K-drama Review : You Who Came From The Stars

(Also known as “My Love From Another Star“)

It’s been a while since I last watched a K-drama, and it’s been even longer since I last saw one that got me completely captivated. The last one was probably Secret Garden, back in 2011. (Although I did really enjoy To The Beautiful You). My sister is still pretty updated with the latest dramas and she strongly encouraged me to watch this one. She told me that since I love shojou mangas with a tsundere male, I would enjoy this a lot. And surprise surprise, she was right. Just one episode in and I was hooked.

SUMMARY:

Here’s the basic plot of the story according to Wikipedia:

Do Min-joon is an alien that landed on Earth in the year 1609 during the Joseon Dynasty. As his spaceship is broken, he is stranded on the planet for the next four centuries. He possesses a near-perfect appearance, enhanced physical abilities involving his vision, hearing and speed, and a cynical, jaded view regarding human beings. He meets a young girl whom he saves from death, but later on she gives her life saving him.

As time goes by, Min-joon is forced to take on a new identity every ten years, as his human appearance never ages.

In the present he works as a college professor and finds out that due to a comet coming in three months, he will be able to return to his home planet. In the meantime he accidentally meets famous actress Cheon Song-yi, the biggest Hallyu star in Korea, when she moves in next door to his luxurious apartment and also turns out to be attending his classes at college. Song-yi is an obnoxious, entitled attention seeker, someone who became a top star in her teens and never learned how to live a normal life. Min-joon finds out that Song-yi looks like the young girl he fell in love with in the Joseon era. He tries to keep himself away from her, as he needs to leave the planet.

However, Song-yi gets entangled in the dangerous game of Lee Jae-kyung, the elder brother of Hwi-kyung, who has been her friend since middle school and is in love with her. As Jae-kyung tries to silence Song-yi, Min-joon finds himself saving her multiple times and eventually the neighbours fall for each other. But Jae-kyung turns out to be much more dangerous than Min-joon suspected and he mysteriously also starts to lose control over his superpowers, making his only friend and confindant, Lawyer Jang worried about his life and return to space.

(The summary is pretty accurate, except for the part where it says his spaceship was broken. I’m pretty sure the reason he was stranded on Earth was because he was poisoned when it was time for the spaceship to leave so he got left behind. But I definitely agree with the statement about his “near-perfect appearance” XD)

I have just got to say that I LOVED this drama. So even though I’m extremely busy with work, I just had to write this quick review. To keep it short (well, shorter than my other K-drama reviews), I will try to focus only on the aspects of the show that I liked. Please be warned that this review will contain MAJOR SPOILERS. So if you plan to watch it, then you might want to close your browser now.

THE CHARACTERS/CAST:

Cheon Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun)

She was one of the main reasons I decided to watch this K-drama. My Sassy Girl is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I loved her in it. I remember first watching it back in college. I enjoyed it so much that I even made all my friends (and a few family members) watch it. I love that Cheon Song Yi’s character in this drama is pretty similar to her character in My Sassy Girl. They’re both bossy, confident and ultimately “sassy”. One major difference from her character in Sassy Girl is that Cheon Song Yi is pretty ditzy, which only makes me love her more. You guys know I have a soft spot for girls who are adorably cute and clueless. (think Go Mi Nam in You’re Beautiful, Mi Ho in MGIAG, Nodame in Nodame Cantabile and Yuan Xiang Qin in It Started With A Kiss). I say “clueless” because I don’t believe that Song Yi was actually stupid, despite what her bashers say – in fact I think she’s pretty clever. It’s just that she’s always had someone around to do things for her and clean up her mess ever since she was a kid, so she’s never had to fend for herself. She never had to take school seriously either because she started acting and earning big money at such a young age. Naturally, when the people taking care of her abandoned her, she was at a loss.

I truly admire Cheon Song Yi’s confidence and tenacity. And I applaud her for going right up to Do Min Joon and admitting her feelings to him. Personally I think it’s absurd to love someone and not tell them (unless they’re married or in a relationship or something). You’ll just waste years of your life wondering about things that could have been (example : Yoo Se Mi). I understand that confessing to someone can be terrifying, but at least you’ll know how they feel about you. If they like you too then hooray! And if they don’t then you can make a choice to keep fighting for them or move on.

