Reviews

So this is another of my top fav dramas. I dont think Ive ever laughed so hard from watching a drama before watching this and I dont think I ever will. If you're seeking a series of good laughs then you should start watching this right now. It seems quite long at 50 episodes but it could be over before you know it if you're a drama lover as you'd find yourself laughing through each episode. You could also try out the highly successful 1992 movie versions of this (Its broken into part 1 and 2) as they are shorter and still hilarious. Then if you find yourself wanting more, you can go for this. But this tv series is at least 3 times funnier than the movie and has much better production. Your choice.

The synopsis for this has all the info you need and even some extra I'd consider spoilers but even that wont stop anyone from enjoying this show. The story is based off a Jin Young novel which I think is titled The Duke of Mount Deer. The show basically revolves around this lazy lecherous street rascal, Wei Xiaobao, who is thrown into the wuxia world (or martial arts world) of conspiracy and life-threatening situations and thus he constantly has to rely on luck, his glib tongue, cheap tricks and street smarts to survive his way through because he barely knows any martial arts. A lot of laughs would come from the show revealing the thoughts that go through Wei Xiaobao's head but even besides that, this show would have you laughing one way or another. Another major character is the Kang Xi emperor and the story revolves a lot around Wei's relationship with him.

The Kang Xi emperor as well as many other characters in this are real historical figures that existed in Chinese history because even though this is a fictional story, it is based on real Chinese history (I actually learned more about Chinese history due to this show ^__^).

Unlike the movie counterparts, this show starts off with Wei as a child, who is equally as hilarious as his grown up counter part. One reason I mention this, is because I was really taken aback as to how exceptionally good the child actors were (I sincerely hope they won oscars or some sort of award for the roles they had). They could really bring in a sense of realism to their roles. Perhaps the older actors performed really well because they didnt want to be outdone by them lol. The other reason is because the child actor scenes last for about the first 6 - 8 episodes (Perhaps their screen time got extended because they were that good? Idk). You might miss their faces when they're gone but their older counterparts did just as good so you might not mind too much.

The only downsides of this show I remember is that towards the end (I think during the last 10 episodes or so), you start to get a lot of scenes that drag on or feel boring. Still it ends on a good note (both happy and sad things occur but it'll probably leave you feeling nice and warm inside) and overall it carries meaningful messages on conflicts that occurred during its time period. Honestly, just do yourself a favor and start watching this whenever you can. You can thank me later ;)

Leia Mais

As my hands were exhausted from all the fast-forwarding, I actually switched to just reading recaps of this drama for the last few episodes. I just couldn't watch this and its non-existent plot anymore. Too bad, because I was pleasantly surprised at the tone of this when I first started watching. I was intrigued, but the show never delivered on its promise.

My Rating: 6.5

In Short: This show started out with funny humor and a fantastic comic-booky vibe, but this was unfortunately lost in the melo of it all. I really struggled to understand the motivation of all the characters. For me, they all seemed nonsensical. WAAAAAH

Pros: Secretary Ko was unbelieveably adorkable. He and the set design really stole the show for me.

Cons: Quite difficult to understand what is going on, and I think that it might not be a language barrier thing… So many of the plot threads were just really badly though out and badly executed. Plus, there were entire episodes with just melo staring and flash-backing. Lee Dong Wook did a good job with hilarious overacting which fit the show well, but he looked really tired.

Leia Mais

OVERALL
Such a good, different drama! Watch if 1) you feel like everything's the same in Dramaland these days, 2) you're sick of seeing the same kind of main leads, 3) you want to watch a show that's not about some rich chaebol and a Cinderella in the making. Don't watch if 1) you're looking for a well-developed, emotional love story, 2) you don't like stories with many secondary characters, 3) you don't like characters with flaws.

THE STORY
A story like you don't find in Dramaland, with characters that don't typically hang out over there too, and I loved it. I love reserved and down-to-earth Yoona, who is neither naïve, innocent and bright girl nor cold, distant and apathetic (it's usually one or the other); I love open-minded, caring Changman, who is neither a cold and arrogant prick nor a naïve and childish boy. I love how they interact with everyone around them; how loyal Yoona is, which inspires loyalty from others; how empowering Changman is, making others believe that they can aspire for more. I love the comedy, especially in the first half of the drama, and the glimpse into the world of petty crime. There's just so much good in this show. The only downside to it is that although it seemed as though the romance between the main leads and the character development of Yoona would be at the center of the story, they slowly were forgotten in favor of secondary characters and dragging plot elements, so that her changes kind of look incoherent or abrupt, and their love story, bland. The show would have been perfect if it weren't for that *sigh* The ending though, is satisfying, so it's okay.

