Monstar: episode 8-9

Frankly episode 9 of Monstar was  torture to watch. We know *gasp*, how could we say that?? Trust us, we’re surprised as well…

The episode just felt so damn long, the characters spent the majority of the time moping around miserably. No one really voicing their thoughts or feelings, no one really doing anything. It felt flat and painfully boring to watch.

Se Yi spent the whole time either crying or saying ‘hmm’ or ‘oh’. The girl needs to expand her vocabulary and remind us why she has two guys fighting over her. At the moment, she’s coming across as this wet, dull girl and nothing like the quirky, confident girl of episodes past. Se Yi, come back please!

Sun Woo/ Se Yi moments are completely cringe worthy. They have no chemistry together at all. We wish the writer would just kill their ‘romantic’ link and focus more on the OTP and Sun Woo with Kim Na Na. Who else had the strong desire to roll their eyes at the hospital scene? Sun Woo couldn’t be more of a kdrama secondary love rival if he tried. School president – check, rich- check, smart/ talented- check and most importantly spends his spare time volunteering in the hospital where he sings to sick kids who adore him – check. Come on, really?

Also Sun Woo’s pathetic excuse of a love confession is right up there on the list of ways not to confess your love to the leading lady. Seriously, when you’re back is turned to her and eyes are on your rival rather than the girl you’re confessing to – does it really count as a love confession? For us we hoped for more, obviously nothing too romantic to sway us away from the OTP, but something better than that!

Seol Chan wasn’t much better, when is he going to man up and tell her how he feels? How is a girl supposed to know how her OTP feels when he blowing hot and cold all the time?

Okay, so we’re calling episode 9 a write off but we’re glad that episode 8 had a few goodies tucked away in it.

At the end of episode 8, all we could think was: now really, is this how you end an episode? We thought this was supposed to be a fun, teen, musical drama –  having one of the characters pushed to the point where he’s ready to jump of the school roof is a little harsh?

Don’t get us wrong, it was emotional, intense and captivating viewing  and we thoroughly loved it.

The last song was amazing. It broke our hearts, it was just so sad. This was a scene that summed up exactly how horrible bullying can be and how alone a person can feel in such a situation. It felt terribly realistic. Like this situation could happen to any of us. The build up of Do Nam and Kyu Dong’s fractured relationship has been an on going subject through the drama and to finally know the reason why they fell out is welcomed. We’re glad it had enough of an impact to warrant Do Nam’s anger towards Kyu Dong, anything less would have felt anticlimactic.

Aside from our hearts breaking a little when Kyu Dong sang, we also loved Seol Chan and Se Yi’s date/ guitar lesson!

The writer finally decided to move in the right direction and gave us some cute OTP action. Horray!

Their moments sparkle with chemistry and feel so refreshingly realistic. They have the perfect amount of awkward, unspoken (teen rated) sexual energy to make their moments work so well. Their scenes are like night and day compared to Se Yi’s moments with Sun Woo. We wish the drama had a few more sweet moments between Seol Chan and Se Yi. In reflection they spent an awfully large amount of time fighting and making up. Yes, we know, that’s how OTP’s usually act but this particular couple lacked more cute moments than most dramas, which is a shame because they are adorable together. After episode 9’s kiss, we’ve got our fingers crossed that this OTP stop fighting long enough to actually fall in love.

Other thoughts:

We’re so glad that Ji Woong Ahjussi got a haircut! Finally, that wig was so distracting.

What’s with Eun Ha’s bruises? Oh man, domestic violence/ bullying ect is just too much. She’s such a sweet, likable character. She often has funny, sweet one liners that make us smile. She’s a character that everyone knows in real life. She’s not particularly amazing at something but incredibly likable.

When is Sun Woo going to look at Kim Na Na and fall head over heels in love?? Are we really asking for too much?

Cruel City – thoughts up to episode 9

This drama still owns our souls completely. At this point we’re those girls wondering around blurry eyed due to sleep deprivation. Do we really have to try and function when this drama is so damn addictive, it’s really not fair?

We could quite easily go off on a rambling gush about everything that we loved from episode 2 until episode 9 but then we realised that could take a while, so we’ll stick to some general thoughts and personal highlights.

There is very little chance we can gush without spoilers and conspiracy theories. It’s just impossible!

We really didn’t think that the drama could top the brilliance of the first two episodes but we’re happy to report we were so wrong. Episode 3 was just wonderful viewing. It was intense and so exciting, it felt like a giant cat and mouse game where we didn’t have a clue what was going to happen next and we loved it.

