Drama Rambles

Dream high’s Love triangle rambles-

Dream High’s popularity seems to have no limits and it’s so nice to see a drama that everyone seems to be loving and rightly so- there is so much to adore in this one drama.  We love the dividing opinions on who should be the rightful OTP. Naturally we made ourselves pretty clear from the start; we are strictly shipping Jin Gook and Hye Mi together. However sadly for us we think we might not get the OTP we were hoping for. *sob. The most annoying thing is, we have a distinct feeling that this writer might actually pull of getting Hye Mi and Sam Dong together really well.

Our problem with SamMi pairing is that Sam Dong had this instant love at first sight thing going and although it is cute and very sweet, we’re just not feeling it from Hye Mi’s side- especially when we’re hoping for hot, angsty stares between her and Jin Gook. If we’re honest we would happily ship SamMi together- Why not?  They are as cute as puppies, such a lovely contrast from one another and after all she’s gone through, she deserves a lovely guy who utterly adores her BUT why did the writer have to give us perfect, angsty, complicated OTP airtime between Jin Gook and Hye Mi?

Hello- we are complete suckers for damaged, angst ridden OTP courtships. It is the fuel to our drama obsession and the reason why we love dramas so much!

Anyway thinking about who will end up with Hye Mi has resulted in a headache and so we have decided that to ease our eventual disappointment…we are just not going to think about it (much). Hehe. We have decided right here and now: that we will just go with it and hope for a satisfying conclusion. If all else fails- we would actually be pleased with Hye Mi ending up single and being outrageously successful as the mysterious K. Oh, who are we kidding, this is a K-drama- she will never end up single!

Damn it- this photo is sweet. Must not be swayed, must not be swayed. Ohhhh.

Secret Garden –

A week ago we read on Allkpop’s website that Secret Garden was to get a two episode extension which is set to air in February. Of course this sent instant shudders down our shines and made us want to go to Korea and throttle who ever came up with that silly idea. Anyway a week has past and we have heard no further news from more reliable sources, so we’re hoping that this was Allkpop’s mistake or an attempt to fill up their pages but it is rather strange considering they claimed they read it on the official broadcasting site that this was set to happen.

 Either way- please, please drama makers- don’t do it, don’t ruin a good thing!
We beg you.

My princess- dilemma

To watch or not to watch? Dramaland’s pickings are rather sparse at the moment aren’t they?

It’s strange, it appears that most people watching are completely hooked, totally loving the OTP and the adorable fluffiness of it all but sadly we’re rather indifferent and frankly for a drama viewer that’s the worst feeling. Don’t get us wrong- we enjoy it enough when we’re tuned it but as soon as it’s over, we don’t give it a second thought and the urge to watch the next episode is practically nonexistent. So our dilemma is simple, should we stick with it or save us some time and drop it?

It’s a shame because Song Seung Hun is awfully pretty to watch on screen.

 

Dream High: 6-7

Jin Gook stay away from Beak Hee! Yes, you and her may share similar parental issues but remember she tried to kill Hye Mi with a plant pot!

Every time Beak Hee was in the same vicinity as Jin Gook we literally screamed at the screen for him to runaway. Please drama don’t redeem her- we don’t want to sympathise with her character, or worse for her to get together with Jin Gook.  Shudder*

We love this drama so much that we’ve become raving weirdos – see rants above. Hehe.

It’s just got the perfect balance of funny, dramatic and heartfelt- it gives us the warm and fuzzies and we look forward to watching it more and more every week. Yes, we are obsessed.

A quick rundown of general mentions:

-Jason and Pil Sook – Thank you drama for delivering multiple scenes of utter cuteness from this adorable couple. Loved, loved their duet- although WTF were they wearing? Our eyes burn from the ugliness of it all. Well until we saw what Beak Hee and Jin Gook were wearing. Yuck. How did Jin Gook somehow manage to still look hot while wearing the tackiest tinfoil costume ever…did you see those horrible leather trousers?

-Hye Mi still rocks- her status as a great leading lady was cemented this week with her one real scene with Jin Gook- where she kicked him!!! Good, it’s exactly what the fool needed. We love how these two are nothing but completely themselves with each other- honest, sincere and direct. We liked how she brought up his comment from the previous episode about standing on the same stage as her and how she knew that something was seriously wrong, even though he chose to act like nothing happened. Seriously, we need to stop crushing on this OTP, because if they don’t get together at the end of the drama, we’ll be totally gutted.

