Arang and the Magistrate

Rating: *****


Genre: Fantasy, period, mystery, comedy, romance, action, melodrama
Episodes: 20
Cast: Shin Min Ah, Lee Jun Ki, Yun Woo Jin, Kwon Oh Joong


SYNOPSIS:
"The beautiful Arang, the daughter of a magistrate during the Chosun Dynasty, is brutally murdered. The woman returns from the dead as a ghost, still full of light-hearted mischief and spirited fun. When she meets a young magistrate, Eun Oh, she discovers that he has the unique ability to communicate with the dead. She convinces him to help her uncover her killer and bring the person to justice. Can a ghost and a magistrate team up to solve a murder mystery and punish the wrongdoer? --KimchiDrama"


REVIEW:
Simply "daebak."  Original plotline, great cast, and very humorous.  This drama was addicting from start to finish, and it left me wanting more.  I loved the secondary couple.  They are so funny together.  I seriously wouldn't mind a spin off of just those two characters.  As you know, I'm a big fan of this sort of period drama.  So, when a fantasy drama like this comes along, I don't know why I wouldn't recommend it.  It's a must see!


What did you think of this drama? Comment below!


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Mop Girl

Rating: ****


Genre: Mystery, Fantasy, Comedy
Episodes: 10
Cast: Kitagawa Keiko, Tanihara Shosuke, Asami Reina, Takaoka Sousuke


SYNOPSIS:
"Kitagawa plays the part of the slow but hardworking Momoko, a low-ranking employee at a funeral services company who carries a mop as part of her job. However, Momoko happens to possess a strange ability. Whenever she comes across the corpse of someone who has left strong feelings behind, she travels back in time to save that person from his or her fate."


REVIEW:
As you may have guessed, I'm not a huge fan of Japanese dramas.  The few television series that I've watched that were not anime are few and far between.  That is mainly because of the "flower boy" style that I hate.    What is the flower boy style?  Well, I'll explain.  What I mean by flower boy style is those weird haircuts that are feathered and dyed a vomit orange or yellow.  This picture is of Oguri Shun, who is is an award-winning Japanese actor.  

Oguri Shun
Although he is handsome, that yellow hair makes his skin look horrible.  In dramas, people cast actors and dye their hair in an attempt to make them "handsome", and then the script says how handsome the main character is.  However, in my opinion, this orange hair makes them look ugly.  I mean, extremely ugly. In my opinion, Japanese like Tanihara Shosuke (the male lead in Mop Girl), who do not dye their hair weird colors, are much more handsome.                            Tanihara Shosuke
So, when I find a Japanese drama that doesn't include bad actors with orange hair, I'm very excited.  Mop Girl has probably been my first Japanese drama in a year that I actually enjoyed.   The only problem with this drama is that I seriously think that the drama was too short.  Japanese dramas are the shortest series I have ever seen.  They tend to be about 10 episodes.  I kind of feel that they should have extended the story, as the characters never got any kind of conclusion.  However, in the end, I found the story very funny and I enjoyed it very much.  I definitely recommend this drama. :)




What did you think of this drama? Comment below!


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Rooftop Prince

Rating: *****


Genre: Comedy, Fantasy , Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Han Ji Min, Jung Yoo Mi (1984), Lee Tae Sung, Micky Yoochun, Lee Min Ho (1993)


SYNOPSIS:
"A prince from the Joseon era, Lee Gak, is catapulted 300 years forward into the future in Seoul 2012 with his entourage, which includes Song Man Bo, Do Chi San and Woo Young Sul, when he tries to investigate the suspicious circumstances which surround the death of the girl he loved. In the present, he finds a girl who looks exactly like his beloved crown princess..."


REVIEW:
Funny, hilarious and... Did I say funny?  I did?  Well, sorry about that then.  Although I did time 20 minutes of this drama on Viki, that's not why I am biased.  I am biased because of who I call the "blue ranger."  He's just so hilarious!  Although he's always so serious, he is the one that makes me laugh the most.  Micky just adds to my bias.

Although many have said that they did not enjoy the ending of this drama, I kind of already knew that this would be the ending anyway.  Although I would have loved another ending, I did not feel like my time was wasted on this drama.  It was funny, enjoyable, and I hope to watch it again sometime.

What did you think of this drama? Comment below!


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The Moon That Conceals The Sun

Rating: ****


Genre: Fantasy, Period Drama , Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Han Ga In, Han Jin Hee, Jung Il woo, Kim Soo Hyun, Yeo Jin Goo


SYNOPSIS:
"Historical drama "The Moon Embracing The Sun" tells a love story between King Lee Hwon (Kim Soo-Hyun) and a female shaman named Wol (Han Ga-In). Wol was born from a noble family and became the crown princess, but she was entrapped and faced execution. Finally, she lived as a shaman. "




REVIEW:
What can I possibly say?  I think my rating said it all.

