A Million Stars Falling from the Sky (mystery, romance)
Devil Beside You (romantic comedy)
Boku dake no Madonna (romantic comedy)
Hana Yori Dango (school, romantic comedy)
Densha Otoko (romantic comedy) note: manga much better!
Dance Drill (school, sports)
Friends (romance)
Kiken na Aneki (family comedy)
Tokyo Friends (romance)
Taiyo no Uta (romance)
Stairway to Heaven (romance)
Those are ALL the dramas I've watched. I put them in order of best to worst. The line in the middle of the list shows the beginning of dramas that I do NOT recommend!
Story: Unorthodox plot for sure that explores some of the consequences of being a teen mother.
As the reviewer before me said, the reporter in the drama was really annoying. It made the drama feel unreal at times. Other than that the scenes involving the family members were the most touching.
Acting: Shida Mirai was spectacular in her role and I thought she far outperformed her older colleagues. The actors in her "family" were great too particularly lil Kenta. The boy (kiri-chan) wasn't good though. A bit too stiff for me.
Overall: It was a nice drama to sit through since it was different from the usual fare. I thought it could've been a lot edgier though considering the subject matter.
Beautiful Life Great supporting actors, Thursday, 22 May 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Although this drama's storyline is quite similar to many others of this genre, it was the superb acting from actors that sets this one apart.
The Shuji, Kyoko, Sachi, and Masao actors makes you fall in love with their qualities and understand their feelings. I particularly want to point out the actor playing Masao. I thought he was incredible!
So if you've watched most of the melodramas, please don't forget to try this one too.
Story: The drama's pace unfortunately is quite slow, however, the romance is really sweet. The scenes involving Kyoko and Take are really cute!
The ending episodes were a disappointment though... It just seemed like they were dragging it out and also the mystery behind Kyoko's character was kinda dumb. I wish it was a little more interesting. Oh well. Their kiss makes up for everything. ;p
Acting: I'd say the acting form everybody was above average since they were all able to make me like this drama even though it was so S-L-O-W.
Music: Didn't notice much. I guess it was okay because I don't remember not not liking anything.
Overall: Go ahead and watch it if you have nothing better to watch. It's a purely OKAY romantic drama.
Cheap Love is cheap in the end, Monday, 21 July 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: All was going well until the two leads actually get together. Then it just became boring and weird. It did become a bit better, but then came the ending... CHEAP!!!!!!!
Acting: I think everyone did pretty well, but sometimes Juri and Ryo just sound annoying. Junichi was well played, but the Nanami character I felt could've been a little more developed.
Music: lol Shania Twain is good. The drama defintiely had a 90s feel to it.
Satisfaction: I did like this drama, but the ending seriously pissed me off. I mean what the heck? Where did that come from?!
The story and the chemistry between the two leading actors was excellent! You'll find yourself laughing, smiling, crying, and loving the scenes those two share. It's adorable! So much so that I hope to see these two together again soon!
Rumour is that there's a season 2. Keeping my fingers crossed. :D
Overall: If you thought Devil Beside You was good then prepare to truly fall in love!
Dance Drill Mayfish far from good, Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: Completely unoriginal. Absolutely uninspiring in every way possible. If they had at least shown more than 2 cool dance routines then maybe I'd give higher marks, but they didn't. The side stories are also really boring except maybe the one involving the teacher. The teacher's story gets more interesting. Mind you, don't expect that story to blow you away or anything.
Acting: Yes... I guess they did okay. I frankly liked the karate girl and girl with glasses best. Everyone else was pretty boring. Although it wasn't completely their fault since the characters don't really change in terms of personality.
Densha Otoko Maybe I'm biased., Wednesday, 05 March 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
I just couldn't comprehend how a beautiful tall woman like Hermes could fall in love with a much shorter and seriously sissy guy like Densha! Yea, I'm biased... Plus I read the manga before watching, which I think did a much better job of the story.