THE ACTING
I didn't know the main leads before this show, but their acting was good. I liked her more than him, I thought she really had become Yoona. They also weren't bad together *sigh* Such a waste that the romance wasn't exploited some more. Some other actors were also quite good in their roles. Particularly the actress behind Yoonji, she was awesome. Because most characters are realistic, they aren't easy roles, but they were pulled off fine.

THE MUSIC
Just as the story and the characters, the music is sooo fresh. It's not every day that you hear K-country (does that even exist?) or Carla Bruni in a drama, it's so weird - in a good way - and totally fits with the mood. Of course, there's also Leesa's awesome song, Love will find a way. Absolutely addictive. From episode one, it got stuck in my head, and I had no choice but to download it.

REWATCH VALUE
I'd rewatch it, whenever I get in one of those moments in which all dramas just look too much the same. It's like getting some fresh air, without pulling the plug.

Leia Mais

Began this drama post fellow MDL'er's listing. Since I am NOT a sports enthusiasts this put me off YET the storyline and the ever manly KT (Halu) kept me coming back for more. The hockey part of the drama served as the analogy of life and the complications of friendships & love. The entire cast was awesome depicting their roles, especially chemistry of leads was always set on simmer - nice. The story, not new just a well portrayal of growth- boys to men & girl to woman through angst, love, pain, and forgiveness. The music: QUEEN need I say more! Queen music was perfect for this drama, by aligning to the two leads personalities. Watch again? Hummmmmmmmmm so much drama to see, but KT is a draw! Caution, the music will brain worm you - I was born to love you!

Leia Mais

After nearly giving up on Korean dramas I stumbled across this one. The chances of me watching this were really small: although I heard some praises about it from my MDL friends, it didn’t seem like a type of drama for me, both plot wise (the drama about making dramas – sounds pretty cliché for me), as well as actor wise. So why did I finally press play? I was looking for something to watch at night, something not too interesting, good to put me to sleep. So I chose this one, and boy, was it not a wise decision.

Why? Well, one word: exciting. I thought I’d watch one episode per night at most, but this assumption was quickly forgotten. One does not simply stop watching in the middle of Anthony’s scheming, you have to see the results as soon as possible! Going bankrupt, problems with yakuza, accusations of plagiarism, bribery… there is not one thing Anthony can’t manage. Ok, maybe human interactions aren’t his strength, but besides this he is invincible. And let’s not forget that he has a team of loyal co-workers, who make his crazy ideas happen!

Also, I liked the romantic line of this drama – it wasn’t the central problem, it was balanced and natural. The relationship between Anthony and Lee Go Eun progressed slowly, but steadily. I also liked our second pairing, although in this case I’d prefer if it wasn’t so last minute.

As far as acting goes: yeah, I have to agree, Kim Myung Min is one hell of an actor. Thanks to him Anthony was not exaggerated, but instead made him more human and realistic. There was a risk of making this character too cliché and I am sure that if not for amazing skills of the actor, it would be like that. Also, I have to add: this guy has amazing voice! Jung Ryeo Won was pretty likeable, she did a really good job, but I had some problems with the way her character was written – the typical hardworking, sweet hearted girly who changes our arrogant hero is a bit overused. Thankfully, her acting covered this flaw. As for Siwon… I am positively surprised that he took this role and wasn’t afraid to play such an uncool character. His Kang Hyun Min was exaggerated, but in a good way – he was a comic relief of this drama.

So why did I give this drama an 8 if I liked it so much? My main problem was that there were many loose ends and forgotten plot threads, like the rushed way they ended the part about Japanese guy founding the production of drama or how suddenly the whole rivalry between World Production and Empire disappeared… It was awkward and frustrating. Also, I wasn’t a big fan of the ending: it was sloppy, too rushed and in some ways out of place. Unfortunately, it lowered my enthusiasm about this drama and left me unsatisfied.

Leia Mais

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NINE : Nine Times Time Travel - ENDING EXPLAINED

I just had to write about the ending of this drama. There could be so many possible situations which can happen after the end scene.

According to me, it happens like the following.

I'll explain through the eyes of 1992 park sun woo. Whenever I mention sun woo, it's the sun woo from 1992. The present 2013 sun woo has died back in 1993.

