Tag: K-drama

K-movie Reco: Innocent Witness (증인)

K-movie Reco: Innocent Witness (증인)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I changed the drama reco of the month twice for different reasons. First I was going to review a K-drama called Partners with Justice. I changed it because I saw another drama which I couldn’t recommend enough and wanted everyone to watch as soon as they can. Realized I don’t have any pictures for that post.

I saw pictures for this one on my desktop and now I am writing this post because I cannot recommend this movie enough either. Anyway, I’ll get started.

Innocent witness tells the story of an autistic child Ji Woo (Kim Hyang Gi) who, inadvertently, witnesses the murder of an old depressed man living next door. His maid Mi Ran is charged with his murder but is acquitted thanks to her defense lawyer, Soon Ho (Jung Woo Sung). Later he realizes that he might have committed a mistake in disregarding Ji Woo as a witness because of her ‘disability’ while the girl might actually be speaking the truth. He takes initiative to get to know her, enter her world and finally reveals the truth behind the murder.

This is Soon Ho’s dad, such a liberal mind

Now, not to give out spoilers but it’s very apparent from the beginning who the actual murderer is. That is not even the main premise of the movie I would assume. What the movie does the best is to raise the awareness about these incredibly gifted people who had autism. Ji Woo has great hearing and can decipher even a whisper from the other corner of the courtroom.

And, so what?

Another thing it highlights is, how autistic people are regarded in the society. The girl’s statement was declared invalid because she was ‘mentally unstable’ during the first trial. Just goes on to show how much pain it must have taken the lawyers to prove her testimony as credible. And, as you might have already realized, I really love media which raises social awareness. And this movie does it ever so subtly, that you will empathize with the characters without even knowing it.

You might think it’s a thriller or action movie but it’s just a simply heart-warming movie with a focus on interaction between the two main characters. And darn, it manages to deliver it perfectly. What I loved the most was Kim Hyang Gi’s acting. It wasn’t awkward or deliberate. She executed her character with such finesse, that you just need to watch it.

Soon Ho developing friendship with Ji Woo be like

Once again, my high praise for this 129 minutes movie makes this post a recommendation. Some might find the first half a bit slow but it’s just two hours. Trust me, if you dig slice of life stuff, by the end, you will be melting. Ahhhh, can’t wait for you guys to watch it and comment on the post.

Conclusion: 10/10. Another interesting part is how the character of Soon Ho makes a 180 deg turn in his opinions about Ji Woo at the end. Dang, I’m gonna go watch it again now. Oh btw, this movie, in no way, is a mystery. I had taken it up because I thought so too but there were no regrets watching it. Just a heads up though.

Final Feelings: 😍

Watch here: I could not find the official streaming site for this. So, putting this link here: Innocent Witness

Such innocent yet powerful question!

Personal front: Aaarrrghhhh! I’m so sorry for missing posting for last three weeks. I did miss them because I was working on weekends but I had this notion in my mind that last weekend of October was fifth weekend of the month and only a personal update was due. I shall admit that I did not even try because of that, and I apologize for the delay.

Well, I finally got a Saturday off, although I need to work tomorrow. And now I do have some stock of posts since I didn’t post last three weeks. Let’s see how long can I maintain the streak this time. And I also need to finish these two short webnovels with 50-60 chapters each. The shorter ones are the best tbh.

Also, a patron of mine decided to buy me multiple ko-fis this week which is a very welcome thing for me. But, the transactions happened in various amounts on the same day. I refunded the amount thinking that it was a mistake, either your card got charged multiple times by mistake or it was an error on ko-fi’s behalf.

I have resolved this issue with ko-fi and apologize if you felt that my step was rude. I had no way to confirm if so many transactions on the same day were a mistake or not. I would not want my patrons to lose their money because of me. I know how hard it is to earn monies in this day and age. Once again, I thank each and every person here for your support.

Today’s song: Since I have started this job, I haven’t really listened to anything. Not old songs, not new ones either. It’s like, I’m just racing towards something, leaving behind other things that I have always loved. Let’s just post some song I’m hearing for the first time too today:

Drama Reco: Watcher (왓쳐)

Drama Reco: Watcher (왓쳐)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

“Why should I be righteous? That’s what makes us kill each other. I’m just trying to do the right thing for myself.” – Do Chi Hwang

Damn. My plan was to review another drama that I finished recently but once I started this gem of a series, I just could not wait to share this with my readers. Change of plans, the drama of the month is “Watcher”.

I have, previously in numerous posts, praised cable TV networks for their high quality dramas. Too bad they don’t get enough traction. This one is pretty recent, so some might have heard of it.

Watcher 1
Yes, listen to this pretty lady pliss and watch this drama!!

Watcher is a crime thriller where three different people come together to solve a case and catch a murderer they are all related to. This also involves corruption within police and prosecution department. And now you will say, but all the crime thrillers from Korea have this exact same story line. You are definitely correct.

What stands out here is how the plot has been executed and the mystery of who that murderer is, you just cannot put one name to it. By even ep 12th, you would know people who are involved in the corruption, you would know who has been doing what all this while but you would just not know who that mystery man is. This, is what I call, a successful plot. Makes the viewers keep guessing.