The thing we loved about that episode was the drastic difference between Shi Hyun and Hyung Min’s behaviour. On one hand we had a frantic, emotional and scared Hyung Min running around like a lunatic desperately trying to keep those around him safe while chasing the bad guys. Then we had Shi Hyun calm and super cool as he also tried to keep himself from getting killed and maintain his position. We loved watching the difference in their personas and then watching their feelings and actions slowly unravel across the past few weeks’ worth of episodes until suddenly it’s like they have switched roles.

Hyung Min is now cold, broken and possibly damaged beyond repair after the death of Kyung Mi and his unborn child. The guy has had it rough and this desire for vengeance is the only thing anchoring him from probably topping himself. Once again we can’t stress how pleased we are that the police/ ‘good guys’ are right in the thick of it and are aware of everything that is happening. We hate it when dramas stereotype the police as the stupid, useless counterpart that are always one step behind.

Shi Hyun has gone from being in control and calm to slowly losing his grip on everything and everyone around him. He can’t even keep those closest to him from killing each other. He too has found himself on a mission desperately trying to work out who killed Kyung Mi and in the process clear his name of the crime. Honestly, the moment we found out he was an undercover police officer, our jaws dropped! The first thought we had was he might get a happily ever after – yay. Then we realised that this drama isn’t afraid to kill or hurt anyone and so we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

We loved Kyung Mi’s death. We knew she was going to die from the awesome trailers we watched before we started the drama, so it wasn’t a real shock but her role in both men’s lives is a surprise. We love how the writer has built in a whole back story between Shi Hyun and her and suddenly her role and subsequently her death is not only the driving factor for Hyung Min but for Shi Hyun and Soo Min as well. We just love how all three major characters are all working towards the same goal and don’t even know it. The scene where both men are paying their respects at the graveyard was particularly poignant. Their hurt and anger was the same and us as the viewer saw exactly how similar they were as people and that their worlds weren’t as far away as they think. We like how the writer has kept Kyung Mi in the drama despite her being dead. We like how she plays the part of Hyung Min’s moral conscience and plays a constant reminder of why these characters get up every day to fight.

Aside from the general awesomeness of this drama, we love the family dynamics of the drama. It took us a moment to work out why we liked this drama so much (aside from the obvious) and then we realised that this drama is very family orientated and we love us a nice, complicated family drama. Sure, they are unconventional, deranged and most importantly lethal but at the same time – these people are all they know and have as family.

In our opinion Jin Sook, Safari and Shi Hyun are like a family unit and their dynamics just fascinate us. They mistrust each other and wouldn’t hesitate to kill but underneath all of that, they care about each other. They have a rich history and share memories. This makes their actions all the more powerful and personal.

We utterly loved the scene where Shi Hyun was beaten up in his attempts to rescue Soo. The personal flashbacks to his past with Safari and the regretful, pained look on Safari’s face when he thought that Shi Hyun was about to be killed is a perfect example of a moment that had a far greater impact on us viewers because of their personal connection. The writer has managed to successfully transform this drama from being a typical gangster/ crime drama to something more. Their actions have meaning, a consequence and will leave an impact on one another and for us that’s perfect. We want to feel invested, feel obsessed and care deeply for these characters and far we do.

Moving onto the leading lady. Soo Min, oh Soo Min – sleeping with a guy on the first date was not a good move and frankly we’re a little disappointed by her.

Yes, Shi Hyun is HOT, we mean really HOT but the girl should have controlled herself. Other than that, we’re really liking this leading lady. Her character has a lot of parallels with Shi Hyun in the sense that they’re both undercover cops and left to fend for themselves. They are both vulnerable in a way that no other character is in this drama and despite everything they are both innocent characters thrown into a world that they can’t escape now.

It hard not to feel sorry for such a character, she has no one now and the one person she thinks she can rely on treats her quite poorly. Sure, Hyung Min has his own demons to deal with but he really doesn’t need to be such a bitch to Soo Min. Damn it, she’s grieving as well.

Her relationship with Jin Sook scares the living hell out of us. Considering how crazy/ faux-cestrious her relationship with Shi Hyun is, we can’t imagine she will take Soo Min and Shi Hyun’s budding relationship well. The woman is deadly and has shown that she has no loyalties to anyone except Shi Hyun. We seriously hope our leading lady stays smart and doesn’t get attached to Jin Sook because we just know that Jin Sook will try to destroy her at some point in the future and she won’t have anyone to blame but herself!