I didn’t think I could love Jun Ji Hyun more after My Sassy Girl but this drama proved me wrong. The reason I enjoyed this show so much was because of her crazy antics. She’s not afraid to make herself look stupid or crazy, and I admire her for that. She’s confident, self assured and dauntless, but you can’t help but want to take care of her because she’s so clueless. Even her brother, a high school student, seems to know more about the world than she does.

I read on Allkpop that Kim Soo Hyun personally called and persuaded Jun Ji Hyun to play this role after they worked together on Thieves, because she initially refused. KSH believed that JJH is the only actress who could do this role justice so he convinced her. I’m glad he did because I don’t think this drama would have done aw well if it wasn’t for JJH 😀

Do Min Joon (Kim Soo Hyun)

Ah, Kim Soo Hyun. Why must you do this to me? It’s been a while since I obsessed over an actor. I was doing pretty well but you had to go and ruin that. Gaaaah! Why must you be so perfect~

Yep, you know it~

I absolutely loved Do Min Joon. I’m such a sucker for male tsundere characters (i.e. Hwang Tae Kyung from You’re Beautiful, Chiaki Shinichi from Nodame Cantabile and Jiang Zhi Shu from ISWAK). I love how they try to act all tough and emotionless, but deep down they’re willing to go through anything for the girl they care about. *sigh*

Kim Soo Hyun did an amazing job in this drama. I smiled when he smiled and cried when he cried. I broke down in tears when he told Cheon Song Yi to leave him alone because he doesn’t have feelings for her, but froze time as she walked away so he could give her a goodbye kiss and tell her how much he truly loves her. And when he started crying as she was talking about the things she wanted to do for their future anniversaries (because he knew he be gone by then) – that was just heartbreaking. This was my first time watching any of his work, but you can be sure that I’ll be keeping a lookout for him now.

(I found this on Tumblr and I gotta say I agree XD)

Lee Hwi Kyung (Park Hae Jin)

He was one of my favorite characters on the show. I was a big Family Outing fan so I’m happy to see Hae Jin in this drama. Although, honestly, I didn’t recognize him at first. He got so thin!

I thought Hae Jin did a great job with his character.  I never knew he was such an amazing actor.  His actions and expressions are just spot on.  Lee Hwi Kyung’s the kind of guy that girls would want to have in their lives. He was caring, loyal, attentive and he never expects anything in return. (Like that scene when the reporters had Song Yi trapped in her apartment building – his first thought was what if she was starving in there.) He would go to the ends of the earth for Cheon Song Yi if she asked him to. He hopes that Cheon Song Yi will love him back someday, but he doesn’t pressure her to do anything she doesn’t want to do – he just waits patiently by her side and constantly lets her know that he loves her and will do anything for her. She’s rejected him for 15 years, but he never gives up. Honestly, part of me was hoping that they’d end up together, because I felt bad for him. But love is never that simple. And to be fair to Song Yi, she never lead him on. She made it clear that she never saw him as anything more than a friend, and tells him that that’s all he will be to her. There even came a time when she thought about giving up their friendship because she didn’t want to cause him more pain by keeping him around, but he refused. He believed that being friendzoned is better than not being with her at all. Seriously, I just wanted to reach into my laptop at times and give him a hug.

Don’t worry Hwi Kyung – girls will be lining up just to be with with a guy like you. If I didn’t have my Ckloy (and if you weren’t fictional) then I’d be right there along with them.

K-drama Review : Protect the Boss

I started watching this drama months ago, but I didn’t finish it until a few days ago. This review will be shorter than usual because I forgot most of what happened in the beginning of the story already.

