Review on Korean Movie: King and the Clown (2005)

Title: The King and the Clown or The King’s Man (2005)

Genre: Period Drama

Duration:1 hr and 49 mins

Directed by: Lee Jun-ik

Cast:

Gam Wu-Seong as Jangsaeng

Lee Jun Ki as Gonggil

Jeong Jin-yeong as the King Yeonsan

Kang Seong Yeon as Jang Noksu

Synopsis: Jangsaeng (Gam Wu-Seong) and Gonggil (Lee Jun Ki) are part of an entertainer troupe but are barely able to bring decent food to the table.  Their manager prostitutes the effeminate Gonggil to rich customers but Jangsaeng was so sickened by this that he forcefully takes Gonggil to escape. Unfortunately, Gonngil accidentally kills their manager in defending Jangsaeng and both decides to escape and make the best show in town. They band with three more street performers and decides to do a skit that mocks that king and his favourite concubine, Jan Noksu(Kang Seong Yeon).

The troupe was arrested for treason but Jangsaeng makes a deal with the arresting officer to bring them to the king.  If the king finds their skit to be funny, they should be freed but if not, they agree to the punishment of death.  The troupe barely makes it alive until the last joke of Jangsaeng and Gonggil makes the king laugh. 

It soon became apparent that the King was attracted to Gonggil since he always invites him to his chamber to play skits and puppets which makes his favourite concubine jealous and Jangsaeng frustrated.   

Meanwhile, the King becomes more unstable as every performance they have, someone is killed.  Jangsaeng urges Gonggil to leave the palace but Gonggil appealed that they perform for the last time as the king ordered.  He wanted them to perform how his mother was killed but after the performance, he had the ones responsible killed.  After the performance, Gonggil pleads with the king to let him go but his pleas fell on deaf ears as the king refused to let him go.

Jang Noksu frustrated by the attention the King lavishes on Gonggil attempts to have him killed by distributing flyers which insults the king severely in his handwriting.  Jangsaeng takes the blame for the crime and is imprisoned but is secretly released by Choseon, king’s servant, and is told to forget Gonggil.

Jangsaeng refuses and instead returns to the palace and walks on the tightrope and mocks the king loudly and openly.  King shoots arrows and eventually, Jangsaeng falls and is caught.  As punishment, both his eye were seared with hot iron and was thrown into prison again.  Gonggil attempts suicide while entertaining the king in his chamber.  He was saved by the court physician though.

The king then orders the blind Jangsaeng to walk the tightrope again and Gonggil runs to join him and they had a skit full of deep meanings.  The last of which asking each other how they would like to be in their next life of which both answered nothing but clowns.

Review:  I am surprised by Lee Jun Ki’s performance in the movie and that he actually did a film like this notwithstanding his image.  I am amazed at the courage of Jangsaeng as he bravely faced the king and made jests which would make a normal person cringe with fear.

I would like to believe that Jangsaeng’s relationship with Gonggil is purely that of a master to a disciple or a father to his son but the relationship was never clear and there were times when he was fiercely protective of him.  I could never decide whether he was having pangs of jealousy or was just worried about Gonggil given their past. 

I give this 9 out of 10 stars.

Review on Taiwanese Drama: Mars (2004)

Title: Mars (2004)

Genre:  psychological drama, romance

Duration:  21 episodes

Cast:

Barbie Hsu as Han Qi Luo

Vic Zhou as Chen Ling

An Jun Can as Fan Tong Dao

Lai Ya Yan as Qing Mei

Xiu Jie Kai as Da Ye

Synopsis:Qi Luo(Barbie Hsu)is a timid, gifted artist who shuns contact with anyone specially men.  Chen Ling (Vic Zhou) on the other hand is a reckless, carefree, young rebel who is adored by the female population.  A very unseemingly pair and both of them have troubled pasts that they are trying to escape.

