K-drama Predictable

Ahhhh K-drama,...why oh why K-drama land do you always need to be so….K-drama predictable.
I love ya to bits...but seriously...why??

Here are a few examples:

1) Poor ,slightly dumb, hardworking, ‘ugly’ main girl + cold hearted, rich, handsome asshole with family issues main guy

Boys before Flowers

You're Beautiful

Well this is nothing new in K-drama land, this formula has been applied to almost all dramas…
The main poor hardworking girl with ever so many beautiful clothes (even though she's poor)... and the latest smart phone (or main boy rich pants will buy her one), who is pretty (but is ugly BECAUSE everyone in crazy drama land says she is) who has a good sense of justice and strong willed (well, only the first few episodes.. the later bits she will just become the same old fall head over heels for rich pants boy and will have a oh so predictable personality).... And Handsome rich Man who is an asshole with mostly past traumas/family issues/dead lover and have NEVER loved ANYONE before...until poor girl whats her face comes into the picture and argues with him...ahhh...true love~~


2)The lets ‘Make-over’ the main girl part+ cheesy background music while she changes into multiple expensive clothing

Boys before flowers-I totally gave up on geum gan di when she just accepted the 'Gifts' from Rich boy Curly head

Urghs, I hate this part so so much… It’s just so cheesy…the worse one I ever saw was in “Boys over flowers”… where Geum Jan Di, the so called “I”M POOR BUT I WILL NEVER EVER TAKE A PENNY FROM YOU” girl just went with this clothes changing session and enjoyed it…blah… why always portray girls being impress with expensive goods…and guys being in AWE of how beautiful the main girl is after the makeover…oh well~~ product placement time!!



3) The unnecessary “I don’t want to hurt him/her so I shall lie and break up because that solves EVERYTHING”  part

Yeah….I always feel the writers throw this into the story when they run out of things to keep the couple away from each other…and it’s just pointless sacrifice where the characters suddenly become immature whiny kids and believe ‘oh if i leave my true love…they will be happier’…like dude..seriously…. but don’t worry…they always will get back together in the end after a few episodes of frustrating non-sense drama…and have a 360degree camera spinning kiss:D

Secret garden

4) The Evil villain who is just evil without a reason…

 

Rooftop Prince- Super duper EVIL villains!!!

Well, lately it has been improving, at least now the villains are more ‘human’ and are more developed in their characters…and surprisingly there are secondary characters which are just annoying rather than evil…But man…if the villains are evil…they are EVILLLLLLLLL….seriously…why are they so free to plot so many mishaps!!! and most of the times they just get off the hook in the end…geez…no karma exist in k-drama land

These are just a few examples…there are still: (Tragic deaths, Amnesia,Product placement RIGHT IN YO FACE,sad emo nice 2nd guy who never gets the girl…)

But hey, these predictable bits are what make K-drama K-dramas right…~~~:D

The Most Dissapointing Korean Dramas

There are so many Korean dramas out there and obviously there will be the great ones...and the awful horrible ones...

I have seen a lot of dramas.. and I am really picky as to what korean dramas I will continue on with since there are just too many to watch that I only give a particular drama a max of 2-3 episodes to win my heart and to continue on.

I have dropped so many dramas (I give up really fast >.<)... but the ones I am going to talk about today are the ones where I stuck around for more than 10 episodes because I saw so much potential in it...too bad it really just became a hot mess..and I curse and felt so cheated that I actually stayed on for so long with the drama to see it just crash and burn....


Big

 Ahhh...Big...you had SOOOO much potential!!! with every episode I felt my soul died a little... it started out with such a BANG...and it was so fun... too bad it lost it's way and just waffle it self into a horrible ending...

Written by the Hong Sisters (writers for  both 'You're Beautiful' & 'My girlfriend is a Nined tail fox'), It's a story about how the souls of our main character (played by the handsome Gong Yoo) and an 18 year old kid got switched... and this uncovers birth secrets and of course laughs as to how an 18 year old teen adjust in a 30 year old man's body...

The first few episodes were so funny...and at the same time heart warming...but as the story progresses, the more draggy and ridiculous it got... the characters started making stupid bad decisions (to of course drag the story to 16 episodes) and there were so many loop holes to the story... I gave up half way, but I went back again to watch the last episode in hopes for at least a decent ending for this story ...but NOOOO... they gave such a half-ass illogical ending ever in Korean drama history...I went WTF when i finished it...it was just so ridiculously awfully written.

