Good Morning Shanghai

Rating: ****.5

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 24
Cast: Shawn Yue, Jang Na Ra, Yan Kuan, Yang Xue

"You Hao Yun is a Korean who lives in Shanghai with her family. Her biggest dream is to become a famous pianist. Wanting to move away from her family Hao Yun and her friend Xiao Mei rents an apartment, but later she finds out that there is no empty apartment and that the estate agent had run away with their money. Not having time to take care of his son, Wang Zhi Hao offers Hao Yun a job as a nanny and a place to stay. So Hao Yun who is too afraid to tell her parents about the incident agrees to take the job as a nanny. So they sign a 3-month-contract... This is also a story about following your dreams and confronting your fears."

I think this is one of my favorite romance dramas ever.  Normally I don't like romances unless they are funny, but this one was really enjoyable.  Unlike some cliche dramas where the guy doesn't believe the girl until he finds out he was wrong, this drama highlights the importance of trust in a relationship.  Although there will be misunderstandings in a relationship, sometimes you just have to trust that your friends or the person you love wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt you.  We live in a world in which we are guilty until proven innocent in the eyes of our most trusted friends.  Even though we should be giving the people we love the benefit of the doubt, we tend to think the worst in people.

Although this kind of plot has been used before, I find the story and characters quite unique.  The characters are round and the story is entertaining.  There are some things that aren't really realistic, but I can let it go since it's just a drama.

I do find it funny, though, that her family is supposed to be Korean yet none of the family members look Korean.  I don't know about other countries, but usually families speak their native language in their homes or a combination of their native language and the language of the country they are in.  I find it kind of odd that the family never really puts any Korean words or phrases into their every day language.  Even if families move to another country, they rarely let go of their native language completely in their own homes.  There was only two Korean phrases in the whole drama even though half of the characters were supposed to be Korean.

My Bratty Princess

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Episodes: 33
Cast: Jang Na Ra, Alec Su, Bao Lei, Chen Xiu Li, Lu Xing

"Situ Jin, a mischievous free-thinking lady, and her companion, A Ling, go on a series of adventures. She does not know that she is a princess of the former royal family. To protect her family’s reputation outside the home, Situ Jin dresses as a man and calls herself Xiao Longxia. Concerned about the plight of the refugees which the officials have been ignoring, she comes up with various schemes to help them. Emperor Zhu Yun has been steadily working on consolidating the empire that his father had left him. A monk once gave him a puzzle, telling him that whoever solves it will help him with the problems of the empire. He escapes from his palace to wander around the city with his companion. He befriends Xiao Longxia after he realizes that the money she has conned and stolen from others is being spent on the refugees. When Xiao Longxia solves the puzzle, he decides to maintain closer ties with her. The prince of Yunnan resents the emperor since his sister, the previous queen, had been killed with her family. He sends his son, Bai Yu Fei, to cause unrest and to marry Princess An Ning. An unlikely friendship develops between the Emperor, Xiao Longxia and Bai Yu Fei, each pretending to the others to be someone else. Palace and court intrigues, rebellion and assasination plots abound. "


Oops, I guess I forgot to review this.  It's kind of odd, don't you think?  I don't know how this slipped through my net.  I hope I haven't left a few more undone.  For My Bratty Princess, I really don't remember it well enough to give a decent review.  Seeing as how it was four stars when I rated it, though, it must've been good enough to watch.

My Bratty Princess was one of the first mainland period dramas that I watched.  I remember enjoying the mischievous attitude of Situ Jin.  Considering it was thirty three episodes, I don't know how I would've gotten through it if it wasn't good.  After all, I didn't have the patience for any drama that was longer than 18 episodes back then.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the less than informative review.  Feel free to let me know if I missed any more reviews.  I may have to re-watch some of the dramas.