Chen Ling’s mother died when he was still young and his father sent him and his twin away after she died. As a result, the twins developed a stronger bond with each other.  Ling has always been the rebel and the trouble-maker of the two while Sheng was the one who behaved properly and loves to paint. For some unknown reason though, Sheng commits suicide right in front of Ling which traumatize him causing him to be brought to a mental hospital.  He eventually recovers, although still hunted by the past, he continued to rebel against his father who seemed to control him too much.

Qi Luo is a fragile, quiet girl whose demeanour seems to attract bullies as they know she won’t retaliate.  Her helplessness and artistic talent draws Chen Ling and he swore to protect her.  Her demeanour brings out the soft side of Ling and eventually falls for her.  Qi Luo who has never met anyone like him, found him irresistibly interesting and looked forward to every encounter they have.  Through him, she found her inner strength and learns how to interact with people again.

Review: What I love about this drama is its emotional depth and superb acting.  Both seemed to have matured in their skills compared to their Meteor Garden days and they were able to bring justice to their roles.

I love how Qi Luo slowly transitioned from a timid person to someone who possesses inner strength and confidence.  She learned how to support Ling and understand him while Ling learned how to be gentle and patient with her.

Although there were some parts that disturbed me which does not make sense to me, I found the whole story intriguing and exciting.

They are two of my favourite actors so I give this show 9 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Drama: Coffee Prince

Title: Coffee Prince

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Duration: 17 episodes

Cast:

Yoon Eun Hye as Go Eun Chan

Gong Yoo as Choi Han Kyul

Lee Sun Gyun as Choi Han Sung

Chae Jung Ahn as Han Yoo Joo

Kim Jae Wook as Noh Sun Ki

Synopsis: Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) works every possible job to pay off her family’s debts.  She works so hard that she even gave up her femininity and is often mistaken for a boy.  Choi Han Kyul (Goong Yoo) is an heir to a large corporation but his grandmother wants him to settle down and arranges blind dates for him. Desperate to keep his grandmother of his back, he hires Go Eun Chan to act as his gay lover. 

Feeling betrayed, the grandmother threatens Kyul to take away everything she has given him is not able to improve the coffee shop that is already on the verge of bankruptcy.  He decided to take on the challenge and hire only guys for the shop including Eun Chan.  Left with no option, she decided to continue the pretence so she could work on the shop. 

As their relationship deepens, Kyul develops a dilemma since he realized he was already falling for the eccentric, outspoken Eun Chan but he believed her to be a girl.  In order to control his feelings, he even took medicines just so he won’t turn “gay” and tries everything to affirm that he is not attracted to her which (teehee) all fails.  He eventually fires her and shut her out but she insists that she would not leave which dissolves his resolve.  Admitting defeat, he decided to pursue a relationship with her, even though he still believed that she’s a guy and Eun Chan did not have the courage to admit the truth.

Doesn’t take long though before the truth comes out and Kyul feeling devastated and hurt by her lies shuts her out once again.  When Eun Chan confronts him at the shop, he is cold and cruel and she almost felt like giving up.  However, Kyul realizes that his feeling for Eun Chan is stronger than the hurt he feels over her lies that he decided to forgive her.  He has fought so hard to have her by his side that the truth should have given him comfort.

The story does not end there though.  Han Kyul and Go Eun Chan will have to still face a lot of difficulties, one of which is to decide whether they would get married or should they continue to pursue their dreams?

Review:

I love how Yoon Eun Hye abandons her pretty image and goes all out for her character that she is even beautiful when she cries.  She is so dedicated to her role that one can’t help but love her hardworking character and root for their love.

It’s so funny that Han Kyul was trying so hard to fight his feelings and at the same time so freaked out by it as well.  It was very apparent that he was so in love with Go Eun Chan that even though he thought she was a guy, he was willing to forego his principles as a man, forgives her when he realized her lies and reluctantly supported her in her pursuit of her dreams even though they would be parted for years.