Although the romance is in its early stages, we’re hopeful that it will be epic (no pressure then!). Despite sleeping together, their interactions have been limited and so we don’t really have a feel for what they are like as a OTP. The scenes we have seen, consist of her acting ‘cute’ and being dazzled by his looks (can we really blame the girl?) and him staring at her like she’s a strange alien species that he’s trying to make sense of.

Random thoughts:

-Who else squealed like a fangirl when he rescued her and told her his real name??? Oh please let this OTP be ammmmaaaaazinnnnngggg. Pretty Please.

-Hong Ki is going to turn out to be Shi Hyun’s father isn’t he??

-We kind of like the Reporter girl / possible love interest for Hyung Min… she’s funny and smart.

-Who else thought that Hong Ki and Jin Sook’s interactions are super hot? We do, we do, we do. Heheheh

Monstar episodes 6-7

While watching the last few episodes of this drama we came to the realisation that this drama is the Korean version of the Disney TV movie Lemonade Mouth. There are so many parallels it’s unreal – misfit, damaged kids brought together through music while taking on the mean popular kids. 

Like Lemonade Mouth, we waited in anticipation for the ‘big performance’ where everyone is proven wrong and are pleasantly shocked by the band who everyone thought would be rubbish. However, we’ve got to say we were left rather disappointed by the end of episode 7 and the band’s big show piece.  For several weeks now, the drama had been building towards this one moment and frankly it was poor. Okay, the band hardly ever got through a whole practice without someone running off crying or having a tantrum but still… we hoped for so much more. These guys have talent and what we watched was half arsed and dull. It really did look/ sound like something you would see in a school assembly. 

Before you say anything, we’re aware that the drama and their performance wasn’t actually about the music but about them evolving and healing through teamwork blah, blah but couldn’t they have done that along with giving us a great musical number???

Aside from hating their performance, we’re loving almost everything else. At this point in the drama, we think we’ve jumped ships. Se Yi and Seol Chan are okay but it’s all about Seon Woo and Kim NaNa.

She’s a gangster’s daughter with a bad reputation and he’s the school’s golden child. We do love when dramas bring opposites together! Their duet in episode 7 was just fabulous viewing, so touching and lovely. He’s gently pushing her to be herself and not be ashamed of where she comes from and she’s blatantly just falling more and more in love with him as each episode passes and frankly we can’t blame her! heheh

Other random thoughts:

• There has been no real progress on either bromance fronts, if anything the antagonism has become worse than ever. sigh*
• Who else saw a hint of jealousy in Se Yi’s eyes when Seol Chan was fangirling over Kim Nana after he found out she could sing? One word – finally!

Buhahaha, our eyes burn!

What the feck is this photo all about. How can Jung Kyung Ho look so outrageously hideous in the photo above and look so hot in Cruel City??

Shudder*

Monstar: First impressions /episodes 1-5

This is what we’ve been waiting for all year.

Although we may not have watched anything for several months; we still kept tabs on what fandom were watching and blogging about. Come on, we couldn’t go cold turkey altogether, it would be too hard to cope!

Since we returned to dramas, we decided to check out Monstar and fell in love pretty much straight away. The story manages to encompass everything we love about dramas and was just the thing we wanted in our return to dramaland.

A story of a group of misfit kids taking on the popular kids at their own musical game is an old story told a million times in dramas but one we seem to return to time and time again. We can’t resist our underdogs fighting their way to the top. Plus when the characters are so lovable, can you really blame us?

The storyline may be simple but the tone and feel of the drama makes it so easy to get swept up and carried away in the drama. The characters are what transforms this drama from being just another school/ musical drama and makes it something special. They’re an odd group of characters that seem to blend well together despite the unlikelihood of them ever being grouped together.

We’ve got the arrogant superstar as the leading man who lacks social graces and often puts his foot in it – Seol Chan

Sure this character has been portrayed a million times before, we can list at least a dozen characters just like him but we still love him.  We concluded that his characterisation is more Jdrama that Kdrama. Jdrama romcom leading men are often more emotional, goofy and you get a deeper impression of their thoughts and feelings under the gruff exterior. Whereas Kdrama leading men can often come across as idiot bastards that need to suffer before they are redeemed and get their HEA.

