is totally your kind of humor but.. you know the risk and don't say I didn't warn you.

Postman to Heaven

천국의 우편배달부 (Postman to Heaven) is a South Korean movie directed by Lee Hyeong-min and released in 2009 with a running time of 108 minutes. The movie actually was a Japanese-Korean collaboration written by Eriko Kitagawa.

Story: Jae-joon is a mailman delivering letters to heaven which makes him the heaven's postman. One day when emptying the mailbox he meets Ha-na, a woman who keeps on writing to her deceased ex-boyfriend. During the next two weeks they become closer and try to ease the pain of those who are in pain after someone's death - but Jae-joon has a secret that is the reason why they can't be found out.

Cast: Kim Jae-joong as Jae-joon is a really interesting character and actor. It is soon obvious that he has a secret but the acting keeps his character mysterious and somehow interesting. Also the character develops and changes slowly which was portrayed well.
Han Hyo-joo as Ha-na was a little bit too childish as a character sometimes but her turning into a happy and bright person was really good to watch and the light-hearted kind of thing that is popular among audiences in both Japan and Korea. The acting was good but not perfect so her overall performance was a nice thing but still not perfect.
However, they had a good chemistry on-screen which was easy and nice to watch.


The way this story was told somehow fascinates me, the idea of a heaven's postman who helps to ease people's pain is something I would wish for in a real life. The way Jae-joon's personal background was revealed and what or who exactly he is in fact is very interesting. While this movie maybe included not enough action to be one of my overall favorite movies, it is definitely worth watching.
So my personal rating is a 7.5/10.

Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard

전우치 (Jeon Woo Chi) is a South Korean movie directed by Choi Dong-hoon released in 2009.

Story: The movie begins in the Chosun dynasty where a young wizard named Jeon Woo Chi, his friend and helper, three Taoist wizards, a king and evil goblins all are after a prophetic pipe. While trying to get the pipe Jeon Woo Chi becomes framed for a crime he didn't commit and ends up sealed into an ancient scroll.
In 2009 evil goblins start appearing all over Korea again and the retired Taoist wizards are called to help. They release Jeon Woo Chi and his friend and servant from the scroll to help them and save the world. In modern Korea, however, women and sightseeing become far more interesting to Jeon Woo Chi.

Cast: So the main character Jeon Woo Chi was played by Kang Dong-won. I haven't seen him in many works I think but in this one his acting was good - just the character was a little bit ridiculous and weird which is probably not really surprising.
Yoo Hae-jin as Chorangyi, the servant, friend and actual dog of Woo Chi, was hilarious in his own way. The acting was so funny that I really came to like him as a character and the actor itself.
Lim Soo-jung as Seo In-kyung turned out to be one of the less memorable characters. I would love to tell all of you more about the character and the acting but I cannot say much about it. It wasn't bad but not good so more like an average not really outstanding person.
Kim Yun-seok as Hwadam was just the perfect villain to me though. I think I was a little bit scared but it wasn't too bad so I'm still alive.
Other actors in this movie include Baek Yoon-sik, Joo Jin-mo, Kim Sang-ho and Song Young-chang.


After all I can say that a 7.5/10 is not really a bad rating for this movie. Logic aside, it was fun and included impressive martial arts-scenes. On the other hand it really lacked that one thing - logic. Yes, even fantasy usually includes some.
However, for a movie night with about 200 exchange students it is a fun and light watch and nothing too serious.
I recommend it if you're interested in fantasy and martial arts as a short pleasure but nothing more, I don't think it would be more to most people.

Death Note: The Last Name

Death Note: The Last Name is a Japanese movie released in 2006 based on a manga series:


Story: As in the first movie, Death Note, L and the team of detectives trying to find kira. Light joins the special unit after the death of his former 'girlfriend' Shiori. Now being placed next to L, he wants to get rid of the ones in his way. As L is still suspicious he decides to observe Light closely.
Suddenly another kira appears and needs to be found. Both owners of the Death Note's together would be even more dangerous since one of them is a good strategic player while the other seems to see the name of the victim..

Cast: Okay, so I have no idea what I should really put on here. The main cast is of course the same as in the first movie. Kenichi Matsuyama as L and Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami. While in this movie Light seems to be more insane than in the first one which makes the acting more intense it's as good as in the first movie as well.
And let's not forget about Erika Toda as Misa Amane. While I love her style I think she's a little bit too psycho in a different way due to a trauma. All she wants is to be loved after all.
And there's Nana Katase as Kiyomi Takada who would do basically anything for her career.


I personally really liked how things involved. Many things were easy to understand because of the connections between the characters. Nothing seemed to be just fate but a plan carefully made.
The story is a little bit too crazy later though. This might be a spoiler but Light seems to have gone completely mad.
So my personal rating is a 7/10 which is not as good as the first movie but still not that bad.

Death Note

So I bet nearly everyone knows this movie.. it was the first Japanese movie I've ever watched and really popular but I wanted to review it anyways~

デスノート (Death Note) is a Japanese movie based on a manga series. It was followed by two more movies, Death Note: The Last Name and L: Change The World. The first movie was released in 2006.

