Oh Eui Sik

Review: Hometown Cha Cha Cha

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A breezy, laidback sort of show, Hometown Cha Cha Cha is kinda like a seaside vacation in drama form.

It’s meandering and sometimes it feels like not a lot happens in our drama world, but the charm of the small town of Gongjin, along with its equally charming residents, is such that it eventually gets under your skin, and then it doesn’t let go.

Show’s Main Event is the double-dimpled duo of Shin Min Ah and Kim Sun Ho, and their combined cuteness is arguably Show’s most lethal weapon. Show isn’t perfect, but the OTP Cute is so strong, that it got me to forgive Show for most of its missteps.

Perfect for when you’re looking for something light, sweet and feel-good.

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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: Hi Bye, Mama!

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Hi Bye, Mama! is the kind of show that makes you face difficult emotions and feel all the difficult feelings – and then make you grateful for having felt it all. Show has a bittersweet premise, and treats it with sensitivity and poignance, with a side of levity.

For the most part, Show manages this delicate balance well, and makes me laugh and cry, often within the same episode.

The performances from our cast are strong, and I am particularly impressed with Kim Tae Hee and Lee Kyu Hyung; this is literally the best I’ve seen from both of them. And Kim Mi Kyung, is, as always, a treasure to have onscreen.

On the downside, I felt we spent too much time on stuff to do with the ghost community, and that ended up feeling like filler. I also feel like Show suffers from some pacing issues, causing the last third of our narrative to feel somewhat stalled.

Overall, though, in spite of what I feel are its downsides, Show still manages to feel like a solid, worthwhile watch, with a lot of good ol’ heartachey feels.

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Flash Review: When The Devil Calls Your Name

| kfangurl

My last foray into a fantasy kdrama dealing with angels and devils didn’t go too well (I’m looking at you, Angel’s Last Mission, cough), so when I heard some rumblings of dissatisfaction on the grapevine about how this show about selling one’s soul to the devil seemed a little all over the place, I was ready to give this one a blind pass without actually taking the time to check it out.

Thank goodness for blog regular Putri, who convinced me to give this show a try, after she’d watched it and really liked it herself.

Once I actually got going with this show, I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging I found it, and now that I’ve emerged on the other side, I’m happy to report that Show even manages its mythology reasonably well.

Since one of my pet peeves with fantasy dramas is that the mythology isn’t clearly presented, &/or crumbles on itself by the end of the story, I count this a pretty big plus in Show’s favor.

The mythology presented isn’t perfect, sure, but it retains its structure enough, and is true enough to itself, that I found myself reasonably satisfied on this point.

Which then also helped me enjoy the rest of the story more, too. Plus! I even found myself jiving with Show’s humor, uh, most of the time. Win, win, and win.

Thank you, dear Putri, because I hafta say, I’m glad I didn’t end up missing out on this one.

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