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!

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

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

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

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

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


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

The Virus

더 바이러스 (The Virus) is a Korean drama that aired on OCN from March 1st to May 3rd 2013. Like most OCN dramas it's rather short and consists of 10 episodes.

Story: The Special Infectious Disease Crisis Response Team (who can remember this name for God's sake?!) led by Detective Lee Myung-hyun has to investigate the case of a mutant virus that has a 100% fatality rate and there are no survivors. Finding out that actuality humans created the mutant virus. Investigating who's behind the production of the virus and fighting the evil becomes the main objective.

Cast: The cast includes some rather well-known actors, and - oh, their acting was perfect in this drama! It seemed as if the whole scenario was real, a dangerous and frightening reality indeed but nonetheless a real scenario. Uhm Ki-joon accepted the role of Detective Lee Myung-hyun, Lee So-jung as Jeon Ji-won. Lee Ki-woo makes a really good doctor as Kim Se-jin, Ahn Seok-hwan can be seen as Kim Do-jin. Park Min-woo acted as Bong Sun-dong. Lastly we have two rather familiar faces, one of them being actor Jo Hee-bong as Ko Soo-gil and Wonder Girls' member Yu Bin as Lee Joo-young.

My personal rating is 8/10 but the drama is awesome nonetheless! Don't get me wrong, my rating is based on a few factors. One of them being that I'm usually not that much into those apocalypse scenarios. Another thing I criticized was the lack of story involving the pharma industry. But the weirdest part is that I actually think the powerful people on this planet would make this possible - and it's scary that I wouldn't be surprised if that would happen someday..