TV Show/Drama Review~Playful Kiss/Naughty Kiss

Title: Playful Kiss/Naughty Kiss

Writer: Go Eun-nim, Tada Kaoru (manga)

Director: Hwang In-roi, Kim Do-hyung

Producer: Han Hee, Song Byung-joon

Main Cast: Jung So-min as Oh Ha Ni, Kim Hyun-joong as Baek Seung Jo, Lee Tae-sung as Bong Joon Gu, Lee Si-young as Yoon Hae Ra

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Original Run: 1 September 2010 - 21 October 2010

No. of Episodes: 16, 7 (YouTube Special Edition)

Language: Korean

Links: MDL ~ Wikipedia ~ Amazon 

Synopsis: Playful Kiss is based on the Japanese shōjo manga, Itazura Na Kiss.

Oh Ha Ni is a sweet lively and happy high school student yet she is definitely not the sharpest crayon in the box.

She has a crush on Baek Seung Jo, the smartest boy in school despite being chased loyally by Bong Joon Gu herself. When she confesses to Seung Jo through a letter, he brings it back to her, after grading it harshly and commenting that he hates stupid girls.

When Oh Ha Ni's new house suddenly collapses her father's friend offers for him and Ha Ni to stay with them. Unknown to Ha Ni, her father's friend is actually Baek Seung Jo's dad.

As they continue to live under the same roof and attend Parang University together, Ha Ni continues to show affection for Seung Jo although he seems to be more interested in the equally clever and beautiful Yoon Hae Ra.

Trailer: 

My Rating: 10/10

My Thoughts: 

How I came across the drama: I have seen Itazura na Kiss (anime) and I have loved Kim Hyun Joong for a very long time (since I first saw him in Gummy's MV for As A Man) so when I came to know that Itazura na Kiss had a drama with Kim Hyun Joong in it, I was more than excited to watch it. But I had my expectations low, because as much as I love Kim Hyun Joong, I don't like the story of Itazura na Kiss that much.

Story: Even so, I loved the story of the drama! They changed it a little from the anime and I'm so glad they did. Because they removed the stupid plot holes and made it more interesting.

Acting and Characters: Kim Hyun Joong did a really great job playing Seung Jo. I hated Ikki (in the anime). It was like he was just using Kotoko, that he didn't really love her. He was just afraid that no one else would love him like she did so he held on to her. And he bullied her way too much. And Kotoko was just waayy too stupid. She got on my nerves. I seriously wanted to slap her hard, then maybe she would've come to her senses. But in the drama, I could see that even though Seung Jo bullied Oh Ha Ni sometimes, he really did love her. And Jung So Min did a good job in playing Ha Ni too because she wasn't as annoying as the anime character (I use "as annoying" because girls who desperately run after guys who obviously don't care about them will always be annoying to me). I felt really sorry for Bong Joon Gu! He was more likable than the anime character, and I seriously would've been OK if Ha Ni would've ended up with him. I felt like giving the poor guy a hug. The other characters were nice too but not very memorable. Except Seung Jo's mom. I loved her in the anime and I loved her in the drama too. She was really funny and sweet.

Romance: I loved the romance! It was so sweet and nice. I loved seeing Seung Jo's feelings progress. I loved his secret smiles (I ♥ Kim Hyun Joong's smile)! I especially loved how he was so jealous when Ha Ni was with someone else. It showed that he really did care.

Negatives: I don't really have much negatives to point out because I really loved this show. Though there was this one character (I don't remember his name) who was involved with Ha Ni. He had a fight with Bong Joo Gu in the library. But he only appeared for a couple of episodes. I wonder where he disappeared to..

Favorite Scene: I have so many favorite scenes, I couldn't possibly list them all over here! But I'll still share a few. Well the first one was when Seung Jo saves Ha Ni from the naked man :P I loved the rain scene! (Who doesn't?!) The balcony scene (image below) was the sweetest scene ever! When Seung Jo kisses Ha Ni in the forest when she's asleep ♥ When they are on their honeymoon and Seung Jo tickles Ha Ni to make her smile (when she's mad at him). And the list goes on...

After Marriage: I loved the YouTube specials in which they showed their life after marriage. But I loved 'Seung Jo's Diary' (also on YouTube) more because those showed how much he loved Ha Ni and it was really a peep into his shy soul. 

All in all: I really loved this drama and if you're into Romantic Comedies you should definitely watch it!

TV Show/Drama Review~Skip Beat!