THE PLOT:

Noh Eun Seol is a girl who is in terrible need of a job, however her background as a high school delinquent doesn’t do much to impress future employers and she always ends up getting rejected. Finally sick of the whole thing, she throws a mini tantrum during one of her interviews and informs the people interviewing her that they were being unfair and that she’s no longer the same girl she was in high school. Impressed with her little speech and fiery attitude, Director Cha Moo Won decides to hire her and assigns her as secretary to Cha Ji Heon, his irresponsible and rebellious cousin. She does her best to get Ji Heon back on track and at the same time helps him with a couple of his own personal problems.

THE CAST:

No Eun Seol (Choi Kang Hee)

The lead actress in the series. I found her a bit annoying and over dramatic at first, but she eventually grew on me. She is portrayed as a strong, confident woman who’s trying her best to leave her messy past behind. She gets a job at a top company and is assigned to the worst boss, but she eventually finds her own way to handle him.

I think Choi Kang Hee did an okay job in this role.  It was funny seeing her character interact with her boss, and how she handles his little temper tantrums.  After watching the show, I’m still not a huge fan, but based on what I’ve seen, she’s a decent actress.

Cha Ji Heon (Ji Sung)

He plays “The Boss” in this series. He is portrayed as the spoiled rich guy that is so typical in Kdramas. Think Kim Joo Won from Secret Garden or Gu Jun Pyo and Yoon Ji Hoo from BOF, etc.  All arrogant yet adorable sons of rich businessmen and therefore could pretty much get away with anything they want.  Another thing these guys have in common is their weird quirks/phobias. Joo Won was claustrophobic, Ji Hoo had a fear of driving, Jun Pyo was … well … I can’t remember if he had any strange phobias, but he definitely had his own weird things going on. In PTB, Ji Heon was a germaphobe, had ADD, OCD, and had a fear of crowds. Seriously, do all rich cute guys have weird phobias/habits?

Anyway, I really liked Ji Sung’s acting in this drama. He was annoying, rude and weird, but he was also adorably immature and playful.

Cha Moo Won (Kim Jaejoong)

Alright, it’s time for me to be honest – the only reason I watched the show was because of this guy. More specifically, this post that I saw on Tumblr:

Haaaawt~ You can’t really blame me right?

K-drama Review : City Hunter

This drama came highly recommended by my sister so I finally gave in and watched it despite my busy schedule.  (I couldn’t help it, she knew my weakness.  She lured me into her room and showed me some scenes with Lee Min Ho in it, and I just caved in.)   Anyway, I really enjoyed it so I decided to make a short review.

Just a quick warning : I will be posting A LOT of spoilers below, so if you haven’t seen the show you might want to stop reading now.

Plot summary :

The show begins in 1983 when North Korean soldiers planted a bomb meant to harm the South Korean president during his visit in Myanmar.  The president was unharmed, but several high ranking officials were killed due to the explosion.  To retaliate, five South Korean officials planned a  covert operation to sneak into North Korea and kill several high ranking officials.  Twenty one well-trained South Korean soldiers were sent to fulfill the task without the president’s knowledge.  However, while the mission was being carried out, the South Korean officials who ordered the attack changed their minds and decided to kill the 21 soldiers on their way back to Korea and hide all evidence of the raid mission.  One soldier, Lee Jin Pyo, managed survive after his good friend and comrade, Park Moo Yul, took the bullet that was meant for him.  Filled with anger, Jin Pyo managed to make his way back to Seoul and kidnapped Moo Yul’s newborn son, Yoon Sung to make him a pawn for his revenge.  He escaped to the Golden Triangle and became a drug lord while raising Yoon Sung as his own and training him to become a strong fighter and bounty hunter of some sort.  When Yoon Sung turned 28, Jin Pyo sent him back to Korea to track down the five officials who betrayed him and kill them.

The Cast:

Lee Min Ho as Lee Yoon Sung

So once again I was lured into watching a drama because of this dude.  But Lee Min Ho is not just some guy with a pretty face, he’s a decent actor as well.  I thought that his acting has improved a lot since Boys Over Flowers.  It was a bit hard to tell at first because Yoon Sung’s character is very similar to Goo Jun Pyo’s, but as the drama progresses you can see him add more depth to his role.  I was quite impressed with him in the scene when his ajusshi almost died after getting ran over by a car, as well as his final scenes in the last episodes.  Yoon Sung was a very conflicted and confused character, and Lee Min Ho portrayed him really well I think.