I am on 12th episode while I have started preparing this post (remember I told you guys last week that I will need to prepare buffers for my posts since I might start working on weekends starting next week?) and I just feel like directly going to last ep to know who the person is. The suspense is killing me!!!

Watcher 2
Always to the point Do Chi Hwan

Phew! After a few hours, finally finished it. I would hate to give out spoilers though. Here is the plot. The story follows a cop named Do Chi Hwang (Han Suk Kyu), a traffic policeman named Kim Young Goon (Seo Kang Joon) and a prosecutor turned lawyer called Han Tae Joo (Kim Hyun Joo). They are embroiled in one case 15 years ago when Young Goon’s father is arrested by Chi Hwang for murdering his own wife, Young Goon being only witness and Tae Joo acting as the prosecutor for the case. 8 years later, Tae Joo manages to procure some evidence deeming Young Goon’s father innocent but is attacked by someone in the police breaking her family apart too. The story is set in the present where these three form a team to find the corrupt police officials and prosecutors and reveal the mystery behind all these incidents around these guys.

As I mentioned before, not only the plot has been executed flawlessly without many frustrating points because you are just so busy guessing who the actual perpetrator is but the acting and OSTs are top notch too. But I am sure I haven’t praised anything this much for the plot. Plot itself can carry this particular drama, other things are just icing on the cake.

Watcher 3
The minion doing all the dirty work ❤

The only thing that might be lacking is character development for Do Chi Gwang. You get to know his story, you come to know his POV but he still remains stubborn old man and that actually is his charm. Other characters really see great development, especially Young Goon. Seo Kang Joon also provide some comic relief to otherwise very serious drama. The struggle between what’s right for you, your emotions and what’s the greater good is real in this one though.

The one question they keep asking throughout the series is “Where does our humanity come from? What’s different between a human and an animal?” OMG, I have become such a big fan of this writer’s writing. I will go and look for more dramas from this writer or source material for this drama. In the meantime, you should go check the series out. It’s usual 16 episodes with 1 hour runs. You won’t be disappointed.

Conclusion: Good series need more watchers (Do you see what I did there? :P). I give this series a solid 10/10. 16 episodes, no romantic melo drama. Perfect for people interested in only crime thrillers. I personally also loved the wardrobe of our female lawyer. Those dresses are goals in life.

Final Feelings: ( ＾◡＾)っ ♡

Watch here: Watch Watcher for free on Viki

Personal Front: Nothing much to tell this time. I did get my first ko-fi last week. Thanks to the anonymous person and subsequent people who bought me some, I could prepare this post. I worked more than 40 hours this week and am going to work tomorrow as well. Gotta earn that extra monies lol.

Anyway, I am looking for animal shelters to volunteer for around my area. I could try the library too but I wanna work with animals. Not been very successful so far but let’s see.

Today was also the last day of my boss and a senior whom I had come to be great friends with at my current company. I’ll miss them both. Those last hugs TT_TT.

Today’s song: This new song this time coz haven’t been listening to any lately. Still dunno my feelings about this song from Stray Kids

Disclaimer: All images and videos belong to their respective owners and none of them are mine.

K-drama Review: Terius Behind Me (내 뒤에 테리우스)

K-drama Review: Terius Behind Me (내 뒤에 테리우스)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Terius behind me.

Hello everyone, how are you guys doing? Apparently, this was going to be my last post for 2018 but as usual, it didn’t happen. Do remember that this is a review and not a recommendation. I personally feel like I wasted too much time watching this drama. And I don’t want my readers to go through the same, even after the star studded cast.

This drama is a prime example of over-hyped actors in the drama and a haphazardly put bland plot. If you read the synopsis on the drama websites, you come across the words NIS agent, conspiracy, murder and a widowed female lead whose husband is the part of this whole conspiracy. Fans of criminal dramas like me are hooked.

But then you get 2 annoying kids who if they were my kids I would slap the shit out of them to make them understand how troublesome they are are the cause of each and every trouble in the whole drama. Basically, the whole plot rests on the fact that the two brats cannot control themselves.

The troublemakers and plot drivers

I envy them for having such a lovely mother though, they still cannot understand her plight. Some people would bash me over expecting too much from 5 and 7 year olds but trust me, you would get annoyed just watching them, imagine dealing with them in real life, ugh.

Anyway, this is a story about an NIS agent called Kim Bon (So Ji Sub) who was falsely accused of murdering a spy from North Korea, despite them being lovers. He is still being chased by some of the NIS agents so he’s gone undercover, trying to find real murderer behind his past lover. Go Ae Rin (Jung In Sun) is a normal housewife whose husband works for some big conglomerate and is killed when he witnesses a murder of some congressman happening.

That’s probably the most romantic moment in the drama?

Through fateful meetings and help of her extra nosy neighbors, Go Ae Rin realizes that her husband was actually part of a conspiracy. She also happens to start working for the same set of people who murdered her husband, coincidentally of course. Then she gets involved with actual NIS and helps Kim Bon clear his name and catch the murderers who are just a small part of a bigger chain involving all the bigshots from the government. They solve the mystery and fall in love too.

The synopsis looks pretty normal. But as I stated in the beginning, this story is just a bunch of loopholes and you end up pulling at your hair in frustration. (Another frustration filled update will be coming soon with The Golden Eyes).

