Dangermousie's kdrama rankings post, part 3. With summaries, reasons, pics and vids
This is the latest in my series of "Dangermousie ranks all the kdramas she has ever seen" posts. I have seen over 70 kdramas and, being addicted to ranking, have decided to rank them all. (For previous posts go here.) Below the cut are dramas ranked 50-41: these are entertaining dramas worth a look: they are flawed but a nice time investment nontheless. All the dramas behind the cut are dramas I like. Some of them I like a lot. Once again, I have either finished these dramas entirely or finished enough to make up my own mind.
(52) SNOW WHITE
This drama (also known as Taste Sweet Love) is a classic older woman-younger man story. Kim Jung Hwa is a frumpy old maid (read: gorgeous woman made up in horrifying perm, appalling clothes and granny glasses) who has been in love with her male best friend (Dangermousie crush Yeon Jung Hoon) for ages. But YJH, while sweet and a genuine friend, has never realized the fact and treats her as one of the boys. He is not the only one, sadly - the most action she might have gotten in years is when she went to Japan and ended up in a misunderstanding with a younger guy. On coming home, the crush-friend asks her for a favor. His little brother is back from Japan and can she please please put him up? Jung Hwa can't say no, can she? And the little brother? It's the young man from Japan! Sung-Woo (my huge even bigger crush Lee Wan) is five years younger than Jung Hwa, they didn't start on the best foot, and they are constantly in each other's way. Oh, and did I mention the 'ugly duckling' part and the whole 'she likes his older brother' part? Still, the slacker and the wallflower just might be perfect for each other.
This drama is funny and cute and I can definitely recommend it. Plus, Lee Wan! It's not higher because of (a) somewhat low production values, dragginess in the last eps and the girlfriend of male best friend who is so irritating I have to hit ff button as soon as she appears. Still, it's rather adorably fun with ff button involved.
(51) LOVEHOLIC
Loveholic starts out as a forbidden love story between a teacher played by Kim Min Sun and a troubled neglected student played by boybander Kang Ta. She is engaged (to an awesome prosecutor), he is her student, but because that is not enough angst, she is a narcoleptic who does not remember anything immediately prior to her episodes (oh, kdrama medicine!) and protecting him from a murderous thug she accidentally kills said thug during one of her episodes. Nobly, Kang Ta takes the blame on himself and goes to prison, driving her away for his own good. But now his prison term comes up and he is out...what shall happen next? *gasp*
Ahhhh, Loveholic. Such a dual beast. The first five episodes are one of my favorite dramas ever - angsty and romantic and all full of forbidden love. The problem? This drama is 16 episodes long. The 11 following episodes aren't awful or anything but the story could have been resolved in 2 so the characters enter a holding pattern - lather rinse repeat - there are only so many times he can break her heart to save her while falling apart himself, or for her to try to cling to her stable relationship and protect herself from forbidden love she feels, until it gets exhausting and stagnant. Still, the chemistry is lovely and with judicious fast-forwarding (lots of it), this is pretty enjoyable.
(50) WINTER SONATA
School love interrupted by untimely death of the guy - years later he returns, a victim of amnesia and boyfriend of the scheming Other Girl. Did I mention he and heroine may be half siblings?
Ahhhh, WS - the granddaddy of hallyu, arguably the most popular drama of all time, at least abroad, which made Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo the superstars they are today. Does it live up to its reputation? Perhaps not but it's an entertaining way to spend 16 hours anyway. But be warned: it's all entertaining and pretty but rather slow and in addition to the most appalling oher guy and gal ever, features kdrama's most repulsive leading man haircut. It can, however, be scarily addictive.
(49) BICHUNMU
Note: this refers to the Chinese-dubbed 40 ep version not the much abbreviated Korean one.
It's the typical period epic romance. You know: girl (Park Ji Yoon) meets boy (Joo Jin Mo) in a star-crossed love affair. Girl is hidden aristocrat, boy is lost offspring of famous murdered martial arts family. Their love is so pretty and so doomed. So she is taken away, but he finds her and they go on the run until her family catches up with them. Girl believes Boy dies, and marries another because she is pregnant with Boy's child. But of course Boy isn't dead but comes back, years later, as a hot and messed-up rebel leader...