Park Min Young as Kim Nana

This is the first drama I’ve seen of her, (well, the first complete drama – I tried watching Sungkyungkwan Scandal but I wasn’t able to finish it) and I found her absolutely adorable.  I loved Kim Nana in this drama.  She was cheerful, kind and strong.  She helps out others, is a good friend to those who need her and can even pick herself up when life knocks her down.

I really like how she wasn’t one of those clingy and helpless girls that often appear in dramas.  She can take care of herself (most of the time –  there were some moments when Yoon Sung had to rescue her despite being a strong fighter) and she’s very honest with herself, which is another thing I liked.  When she realized her feelings for Yoon Sung, she didn’t go around denying it or trying to hide it.  She went up to him and openly admitted it.  And despite being rejected many times, her feelings never wavered.

Lee Jun Hyuk as Kim Young Joo

I thought he looked a bit like Big Bang’s Seungri at first glance, but that’s just me XD   He was a new actor to me, I’ve never seen any of his other works before and again I was fairly impressed. (EDIT: I just found out that he was in Secret Garden!  I never realized that he was in it until I checked his past dramas on Wikipedia, lol.  He played Oska’s friend in one of the flashback scenes.)  Anyway, I really liked how he portrayed his character.  Sure, there were a couple of times that he was a bit annoying – following Yoon Sung around all the time, trying to prove that he was City Hunter – but that’s just his job.

Like Yoon Sung, he played a conflicted character that was torn between his loyalty to his father and his sense of justice.  I think the scene that best showcased his talent was the hospital confrontation with Yoon Sung after his father’s accident.  I could really feel his anger radiating from the screen at that point.

Kim Sang Jung as Lee Jin Pyo

He looks happy and peaceful in the picture above but in the drama he was portrayed as a strong military soldier with a burning desire for revenge.  He was quite scary and heartless at times, but I thought that he was still very cool.  He did a lot of terrible stuff throughout the drama (like stealing Yoon Sung away from his mom when he was just a baby, blackmail, murder, etc), but I still connected with his character in some way, and I’m sure many of the audience did so as well.

I like that you can tell that he cared a lot for Yoon Sung despite his hard exterior.  I wasn’t sure about this at first, and there were a couple of times when I started to wonder if he truly saw Yoon Sung as anything more than a pawn in his path to revenge, but it all became very clear in the last episode how much he cared.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I can tell you that his final scene in that episode made me bawl like a baby.

K-drama 49 Days (AKA Pure Love) Review

SYNOPSIS:

Shin Ji Hyun is a carefree and innocent heiress in the middle of planning her dream wedding when an accident puts her in a coma. She is informed that it wasn’t her time to die, but she was simply at the wrong place in the wrong time.  In order for her to wake up, she must find three people (non-relatives) who would be willing to cry genuine tears for her. She is given 49 days to complete the task before her soul is permanently separated from her body.  In her search for her three genuine tears, she borrows the body of Song Yi Kyung, a young woman who is completely unhappy with life.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE CAST:

Lee Yo Won (Song Yi Kyung)

I think she did a good job acting in this drama. You can clearly tell when she’s Song Yi Kyung or Shin Ji Hyun in Yi Kyung’s body. She’s much brighter and happier when she’s Ji Hyun. I didn’t like her at first because I found her character too emo and depressing, but as the story progressed, she grew on me. I like the fact that she didn’t try to be overly cute like some girls in most K-dramas. And I really like that she wasn’t stupid. For some reason, girls in K-dramas are usually depicted as stupid and clumsy, but Yi Kyung wasn’t like that.

Nam Gyuri (Shin Ji Hyun)

Honestly, I wan’t a big fan of her in this series. I thought her acting was terrible and that she looked too plastic.  As in literally “plastic”, like a doll – probably the effect of too much plastic surgery.  It’s probably partly due to that why her expressions seem so fake when she acts.  I don’t really know how to explain it – there’s just something really unnatural about her.  But there’s no denying that she’s pretty though.

