TV: Midway Drama Review

I've been watching a lot of TV lately, so I decided to just pen down some of my thoughts regarding those that I'm still currently watching. I'm actually a little shocked at how many I'm juggling right now. 3/5 of the shows below are actually still airing so my thoughts on them may drastically change depending on the ending? We'll see.


It's Ok, That's Love
Currently at: Episode 12 and dying for the next

Gong Hyojin and Jo Insung?? I mean, what could go wrong. I am absolutely enamoured by this show, by the mish-mash of dysfunctional characters and their complex relationships. The theme of the show aims to shed light on mental illnesses and how it inflicts people; I would think it's a rather intriguing attempt to format it as a rom-com due to the severity of the topic, how it is often butchered in dramas and how rarely one surrounds a drama around it.

Insofar as I see, they've done a decent job in making it a light-hearted and attractive drama. While I would say that they might have potentially romanticised mental illnesses and it's severity (such as when it comes to recovery), and occasionally not giving satisfying enough conclusions or too flippant coverages to the various patients, it still has a rather special place in my heart. Might be too early to say, but I really enjoy the entire dynamics of the show. Overlooking the small little issues that critical little me brought up, thus far, it's a truly attractive drama with complex and unique characters.


Surplus Princess
Currently at: Episode 4

I was excited for this from the start and was pretty much ready to give it a good try just because Jo Boah was in it (she was a complete doll in 2014 movie Thorn). When the plot of the story first came out, I was almost certain that they might have gone for a sappy/cheesy love story with a plot that draws few resemblances to the original adaptation. But thank goodness it ended up being a funny, charming and light-hearted drama that I really enjoy. The acting's rather meh and there are some strange bits thrown in here and there, but it's also positively filled with nonsense plot lines, puns, references and parodies (my favourite thus far is the SNL GTA parody; perfect!!). It is an easy watch and I'm definitely curious on how the story will develop! The downside: only 1 episode per week.


Fated To Love You
Currently at: Episode 8

I'll start by saying that I don't love this, and I'm not really sure if I will. I guess the kind of plot did not attract me as much, the characters are not necessarily charming and it does come off a little bit cheesy for me. I do have a rather strong distaste for the weak+nice lady and pompous+rich guy combo. I also wonder if Jang Nara and Jang Hyuk(!) were miscasts due to the way they're portraying the individual characters and their chemistry, but I'll have to continue watching to find out.

I'm currently watching this on commute from home to university (thus explaining why I even picked it up in the first place) to keep me occupied for that duration. While I've been sounding rather negative, I don't by any means think it's a horrible drama. It's decent, but it simply did not hook me in any way and is not to my tastes. I'll probably still end up finishing though, and I wish to see their relationship blossom a bit more.


Keizoku 2: SPEC
Currently at: Episode 5

The only Japanese drama of the lot. I don't usually watch Japanese dramas, but this one caught my eye and I'm glad I got into it. A rather big franchise with orignals and movie spinoffs, so I'm quite curious where I'll go with this. It, in essence, is a detective drama with a comical genius and a deadpan guy solving crimes with supernatural elements in it. Two things I don't like as of now: how often they mention the err that is "90% of human's brain is untapped", and how in every episode they find the need to do the Cardcaptor-Sakura-detective-solving-paper-flying sequence.

Everything else, though, I really like! Rather interesting stories sandwiched between occasional laugh points, it's a pretty decent detective drama.


High School King Of Savvy
Stopped at at: Episode 10 (pending continuation)

I really wish to plough through the remaining episodes because the initial episodes were really charming and I really want to know how the plot will progress and how the show will wrap up.....but I'm finding it rather difficult as of now.

I know it's a really popular drama, but over time as the characters developed I started liking them lesser, and became rather turned off by the relationships in the show (I think the age gap had a rather big part to play). Jung Sooyoung, as hilarious and comical as she may be, started coming off rather annoying, and I found myself thinking along similar lines for Lee Minseok. I couldn't handle the relationship dynamics without feeling like throwing my mouse at my computer screen -- not a good sign. Which is really unfortunate, because I really wanted to like the drama with the recommendations from people around me and with how much I liked it initially, but I couldn't. So right now it's pending continuation, with a rather bleak future.

TV: Some Updates

I've been catching up on my media news by skimming through some of the hot entertainment news on Naver and here are some pertaining to upcoming screenings that caught my eye:


1. Gong Yoo on the big screen again!!!

Probably one of my biggest actor heartthrob; I can't wait to see him on the big screen. He'll be starring in a 18+ melo entitled 'Man and Woman' alongside experienced actress Jeon Doyeon. It'll be interesting as there aren't too many of this genre nowadays, and I think they'll have pretty great chemistry. I'm not gonna lie; searching for a good photo to place above definitely reignited my flame for him lol; he's one mighty charismatic man.


