Love Story

 

Type: Japanese Drama

Cast:

Nakayama Miho as Sudoh Misaki

Toyokawa Etsushi as Nagase Ko

Katori Shingo as Nabetomo Kyoji

Yuka as Kobayashi Kano

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My Review:

This is a very simple story. Love Story is about a woman how dates the wrong men and she never realizes that they no longer like her. She works for a publishing company as a book editor. After never producing a bestseller or finding a new bestselling author she it assigned to work with Nagase Ko, an author in a dry spell. Nagase is hard to work with, doesn’t really like people and most of his problems stem from his past. Over the course of there time together they start to learn a lot about each other and get to know one another. The one problem is they are both stubborn. Finally she somehow inspires him to write and he writes his first novel in few years. The main question is, will they ever find true love or will there past hold them back?

This is the main theme however, there is a second set of people in heart ache. This drama takes love and looks at through the eyes of the young and also through the eyes of the supposedly mature. While Nagase and Misaki try to work through their past hurts, the younger couple of Nabetomo and Kano try to connect. Nabetomo is a young playboy who thinks he doesn’t need a permanent girlfriend, while Kano falls in love with him and pesters him for his attention. This look at two loves, as it were, makes it easy for anyone to identify. At one time or another we have either loved someone who didn’t love us back or became unlovable ourselves.

This is a short drama, only 11 episodes, but I cried through pretty much the last five. By the end of this drama it is hard not to love all the characters and want the best for them, even though at times it is hard to understand why they do the things they do. I am leaving some details out of my review because I feel that they are better to learn as a surprise. I really hope that you will give this one a try and make sure you have your tissue handy.

April Snow

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Bae Yong Joon as In Soo

Son Ye Jin as Seo Young

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My Review:

This will probably be the shortest description I will ever give regarding plot. This is about a tragic accident and a twist of fate that brings people together amid the chaos following the accident.

The first question I would ask someone if they were to ask me what I thought about this movie would be, “Have you ever seen Le Mans with Steve McQueen?” I have a feeling that most people would say no. The only thing I can say is that it is not very big on dialog and alot of people that speak English seem to have a problem with that. I think it is absolutely amazing to watch a film with so little dialogue and personally I really didn’t notice. The actors convey emotion with such intensity that most of the time words aren’t really needed.

I would suggest that everyone give it a try. It is a classic Korean drama tragic romance executed in an movie. I really enjoyed this film and I don’t want to sit here and give out every little detail of the film and spoil the out come. In short: Acting = Great, OST = Great, and Scenery = Great. If you are still not sure that you want to purchase it find a bit torrent and watch it then support the arts by buying it!

Hotelier

(Cast From Left to Right: Han Tae Joon, Kim Yun Hee, Suh Jin Young and Shin Dong Hyuk)

Type: Korean Drama

Cast:

Bae Yong Jun as Shin Dong Hyuk/Frank Shin

Kim Seung Woo as Mgr. Han Tae Joon

Song Yoon Ah as Mgr. Suh Jin Young

Song Hye Gyo as Kim Yun Hee

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My Review:

This drama takes place mostly in the Seoul Hotel, a famous hotel in the drama. Due to an accident Han Tae Joon had to leave the hotel behind and decided to head for Las Vegas leaving his girlfriend Suh Jin Young behind. After he went to Las Vegas he made little attempt to stay in touch with his life in Korea. As the hotels starts to do worse and worse the Chairman confides in Jin young that he always hoped that Han Tae Joon would take over the hotel. Due to a horrible twist of fate the Chairman passes away without being able to let his true feelings be know. With the Chairman gone the hotels continues to fall into despair and his wife is left to figure things out mean while the Chairmans bitter rival Kim Book Man tries to take over the hotel. The Chairmans wife soon realizes that she must send Jin Young to find Han Tae Joon in Las Vegas.

I always try to research a drama before I buy it but when I started looking into this one I had some problems finding any information that helped me make a decision. But I am a very big BYJ(Bae Yong Jun) fan so I had to see this drama. I was surprised, pleasantly, once I started to watch it. I couldn’t believe how interested I was becoming in the management of hotels. I was very surprised by this drama that is for sure. There was a moment, similar to when I was Winter Sonata, that I felt like it would never end, but that soon passed and I could hardly wait to watch the next episode. One thing I really like was how they make sure to show most of the inter workings of the hotel, all the hidden hallways we guest never get to see. I have never worked in a hotel and so I can not say that the depiction was correct but it seemed very believable to me.

This was a very different character for BYJ, very different from Joon Sang in Winter Sonata. Seeing him play a serious businessman gave me new appreciation for his acting skills. I don’t want to always site this in every review but I find it hard not to. In a world where most American television is filled with violence, sex and drugs it is very refreshing to watch a show (Even if I have to read subtitles) that is not based on a violent action. Also to watch actors that can show such a range of emotion and sometimes not even have to use words. I will not be specific, but there is a scene on the stairs in a bar that is in the hotel where one of the characters grabs the other by the hand and pulls her to him, there is a song by Sting called Fragile that comes on, and all at once you are filled with so many emotions everything just feel every real for a few second.

This was filmed in an actual hotel, the real name is Sheraton Walker Hill. You can visit it of course, I have found a few tours that take you to its location.

