TWO BESTIES AND A BLOG

TrinityLayne:
Blood Type is O-
Born in the year of the Rabbit (not really saying which one. LOL)
I have been a addict of Asian dramas for a little over 5 years now, but I am a life long anime addict (lets just say over 20 years)


My Top 5 Dramas -

• Mars (Tdrama)
• Devil Beside You (Tdrama)
• Hana Yori Dango (Jdrama)
• Liar Game (Jdrama)
• It Started with a Kiss (Tdrama)
  

OnyxHikari: Born in the year of the Tiger.

I have to say I’ve been a fan of dramas for a long time. I can’t remember the first one I watched, but I want to say Over the Rainbow or Full House. There’s been dozens, if not more, between then and now. I tend to form an opinion within a few episodes of a drama and whether or not I’ll continue. So there may be some dramas where I simply say it was not enough for me to continue. I’m also a huge movie buff, both drama and horror wise, so don’t be surprised if a horror movie review pops up every now and then. ^ ^

My Top 5 Dramas –
♥ It Started With A Kiss (Tdrama)
♥ Smiling Pasta (Tdrama)
♥ Nodame Cantabile (Jdrama)
♥ Hana Yori Dango (Jdrama)
♥ Oh! My Lady (Kdrama)

Runner’s Up -
Hana Kimi (Jdrama)
Gokusen (Jdrama)
Love Shuffle (Jdrama)
Mei-chan no Shitsuji (Jdrama)
Bloody Monday(Jdrama)

Cast:

• Jung Il Woo as Cha Chi Soo
• Lee Chung Ah as Yang Eun Bi
• Lee Ki Woo as Choi Kang Hyuk
• Park Min Woo as Kim Ba Wool
• Jo Yoon Woo (조윤우) as Woo Hyun Woo

I have to say that I enjoyed this drama immensely, though it is not without its flaws (which I will touch on in a bit) but I was more than able to overlook them. Flower Boys Ramen shop is a light hearted and funny to the point I had to bury my face into my drama pillow (see bioJ), more than once, to stop from laughing to hard (can’t wake the kids). But did try a few Dramatic plot points.

It starts with Eun Bi is about to start her internship as a student teacher. The day before (or so) She encounters Cha Chi Soo, an arrogant ‘man’ (that so reminds one very much of Domyoji- Hana Yori Dango-). They actually have a few encounters before she discover the truth about him…that he is a High School student BUT he is in the very class she is teaching.

Now starts the normal kdrama clichés, not that this is a bad thing, in this shows case. Flower Boy’s embraces the normal kdrama romantic clichés (there are 10 rules—much like with horror flims-- to Asian dramas, which Onyx and I will have to sit down and write out soon) plays them up to the point this almost a spoof of the normal formula.

As the school setting progresses (a point of note that the “ramen shop” doesn’t become a key part of the show till almost HALFway through the 16ep run) Chi Soo takes great pleasure in tormenting Eun Bi, to the point she ends up snapping and ends up quitting/being fired. Chi Soo actually becomes conflicted over this, but is clueless as to why. So he begins tormenting her EVERYwhere and this is where Choi Kang Hyuk AND the Ramen shop comes into play.

The Ramen shop originally is owned by Eun Bi estranged father, he passes away and Eun Bi finds out (quite comically) That he has left the ‘shop’ to the son of his best friend. The son Kang Hyuk—whom is a top rated chef in Japan--(the summery says he is lazy…is more he beats to his own drum, choosing simplicity of living) BUT not only has her farther left his shop to this strange guy she never met, but left her to him as well.

You must watch to know more LOL

NOTE: there are a few highly amusing cameos, I won’t give away who, fans of kdrama’s of recent years pay attention to the background music it will give away.

One of the flaws to this drama—to me--have more to do with the supporting characters roles in the plot; a few disappear for no apparent reason, such as Chi Soo’s friends (all his posse, save one). The random appearance of Eun Bi’s ex to throw him into what is already a complicated triangle of Eun Bi, Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk, only for him to vanish as randomly as he arrived. And what was to be a great dramatic secret connection between two of the major players that fell rather flat. I had it figured out by ep 6, and I won’t even start on the Ballerina.