-Sam Dong- what a sweet heart. How lovely is his character- they made a fake showcase pretty much for his mother. How hilarious was all the parodies from other dramas- loved them, so funny. The Cinderella Unni one was hilarious. Aside from demanding more bromance between him and Jin Gook and keeping him strictly as a love rival- we beg you drama, don’t go all melodrama on us and make Sam Dong deaf or worse…die!!  We love the drama’s balance as it is and just the thought of anything happening to the cutest country bumpkin in all of Korea just makes us shudder in fear.

-Speaking of bromance- we adore Oh Hyuk and Jin Man blossoming relationship. So cute!

-We still love Ma Doo Shik/ Debt collector/over the top cheesy gangster. We’re so glad that his airtime in the drama hasn’t decreased since Hye Mi’s debts have been paid off.  We love how his character is funny, quirky and so random. Also any type of romance between him and Cougar Noona aka Oh Hyuk’s sister is more than welcome- their scenes together would be so funny.

-Beak Hee- One word- UGH.

-Woop, Woop for inspirational speeches- generally we find these types of scenes rather cheesy and dragged out but…hey if we can get over the costumes and dance routines we can live with a little more cheese, especially if it’s as sweet as Oh Hyuk’s speech.

Can’t wait for next week!

Long Family dramas- A complicated love

We’re watching It’s okay, Daddy’s girl and although we’re enjoying it, we can’t help but wish this was a long family drama instead because we have a feeling that by the time we reach the finale the drama isn’t going to be able to successfully flesh out all the issues addressed.  We would have loved it if there were more episodes to truly give this drama justice for what it could be. It’s got all the components of a really good long family drama and it just kills us to think of all the potential wasted.

 

It’s got psychos, birth secrets, a murder mystery, multiple OTPs that we can’t wait to see get together (so excited), marriages and lots of tears.
Hello- there is so much to work with and you’re telling us this drama only has 17 episodes? Gutted.
 

Long Family dramas (LFD) – a quick rundown:

-The script has a nice combination of the mundane and outrageous all in one scene. You will probably watch a scene where war has been declared because someone finished all the rice or someone forgot to flush the toilet and then out of nowhere- a vital character will get a headache or a stomach bug and wham bam- its Cancer! Only in a LFD will you get such extremes and despite how insanely unbelievable it is- it’s all so damn addictive that you will leave all common sense at the door and go with the madness.

-The acting varies from good (Loving you a thousand times) to outrageously over the top or damn right bad – see Dae Pong in Sons of Sol Pharmacy House and pretty much every character in Gloria (sorry fans of this drama but it’s true).

 

-Having never been to Korea we don’t really know the reality of life for the average Korean family but strangely enough in LFD pretty much every household will not own a washing machine or have a real bathroom but they will all have half decent jobs and wear well assembled clothes, with nice high heels and yes, the main characters will be dirt poor but will all have the latest mobile phone model.  What is with that? Main characters getting nose bleeds from working so hard to keep loan sharks at bay but by some strange miracle they always have credit on their phones and it’s always a touch phone??? Ummm interesting. Daddy’s girl makes us laugh- the leading lady has a giant arse IPad but no money to get on a bus!

-Speaking of clothes- pretty much every LFD we’ve watched- the families manage to buy bulk loads of matching tracksuits.- So tacky but so cute.

-There is only one type of mother in a LFD- violent, crazy screaming types that love their sons far too much and as a result you will surely go insane from the annoyingness of it all. You will hear the following statements in pretty much every LFD:

‘You are not good enough for my son!’ or ‘how can you marry a girl like her?’ or our favourite – ‘You will marry her over my dead body!’  If you can get past this reality, you and LFD are a perfect match and will spend far too many hours together in the future.  

 

-In our opinion- LFD tend to have lots more laughs than your average 16 ep drama. Aside from the odd except we’re never laughed as much as have when watching a LFD. There is a lovely mix of silly visual comedy and a sharp script that makes this type of drama irresistible. Seriously, the first 20 episodes of Sons of Sol Pharmacy are comedy gold- so funny! Also early Assorted Gems was hilarious at times.