Okay…

The only good thing about the drama is the acting of main leads. So Ji Sub is a veteran. This was my first drama with Jung In Sun and I really liked her acting. The villain was good too and the most comedic part of the drama. But other characters were so frustrating, especially Kim Bon’s friend in NIS.

I hate it when scriptwriters take us normal people as fools when it comes to criminal dramas. But they should understand that we viewers have so much material at our dispense, that although we obviously can’t be experts, it’s easy for us to point out flaws. I would give them though, it was hard to figure real villain out. The focus kept shifting from one person to other. But by mid of the series, that also became really obvious, so, yeah.

Me as the story progressed

Comedy was okayish too. The awkward Kim Bon with the kids was hilarious. I remember the OSTs to be good. Revisited and I actually like almost all of them.

I can’t really think of anything. Quite disappointed I was. The plot was so bad that it trumps everything. I don’t know why it’s rated so high mydramalist and other websites.

Conclusion: Watch it at your own risk. If you want something which you could watch without putting too much brain into it, and just pass time, you might give it a try. I personally would give it a 4/10. 16 eps and I was just wondering when it was going to end.

Final Feelings: (；⌣̀_⌣́)

Watch here: Couldn’t find any official release. So, here, unofficial one on dramacools

Personal Front: I went to look at an apartment today and it was really disappointing. I think I shouldn’t look at houses at all. I gotta find a new place for me as soon as I can.

In other news, the golden eyes is coming to an end and I absolutely hate the fact that Zhang Yixing would choose such a poorly written script. Or, perhaps, given that how close his character in the drama is to his life philosophy, he just chose the drama for that? That would be such a sad thing.

Also, as I mentioned in my last post that I won a few merch from this company’s prediction game. One of them was a manga portrait done by a professional artist. So, here I present my manga portrait. It would also be the first time revealing myself here lol, at least in part.

Yours truly

Today’s song: I really liked this one OST from this drama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzEtUUKkFJs

Disclaimer: The pics and videos belong to their respective owners. I do not own anything.

What’s up? – Mar 2019 edition

What’s up? – Mar 2019 edition

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

Damn, it’s been three months already but it still feels weird to be writing “2019” as the year.

March 2019 happens to be a month with 5 Saturdays, so it’s time for a full personal post. One of my dearest readers asked me to elaborate on my observation on influence of peers vs. parents on us and I think I’ll start from there.

It’s actually nothing much and it’s not an absolute conclusion since sample size is very small. Just that, according to yours truly, we tend to listen more to people whom we identify more with. In case of family, it might be siblings more than parents (as happens in my family), in case of friends, it might be 2 years senior more than 10 years senior.

I hadn’t really thought about it much initially, since people tend to tell me time and again how I behave like a parent in general (can’t help it, I have grown up with a lot of kids younger than me apart from my own younger sibling). But the incident 3 weeks back compelled me to look at it from a different perspective and I realized, people do listen to me, they just happen to be my immediate juniors.

Perhaps, because they think that I have gone through/ am going through similar situations as them. More junior people have their immediate seniors to identify with and guide them, I shouldn’t have meddled too much since the beginning. Without going in further details though, I think I learnt an important life lesson.

In other news, I got to talk to founder of a company in anime space 2 weeks back and it was an absolutely delightful experience. Although I consume so much east Asian media, I don’t really get to interact with people from that space (regretfully) apart from fellow watchers of course .

Finally, as an user of a small platform, I got to give my feedback to them about their website and anime in general, so it was great. And I could finally rant that slice of life is so underappreciated as a genre that anime like My Roommate is a Cat would never rank in top 10 for seasonal rankings.

I also got to talk a bit about the piracy issues in India. Trust me people, Indians are ready to buy manga and anime, it’s just out of reach for them right now. It’s obviously easier to buy figurines directly from Japan because no translation or anything is required and there is no margin involved for Indian merchants. Just a small shipping fee and you’re done.

Manga and light novels on the other hand, need to be translated. I don’t really know if English versions are sourced from US or somewhere else, but the prices in India obviously include the transportation costs and profit margins for an Indian seller apart from its original cost. Hence, they seem a bit overpriced to us in general.

I have seen a rise in people actually buying manga. But since they’re so readily available online, and translated to latest chapters even, vs. translated manga volumes being at least 2 volumes behind the Japanese version, people obviously prefer reading them online.

With this, I was doing some calculations and realized, following anime and manga, legally, is a pretty expensive hobby, especially in a country like India. For different series, you gotta subscribe to different services: Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu etc. And then to buy merchandise is another big expense. Thank God for public libraries in US which have some stock of manga at least, if not everything.

I guess March has been a month for many realizations for me. Hmm…. I should write all these down some where.

The last thing to say today is, I started Doctor Prisoner and OMG, I am so hooked. Although I have been hyping the series up for all my k-drama watching friends, I just hope it stays on the course it is now and doesn’t disappoint like other k-dramas which started out strong but went downhill really fast.

Anyway guys, have a happy weekend and hope people in northern hemisphere are enjoying the spring. Bidding goodbye to March….

