Do Sang Woo

Review: The Red Sleeve

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

The biggest compliment I can give Show, is that it knows what it wants to be, and accomplishes its core purpose with finesse and aplomb.

Sure, there are some narrative decisions I didn’t prefer, but Show demonstrates such a profound understanding of its key characters, and teases out the finer points of each of these characters so very well, that I’m more than willing to look past any dissatisfaction I might have with these other details.

Lee Junho and Lee Se Young are wonderful in this, both individually and together. It’s no exaggeration to say that these two had my heart, unequivocally.

Beautiful, poignant and completely worth it.

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Flash Review: The Smile Has Left Your Eyes [Hundred Million Stars From The Sky]

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You guys, this is possibly the one show that I ended up watching quite literally by accident.

See, even though quite a few of you had suggested this show to me, I’d put it vaguely on my list for “later,” and my track record shows that “later” often stretches into a black hole void of “maybe never,” mostly because there are just too many newer shows vying for my attention and I can’t keep up with it all.

The thing is, when I saw this available on Viu, I thought I’d click on episode 1, “just to see.” Well, whaddya know. I got sucked in within mere minutes.

This one struck me as immediately engaging the way a classic melo like Winter Sonata is immediately engaging, and by the 30-minute mark, I knew I’d be following this one through to the end. In a drama landscape where a good number of dramas take about 4 episodes to get going in earnest, that’s skillz.

The question is, did Show manage to keep it up all the way through to the end?

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Dropped: Ex-Girlfriend Club

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Remember when everyone seemed to love Ho Goo’s Love but I ended up dropping it? Uh, pretty much the same thing happened here, with Ex-Girlfriend Club.

I’d heard more than a few glowing recommendations for Ex-Girlfriend Club, and phrases like “underrated little gem” were thrown about enthusiastically whenever I’d seen this show mentioned. I was optimistic.

As a bonus, I already liked Byun Yo Han, Song Ji Hyo and Lee Yoon Ji.

Sadly, try as I might, I never was able to get into this drama. On the upside, just because this drama didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. 😉

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Review: It’s Okay It’s Love

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

A quirky confection that is as sweet as it is strange, It’s Okay serves up an oddball-flavored 3-in-1 love package exploring romance, friendship and family, with a big dose of dysfunction and dramaland psychiatry on the side.

Show is not always big on the logic nor on the medical accuracy, but its characters and relationships are consistently delivered with heart and nuance, helping us to buy into and believe in its world, no matter how surreal things sometimes get.

Excellent performances by our leads as well as many of the secondary characters, together with some very sparky OTP chemistry, help to sweeten the deal.

At its heart, It’s Okay’s charm is that it’s an imperfect show peopled by imperfect characters, to appeal to an imperfect audience.

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