It's entertaining and pretty and with badass hero and heroine but it suffers from wuxia drama drawbacks: it has too many characters and is too bloody long - I have a short attention span and I make no bones about it. Still - Joo Jin Mo angsting with a sword, forbidden love, battles, torture and pretty costumes - what are you waiting for?
(48) SWEET 18
When Han Ji Hye was born, her and Lee Dong Gun's grandather (LDG was 9 at the time) pledged that their kids will marry when they grow up. Unfortunately, HJH's family had to run to hide from creditors, and the families lost touch over the years. Time passed, and Lee Dong Gun grew up into a serious, rather dutiful District Attorney. And Han Ji Hye grew up into a juvenile delinquent (she leads her own girl gang :P), but bubbly and cheerful high-school senior. And then their paths cross again, and of course, LDG's grandpa decides to lose no time and get the two married. Lee Dong Gun is, understandably, horrifed by the idea. Not only is HJH a mere child to him, and one he doesn't know, he is also recovering from an ex from hell, which sort of played tick-tack-toe with his heart. But Han Ji Hye's pushy, willful heroine has decided that she is in love with LDG (who could blame her!) and what HJH wants, HJH is going to have, come hell and high water.
It's fun and fluffy and delicious. Unfortunately, I like more angsty "meat" in my dramas for them to really win me unconditionally - still if you are looking for a pink cloud of fluffiness, this is for you.
(47) I AM SORRY, I LOVE YOU
Super-famous angsty drama - So Ji Sub has a bullet in his head and only months to live so he decides to wreak revenge on the mother who threw him away, only he gets distracted by falling in love - I have a confession to make - I didn't like any of the characters and also fast-forwarded a lot. And yet - the shippiness is ridiculously awesome, it's beautifully shot, and I like the acting. The shippiness and the intensity of it is beyond words - it makes me think of Love Contract - a deeply flawed drama about two messed-up people where the rest of the story is no good but the romantic part of it blows everything out of the water. Oh and So Ji Sub intensity meter? Set at 11 billion, as always. Bring tissues.
(46) SANG-DO, GO TO SCHOOL
(this is the most false-advertising pic ever. Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone dies a horrible blood-soaked death).
He (Rain) is a gigolo swindler working the dirty job because it's the only one which affords a non-educated former felon like him enough money to support his ill daughter. She (Gong Hyo Jin) is an engaged high school teacher. She is also his childhood love, someone from the time he was the bright-eyed ambitious boy full of potential and for whom he had ruined his life. They haven't seen each other in a decade, but when he comes across her by accident, he knows he must track her down - it's illogical, it's bound to lead to disaster, and it's something that will never be, but he cannot let it go. So two very wounded people find each other again but it's a kdrama written by the writer of A Love to Kill and MiSa - we know how it's going to go.
Rain's acting is not as good here as it's going to get in A Love to Kill or even Full House and I could do less with cute moppet time, but it's a beautiful, tragic, atmospheric tale with some ridiculously intense scenes (when he first sees her as an adult, the time they go to a love motel, the flashback of his ruining his life for her, etc). But the ending, while logical enough, drives me insane and that is why this is not rated higher. I am not a fan of "rocks fall everyone dies" scenario.
(45) CITY HALL
Moved up once I finished - this spot now taken by You're beautiful
This is the story of a junior civil servant (Kim Sun Ah) who becomes a mayor of a small town almost by accident and her involvement with the existing crooked politics. At her side is a well-connected cynical politician played by Cha Seung Won - someone who starts out helping for his own reasons but as the time goes on falls more and more under Sun Ah's idealistic spell.
CH has slow first 5 eps or it would be higher ranked - because once ep 6 kicks in the drama transforms utterly - it's romantic, funny, clever - it's a shipper's dream, true, but it's so much more - its Frank Capraesque tale of small-town corruption and redemption is ridiculously up my alley.