I didn’t really like her character either. She’s shown as this innocent and naive rich girl.  At the very start of the show she’s seen crying and whining about being late for her engagement party while her friends had to calm her down and think of solutions on how to get there on time. I suppose the writers intended for her to be a loveable character, but she really irritated me. However, it might just be the way the actress portrayed her, because I did like Ji Hyun when she was in Yi Kyung’s body.

You’re Beautiful : Japanese version

It was announced earlier this week that a Japanese remake of the K-drama “You’re Beautiful” will be released this July 2011.  JE fangirls have been going wild with the news that the three ANJell members will be played by their beloved Johnny boys.  Tamamori Yuta will be playing Hwang Tae Kyung, Fujigaya Taisuke will play Kang Shin Woo and Yaotome Hikaru will take Jeremy’s role (I’m not sure what their Japanese names will be though).  The lead female role will be played by Takimoto Miori.

I’m pretty excited about the remake, but it’s making me a bit nervous as well.  This whole thing seems too familiar.  I remember how excited I was last year about the news that a Korean version of ISWAK was being made and that Kim Hyun Joong would take the male lead.  I waited for the show for months, but I just ended up being disappointed because the remake wasn’t as good as the Taiwanese version (in my opinion at least).  It was too bad because I really wanted it like it since I’m a big KHJ fangirl.  Anyway, “You’re Beautiful” is another one of my all-time favorite dramas, so I’m worried that the I wouldn’t enjoy the Japanese remake as much as I did the original.  But I sincerely hope that my predictions will be wrong and that the show will be a success, especially since I want the JE boys to do well.

There have been rumors that cameo offers have been made to the original Korean cast.  I really hope that they’re true 🙂

Source:

http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/05/takimoto-miori-and-johnnys-idols-to-star-in-japanese-remake-of-youre-beautiful/

Park Shin Hye and Jung Yonghwa – together again!

They’re baaaaack~  I can’t wait!  “You’re Beautiful” was one of my favorite K-dramas  –  I loved the story, the characters and the whole A.N.Jell idea.   I know that it was just a made-up band for the show, but I truly wished that they were real because I loved them so much.  You can imagine my excitement when I heard that two A.N.Jell members will be acting together again in an upcoming drama.

Jung Yonghwa and Park Shin Hye will be reunited and given a second chance at love in a new drama titled “You’ve Fallen For Me”.  (I’m not sure if that will be the final title, they’ve changed it a few times already.)    Many fans are happy that Yonghwa has gotten his first lead role.  I hope he’ll do well.  I loved him as Kang Shin Woo, and I became a bigger fan after seeing him appear in We Got Married and Running Man (as a guest).

“You’ve Fallen For me” is supposed to be a love story between two music students.  Jung Yonghwa will be playing Lee Shin – a band vocalist with a cold demeanor, and Park Shin Hye will take the role of Lee Kyu Won – a cheerful student studying traditional Korean music.  The two supposedly get into some kind of argument at first, causing them to strongly dislike each other, but they eventually end up falling in love.   Pretty common plot if you ask me, but hopefully the producers will add some new things to make it interesting.

I really hope this drama will be good and will meet the fans’ expectations.  I’ll definitely be watching out for it.  The pilot episode will air sometime around the end of June.

Favorite lines from Secret Garden (and some animated gifs)

I know I’ve just posted a review of this kdrama, but I couldn’t help making another entry about it.  I was browsing through Tumblr and saw that a lot of people have been blogging their favorite quotes from the show, so I decided to repost some of them in this entry.  I’ll probably add more when I find other ones I like.