Another is—and remember really do like this drama—I really don’t think this show needed to be as long as it was, the 16 eps run was stretching it. There are a quite a few repetitive scenes and one episode that is pretty much a recap of the previous one just from a different point of view.

If you are looking for a light hearted romantic comedy to pass some time with, Flower Boy Ramen Shop is a great way to go. If you crave a more in-depth romance (save Flower Boy’s for a rainy day) and give Greatest Love a watch.

I give Flower Boy Ramen Shop 3 outa 4 pandas!

TrinityLayne off to finish Crime Story...my next review!

Ok yes I know that this was released in 2009. Yes I know that everyone sang it's praises as being totally, fabulously, awesomeness wrapped up in a tight little 60 min or so package. But honestly I never watched it. The main subject just never really seem to grab my attention. I was worried that I would get bored by it and truthfully sometimes there more hype there is about something, the worse it is.

So with that being said I will share with you what I thought. First in some sense I was right. I thought there were some parts that just seemed to drag on for me. Conspiracy....blah...blah... conspiracy....love story....conspiracy..betrayal.....blah blah. Pretty much like that. Sometimes I think that because of certain reasons drama series seem to be way too long. And the vice versa is true, sometimes it should be longer. In this case I think that it was a tad too long. A lot of what transpires in the middle could have been condensed instead of dragging out the story line. (Case in point they basically took all the episodes and made a 2 hour movie for the Japanese release and it still made sense.)

The story is about a two men and one women who work for an intelligence agency. Basically Kim Hyun Joon doesn't remember much about his childhood and comes to find out that the missing pieces have to do with a much bigger conspiracy involving both North and South Korea and in some ways the world, codenamed Iris. He becomes a part of NSS as well as his friend Jin Sa Woo. But the path of the NSS takes them down two entirely separate paths testing their friendship and their beliefs in the people they work for. Now throw in a mutual love interest Choi Seung Hee who is their immediate boss, and you have a story line.The love story of course takes a back seat to the conspiracy as it should, but still is an important part of the story.

Now if you heard about this series you heard that Big Bang's current hottie member T.O.P. played a role in this story. T.O.P. plays the assassin Vick. (I'll admit it was this that finally convinced me to watch this series.) While his role isn't a big one, let me just say that he does excellent with what he's given. He was a believable cold-hearted killer who did so not for the pleasure, money or because he liked it, he killed just because he could and he was told to to obtain whatever was needed at the time. He has no remorse or feelings about it one way or another. He was raised and trained to be a killer and simply that's what he was. (I have to say he did shock me with the last person he killed though, I kinda thought he wasn't acting with her.) BUT if you are going to try to watch this just for Vick aka T.O.P. don't. He has maybe 45 mins total (maybe a little more) of screen total in the whole series and is only in a handful of episodes. You will be disappointed and I wouldn't recommend you watch for that reason solely.

I have to say that when Vick was on screen the action was more lively and I found myself rooting for the bad guy. (Twisted I know.) I think that if he would have been an more active antagonist in the story, it would have added a lot. I'm not just saying this because I'm a fangirl of T.O.P. but rather the story needed an active agonist to spice things up, as it was the antagonist was group and always hidden in the background cutting any action that could have taken place in half.

All in all as a fan of shoot 'em, blow 'em up movies this series fell a little flat. Despite the high budget and exotic locations, it seemed to drag in most portions. Literally only paying half-hearted attention to some things in the middle I still knew what was going on as it was rehashed over and over. I think that less episodes and more money spent on action sequences to keep it exciting would have helped. I wouldn't watch it again, but I don't regret watching it.
~Onyx

Cast:

• Jo Yeo Jung as Sun Woo In Young
• Kim Jung Hoon as Kim Sung Soo
• Choi Yeo Jin as Park Seo Yeon
• Choi Song Hyun as Kang Hyun Joo
• Choi Jin Hyuk as Bae Sung Hyun
• Ha Yun Joo as Yoon Kang Hee
• Kim Hyung Min as Duk Soo
• Ricky Lee Neely as Alex

Ok so let me start off by saying that this show in many reviews is either a hit or a miss. When I say hit, it's an all out I love this show, the ending was so great, everyone should watch hit. OR it's a miss. A complete What were you thinking?! How could it end like that? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! adhfsa;lkfhdsaklfh;dsalkjgh MISS.