We like how in this drama the audience is given an insight to his inner thoughts and feelings. Seol Chan may not voice his feelings for the leading lady but as viewers we know exactly what he really thinks. We are given the chance to see that he’s not just a heartless, thoughtless brat but does in fact care about things and people. We like how he’s a musical genius and is often driven by his instincts and feelings rather than rationality. He’s not shy to voice his thoughts even when he should maybe put a sock in it but that’s just another side of personality that we like.

Then we have the beautiful, considerate and tough leading lady — Se Yi

She’s just such a lovable character that it’s hard to believe that a viewer wouldn’t like her. She’s got this quietly strong persona while appearing incredibly delicate and sweet.

She comes across rather quirky in this drama as well. Frankly we’re not fans of the ‘quirky’ leading lady character as it’s usually overacted and becomes quite cliché. However, she’s such a well rounded character that her ‘quirkiness’ doesn’t overshadow the other sides to her character.

Our most favourite scene so far from the drama and from the leading lady is definitely the scene where she sings along with Kyu Dong when he’s forced to sing in class. It was quite a hard scene to watch. He’s just so helpless and sad as he sings and you’re watching it desperately wishing that someone would help him and then Se Yi starts singing. It’s just so unexpected that our eyes were glued to the screen. The scene was transformed from this desperate, pathetic moment into something powerful and hopeful. Her joining in changed the meaning of it all. It went from a bully’s punishment to something amazing to witness.

The love rival and possible bromance with Seol Chan is Seon Woo. Once again, the writer didn’t really deviate away from the norm when creating his character. He’s smart, handsome, popular and incredibly kind to the leading lady. He’s practically Ji Hoo sunbae from Boys before Flower.

We like how he’s witty and doesn’t allow Seol Chan or others to take advantage of him. Also he has the capability of winning the leading lady. For us that is a major must for any creditable love rival.

We really don’t care about his role as a love rival, for us it’s all about his potential bromance with Seol Chan. Their banter is hilarious and you know that they just want to make up and be best buds again. What made them stop being friends?? Why are there always misunderstandings in Kdramas?

Another scene we loved was the scene where they played the piano together. It was just such a sweet moment for the group. Their bromantic chemistry really shone through and made us smile.

The thing we like about this drama is that these characters may differ in circumstances but when they are together they draw strength from each other’s company.

Although the drama is mostly light and fluffy there are moments between the characters that are filled with pathos and a desperate sense of despair that are just wonderful to watch. The characters may be stereotypical to an extent but their feelings and issues are all very human. The feeling of betrayal, confusion and longing is all very apparent in this drama and is conveyed really well in these characters that we’ve grown so fond of. We understand them on a deeper level than we thought we would have when we started the drama. We’re thankful that the writer isn’t shoving the message down our throats that these kids are hurting but instead manages to get the balance just right.  

For us the musical battle is simply a backdrop and the real show is the small moments and conversations between the group as they all individually try and get through their own personal demons. Without fail each episode has managed to make us smile, cheer and hurt for these characters. As each episode passes, it just keeps getting better for us as viewers. We’re just gutted that it only has 12 episodes! 

To the Beautiful you

This photo alone may have just convinced us to tune into yet another remake of Hana Kimi. Just look at the way he’s looking at her, so intense, we love it!

We never know, it could be another Boys Before Flowers – totally awful but pure drama crack.

I need Romance 2012 – thoughts up to episode 8

Two reasons why we tuned in:

1. Jung Yumi – we’ve loved her since her Que Sera, Sera days and jumped at the chance to see her in another Kdrama regardless of what it was about.
2. Lee Jin Wook – We think he’s hot. End of. Hehehehe.

Thankfully, we finished episode 1 with more than two reasons to stick around. We were pleasantly surprised by the overall high quality of the drama. We loved the characters and the script moved along at such a great pace that an hour flew by and we were left wanting more.

Now that we’ve reached the half way mark, we thought we’d reflect on some of our thoughts on the drama so far.

The OTP:

This OTP is messy, co-dependent and have way too much history to be functional with anyone other than each other. Frankly, it’s a pleasure to see such a rich, well-developed OTP on-screen. This couple know each other on such an intimate level that we can’t help but feel like we’re watching a real couple. The fact that their chemistry is outrageously good only adds to their appeal and when we say it’s good, we mean they could start a fire with the amount of heat they manage to generate with their make out sessions!