But anyway, both actors did do a great job acting and I just want to mention how I loved Miho as Jinkama! She stole every scene she had and I couldn't help, but die of laughter!
The drama overall isn't bad. I just didn't like the scenes where Densha was in front of the computer. Fast forward those.
Story: Oh the drama... It's full of the cutest and most romantic scenes possible. It's full of the typical obstacles in a love story possible. It's stretched beyond the limit to fill the hearts of all those romantics. Basically, it's all your favourite romance stories mashed into one.
And that's why I didn't like it.
Acting: No doubt that all the actors did a brilliant job. Rainie Yang was perfect and was the only reason that I was able to keep watching to the end. Mike He on the other hand was seriously boring. Same expressions over and over. The supporting actors did a better job than him. He's a great kisser though. ;p
Music: The music in this drama is really good. I'll be looking them up. :D Not the opening theme song though. lol
Overall: I was really expecting this drama to be good since SOOOOO many people recommend it!
I really am disappointed since it's my first Taiwanese drama too. They should've made it shorter because by episode 12, I was tired.
Story: Definitely similar to GTO, but still different. The drama was really brought down by the scene involving the chairman and the other teachers who constantly bicker. I ended up fast-forwarding all of that.
Acting: The main actors were the ones that really really held up this drama. All the actors who had minor roles did very little to support the series. In fact their contribution made the drama worse...
Music: Background music fits the scenes, but the insert and theme songs are much to talk about. Bored me completely actually...
Overall: I learnt a lot about how to study. Interesting tidbits about effective studying methods. The series ends well though.
Decision: Ummm... If you have nothing else to do then try this drama. It's not good, but it's not bad either.
Story: Absolutely hilarious! They even parody Automn Tale, which is something to watch for.
The drama might be slow at times, but I thought the pace was generally okay. It gave the story a more realistic feeling as if you were witnessing each day of their lives together.
Acting: Lead actress was WOW! The supporting cast was really good too especially the actress playing Na Jang.
Music: At first I found the background sounds a little weird, but after a few episodes you get used to it and sometimes I even laughed becasue of it.
Satisfaction: Overall the drama was really good. It's teh best k-drama I've seen so far. Might've been better if they'd made it a little more concise. 14 episodes might've made it better. Still good though and I highly recommend!
Gokusen Fighting is not violence, Friday, 04 April 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: Yet another tale of a Yakuza/ gang member going to school in secret... Kind of like GTO, but the drama stands on its own.
Each episode follows pretty much the same format, so it can get boring at times, however the comedy aspect of the drama was done very well. If the drama wasn't funny then I wouldn't have given it more than 5 stars...
Acting: Nakama Yukie did a FANTASTIC job on her character! There's no doubt that she practically carries the whole drama on her shoulders, and successfully too! The supporting cast did a great job too, but Nakama was just in a league of her own.
Music: Matched well with the comic theme. You'll notice specific characters have their own tunes.
Satisfaction: If you're looking for a laugh then go to school with Gokusen. You'll find plenty here.
Story: Bunch of pretty boys being bad until they come across the girl that would change everything. Heard it before? Probably.
Acting: The guys did a great job modeling, but acting wise they were all average.
Music: Well done. I love the Otsuka Ai's song, "Planetarium"
Overall: Meh. I don't why everyone loves this drama.
Hello! Miss Somewhat painful, Monday, 21 July 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: This could've been a good story, but it wasn't handled well at all. The drama is a romantic comedy with very little comedy and even less romance...
Character development was very poor. Soemtimes it was even confusing because a person would do something that did not fit their character.
Acting: Very mediocre and for some actors it was quite bad.
Music: Ringtones, ringtones, ringtones. That's about the only music I noticed.
Satisfaction: After watching Lee Da Hae in "My Girl", I decided to give this a try. It wasn't a very good drama, but I was able to finish it which means it wasn't terrible compared to some other ones. However, I would not recommend this. Better dramas to watch out there.