It's Dec 2012. Our 1992 sun woo has grown up. In the last episode, he learns that his future sun woo had already died back in 1993 during time traveling. This knowledge cracks him up a bit and now he is worried that he might die because there is no future sun woo after April 2013. He believes that he is making the right choice every time in his life (because future sun woo had told him in his last message that he will always make right decisions) so he follows his instincts and travels to Nepal to find some answers and also because he knows his brother Jung woo is there. This is where the drama finishes before that one final scene of Himalayas. So excluding the final Himalayas scene of the series for now, this is what happened after sun woo traveled to Nepal. The first scene of the series becomes relevant. It's shown that jung woo dies while climbing the mountain as a shadow of a man gets over his face. I think that shadow was of park sun woo. He has traveled to Nepal and because he knows his brother is there he tries to know his whereabouts. He succeeds in finding him but Jung woo dies seconds before he reaches him.
Now he finds the incense stick in his brothers hand. He notes the time and place his brother has died. He saves this single stick for exactly 20 years. Now we see the last scene of the drama. In Dec 2032, sun woo travels back 20 years using that single stick to Dec 2012 and saves his brother from dying on the mountain. He looks 20 years older than the original sun woo(2013) as we see the beard and mustache. And he says "it's nice to see you brother, it's been a very long time".

So, do you think the same way ?

I also have a theory as to why he gets stuck in the past after the usage of last incense stick. If anyone of you want to discuss about that, you are welcome to message me anytime :)

Leia Mais

Seriously. Where do I start with this drama? Honestly, when it's good, it's excellent. So much so that it keeps you glued to the screen in anticipation. However, when it's bad, it's downright ridiculous, illogical and frustrating. To the point where it was making me growl with the absurdity of it. Everytime I got over one frustrating new plot twist and started to really enjoy it again, here came another curveball from way out in left field that either made no sense, was pointless or was just generally stupid. I seriously think that the writers were all like, Uh oh. Looks like it's making some sense now and is getting really good. Time to mess that up with making the whole plot impossibly complicated and leaving a bunch of plot holes.

I placed all my hope on at least getting a satisfying ending that made sense. Instead I was left mouth agape and ended up more disappointed than I had feared being even at the height of the awful moments.

I will give it this. Never has there been another drama that has suceeded in keeping me hooked, while being both wonderfully awesome and epically terrible at the same time. I am left in sheer awe and wonder.

Leia Mais

Kim Eun Sook dramas and I have a love-hate relationship. I hate how they all seem to have the same conflicts about two-thirds of the way in and I hate how her dramas wind up repetitive near the end. But I do love her particular brand of humor and wit, not to mention the fact that all of her dramas have serious eye candy. So the reason I wanted to watch AGD pretty much boils down to the latter.
Story: To be completely honest, there is no story. The problem with making a drama about adults in the real world and not confining them to just a professional setting is that there is no conflict. The characters here were pretty much all between the ages of 30-40, and therefore didn't deal with the same emotional range that teenagers would have. And since AGD didn't confine the characters to just their careers or professional life, there wasn't much plot development. Pretty much all that happened in every episode is that the guys did something stupid, the audience laughs, they do something stupid again, we laugh and some random romantic development between one of the couples, and maybe a dash of family drama. That isn't to say "A Gentleman's Dignity" wasn't entertaining- because it was. This drama was uproariously funny and ridiculous when it wanted to be, and the bromance itself would have made the drama a success. The romantic pairings were about half-and-half for me, depending on how much I liked the personalities of the female counterparts (that fluctuated as the show went on), but more emphasis was placed on the bromance than the romance, so that wasn't a huge factor in my enjoyment of the show. The only romantic pairing I enjoyed all the way through the show was between the characters of Lee Jung Rok and Park Min Sook, who take the cake for best (or worst?) marriage ever. Min Sook was everything a girl wants to be when they grow older- whip-smart, rich and in control- and Jung Rok was a ridiculous pseudo-playboy who, for all his posturing, couldn't win over his wife. I liked the main couple in the beginning but grew to dislike them when all that happened by the end was stupid mind games and I didn't like the other two couples at any point.
Acting: Every single one of the actors in the F44 was perfect. They made their immature characters lovable no matter how stupid they acted. My issues came with their female counter-parts, who just couldn't act with the same intensity as the guys. Kim Ha Neul rubbed me the wrong way and I just couldn't find it in myself to like her. Yoon Se Ah's character was a total bitch and was completely off-putting, Yoon Jin-Yi's acting was more of the screechy and immature sort- complete with really high-pitched crying (which made me hate her as an actress for the longest time). The only actress here that I really truly loved was Kim Jung Nan, because she was just plain awesome. As far as the younger cast goes, Kim Woo Bin was flawless (as usual) and Jong Hyun acted like pretty much every other idol actor out there. Not bad, but needs to work on his emoting.
Music: Light and cute for the most part. Nothing amazing on my end.
Rewatch Value: Yes for the funnier scenes and the bromance. I loved the cold opens, and all the scenes where the guys were just messing around together, so I'll rewatch those. I wouldn't recommend watching the entire thing through, because the lack of plot becomes glaringly obvious the more you sit through it and eventually you'll just become disenchanted with the drama as a whole.
Overall: When "A Gentleman's Dignity" wanted to be, it was entertaining and humorous, with the type of humor that never really gets old. But at the end of the day, all it is comes down to a bunch of guys who won't stop acting like teenagers going around in a world where the consequences aren't as dire. As long as you don't overthink it. AGD is a charming drama and an easy watch.