“Is that the best you can do?  Are you sure?” – Joo Won

“The thing about women is, the most common of women can become a queen, and the most rarefied woman can become a maid – according to how she is treated by the person she loves.” – Seul

“She drives like a car racer. If she witnesses someone’s purse being snatched, someone she’s never met in her life, she’ll throw fists. She has no money and her body is covered in scars, but she doesn’t want to spend even one second of one minute with people like us. She’s that kind of woman. I’ve never seen a woman as cool as her. That… is my answer.” – Joo Won

“At what age did you become so pretty?” – Joo Won

“Munja Washo!” – Ra Im/Joo Won

“I’m thinking of doing everything now, including this stupid act of waiting for someone in front of their house so you should do the same. You have no thoughts of becoming the little mermaid, so that’s why I’ll be come the little mermaid instead. I’ll be right next to you as if I am not there and disappear like foam. So right now, I am the one shamelessly hanging on to you.” – Joo Won

“For all the hugs I didn’t give you I’m paying it back all at once.” *kisses Kim Joo Won* – Gil Ra Im

“All around the world there are 230 countries, and among those people I can speak 5 languages. Nevertheless, I can’t find the exact word to define our relationship.” – Joo Won

“Open your eyes. You did something strange and stole my heart, you made me drink something strange and stole my body, showed up at someone else’s party and stole even my lips. If it wasn’t for that, there is no reason for you to look so pretty in my eyes.” – Joo Won

“It’s not because I love you, but because I only love you. If I don’t have you, then I won’t have any other choices.” – Joo Won

And of course this one too:

Joo Won: So who raised you?

Ra Im: I grew up alone. As a “poor and unfortunate neighbor”.

Joo Won: How about money?

Ra Im: I had what the government gave me.

Joo Won: So … all my huge taxes went to you.

Ra Im: Why? Does it seem like a waste now?

Joo Won: … I would’ve paid more if I knew I was raising you.

“Why did you come out so late?  I walked slowly from here to there, looking totally pretty from the back” – Gil Ra Im

Oska : How is it with the 21-year old Joo Won?  Do you see him often?

Ra Im : He’s energetic and perverted.  He’s absolutely adorable

Ra Im : I get discharged tomorrow

Joo Won : Are you telling me to take you home?

Ra Im :  Because you’ll want to see me again tomorrow, I’m giving you an excuse to come

I also stumbled upon the fyeah Secret Garden tumblr account, which was filled with gifs from the show.   I didn’t make these, I found them on that account and wanted to share my favorite ones with you guys:

Joo Won in Ra Im’s body XD

LOL Oska

K-drama Review : Secret Garden

A friend recommended this drama a few months back (while it was still airing), but I didn’t really get the chance to watch it until this week.  This was partly because I wanted to wait until the show was over so I could watch it all in one go.

The show originally has 20 episodes – each about an hour long – but due to its popularity, two additional episodes were added after the show ended.

SYNOPSIS

The show focuses on the lives of Kim Joo Won, a wealthy CEO  and Gil Ra Im, a stuntwoman. It’s the typical “rich dude meets a poor girl” kind of story.  They fall in love and must overcome various obstacles to be together. Perhaps one of the most challenging obstacle they must face is the fact that they end up switching bodies somewhere along the story. From this, they learn more about each other’s lives and become closer as they try to figure out how to get back to their own bodies.

NOTE: LOTS OF SPOILERS AND PICTURES AHEAD. STOP READING IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH THE SHOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

K-drama Review : Boys Over Flowers

After my “You’re Beautiful” obsession, I searched for more Asian dramas to watch.   I’ve always wanted to try watching Boys Over Flowers because I wanted to see what all the hype was about.  Since I was completely obsessed with “You’re Beautiful” when I started watching BOF (and because I already had an idea of what the story was about, having watched “Meteor Garden”) I didn’t think that I would like it that much, but I actually enjoyed it.

QUICK SUMMARY:

The story begins when Geum Jan Di, a “commoner” working at a porridge shop , is offered a swimming scholarship to Shin Hwa high school, a prestigious academy made exclusively for the children of the elite members of society.  This includes the infamous F4, a group of four boys led by the notorious Goo Jun Pyo.  F4 is well known throughout Korea for their good looks and the power they have over society.  When Jan Di’s friend, Oh Min Ji, gets into trouble with Goo Jun Pyo, Jan Di sticks up for her and ends up declaring war against Jun Pyo.  Completely new to the idea of someone standing up to him, Goo Jun Pyo finds Geum Jan Di’s strong will interesting and soon starts to develop feelings for her.