Story: Revolves around the transformation of a himono-onna and how she finds true love. The drama is more a comedy than romance and dialogues were definitely all LOL! Original theme with hilarious script.
Acting: Everyone was superb and Ayase Haruka's Best Actress award for this role is well deserved! Her 'boyfriend' Teshima, however, was the only one in this drama that I felt did a very poor job. His performance hampered the drama, which is a shame since everyone else was soo good.
Music: The opening and ending themes are cute and fit well with the drama.
Satisfaction: One of the best comedies I've seen so far, however, the ending may cause grief to many. I was one of them.
Alright, storywise this drama doesn't offer anything new to the table. Also, a few (very few compared to many other dramas especially k-dramas) scenes in the drama were particularly slow. But I forgive all this because of the way the actors superbly carried this drama. If it weren't for them, I really think the series could've been a disaster that it thankfully is not.
I want to mention the directing. I really enjoyed the cinematography and the way some scenes are shown from many different view points/ angles. Also, the music is absolutely tasteful and is reminiscent of 1 Litre.
ISILY, overall, was a fantastic drama and I'm really glad I gave it a try, since many of my previous ventures into k-dramas left me fearful of more disappointments and wasted hours.
Story: Abe Hiroshi plays a 40-year old cynical man who is quite content living alone for the rest of his life. Hilarity ensues once he *ahem* has his but probed... Is he capable of ever marrying someone?
Acting: The stalker, the best friend, and the girlfriend actors, I felt, brought the drama down. Waste of space/time...
Music: I really enjoyed the whistling one lol.
Satisfaction: The drama starts of slow, but as it draws close to the end it becomes really interesting and funny. Although this drama is in the comedy genre, there really aren't many moments were you laugh. However, you do smirk and smile a lot with a few occasional ROFLs.
Watch out for a scene where Abe's underling wears a shirt that says 'pervert' on his sleeve!!! LOL
Decision: Watch it!
Kiken na Aneki Bubbly Mediocrity, Thursday, 13 March 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
The story of this drama isn't all that original. You'll pretty much figure out how the series will go and end once you begin. Seen this type many a times.
In terms of acting, I didn't find anyone outstanding. Everyone was just basically mediocre.
Music was good and overall the series is completely and utterly mediorce. A total blah.
Story: Based on the manga, this drama was told very well. The idea of having a human as a pet is completely surreal and that's why it was interesting to see how the drama would unfold.
Although this is not a comedy, there were still quite a few scenes that had me laughing. This drama takes an unique look into the current dilemas that career women have about love.
Acting: Jun's acting was quite good, but I found him much more interesting as Momo than Takeshi. Plus his voice was kind of had this annoying monotone-ness whenever he was not the pet Momo.
Koyuki was also on and off, but mostly on. Sometimes I found her to be a bit too stiff, but that's forgiveable because I guess that how she wanted to portray the Simure character.
Music: Passable music. It didn't detract anything form the drama, but it didn't add to it either...
Overall: The story was handled very well and had me engaged the entire time. It's feel good and quite a fun drama. I didn't expect that. Overall, a very good watch. Recommend it!
Story: Kurosagi is reminiscent of the Hollywood movie 'Catch me if you can', however, the drama's promising start ends in disappointment.
This drama could've been fantastic, but with each episode I found myself forwarding more and more. I also began to be more interested in the love story than the swindling parts. The schemes unfortunately are quite repetitive and boring after the first 5 episodes.
Oh well, at least the romantic aspect was going to save the drama. Right? Wrong.
Acting: Yamapi's sarcastic approach is great for this role, however, I find that he tends to bring this approach to all his characters. Notice him always using the 'chewing the cheek' approach?
Horikita was amazing as the love interest, but too bad the drama wasn't written well in final episodes...
Also, the police officer actor was really annoying.
Music: Background music was weird sometimes, but nothing much to comment about.
Overall: The drama had potential, which went down the drain. Watch to kill time.