(44) ROMANCE
Yet another entrant into the always popular student-teacher subgenre. Kim Ha Neul is a teacher and Kim Jae Wook is a student - they meet and hang out without knowing about the other's indentity and KJW develops a major crush. This probably would have gone no further but cue his father killing himself due to business troubles and the newly impoverished family moves to the slums of Seoul and KJW now must be the grown-up in the family now, dealing with his broken mother, his embittered older sister, and an illegimate toddler half-brother. With their new address comes a new school. Guess who teaches there? Also, guess whose family was responsible for the troubles that caused KJW's dad's suicide? Got it in one!
This a traditional, old-fashioned romantic melodrama. It won't rock your world but it's very entertaining. KHN is a rare actress I don't adore but she is OK and KJW more than makes up for it.
(43) LOBBYIST
Our heroine Maria (Jang Jin Young) grows up in a quiet fishing village with Harry (Song Il Gook). Through various plot developments, both end up moving to America while children (separately), and both suffer some severe trauma: Maria's father is shot during a mugging, as people do in America, and eventually Maria's bright, driven older sister is murdered and is implicated in the theft of government secrets. Meanwhile, Harry's sister is molested in his new home by an Uncle who has odd notion of family values, and Harry grabs his sister and goes on the run. They clearly should have stayed in Korea. Can we say both grow up to be extremely tough and self-sufficient individuals? Fast-forward to adulthood, and both Maria and Harry's paths cross once again, not necessarily smoothly. Maria is now a lobbyist for an international munitions manufacturer and Harry is an arms dealer. Both are involved in arms-dealing, vengeance and other exciting things. Lots of stuff blows up. There is a love story and fighting and Kyrghyzstan and tango and digging out bullets sans anesthetic.
I love this drama! There is a bit of Engrish, and sometimes all the politic back and forth gets a bit dull (but that's what a ff button is for) but this features a complicated and unusual plot, more hurt/comfort than you can imagine, a ridiculously awesome OTP of superemely tough woman (I have yet to see a tougher kdrama heroine) and a man who would do anything for her without being weak. Did I mention said man is Song Il Gook? Go watch now!
MV:
One of my favorite scenes:
Until next time, amigas!
(52) SNOW WHITE
This drama (also known as Taste Sweet Love) is a classic older woman-younger man story. Kim Jung Hwa is a frumpy old maid (read: gorgeous woman made up in horrifying perm, appalling clothes and granny glasses) who has been in love with her male best friend (Dangermousie crush Yeon Jung Hoon) for ages. But YJH, while sweet and a genuine friend, has never realized the fact and treats her as one of the boys. He is not the only one, sadly - the most action she might have gotten in years is when she went to Japan and ended up in a misunderstanding with a younger guy. On coming home, the crush-friend asks her for a favor. His little brother is back from Japan and can she please please put him up? Jung Hwa can't say no, can she? And the little brother? It's the young man from Japan! Sung-Woo (my huge even bigger crush Lee Wan) is five years younger than Jung Hwa, they didn't start on the best foot, and they are constantly in each other's way. Oh, and did I mention the 'ugly duckling' part and the whole 'she likes his older brother' part? Still, the slacker and the wallflower just might be perfect for each other.
This drama is funny and cute and I can definitely recommend it. Plus, Lee Wan! It's not higher because of (a) somewhat low production values, dragginess in the last eps and the girlfriend of male best friend who is so irritating I have to hit ff button as soon as she appears. Still, it's rather adorably fun with ff button involved.
