Fashion King, King 2 Hearts, Love Rain, Rooftop Prince

Last summer, I have watched many interesting Korean dramas and they were Fashion King, King 2 Hearts, Love Rain, and Rooftop Prince. Though they may not be aired at the same time slot, there was still a competition between the four, as to which was the most loved by the Korean and overseas audiences.

To start my review, I’ll begin with my least favourite then to my most favourite drama.

Fashion King

Synopsis: Dreams and competitions in the fashion industry.

Review: This would have been one of the great dramas if not for the characters. As many said, this drama is one of the most or most disappointing drama that they have ever seen, and that is true with me too. I don’t understand how they created the character of Lee Gayoung and why the ending was like that. It’s actually my first time to hate all the characters especially the female lead. Lee Gayoung didn’t know what she likes, which I think is not a good example for the girls, and the two male actors were always mad, like whenever they talk or something, a World War III might start. I think only Choi Anna’s character was the only right thing from the drama, like what others said it’s the only sane character. And for the ending, I don’t get it why they killed Kang Younggeol because the other characters were already doing well on their own.

King 2 Hearts

Synopsis: Unification of North and South Korea trough a marriage.

Review: It was a good drama too. The only thing that was off for me was the villain. At first I didn’t like the villain because it ruined the story, though a war freak villain is good but still I wished the writers could have gone up with a more interesting character or a younger guy maybe.

When I heard that LSG and HJW will team up in this drama, I was a bit nervous because of the age gap between them. Will there be chemistry between them? Surprisingly, both of them adjusted to one another that I couldn't feel the age gap anymore. HJW’s acting was as expected but LSG was shocking, I didn't know he could act like that, and that I almost cry because I couldn’t take it anymore. To tell you the truth, I’m not really interested with the lead characters because I know they’ll do well, what caught my attention was the love line between Princess Lee Jaesin and Officer Eun Sigyeong. Too bad they killed Eun Sigyeong (ㅠ.ㅠ). About their acting… two thumbs up.

Love Rain

Synopsis: Will the ending of their parents be the same with theirs?

Review: Great Story. Great Cinematography. What else should I say? Hmm? That’s all… I think.

But why it’s ratings wasn't that high? The actors were good. Well, maybe for the reason that the drama was catered for overseas audience because they used Hallyu Stars instead and it wasn't appealing to the Koreans.

Rooftop Prince

Synopsis: Time can answer all the questions.

Review: Out of the four dramas, this is my favourite. It has drama, comedy, action, and romance all-in-one. For me, whenever I get home from a stressful day, I’d like to watch a light drama to forget all the worries and feel good, and Rooftop Prince is the perfect drama to watch.

The actors were good and… cute. I think if Yoochun is to find a girlfriend, I hope it is Jimin. They look good together.

Arang Versus Miho

My Observations

1. Shin Min Ah and Lee Jun Ki has chemistry

2. The drama was exciting in the beginning but towards the 2nd and 3rd quarter, the story started to drag

3. During the run of the drama I found an incosistency and it's when the fairy, Muyeong, adopted the young juwal while in the body of Eunho's mother, but the fairy only transferred to Eunho's mother's body when Juwal was a grown up already

Similarities between Arang and Miho

1. Jade Emperor / Great Grandmother

2. Seorim sacrificed herself to save Juwal / Gidal sacrificed herself to save her loved one

3. Arang became a human / Miho wants to become a human

4. Arang had 3 full moons / Miho had 100 days

5. Arang almost sacrificed herself for Eunho / Miho almost sacrificed herself for Daewoong

PS. The ending was cute, them together kissing. It wasn't the ending i actually hoped for, but I like the twist they did.

Secret Garden

It is a story about two people with totally opposite personalities and economic status. Joo Won runs his family’s mall, hotel, and golf course, while Ra Im is a poor stuntwoman. They met when Joo Won mistook Ra Im as the other person he was looking for. It was maybe love at first sight for him, because after this incident, Joo Won pursued Ra im, but Ra Im didn’t show any affection towards Joo Won even if how much good looking and good in money making he is. But their fate brought excitement to their relationship as their souls switched when they drank the liquor gave by someone. While they were not in themselves, they learned to understand each other and live through what they have not experienced before. However, when it rained they went back to their own bodies, so as to their cat and dog relationship. And while they thought that everything was ok, they found out that whenever they were caught under the rain they could switch again, but this time it was less trouble to them because they already knew what to do. Of course it would be boring if there were no villains in the story. It is usual that in a relationship like theirs, the mother of the rich Joo Won will enter the scene, trying to separate them, and despite the threat of his mother of disowning him as her son, Joo Won still chose and loved Ra Im. They got married but didn’t have a wedding and they were blessed with 2 boys and a girl. Joo Won still works in their mall as president but as an ordinary employee and not as the grandson of the owner, and Ra Im became the action director of an action school.