Unfortunately, like most couples they have their issues and in this case it’s the fact that the leading man Suk Hyun is completely emotionally stunted and isn’t looking to commit to Yeol Mae. Considering she’s 33 years old, we can’t really blame her for wanting to settle down. Regardless of it being 2012, there is still a stigma attached to unmarried woman in their 30s and when the love of your life is hesitating over something that makes perfect sense, we can totally understand her impatience with him.

After 8 episodes, we’re finally beginning to get an insight into why Suk Hyun is the way he is. We like how the narrative was focused on Yeol Mae at the start of the series and now we’re suddenly hearing small snippets of Suk Hyun’s thoughts and feelings. We love when a writer is able to manipulate our feelings so easily. For us, it’s a sign of a good writer and also it bodes well for the remainder of the drama.

In regards to Suk Hyun’s reluctance to commit to Yeol Mae, we’ve got our money on a hereditary disease. He doesn’t want to get too close because he’s going to die. How very Kdrama of us, we know and hopefully, we’re just being over the top and dramatic in our predictions but it wouldn’t be the first time where a fluffy drama has gone all dark and serious on us in the second half.

A love rival we wish would just go away:

For us, the OTP is one of the stronger factors of this drama and so it frustrates the hell out of us whenever we have to watch that smug faced coffee guy – Ji Hoon aka the most boring love rival we’ve seen in ages!

Three words to describe Ji Hoon: Nice, dull and boring.

How is it possible that he shares ZERO chemistry with Yeol Mae??? Not even a small spark, nothing, nadda, zilch. It’s rare for us to like Beta males in a drama but he could be in a league of his own. He needs to get a backbone and man up! How can a guy go after a girl who confesses that she’s madly in love with someone else and that if they do go out, there is a distinct possibility that she might leave him to go back to the man she’s always loved?? Where is his pride, his dignity…his balls?

 Yawn*

We can’t emotionally or mentally connect with this couple because we know in great detail how much Yeol Mae loves Suk Hyun. So for us, they are just wasting airtime until we get back to the real OTP of the drama.

The end of episode 8 made us groan in frustration. First of all, how totally un- cool of Ji Hoon to whoop with joy when Yeol Mae allowed him to court her. Secondly, Yeol Mae must know that she’s just going to use him until Suk Hyun comes to his senses, which is just cruel.

We sense that the upcoming episodes are going to drive us mad. Sighs*

Friendship:

It’s nice to watch a drama where there is a good representation of female friendship. We love how these characters are there for each other especially when the shit hits the fan. Why is it that Kdramas all have their leading ladies suffer through their OTP heartbreak with only the pathetic love rival for company or that one female friend who is a complete weirdo or nerd?

These girls (and Suk Hoon) talk frankly about everything, not just the good stuff or the important things. They also happen to share really lovely chemistry together that makes it easy to believe that they are friends and that more importantly they do care about each other. We have a feeling that without that chemistry, the drama wouldn’t have been half as good. Watching their conversations and seeing them work through their issues together as friends is where we think we fall for them a little more every week.

One of our favourite moments with them is the scene where the girls go to support Jae Kyung after her accident. Ji Hee and Yeol Mae totally disapproved of their friend’s actions but Jae Kyung asked them to forget the situation and simply support her because that’s what friends are supposed to do. They put aside their judgement and anger and were just there for her in her hour of need. It was that moment that made them stand out from other depictions of friendship in past dramas which sadly, often come across as fake and 2D.

Props to Suk Hyun, although he’s emotionally stunted and could give the Tin man a run for his money, this guy knows how to be there for his friends when they need him.

We loved how he put Ji Hee’s good for nothing boyfriend in his place. Finally! We’ve been dying for someone, anyone to say something to that waste of space bastard. We also loved the scene where he went over to that couple that were staring at Jae Kyung. We loved how he offered to go up to every single person that looked their way just to make Jae Kyung more comfortable.

A secondary couple we can’t wait for: Ji Hee and Tae Woo’s romance

This is an awesome secondary couple. We have so much love for them and can’t wait for them to get together. Watching Tae Woo chasing down a bus and witnessing one of the sweetest pep talks ever, was a delight. Yes, we confess we were grinning like fools after that scene.

Naturally, Ji Hee has the worst luck ever and finds out that the man who witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments of her life now works with her. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Kdrama otherwise and frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way!

We loved how he was there to witness her break up with her rotten boyfriend. What an epic break up, we loved it, we laughed us arses off at the moment she brought out the sex books and told him to study hard! Hahaha.

Nothing could have topped that scene, it was brilliant.

