DRAMAS!!!

[shortysc22]

I've spent the last few weeks a little bored and have been watching a ridiculous number of Korean dramas lately. This stems from getting addicted to Dream High back in January, and I realized that I go through this in spurts, but I can never remember what I've seen, what I've REALLY enjoyed, and what I probably should just delete off of my hard drive. Granted, some I don't have my hard drive because I originally watched them at dramafever.com. I believe you can find all of the Korean dramas there, and it's free streaming. I stopped watching them there due to my computer not being able to stream hour long shows very well. The list is in no particular order, only separated by Korean or Japanese, as I DEVOURED Japanese dramas in college. A big difference is that most Japanese dramas run about 45 minutes an episode with each series being about 11 episodes. Korean dramas are an hour and 5 minutes with 16 episodes.

KOREAN DRAMAS

• Goong This drama is pretty near and dear to my heart because I absolutely love the manhwa that it is based off. The premise is simple, whatt is Korea still had a monarchy? And then the Crown Prince has been betrothed to a commoner? The hijinks that ensue as two high schoolers are forced to survive together. The cast is loveable and it wouldn't be a Korean drama without at least one love triangle. The soundtrack for this is also amazing and I always loved the teddy bear shots at the end of each episode
• Coffee Prince Again, I absoluttely love this one. Starring Yoon Eun Hye of Goong and Gong Yoo, the two leads have great chemistry together. This one starts out where Gong Yoo mistakes Yoon Eun Hye for a guy and slowly falls for her, while thinking she is a guy. The setting is a coffee house where the servers are all pretty boys to entice women. The side storyline is also really capitivating and I'm pretty sure there were nights I stayed awake forever just to find out what would happen next.
• My Name is Kam Sam Soon Oh Hyun Bin, I love you here. This story has the "fat" (by Korean standards) girl who has no husband and loves to bake. Meanwhile she ends up working for Hyun Bin and he says that she is his girlfriend. Sam-soon is an older Korean name and drives much of the plot, as she tries to change her name throughout the series. This one was addicting and I loved Daniel Henney for his bit of eye candy!
• Dream High This stars Taecyeon and Wooyoung of 2PM, Suzy of Miss A, IU, Eunjung of T-ara, and JYP. Plus several others. The show is basically a mixture of Glee and Fame and if you enjoy any bit of kpop, you'll love this show. The little jokes thrown in are great, but again Suzy's acting is a little stilted in the beginning and the writing seems to adjust around that. I waited every week for the latest episodes.
• Shining Inheritance aka Brilliant Legacy. This is a rags-to-riches story with a bit of hard work and determinattion thrown in. I found the characters annoying at tpointts (Jung and Hwan are obnoxious) The evil stepmother is cruel beyond belief and I felt awful for poor Bae Soo Bin's character. I grew kind of attached to him and was slightly disappointed at the end of thte show's run. At 28 episodes, it was a bit longer than I'm used to for Korean dramas, but it didn't feel too slow.
• Oh! My Lady I picked this drama up solely for Choi Siwon of Super Junior. He is one fine piece of eye candy and can actually act, sing and dance! The story here is interesting, with him playing an actor that is overrated but fans love him and the woman who somehow winds her way into his house after he finds himself suddenly in charge of his 4 year old daughter that he didn't know existed. I freaked when my computer crashed while I was watching this series because I hated waiting every week to find out what would happen.
• Prosecutor Princess Because I liked the writer's other series (49 Days and Shining Inheritance) I was recommended this series. I recommend it for Park Shi Hoo, who is DAMN fine in this show. He is a lawyer who helps out our princess who starts out very unlikeable because she's super smart and super rich, but is slowly brought down a few notches. I was rooting for the main couple the entire time and Park Shi Hoo is just such a caring individual and I CANNOT wait until he gets another drama. To hold me over....I watched Queen of Reversals-(SIDENOTE: This drama made me cry at the end)
• Queen of Reversals At 31 episodes, this is the longest Korean drama I've watched but it was well worth it. Again, I watched this for Park Shi Hoo, but I fell in love with the cast and the villians in the story were well played. I love the transformation in Park Shi Hoo's character from snobbyrich boy to a really caring leader in the office. Now, I found the women to be a little annoying but Hwang Tae Hee's I Will survive scream fest from her car about being a strong woman? GREAT SCENE!! If you watch nothing else from this series, find Park Shi Hoo's dance number at karaoke in episode 16, best part, hands down. I CRIED at the end of episode 30, I just couldn't hold it in at all. TEAR JERKER ALERT
• My Princess Anothter suddenly Korea's monarchy will return! I LOVED the leads in the series (Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Hun! Can't go wrong!) but the writting fizzled FAST after starting out really positive, I could only make it to episode 10 out of 16. I'll probably revisit this series when I get lull in what I'm watching, but for now it was enjoyable, but lost its pace too fast
• Mr Fair Lady/Take Care of the Young Lady This stars Yoon Eun Hye and Jung Il Woo, who are two of my favorites. Kang Hae Na is a spoiled rich girl who listens to no one and throws hissy fits to get her, because she can. The only one who stands up to her is Seo Dong Chan who her grandfather hires to be her butler. It started out pretty promising but fizzled. I did watch to the end but only because I was more interested in Eui Joo and Tae Yoon, as opposed to the main characters Hae Na and Dong Chan.
• Pasta I started watching this show because Cho Kyuhyun of Super Junior sang the insert song and then found out one of the leads from Coffee Prince was the lead here! I also LOVE Alex (he's from Clazziquai) and enjoyed the chemistry between the characters but I got bored of the fact that nothing happened. Managed to make it through 8 episodes before giving it up.
• Soulmate Got through two episodes, could never figure out the characters or their relationships to each other, may pick it up again someday.
• Mary Stayed Out All Night BORING! Plot was overused and I couldn't get passed the first episode, despite some people hyping this show up, it was not worth it. Will probably be deleted off my hard drive, that bad
• Paradise Ranch I watched this drama because of Changmin from DBSK. In fact, I kept watching this drama because I loved watching him. The story is that two young kids get married, divorce, and see each other 6 years later at a very different stage in both of their lives. Seriously, if it wasn't for Changmin I wouldn't have made it through this drama. It was better than My Fair Lady, but not by much.

