Down With Love

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast: Jerry Yan, Ella Chen, Kelly Huang, Michael Zhang

"Xiang Yu Ping, an expert divorce and inheritance lawyer, is seen by others as cold, selfish, and ruthless. After Yu-ping’s older brother dies in a car accident he has little choice in taking in his brother's two orphaned children, Fei and Ting. Every nanny he hires to care for them is either scared off by the mischievous children or ends up falling in love with him. Fed up, Yu Ping asks his secretary, Yang Duo, to find a nanny that meets his requirements. Having lost all their wealth when their mother passed away and being abandoned by their father after racking up heavy debts; Yang Duo can not ignore the fact that she needs the money and recommends her younger sister, Yang Guo, for the job; assuring Yu Ping that her tomboyish sister will not fall in love with him by lying that she does not like men at all."


Although I haven't watched "Down With Love" for a long time, I remember that I enjoyed it a lot.  Funny and addicting, this drama will definitely make you smile.  Normally I would take this chance to explain all the errors or problems a drama has, but (quite frankly) I don't remember seeing any real problems with it. Although they could have rounded out the supporting characters a bit more, I think they did a pretty good job of putting this drama together.

Oh! My Girl

Rating: ****

Genre: Family
Episodes: 9
Cast: Hayami Mokomichi, Kato Rosa, Okada Yoshinori, Tomosaka Rie, Yoshida Riko

"Yamashita Kotaro was living a peaceful life as a publisher part-timer pretending to be a mobile phone novelist until two females suddenly appeared in his life. One is his six-year-old celebrity niece and the other is the little girl's stern manager. As he is forced to live under the same roof as the little prodigy, their differences soon manifest and disputes ensue. However, through co-habitation, Yamashita slowly comes to appreciate having a family and the warmth it brings, all the while developing a love-hate relationship with Fuji Mineko, the manager."

Although it's not one of those dramas that you would watch over and over again, I really did enjoy watching this short little drama for the first time. Some sources say that it is a family, romance, and comedy show, but I disagree. After watching the drama, I would say that it's more of a family drama. Although there are some funny moments, it definitely shouldn't be classified as a comedy. Also, it definitely isn't a romance drama either. I really don't understand how people can watch the show and get romance out of it. Anyway, it's a drama worth watching if you enjoy family based dramas.

Love Shuffle

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 10
Cast: Karina, Matsuda Shota, Tamaki Hiroshi, Yoshitaka Yuriko, Daigo

"Usami Kei is a salaryman who has risen in status due to his engagement with Mei, the wealthy daughter of his company's president. Shortly after she breaks off the engagement, a power failure leaves him stuck in the elevator of his apartment building. Trapped with him are three others living on the same floor - Airu, a trilingual interpreter, Ojiro, a model photographer, and Masato, a psychiatrist. While waiting, their conversation hits upon their love lives and the question of whether there is truly only one fated partner for everyone. As a result, they decide to try "shuffling" their relationships with each other..."



This was probably one of the most unique dramas that I have watched before.  There were some things I didn't like about it, but I really thought that the plot was interesting.  It has been a while since I watched this series, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but it was a drama worth watching.

Three Dads One Mom

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast: Eugene, Jae Hee, Jo Hyun Jae, Kim Bin Woo, Shin Sung Rok

"Song Na Young and her husband, Jung Sung Min, desperately want a child but her husband is unable to get her pregnant. Her husband's friends decide to help them. But Na Young suddenly loses her husband in an accident and she gives birth to her daughter but does not know which of her husband's friends fathered her child. The father of Na Young's child can either be Han Soo Hyun, Choi Kwang Hee, or Hwang Kyung Tae."

This drama is a light comedy that will definitely make you smile. Although it says romance in the genre, I don't really view it as a romance at all. Although all three male leads end up liking her, it's just not the same as what I would consider a romance story. In any case, the drama was very simple and lighthearted. I enjoyed the drama, and I'm sure you will too.

Secret Garden

Rating: *****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Ha Ji Won, Hyun Bin, Kim Ji Soo, Kim Sa Rang, Lee Philip

"The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won), a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies."

Funny, sweet, and good production make this drama a big hit. Right from the beginning it hooked me and I could barely pull myself away from my computer screen. Even without knowing much Korean, I would watch the live broadcast and laugh until my sides hurt. Hyun Bin did some of the cutest scenes as Kim Joo Won. KJW may be a bit of an annoying character if he was real, but as a character in a drama, he is really enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this drama.

Marry Stayed Out All Night (Mary Marry Me)

Rating: *****

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 16
Cast: Jang Geun Suk, Kim Hyo Jin, Kim Jae Wook, Moon Geun Young, Park Joon Gyu

"Wi Mae Ri is a stubborn woman and the daughter of a failed businessman without much experience in dating. She starts to date tough rocker Kang Moo Kyul. Problems arise when a perfect guy with a good background and prestigious education, Byun Jung In, gets in the way."

Ever since the beginning, this drama was very popular due to it's cast. With actors like Jang Geun Suk, Kim Jae Wook, and Moon Geun Young (who have all been in popular dramas before), most fans were excited from the get-go.

With all the excitement surrounding the drama, I must ask myself whether or not it lived up to the hype. In the end, I think that it was a pretty good drama. The story was unique, the production was wonderful, and I didn't find any inconsistencies in the script or the film. There were a few minor problems here or there, but it was definitely worth watching.