Click to view(51) LOVEHOLIC
Loveholic starts out as a forbidden love story between a teacher played by Kim Min Sun and a troubled neglected student played by boybander Kang Ta. She is engaged (to an awesome prosecutor), he is her student, but because that is not enough angst, she is a narcoleptic who does not remember anything immediately prior to her episodes (oh, kdrama medicine!) and protecting him from a murderous thug she accidentally kills said thug during one of her episodes. Nobly, Kang Ta takes the blame on himself and goes to prison, driving her away for his own good. But now his prison term comes up and he is out...what shall happen next? *gasp*
Ahhhh, Loveholic. Such a dual beast. The first five episodes are one of my favorite dramas ever - angsty and romantic and all full of forbidden love. The problem? This drama is 16 episodes long. The 11 following episodes aren't awful or anything but the story could have been resolved in 2 so the characters enter a holding pattern - lather rinse repeat - there are only so many times he can break her heart to save her while falling apart himself, or for her to try to cling to her stable relationship and protect herself from forbidden love she feels, until it gets exhausting and stagnant. Still, the chemistry is lovely and with judicious fast-forwarding (lots of it), this is pretty enjoyable.
(50) WINTER SONATA
School love interrupted by untimely death of the guy - years later he returns, a victim of amnesia and boyfriend of the scheming Other Girl. Did I mention he and heroine may be half siblings?
Ahhhh, WS - the granddaddy of hallyu, arguably the most popular drama of all time, at least abroad, which made Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo the superstars they are today. Does it live up to its reputation? Perhaps not but it's an entertaining way to spend 16 hours anyway. But be warned: it's all entertaining and pretty but rather slow and in addition to the most appalling oher guy and gal ever, features kdrama's most repulsive leading man haircut. It can, however, be scarily addictive.
(49) BICHUNMU
Note: this refers to the Chinese-dubbed 40 ep version not the much abbreviated Korean one.
It's the typical period epic romance. You know: girl (Park Ji Yoon) meets boy (Joo Jin Mo) in a star-crossed love affair. Girl is hidden aristocrat, boy is lost offspring of famous murdered martial arts family. Their love is so pretty and so doomed. So she is taken away, but he finds her and they go on the run until her family catches up with them. Girl believes Boy dies, and marries another because she is pregnant with Boy's child. But of course Boy isn't dead but comes back, years later, as a hot and messed-up rebel leader...
It's entertaining and pretty and with badass hero and heroine but it suffers from wuxia drama drawbacks: it has too many characters and is too bloody long - I have a short attention span and I make no bones about it. Still - Joo Jin Mo angsting with a sword, forbidden love, battles, torture and pretty costumes - what are you waiting for?
(48) SWEET 18
When Han Ji Hye was born, her and Lee Dong Gun's grandather (LDG was 9 at the time) pledged that their kids will marry when they grow up. Unfortunately, HJH's family had to run to hide from creditors, and the families lost touch over the years. Time passed, and Lee Dong Gun grew up into a serious, rather dutiful District Attorney. And Han Ji Hye grew up into a juvenile delinquent (she leads her own girl gang :P), but bubbly and cheerful high-school senior. And then their paths cross again, and of course, LDG's grandpa decides to lose no time and get the two married. Lee Dong Gun is, understandably, horrifed by the idea. Not only is HJH a mere child to him, and one he doesn't know, he is also recovering from an ex from hell, which sort of played tick-tack-toe with his heart. But Han Ji Hye's pushy, willful heroine has decided that she is in love with LDG (who could blame her!) and what HJH wants, HJH is going to have, come hell and high water.
It's fun and fluffy and delicious. Unfortunately, I like more angsty "meat" in my dramas for them to really win me unconditionally - still if you are looking for a pink cloud of fluffiness, this is for you.
(47) I AM SORRY, I LOVE YOU
Super-famous angsty drama - So Ji Sub has a bullet in his head and only months to live so he decides to wreak revenge on the mother who threw him away, only he gets distracted by falling in love - I have a confession to make - I didn't like any of the characters and also fast-forwarded a lot. And yet - the shippiness is ridiculously awesome, it's beautifully shot, and I like the acting. The shippiness and the intensity of it is beyond words - it makes me think of Love Contract - a deeply flawed drama about two messed-up people where the rest of the story is no good but the romantic part of it blows everything out of the water. Oh and So Ji Sub intensity meter? Set at 11 billion, as always. Bring tissues.