The Hong sisters dramas were always fun and may not be as well written as many other dramas, but It always had Heart... and that little something that made me become huge fans for all their written works..but oh my gosh... this drama was definitely their worse work...and I just felt like the writers changed half way because the 2nd half of this drama was just so not Hong sisters like...urghhs...Big was so bad....

Had loads of potential..but fizzled...

Rating: 3/10


To the Beautiful You

 

 

SM produced an eye-candied pack youth-idol drama... It is a remake of a Japanese manga (which had a Japanese and Taiwanese drama remake as well)

I really had high hopes for this drama because I LOVED the Japanese version of it... and the cast for this Korean remake looked really promising as well (except Minho..who cannot act...at all..but hey his pretty at least =_=)

So, Its about a girl who disguised herself as a boy and then went to an all boys high school....sounds ridiculous? yes, but that means hell loads of funny situation will arise..which would mean a Super FUN and interesting light hearted drama!!!

But...sigh... this drama really missed the mark... It tried to be all Melodrama which did not work for this story at all...it just became soooooooooooooo boring and sooooooooo fake...geez...

I stopped quite early with this drama because I just could not stand how boring it was...it was REALLY pretty and the cinematography was stunning...but other than that...it was just a *yawn*

Rating: 3.5/10


Flower Boys Next door

This drama was really good actually...and I finished the whole series...but it was disappointing because yet again... it became so damn boring after the half way mark..

The story is about a shut in girl and how her interaction with the hotties (who are her neighbors) helped her come out from her shell...and how she also changed the hotties ...

It's a simple story...but the characters were really well written (It's a TvN drama...so no surprise that their characters have depth... really love the works of TvN)... and the way it was shot was beautiful...

It was really perfect..but then..it just lost it's momentum half way..and it just went on and on and on with the same problem/ plot point... and it just seemed like a drag ...still entertaining... but sooo long winded... gosh... why did the characters suddenly become such fickle minded kids when in the start of the drama they were such smart adults...blah

Rating: 6/10


Boys Before Flowers

Ahhhh...the Overly Hyped Korean drama that can't decide what style it wanted to be...

I have watched the Taiwan, Japanese and China version of Boys over flowers ... and when I heard about the Korean version..I was all HELL YA HALLELUJAHHHH... because the other versions were quite good...

Let's just say I had a problem with the main girl (Geum Jan Di acted by Koo Hye Sun) ... She's suppose to be the typical poor girl but what I loved about her (from the other versions) is that she was really strong willed and a fighter for what was right....but in the Korean drama...she just acted like a little whiny fickle minded girl who was just weak and irritating(How she was written in the korean version was just not how she is suppose to be!!!!)... I really tried to like her..really.. but I just find her hell of annoying with one second going 'I AM A STRONG PROUD LADY' then later on crying and whining about some random shit and the boys must SAVE her....like in every freaking episode someone must save her!!!...seriously girl GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!!!

And I had a problem as to how half way through it went from a "bubbly fun" tone to a "melo- emo violin background music" tone... it's like it had bipolar or something....

It was pretty yes...but it was badly written and some of the acting was soooooooo awkward and horrible... geez... I can't believe how famous this drama got...so over-credited....but SO SO SO bad (OMG the ending...was just...so so BADDDDDDDDDD...)

Rating: 3.5/10



Secret Garden

Ahhh secret garden.... I actually liked this drama a lot.. It had the same formula again, with a strong willed poor girl vs. a rich asshole with some past trauma/family issues...but it was entertaining and yet again shot beautifully...

What really made me pissed about this drama was it's ending... like seriously What The F*ck... like seriously.... It was so stupid that I refused to accept it... NO NO NO... That ending didn't happen!!!

But all in all it was an enjoyable drama... (I know the main actor is handsome and romantic..but seriously the way he treat the main girl in this drama is so rough and borderline 'harassment' ...but hey...all fangirls had no problem with that=_=... as the saying goes : "you are NOT freaky if you are handsome..." ).. with plot holes here and there...and a horrible horrible ending... but oh well...sigh...can't' have everything right~

Rating: 6/10

Being alright

The future is so uncertain.
And I have no idea what I want it to be...
I am so confused as to whether I'm enjoying the journey there...or do I just want to reach my destination and be done with it.

I pray I will turn out fine,
I hope that I would find something that would make me more compassionate, and just be able to care about the journey more than just Hoping that the end will turn out somehow "ok".

