Dream High

I dream high, I dream when...

Idol drama alert! This is basically a JYP production, featuring Suzy from Miss A, Teacyeon and Wooyoung from 2PM, and T-ara's Eun Jung. But can this group of talented singers pull off a drama?

Oh, and Kim Hyun Joong shows up randomly at the beginning. Wait, he's not JYP...

Plot:

Dream High takes place a special high school for the arts. Go Hye Mi (Suzy) has been trained in opera singing and classical music and wants to go to school overseas, but a twist of fate (aka her dad's debtors wanting to make money off of her when they can't get ahold of the old man) lands her to auditioning to get into Kirin Art High School. But wouldn't you know it, she's missing something...

In any case, her and 5 others land themselves in a special half-admissions class to either find that missing aspect or get the hell out. But here's the catch: because they aren't technically part of the normal school, they can't use rehearsal rooms, dancing studios, or anything really. They also don't go to the same classes. Which makes everyone wonder why there even is a half-admissions class.

Today's lesson is staring at the wall. Looks like you've got the hang of it.

The Acting:

I have to say, even if it is an idol drama, the acting wasn't half bad. Except for Suzy. It's actually be stated several times how emotionless she was during the drama. Though truth be told, she wasn't all that bad; she played the evil bitch at the beginning to a T.

Why are you breathing?

It was fairly obvious later on, though, when her transition into a person with a soul led to her being a bit awkward and choppy.

Taecyeon's acting was fair though, with plenty of sexy dancing and rapping intermixed. Though there is a bit of an awkward love triangle that felt a bit too forced. On the other hand, the other love triangle he's involved with (yes, two triangles, woo! and that's not the end to the romance), actually made me cheer. Why? Because he and the other male lead, Kim Soo Hyun, actually made me question who was going to be accepted by Suzy. Yes, my predictions went from one side, to the other, to being stuck in the middle, to finally saying "screw it, let's just wait and see." The only problems I had with his character is there wasn't enough of a story for him (his side story is kind of short and unembellished).

I'm gonna be a star, high up in the sky...

Speaking of Kim Soo Hyun...

Yes, that is a rice-bag "gangster" jacket. And these two are the same person.

Hands-down the best actor. Which makes sense since he actually is an actor. But what was also shocking is that he has the voice of an angel.

Trust me! Just ignore the croaking at the beginning...

And really, the twist his character goes through in the drama is played out very well. I was actually starting to tear up from it. And the ending...ah...

But enough about the three main actors, the supporting roles are nicely done too. Eun Jung plays a very good villian, though her reasoning for villiany is a bit...twisted...

Horror movies can do that to you...

And now we're to UI's and Wooyoung's characters. The start of the Milky Couple. UI plays a character that's overweight but can sing beautifully. Wooyoung plays a character that doesn't show anything wrong (at first) and gets fully accepted by the school. And while Pil Sook (UI) fangirls over Jason (Wooyoung), she wonders if he's nice to her because he's nice to everyone or if he actually like her.

Bet that's a voodoo doll.

UI's character, though, brings to light how the entertainment industry looks down on those without a model's body. Which I think is good, but is kind of saddening.

And now for Wooyoung. I must say, before this drama I wasn't much of a 2PM fan. But Wooyoung's acting made me smile so much. Maybe it was how he actually spoke in English whenever he spoke, except for direct conversations. Or how cheery he acted all the time. Or maybe it was because he roped me into the drama with random dancing in the alley outside of the school before his audition.

He's staring down a lolipop...

But I must say, for the second half of the drama I kind of found his character annoying. We finally get to see Jason's flaws, from not knowing what love is, to arrogance, to ego, to him wondering if he has a superficial side. Which I guess makes sense. But it is kind of let-down the love knot between Jason and Pil Sook (the first half was just full of "aigoo" moments, the second half not so much...) And the change is, in my opinion, a bit too sudden.

A note on the Milky Couple: there is no couple. Basically while Wooyoung has admited to liking UI, UI doesn't return his feelings. Because of this, some would say UI kind of plays him a bit (there as one event she made him pay for a meal, and so on). Overall, though, the media is the one that thinks they're a couple and push them together as much as possible.

Though it is a cute thought.

Pros:

The OST is amazing. I find myself singing the songs all the time. They're addictive. And they play into the story (shocking). Suzy's "Winter Child," "Dreaming," "Dream High," and several others play into the story while at the same time show the emotions and dreams of the characters. Like a musical, but without all the sing-talking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWxW3atw_SU

I told you he could sing. (I take no cred for vid, found it on youtube)

Also, the unpredictable love triangle I mentioned earlier, definitely refreshing.

As well as the main character being a hate-able character. Now this takes some explaining I believe: In this case, one is supposed to hate the character at the beginning and grow to love her as she improves. This does not mean hate as in "she's weak, she cries too much, this is so sexist" kind of hate, which I kind of like since Korean heroines seem to fall in the pattern of hopeless damsel-in-distress a lot.