I just love this show and am giving this 9.5 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Drama: Jumong (2007)

Title: Jumong aka Book of Three Han (2006 to 2007)

Genre: Period Drama, Action, Romance

Duration:  81 episodes

Cast:

Song Il Gook as Jumong

Han Hye Jin as Soh Suh No

Kim Seung Woo as Prince Daisu

Hu Joon Ho as Gen Hae Mo Su

Oh Yun Soo as Lady Yoo Hwa

Jun Kwang Ryul as King Geumwa

Kyun Mi Ri as Queen Wan Ho

Song Ji Hyo as Ye So Ya(Jumong’s wife)

Kim Byeong-Ki as Yeontabal

Synopsis: Hae Mo Su (Hu Joon Ho), a legendary fighter of freedom, joins forces with Geumwa, the crowned prince of Buyeo, to fight against Han.  Together, they formed the Damul army, a band of soldiers dedicated to defend Gojoseon refugees.

As fate would have it, both men fell in love with the same woman, Lady Yoohwa (Oh Yun Soo) but she fell in love with General Hae Mo Su despite him causing her whole trible to be killed and their huts burned to the ground. 

Prince Geumwa (Jun Kwang Ryul) decides to take her in but his wife got jealous of Lady Yeohwa and sends her to the Damul army camp where the love between Hae Mo Su and Lady Yoohwa flourishes and he promised to marry her as soon as the war is over. 

Unfortunately, he was sent to his death by the Buyeo’s Prime Minister and High Priestess believing he would bring destruction to the kingdom.  Hae Mo Su thought he was rescuing refugees but unbeknownst to him, the soldiers were only posing as refugees and he was caught by the ironclad cavalry of Han, tortured and his eyes taken out to serve as an example to the people.  Prince Geumwa witnessed how he was killed by the soldiers feeling helpless and frustrated.

Learning of the treachery of everyone around him, Prince Geumwa decides to take Lady Yoohwa back to his kingdom as his most favoured concubine and adopts Hae Mo Su’s son making the two other princes jealous of Hae Mo Su’s son Jumong.

Jumong grew up to be a carefree, weak, and cowardly prince who loves to womanize.  He only grew to realize the danger he poses when his two brothers tried to kill him on their way to see the legendary Damul bow.  Fortunately, he was saved by Soh Su No(Han Hye Jin) and lied to the king when he said he did not see the bow when in fact he broke the bow.  Because of the plot to his life, Lady Yoohwa decided that Jumong should learn to defend himself and hires a jail guard to teach him secretly.  During this time, the king declares a competition amongst the three princes on who deserves to become the crowned prince and this earned the ire of the queen and the two princes and they plotted to kill Jumong again.  Their plot fails but Jumong was stripped of his title and sent away from the kingdom.

It was during this time that he learned the values of humility and perseverance.  He begun to take his life seriously and slowly strategized to pursue his goal.  It was also then that he met three thieves, Oi, Mari and Hyobbo who will later on become his loyal companions in his noble quest.  It was also during this time that he encountered Soh Su No again and begins to develop deep feelings for each other.

Through the chief guard, Jumong was able to meet his real father, General Hae Mo Su in jail and he was able to train Jumong in martial arts.  It was apparent that Jumong had the skills and talent of his father that he was able to master the art of archery as well as become an excellent swordsman.

Unfortunately, Jumong only learned that his master was actually his real father but at the time that he learned the truth, his two brothers had already plotted to kill General Hae Mo Su at the prodding of the Prime Minister.

Jumong strives to fulfil his father’s lifelong wish and in his journey, he encountered pain, sacrificed his own happiness, but decides to move on in pursuit of his noble quest.

Review:

I only have three major complaints about this show.  First, the colours of the costumes stood out too much that it distracted me from enjoying the show. Second, Song Ji Hyo’s acting was so dead and dull that I never was able to sympathize with her character to the end.  Third, with all the sacrifices and support Soh Suh No  gave Jumong, it is frustrating that she had to leave him behind after the first family was brought back to the palace.  Being that what they had was their one, great love, it was heart-wrenching that the two lovers parted.  How can Soh Suh No be that noble?  She could have just stayed with him (deep sigh) or Song Ji Hyo could have just died (teehee).

