As a fan of the huge, multi-cultural, franchise that is HYD adaptations, I had to watch the ancestor of them all. Made in 1995, you should be warned that this movie showcases some of the most hilarious outfits I’ve ever seen. I mean…Domyoji, if you’re so rich, why can’t you seem to afford a shirt to put under that hideous vest you wear everywhere? Anyway, if you can get past the 90s vibe (or appreciate it as added humor), this movie actually has a lot of positives. It takes the familiar story (in part at least) and manages to fit it into a movie without making the viewers feel overwhelmed. The acting was decent, if a bit over the top and it was really fun to see some Japanese stars back in their young days (Looking at you Tanihara Shosuke). It was entertaining, and for something I only turned on in order to say I had watched it before, turned out to be better than expectations.

(Review originally from my blog)

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Asia has a unique flavor of romcom that includes stirring in the melodrama about halfway through. Don’t let that description scare you away though! This Chinese movie may contain some sadness but it isn't overwhelming. Plus the comedy in the beginning is well-written and the development of the onscreen romance is uber sweet. Both Qi Shu and Ye Liu do a great job with their characters and their chemistry is amazing. Although I’m not a huge fan of Qi Shu’s border-anorexic look in this movie, I love her acting in this and some other films. She commits to her character and manages to bring some spunk while still being vulnerable and relate-able.

(above originally from my blog review/article on the movie)

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No, Yoon Eun-hye doesn’t actually look like a boy, but in terms of dress, hairstyle and acting she pulls off one of the best gender bender roles. There is no effort to girly up her role, and the writers pull off a character that is relatable and realistically tomboy-ish not a kpop idol with a short haircut and cute boy clothes. She doesn’t try to be pretty. Besides, Gong Yoo is great as well and the two have amazing chemistry. The only reason I can think of for someone not hearing of or watching this drama already is that they felt it was too popular to be any good or they’re a new drama fan. However this is one Korean show that is worth all the hype it gets. The acting, filming, writing, and the music etc. is all amazing.

(Review originally from my blog)

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At the beginning, I was not really drawn into this drama. That’s not to say it didn’t have any initial charisma because I was really onboard with the stylistic filming, the story and the variety of characters. If you gave up this show because of the slow start, take my advice and give it another try.

The acting really blew me away in this show, mostly because the quality was unexpected. I kept watching because of Kim Ji-hoon’s emotional pull in early episodes but soon found that Park Shin-hye was the real star. The writers also did an excellent job in developing their characters and revealing new information about them slowly.

On the other side of things, I wasn’t especially happy with the fast-forward-bility of some of the middle episodes. Also Enrique's character can be a bit overboard and annoying. And though the filming was gorgeous I have this gripe- why is everyone so freaking fashionable? I mean Dok-mi is a shut-in for goodness sake, let’s try to make it a little more realistic, and not in that hipster-I-wear-extra-long-zanily-patterned-sweaters way.

Not my all time favorite but definitely worth a watch for its quirky, slice-of-life plot and great acting.

(Review above patterned after my in-depth review of FBND on my blog)

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I’ll admit it, I’m not big on Rain the singer, but Rain the actor? Now that boy has charisma! The leads carry the charisma factor of this drama and despite their sometimes irrational (read insane and frustrating) choices, I never disliked either one of them- a great thing since you have to see them through to the end. Another charismatic aspect of this drama is that I didn’t feel like I was watching a melodrama. I mean obviously the plot is very angsty, but supporting characters and even the setting helped ground it in a grittier and more realistic genre.

It is a melodrama so certain clichés are expected. Fortunately the writer/s of this drama do not delve so long or deep into cliché-land that viewers are put off and thank goodness there is zero percent memory loss involved. They hit emotional notes almost always on time and refrain from dragging out plot points past endurance. My only complaint is the number of times certain situations are repeated again and again.

Also, if you noticed a similar vibe to dramas ‘Sorry I Love You’, ‘Sang Doo Let’s Go To School’, ‘Thank You’ or ‘Will It Snow At Christmas’, that’s because those dramas along with ‘A Love To Kill’ are all written by Lee Kyung-hee. I was surprised to learn this because most of those dramas are melodramas I actually like- guess I’m just a big Lee Kyung-hee fan ^_-

(All the above is originally from my blog review/article on the drama)

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