PS - Yoshida's best friend is so evil. Can't believe them in the end! "With friends like this, who needs enemies." --> i think this quote applies here.
Last Friends Last Friends = Best Friends??, Wednesday, 02 July 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: Intensely provocative. Consistently heart stopping. Amazingly fantastic! Until episode 7 that is...
What started off so well ended quite disppointingly, in my opinion. I mean if the drama was going to start off with a bang then it should've ended that way also. Tackling serious issues like that and solving it unrealistically like that was seriously a big downer for me. Some of the problem's weren't even revealed properly, which left some confused. I was expecting a lot better.
Acting: Same thing as story part. They were all great until epi 7. Then it sort of became repetitive and I really didn't feel like the characters grew from their experiences. The actors' fault or the writers'? I dunno.
Music: Fantastic music, but overused.
Overall: I'm disappointed is all I can say. I was hoping this would go under my all-time faves list, but really can't put this drama with the other brilliant ones. This can compare to those.
However, this was still an interesting story to watch, so I still recommend you give it a try. You'll love the beginning, but the ending... I'm not too sure.
Liar Game Liar Game: Round 4, Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: Psychological thrillers can be tiresome when there's too much serious talking and no action. Liar Game was able to avoid that by adding bits of comedy and wacky characterizations. However, that didn't take away anything from the thriller aspect of it.
Acting: The Fukunaga character at first annoyed me, but after a couple of episodes you'll grow to love him. He's really funny and WAcKy! Everyone else was great too. I don't think there was anything exceptional about their acting. They just did their parts well, but no WOW factor (hence the 8/10).
Music: It was apt.
Overall: I was highly satisfied with the drama! The ending tied up everything very well, so nothing to complain about. /d^_^b\
Story: Incredibly well developed and told. It had me hooked from the beginning and I'm REALLY hoping there's a second season!
Acting: This was a cast made up of mostly newcomers and boy did they blow me away! I can't imagine anyone else protraying their characters any better than they did. It felt so REAL!
Music: Without the music in this series, the drama would've gotten a perfect 10. With the music, this drama is off the charts! From the theme song, to the heavy guitar sounds to the creepy music during the sadist guy's scenes - it was incredible...
Story: It really is a good romantic story about a guy who just can't seem to get over his first love. The drama starts off really well, but somewhere around episode 6 it really becomes draggy. The final 2 episodes did an okay job of wrapping it up. The drama REALLY is great in the beginning so it's really disappointing when something so promising lets you down in the end... (note satisfaction rating)
Acting: Absolutely superb job from the main actors, the supporting cast however really do much to contribute to the value of the drama. The main leads really do steal the show. The chemistry between them.. wow. They're very cute together.
Music: Sounds like some 80s music, but its quite good. I liked the ending theme more.
Overall: I really do recommend this drama even though it becomes quite average after the 6th episode.
My Boss My Hero Yet another yakuza going to school, Monday, 14 April 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: The concept isn't different considering how many of these dramas there are out there. I wonder if gang/ yakuza/mob/delinquints really do go back to school and do all these things... of course not! Joking. I'm sure some do.
Anyway, what I really liked about this drama was the comedy, which didn't start until the second episode. The first episode was boring, but it was more of a orientation epi so I'll forgive.
Acting: Tomoya pretty much carries the drama on his shoulders, but special mentions go to the supporting actors - koki, yui, and yuya.
Music: There was music?! Exactly. It's forgettable.
Overall: I recommend it because it really is funny. Tomoya's facial expressions sometimes reminded me of Jim Carrey.
My Girl Awesome Cast: Fighting!, Friday, 27 June 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: Although the circumstances in this drama are nothing new, the story was still told very well. The reason is purely because of the hilarious script.
The drama is funny, cute, sad, and one of my favourites now. The scenes were the characters imagine and make up stories are really funny and a unique aspect of this drama. A great romantic comedy!