Now we can’t wait to watch this bickering couple put aside their embarrassment and get together. So excited!

Other thoughts:

We hate Kang Na Hyun! It’s irrational and childish but we’re 100% on Yeol Mae’s side and would have loved to throw one of those rotten stones at her face!

We loved Yeol Mae and Suk Hyun’s final break up in the school field. It was intense and angry and exactly how it should be between a couple with as much history as them. Loved it.

Who else wants Jae Kyung’s ex husband to suffer!? What a sod.

Queen In Hyun’s Man – 12-16/ final thoughts

We originally wrote this post the day after we finished the drama but never got around to putting it up, so we guess this is better late than never…

We watched episode 14 and thought to ourselves that it was perfect, it should just end right now and let them live happily ever after. It was satisfying and exactly what we wanted but no, it wouldn’t be a Kdrama without the writer making us squirm in our seats for another two episodes as we anxiously wonder whether they can pull off the impossible and not ruin a near perfect drama.

Trust us when we say we sweated it out in anticipation wondering whether this would be another 49 days shudder*

After we finished episode 16, we felt strange. On one hand we were terribly sad that it was over and that we wouldn’t be able to watch more of this wonderful drama that reignited a feeling that we thought we had lost for dramas but on another hand we felt kind of disappointed by the conclusion and the rationality of his return.

She called him back to 2012… not only was it cheesy but it made little sense in a mystical drama where the writer had managed to successfully set guidelines and rules as to how the magical elements of the drama would work.

The reasoning was too abstract and flimsy and well we just hoped for more, considering the writing and pretty much everything else had been spot on.

We like the notion that his phone was Hee Jin’s equivalent of the talisman and that her love ultimately brought him back to her and out of harm’s way but still, it just didn’t feel like a solid enough explanation. This drama is better than that and sadly as much as we tell ourselves not to expect too much, we still had our hearts pinned on it being that rare drama that was perfect from start to finish.

We’re not going to cry too much because this has definitely been our favourite drama of 2012 (so far).

Yes, it may not have turned out how we hoped but frankly perfection is overrated.

This drama had us emotionally and mentally hooked from episode one. It’s been a very long time since a drama has managed to solidly hold our attention from start to finish without us wavering at one point or another. It’s been even longer since we’ve watched a drama that was equally good in all areas.

We’re so pleased that this drama found itself a fan base and so many people loved it as much as we did, it would be a shame it if remained hidden under the guise of being labelled just another time travel drama.

One of our favourite things about this drama will always be the OTP.

Like we always say, a good OTP can keep us hooked on even the worst of dramas. Before the infamous public declaration of love came about, we remember sitting there week after week wondering whether they were a real couple. Their chemistry was just electric; it felt so natural and made the romantics in us giddy with excitement. When we think back to the drama, their interactions were quite mundane. They would hang out at the library, ride bikes and meet in the park. Sure, there was the public declaration of love on an airborne flight and oh yes, him turning up with multiple arrows in his body but still… we think we would have been content watching them do pretty much nothing for 16 episodes. They had us hooked on a basic level, where it was all about their eye contact and accidental touches.

Once you strip away the time travel, the famous actress meets historical scholar, all we’re left with is a guy and a girl who fall in love. We adored the fact that this couple just fell in love. Aside from time being an obvious obstacle, everything else was lovely viewing. There were just so many really sweet OTP moments that it’s hard to pick just one.

Okay, if we were going to have to narrow it down…we guess the scene where she spots him at the award ceremony was pretty awesome. We swooned like the worst type of fangirls imaginable. It was just such a great scene. Their eyes met and there were just a million emotions reflected on Hee Jin’s face. Even though the scene consisted of the OTP just looking at each other we loved how emotionally charged the moment was with the prospect of hope and disbelief all marred together.

Then there are other scenes like the hot library kiss in the lift and the scene where he brought her a car… okay the list could definitely go on but you get the picture!

Aside from loving the OTP, we loved the themes explored in the drama. As terrible romantics, we adored the idea of fate and mystical elements bringing the OTP together. We love how they were intrinsically linked and that Hee Jin was the person there to take care of him every time he escaped death. We liked how the drama explored the idea of risking everything for the ones you love and of course the idea that love conquers all- even time.

Loving the themes explored and the OTP would mean nothing if it wasn’t for the fact that we adored Boong Do and Hee Jin as individuals. If we didn’t like them as individuals, a great script, hot chemistry and lovely romance would mean nothing.