Crossing fingers that I would not regret the short term lazy-ass decisions i made in life...
Really hope I would become someone useful at least

Cheers to the uncertain future
I hope you won't hate the present me for making the decisions I'm making now ...

Meteor Garden/ Hana yori dango/Boys over flowers

Ahhhh....Meteor garden....My very first Taiwanese show and I LOVE IT....

I remembered watching it with my parents, and we had soooo much fun watching it, and its the 'idol drama' which made me so interested in Taiwanese dramas (sadly now the standards of Taiwanese dramas are not very good T_T)

It's an adaptation from a famous Japanese manga 'Hana yori dango' which means boys over flowers. It's a very cliche kind of story, but I think it is one of the classic stories that establish the Poor girl Rich boy romance drama storyline that we see so much of these days.

So basically the story is about a Poor but Hardworking girl who somehow ended up enrolling into an elite only super Rich people only high school. She's the only 'lowly' class student there but she tries her best to not be noticed and peacefully graduate, well until she stepped onto the toes of the 'F4'. F4 which means 'FLOWER 4' (Pftttttt *rolls eyes* ) are 4 super duper Rich, famous and Handsome high school seniors which controls the school, and once you are targeted by them, you basically get bullied and outcast-ed by everyone in school until you quit school.So yeah, main girl is determined and take all the bullying, main hot head rich F4 guy falls for her, then another F4 guy too falls for her, then lots of bling bling and drama and what nots...hehe

So that's the summary of it, and even though it sounds like a story soooo overly done, but It is fun to watch and damn, the guys are hot!!!:P..... And, it is such a popular story until there are multiple versions of it, there's the Taiwan, Japanese, Korean, China and I think there was an Indonesian version of it as well (not really sure).

Ok, the first version was the Taiwanese version, and I think it is one of the versions that stayed really true to the manga....yes the production value wasn't that great, but hey, It was in the 90's and taiwanese dramas that time wasn't that well known yet. And I can't say anything bad about this version since it was the first version, the characters were lovable enough, and story flow was ok (the last few episodes kinda dragged)...so yep:D...plus this was THE drama that introduced Taiwanese dramas to the world (it was the talk among everyone that time!! it was like the Winter sonata that made Korean dramas famous)

 

The next one to follow was the Japan version 'Hana yori dango'. I think it was the best adaptation out of all because the acting and production was really good.... the main actor does not really fit the image of the character, but hey, he can act, so it was kinda convincing anyways even though he was one of the shortest out of all the other actors. Plus the main actress was soooo lovable, she was not overly overdoing the 'OMG,I'm poor AND cute AND totally awesome!!!like duh I'm the main actress'.... And the story was so well done and the pace was consistent (that's what I love about Japanese dramas, since it has only 9- 12 episodes for each series, they can't really drag the story, but only focuses on the important ,exciting parts!)...

And the OVERLY POPULAR version was the Korean adaptation 'Kkotboda Namja'... I had such high hopes for this version since I'm a big Korean drama fan, But I think this version was SOOOO over rated!!!!! The production was really really good since they had the budget for it, cinematography was awesome as well...but the storyline was like WTF AM I WATCHING!!!
Main girl was so annoying in this version, I'm not sure If it was the main actress trying to be overly cute OR that the director asked her to be like 'hey go overly cute and annoy the hell out of everyone!!'.....arghhh...Main girl in this version was SUCH a damsel in distress, and hell no man, she is NOT SUPPOSE to be such a person!!!...other than the main girl, the story was soooo 'korean-nized'...with all the super duper over sentimental drama in it...urghh...like DUDE, this is an adaptation FROM a manga...it's suppose to be Fun and Fluffy and Crazy...But NOOOO...let's just make it super drama with all the bling bling....sigh...
But it was popular, mainly because of the super handsome cast, well it does has the Most handsome F4 out of all the other versions....but meh....story still sucked...and the ending was horrible....my reaction was    0_o...   dafug did I just wasted my time watching....

There was a China version as well, but I only watched the first episode and then gave up. Not sure if it was good but I just hate the voice overs in Chinese dramas, It sounds horribly fake and I just could not finish the drama. But I did heard that this version was not bad as well.

Well yep, so all versions are different... I loved the Japanese the most for it's storyline and acting, Taiwanese one for it being the ORIGINAL one and it had so much different characters and side-stories, and the Korean one for ONLY it's really pretty Production value...plus the actors were nice to look at as well:P

Hehe... So yep, one manga and more than 4 different countries adapted it... so popular!!