2. Miss Korea Jin, Kim Yumi, to debut on Korea's adaptation of Nodame Cantabile.

They probably dodged a big bullet with the Yoona/Shim Eunkyung swop, but now they have a new (potentially) questionable item in the mix. While I enamoured by Korea's tendency to call pretty girls that can't act actresses, I don't think it's fair to judge her without seeing her efforts. Her role's not massively big (first love of Chiaki), so as long as she does not ruin the flow of the drama it'll probably be fine. Honestly, I do not think that this remake will hit it big. It's one of the more successful anime and live actions not only in Japan but internationally, so I don't know how they are going to fill that majorly huge shoes.


3. Along the same line is Han Sunhwa in her first lead role.

Idols get a lot of flack for acting. For the opportunities that they get, they deprive another budding rookie actor and hence they get a massive load of expectations thrown onto them. On top of that, rarely you'll find one who meets that standard and gets publicly recognised (even ones that are pretty damn good like Jung Eunji gets her share of criticism). Well, to assess a little: Han Sunhwa was pretty alright in God's Gift since there wasn't too much screen time to establish her skills and it appeared to be rather similar to her actual character. She was slightly awkward in Marriage, Not Dating when it came to something rather out of her comfort zone, but still watchable. I don't know why they decided it'll be fine to plop her into her lead character when she's still struggling to be comfortable in front of the cameras, but let's hope she'll prove her worth.


4. The Big Bang Theory lead actors paid $1 million per episode; Friends-style.

Not Korea related, but it popped up on my feed so I decided to throw in my thoughts on it. I'll say this first, I've watched all the episodes since it first came out and I can't say that it isn't justified. As a whole, TBBT took awhile to gain momentum in the sitcom realm but eventually faltered in the more recent seasons. I felt that season 7 was amazing after the dreary past 4/5/6, with producers realising that a lot of the same plot lines cannot be continually reused and started switching up the dynamics of the show -- more outdoor shoots, more alternative couplings, less old/reused plot lines. That made me excited and geared up for season 8, and while they may never take the place Friends have in my heart, they do pretty well in their own rights.

TV: I Am A Man Episode 2

I actually enjoyed the first pilot broadcast of I Am A Man. It was funny with a rather intriguing mix of audiences that successfully garnered some laughter with good guidance from the MCs. While it was rather rough at certain spots, it was rather understandable as it was just the first episode. They actually had their second episode broadcast yesterday, with IU as the guest! I'm not gonna lie, her presence was rather mild and did not necessarily add a lot to the overall vibe; she appeared to only be there to read the questions.

For those who are not aware of the show, it's kind of something KBS is venturing into after seeing the explosive success of cable channels and their relatively unrestrained talks (like in War Of The Words, or 썰전). MCs include Yoo Jaesuk, Im Wonhee and Kwon Ohjoong, who will host alongside panelists Heo Kyunghwan and Jang Dongmin.

I'll definitely catch the next few episodes, since it will be a regular broadcast from now!

TV: Youth Over Flowers Episode 1

I'm not gonna lie, wasn't very excited for the show. I guess travel based variety shows tend to be more based on their camaraderie and pulling through tough situations than providing hilarity which I typically watch variety shows for. But after catching episode 1, Youth Over Flowers proved to be more fun than I expected. A bunch of 40+ year old 아저씨s that appear to not have too much in common except for their musicality and age.. This short clip I found was rather hilarious.

I'm quite excited for the Laos edition, which features the popular and trending men of Answer Me, 1994!

Music: Red Velvet - Happiness Review

Oh God, what a complete mess.

While I wasn't excessively excited about their debut, their teasers (that were constantly charting on news websites) actually piqued my interest. I, for one, actually rather liked their styling. They definitely went for the more trendy and youthful vibe with the mixed-media dada style (kind of Gaga Artpop) which I appreciated. Tropical prints has one of the largest fashion trends during Summer, so it was interesting that they revolved their entire concept into what will definitely be just a passing fad. The dip-dyed hair were also a rather interesting touch, though slightly overused when SM wishes to give off a quirky pop vibe. I thought they looked experimental and would bring something new to the table.



But everything after the still posters were, to reiterate, a complete mess.

Firstly, the music video. It retained that same experimental aspect that I liked about it, but they should have properly grasped the degree to which hypnotising Kyary Pamyu Pamyu style can be executed as a fresh and intriguing aspect without causing the viewer's eyes to roll. It was as though the concept designers played and went overboard, before realising that midway through and decided to include very awkwardly placed cuts that weren't as well edited. The quality of the dance cuts, both in the set design and in the actual filming, did not match the high contrast CGI they were sandwiched between, causing a definite disruption in quality. There was also this very, very out-of-place chorus which featured a girl in a well lit studio in a ugly modern day clubbing outfit. Not to mention the rather careless allusions to terrorism.

It would have been fine for me if the music was actually good, but it was not at all. I heard a lot of different references in the song, none of which really meshed well together. The hook (lalalas) were decent and catchy, a plus point for a pop song definitely, but that's the only real positive thing I can say for it. They brought in some f(x)-esque rap-singing, but decided that their main vocalist needed to belt -> hence a awkwardly placed high note that eventually transited to some (annoying and autotuned) excessively high note.

Perhaps with the brand SM, financial prowess and proper promoting they can become something, but this debut has been (as much as I wished it wasn't,) a huge nope for me.