MBC really did a great job with this drama.  It is simple, addicting, and just short of amazing.  There were a few little errors here and there, but I think they did a really wonderful job with this drama.  The biggest thing was the child actors, though.  Whoever cast these little actors really needs an award.  I think they really did great in the casting.  Not only did they have similar presences as the actors that played the older characters, but the kids did really wonderful on their acting.  I definitely recommend this drama for anyone who likes Joeson period dramas.

What did you think of this drama? Comment below!


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49 Days

Rating: *****

Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Jo Hyun Jae, Jung Il Woo, Lee Yo Won, Nam Gyu Ri, Bae Soo Bin

"A young woman named Ji Hyun was enjoying absolute bliss as she was about to be married with her fiancé, but her perfect life is shattered in a car accident that left her in a coma. She is given a second chance at life by a reaper, but it comes with a condition: she has to find three people outside of her family who would cry genuine tears for her. In order to do this, she borrows the body of Yi Kyung, a part-time employee at a convenience store."



Wow!  All I can say is "Wow!"  If you have been following my drama blog here on blogspot, you would know that I'm not much for sad dramas. 

However, in spite of my lack of interest in melodramatic nonsense, I was interested in the plotline of this drama from the start.  I waited for the drama to finish airing to start watching it, but I couldn't stop watching.  I was completely addicted even though there were times that it made me cry like a baby.

If you like this kind of genre, I think that this drama would be perfect for you.  Even if you don't usually enjoy this type of drama, though, 49 days might very well make you want more.

Is it just me, or would anyone else welcome a spin off drama (a comedy) of life with the scheduler?  This character just makes me smile.

Demi God Semi Devil

Rating: ***.5

Genre: Wuxia, Fantasy, Adventure
Episodes: 40
Cast: Liu Yi Fei, Gao Hu, Hu Jun, Jimmy Lin, Liu Tao

"Tian Long Ba Bu is an adaption of a Jin Yong novel of the same name. The epic centers around the Beggar Leader Qiao Feng, the Dali Prince Duan Yu and the Shaolin Monk Xu Zhu. Each of their stories are interweaved throughout the show and finally clash and join at the climax of the story. Qiao Feng's story is his quest to find his real identity and the mystery surrounding an event that occured 30 years prior that left him as an orphan. Duan Yu's story covers his meetings with many of his half sisters that he did not know he had (thanks to his adventurous dad during his young days) and the battle with Duan Yuan Qing as the rightful ruler of Dali. Xu Zhu is a lowly Shaolin Monk who gets caught in the middle of an internal struggle of the Care Free Sect, one of the most powerful and secretative sects around. Their stories take place during the Northern Song Dynasty and across warring kingdoms of Song, Liao, Dali, and Western Xia."

I liked this drama, I really did.  However, I did not enjoy the beginning and end very much.  I have to agree that the beginning and end were a bit rushed.  Then again, I guess it's because in the original novel the story is also rushed.  In all honesty, I didn't really like Qiao Feng's story at all.  I loved Duan Yu and Xu Zhu's stories as they were funny and enjoyable, but Qiao Feng's story was just kind of annoying.  If it weren't for the two other main characters, I wouldn't have even watched it.

I kind of like the fact that they just switch actors when the characters are supposed to be in disguise.  It made it kind of funny and I bet it was a lot easier for the make up artists then to have to create a disguise for the actors.  As far as the acting goes, I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I'm kind of a sucker for Jimmy Lin just because he makes me laugh.  There are certain actors that can make people laugh just by their expressions, and Jimmy is one of them.

Funny Note: Guy gets hit in the face with a twig on Episode 11 around 12:23

Fairy From Wonderland

Rating: ****

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 39
Cast: Ariel Lin, Hu Ge, TAE, Dou Zhi Kong, Lv Yi

"This drama is a retelling of the well-known love story between a goddess and a mortal.
Goddess Xiao Qi commits a major crime. She is punished by having her powers stripped away and is banished to the mortal realm. She can only regain her goddess status by accomplishing 100 charitable acts. Dong Yong rescues her and teaches her what it's like to be a mortal. However, she also learns how to love even though love is forbidden between goddesses and mortals. When their love affair is discovered, heavenly guards descend onto the mortal realm to separate the two lovers. However, they are willing to do anything to stay together."

As someone who has never heard or watched the story before, this drama is entirely new to me.  That being said, I cannot say whether or not the drama stuck with the story or not.  The main problem with this series, though, is there are two versions.  The one I watched wasn't the 39 episode series, but the shorter one.  That being said, I think you should be careful when finding the episodes.  Although the scenes that were cut were virtually meaningless, they forgot to remove flashbacks that contained deleted scenes.  That really irked me.

Although Ariel Lin and Hu Ge seem to match their characters pretty well, I have to wonder if they ever think of acting as other types of characters.  Ariel always plays a spunky girl and Hu Ge always plays a nice (but a little naive) guy.  Does anyone know of a drama or movie that they have done that wasn't the same type of character that they always play?  It really kind of bothers me when I see an actor stuck in the same role time and time again.  For me it says that they have no desire to improve upon their acting.  Although I like the main actors, I feel that they could grow as actors if they just stepped out of their comfort zone.