Acting: Everyone in this drama was extrememly good! Each character made me either love them or hate them, but the best was Lee Da Hae. This is her drama. Watch out for all her singing parts! You'll love them. :D
Lee Joon Ki and Park Si Yeon were good, but I just want to mention that sometimes their scenes got repetitive. especially Lee Joon Ki's squash scenes. However, in the end I ended up liking him. At first I thought he looked a little too feminine, but then he got better as the drama went on.
Music: All the songs were really good and this drama uses them heavily. I especially love the theme song, "Never Say Goodbye". However, I'm taking a point off because I felt that they could've changed up the songs a bit more. After awhile you get tired of hearing the same tunes.
Overall: Yes go watch it! One of the best K-dramas for me.
Story: Your run-of-the-mill high school story about being unsure about the future, making good friends, and having no regrets. All that blah with a mystery twist and plenty of memorable quotes.
Acting: I seriously think this drama only did well because of the actors. Without their wonderful performance this drama would've been completely dry because admit it; the story isn't that great.
Music: This another thing that really helped the drama. The music was outstanding! From beginning to end it was the music and the actors that were able to make this otherwise boring story into the fad that it became.
Overall: The drama definitely is a good one, but only because of the above stated reasons. Not on my favourites list. Still worth the watch.
Watch it for the exceptionally cute and legendary AKIRA and his list of infamous quotes. Kon kon! ^.^
Story: Even though the plot is nothing exceptional, the drama still manages to keep you interested because it doesn't aspire to be great. And since you don't have high expectations for this drama, you end up being decently satisfied.
This drama may have done much better if it had better comedy and more romance.
Acting: I thought the lead actors and some of the supporting cast did really well. However, I was disappointed with the chemistry between the 2 leads. I've seen Kyoko in Boku dake no Madonna, in which I thought she was great, so I was hoping she was going to be good here too...
Overall: Like I said before, the drama was able to meet my basic requirements. It's not a total waste of time for sure.
One Fine Day Title makes no sense, Saturday, 14 June 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: The title of this drama really isn't relevant to the drama. It is only briefly mentioned in the second episode. Anyway, the story is not anything new in Korean dramas. Brother and sister separated in childhood now find each other. Secrets are revealed as they also gow to love each other.
Acting: Pretty good.
Music: The theme song is nice, but other than that nothing special.
Overall: I watched this after seeing Sung Yu Ri's stellar performance in The Snow Queen. I'm not disappointed, but the drama isn't exactly noteworthy. Watch it if you're bored.
Orange Days Kai is so cute!, Wednesday, 05 March 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Besides the fact that I'm clearly in love with Kai, I'm also in love with this drama! Kou didn't have many lines (she is deaf and mute), but her expressions and mannerisms were perfect!
I can't imagine anyone else playing the roles in this drama! All the characters are loveable and the story was done quite well with quite a bit of comedy.
There were some parts that could've been taken out and one of the last episodes felt completely different from the overall drama, but the last episode makes up for everything!
Story: Watched Freaky Friday? Well, it's kinda like that, but more believable. I don't think made sense. lol
What I mean is that the events that the father and daughter go through are what you would expect any one of us to go through.
There's the trouble with the dad's dead end job and then there's the daughter who has a crush on the soccer captain. Things were going as usual until they ate a peach... that's when the real fun started!
Acting: Tachi Hiroshi was brilliant in his role! All the girly things he did were so CUTE! His little dances were the best! :D Aragaki Yui was great too, but when she was the "dad" she became too stiff. Still good job though.
As for the other actors, they were effective in their roles too. All their efforts combined with Tachi Hiroshi's wonderful girly acting created a great family comedy!
Overall: This was a great drama that made me think about my relationship with my dad too. It's a really funny, feel-good drama that was done well from beginning to end. It was short, funny, and sweet!
Pride Born to love you?!, Wednesday, 02 April 2008
Story
Acting
Music
Satisfaction
Story: This drama is really about the romance with sports = hockey as the bac