Edit: Ugh, I was trying to close my post at such a good note. Anyway, was scheduling it for tomorrow but it got published right away for some reason. Enjoy the post one day early. XD

Today’s song: Taeyeon released a new song and although I loved it and MV is super pretty, I couldn’t really listen to it more than 4 times in a loop. But still:

K-movie review: Penny Pinchers (티끌모아 로맨스)

K-movie review: Penny Pinchers (티끌모아 로맨스)

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

Being an international student in US from a modest family background, I like to think a lot about how and where to spend my money, especially when it is coming out of my parents’ pockets and student loan. The movies suggested by various websites to me, it seems, are also related to the topic (given the infamous issue of data collection for the websites visited by users, it comes as no surprise). And hence, I stumbled upon this romantic comedy starring Song Joong Ki and Han Ye Seul.

Penny pinchers 3

Plot: Chun Ji Woong (Song Joong Ki) comes from a not so rich family where his mother owns a small diner. Being the pampered child, he has never had a problem with money. He lives off the allowance from his mother and is looking for a job. Not to say, he keeps failing the job interviews on account of his carefree and careless personality.

On the other hand, Gu Hong Sil (Han Ye Seul) is very diligent when it comes to money, having been brought up by a gambler father. She doesn’t shy away from stealing sugar sachets from cafes to save pennies. She even goes and salvages whatever she can from destroyed homes to earn small amounts and lives frugally. Thus, in five years, she has managed to save almost $200,000 which has been her goal since the beginning.

Both of them live in the opposite buildings and the neighborhood happens to have been sold for making a mall or something and every one is being evicted. By chance, Chun Ji Woong’s mother’s diner gets destroyed by a boar. Having flunked another job interview he is now penniless. Gu Hong Sil decides to take him in and teach him her penny pinching secrets. There is a catch though. Chun Ji Woong has to listen to whatever she says without questioning her. Gu Hong Sil manages to recruit him in her plans while using his name to open another account and put her hard earned money into it to evade taxes. However, Chun Ji Woong has life lessons for her too. And she learns to spend that money for her own sake. In the meantime, romance develops between both of them which is a given, of course. But is she successful in reaching her goal? That is something you need to find out.

Comments: Having been released in 2012 and Song Joong Ki being such a popular actor, I am surprised at the dearth of English subbed versions of this movie. Comedy is apt. Acting is outstanding. Song Joong Ki has done awesome job to channel the dorky and nonchalant character of Chun Ji Woong. Han Ye Seul’s acting, I found a bit lacking compared to her counterpart when it came to emotional scenes but otherwise, her portrayal of serious and badass Gu Hong Sil is……. just badass. I don’t remember the songs, so they didn’t have much impact for me. There is story and there is a bit of comedy. And that is enough for a one time watch, I think.

Penny pinchers 4

Another subject movie touches is the life of NEETS. There are tons of people like Chun Ji Woong and his friends who are looking or rather pretending to look for jobs to satisfy themselves and those around them that they are putting efforts. The stress of not finding the job pushes them to drink more alcohol and hit gaming arcades etc. all the time. I won’t say much about how Gu Hong Sil actually earns money, because hey, there are all sorts of unconventional ways to do that. Doing a job and earning money does not fit everyone’s style.

Lessons Learnt: Yes yes, it does teach you how to save money, that too subtly, but it goes to extreme ways. The two most important take away from the movie are:
1. Learn to save the money. There are other methods of pinching pennies but yeah, one needs to save money no matter what. It always helps. I personally wouldn’t follow all the ways shown in the movie though.
2. Never trust anyone when it comes to money. If something is too good to be true, it is supposed to be that way only. Learn to read between the lines when investing your money as well.

Penny pinchers 2

Other thoughts: People have told me that I keep whining about money all the time. That is what grad studies do to you, when the future is bleak and you have loans and everyone’s expectations behind you. Nonetheless, if you manage well, you can minimize your expenses. This movie will inspire another post from me telling what all I do to save whatever I can without compromising my health and meals. Not that I am the best source for the same. But given that there are so many examples of students who lived their grad lives on ramen noodles due to lack of time and mostly money, I feel like my perspective to keep myself healthy will be refreshing for some. For my parents don’t want anything else from me but good health and happy life for myself. Since they are spending so much money on me, I personally think that I owe them at least this much.
Penny pinchers 1

Side Story: Nothing much this time, semester starts next week. The vacations came to an end without me doing anything productive. I tried Wanikani after months and for first three levels, I got only 51% correct. So I have forgotten my Japanese and I am afraid to test myself on Italian now. I will need to start afresh :/

Today’s song: I have been listening to trance music these days. However, I think I’ll post another song from Black Pink:

 

(Picture and MV credits go to their respective owners)

My 2016 In Review

My 2016 In Review

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

Oops! I realise I have taken too long a break! In the meantime, I have accumulated so much to write about. And I am finally a bit free, like comparably. My semester exams are over and I finally have some time to myself. Not that I wasn’t watching anime or k-dramas before.

Anime updates: For fall anime, as usual, I started with a bunch, dropped quite a few. And hence, I am again remaining withslice of life or sports anime with me: Natsume Yuujinchou, 3-gatsu no lion, Yuri on ice, Haikyuu, Days etc. Haikyuu finished quite early, only 10 episodes, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Days was summer anime, I think. Although many people have been disappointed with the anime, I liked it nonetheless. Yuri on ice is a different one, enjoyable though. Natsume, as usual is the best! I will miss Natsume TT_TT

K-drama updates: I watched quite a few k-dramas this year: DOTS, The K2, W (I loved W by the way. Recommended to a friend as his first k-drama and he fell for the plot as well!! Brought another person to this world, yes!). This time I have picked up Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo and Goblin. I feel Kim Bok Joo is better than Legend of Blue Sea, it might be my personal preference though. Initial episodes of Legend of Blue Sea were hilarious, but I can’t see where the drama is going now. Whereas, it is easier to relate with Kim Bok Joo. Goblin is utterly hilarious! Tvn and JTBC have made some real gems this year.