The stages and shows are very well done. There are even a few street-performance scenes.

They actually work in some music and dance stuff. From perfect pitch to coordination, to singing out emotions, they really do put up a good show of being an art academy catering to future kpop stars.

Cons:

Sometimes there are times to sing. Sometimes there aren't. In one scene, Suzy singing while doing number two in an outhouse while Soo Hyun is outside so he can't hear. And just to make it even more awkward, the song she picks is a softly sung one.

That's one soft pooping...

Also, after only training about a year, several of the characters find themselves in a super popular and famous group, Group K, from an music agency. Which seems a bit fast, since a lot companies have their trainees train for 2-3 years before debuting. Okay, so there was a competition involved. But then there's their popularity. New bands don't become very famous, usually, for about a year.

What are you, a genie?

Also I have an issue with one of the songs that's sung during the drama, My Valentine, which is supposed to be sung by Taecyeon to show he has more than just a rapper side. Which is a song he doesn't sing alone very well, considering it was originally made for three people (him, Nickhun, and JY Park). And when he does sing it with others, they sing quite a bit of it, leaving the *surprise* rapping part to Taec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsAzcRbo4V8&feature=related

Um... (I take no cred for vid, found it on youtube)

And the ending, which I won't spoil. But let me just say, it was kind of a letdown. Except for Soo Hyun. Watch to see why.

Overall:

The drama's pretty good, about an 8/10. It's entertaining and has some highs and lows. And while it is an idol drama, many of the idols do have a talent for acting. I would say it's worth watching, especially is you want to see another side to the kpop industry or like music and dancing.

King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo

Hello! Sorry for the long absence. I decided, because I haven't finished any of the new series yet (except one from China), to review one I recently watched that's a bit older.

Okay, like 2010, but it feels a lot older. King of Baking is well known in Korea for bringing in a love of baking and baked goods. Which makes sense since there's a lot of baking involved.

Breads come in many shapes...

The viewing rating very high and the actors also won a ton of awards for it. But does it really live up to the hype?

The plot:

Kim Tak Goo is the bastard son of the head of a big bread company. He lives alone in a small poor town with his mother and has an almost magical sense of smell. When his mother decides he should grow up in a better environment and gives him to his father's family, he isn't too welcome for many secret reasons. When his mother is kidnapped, child Tak Goo (who's only in 5th grade at the time) goes off to search for her. For 14 years.

I'll sniff her out. Couldn't be too hard.

While he's gone, everyone kind assumes he's died off or something. He gets through working parttime jobs and beating up on bad guys searching for his mother's kidnapper. Eventually he lands himself in a bakery. Even though he hates bread. Umm...

Basically, the father's family finds out he's still alive and two have something against him. His half-brother wants to show he's better than him, his step-mother wants to keep from inheriting the company, and so on. But enough plot, don't want to spoil anything...

The Drama:

Basically, this is a business drama. And when I say drama, I mean I wanted to throw things at the computer kind of drama. It's almost on par with US soap operas. Tooo much business jargon no one cares about, too many henchmen, too many underhanded ways of getting stuff done. Plus, there's a whole emotional play (that of the relationship between the father, his wife, and the father's secretary) that I learned to just skip through, mainly since it was kinda screwed from the start and just got boring and repetitive.

Oh you again, what do you want now?

I think it might just be me, since I usually hate US dramas. This definitely does have more of a Western field. There's a lot less humor and a lot more crying. And to be honest, it drags a lot. I had to force myself to keep watching, which is a very very rare thing for me to do. But why did I keep watching?

No, not just for his looks...

Yoon Shi Yoon's acting was actually extremely good. He played his role near-perfectly and with plenty of enthusiasm. And he played one of the few characters in the series who made me smile.

The cookies are a lie...

His acting though was literally countered by his brother in the series, Goo Man Joon (Joo Won). I'm not sure how much of it was in character, but he came off as probably one of the stiffest and emotionless people I've ever seen.

How dare you still my award?

Yes, that bad (Sorry Kim Hyun Joong, but it's true, you were beat). Granted, technically this came out before Playful Kiss, but you get the idea. Plus, Kim Hyun Joong's level of emotion was like three times higher than his character's Taiwanese counterpart (see It Started With A Kiss), who probably just beats this character on stiffness.

O.o wth, he's smiling, that shouldn't be possible...

The Good Points:

So this drama wasn't all drama and stiffness. There were some good aspects. Such as the baking, which really did make me want to go preheat the oven and hunt for flour. The fighting was also not too badly done. Yes, there's fighting. Hence the henchmen.

Just another night after closing shop.

There is also a very nice little love arc that really didn't get played to its fullest. Which made me sad since it had a lot of potential.