Full House

(Characters from left to right as follows: Kang Hye Won, Yoo Min Hyuk, Han Ji Eun and Lee Young Jae)

Type: Korean Drama

Cast:

Jung Ji Hoon(Rain/Bi) as Lee Young Jae

Song Hye Gyo as Han Ji Eun

Han Eun Jung as Kang Hye Won

Kim Sung so as Yoo Min Hyuk

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My Review:

Han Ji Eun is a fun loving and caring girl who lives alone in her families home. She spends most of her time writing stories, trying to become an author. She wins a vacation to China and on the flight over is seated next to a very famous movie star. During the flight she becomes sick and throws up on him. Later she wakes up one the plane has landed to fine he has already left the plane. She makes her way to the airport only to find that her reservations where never made.

She eventually makes her way back home only to find that her house has been sold out from under her. She has no were to go, no job, and all of her possessions are gone. She goes to the bank only to find that her bank account has been liquidated. No home, no money and no real income, what can she do to survive?

I was a little skeptical when I started to watch this show. I need to read a lot of information about a thing before I feel comfortable buying it. I read a lot of review and I got on a few Asian Entertainment themed forums to see what other people had to say. I had seen a little of the show on the AZN network and I liked it, but it seemed that most people either loved it or hated it. When I watched the first episode I was instantly in love with Han Ji Eun. Her character is so fun and full of life, you want to be her friend. It was very easy to get to know the characters and come to care about how they felt.

There is a lot of struggle in this drama, for the characters as well as the viewers. There are time that I sat and cried with them and other times I would be so frustrated that I wanted to sit up and yell at the screen. The emotions that the characters display are very real and once you get to understand them, you may realize that you have felt the same. I know that a few people out there doubt Jung Ji Hoon’s acting skills. I however do not. I thought he did a great job in this drama and I have also seen some of his work on A love to Kill, which I also thought was very good.

An interesting fact that I learned with researching this show is that Han Ji Eun’s house is a real house. The built that house specifically to make the show and it is located in Gwangyeok-si area of Incheon. It cost approximately $1,000,000.00 USD to build. One of the best partsabout this is that it is now a tourist location and you can actually go to the house and take a tour.

The House

View of the Beach

Living Room

If you are reading this and you are someone who didn’t give the show a chance, please reconsider! Try it out and if you find that you start to like it continue to the end (I also read that several people never finished watching it!). This drama has become one of my favorites and I am sure that I will watch it several more times in the future!

Winter Sonata

(Characters Left to Right: Oh Che-lin, Kim Sang-Hyuk, Kang Jun Sang / Lee Min Hyung and Jung Yu-jin)

Type: Korean Drama

Winter Sonata (Aka: Winter Ballad/Winter Love Story/Endless Love:Winter Sonata/Gyeoul Yeonga)

Cast:

Bae Yong Joon as Kang Jun Sang / Lee Min Hyung

Choi Ji Woo as Jung Yu-jin

Park Yong Ha as Kim Sang-Hyuk

Park Sol Mi as Oh Che-lin
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My Review:

Winter Sonata starts off as a story about a new boy in school, Kang Jun Sang and a girl, Jung Yu-jin, who meet school. They start to become friends but Yu-jin’s best friend, Kim Sang-Hyuk, doesn’t like Jun Sang. Sang-Hyuk tries hard to get between them but their love is made of something stronger than he can overcome. At the same time Sang-Hyuk and Yu-jin’s other friend Oh Che-lin also wants to break them up, since she also likes Jun Sang and wants him to go out with her. Unfortunately for Che-lin he doesn’t like her at all. Yu-jin and Jun Sang get closer and then as quickly as he entered her life he disappears.

Years later Sang-Hyuk, Yu-jin and two of their other close friends have a party to celebrate Sang-Hyuk and Yu-jin’s engagement. But Yu-jin can’t forget her first love Jun Sang and even as she is about to marry someone else, all she can do is think of him. Che-lin then shows up at the party with her boyfriend, who just happens to look alot like Jun Sang. Could this be fate bringing true soul mates back together?

The story that is told in this drama is amazing, heart wrenching, tear jerking and if you remember your first true love some of the scenes may strike a cord. If you start watching Korean Dramas regularly you will see most of the “Love Story” variety share some common themes. Someone may go to the hospital because they are sick or have been in an accident. There may be two people in love but their relationship just seems out of reach no matter what they do. Sometimes there is a jealous rival that creates a love triangle full of twist and turns that leave you either angry or confused as to which is the best choice. Winter Sonata has all of these and many more that weave a create story that will really keep your attention to the end.

Another aspect of Winter Sonata that really got me interested in Korean Drama was their acting ability. They can convey emotions so throughly and sometimes without a word. You feel everything they feel, happy when they are happy and sad when they are sad and sometimes (most of the time) you cry with them. You really find your self caring about the characters and sometimes you can see what is about to happen and you want to reach out to them and stop them before they lose everything. This is something I found really drew me in and made me enjoy watching the show.

The scenery and soundtrack also greatly enhance the show. The settings are quite lovely although, most things would look beautiful and wondrous covered in sparkling snow. There are several beautiful places where they filmed this drama, such as Namiseom Island, Chuncheon and Yongpyong Resort. The soundtrack has a lot of beautiful piano music and the words to the songs are beautiful(it is very easy to find the translations of the main songs). The music also really enhances whatever mood is being portrayed, sometimes when I hear the music I can remember the scenes that had a great impact on me.

Namiseom Island