Finished Dramas: Haeundae Lovers, Arang, To the Beautiful You
I'm just going to be up front and say that these dramas where mix bags of good and bad. If I sound wholly negative it's because what started out as a really great dramas turned sour once they hit the mid drama slump. I'll try not to spoil anything but I'm not making any promises.
Arang:
Arang probably faired the best. It's the perfect drama. It has the three necessities: Production, Actors, and Story. I would have loved Arang if I had loved our central couple. Unfortunately while the romance spent a lot of the time being sad and bittersweet after the lovable 'I hate you' phase, they never did anything that made me endeared to them and honestly they were better when Arang was a ghost and Eun Oh was the only one who could see her. That said I did love the happy ending (it's probably my favorite happy ending of the year right now). It didn't feel forced and it spoke to just how tightly written this story was while bringing back what I loved from the beginning of this series. Also shout out to my favorite female newbie Im Joo Eun who played Moo Yeon's true form. I had actually been missing her since Wild Romance, though too bad she didn't get to shine here.
Haeundae Lovers:
Have you ever watched a drama and felt like you were being made fun of for liking a particular drama genre. That's kind of how I felt when I finished this drama. I was expecting good writing since they brought in the writer of last year's City Hunter. The writing was tight and on point, but at some point it definitely felt like they were phoning it in. Every drama cliche you can think of was here: amnesia, faux incest, accidental polygamy, opposites attract, mommy/daddy issues, etc.; but weirdly enough Haeundae Lovers felt like a parody of romantic comedy dramas and by the end I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be in on the joke or not. I do have to say one thing though. That putting such a down to earth female lead at the center of this felt genius especially during those cliched drama moments. Too bad the male lead wasn't a catch at all.
To The Beautiful You:
If you've seen HanaKimi (and like it) watching this will explain why people don't like it (especially if they say it's creepy). After the first 10 minutes when you realize that SM decided they were going to make this an actual drama (with actual daddy issues and stuff), it was all down hill from there. There was barely any crack and definitely too little gay. I'll admit I skipped episodes 12-14, but I felt like I was taking one for the team, so you're welcome (no seriously I think at one point I started crying in the middle of tv room floor). Honestly SM could have taken a few pointers from JYP and Dream High and stuffed this drama with so many idol cameos that you couldn't help but keep watching, cause the occasional blast of SNSD during the cafeteria scenes wasn't cutting it. All that negativity said, Eun Gyul was amazing even in 'real' drama form, so I think that says something about the character overall. He didn't dance on a table with underwear on his head, but I still felt the most for him by the end.
Arang:
Arang probably faired the best. It's the perfect drama. It has the three necessities: Production, Actors, and Story. I would have loved Arang if I had loved our central couple. Unfortunately while the romance spent a lot of the time being sad and bittersweet after the lovable 'I hate you' phase, they never did anything that made me endeared to them and honestly they were better when Arang was a ghost and Eun Oh was the only one who could see her. That said I did love the happy ending (it's probably my favorite happy ending of the year right now). It didn't feel forced and it spoke to just how tightly written this story was while bringing back what I loved from the beginning of this series. Also shout out to my favorite female newbie Im Joo Eun who played Moo Yeon's true form. I had actually been missing her since Wild Romance, though too bad she didn't get to shine here.
Haeundae Lovers:
Have you ever watched a drama and felt like you were being made fun of for liking a particular drama genre. That's kind of how I felt when I finished this drama. I was expecting good writing since they brought in the writer of last year's City Hunter. The writing was tight and on point, but at some point it definitely felt like they were phoning it in. Every drama cliche you can think of was here: amnesia, faux incest, accidental polygamy, opposites attract, mommy/daddy issues, etc.; but weirdly enough Haeundae Lovers felt like a parody of romantic comedy dramas and by the end I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be in on the joke or not. I do have to say one thing though. That putting such a down to earth female lead at the center of this felt genius especially during those cliched drama moments. Too bad the male lead wasn't a catch at all.
To The Beautiful You:
If you've seen HanaKimi (and like it) watching this will explain why people don't like it (especially if they say it's creepy). After the first 10 minutes when you realize that SM decided they were going to make this an actual drama (with actual daddy issues and stuff), it was all down hill from there. There was barely any crack and definitely too little gay. I'll admit I skipped episodes 12-14, but I felt like I was taking one for the team, so you're welcome (no seriously I think at one point I started crying in the middle of tv room floor). Honestly SM could have taken a few pointers from JYP and Dream High and stuffed this drama with so many idol cameos that you couldn't help but keep watching, cause the occasional blast of SNSD during the cafeteria scenes wasn't cutting it. All that negativity said, Eun Gyul was amazing even in 'real' drama form, so I think that says something about the character overall. He didn't dance on a table with underwear on his head, but I still felt the most for him by the end.