There is also the growth of Kim Tak Goo while he works in the bakery. His training was actually shown really well, with him solving problems and trying again and again to get things to work. It was actually sort of inspiring.

New training exercise: Stare at bottle

The Bad Parts:

There is also another "love" arc that just made me cringe. While it gave a twist to the story, it was so forced it made me want to cry. And was also part of the plot I skimmed through. Yes, I know, bad me, but trust me when I say it really didn't effect the plot a lot. Instead, it kinda made it's own side-story and that's about it.

Result:

So, should one watch it? If you like drama on top of drama on top of drama, it's great. If not, about the only thing holding you would be the acting, since there are several very talented actors/actresses in the series. I'm sorry to say this definitely isn't one of my favorites and while I know this is a fairly popular and beloved series, personally I just don't see a lot of appeal. But, hey, we all have different opinions, don't we?

Sorry For Absence!

Sorry for my absence. I've been really busy moving back to my university town and getting through classes and books and so much money loss because of that. I will eventually find the time to do more reviews. Though I doubt there's many who read this. Especially since i only have 3 posts...Anyway, enjoy your summertime!

Protect The Boss

Protect The Boss

Just so you know, I'm not doing this drama just because it airs in City Hunter's spot. I've been hyped for this ever since I heard it was going to be made. And I'm ashamed to say I originally was hyped because it has Kim Jaejoong, my... em... bias...

Hey, he's got looks, a golden voice, and a pure heart. Who could blame me?

But really, this drama is more than that.

So what's the plot? Basically the female lead has a bit of a punk past and is trying to find a job.

Totally in the job description.

Because of her spunk, she's hired by the company to be the secretary of the president's heir.

Maybe someone told him she was the doppelganger from a girl in Girl's Day

Only this heir has run into her before, something that had resulted in him getting beat up, his father getting revenge on the thugs who beat him up, and the media getting ahold of the whole deal, resulting in a huge loss. So hot water? Yep.

Now have we learned our lesson? Good.

Oh, and there's more. The heir has agoraphobia, hypochondria, and maybe a bit of OCD. Which he doesn't want to tell his family about.

One word for this drama: hillarious. As in my father kept looking at me as I laughed for a minute straight at my laptop screen. The humor's a mix of slap-stick, sarcasm, dry humor, and action comedy. The actors act like kids half the time. As in like elementary school kids. This includes sticking out tongues, fighting to get through doorways, fighting each other in the hallways, attacking each other's butts with ice cream, and sneaking out of the office while dad's not looking.

The the old let Grandma think the dog ate her favorite high heels...

So, what about the acting?

It's actually very good. The characters are very playful and believable. The main lead, Ji Sung, stays true to his phobias usually and is very talented at the near bi-polar actions of his character. "Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?" Split second later..."Did you sanitize my office?"

And of course, the kid-like behavior:

True quote, well, from the best of my memory: "I'll never let you take over the company. Because all this just screams fraud and money laundering." (sorry if I misquoted)

The female lead, Choi Kang Hee, is also amazing since she embodies a poor ex-punk trying to turn into a business woman. And she stands up for herself. As in, any ounce of sexual harassment is met with your arm being shoved up your back and your wrist close to broken.

Though with that sense of fashion, one wonders why she would get harassed.

Her only major flaw came near the end. Bascially, this drama was reading peoples' minds. I watched it on viki which has comments on top during the streaming and whenever someone said, "this is too tacky" or "that's really stupid" or "they should just *blah*", it happened. It was scary at times. But near the end, in order to create more of a sense of drama, the writers went a bit looser on the realism. For the first time, there was drag in the story line. I didn't watch past ep 14 for like 2-3 weeks, it lost it's pull (I'm also a college student but even tests can't keep me away from a good drama). But I prevailed and the ending wasn't too bad. Not as good as the beginning, but the beginning was eic in it's own right. ^^

And lastly, Jaejoong, who is actually the bad guy of the drama. Truth be told, he's a bit stiff on his acting and doesn't show a whole lot of emotion. Then again, he's not a professional actor. But one thing he can always does is act sexy and like a child.

O.o...

You just thought this was a selca, didn't you?

Yes, the bow is actually in the drama. And on his head. Don't worry, Yoochun beat him up afterward to give it back to his girl.

*For those who don't get this, Yoochun aka Micky, fellow bandmember of JYJ*

But I digress.

Basically, his acting isn't very good at the beginning, but as the filming goes on and he gets more sleep (panda eyes are not very becoming on you, Jaejoong), he makes great improvements. He became very respected by the professional actors and actresses on the set since he worked with a very focused and diligent spirit.

The last point I want to make about this drama is the drama elevator.

