The Greatest Love

Rating: *****


Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast:  Cha Seung Won, Choi Sung Min, Gong Hyo Jin, Yoon Kye Sang, Yoo In Na


SYNOPSIS:
Ae Jung is a female band member who is already over the hill.  She ends up getting entangled in a long triangle with the top star Jin and her ex-bandmate Kang Se Ri.  In order to make money, Ae Jung joins a dating variety show and meets Yoon Pil Joon, a doctor of oriental medicine who has no interest in the entertainment industry.



REVIEW:
This drama didn't disappoint me in the least.  I found no errors, and every episode was funny and enjoyable.  I guess I'm a bit biased, though, as I am a fan of the writers of this drama.  The Hong Sisters (Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran) have never written a drama that I did not thoroughly enjoy.  Their previous works include:

Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, KBS 2005
My Girl, SBS 2005-2006
Fantasy Couple, MBC 2006
Hong Gil Dong, KBS 2008
You’re Beautiful, SBS 2009

I know that this review probably isn't of much help as I haven't said much about the drama, but I really have nothing to say except for praises.  I'm a really biased source when it comes to the Hong Sisters.

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Manny

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast:Byun Jung Soo, Choi Jung Yoon, Suh Ji Suk, Jung Da Bin, Goo Seung Hyun

"Tall, with a perfect figure and his qualifications as an Ivy League graduate, Kim Yi Han is Seoul's top male nanny. He is employed by Seo Do Young as a live-in nanny to look after her two young children, Eun Bi and Jung Min."

 I watched thirteen episodes, and I really wanted to enjoy it as the plotline had such a good appeal, but I just couldn't finish the last few episodes.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll finish it and write more to this review, but I just couldn't go through with it.  Truthfully, after the first ten episodes, it became kind of annoying.  I didn't like any of the characters (except for the children), and it kind of forgot about the comedy completely after a while.  Although it's supposed to be a romantic comedy about a Manny, it slowly became a show about Janice's workplace.  I mean, it is good to have rounded characters and all, but there is a limit to how much you can show about a character the viewer doesn't even like.

IRIS

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Action, Thriller
Episodes: 20
Cast: Jung Joon Ho, Kim So Yun, Kim Tae Hee, Lee Byun Hun, T.O.P.


"Two elite National Security System (NSS) agents, Hyeong-Jun (Lee Byung-Hun) and Sa-Woo (Jeong Jun-Ho), who were sworn blood brothers, both fall for fellow agent Seung-Hee (Kim Tae-Hee). Sa-Woo attempts to suppress his feelings for Seung-Hee and wishes the couple the best. Hyeon-Jun is then sent off on a solo mission to Hungary. In Hungary, Hyeon-jun accomplishes his mission and while in escape mode becomes wounded. Shortly later, Hyeon-jun finds out that he was betrayed by fellow agent Sa-woo. Seung-Hee attempts to help Hyeon-Jun escape, but a car explosion separates the two and both are misled to believe that the other person are dead. Hyeon-Jun is then saved by an unknown voice and learns of the secret society "IRIS". One year later, Hyeon-Jun returns to Korea to seek revenge. During this time, the two Koreas are set to reunify, while the group "IRIS" are intent on stopping the reunification."

I really wanted to watch this drama, but I just couldn't handle finishing it.  I always hear glowing praises for IRIS, so I really wanted to see what it was about, but this drama just isn't my style.  There's nothing really wrong with the drama, I just have a specific style of drama that I enjoy.  Personally, I cannot stomach an action or romance film without any sort of comedic relief. If there isn't proper comedic relief, the viewer becomes stressed while watching the drama (or, in some case, loose interest).  Although it is not realistic to have comedy in the midst of a shootout, all dramas should have nice little moments in between battles so as to lessen the severity of the action sequences that can cause stress.  After all, real people cannot function well without some time of peace.

I Am Legend

Rating: ****.5

Genre: Music, Romance, Law
Episodes: 20
Cast: Kim Seung Soo, Jang Young Nam, Kim Jung Eun, Lee Joon Hyuk, Jang Shin Young

"Jun Seol starts a band to get her life back on track. She recently divorced her husband after realizing that she deserved to be treated better by her husband's family. Her band mates are also 'ahjummas' who also have personal problems of their own."

I personally found this show very addicting, but I heard many people say that there were things in the show that were disappointing. Although many viewers didn't like the ending, I felt that the ending was realistic.  Truthfully, I kind of always knew it would end the way it did, so it doesn't surprise me.  The only problem with a realistic ending, though, is that viewers don't usually enjoy reality.  Most viewers disregard realistic stories in favor of a fairy tale, as fairy tales tend to end beautifully.  Sometimes, however, it is refreshing to watch something that is not sugarcoated.

The next thing that a potential viewer might want to know before hand is that there are a lot of episodes that deal with law since her ex-husband is a lawyer.  Don't be surprised if an episode minimizes the music aspect in order to show more of her personal life and what she is going through at the time.