Title: Skip Beat/Extravagant Challenge

Writers: Yoshiki Nakamura (manga), Tseng Li-ting, Wen Yu-fang, Huang Shin-kao, Peng Sheng-ching, Fang Ching-i, Ouyang Pai-lin

Director: Jerry Feng

Main Cast: Ivy Chen as Gong Xi, Siwon as Dun He Lian, Donghae as Bo Pu Shang, Allen Chao as Luo Li, Bianca Bai as Jiang Nan Qin, Charge Pu as Shen Deyuan, King Chin as Du Jin

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Teen

Original Run: 18 December 2011 - 1 April 2012

Running Time: 70 Minutes

No. of Episodes: 15

Language: Chinese (Country of Origin: Taiwan)

Links: MDL ~ Wikipedia ~ Amazon 

Synopsis: High school graduate Gong Xi gives up her chances for university in order to support her childhood friend and romantic goal, Bu Po Shang, in his pop idol career. Upon arriving in Taipei, Gong Xi starts working on multiple jobs in order to support Shang, whose popularity quickly rises, eventually becoming one of the top idols in Taiwan. One day, Gong Xi catches Shang flirting with his manager, and learns that he only used her so she can help him with his living expenses. Heart-broken and betrayed, Gong Xi vows to get revenge by becoming a bigger star. Gong Xi auditions for L.M.E., Taiwan's largest talent agency, and joins L.M.E.'s new-found department "Love Me" with Jiang Nanqin, also a new recruit. At L.M.E. famous actor Dun Helian, disgusted by Gong Xi's reasons for joining the show business, consistently finds ways to annoy and taunt her. As Gong Xi's acting career starts to take off, she begins to discover a new sense of identity and purpose, separate from her initial plans of revenge. Lian also eventually warms up to her, and although at first in denial, he finds himself falling more and more in love with her.

Trailer: 

My Rating: 9/10

My Thoughts: Skip Beat was my first Asian drama and I loved it! I stumbled upon it by accident. I was looking for a new anime to watch and I had heard that Skip Beat was pretty good. But I didn't like the animations of Skip Beat. So I didn't watch the anime. But I was looking up information about it on Wikipedia and came to know that it had a live action drama. I snooped around some more and saw the posters. The guys were pretty cute so I decided to give the drama a try.

I was hooked from the first episode! I loved the story and the concept! But more so, I loved Ivy Chen! She's so cute and lovable! I absolutely adored her! She's a great actress. She was not afraid to make a fool of herself on camera and she played the character really well. I decided to watch the show because of the boys but it's Ivy Chen's acting that kept me watching till the end.

A long time ago I watched a Korean music video on TV. The song title was Bonamana but I didn't remember the artist. I really loved that song but since I don't know Korean at all and I thought it would be weird for me to listen to a song in a language I don't even understand, I ignored it. When I started watching Skip Beat I came to know that the actors who played Lian (Siwon) and Bo Pu Shang (Donghae) are from the same band, Super Junior. The name sounded familiar but I wasn't sure where I had heard it. I was looking through Super Junior music videos on YouTube and I came across Bonamana. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it was the same song I had loved all those years ago! Since now I don't care what other people think about me, I have all of Super Junior albums! BTW if you were wondering, my favorite is Donghae ♥ So this show introduced me to K-pop :D 

Lian was so charming! Though my favorite will always by Donghae, if I had to chose between characters I would chose Lian. Siwon played him really well! Another memorable character for me was Lian's manager. The faces he made were priceless! I really liked him!

I loved Qin's and Gong Xi's friendship! Though they had a rough start, they became the best of friends later on and it was really sweet. Bianca Bai is a great actress!

I couldn't hate Bo Pu Shang. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't do it! Donghae was just too adorable! I found myself wanting Shang to come to his senses (which he did) and realize that he actually loved Gong Xi. I wish Bo Pu Shang/Donghae had had more camera time. I would've liked to see more of him.

The comedy was pretty good. I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions, but there were instances when I rolled my eyes and was like "Seriously?!" 'cause something was too stupid. But it can be overlooked because I've gotten used to 'stupid' (since I have to deal with it daily).

Another problem that I had with the drama was that the graphics weren't that good. Plus Lian's dubbing was noticeable. The second one didn't bother me much though because I didn't understand the language anyway and I watched the drama with English subs. The thing that bothered me the most was the transition of music. It wasn't done well. A music piece or song would be playing and suddenly it would come to an abrupt end and the next song would start. I really didn't like that. An example would be the last (kiss) scene between Gong Xi & Lian (picture below).

I hate that the show was left so open-ended without any hope of a second season :( I wish there would be a second season!

My favorite scene (and a scene I still remember) was the one when Gong Xi is helping Lian practice for his role and Lian hugs her on the floor and asks her if she wants him to teach her how to kiss. It was so romantic and cute! I loved it!

I loved loved loved the music! Not just the opening (SOLO by Super Junior M) and closing (That's Love by Donghae and Henry) themes but the whole OST. I can't stop listening to it! I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite songs from the show: