Sunnyelf's blog review of Asian Dramas and Movies.
This blog is a personal labor of love in a constant flux of improvement.
Please Note:
One * = Didn't like it, Don't recommend. Two ** = Typical. Worth seeing at least once. Three *** = I enjoyed it! Worth seeing more then once. Four **** = It's great! Add it to your all-time favorites list! Five ***** = Epic! Highly Recommended. A totally memorable drama/film.
A fairly mellow drama, Slow yet constant. The storyline had a good start but seemed somehow cut-short toward the end and left far to many questions unanswered. The main female character kept weebling between 'this subject' and 'that guy' so much I started to wonder if she'd end up with either of them, hidden Gumiho or no. The boyfriend, was a sissy/toughguy to the point of urgish annoyance and the original love was a serious wuss. He gave up waay to easily and put little feeling into even a possibility that they might have a chance together. Even the third wheel was a kind of ehhish character and had to have his perspective changed by being verbally chewed on by his rival for being a selfish nitwit to the girl he liked. This story could have been a whole lot more interesting then it ended up being.
Girl looking for a muse of inspiration for an original story, sees a guy helping someone out and follows him to a nail salon. Since the shop boasted an all-male cast of artists, she dresses down, cuts her hair, and is hired on as the cutesy guy, Bunny. While the guys deal with several hearthurt customers, she becomes more curious about the woman owner (thinking her perhaps a gumiho she once met when young.) and her daily updates on her web-story closely reflect the people she has met, casting herself as a half-gumiho half-human and two of the guys in the shop as hunter and helper.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
Gu Family Book/Ancient Medical Book/ The Writings of Nine Houses/ Book of the House of Gu/ Kang Chi, the Beginning/ 구가의 서/ Gugauiseo ***\ (Korean)
24 episodes
Yoo Dong Geun as Admiral Lee Soon Shin
Terrific watch. Amazing storyline, and great acting all around! I consider this one something of a must watch. What a Wonderful tangle of adventure and romance! Favorite character(s): old master/cook/medic and the girl's 'bodyguard'.
An immortal mountain spirit falls in love with a human woman in trouble from a cruel cold-hearted man. Their time together is shortened by feelings of betrayal and she returns to the human lands. Just after this time, a baby is found floating down the river, and is given into the family of an innkeeper. The child, Kang Chi, grows up without care until the day the cruel man returns once more to the area and changes the lives of the people at the inn. The half Human young man is then given sanctuary at the academy nearby, under the protection of of an admiral who plans to repel the cruel man's plans of dominance. Just as lines are drawn, a foreign merchant group with mysterious illusion abilities enters the fray and the mountain spirit's anger reawakens.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
Children.../Ahyideul.../ 아이들... (Korean)
Movie 132mins
Don't let them fool ya. This Korean film is nowhere close to being in a fantasy romance genre. No real favorite scenes or characters for this one. Just really felt for the children and parents... And a fair bit of understanding for the frustration of the local law as well. Horrible tragedy involved.
5 Young children are out for a day of doing what kids love best.. playing. While they are at it, the township is having an election so it is a bit of time before anyone -really- notices the children have not returned from the nearby mountain. From there it turns to panic, then desperation, then bitter tears as days slowly turn into months then years. Then along comes a prize-winning producer hoping to get back on top of his game with a new sensational story. Along with a conspiratorially-minded professor, The two work up quite a furor in town.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
Spring Bears Love/ Do You Like Spring Bear?/ 봄날의 곰을 좋아하세요?/ Bomnalui Gomeul Johahaseyo *\ (Korean)
Movie 98mins
Oh Gwang-Rok as Hyun-Jae's dad
Kind of melancholy I thought. Just another girl who can't see the trees for the forest. yep, that's right. The trees being whats up close and most important.. and the forest being ideals, or.. what/who else could, however remote the possibility, still be out there. Made me want to shout her down from her stary-eyed surveyance of the too-slight possibility that its all about her, in favor for the fellow who dearly loves her, right in her very face! Thankfully, he was still there when she finally floated back down to terra-firma. Favorite Character(s): Her suffering boyfriend! I know you were mentally dumpt on, guy, I apologize for her. Wasn't really your fault.. she was just being overly dense.
Girl fetching a library book for her dad, sees mystery writing of someone desperately looking to meet his unrequited love at last. Thinking it's herself, she dreams of the writer and follows his writing through several art books in the library. As she does so, the guy who knows her best and loves her most tries his best to gain her attention, even going so far as to check out the art books with the writing in them.. all while she goes about trying to figure out who it could be.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
High School debut/ 高校デビュー/ Koko Debut **\ (Japanese)
Movie 98mins
Junpei Mizobata as You Komiyama
Ito Ono as Haruna Nagashima
Sweet and silly movie. I liked the brand of humor in this one. Not the crazed over-the-top stuff that passes for funny like many Japanese shows seem to show, but a simple clumsy and slap-at-the-forehead humour for being a bit behind in 'normal' life, mixed with some easy mind-reading laughs. Favorite character(s): I liked them all really, well.. except perhaps, for the freakish dog/person statue in front of the school. It was quite the character though.
A girl, having spent most of her previous school years embroiled in baseball, makes the decision, at last, to concentrate on getting a boyfriend before Christmas. If efforts to gain control of her woahfully out of date wardrobe and dating skills, she begs a more popular guy to help her out. He reluctantly agrees, with the condition that she not fall for him.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
Substitute Princess/ Jin Da Hua De Hua Li Mao Xian/ 金大花的華麗冒險/ The Adventure of King Flower ** (Taiwanese)
20 episodes
Nikki Hsieh as Jin Da Hua
A market girl look-a-like, is asked to sub, in secret, for a rich guy's girlfriend, who was in a hiking accident. This comes at a time when Da Hua's father is horribly in debt due to gambling. As Da Hua undergoes transformation in secret, Her 'adopted' brother and love, Guan Jun, makes a deal with the shark holding the notes... and takes on a job as realtor and 'date' for the shark's daughter. Then, just as things seemed to be smoothing out a bit, Ouyang Tai's gf.. dies.
You can also find:
Links go to other reviewed shows the actor has been in.