Secret Garden is a drama full of mysteries and twist. But how it became mysterious? Well, the mystery started in the first episode; maybe you would ask why suddenly the rich Joo Won fell in love with the poor stuntwoman, Ra Im? Then followed by, why did that someone gave them the liquor? This maybe not mysterious as you think also but why the mother of Joo Won was so against their relationship. And the biggest question is why did all of this happen to them?

When Joo Won was 21 years old he got involved in an accident, he was trapped in an elevator, causing his being claustrophobic. That happened because when a firefighter rescued him, the firefighter was left inside the elevator after helping him out, and the firefighter told him to tell her daughter that he loves her because he knew he won’t be able to make it out of that elevator, but Joo Won wasn’t able to deliver his message. Being traumatized by the accident, Joo Won then tried to forget all of his memories. That firefighter was the father of Ra Im. So it makes sense when Joo Won fell in love with her because he knew her already but doesn’t have a clue about it. And this was also the reason why Joo Won’s mother was so against their relationship because she was afraid that Ra Im might use it as an excuse to hold onto her son.  I know it is also bothering you why did their souls switch when they drank the liquor that someone gave to them. At first when they received it, they thought it was medicinal liquor, so they drank it, and as they woke up the following day, they were not themselves anymore. The person who gave the liquor was Ra Im’s father, but he’s dead so how he could do it? It is because Ra Im’s father used other person to give it to them. Well, the main reason of it was to help Joo Won remember the promise he made with Ra Im’s father, which he eventually did after regaining all of his memories.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

‘My Girlfriend is a Gumiho’ is a cute and funny drama (but somehow scary). Well, it’s a story about a gumiho and an aspiring action actor (Gumiho is a Korean legend, which means Nine-tailed Fox that can be a very beautiful lady and eats the liver of men. Scary, right?). In this drama, the Korean legend about gumiho was given another description. What is it? Then let’s find it out.

At first, the Gumiho was locked up in a painting, and through the help of Dae Woong, she was freed. To Dae Woong’s shock, he ran away then fell on rocks that caused him a terrible spine and rib injuries that can paralyze or kill him. The Gumiho felt sorry for him so she gave him her bead (a magical bead that can give strength on anyone) to save him from death as an exchange for freeing her. From then on Gumiho kept on following Dae woong. She told him that she is a Gumiho but Dae Woong didn’t believe it and went off, so Gumiho threaten him that if she found him, she’ll show him her tails and get the bead from him so he could die. Luckily or unfortunately, Gumiho found him and took the bead out of him. Dae Woong was dying at that moment but the Gumiho returned and gave the bead back to him. She used this to hold Dae Woong on his neck that later on she fell in love with him.

Gumiho loves to eat meat especially the Korean beef. In order to keep her full, Dae Woong worked so hard to buy her food. Dae Woong’s grandfather found out about it and thought that he was becoming a responsible man. Dae Woong likes another girl, but since he is with the Gumiho, he can’t go nearer to this girl, until he can’t take it anymore and requested Gumiho to leave him. When the Gumiho left, she also take the bead with her (don’t worry, Dae Woong has recovered from his injuries so he won’t die but he can't do extreme movements). Dae Woong is working as an action star and he is supposed to do dangerous stunts. When the girl he likes found out about his accident and with his condition that he absolutely can’t do the stunts and might endanger his life, she told his family about it and suggested to them that he should take a full medical checkup. In wanting to be an action star, Dae Woong looked for Gumiho, which he eventually found. Since he needed the bead so badly, they had an agreement, that they will be together for 100 days and he shouldn’t be with any girl. But Dae Woong didn’t know the real reason why the Gumiho agreed with him. The truth is, Gumiho wanted to be a human, so this half-human and half-monster friend of her, Park Dong Ju, helped her. He gave her his blood which can kill the gumiho chi* (*energy) and after 100 days she should take the bead to stay alive and become human.

The days passed and one by one the Gumiho’s tail disappeared that stop on 5 tails because on the 50th day they found out that in exchange of Gumiho’s dream to be human, Dae Woong will die. Supposedly, at 100th day, all of the human chi of Dae Woong will be transferred to the bead which should be taken out by the Gumiho to live. Dae Woong returned the bead that already took half of his life to Gumiho and told her that no matter what happen they’ll be together. Since the bead that has the human chi of Dae Woong is inside the body of Gumiho, her chi and the human chi kept on overpowering each other that makes her changed into a monster from time to time which she can’t take it anymore, and frightened that she could hurt Dae Woong. She disappeared from the sight of Dae Woong with the help of Park Dong Ju. The life of Dae Woong continued as he kept himself busy with work. Until few days before the supposedly 100 days deal gets over, they met again and Dae Woong Found out that the Gumiho is still dying, so they spent the remaining days together. On the last day, the Gumiho told Dae Woong that she never existed in his life and take it as a dream then she disappeared.

Dae Woong became a famous actor. And everyone around him had beautiful beginnings in life. Without expecting, Gumiho appeared in front of him and they were reunited again at once.