Cast

• Koo Hye Sun as Geum Jan Di
• Lee Min Ho as Goo Jun Pyo
• Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo
• Kim Bum as So Yi Jung
• Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin

Extended Cast

• Kim So Eun as Chu Ga Eul (Jan Di’s best friend)
• Kim Hyun Joo as Goo Joon Hee (Jun Pyo’s elder sister)
• Lee Hye Young as Kang Hee Soo (Jun Pyo’s mother)
• Han Chae Young as Min Seo Hyun (F4’s best friend/Ji Hoo’s ex girl friend)
• Lee Min Jung as Ha Jae Kyung (JK Group’s CEO’s daughter and Jun Pyo’s fiancee)
• Lee Jung Gil as Yoon Seok Young (Ji Hoo’s grandfather)
• Jung Ho Bin as Jung Sang Rok (Kang Hee Soo’s Chief Secretary)

(I’m too lazy to write about all the characters, so I’ll just talk about F4 and Jan Di)

K-drama Review : You’re Beautiful

I’ve mentioned this show a couple of times here on my blog already, but I haven’t really had the chance to write about how much I’m obsessed with it.

(I’ll try to avoid posting spoilers in the first part of my review, but you’ll find a lot towards the end.)

“You’re Beautiful” is a fairly new Korean drama which ended late 2009.  My sister has been bugging me to watch it ever since it ended but I haven’t had the time until recently.  She warned me that I should only start when I have about 16 hours to spare (the show has 16 episodes), because she knows I’ll definitely be hooked, and she was right!  Seriously, if you’re going to watch this, be prepared to stay up all night because you won’t be able to stop.

MY QUICK SUMMARY (no spoilers):

The show is about a nun in training who is forced to take the place of her twin brother, Go Mi Nam, while he undergoes corrective surgery.  Her brother has recently been accepted into Korea’s top band called A.N.Jell.  She must keep her identity a secret while living in a dorm with 3 other band members, all of them guys.

MY THOUGHTS

One of the best Asian series I’ve seen in a long time.  Although gender benders are quite common in Asian dramas and mangas (Hana Kimi, Coffee Prince, etc), I still love them since they always guarantee lots of comedic scenes.

The story was very well written and the I love how it was directed.  I can tell that a lot of effort was made in the production of this drama.  The actors did a great job in portraying their characters.

THE CAST

A.N.JELL members:

Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung

Park Shin Hye as Go Mi Nam (Male)/Go Mi Nyu (Female)

Lee Hong Ki as Jeremy/Kang On Yu

Jung Yong Hwa as Kang Shin Woo

Extended Cast

UEE as Yoo He Yi

Bae Geu Rin as Sa Yu Ri (Fan club president)

Kim In Kwon as Ma Hoon Yi (Mi Nam’s manager)

Choi Ran as Choi Mi Ja (Mi Nam & Mi Nyu’s aunt)

Kim Sung Ryung as Mo Hwa Ran

Jung Chan as President Ahn

Choi Soo Eun as Wang Kko Di (Coordinator Wang)

This show had me cracking up so much.  There were moments when I had to literally pause it because I was laughing too much and I couldn’t read the subtitles properly.  Of course, there were a couple of sad and touching scenes as well.

There are a lot of love triangles in this drama so I expected it to get messy.  I’m not really a fan of multiple love triangles because they usually give me headaches, I tend to get confused about who loves who.  But “You’re Beautiful” was just so well-written that I just kept on wanting more.

One thing I’ve got to tell is you is how much I loved the soundtrack.  I have the entire album on repeat right now.  I even downloaded some sheets online and have started learning a few songs on the piano. (You can see me play “Without Words” on the piano here.)