But that being said, I enjoyed the show a lot specially the fight scene, how Jumong improved with his archery and swordsmanship and how Soh Suh No appears so brave and wise in all her undertakings.  She relentlessly supported Jumong never minding her circumstances.  She was forever putting Jumong’s life before hers that she was willing to give up on him and the throne just so they could avoid conflict in the palace...so sad.

I give this 9 out of 10 stars.

Review on Japanese Drama: Ohotorisama (2009)

Title: Ohitorisama or Single Person (2009)

Genre:  romance, comedy

Duration:  10 episodes

Cast:

Mizuki Alisa as Akiyama Satomi

Koike Teppei as Kamisaka Shinichi

Maya Miki as Principal Tajima Yoshie

Matsushita Nao as Sawai Kimika

Tachibana Keita as Harada Hiroyuki

Synopsis: Akiyama Satomi (Mizuki Alisa) is a 33-year old, successful, single history teacher at a prestigious all-girl school.  She has been used to living alone and doing things alone that when Kamisaka Shinichi (Koike Teppei) came along, her world got a drastic change.

He is an aimless, slightly unreliable guy who was hired as a substitute teacher in the same school she works in. She let him crash in her place until he can pay for his own room and she agreed to also mentor him at school which brought them a lot of encounters together.

She initially was irritated that he seems to have no ambition, no desire to improve himself and always seemed to get himself in trouble.  He is also very honest, loves to cook and showed her the nice side of living with someone.

There is a 10 year gap in their age so neither one has even considered the possibility of romance.  To Satomi’s credit, she is also actively pursued by two very successful men, one of which was her ex who proposed marriage to her.  To make matters more complicated, the Principal turns to be Shinichi’s long-lost mother.  Also, relationship between teachers is strictly prohibited.

From all sides, it seemed there is no chance for their relationship...or is there?

Review:

Satomi seemed to be a very capable teacher and Shinichi seemed to be a very awkward, confused youngster.  However, Shinichi was so adorable and unpretentious about his feelings that Satomi can’t help but be drawn to him.  Being always alone, Shinichi seemed to be a breath of fresh air for her and she lets go of her inhibitions before him.

Under the guidance of Satomi, Shinichi also seemed to find the desire to improve himself and to do his best at work.  Whenever he finds trouble, it seemed natural to ask her for help which further proves Satomi’s opinion that he is weak and useless.

But little by little both realizes that each has started playing a vital role in their lives that before they knew it, they have grown feelings for each other. However, I felt no chemistry between them and the romance seemed forced.  I wish there had been more sweet moments between them and maybe some realistic struggles due to their age gap and not just that relationship between teachers are prohibited.  I felt that the show could have explored the dilemma each has to face and maybe coming to a more meaningful conclusion.

Also, the show was not able to properly conclude on the story between mother and son.  I don’t know if they intended to leave viewers hanging but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I give this show 8 out of 10 stars because both leads are just adorable.

Review on Japanese Drama: Kimi Wa Petto or You're My Pet (2003)

Title: Kimi Wa Petto (2003)

Genre:  comedy, romance

Duration:  10 episodes
Cast:

Koyuki as Iwaya Sumire

Matsumoto Jun as Goda Takeshi/Momo

Tanabe Seiichi as Hasumi Shigehito

Suzuki Sarina as Shirotae Yuri

Synopsis: Iwaya Sumire (Koyuki) is a beautiful, independent, successful woman who works for a big newspaper.  However, she seems to be too independent and too cold that her boyfriend, who is inferior to her in a lot of areas, cheated on her and dumped her.  Her colleagues found it hard to sympathize with her and continue to view her as someone cold and scary.  As she is seen as someone who is always strong, she does not even shed a tear after the breakup which caused her to have constant headaches and to lose her temper on her boss and ultimately causes her transfer from the busy external affairs dept to lifestyle dept.

On her way home, she finds an injured Goda Takeshi (Matsumoto Jun) in a big box in front of her apartment and takes him in.  He reminded her of the dog she had when she was young that she decides to take him as a “pet” and dubbed him as “Momo”.