(46) SANG-DO, GO TO SCHOOL
(this is the most false-advertising pic ever. Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone dies a horrible blood-soaked death).
He (Rain) is a gigolo swindler working the dirty job because it's the only one which affords a non-educated former felon like him enough money to support his ill daughter. She (Gong Hyo Jin) is an engaged high school teacher. She is also his childhood love, someone from the time he was the bright-eyed ambitious boy full of potential and for whom he had ruined his life. They haven't seen each other in a decade, but when he comes across her by accident, he knows he must track her down - it's illogical, it's bound to lead to disaster, and it's something that will never be, but he cannot let it go. So two very wounded people find each other again but it's a kdrama written by the writer of A Love to Kill and MiSa - we know how it's going to go.
Rain's acting is not as good here as it's going to get in A Love to Kill or even Full House and I could do less with cute moppet time, but it's a beautiful, tragic, atmospheric tale with some ridiculously intense scenes (when he first sees her as an adult, the time they go to a love motel, the flashback of his ruining his life for her, etc). But the ending, while logical enough, drives me insane and that is why this is not rated higher. I am not a fan of "rocks fall everyone dies" scenario.
(45) CITY HALL
Moved up once I finished - this spot now taken by You're beautiful
This is the story of a junior civil servant (Kim Sun Ah) who becomes a mayor of a small town almost by accident and her involvement with the existing crooked politics. At her side is a well-connected cynical politician played by Cha Seung Won - someone who starts out helping for his own reasons but as the time goes on falls more and more under Sun Ah's idealistic spell.
CH has slow first 5 eps or it would be higher ranked - because once ep 6 kicks in the drama transforms utterly - it's romantic, funny, clever - it's a shipper's dream, true, but it's so much more - its Frank Capraesque tale of small-town corruption and redemption is ridiculously up my alley.
(44) ROMANCE
Yet another entrant into the always popular student-teacher subgenre. Kim Ha Neul is a teacher and Kim Jae Wook is a student - they meet and hang out without knowing about the other's indentity and KJW develops a major crush. This probably would have gone no further but cue his father killing himself due to business troubles and the newly impoverished family moves to the slums of Seoul and KJW now must be the grown-up in the family now, dealing with his broken mother, his embittered older sister, and an illegimate toddler half-brother. With their new address comes a new school. Guess who teaches there? Also, guess whose family was responsible for the troubles that caused KJW's dad's suicide? Got it in one!
This a traditional, old-fashioned romantic melodrama. It won't rock your world but it's very entertaining. KHN is a rare actress I don't adore but she is OK and KJW more than makes up for it.
(43) LOBBYIST
Our heroine Maria (Jang Jin Young) grows up in a quiet fishing village with Harry (Song Il Gook). Through various plot developments, both end up moving to America while children (separately), and both suffer some severe trauma: Maria's father is shot during a mugging, as people do in America, and eventually Maria's bright, driven older sister is murdered and is implicated in the theft of government secrets. Meanwhile, Harry's sister is molested in his new home by an Uncle who has odd notion of family values, and Harry grabs his sister and goes on the run. They clearly should have stayed in Korea. Can we say both grow up to be extremely tough and self-sufficient individuals? Fast-forward to adulthood, and both Maria and Harry's paths cross once again, not necessarily smoothly. Maria is now a lobbyist for an international munitions manufacturer and Harry is an arms dealer. Both are involved in arms-dealing, vengeance and other exciting things. Lots of stuff blows up. There is a love story and fighting and Kyrghyzstan and tango and digging out bullets sans anesthetic.
I love this drama! There is a bit of Engrish, and sometimes all the politic back and forth gets a bit dull (but that's what a ff button is for) but this features a complicated and unusual plot, more hurt/comfort than you can imagine, a ridiculously awesome OTP of superemely tough woman (I have yet to see a tougher kdrama heroine) and a man who would do anything for her without being weak. Did I mention said man is Song Il Gook? Go watch now!
MV:
One of my favorite scenes:
Until next time, amigas!