Other dramas: In the latter half, I watched quite a few other dramas as well. Love O2O, Virtuous queen of Han Dynasty etc. I don’t remember all the names but for rom-com, love O2O is my recommendation, for now. If I remember any other which I found good, will update the post.

Variety updates: Weekly idol had been my top choice for this year as well. However, I am losing interest in it somehow. I finished whatever English subbed episodes were available for Knowing Bros. I took a bit interest in K-pop star 6 as well. The absolute favorite of mine is however Go Fighting! I started watching it for Lay but the comedy is the best. Highly recommended variety show (I am yet to try running man by the way.)

K-pop updates: Infinite! Infinite! Infinite! Yes, my recent favorite boy band came with an album this year and the title song grew up on me as usual. I got into VIXX as well, courtesy to my sister, and now I am a fan. I don’t really listen to YG groups, but black pink has certainly caught my attention. I like Big Bang’s recent song Fxxk it too. Other than that, Lay and Sistar did a good job. Lay’s ‘monodrama’ has been on my playlist for quite sometime.

Webtoons and Manga Updates: I were to release my translations for some manga but then my college started, and I did not find time to put the text in those blurbs at all. And my sister fried the hard disk of my old laptop, so all my work is gone now :/ Many webtoons ended this year, I dropped almost all of the ones I was reading because updates were really slow. Same with manga. I dropped Dice, Thousand Nine Tails, TAL, City of Dead Sorcerer, Skip Beat, Haikyuu (Damnit! Didn’t know they were these many) I am still waiting for Barakamon updates. I started reading Tsubaki-chou lonely planet, again courtesy to my sister. Another one is Fujiwara-kun no Daitai Tadashii, because I was translating it.

Language Learning Updates: Both of my languages are on hold and whatever I learnt till now went down the drain. The revision is on my agenda right now. I borrowed tons of books from my library for some winter reading, I am going to hoard some more. Let’s get some motivation!!

These are my updates for now. In weather updates, Pitts weather is super erratic. One day, it’s sunny with 15 deg C temperature, next day it’s snowing with -5 deg C temperature. Really weird.

Anyway, I need to get back and do some work so that I can write more tomorrow. I will also update a bit about the courses I took this semester and how I came to love blogging once again. See you all and happy holidays!

And for the customary song in each post, here:

Drama Review: Sunshine Girl (자체발광 그녀)

Drama Review: Sunshine Girl (자체발광 그녀)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I think most of the K-drama lovers would agree with me, all rom com dramas follow a set pattern: out of the MCs, one would be rich (either son/ daughter of a business giant or a celebrity) and one would be totally destitute. First 8-9 episodes go into developing the plot, their meeting and their bickering. These episodes generally bring the comedy element but at the end, start getting serious. 9-14 episodes are full of drama, all the tears and such happen in these episodes. And the cause is generally the same: a disapproving nagging mom/ dad or other family member or another love interest. 15 onwards is the happy ending. The MCs either end up resolving the conflict with their family or any one else involved or running away, giving a sense of gratification to the viewers.

This drama does none of them. There is a lot of hurt as usual but since the number of episodes is just 12, it doesn’t give much chance to develop the tear jerking drama. Although, the story starts with the MC resigning from her job (and reminds me of my days, a lot).

So Yi Hyun

Plot: Also called Glowing She, the story goes like this. Jun Ji Hyun (So Yi Hyun) always gets her work stolen by her boss. She decides to work hard on an upcoming proposal and not tell her boss about it. When the time comes for actual presentation, she finds that she has been cut from the presentation itself by her boss yet again. She ends up quarrelling and throwing ice on her boss (you go girl!) and quitting the job to fulfil her life long dream of becoming a writer for education channel. Her new boss is a PD whom she had dated for 5 years in the past, No Young-Woo (Park Kwang-Hyun). No Young Woo broke up with her and married her best friend, divorcing that girl too, 2 years later. He tells Jun Ji Hyun straightforwardly that she is not fit for showbiz and he’ll make it a point to make her life hell teaching her about this dirty business. She is assigned to bring Kang Min (Kim Hyung Joon), a narcissist hallyu star who has a phobia of singing live, to PD No’s new programme, which she is able to do successfully but circumstances lead her to resign yet again. Her 31 years of age doesn’t help her either. She still persists through her optimism but yet fails in her endeavours.

After all this mess, Ji Hyun keeps getting involved with the two guys. Her relationship with her best friend also keeps dwindling. In the end, who she ends up with and whether she is able to reach her dream are two main questions.

*Spoiler* It’s an open ended drama, you won’t know who she ends up with. So watch if only you can bear a little disappointing ending *Spoiler*

Sunshine Girl Relationship Chart

Characters: While I love all the three main characters, there is not much actual development. The relationship between Ji Hyun, her best friend and PD No has been portrayed well, I don’t know if people forgive each other like this in real life. Also, the friendship between Ji Hyun and her female friends is something to be jealous and at the same time proud of. But again, Kang Min’s past, Ji Hyun’s family and many other things are, kind of, all over the place.

