2013

Dropped: I Miss You

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To be honest, I didn’t expect to write about I Miss You. After all, the drama’s been over for a while, and it’s been literally months since I dropped it.

But my dear friend Michele requested this post, and since I basically bailed on her when we’d agreed to watch this drama together, I feel like I owe it to her, y’know?

Now, I like to think of myself as a pretty decent friend. And I honestly *pinky swear!* thought that since we’d be watching this together, that my commitment to her, combined with her encouragement, would be enough to keep me on this boat through to the very end.

Uh. That so didn’t happen.

After 14 episodes, I just could not bring myself to watch another hour of this drama, and I bailed, leaving poor Michele to soldier on without me (I’m still sorry, Michele! And, I still won’t watch this show! 😛 ).

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Review: Two Weeks

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

A stage swiftly set with strong stakes; a capable cast; deft execution. Two Weeks has all three and is one tense rollercoaster ride from start to finish.

Two Weeks has quite a few narrative pieces to juggle, what with life-and-death literally hanging in the balance, emotional baggage the size of a small country along for the ride, and a poignant, heartwrenching-heartwarming father-daughter relationship blossoming at its core through it all.

Admirably, the show manages to deliver it all in a way that feels satisfying, well-paced and coherent through the very end.

The entire cast is pretty excellent, but the stand-out is Lee Jun Ki, who truly is mesmerizing as our resident fugitive daddy on the run, finally faced with a reason to live that is bigger than himself: his little girl.

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Review: Master’s Sun

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Not one of the best outings by the Hong sisters, but not one of the worst either, Master’s Sun delivers what it promises: rom-com hijinks of the somewhat ghostly variety.

Driven mostly by sparky OTP chemistry and a lovely OST, which together made up for lapses in the storytelling, this drama is more mood than substance. And it’s a slow burn too, at that.

Essentially, a pretty fun, easy, unchallenging watch if you don’t think about it too hard. And I’ve just found a way to level that up in a serious fashion, which I’ll tell you more about in the review.

And no, the ghosts aren’t that scary. 

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Review: Heirs

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

A teen melodrama dressed up to pass off as a posh teen rom-com.

At first glance, this show might look like it wants to do too much, what with its over-bloated, gigantic cast.

In actual fact, though, the show doesn’t really want to do anything except provide a platform for its OTP to go through the requisite angsty steps (angsty coz this is ultimately more melo than rom-com) to get to their happy-ever-after, which was a given from the very beginning (ok, the happy ending’s sorta more rom-com).

On the plus side, Kim Woo Bin is the resident scene-stealer (and he steals those scenes, so well), while several other secondary characters are likable and amusing. Just don’t expect a properly fleshed out story or robust character & relationship development arcs.

Pleasant enough but far from cracky, Heirs is a show that never fired up my emotions one way or the other. I neither hated it nor loved it. And indifference, I realize, is really not a very inspiring place to be.

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Review: The Suspect [Guest Post]

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Drum roll please, everyone! I’m excited to announce the first guest post on this blog!! Wheee!! 😀

A number of you would already be familiar with Lady G, who’s an unnie on this blog. She is always such a pleasure to chat with, and always has such interesting and insightful thoughts to share that I always look forward to her comments.

When it was announced that The Suspect was premiering in New York, we all squealed out loud in envy over at our GY Running Man Squee Fest Facebook group (yes, the squee-fest is over, but the squeeing has happily continued, heh), coz this meant that Lady G would get to see this movie on the big screen.

We – pretty much in unison, really – commissioned Lady G to tell us alllll about her experience of watching Gong Yoo in his first action role on the big screen.

Being the awesome gal that she is, Lady G didn’t just come back with lots of incoherent spazzes and gushes, though we wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. I mean, it’s Gong Yoo on the big screen after all. Heh.

Nuh-uh. Instead, she wrote a whole review of the movie, and here it is!

Take it away, Lady G!

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Year In Review: 2013

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In in all, I’d hafta say that 2013 has been a big k-year for me. My biggest k-year ever, since I got on the k-train in 2007. After all, this is the year that I:

– experienced what it’s like to take care of a blog;

– discovered the awesome allure of Kim Woo Bin;

– went to my first fanmeet, ever;

– organized my first squee-fest (fun!)

and

– faced my first existential crisis as a blogger. (I survived. It’s all good.)

The downside of all that, though? I watched the least amount of drama, ever, since I got on the drama train.

Tsk. The irony, right?

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Gong Yoo on Running Man! [Squee Date Details Updated!]

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So it’s been confirmed: Gong Yoo is guesting on Running Man, together with his The Suspect co-star Park Hee Soon. On 8 December! Which is very, very soon! Eeeee!!! 😀

…And which almost every Gong Yoo fangirl or fanboy would know by now, actually.

So what’s the point of this post, you ask?

Well. Seeing as how rare it is that we get to see Gong Yoo on our screens at all, let alone on variety giant Running Man, this is just too momentous an occasion to let pass without a bit of fanfare.

So. We are officially gathering for a squee-fest! And you’re welcome to join us! 😀

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Giveaway Winner! + Gong Yoo Goodies for Everyone!

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Wow. Time flies, doesn’t it? It’s already been 3 whole weeks since my Big Gong Yoo Adventure in the heart of Tokyo. Still so surreal, even now.

I’ve since gotten myself back home, and it’s been an odd experience settling back in, after 5 weeks away. For one thing, it’s just so nice to be able to once again understand everything around me!

When shop staff & other service providers speak to me, I actually understand what they’re saying now. And! I no longer have to squint and ponder while reading product labels. Coz everything around me is no longer labeled in Japanese!! Ahhh.. It’s the little things, I tell ya 😉

Thanks for your patience, everyone.. By now, some of you might actually be wearing the same expression as Gong Yoo in the pic above, while waiting for me to announce the giveaway winner, hee.

Yes indeedy, I’ve picked a winner, as promised.

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I Was There: Gong Yoo Premium Night 2013

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I can hardly believe it, you guys.

Gong Yoo, the man who occupies a very special place in my k-loving heart, held his first fan-meeting in 2 years. In TOKYO. And I WAS THERE.

I saw him IN THE FLESH, y’all.

Eeeee!!!

UN. REAL.

It was a surreal, dream-like, exciting day, in so many senses of the word. I’m still reeling from the surreality of it all, as I type this.

I wish you guys could’ve been there with me, seriously. It’s too bad pesky little things like, y’know, geography, had to get in the way of us attending this fanmeet together.

But! Lookin’ on the bright side, here’s the next best thing: a blow-by-blow(-by-blow!) account of my big Gong Yoo adventure, in the heart of Tokyo.

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Review: I Hear Your Voice

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

A noona romance that reminds me all over again why I love kdrama.

There are a good number of reasons to love this drama: a good story, robust themes, a brisk pace that’s well-kept for the most part, engaging characters that are well-written and well-acted, heartwarming relationships all-around (well, almost all-around), a very enjoyable OST, and a fantasy, superpower bent that gives rise to related hijinks, many of the romantic variety. Yes, Omo!

My top reason for loving this show, though, can be summed in this character still right here. Everything about this boy-man, from how he’s written to how he’s portrayed, floats my boat. Melt, melt and melt.

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