-LFD’s characters are redeemed the best. Every LFD we’ve watched there have been multiple characters that we utterly hated with a passion and spent many hours scowling at the screen whenever they were on it. However by some miracle the writers manage to effectively manipulate our fickle feelings and before we know it we’ve actually grown to like them.

-You are guaranteed the following in every LFD: A death, a marriage, a baby and a happily ever after! The best thing about a LFD is that you quickly become invested the lives of the family and by the time you’ve come to the end you’ll be rather sad to see it end.

Now if only there were more hours in a day…Yes, we’re aware we need help for our obsession- don’t judge us too much!

Its okay, daddy’s girl: 1-4

We are currently watching Dream High (utterly adore) and My Princess (meh), so naturally being the drama obsessives we are- we needed to add something to our watch list that would balance out all the fluffy, breaking out into song cuteness that we’ve been submerged in since Secret Garden finished and so we decided to check out It’s okay, Daddy’s girl. Frankly we wanted to watch something seriously angsty and OTP centric but we couldn’t think of any dramas that we haven’t already watched…if anyone has any suggestions, we’d love some recommendations please.

Anyway after drawing a blank we thought we’d check out this drama and we’re really pleased we did- we’re only four episodes in and yes, there is plenty of time for the drama makers to screw things up but we’re really enjoying for now and everything looks hopeful.

It’s okay, Daddy’s girl:1-4

We are currently watching Dream High (utterly adore) and My Princess (meh), so naturally being the drama obsessives we are- we needed to add something to our watch list that would balance out all the fluffy, breaking out into song cuteness that we’ve been submerged in since Secret Garden finished and so we decided to check out It’s okay, Daddy’s girl. Frankly we wanted to watch something seriously angsty and OTP centric but we couldn’t think of any dramas that we haven’t already watched…if anyone has any suggestions, we’d love some recommendations please.

Anyway after drawing a blank we thought we’d check out this drama and we’re really pleased we did- we’re only four episodes in and yes, there is plenty of time for the drama makers to screw things up but we’re really enjoying it for now and everything looks hopeful.

For us the drama has a very similar vibe to Shining Inheritance and How to meet the perfect neighbour in the sense that the drama is centred on a family and their trials and tribulations. Like Shining Inheritance and How to meet the perfect neighbour– the drama has a clear cut divide between the goodies and the baddies- naturally this being a K-drama, the baddies are really bad and the goodies are pure hearted and kind, which we don’t mind, especially if the writing makes up for it.  So far the drama has had a decent pace- it has managed to introduce the main set up really well as well as clearly presenting a family dynamic that is both believable and very likable. The thing that made us really connect with the drama was the main family- they are so similar to ours -it’s eery. Aside from seeing a lot of our own family reflected in this family, we were seriously relieved that Moon Chae Won’s character Eun Chae Ryung wasn’t completely annoying or outrageously bratty…just a little spoilt but she’s got her family priorities right and she truly does love her dad.

Her father played brilliantly by Park In Hwan has stolen the show so far- He’s a lovely father that does the best he can by his family and others. His relationship and general personality was presented really well and developed quickly so even though we’re four episodes in, we are already emotionally connected to the character and really, really hope that nothing bad happens to him!

As well as being family centric, the drama has a clear mystery/ hidden crime that needs to be solved and thankfully the right people are already asking the right questions- we can’t tell you how utterly frustrating it is watching dragged out mysteries within K-dramas (it’s so boring). So we’re glad that this drama isn’t wasting too much time laying out small clues here and there but instead getting key characters to use their brains instead- hurray!

Apart from the Eun family- every other family in this show is seriously screwed up and needs mental help ASAP. As soon as the drama introduced the Choi brothers we knew that we’d fall for them pretty quickly. How could we resist two brother that obviously really care for each other but are stuck with horrible parents in terrible living conditions just barely making a living and despite their grief and heartache they manage to think of others and do all they can to help the Eun family…? Oh K-dramas we do love when you us give us men we can fall for!  We haven’t really been given must of an impression of the leading man’s character but his younger brother- Wook Gi is so sweet and considerate.