During Momo’s stay with Sumire, he slowly affected her mood, her temperament.  Her expressionless face begun to change that she is now able to laugh and to cry.  With each passing day though, Momo finds it harder and harder to leave Sumire behind specially that he knows she can only be real when she’s with him.

To complicate matters, Hasumi Shigehito (Tanabe Shiichi), an outstanding journalist himself just came back from a foreign assignment.  He has always been Sumire’s long-time crush but she never got to confess her feelings for him.  When he begins to show interest on Sumire, this sparks jealousy from her female colleagues and more importantly, her pet started to get jealous.

Their story is definitely out of the ordinary but the emotions, struggles are like anyone else’s.  

Review:

It kind of freaked me out the first time I came across this show because of the concept of having a man-pet.  It was just too weird for me but I’m glad I gave it a chance because I fell in love with Matsumoto in this show.  He effectively portrayed a carefree, cheerful, and passionate “pet” that I can’t help falling for him.  He is just too adorable.

It’s very entertaining and you should give it a chance. I found it very hilarious at times and had a really good time. 

I’m giving this show 9 out of 10 stars. Really good show! 

Review on Korean Drama: Jewel in the Palace (2003)

Title: Jewel in the Palace

Genre:  Romance, Comedy, Period Drama, Action

Duration:  70 episodes

Cast:

Lee Young Ae as Seo Jang-geum

Ji Jin Hee as Min Jung Ho

Hong Ri Na as Choi Keum Young

Yang Mi Kyung as Lady Han

Im Ho as King Jung Jong

Park Jeong Su as Queen Munjeong

Choi Ja Hye as Chang Ee

Yeo Woo Gye as Lady Jeong

Synopsis:

A palace may be a place of wonderful promises and the show started by showing the power play in the palace and how dirty politics can be.  It showed how the King was manipulated to give the order of poisoning the queen.  Before the queen drank the poison, she swore that everyone involved in her death will be paid in full.  The soldier who gave her the poison was so disturbed by the queen’s death that he fell on a cliff and was rescued by a wise, elderly man who told him that his fate is determined by three women.  One of them, he already met, the second one he would save but she would later die because of him and the third would kill him but she would save many lives.

On the other hand, one of the palace girls (Lady Jeong) reported to the authorities how she saw one of the maids put poison on the food she was making.  Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that she unintentionally got involved in the dirty scheme of politics and as a result, the maid was framed and was secretly forced to drink poison.  Due to circumstances, the girl does not die and was saved by the palace guard who was planning to escape so as not to meet the women that the old man told him.

After rescuing the young girl, the soldier fell in love with her and he accepted his fate. Both of them chose to settle on a faraway place and live inconspicuous lives as ordinary pheasants.  Their union brought Jaeng-gum who is an intelligent, morally upright, courageous, and has an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Jaeng-gum starts as a palace girl after her father was sentenced to die and her mom was killed by the men pursuing them.  It quickly became apparent that Jaeng-gum has the gift for cooking and can “draw out the flavour” when she cooks.  Because she is excellent, she draws a lot of attention which brings her a lot of trouble, one of which was when she was ordered to go to the royal herb garden which is synonymous to being abandoned.  She decides to deal with her situation with perseverance and was able to achieve growing of a rare Chinese herb. Because of her achievement, she was allowed to go back to the palace just in time to take the qualifying exam for palace girls.  Because of her resourcefulness, the queen overrides the verdict of kicking her out of the palace for not following the rules of the exam (her flour was stolen so she had to resort to other means).

Jaeng-gum’s stay in the palace is a never ending struggle and overcoming seemingly impossible odds.  People who are threatened by her mere existence tried everything possible.  They came up with some tramp-up charge which eventually kills Lady Han and got her to be deported to a remote island where she meets a female doctor who takes her in as a disciple. 

