East Asian Drama Reviews

[SoraMio]

I finally got my drama reviews together. I have seen countless dramas from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Here are a few I decided to review, but there are more on the way. I rate out of 10 for dramas. 10=superb! All these dramas can be seen on various drama sites such as dramacrazy.net, mysoju.com, etc.

Synopsis taken from: drama wiki


La Dolce Vita/Bittersweet Life [Korean]
Total Episodes: 24

Synopsis: The drama about a man who commits suicide. A detective tries to solve the case and figure what really happened. The drama goes back in time to six months before the man, Lee Joon Soo, committed suicide. Yoon Hye Jin and Ha Dong Won's marriage is on the rocks. Though they have two daughters together, both have secret love affairs with other people. Joon Soo accidentally meets Hye Jin in Japan and falls for her. Hong Da Ae is the woman whom Dong Won is seeing on the side. She never wanted to be his wife nor his mistress and that is why their affair has lasted for so long. That was till Da Ae met Joon Soo. She realized that she could no longer continue seeing Dong Won and she fell for Joon Soo. Did Joon Soo really kill himself?

Review: This drama was fantastic! Older woman and younger man come together to make a whimsical romance grounded in reality. If you are looking for a drama that challenges the regular old love story then you want to see this drama! Usually Kdramas go on too long well past caring but this one times it just right, moves at a good pace, and nicely tells the story. I give this a 7/10 (recommended!).



Maou (The Devil) [Japanese]
Total episodes: 11

Synopsis: This drama is a remake of the popular suspense drama The Devil that was aired in Korea last year. Ohno Satoshi will be playing the role of a two-faced lawyer, one of which is a kind hearted soul and the other who is plotting revenge, using his brilliant mind, on the person who killed his relative. On the other hand, Ikuta Toma will play the double lead role of the man, who has become a detective due to his dark past, who is pursuing the mysterious series of murders and fighting against the devil (maou).

Review: I absolutely loved this drama! It ranks up there 2nd to "A Million Stars Falling from the Sky" which is a great compliment. Every episode had me captivated and wanting to know more! While the synopsis sounds like the run of the mill story, you will find one of the most riveting revenge tales in watching Naruse Ryo [the lawyer] unveil his master plans over 11 episodes. Looking for something to keep you guessing, this is it! I give this drama 9/10 (very highly recommended).


Binbo Danshi [Japanese]
Total episodes: 9

Synopsis: Koyama Kazumi is a poor but optimistic college student who firmly believing that there are more important things than money. Despite his own poverty he ends up taking on other people's debts and faces various challenges to pay off those debts. --Tokyograph

Review: Oguri Shun looks scatterbrained in this one ( and no he didn't wear the newspaper outfit in the drama lol) but he's surprisingly funny. I was going to give up on this drama on the 1st episode then a scene came in the 1st episode and the look on Oguri Shun's face was hilarious! I buckled in for the ride. This drama was just pure fun, funny, with a touch of serious dramatic moments. Want to laugh and just have fun, watch this! I give this drama 6/10 (recommended for ppl who are Oguri Shun fans or understand Japanese humor).


Love Contract [Taiwanese]
Total episodes: 20

Synopsis: Outwardly, Xiao Feng (Ariel Lin) is a stubborn tomboy and the captain of the Kendo Club at her college. In her group of friends, she is the leader with her demanding nature and abrupt ways. Inwardly however, Xiao Feng is a girl scarred by her past and searching for what she wants most, love. Her friends, Ah Kai (Zhang Rui Jia), Xiao Bai (Lai Zhi Wei), Mu Tou (Lin Yi Hong), Xin Lei (Chung Hsin Yu, and, Xiao Xiao (Yang Pei Ting) don't know about that part of her past but they are all loyal friends to Xiao Feng; that is, until Xiao Bai and Ah Kai leave the Kendo Club for the Swim Team.

Xiao Bai and Ah Kai are immediately regretful when the captain of the Swim Team, Ah Ken, turns out to be a captain as grueling as Xiao Feng. When one night Xiao Feng announces to her friends she wants love the most, Xiao Bai and Ah Ken devise a prank called the love contract. In exchange for finding swim team members to recruit, Ah Ken must court Xiao Feng.

Review: This drama was great! It has the best opening theme music I've heard so far no other drama beats this one on the opening them in my opinion. The story is cute and I had fun watching. The ending is a multiple choice ending, you choose which ending you think is the most fitting and real for you. Mike He looks good with no hair pins (if you saw him in Devil Beside You, you know what I mean). I give this drama 6/10 (recommended for romantic cute fun).


Kaew Tah Pee [Thai]
Total Episodes: 13

Synopsis: Tik plays the role as Chisanu a blind millionaire who lose his love after he has a car accident that make him blind and his girlfriend leave him to marry anoher man.

One day, he meets a pretty kindergarten teacher, Nathlada, who just lose her love and almost commit suicide. But she changes her mind after she sees a hopeful blind man like him. She thinks that he is a poor fisherman. Her kindness touch his heart and he doesn't want to lose her again, so he proposes to marry her and she accepts it, even though she thinks that he is a poor blind fisherman.

After their marriage and Nathlada knows the truth, they go to France to have a surgery. However, Chisanu's ex-girlfriend wants to return and does everything to separate them.

Review: I really enjoyed this drama and the lead guy is totally hot!!!! He gets rubbed down with no shirt!!!!! You have to see him in the drama in action, he was enough to keep me going. If the lead guy isn't enough for you, don't fear this drama is really good. I'll be honest this drama was addictive with a pretty decent storyline but I was pissed at the hot guy for a good portion for being so darn gullible! Believe it or not, the irritation faded in and out because usually he'd get burned and I'd be laughing. This drama was fun and opened me up to watching other Thai dramas (lakorn). I give this drama 6/10 (recommended!)

DRAMA WATCH

All Takuya Kimura fans! Takuya's new drama Mr. Brain is OFFICIALLY OUT!!! You can view it on dramacrazy.net but the English subs aren't up yet.

Also all Takizawa Hideaki and Nishikido Ryo fans!!! These two actors have a drama coming up together!!! It is called Orthros no Inu and it will air in July. I have been waiting for Takki to start back doing dramas now that he's done with his live theatrical performances.

[TotallyShameless]

I'll have to check out some of these. Kaew Tah Pee sounds really interesting! Have you watched Boys Over Flowers (k-drama)? Everyone seems to be watching it lately but my god, the main character irritates the hell out of me. I can't bring myself to watch anymore of it! She makes me want to strangle the closest person. My poor sister...

[SoraMio]

Yes I have seen Boys over Flowers (kdrama) and the lead guy irritated the crap outta me too! I hate Jun Pyo!!!!! I really loved the Ji Hoo character though, he was the only thing that kept me going but it still was upsetting. You did good to quit watching I just finished it out since I had gotten so far into it.


Kaew Tah Pee can be watched on youtube. Just put the name in and make sure to look for english subs. The whole drama is on youtube.

[Bladebabe]

What did you rate coffee Prince (1st House of Coffee Prince)?

[sirloin600]

Most androgynous thread ever.

[SoraMio]

Originally Posted by Bladebabe

What did you rate coffee Prince (1st House of Coffee Prince)?

Yeah I rated Coffee Prince on this thread: http://www.flyffworld.com/forums/t122819/