JAPANESE DRAMAS

• Densha Otoko Train Man. This series is based off a 2chan forums that then became a book, manga, TV series and movie. It's about a nerd saving a rich girl and them forming a sweet romance, with the nerd seeking advice from 2chan. The cast of characters are HYSTERICAL and I absolutely loved watching this show
• Gokusen I've seen only the first two seasons and I LOVE THIS. The first one has a better cast of characters (the second one seems to just play off the first one). It is about the heir to a yakuza family going to teach and teaching the most troubled class in the entire school. It's heartwarming to see how much she cares for everyone and well, Oguri Shun and MatsuJun? HELL YES
• Hana Yori Dango I've seen both and I loved this way more than the manga. A rich guy picking on poor girl and falling in love story. I always felt bad for Rui in this series, but I like how the series squashes the manga down. And again, Oguri Shun and MatsuJun.
• Hana Kimi (Hanazakari Kimitachi E: Ikemen Paradise) Horikita Maki and Oguri Shun? But Ikuta Toma steals the show away as Nobu. He is PERFECT!! The whole show is about a girl getting into a boy's school to see the track star that she idolizes. I loved the manga and if you can separate the manga from the drama, you'll love it.
• Nobuta wo ProduceI love the three leads here. The characters are bizarre but it works for the 11 episodes. A nice slice of life show that I can always go back and rewatch
• Tatta Hitotsu no KoiThis show BROKE MY HEART. I cried buckets watching it. The poor boy and rich girl fall in love in the port city of Yokohama. A stunning drama, but the second to last episode killed me in terms of tears. Granted, the ending made up for it, but I still discount it because of that tearjerker (I'm still shaking my fist at the screen).
• Hanayome to Papa And overportective father tries to keep his little girl underwraps as she falls for a riiculous guy who must try to convince her father that he is an okay guy. Hijinks ensue. Adorable, but I don't know how rewatchable it is.
• Yukan Club Hands down one of my favorites. Rich kids are bored so they decide to help out the police and solve mysteries. Yokoyama Yuu made this drama for me and I can now order shochikubai successfully (I have a funny way of saying it after watching this drama)
• Sunao ni Narenakute I picked this up because of Jaejoong from Dong Bang Shin Ki. I'm glad i stuck with it and only wish I had gotten into some other more recent dramas. I enjoyed the premise, which was about five people who met through twitter and so the integral use of twitter in the drama is interesting.
• Liar Game This is not your stereotypical drama. It's based off the manga by a same name and I love the tricks. I don'tt know how to describe it, a pyschological drama? It's all about critical thinking and outwitting your opponents in a game of deceit and poor innocent Nao gets wrapped up in the game!
• Proposal Daisakusen Oh! Yamapi! This drama is about finally admitting to the girl you've been in love with forever that you love her, on the day of her wedding. Basically he's given a second chance tot rework all the times he's screwed up in the past. At 11 episodes and a special, it's the perfect length to get everything in.
• Yamada Tarou Monogatari Ah rich boy and poor friend story! I loved this drama about what's really valuable in life. I love Ninomiya Kazunari and Sakurai Sho so this was the perfect feel good drama.