Hooray for an evolved male in a kdrama! We’re so pleased that Boong Do wasn’t an idiot leading man who was a complete bastard, emotionally stunted or just plain dumb.

Considerate, sweet and smart, what more can a girl ask for? We adored him from start to finish. His character could easily have been boring, if it wasn’t for the fact that he steamed up the screen with his OTP or the fact that we had the pleasure of watching his conflicting feelings play out on-screen effortlessly every week.

The scene where he’s writing his final letter to Hee Jin broke our hearts. It was just such a sad, emotional scene where we thought things couldn’t get worse for him and then they did. As he was such an honourable, likable character we felt for him so much when he lost everything, even his identity through the course of the drama. So even though the ending was very convenient and felt slightly disjointed we couldn’t have been happier for him when he got his HEA because he owned our hearts completely. Plus, if there was ever a guy that deserved a HEA it was him. Boy, did he suffer.

He is most definitely our favourite male character of 2012 by a long way.

Hee Jin was a treat to watch on-screen as well. She wasn’t your standard hard-working good girl or that angry damaged girl. Instead she was cheerful, thoughtful and very likable. We could so see ourselves being friends with her in real life. Plus, the girl had a cheeky, girly quality that we couldn’t help but relate to.

Who doesn’t like a girl that makes up elaborate, silly lies to get a kiss out of her OTP? Plus, we love the fact that she let her heart guide her through the course of the drama. Rationality, denial and hesitance wasn’t even an option in this drama, as soon as she met her OTP, she dived right in and fell in love. It was a refreshing and welcomed change in a drama climate where dramas love to drag out their OTP’s feelings until you reach the point where you have pulled all your hair out in frustration.

If this drama taught us anything, it was the idea that we can still find new gems that make us giddy and more importantly they can be excellent in quality. This drama has definitely set the bar for 2012 and sadly for us, possibly spoiled us a little in our expectations for any drama that follows.

Damn you drama for being so awesome!

How much we liked it: 9.5/ 10

How good we thought it was: 9.5/10

Yep, it was just that good.

A Gentleman’s Dignity – thoughts up to episode 12

We’ve followed this drama from the very beginning and have enjoyed it more and more as the weeks past but frankly when reflecting on it, our minds draw a complete blank as to why we like it so much.

We tried to recall what exactly happened across 12 episodes, only to be left scratching our heads in wonder. Surely, after 12 episodes something substantial would have happened in a Korean drama? But nope, not in this case. This ultimately makes us wonder, why exactly are we smitten and what is keeping us tuned in every week?

Then it hit us, this is our Pasta for 2012. It’s the OTP that keep us coming back for more because frankly everything else is a bit meh for our liking.

Hello, who doesn’t love a reformed ladies man who decides to have a one-sided crush on a woman who loved his best friend? Also, who can resist a leading man who crashes his beloved car in a fit of jealousy? hehe.

The OTP’s moments together are just so lovely to watch. You can feel their cautious sexual chemistry oozing off the screen and we just love the unpredictable nature of their actions towards one another. They have shared so many sweet moments, more so than hot ones but for us, that only makes them more charming. Especially considering he’s a reformed cad and she’s a goodie goodie. We do find it strange that Yi Soo is so flipping chaste considering her age and the fact that it’s 2012 but as it’s a Kdrama we’re always willing to suspend our imaginations.

We think the drama has done really well in developing their feelings for each other. Her crush on Tae San was handled appropriately and not ignored even when she was over him. We like how it took her so long to realise that she liked Do Jin and despite feeling sorry for her when he decided to shun her completely, we think it was exactly what she needed to realise her feelings. Also, what was she thinking wearing his shoes in that situation?? It was just so insensitive and did you see poor Do Jin’s face light up at the sight of her in them?

As soon as he brought her shoes, we knew it wouldn’t end well. Everyone knows that if you buy shoes for love ones they will run away…it’s a Kdrama must.  

Although we’re glad that Do Jin and Yi Soo’s fight was over quickly, we have to say that her kiss through the glass scene was cringy – how is that romantic or appealing to watch? Frankly, it made us go eewwww at the sight of it.

Now that the OTP have finally gotten together, we wonder what on earth the writer has in store to fill  9 episodes… The drama of Colin potentially being Do Jin’s son is just dull to even consider. We’ve seen the ‘illegitimate son come to ruin the OTP’s happiness’ story done a million times already and honestly we could live without it. So we’re hoping that the writer has more up her sleeve than that and makes us glad we stuck around. Fingers crossed*

Sorry, Yoon and Me Ah Ri lovers – we just don’t get it.