 As far as the actual drama was concerned, I liked it.  There's this one point about love that I really liked from this drama.  The drama basically says that you can still love someone even if you say you don't.  You see, no matter what we say, it won't change our feelings for other people.  We can deny love a million times, but that love will not change.  True love stays the same whether you want to love that someone or not.  Even if loving someone is tough and gives you great pain, feelings don't easily change.  Just because you decide not to be with someone doesn't mean you stopped loving them.  I think the only thing I can't really decide on is the ending.  I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, or if I like it at all.  On one hand it's sad, but on the other hand it's kind of happy.  It kind of made me want to know what happened next in the story.

Question: Didn't they say he could be reincarnated into a god?  What happened with that?  Is that just a translation error?

Funny Note: Something is missing on Episode 11 at 7:01

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

(Not reviewed. See reasons below)

MOVIE

Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer

"Balthazar Blake is a sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan fighting against the forces of evil, in particular his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath, while searching for the person who will inherit powers. This turns out to be Dave Stutler , a physics student at New York University, whom Balthazar takes as a reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling apprentice a crash course in the art and science of magic and sorcery, in order to stop Horvath and Morgana le Fay from destroying the world."

I really wanted to review a movie this week, as I haven't reviewed a movie in months. However, I watched about twenty-seven minutes of this movie and I had enough. According to some people's opinions of this movie, the reason this movie isn't very interesting is because of the action. However, that's not why I couldn't watch it. I'm fine with non-stop action when it's considered an action movie. However, with so many inconsistencies in the first half hour of the movie, I couldn't bare to watch. In my opinion, the script was horrible. The characters aren't rounded, the beginning is way too quick, the dialogue is dry, and the plot was kind of, well, "Disney-like". From the get-go, the script was barely working, and was hidden by the special effects and fight scenes. Truthfully, if it wasn't for the special effects I would have stopped watching it at ten minutes. The acting wasn't that impressive either.

In conclusion, if I were able to finish the movie without gaining a concussion by repeatedly banging my head against my wall and if the movie didn't get any better, I would have rated it one star. However, since I could only get through 1/4th of the movie, I don't feel it's right to put any rating at all. So if you want to watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice, be prepared to turn off your television.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

Rating: *****

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Fantasy
Episodes: 16
Cast: Lee Seung Ki, Shin Min Ah, No Min woo, Park Soo Jin

"Lee Seung Ki is a man who meets a girl and falls in love with her. The girl is actually a gumiho, a legendary fox with nine tails that eats the livers of humans. When he finds out that she is a gumiho, he ends up doing crazy things to prevent the girl from eating his liver."

I've been crazy over this drama ever since I first heard about it. I think a lot of viewers get excited about dramas if there are actors that they like, but not me. For me it was about the storyline. I absolutely love the plot of the story. After watching the last episode, though, I have to say that this story is probably one of my favorite dramas of all time. It was hilarious, sweet, action filled, and had a wonderful storyline that kept me interested.

I really want to talk more about this drama, but I'm afraid I might give away spoilers and I don't want to do that.. You'll just have to watch it for yourself :D


Teaser:

Gumiho / Nine Tailed Fox

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Action, Fantasy, Horror, Drama
Episodes: 16
Cast: Han Ye Seul, Jo Hyun Jae, Jun Jin, Kim Tae Hee, Park Joon Suk

"Shi Yeon is a Nine-Tailed Fox living undercover in the human world. By day, Shi Yeon is an employee at a natural history museum. By night, she's a top-ranking woman warrior in the Nine-Tailed Fox clan, charged with preserving the delicate balance between man and fox. But her world is sent spinning when an atrocious serial murder - where the victims have had their internal organs gouged out - is uncovered. Detective Min Woo believes the murders may relate to the organ trafficking trade, and goes undercover in a seedy organ smuggling ring. But Min Woo's cover is blown, and it's only through the intervention Nine-Tailed Fox warrior Mu Young and Shi Yeon that he's able to survive! But he's seen their true identities as Nine-Tailed Foxes…can he be allowed to live?"

This bittersweet drama is a big hit in my book. However, there are a few unrealistic parts in this story. For instance, Shi Yeon (a Gumiho) was supposed to have grown up thinking she was human. However, Gumiho's are supposed to eat human liver, right? How could she have zero inkling that something was off when she was supposed to eat human liver? Another thing I thought was kind of off is that when the Gumiho's die they turn into ash. Gumiho's aren't supposed to be some mystical creature exactly, they are supposed to be the next step in evolution (basically). Unlike vampires, who are dead but continue "living" for thousands or so years, Gumiho's have a more normal life span. Why would they turn into ash after they die? It makes no logical sense at all.. Anyway, other than that it was a good drama.