The only other manga I could think of for having such a huge success is 'Hana Kimi' with a Taiwanese, Japanese and potential Korean version that is coming out soon (there's a China version as well, but it hasn't aired yet even though it was suppose to be aired last year, not sure what is going on with that)... so yep...excited for that !!!:D

Fed up...I need my break soon

I seriously need a break soon
Been going on and on without rest since last September...

Went back home in Nov for barely 5 days...which I can't call that a break anyways...since that 5 days was pack with functions and meet ups...
Had a December break which was used for studying for that awful exam
Went to Paris after exams but could not fully enjoy it since results were not out
After that the worst happened and I lost another months worth of holiday studying
Then only a few days of break before rotations start
and It's just been going on and going on and going...

Going on for almost a year without a proper break where I can just shut off my brain and stop worrying about assignments, presentations and what to study...

Trying to get used to the weather, culture, studies, living out alone and being miles away from home where I spent all my life is tough...interesting experience of cause, but I really need my break now!!!

Please let holidays come now!!! :(

Home

Weirdly I get homesick NOT when I just left home, but it is when I'm about to go home...
Missing everything back home, especially the people...and yes the food!!!

Just one more month till home...

Sigh, stupid gloomy,wet and cold weather making me more depressed...thanks a lot British 'Summer'~~~

For the Love of Hallyu

Hallyu...means 'Korean wave' , which means the popularity of Korean music/ celebrities/ dramas/ movies out of Korea (overseas)...

Korean entertainment is super duper popular,it's not only popular in Asian countries, but it has now 'infected' the western world as well , and not only Asians love it, every ethnicity is enjoying it as well. So what makes it so popular and infective? is it the 'guyliner' where male celebrities wear, or is it the addictive pop music they produce, or is it the more conservative and colorful culture of Korea mixed with the industry which makes it a breath of fresh air compared to American entertainment?

I got drown by the 'hallyu' when I was 12 years old, which was when the insanely popular drama 'Winter Sonata' was aired on TV. I remembered me, being so unfamiliar to the Korean entertainment, would laugh at the Korean language (since it sounds so rough and weird to me that time) and the super cheesy love story line of Winter Sonata......but after a few episodes of that drama, I got sucked into being a Korean addict  ...I remembered going out to video shops to buy the whole DVD set of the drama, and even picking up 2-3 other Korean dramas...and yep, that is when I was officially stuck in the 'hallyu'.

Winter Sonata

I guess what made me an addict was the story line, because it was mostly centered around LOVE, and me being a teenager then LOVED those kind of cheesy love triangle sob stories, plus all the actors and actresses looked soooooo GOOOOD!!! they had awesome fashion and what nots...how could I resist being an addict!!!

Soon, I got hooked on Korean songs, mostly drama OSTs (original sound tracks) first, then slowly got hooked to K-pop. At first it was weird since I could not understand the language (which I still don't now anyways, thank god for subtitles and translations!!), but after awhile I just got so in love with the way the music sounds. The melody was so different, sad melo songs were soooooo sad and touching; while happy pop songs were so addictive with all their 'hooks'.

Few of the popular K-pop groups (2pm,wonder girls,2ne1,big bang,shinee,girls generation)

Then I fell in love with the 'idols' of k-pop because they were so different from the usual celebrities which I used to follow (american/taiwanese ect.). The way they present themselves were so respectful (due to the korean culture) , and there were variety shows which let these idols to show their true personalities (or true 'on stage' personalities anyways), they were funny and clearly you could see how hard they work on stage.

So yeah, hallyu has infected sooooo many people, half of the people I know are die hard korean fans , and I see no reasons why NOT to be a hallyu fan. Well, maybe the insanely pretty male celebrities (who wears make-up nowadays...but why not, it does make them look more pretty) make some people cringe and call them girly...or maybe its the language that makes it difficult to appreciate k-pop/drama.... but hallyu is growing strong, It has invaded so many countries now and gained so many fans all over the world...so yep, sooner or later everyone would be to some extend been 'soaked' in the hallyu:P

I have followed the Korean entertainment scene quite closely for a long time yet I am not a die hard fan of any K-pop groups or K-drama...I'm greedy and I LOVE too many of them to choose a few to be a die hard fan:P....so yep, I shall continue to be drown in hallyu:)... it's just too fun to not be:P