Amidst all the struggles, Jaeng-gum always thinks about the wishes of her mother and this fuels her desire to stay in the palace and excel.  On several occasions, she has gambled even with her life which sparks interest from the royal family until she is recognized to be someone with excellent skills, intelligence, unfathomable courage, perseverance and dignity.

From the royal kitchen to the royal hospital, Jaeng-gum blazes a path that eventually lifts the image of women in a patriarchal society.  It’s a story of lies, webs of deceit, ambition and also of never ending struggle, courage, honor, love and truth.

Review:

It definitely is one of the well-rounded, well-written, and well-thought of show with a great cast and wonderful costume design.  What I hate about some of the periodical dramas is that the costumes can sometimes be too distracting (like in Jumong where every one of the cast has a color assigned to them).  There was a smooth transition from one episode to another and even though the show was very long, it didn’t feel like it was prolonged just for the sake of making it long.  Everything seems to be in the right place and the acting was just great.

I love it that Jaeng-gum gives the never say die attitude and perseveres even at the cost of her life.  She seems to give the air of someone concocting magic when she is cooking and one would feel that the dish would definitely turn out to be something unexpected. 

She has one of the loveliest faces and her character shows a balance of strength, courage, perseverance...virtues a heroine should always possess.  She always goes the extra mile whenever she does anything and gives all her heart and passion into her work.

Jung Ho is probably the kind of man every girl dreams of.  Intelligent, kind, sincere, brave and is always putting Jaeng-gum first in everything he does.  For his love, he could abandon everything.  For his love, he could leave her behind.  I love that he never hesitated to consider how it would affect him but would only be concerned about Jaeng-gum’s safety and happiness.  He knows that Jaeng-gum plays a vital role in history(as being the first female physician of the king) and for her to fulfil her role, he quietly supported her and accepted when the king ordered him to go away. 

This is probably one of the best shows ever done and I would definitely give this a 10 out of 10 stars.  This is definitely a classic.

Review on Korean Movie: Lovers for Six Years or Six Years In Love

Title: Lovers for Six Years

Genre:  Drama, Romance

Duration:  1:52:22

Cast:

Ha-Neul Kim as Daejin

Gye-Sang Yun as Jae-Young

Seong-rok Shin as Jin-Seong Lee

Hyeon-Jeon Cha as Ji-Eun

Synopsis:  Plot for the movie is not very complicated.  It captures the nuances of a relationship that has gone stale over the years and is on a brink of a breakdown.

Daejin (Ha-Neul Kim) and Jae-Young (Gye-Sang Yun) has been together for six years and has been living next to each other.  Since they have been together for a long time, they practically know everything about each other and have fostered a very comfortable, but at times dull relationship.

Daejin works as an editor at a publishing company while Jae-Young works as a producer for a home shopping network. On their 6^th year anniversary, Jae-Young gives Daejin fake bouquet of flowers and lingerie while Daejin gives him the watch he wanted for a long time. 

While their relationship becomes too predictable, Jae-Young meets Ji-Eun(Hyeon-Jeon), a part-timer who seemed to be full of energy, exciting and most importantly, she offers him new thrills.  He starts to play around with her and begins to see Daejin more of a nuisance and their relationship boring.

Daejin on the other hand is too busy to notice the difference in Jae-Young or at times chooses to ignore the nuances.  She was pursuing Jin-Seong Lee(Seong-Rok) who is bent to ignore her and her calls as she continues to pester him to do a cover for one of the books. 

While both of them continue to question the legitimacy of their relationship and their future, the new people adds more confusion to their already tenuous relationship.

Review:

I understand how the relationship has gone stale after a couple of years together.  They have been too comfortable beside each other that each have begun to question their feeling and ultimately their relationship.  Six years is a long time to be with someone that it’s easy to assume that being together is already a sure thing.

I guess it’s easy to understand how guys at this stage would take the relationship for granted and even treat it as a joke.  Jae-Young shows signs of impatience whenever Daejin complains of chest pains and thinks she’s just being difficult, using it as an excuse not to sleep together, or when she asks him to buy something for her, demands him to eat dinner with her at home, show more concern for her...stuffs that women would expect their men to do in a relationship but what guys would rather not do because it takes too much effort.