Why, why are people fangirling all over this couple??? It makes us feel like weirdos because we just can’t work out what all the fuss is about.

Naturally, we’re not blind to all the sexual tension and the potential that simmers every time they’re on-screen together but seriously, how repetitive are their scenes together, it’s driving us mad!

She throws herself at him like a giddy school girl, only for him to bat her away and tell her to grow up. She cries, he looks pained and she leaves heartbroken. The sequence would have more impact if it didn’t happen every week. Being resilient is always a good thing, but Me Ah Ri is unrealistic in her constant devotion to a man who keeps rejecting her. She’s such a likable character, we desperately want her to wake up and get over it. Let him realise exactly what he’s missing and then we’ll happily watch him grovel his way back in her life.

Yoon is the character we love dearly but boy does he test our patience. We spend the majority of the time shouting at our screen – Man up, Yoon!

We get that he’s in a difficult situation but still, it’s been 12 episodes now, we need the writer to give us some progress. Send Me Ah Ri away, give her a decent love interest, something, anything please drama writer, don’t drag their relationship out any longer!

Trouble sleeping? The perfect remedy for that is watching Tae San and Se Ra on screen.

It can’t be just us that find this couple super dull. They fight about the same thing every week and frankly we just don’t care enough about them to be bothered. Se Ra is an insecure, needy brat that takes advantage of Tae San’s love for her by constantly pushing him. Tae San does what he can to put up with her antics because the poor sod loves her…but still it makes for frustrating viewing.

We’re glad that he finally broke up with her; it’s about bloody time too. Now if she would just hurry up and realise that being married in 2012 isn’t the same as being married in 1712, we can all be happy.

The older woman and the play boy – a complicated love

We just want to beat the crap out of Jung Rok every week. Watching an adulterer is no way ever endearing, sweet or romantic. We want Mi Sook to divorce his sorry ass immediately and find herself a nice guy who adores her like she deserves.

Mi Sook is actually one of our favourite female characters in the drama. Her scenes are short but always manage to stay with us. She’s complicated and has layers to her that the other female characters lack. Despite how infuriating it is, we understand why she stays with Jung Rok, she loves him but his actions are killing her.

Watching him serenade her at work and making sure she drinks her herbal drinks is sweet but this guy has a very long way to go to redeem himself. The scene that made us realise that Mi Sook was better off without him was the scene where Jung Rok pleaded with the guys that he didn’t want to divorce his wife and he truly loved her. This scene would have been sooooo sweet and the perfect step forward if it wasn’t for the fact that it was all fake! It turned out to be a really horrible, manipulated scene that  made us think what an idiot he was and also dimmed our feelings for the other guys because they always cover for their friend even when he doesn’t deserve it.

We would love to see Jung Rok really suffer and earn his way back into his wife’s affections before they get their HEA. Until then Jung Rok is strictly in our bad books.

Queen In Hyun’s Man: 6-11

We’ve avoided posting too regularly on this drama because frankly it would probably be the same stuff written over and over again, that being the following:

OMG,We love it, they’re so cute, he’s so hot and dskljhOISPJF;KDMHS…..

Yeah. That pretty much sums up our thoughts up to episode 11.

Our gushes would take on a whole new level of fan girling that would only make us sound like deranged lunatics and embarrass us later on, once the drama crack has eventually worn off.

So for now, we’re going to remain cool about it all and protect our easily disappointed drama hearts because we’re aware that episode 11 is the turning point, where a good drama can sink or go out fighting. Naturally, we’ve got our fingers crossed that this drama lives up to our expectations and remains as awesome as it has.

Please, please drama gods, let this be a keeper!

Who else utterly adored the scene where they finally spotted each other at the award ceremony? The look on Hee Jin’s face was the perfect mix of disbelief, longing and hope all rolled up into one expression.

Drama- you own us completely. We love the fact that we can’t work out where the drama is going or what the OTP will do next. It’s just such a refreshing change to be surprised and completely enthralled by a OTP.

Plus, it’s so damn romantic. There is no immature, idiotic leading man that needs to evolve, no hard done leading lady that suffers a ridiculous amount before her HEA, just two people that completely adore each other.

Now if only we could find a guy like Boong Do in real life…sigh*

If you have to pick just one drama this season, make it this one.

Trust us, you will love it.