Although the drama is rather rough around the edges- the acting is occasionally laughable- especially Jun Tae Soo, who plays a villain (again) and it appears that he only knows how to glare or scowl in a really over the top fashion. (We think he might have gone to the same acting school as Kim Hyun Joong.) Also the actual story and directing is very standard but still…we’ve really enjoying this drama but it’s strange because we don’t why! Okay we have an inkling it may have something to do with the fact that the majority of the characters are all very likable and are decent human beings and well frankly it’s rare to see a K-drama where the majority of characters are so appealing. The drama manages to suck you in and make you really root for the characters on a very basic level. They are so likable, you want them to be happy and overcome all the crazy evilness that surrounds them. So although this drama may not be particularly well produced or very flashy- it’s accomplished the most important challenge faced by any drama- it’s made us connect and want to watch more….and more!

For now we’re happily hooked and pleasantly surprised by how much we’re enjoying this drama. Heres hoping it keeps up the good work.

My Princess- episodes 4-6

Episode 4 was much better, it gave us what we wanted- lots of OTP airtime. The drama put other issues to one side and allowed us to bask in all their prettiness- seriously we don’t know who’s prettier- Kim Tae Hee or Song Seung Hung…? Okay Song Seung Hung wins- he’s hot. Giggles*

We kind of wish My Princess would pick a genre and stick with it- does it want to be fluffy or be taken seriously? We don’t think it’s accomplishing the task of being both at once. On one hand we’ve got uber cute scenes courtesy of the OTP that brighten up every scene they’re in with their adorable banter and subtle chemistry which is just waiting to develop into something hot and angsty. Then we’ve got serious issues like Hae Young’s father being banished because he didn’t agree with the restoration of the royal family and Lee Seol’s father dying trying to avoid entering that world of royalty- his reputation tarnished in the process. Also when you take into consideration that Lee Seol is practically stealing from her OTP…it all gets rather messy. Stealing sounds rather harsh but that’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it?

The scene where she woke up at his house and saw all the red tags should have been the moment where she realised exactly how much her decision to be a Princess impacts his life. However instead it was brushed aside really quickly and not made an issue of, which we thought was rather strange considering Lee Seol is thoughtful when she wants to be – like giving up her bed for the sick child at the hospital. Also realising that he was the one responsible for sullying her father’s name and ultimately the reason why she entered the palace should have had more of an impact- It’s strange episode 4 finished with her furious at the revelation and then after pouting at him for a bit in episode 5, she got over it and carried on as usual…inconsistent or what?

Things we liked:

-The scene where Lee Seol’s mother took Lee Seol off her family register so then she can officially be put on the royal family register was so sad! It was probably the first time in six episodes where we actually really felt for Lee Seol sincerely as a viewer. Before this scene, the drama had shown multiple scenes where she’s crying over numerous issues but frankly we really care that much simply because it was too earlier and the content was not thoroughly developed enough for us to connect. However the drama managed to develop a lovely relationship between Lee Seol and her mother and so that scene  particularly was really heartfelt and made us think that maybe there is some hope for this drama after all.

-Hae Young throwing Lee Seol into the fountain was hilarious and also when he took care of her when she was sick-  loved both scenes but for very different reasons.

-Kwon and Lee Seol’s friendship- cute!

Even though the drama is failing miserably in keeping an even and logical balance between fluffy and serious, we do have to confess that we really like how the love square has been handled. Especially the OTP- he’s her teacher! How many funny and cute scenes are going to come from the fact that he’s teaching this clueless girl to be a Princess?! Even the concept of a leading man teaching his OTP to become a Princess screams fluffy drama- why ruin a good thing with sinister undertones and politics? Okay we’re moaned enough about what we think it should be rather than what it is, so we’ll move on swiftly-

The love square are all entering the Palace- awkward anyone?

Yoon Joo- what a bitch- we wondered what root the drama  was going to take this character- pitiful love rival (with really, really bad hair) or nasty manipulative bitch that we will enjoy hating? We actually approve of the fact that she’s the latter of the two. Mainly because it will be interesting to see how her character develops. Both her men will undoubtedly fall for Lee Seol and this LR looks like a loose cannon with too much power, so she’s capable of lots of trouble- which is always fun to watch.

We love how Jung Woo rejected her so harshly- how dare she steal his research of 10 years and act like it was nothing!? If this was a darker K-drama -Jung Woo would have a subplot where he goes out of his way to ruin her life and make her pay. Alas this drama is called My Princess, so we won’t hold breath on that one. We really like his innocent (for now) relationship with Lee Seol- how cute was the scene where he confessed to reading her love letter. Ryu Soo Young always manages to effortlessly play the nice guy in all his dramas and this one is no exception. It will be nice to shake up the dynamics within the Palace when he enters- especially when you take into consideration how much Hae Young dislikes the guy. It appears that there is only room for one alpha male within the palace- so we definitely look forward to seeing how both men interact in the upcoming episodes. 