City Hall

Rating: *****

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Politics
Episodes: 20
Cast: Cha Seung Won, Choo Sang Mi, Kim Sun Ah, Lee Hyung Chul, Lee Joon Hyuk

"City Hall is a drama that will deal with politics in a romantic comedy genre. It’s about the happenings between a young woman mayor and an elite bureaucrat. Jo Gook is an exceedingly smart government official. He passed the Higher Civil Service quickly, and basically is the perfect guy. But being a deputy mayor is not enough for him. He lives with the dream of becoming South Korea’s President. He should have easily gone straight to the top, but due to an unexpected incident, he gets dispatched as a deputy mayor for a provincial small town, Inju City, where Shin Mi Rae was working. Shin Mi Rae is a low-ranking secretary in Inju, but she works her way up in becoming the youngest City Mayor. As their paths met, they have to deal with each other’s personal and social differences. But despite their constant bickerings, would they end up in each other’s arms?"

In all honesty, I was never interested in this drama in the first place. The only real reason I even took a chance in watching it was because numerous people said it was good. As I reflect on this drama, though, I thought it was quite good. The production, dialogue, characters, and comedy all did very good. As far as acting goes, there wasn't really many scenes that could show off an actor's acting ability so I cannot discern how good of a cast there was.

See, there is a certain aspect of acting that you cannot notice if you are not a native or fluent speaker of the language that the drama is in. This is mostly because an actor must understand the natural flow of language. An actor must know which words to emphasize and which words to minimize in the script. Although I didn't notice any major flaws in the visual aspect of the cast's acting, I cannot say much about their acting because I am not a fluent speaker of the Korean language.

In any case, I thought this was a very amusing drama and I would definitely recommend watching it.

Single Princesses and Blind Dates

Rating: ***.5

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 30
Cast: Jimmy Lin, Dylan Kuo, Zhao Jing, Hong Xiao Ling, Chen Yan Fei, Xin Zi

"The 25 years old Le Tong Tong (乐彤彤) has two best friends Lala (拉拉) and Bamei (八妹). Three days ago, the conversation between the bride-to-be Le Tong Tong and her fiancé was recorded by the office’s hidden camera. The video about their breakup immediately was spread in the office.

Then came the shocking news that the young and beautiful newcomer in the Advertising department will replace Tong Tong as the bride. The humiliated Tong Tong tells a lie that she already has a new sweetheart. Everyone in the office, except Tong Tong’s two best friends Lala and Bamei, is full of expectations to what will unfold. Tong Tong comes up with the “Blind Dating Plan” overnight and vows to find a husband who is N times better than her ex. She will even give up all chances for promotion and will spend all her vacations and evenings in six months on blind dates. The story of the single princess and blind dates unfolds."

Although this series was charming and worthy of a viewing, there were some things that could have been a lot better within the series. Most of them were just from the production of the drama and not the story itself, though. For instance, unless I am mistaken, they used dubs for the main character instead of having the female lead's voice. Truthfully, I don't think they should have done this. If the actor cannot properly speak, then they should find another actor that can. I mean, the acting wasn't very good anyway, so why did they do extra work by voicing over it? When someone voices over the audio, it creates audio that is too clean. There is no background noise to it, and it makes it very unnatural. Not only that, whoever did the voice dubs has the most annoying voice I've ever heard. I think I've heard her voice before in another series, but I cannot remember the name of the series.

Another production mistake was the spelling of Carey's name. In the first episode, her name was spelled Carry, but around episode 29 they suddenly started spelling it Carey. (I'm not talking about the subtitles here. Both of the spellings of her name is on the original film.) Not only that, but Carey was shown eating a non opened chocolate bar. Like the actor pretended to open it and eat it, but it was obviously never opened.

I also have to point out that Fang Yan seemed to know things that he wouldn't have been able to know unless he was stalking Tong Tong. At first I didn't find him creepy at all. However, as the story went on, he got more and more creepy. I think that the writer didn't consider how the character would know these things.

In any case, I believe this drama was pretty good. Even though there were numerous problems, I still enjoyed it.

Nagareboshi

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 10
Cast: Inagaki Goro, Kitano Kii, Matsuda Shota, Takenouchi Yutaka, Ueto Aya

"Takenouchi plays an aquarium employee named Kengo, who seems ordinary at first glance but actually possesses a secret that he would sacrifice everything in order to protect. Meanwhile, Ueto plays Risa, a young woman working in the sex trade in order to pay off her brother's debt, though her situation has led her to contemplate suicide. These two characters, both full of despair, meet each other and end up entering a contract marriage purely for its benefits. However, as they overcome various troubles, their relationship begins turning into true love. Tokyograph"

I haven't watched a decent Japanese drama in a long while. I think it is because the comedic dramas are always a bit too over dramatic. However, once I started watching this, I couldn't stop. The production was gorgeous and I didn't find any major problems with the acting or the consistency. The only real problem with the production is that I don't understand how Risa can wear shorts even in Winter. I mean, isn't she cold?

Although I enjoyed the drama, I didn't really like the ending. I felt like there should be a bit more to this story. It felt like there was still more story left to be told. In any case, I would definitely recommend this little drama.