I personally identify with Ji Hyun and her best friend a lot, and I am sure many others will too. I really love Ji Hyun’s guts (I mean, despite giving her best, she doesn’t get what she deserves. At the age of 31, she starts over. Who would do that?). The most impressive thing is, the show brings out the problems in show biz well, especially in the context of South Korea. How a small mistake makes people lose their jobs at lower levels and how upper levels remain untouched. How much managers work and use dirty tricks to keep their idols popular and how, many a times, idols have to have their feelings trampled over. How their small secrets can be fatal to their career and how it impacts normal people around them.

All in all, I’ll give this drama a 6/10. It’s one of those love stories, where you don’t need to use your mind. It just goes on because there is not much complexity. Acting is all good and you’ll laugh your ass off on Ji Hyun’s curses (she looks so authentic mumbling and cursing XD). As I said earlier, the ending might disappoint some a little. But if you’re looking for a rather short story you can definitely watch this.

The drama I am talking about is different from Taiwanese drama of the same name.

It’s available on youtube on this channel: sunshinejunnie (I don’t own anything here) Hopefully they don’t remove it.

Pics credits to their respective owners

K-Variety Recommendation: Weekly Idol (주간 아이돌 )

K-Variety Recommendation: Weekly Idol (주간 아이돌 )

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

I love variety shows. The most interesting ones are Korean Variety shows. One amongst them shines at the very top, and it’s called “Weekly Idol”. I have been hooked to this show for quite some time and continuously doing marathons. Not only this show has introduced me to new and old idol groups, which I would otherwise be reluctant to follow, but the laughter it gives is the best anti-depressant out there for K-Pop lovers, take it from the girl who has always relied on these kind of shows (variety or drama) for emotional support. I mean, I do sound biased then, but I can really, really, always, go back to the shows. They’re the best.

This particular one is very famous. Two MCs, Jung Hyung Don and DeffCon, also known as Doni-Coni pair in the show, invite an idol group for their weekly episode and then do different segments with the members. The instant reactions bring much laughter, especially when the idol groups are male idol groups. Doni-Coni, don’t hesitate in making fun of or sarcastic remarks on the idols. And in the process, get humiliated (in a comic way) too, by much much junior idols.

What’s the best thing is, the show has been on for more than four years, they shoot it in a basement room whose walls are totally white, no paintings, nothing. Sounds depressing, right? But the colorful CG and appropriate music doesn’t let you feel gloomy about the background. The effects are just too awesome! More awesome are the games they play. The show has come a long way since it started back in 2011. They have changed and added a lot of corners. Idols have started to come individually as well to promote their solo albums and all. There have been episodes where senior groups come to promote their junior groups. There have always been those summer specials, anniversary specials etc. where they do the broadcasts outside, sometimes even going international.

And why do I suddenly feel to write about this show has got two reasons. One, as stated earlier, I have been doing marathons for this show for past one week. Second, reason, this news: jung-hyung-don-to-leave-broadcast-activities-because-of-anxiety-disorder

Although, the show is not going to be the same without him, I wish him good health recovery and please sir, come back soon!

Various corners they have/ had are as follows (I might be missing some, I haven’t come across more segments in the episodes I have watched, though I know more exist. Please, feel free to add in comments):

1. Random Play Dance: One of my favourites. They play the hit songs of idols randomly, starting from any verse and idols have to perfectly dance to the songs. There is always that black hole who forgets his/her position and leads to humorous situations.

2. Profile Verification/Rewrite: This is another favorite of mine. Idols have their profiles posted on their official accounts and fan cafes. These are generally specs like height and personal talents they have. The producers compile these facts and the MCs do their best to prove the claims false, going as far as negotiating the heights mentioned in the profile XD

Weekly_Idol_MC_ask_Dong_Woo_to_sleep_on_show_INFINTE
Dong Woo from Infinite had to sleep during the show to prove that he can sleep instantly on lying down XD

3. DoniConi Idol Call Center: The Weekly Idol team receives calls from idol group’s fans and ask them to answer the questions or make them do what the fans want. A lot of times it includes doing aegyo, measuring various body parts, even the circumference of thighs or maximum length of open eyes, touching the butts etc. Hilarity ensues. Earlier, they used to take questions from Twitter, but now direct calls are taken.

4. 99 Seconds Challenge: The idols have to complete a team relay challenge in time specified by MCs, based upon number of people, generally 99 seconds. If, even one member fails, they have to start the whole thing again. If they’re unable to complete the mission, they are given punishment specified by group members only.

5. Idol Self-Ranking: MCs ask idols to rank themselves based on some random criteria and group members have to do so.

In recent years, they have introduced a lot of prizes for idols including Korean beef, housewarming gifts etc. on winning and punishments like toy hammer etc. on losing the games. I’ll try to compile the links I have got, where I go and watch the episodes. These might be overlapping and don’t belong to me. Due credits to their owners:

 

Weekly Idol Episode Wise: Weekly Idol Eng Sub on KShowOnline

Playlist: Weekly Idol with INFINITE:

Playlist: Weekly Idol with BEAST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuauCNpO0hi33Viu3i4-AIqgKZJ0ABLrh

Weekly Idol with CNBlue: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlO8qg4nYPIJ6qQNttdpFtjQRnLAPsCG8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s73-SBGG-lU

Weekly Idol with EXO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCz7d5pTd8

Weekly Idol with SNSD: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0YjzyXR3AA

There are a lot of episodes out there on YouTube, frankly speaking. I tried finding more playlists, but posting links to individual is a little tough. Anyway, happy laughing!!!!!!!