Leia Mais

Wow, after two years of this drama being on my plan to watch list, I finally watched it. It took so long because I was too lazy to find a place to watch it. I loved this drama so much because it was so fun, hilarious and addicting. I can honestly say I never got bored watching it because it didn't drag at all and it was so unpredictable that my eyes were glued to the screen. The plot was very unique because it wasn't a cliche romance drama, a revenge or something that made me want to rip my hair out of my scalp.

The love in this drama between each of the characters especially my baby Ha Seon was so sincere that I never got tired of the situation life threw at each of them. The best thing about this drama was it made me laugh or warmed my heart through each episode. The chemistry was there for each of the characters even though the show was not like your regular romcom because it didn't focus on sexual desire but pure love. Also the male actors were so handsome that I wish I was Eugene throughout the show. I definetly recommended it for all to watch.

Leia Mais

Please don't be put off by the 51 episodes... you won't even notice it, i anticipated every ending and immediately clicked for the next episode, i tried to stop halfway through the episode (as you can in some dramas) where there's a 'boring' bit but unfortunately there isnt any in this!!

I'm not usually one for political dramas but this one's okay, its not purely political, yes its all the royals and their drama but there are so many other storylines that like..wow, to the writers for coming up with one 'eck of a story!!
I was on the edge of my seat trying to decipher what was coming next and how certain parts were going to play out.

Every part of the cast did a superb job, the goodies and baddies i praised for their acting, they were so good i pined for them and the villains i hated to the core (due to their great acting). I felt for the villains and the good guys, i hated parts of the story for turning out so but i understand, i understand why it had to happen..!
I was tempted to mark it down a bit but this drama has given me so many feelings, anger, tears, tears of joy and anger, jealousy, confusion, betrayal, hope, loyalty, romance, family and even comedic moments..!

It was amazing to be able to live with the characters from their young ages and watch them develop and blossom to the adults they became in the drama. and watch in anticipation as to how these villains could possibly last from start to finish... and whether they were sent off in a good enough fashion!

Yes there are time jumps, as expected of a 51 episode drama but in no way did i think it was dragged in the wrong places or jumped too quickly!


The OST is downloading as i scramble across the keys to write this review, the songs are so fitting to the drama!

I'm not sure if i have the heart to rewatch this, it was amazing the first time but its soooo intense i dont know if i can cope rewatching it! Even if i love Ha Ji Won and her acting is amazing, she managed to pull off every part of role from what seemed like ease and to perfection <3

Leia Mais

Oh My.. Why Ichihara Hayato can be so funny in this drama???

I give a try to watch it because I know the manga before this drama, I didn't expect much but trust me, I FALL FOR THIS DRAMA! this drama became my number one favorite drama <3

The story was so hillarious, with a litle mature content in it, I guess under 17 need some guide. The storyline is awesome, the cast are good, Don't compare the drama with the manga, because in the drama you will get what you didn't get in manga and so otherwise, I love the way Saru speaking, the accent was so cool. his face when he unlocked some lock is cool. They did a great job to cast Ichihara Hayato as Saru.

It's worth to try to watch, I rewatched 3 times already and I guess I will do more!

Leia Mais

The love bond between two lovers manifests in opposite ways, in the way they show to each other. It seems to each other, the other didn't care at all. its the Korean version of the Ali Macgraw/Ryan O Neal Love Story with a back to the past and future twists. Yet it has managed to retain a flavour on its own. I have watched it twice and each time it gives me a different feeling. Though sad, I'm hopeful true love will withstand test of time. If you are a fan of the JJangs, their chemistry shines again here, pls don't get upset bcos this love story is different. After this, I hope they will continue to work together.

Leia Mais