Basically, it's standard office protocol to go into the elevator and let out your emotions. While your secretaries try to block the CCTV in the corner. There's crying, hitting, yelling, and some light touching even in this elevator. But the ride only lasts 2 minutes at most, so as soon as they're closing on the floor, they automatically stop and fix their suits, instantly composed. Which I find weird, because whenever I get into an elevator I can't go more than like 4 floors before someone gets on. But maybe this one's special-use-only.

So basically, if you want a drama that will make you laugh until you fall over and has a handsome cast, this is for you. If you're looking for a serious business drama with crying every episode, I'd stick to King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo.

Overall rating: 9/10

City Hunter

The drama this summer that took Korea by storm! And why? Is it just because of Lee Min Ho’s hot body or Park Min Young’s previous success in Sungkyunkwan Scandal?

Okay, those reasons do have some point to them...

But it's far from the setting of Boys Over Flowers. City Hunter is a revenge tale with twists of humor and romance. And just twists in general. It has blood, guts, drug cartels and even a guy getting his leg blown off by a landmine! Definitely a step up from freezing one's butt off waiting for hours in the snow.

That's not tomato sauce...

The Acting:

Lee Min Ho captures a completely different image. Yes, Goo Jun Pyo is revived in some cases since he acts like a snobby, weak, rich genius playboy as his cover. But it was a shock to see him also act the innocent happy boy or the determined badass fighter. And the fighting looked fairly really. Granted, some of it was of course a bit too hyped, but overall it was very well done. And the good guy actually gets hurt several times. But no worries, we still have his flower-boy looks and it doesn't hurt his fashion sense.

He's a ninja, right? Right?

Because ninjas totally have high-end jackets. And just think how short Personal Preference would have been had his sneaking skills been this good.

But enough about Lee Min Ho. We also have Park Min Young, the lead actress playing Kim Na Na. I'm sorry to say the only other thing I've seen her in is Sungkyunkwan Scandal since she may well be one of my favorite Korean actresses.

How dare you fool me...

Her character is surprisingly strong, a 3rd degree Judo body guard for the President's daughter. And she even has her own side-story that plays into the overall plot. Then there's the fact that she actually saves the lead during the drama.

You owe me.

Favs:

1. Sniping.

There's a snipper shooting scene. That automatically vamps up the awesome.

What did you say about my acting?

2. Gun shots.

People get shot. People dig out the bullets by themselves. People have residula pain from said injuries. It's actually partly realistic. Granted, sometimes the main lead forgot his arm had been made into swiss cheese and clothes-lined someone, but otherwise they played it real.

3. Deliveries.

Every time the revenged-upon is caught by the city hunter, he's delivered to the DA office. Usually in interesting wrappings.

Flaws:

With every drama, there's something in it that just isn't right. Or just bugs you. Or is left open-ended. City Hunter can claim a few on its own.

1. The beginning.

The one thing that annoyed me was how language worked while the City Hunter is a boy in the Golden Triangle. In a country with a completely different language, Lee Song Sung and his father apparently have no need to speak the native language. Instead, they speak the entire time in Korean. And this wouldn't have pissed me off much except for one scene. The American ex-soldier one.

There would be a picture here but the internet

didn't understand what I wanted. T-T

Now, I'm not saying that he should have spoken in Korean or Thai. And really, he wasn't the flaw. The flaw laid in him being spoken to in Korean and having him respond in English. Because apparently if you're a US merc, you can hear Korean and understand but can't speak it back. And if you're the leader of a drug-business in a foreign country, all your employees must automatically understand everything you say so you don't have to stoop to speaking another language.

Don't make me repeat myself.

2. The History

Okay, maybe it's because I'm not Korean, so I didn't learn all about their history or politics. But seriously, sometimes it can be a bit overkill on the whole thing. It also didn't help that most of the subbers I saw this from got hella confusing when it came to these parts. And then there's the business jargon. And parts where I'm sure there were leaps in the rungs of power to make happen.

Yes, we did get the search warrant you ordered.

I typed it up after my lunch break. It's totally legit.

3. The Final Twist (definitely a spoiler...)

*Seriously, skip unless you want to get spoiled*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are all the not-wanna-be-spoiled people gone? Okay then. My thought is that the final twist in this drama was really too much. The president's bastard son? Who just happens to also be the last person he needs to take revenge on? Really?

I thought for sure it was this guy.

It also didn't help that through most of the drama, his half-sister was hitting on him.

Don't care. I can still call him oppa.

But moving on...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, spoiler over.

Overall though, this drama was very action-packed. The acting was good and it's not for the light-hearted. And then there's the moral issues of the drama, since the City Hunter is using drug money to do his whole operation. Still, with cliff-hangers at the end of each and every episode, it can lead to watching 5-6 episodes straight through and then remembering you have to eat.

Also, I've heard that it's similar to Iris. Since I haven't watched Iris yet (it's on my list), I can't really say much on it. But if someone has seen it, please state your opinion below.

Overall rating: 9/10