Moon Ga Young

Review: True Beauty

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

True Beauty doesn’t exactly re-invent the drama wheel in any sense of the word, but it’s fun and endearing, even while it’s being tropey and silly, and altogether, it works out to be a reasonably good time, especially if you’re in the mood for something that doesn’t tax the ol’ brain much.

As a bonus, thematically, Show manages to shine a bit of a spotlight on the importance of inner beauty, even as it plays with the contrast between our female lead’s bare and made-up face.

The acting in this show may not be the most skilled or nuanced, but our characters are generally earnest, well-cast, and pretty to look at.

Moon Ga Young and Cha Eun Woo are picture perfect as our story’s leads, and share decent chemistry as the sweet OTP at the center of our story.

It’s second male lead Hwang In Yeop who ended up stealing my heart a little extra, though. I do have a bit of a weakness for broody bad boys with hidden marshmallow hearts, heh.

Far from amazing, but a solid pick for a bit of sweet, mindless froth.

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Review: Find Me In Your Memory

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Find Me In Your Memory does a rather unusual thing, by tapping into one of Dramaland’s favorite sources of dramatic tension – the stalker arc – and then using it as a platform for our main characters to work through the healing that they need.

In this way, Show sets itself apart from other healing dramas, which tend to be more introspective in vibe, by being comparatively more action-heavy instead.

Despite a tendency to use tropes in its narrative, Show manages to serve up characters and relationships that feel real and relatable, where growth feels earned and true.

The OTP relationship is portrayed as sweet and restrained, and taps nicely into the chemistry between Kim Dong Wook and Moon Ga Young, which feels sweet and natural. As a bonus, the secondary loveline between Kim Seul Gi and Lee Jin Hyuk is super cute.

Not groundbreaking by any means, but a solid watch overall.

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Dropped: The Great Seducer

| kfangurl

You know, for a hot second, I thought I might actually like this show.

Right off the bat, it kinda-sorta felt like an off-shoot of Heirs, but better done and more interesting.

Similar to Heirs, Seducer’s drama world is also centered around a bunch of rich kids, with one pair of them sparking off each other, his sexy rebel cool to her prickly pouty petulance.

All that spark, whether acknowledged or not, is blocked – or would that be amplified? – by their parents getting hitched to each other. Oh, plus there’s also an innocent, not-rich girl in the center of it all.

Unlike Heirs, there is no Kim Tan character, which I counted as a huge plus, since I hated Kim Tan, with a passion.

…Too bad my cautiously positive first impression didn’t last very long at all. I lasted 10 half-hour episodes of this one, dragging my feet through the last few of those 10 episodes, and have had zero desire to go back to this one.

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Flash Review: EXO Next Door

| kfangurl

Remember when so many of you asked me what other short-format web drama might offer a fun, cracky watch similar to Noble, My Love?

Well, if you:

(a) are an EXO fan; or

(b) are into kpop in general; or

(c) are a tween/teen; or

(d) are some or all of the above,

…then EXO Next Door could be just what you’re looking for (although, if you are some or all of the above, you’d already know this by now, wouldn’t you? XD ).

If you’re none of the above (like me), then, well, this could still be sorta cute. With some effort.

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