Dream High- episode 3-5

Drama don’t do this to us!! Please make Hye Mi and Jin Gook the OTP in this drama! How can you shove such lovely OTP moments in our face in each episode only for them not to get together?

 

How sweet was Hye Mi’s serenade to Jin Gook! We knew it was coming but still it was such a heartfelt scene and it definitely cemented our love for the OTP that might never be. Sure Sam Dong is sweet and we love his scenes with Hye Mi but come on, Jin Gook has to get the girl!

If he doesn’t it goes against all K-drama laws:

-They share a history – She gave him his fake birthday!

-He’s rescued her from baddies- multiple times

-They bicker constantly – Never get bored of OTP bickering scenes

-They’re both damaged goods- which only adds to lots of hot angsty scenes.

-They get each other – more so than any love rival could. He knows her weaknesses and still likes her.

-Did we mention that every episode so far has had at least one adorable scene?

Okay, we’ll leave our desperate OTP promotion (for now) and focus on other matters from the last few episodes.

My Princess: episode 3 and general thoughts

After we finished episode 3 our first thought was-
That was just meh.

We feel rather indifferent to this drama (at the moment); at least with dramas like Mary stayed out all night or Secret Garden you felt something regardless of it being good/bad. In the case of My Princess, there is only so many times you can say – it’s cute or the OTP are lovely together. We remember reading someone’s review (sorry can’t remember who) where they compared this drama to the K-drama Pasta BUT with plot- In the sense that you’ve tuned in to watch this charming OTP that have you fixed to your screen because they are that good together. However at least with Pasta, the writers knew what worked and that was the OTP being together on screen. They utilized it really well and ultimately the ratings, plus (unnecessary) episode extension spoke for itself.
When you’re watching My Princess, there is so much going on at once that it’s hard to stay focused and engaged not because it’s intelligently difficult to follow but more because we really don’t care.

You’ve got:

–OTP romantic development– We adore them together. The OTP is the only thing keeping us tuned in.

–All the princess business– Seriously so over it already. Not a good sign considering it’s called My Princess!

–The political side – Blah

–The historical stuff- Seol’s dad & the royal family business – Double blah. We know, so articulately put- but its soooo boring!

–Grandfather’s quest for forgiveness and rebuilding a new monarchy – should be moved but don’t really care.

–Seol’s family– Actually we really like her mother- very entertaining.

–Not to mention two love rival competing for the affections of one another at numerous points in each episode – At this point the LRs are rather stereotypical. We really like the macho competitive side that both men seem to radiate whenever they’re around each other- sexual tension perhaps?? Okay more like overactive imaginations on our part- either way it could be fun to watch.

 Yoon Joo isn’t as boring as we thought she would be. She’s very ambitious, ruthless and the conversation where she told Seol to leave Hae Young alone and to go to her in future for any issues was really good. You could see how threatened she felt by Seol and she barely hid her hostility.

 
How tense was this scene?

Overall it’s all a bit much. We wish the writer would cut back and focus issues more evenly and thoroughly across each episode rather than have multiple snippets of lots of stuff all thrown at us at once. It all feels rather choppy and poorly edited at this point and makes it difficult to connect with the drama.

We’re sticking with it for now because when you’re watching its pleasant enough and we’re hoping that it improves. Plus we really do like the OTP and we’re intrigued by how their relationship will blossom considering how messy the set up is at the moment. You never know we might watch episode 4 and utterly love it, only to retract everything we said already- well heres hoping anyway.  

Secret Garden- final thoughts

20 episodes of absolute love- we’ll miss you drama!

Was Secret Garden technically the best drama? No, the writing was at times inconsistent, the characters irrational and illogical and people have taken umbrage to the waste of potential in reference to the body swap scenario- which is completely fair enough and we get it. However as drama fans, we’ve got to say we loved it and we’re so sad that it’s finished. Sob*

Secret Garden – episode 19-20

We’ll keep this short just because we rambled far too much in our final thoughts post-

Episode 19- Loved how he got his memory back and how he told her about her father rescuing him. 

Episode 20/ finale- It was pure fan service and what? Don’t act like you didn’t love it!