K-Variety Review: Bounce Indo (두근두근 인도)

K-Variety Review: Bounce Indo (두근두근 인도)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

One sentence for this show: Hilarious yet as an Indian and k-pop fan, downright embarrassing. Four episodes have been released for this series where some fan is subbing it on youtube, but KBS has started airing it officially on their KBS World YouTube channel with one episode out as of now.

Also known as Fluttering India or Exciting India, Bounce Indo is a variety show where five K-pop idols come to India to “exchange” their culture with ours, to see the scope of bringing k-pop into India. These five celebrities include: Kyuhyun from Super Junior, Suho from EXO, Minho from SHinee, Jonghyun from C.N.Blue and Sunggyu from Infinite.

I was actually looking forward to this, despite knowing that the stars were landing in Mumbai and not Delhi (which is nearer to my home town) because I wanted to see my country from their perspective (I love different point of views) and I wanted to know how would THEY like this relatively unknown place to South Koreans. I was utterly disappointed in the show and the cast as there were many other Indian fans which is evident from all the criticism I have read in articles and comments.

If the Indian K-pop fans are to believe, the Mumbaians weren’t allowed to meet their revered idols. I still don’t get the mentality. First of all, you’re coming in India to promote your culture and then you don’t deem the people, who are already familiar with your culture, worthy of the attention they deserve. In my honest opinion, they could’ve just let the fans meet, take pics and autographs and talk to them, off the camera, may be? One cannot deny the already established fan base existing in India. And how uncontrollable can a crowd of 20 odd people be? Agreed, the fans are, most of the times, a little difficult to manage, but we are talking about just a few.

Moreover, as one of the comments on the official video mentions, there were less preparations on the part of the people coming here. If one is going to survey a place for potential market, any common person would know to better equip themselves with at least a little cultural knowledge before diving into unknown waters. They needed it more so, because this was kind of an official expedition. I might be basing this on just first episode, but one can’t be expecting more from a five day trip after watching the first day.

In the first episode itself, they admit that India is not what they used to study about back in their school time. Also, the fan girl Babu, said that there are like a thousand k-pop lovers in Mumbai itself. I am pretty sure there are, a lot more in whole of India (they probably don’t know or are just underestimating the might of Indian population 😉 ) especially in big cities like Delhi and north Eastern States.

I am not criticizing every thing. Even if it was scripted (which I don’t believe), their acting is, no doubt, funny. The convivial environment they create and the way they bear strangers, who don’t even know them, taking pics with them, hats off! (I do envy Babu, who got to show them the way and click pictures with them). I also appreciate the pain they took, coming to a totally unknown country and trying to indulge in their culture (I would personally love doing that).

The major complaint is the way they tried to portray their popularity in India giving a somewhat false representation (Honestly, it was not surprising that they didn’t find a single fan on the Gateway of India. But if they had allowed the fans on airport, there might have been chances of them getting to know places where they could find more k-pop lovers. They did seem a little disappointed because no one recognised them here.).

All in all, with most of the comments and articles I have read from Indian fans, I am pretty sure I can safely say that it came as a little repulsive to Indian fans including me. Some things are embarrassing on our part and some on theirs. Even so, I do recommend it to people for the sole purpose of pure entertainment. As a proud Indian, I cannot give a green light to ALL the things shown in the show, but most of them are correct (It might take long posts to correct such things, which is going to be an excruciatingly painful process, so I would rather stay away from that. But IF someone has got any questions from the videos, or wants to ask something about India or anything else just out of curiosity, I would definitely answer them. Just post them in comments).

Here is the link to watch the official episode 1 from KBS World:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szdx3WOUF9w

Enjoy!

K-drama Recommendation: KBS Drama Special – The Memory in my Old Wallet (내 낡은 지갑속의 기억)

K-drama Recommendation: KBS Drama Special – The Memory in my Old Wallet (내 낡은 지갑속의 기억)

by eastasianlover ♥ 4 Comments

Alright, a little background here. None of the video sites works here, in BITS, except youtube and now I realize, there is a huge scarcity of subbed dramas on this particular website. Other sites are either blocked here, or they just don’t work. And this has led me to discover some gems in the sea of whatever is left to me. Out of those, is this collection of drama specials by KBS World.

I absolutely love this channel. They themselves provide the eng subs to such shows and their popular variety shows. I know, they are almost one month late to the original airing date, but let’s be honest, I don’t have anything else now. So, I’ve been watching anything Korean I get and these are not bad. The Drama Specials are around 1 hour long – so not as long as a movie and definitely not as long as a drama series itself. Some of the specials may have as long as four-five episodes, so it’s just enough to feed your hunger.

Also, there are new actors and actresses. I remember watching the one in which BoA made her debut as an actress, though that is for other review. Now I’m writing, I’m getting a little reluctant, but oh well, whatever.

