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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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.

Inception

Rating: *****
MOVIE!

Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe

"In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception."

This is one of those movies that you just have to see. Very original story, great special effects, and good acting make this a movie worth watching.

Bad Guy

Rating: *****

Genre: Melodrama, Thriller, Mystery
Episodes: 17
Cast: Han Ga In, Kim Jae Wook, Kim Nam Gil, Oh Yun soo, Jung So Min

"Gun Wook (Kim Nam Gil) plans a revenge against the Haeshin Group. A company to whom Tae-sung (Kim Jae Wook) is the heir. "

What can I possibly say about this drama? Truthfully, I don't know where to start. I guess I should say this: ASTOUNDING! I am now a big fan of Kim Nam Gil, the man who plays Gun Wook in this drama. His acting was so good. As far as the drama goes, it really was interesting. The characters and plot were well rounded and the dialogue was great as well. I do think that it would have been better if it hadn't been shortened to a 17 episode show. However, I guess you really cant change what happened. It was originally supposed to be a 20 episode drama, but Kim Nam Gil got drafted so they had to cut it off a bit short. Anyway, this was definitely a drama worth watching.