Story: A Shinigami, a God of Death, drops a Death Note in the human world where Light Yagami finds it. "The human whose name is written in this book shall die" it says. Light decides to try if it really works by using the names of released criminals - and finds out that it's true. He decides to create a new ideal world.
Meanwhile the police figures out a pattern since all the criminals die of a heart attack and there are no leads around. Detective "L" was placed in a police force to help solving the mysterious case, and he somehow gets closer to Light..

Cast: There's a bunch of people included in the cast. At first we have Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami (yes, I know that usually in Japan the last name comes first but I'll just leave it like this because I think it's easier for most people). And his opponent L is played by Kenichi Matsuyama. I have to admit that I still can't choose who I think is cooler. I have to admit that actually Light has some things that speak for him.
Then there's Asaka Seto as Naomi Misora. She also becomes an opponent of Light and she also figures out that he's kira. That becomes obvious when she brings Yu Kashii as Shiori Kashino, a girl who's pretty close to Light into the game.
Not that important in the first movie but still one of the most important characters in the whole series is Erika Toda as Misa Amane.
Of course there are many many more characters but it would take ages to list all of them on here and I think this should be enough for now.

So this movie got a 9/10 rating from me, it's probably one of my most watched movies and I seriously like it a lot. It's a great movie for fans of crime and fantasy stories as well as manga and anime fans and the duel between Light and L is awesome to watch.
Oh, and I love the Shinigami, Ryuuk. Shinigami and apples - if you know the movie/anime/manga, you'll get this. Ryuuk is such a great and funny part of this movie. And I don't think he's scary at all though he looks a little.. strange.

Rooftop Prince

옥탑방 왕세자 (Rooftop Prince) is a Korean drama series that aired from March 21st to May 24th 2012 on SBS and consists of 20 episodes.

Story: After the Crown Prince Lee Gak's wife dies in 18th Century Joseon he tries to find out who killed his wife and finds himself transported 300 years into the future, in 21st Century Seoul together with the three members of his investigation team.
Landing in the rooftop apartment of Park Ha the chaos starts. Somehow she believes the quartets story and becomes their guardian as well as their teacher on living in the 21st Century with all those modern technologies. Lee Gak meets Park Ha's stepsister and believes that she is the reincarnation of his wife. He takes on the identity of his reincarnation Yong Tae-yong and tries to figure out what happened to the real Yong Tae-yong (whom he thinks got murdered because the reincarnation can't exist in the same time as he does) while solving the murder that happened 300 years ago.

Cast: The four time travelers are Crown Prince Lee Gak played by Park Yoo-chun, Lee Min-ho (born in 1993, not to be confused with the other, more popular actor Lee Min-ho) accepted the role of the incredibly smart Song Man-bo, the sword fighter Woo Yong-sool was played by Jung Suk-won and we see Choi Woo-sik as Do Chi-san who becomes a really good friend to Park Ha. Surely those four overact a little in the beginning but regarding the fact that they've never heard about a shower since that didn't exist in the Joseon Dynasty I think those reactions are quite understandable so I think they were the right ones to do the job. And I have to mention that this extremely.. gay character (excuse me, I lack words to describe this.. maybe swishy would be an option?) Choi Woo-sik accepted was hilarious. I'm not even surprised some people think the actor is gay as well (and it wouldn't be bad if he was).
Park Ha as well as her past character Boo-yong were played by Han Ji-min and I really felt like she accepted the story she was told too fast. Imagine four strangers in historical clothing appear in your apartment and tell you they come from the same place but time travelled. But that's the writer's fault, not her's, and I really like her family-oriented behavior. It seems completely true, and no matter how much her stepsister Se-na tries to get rid of her and how bad the things are Se-na says - Park Ha forgives her all the time and tries to become closer to her sister. Talking about Hong Se-na already - we have Jung Yoo-mi in that role that once again falls under the category bitchy-second-female-lead. As well as her past-self Hwa-yong who was Boo-yong's real sister.
And because every Korean drama needs a bad guy we have Lee Tae-sung as Yong Tae-moo and Lee Gak's cousin Prince Moo-chang. He's probably the character many people dislike for his motives and his personality. I agree with them. But Lee Tae-sung did an incredibly good job, I think I'll have trouble thinking about him as a good guy (if I manage to watch a drama with him in a 'good guy'-role).

Soundtrack: Talking about the OST the first thing I need to talk about is Vol. 1. I really like the fact that there are various instrumental parts that work for both, the historical part as well as the modern era-parts. And since I'm a huge fan of instrumentals used in OST's I'm definitely happy about that. But then I was a little annoyed by the songs Baek Ji-young and ALi sang for the drama. I like both of them as singers but I couldn't really connect it with the drama.
Another OST was released in late April and I have to admit that I don't remember anything - I've read that rookie group Twilight recorded a song for the second OST but don't remember the song at all (and I don't think the group still exists though, they disappeared in 2012 already). Besides for hearing their group name, I don't think there are any other artists included in the second OST that most people are familiar with. Because it is Korea and most singers are trained for years I think they can sing, yes, but that's all I can say.

My personal rating is 9/10. I'm not a huge fan of sad endings nor of supernatural things like time travelling but this one made me laugh so hard that I had to watch some scenes around four times so I could stop laughing and actually noticed what happened. It's hilarious, especially the expressions shown by the time travelling characters.