It was very apparent that there was a disconnect and that both parties are just too comfortable in their relationship it’s harder to move out or move on.  If anything though, I like the idea that Daejin rejected Jin-Seong Lee because she wanted to find herself but abhorred the conclusion that she would be with Jae-Young again.

But then again, maybe they are fated together.

I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Drama: You're Beautiful (2009)

Title: You’re Beautiful (2009)

Genre:  Comedy, Musical, Drama, Romance

Duration: 16 episodes

Cast:

Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung

Park Shin Hye as Go Min Nam/Go Min Nyu/ Gemma

Yung Yong Hwa as Kang Shin Woo

Lee Hong Ki as Jeremy

Yoo Yi as Yoo He Yi

Synopsis:

Go Min Nyu (Park Shin Hye) and Go Min Nyu are identical twins who grew up in an orphanage.  Having lived in the convent her whole life, Go Min Nyu decided to pursue the path of becoming a nun while his older brother pursues the career of becoming a famous singer.  Her life was disrupted when her brother’s manager sought her help to stand in for her brother who unfortunately had to have a surgery in the states and is said to recuperate after a month.  Incidentally, he was admitted to the famous group A.N.Jell, and the manager needed Go Min Nyu to pretend to be her brother at least until he comes back so that he would not lose this once in a lifetime chance.  He was determined to be famous in the hopes that he would be able to find their mother someday who left them in the orphanage.

Go Min Nyu met the strongest opposition from the group’s leader, Hwang Tae Kyung (Jang Geun Suk), who discovered she was a girl early on and does not want to get involved in the mess.  Hwang Tae Kyung is a surly, obsessive compulsive neat and control freak who never learned to smile, and is always in control of his emotions.  His world is turned upside down though when he met Go Min Nyu, known to be a walking danger zone, innocent girl who has an angelic voice and a pure heart.  It wasn’t long before she was able to win over everyone in the house including Jang Geun Suk albeit begrudgingly.

It is more of a story about complicated mysterious birth of Go Min Nyu and Jang Geun Suk, about friendship among the band mates, of falling in love, reaching for the stars, forgiveness and a lot of sense of humor.

Review:

If not for the picture used in the drama of the three seemingly angelic guys reaching out to a girl in the bottom, I would have watched this show long time ago.  I kept avoiding it thinking it was too cheesy for my taste and just not worth watching.  Fortunately, I was proven wrong and I enjoyed the show specially the mixture of comic relief and innocence of Go Min Nyu.  It does help that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Jang Geun Suk on camera and how he tries to immerse himself into his character (although if looking at it objectively, there were moments when I felt his acting was awkward but I’m more than happy to overlook it) and how he tries so hard not to acknowledge Go Min Nyu’s ever-growing importance in his life.  That she always bring him trouble has become a given and has become a sweet pain to Tae Kyung who found himself helplessly drawn to her.

My heart went out to Shin Woo (Yung Yong Hwa) perhaps because I understand why some people would feel it unfair that the bad guy gets the girl and the good guy just get his heart broken.  However, if the feeling is not there, if there are no sparks, I believe there is no use pursuing a lifetime with someone you don't feel anything for besides friendship.    In this aspect, I like it that Go Min Nyu never wavered in her feelings and so did Tae Kyung.  However, because he is so nice and gentle and looks so good too, I felt that Shin Woo should end up with someone who could make him truly happy.

I was a little bothered by some of the storyline though like how Go Min Nyu and Go Min Nam are said to be identical twins which is nearly impossible since they could only be fraternal twins formed from two separate eggs fertilized by separate sperms unless after the zygote splits, it loses a y chromosome and develops into a female but she would then be affected by with Turner Syndrome. Also, how come the twins never had a conversation in the entire show making me believe they are not really that close?  

However, this is such a light-hearted, fun show that I thoroughly enjoyed although it failed to bring me to tears.  I give this show 8.5 stars out of 10.