Soundtrack:

Still / As Ever – Lee Hong Ki

Descend from the Sky – Miss $ ft. Oh Won Bin

Without Words – 9th STREET

Lovely Day – Park Shin Hye

Promise – Lee Hong Ki ft. Jung Hwa Young

My Heart’s Calling – Kim Dong Wook

Without Words – Park Shin Hye

Still / As Ever – A.N.JELL

Promise – A.N.JELL

Without Words (Piano ver.) – Various Artists

Still / As Ever (Bossa ver.) – Various Artists

Song for a Fool – Park Sang Woo

What Should I Do – Park Da Ye

Good Bye – Jang Geun Suk

I would give this series full marks, 5/5 stars.  Yes, I love it that much.  It’s been over a year since I’ve been this hooked on a show (the last was the Taiwanese drama “It Started With A Kiss”).  I love everything about this drama: the cast, the plot, the twists, the soundtrack … everything!  I highly suggest that you go and watch it!

(There’ll be a couple spoilers and pictures in these next parts, so if you plan on watching the show, it might be best if you stop reading now.)

One reason why I love “You’re Beautiful” so much is because of the A.N.Jell members.  They’re all really talented actors and singers.  I think that having them actually sing the band’s songs was a huge plus.  It made the show a thousand times more believable.

Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung was perfect.  I don’t think any other actor could have played this role as well as he did.  I loved his facial expressions and the special way he says “Go Mi Nam”.  He reminded me a bit of Tamaki Hiroshi when he played Chiaki in the Japanese series “Nodame Cantabile” (another fave of mine).  Another thing they have in common is that deep and beautiful voice that I can just listen to all day.  I wasn’t really a fan of his guyliner in the show, but I guess they did that to make him look a bit older since he’s supposed to be the leader of the band.

Park Shin Hye played Go Min Nam extremely well, I loved her from the start.  She’s just so cute and bubbly.  Her innocence and her scared expressions won me over.  She’s adorably stupid, you can’t help but love her.

I was thrilled to see Jeremy being played by Lee Hong Ki, the lead vocalist of the Korean band FT Island.  He’s more of a singer than an actor but I still think he did an amazing job in this series.  He reminded me a lot of Ikuta Toma playing Nakatsu in the Japanese version of “Hana Kimi”.  He was the one I was most attracted to in the first few episodes.  I only wish they didn’t give him that horrible hairstyle towards towards the end of the series, I mean what’s with those blunt bangs??  But overall I still think he’s great.  (I’m slowly becoming an FT Island fan because I keep searching for videos of Lee Hong Ki on youtube XD)

The last A.N.Jell member, Kang Shin Woo, was played by Jung Yong Hwa.  According to online polls, Shin Woo is the most popular A.N.Jell member, probably because he’s the kindest and sweetest among them (and he’s extremely good looking too XD).  He’s the most mature out of the members, and probably the smartest among them.  His one-sided love for Go Mi Nam made a lot of fans cry because it was just so pure.  His character reminds me a lot of Hua Ze Lei in the Taiwanese series “Meteor Garden”.

I really wish A.N.Jell was a real band, I’d definitely support them.  I’ve seen some videos on youtube where they actually perform together on stage to promote the show.  I’m hoping they’ll form a temporary group in the future just to please the fans (just like the Taiwanese F4), haha.

There are many scenes in this drama that stuck with me after I watched it. These are just some of them:

-The phone call between Tae Kyung and Mi Nam after she was hit on the head by a trophy and had to pretend that she was in the hospital.

-Tae Kyung’s expression while he watched Mi Nam and Coordinator Noona on the webcam

-When Tae Kyung’s phone accidentally fell on top of a parked truck and he made Go Mi Nam get it.  I loved the part when the truck started backing up and Tae Kyung was just standing there concerned about his cellphone.

-The scene when Mi Nam destroyed Tae Kyung’s room

-When Tae Kyung and Mi Nam gets lost after leaving the restaurant because of Tae Kyung’s allergy

-When Mi Nam had to choose a member to share a room with (adorable puppy eyes!)

-Manager Ma’s imaginary bed scenes!!  I loved it even more after seeing the director’s cut on youtube.

-The scenes where Tae Kyung torments Yoo He Yi (throwing away her shoes, sending her dad a message that she was pregnant, LOL)