So then the question is where do I fall? Well let me first start by saying the show should have been titled "I need a Clue" not "I need Romance" or even "I need a therapist" would have worked. I'll get to why I feel this way here in a short bit.

What attracted me to this show was the fact that it was very "Sex in the City-ish" in the description. Well I'm a fan of Sex and the City for the most part, so I decided to give it a chance. We start off with In Young basically finding out a bunch of stuff her boyfriend is hiding from her. I'm not talking little, I'm talking he made a movie, got paid a ton, bought his own house and went to a premiere without her and she found out when her friends asked her cuz it was in a magazine STUFF. Yeah that happens in like the first couple of episodes. I don't try to give spoilers, but seriously it was such a crappy thing to do I was in shock. The bad part is that at one point or another we have all been In Young. She supported her boyfriend as he rose to the top, but to do so she had to give up her dreams to support him. Now the question becomes since he's there will he keep her or toss her aside? It's also a matter for In Young who has another would be suitor who basically adores everything about her. It's not just a physical thing, literally he picks her up when she's down, is patient and asks very little except for her to be happy. Oh and throw in a hottie that is acting in In Young's man's next film and you have yourself a love square.

Now like I said at first I totally understood In Young. I've been there when a romantic relationship morphs into friendship, but you pick up and move on. If the list of cons in a relationship outweigh the pros, it's time to take the friendship and cash out on good terms. Through the whole show, In Young basically rehashes what is wrong with her boyfriend, all the while pining away for him and being jealous. Just when you think she has moved forward and on with her life, BAM she's back where she started. No rhyme. No reason. (well the reason was so weak and lame. There is basically no reason.) She's a weak willed, confused heroine at best. While sometimes she seems to be growing, give her an episode and you'll see that she was really just faking you out to make you keep watching.

The funny part is that you would think that her friends would encourage her to move on with her life. But instead make a big deal about being there for each other no matter what. (Sorry but if I was making the BIGGEST mistake of my life I would hope my friends would love me enough to tell me and kick my butt to see reality.)

The only saving grace of this show was actually In Young's friends. Not that they were the best of friends to her, but their stories were worth finding out about. While one is the "Samantha" of the group being very lose moral wise, you find out there's a hidden sorrow there and it plays out and resolves itself on screen. Sometimes almost comical and at others heartbreaking. The lesson being there that women always seem to blame the other woman, while in reality the man is as much to blame (and in some cases, like this one in my opinion, more so.) The other friend is the "Charlotte" of the group. She is in love with being in love, but wants it to be absolutely perfect. Again after a major turn in her life, she once again finds the faith in herself to move on. Her journey is more comical than heartbreaking. The situations she finds herself in just made me laugh and shake my head. The side stories in this case definitely stole the show, while the main story line stalled and was repetitive.

By the end of the show I was loving the friends, but at the same time restraining myself from throwing the remote at my TV. You literally waste 16 episodes for the heroine to end up right where she started. If you watch the first episode or two, you don't need to watch the end. TRUST ME. While some may argue that this is a story of forgiveness, I would argue it should have been a story about growth and the strength to move on. Sometimes there's just too much that has been said and done, or not done to resume or find what was lost.

If you are looking for a main story about strong women and love, this is not the show for you. If you want to watch the side stories and fast forward through a lot of wasted time, this story is for you. While the love interest is from Goong so definitely eye candy, I would just suggest that you re-watch Goong instead.

The only reason it's getting two is because the friends saved some of the story line...or it might just have gotten a negative popcorn. ~ONYX