Plot – A heart wrenching mystery revolving around a guy Lee YeongJae, who has lost all his memories after an accident and has nothing to remember his past except a bookstore, a bar exam passing certificate and some other things (which just tell him his name) and now a wallet which he receives after two years of the accident, the present time, which contains a photo of him and his girlfriend. He has secluded himself from the world and is not interested in his past. He just keeps reading a thick book on civil laws. Sua is a high school student who was saved by YeongJae in the past from her abusive stepfather, and has fallen in love with him. Though she likes him, she persuades and helps him to uncover the mystery of his life and that’s the story.

Analysis – Since, it is about love and I’m a little weak in that area, I wasn’t able to relate it to the life in general, as I say it. But yeah, the selflessness of Sua did touch me a little. And those books in YeongJae’s bookstore! My God, someone gift me that kind of store…..

Also, in India they say “Agar kisi ko poore dil se chaho to poori kaynat tumhe usse milane mein lag jaati hai” translating to “if your love for someone is pure and sincere and you love that person with all your heart, all the forces in nature help you to get him/her.” (That’s a dialogue from a very famous bollywood movie ‘Om Shanti Om’. Yeah yeah, I do watch or to say have to watch them occasionally) I don’t know how much it’s true in the real world, but this is kind of basis for this episode too.

Other Things – Coming to the acting and all, it seemed alright to me – not overdone, not underdone. Well, of course I’m not an acting major, so I don’t know the technicalities, so I can write from a general audience POV. That’s why, if you don’t agree with me, well, that’s your thinking and mine is mine 😉 Also, the parts where YeongJae goes to the places of accident or last memories with his girlfriend, made me spill my tears a little. I’ve got them a lot lately. Anyways, yeah, the plot is kind of different too. I mean, who is not interested in knowing about themselves after losing all their memories? You can find the guy here.

Watch here – 

Enjoy!

Side Story 1 – As I mentioned above that the video sites aren’t working, it’s difficult to find thing I so want to watch – like Wooyoung in WGM. I know I know, I said, I was against the show. But I so want to watch some first episodes of this couple. Heck, even Khuntoria isn’t available on Youtube. I was going back to listening to f(x) and suddenly had this urge to watch their first meeting. I couldn’t find the episodes TT_TT

Side Story 2 – More than that, the internet was so slow last night that I wanted to publish this post yesterday. But I tried for one hour and when I couldn’t after some 10 tries, I gave up. But I wanted to write one post per day >.< Guess, I’ll start the count again from today. *Sigh*

Video

KBS Cool Kiz 1st Basketball match

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

Credits – KBSWorldTV

These one week basketball trainees did a wonderful job. It’s probably the first time, I got this excited while watching a game and had this much laughter reading CG comments from PD-nim together. Good job Cool Kiz!!!

The family reunites on GU FAMILY BOOK

The family reunites on GU FAMILY BOOK

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

No. I won’t let the cat out of the bag. I am on 20th episode and I won’t say anymore about what is going on right now in the story. That you have to find out yourself!

I missed this series sooo much when I didn’t have net. And I finished its 10 episodes in two days in a go. So interesting this series is! The plot is awesome and the actors are my favorite – Lee Seunggi and Bae Suzy.

GuFamilyBook

MBC’s historical drama, Gu family book, is about a half human and half beast whose dad was a Gumiho (a nine tailed fox) and mother human. The main character’s dad, Wol Ryung falls in love with a girl from a noble family, Seo Hwah while saving her from the men of her father’s murderer who wants to make the girl his. Wol Ryung marries Seo Hwah without telling her, his true identity and seeks help from his only human friend to become a full human. The priest suggests him a hundred day fast where he can’t show his true form to any other human and can’t eat flesh. Just days before the hundred days were going to finish, he has to show his true form to Seo Hwah while saving her once again from her chasers. The girl gets scared, dumps him and instead asks the general in the chasing team to kill him. The guy dies and the girl finds out that she is pregnant with her dead husband’s child. She gives birth to a sweet baby boy, who turns out to be human. She abandons the child to go back to her father’s murderer in order to take revenge. He kills her too and the baby in a basket goes to river. Irony of fate, he is found and raised by the friend of the same general and named Kang Chi. He receives much love from the family, becomes good luck charm for them and is unaware of his powers. The history repeats itself and Kang Chi’s master and his family fall victim to the same fate as Seo Hwah’s family, due to same person, twenty years later. The master and mistress die. His beloved, the master’s daughter, is sent to gisaeng house like Seo Hwah. And tragedy goes on. Kang Chi’s powers come out and he is sent to get training under the same general who murdered his father. He now has a beautiful daughter, also master in martial arts skills. Now Kang Chi has to get trained, defeat the conspirer, save the master’s daughter and his wealth, clear his master’s name and above all, control his Gumiho powers. How he manages to do all that, this is the story.

Pretty complex right? But this drama has swept whole of South Korea with ever increasing ratings and going above 20% many a times. This drama, as usually happens in K-drama, gets a little slow in the middle episodes but that’s excused. After 16th episode, the story gets more and more interesting and now,  I can’t wait for the next episode (which is due tomorrow according to my time zone >.<). Here is the link for the episodes:
http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/gu-family-book/

And here is one of the OSTs, by Baek Ji Young: