A note to visitors

1/17/14

Due to my new found love/addiction (reading), it is possible that I may not post anything in this blog for a long, long time.

It pains me greatly because I have invested so much time in this blog way back. Give Me Some Dramas is like my baby. What I am regretting is my decision to have a separate blog for my book reviews, I should’ve thought better of it.

But what is done is done (I don’t want to finally admit it, but I think I have outgrown my addiction to anything asian), if ever you still want to feel my presence, you can head to my book reviews blog BookOaths. If you’re a bookworm like yours truly, a comment is gladly appreciated.

Ciao!

Cdrama review: Love O2O / Just One Smile is very Alluring

Tags

chinese drama, drama review, gu man, just one smile is very alluring, love 020, yang yang, zheng shuang

I was thinking if I had known this day would come, I would surely have fallen in love with you at first sight. – Xiao Nai

Number of episodes: 30

Year of Broadcast: 2016

Broadcast Network: JSTV

Plot source: Wikipedia

Bei Wei Wei is the campus goddess, who also excels in her studies. She aspires to be an online game designer/engineer, and goes by the alias of Luwei Weiwei in the online role-playing game Dreaming of Jianghu. After she gets dumped by her online husband Zhenshui Wuxiang, she gets approached by the number one player Yixiao Naihe, who suggested that they get married so they both can participate in a couple competition within the game. The newly formed couple instantly hit it off, and undergo many adventures together in the game.However, Wei Wei never expected the real identity of her virtual husband to be her college senior, Xiao Nai who is described as the cream of the crop in both sports and academics. When Wei Wei discovers his true identity, they have already fallen in love with each other. Together, they face many obstacles as due to their good looks, many are jealous of them. What happens to their relationship then?

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Lucky is a drama fan who, after watching countless of dramas, encounters a series that will make her feel like discovering the world of dramas for the very first time. I know you all wish you could experience that way all over again. Fortunately for me, I did.

I haven’t watched much dramas last year, my interest just started again with Moonlight Drawn By Clouds and was further fueled by Weightlifting Fairy (these two are my favorites from last year). As I was feeling sad that WF ended (and no other kdrama piqued my interest), I decided to switch to chinese dramas.

I accidentally came across someone recommending Love 020 but after doing

Kdrama review: Healer

Tags

Healer, Ji Chang Wook, Park Min Young

If you have even one person you can truly trust and rely on, no matter how often you get stabbed in the back, you don’t get that hurt- Chae Young Shin

Number of episodes: 20
Year of Broadcast: 2014-15
Broadcast Network: KBS
Plot source: MyDramaList

Seo Jung Hoo is so-called “errand boy”. For a relevant price he may complete any task, only if it’s not connected with murder. Under Healer’s mask he had run foul of some organizations that now strive to catch him, however no one knows who he really is. He can count on older woman’s help, genius hacker responsible for the technical part of their job. One of his tasks is closely connected to one girl, Chae Yeong Shin, second rate tabloid reporter. She starts to have an interest about Healer when he tries to get close to her, which results in the discovery of their common past..

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This review will be short (well the actual Healer thoughts bit). I have been away from the blogosphere for so long that I’m not confident of my ability anymore (lol).

The reason why I am even bothering with a short review is of how much I adore/love Healer. It felt like a crime not to let my blog have any Healer-lovin.

The thing is, my officemate was bugging me to watch Healer back when it was still airing. She and my other officemates were all going gaga about the show (and its couple) and never once was I influenced. What’s funny was I was even the one supplying them with the episodes (I’m the official “Kdrama DL-er”, even if I’m not into dramas for a while) and up until I started watching (this month), Healer has been sitting on my laptop/external HD. What made me watch is the impending showing of it in my country.

I tell you, three or four episodes in, I gave up. It was only two weeks after that when I seriously began watching again. And even during that time I did not finish it in one sitting. Why, how, what?!

Let me explain. During the first three/four episodes, I did not find any attachment towards the story and its lead. I was thinking, why did my friends go crazy over Healer/Jeong Hoo when I found Munho more appealing? It wasn’t until Healer rescued Young Shin from the thugs that I began to seriously love the show. And the reason why I did not finish it in one sitting is because I don’t want to say goodbye to Ji Chang Wook’s awesomeness.

Fate, destiny, I believe in that kind of stuff. If it didn’t exist, why would words for it exist.

Once I found the connection that I was looking for in Ji Chang Wook, the madness never stopped. I am irrevocably inlove with the guy. His portrayal of Healer and Park Bong Soo caught me hook, line, and sinker. The man is totally adorable and such a great actor (no kidding). I have tried watching Empress Ki before and I like his character more than Joo Jin Mo’s but a few episodes in, I gave up and never tried looking for any info on him.

Fast forward to Healer. Three reasons why I love Healer: Ji Chang Wook, his chemistry with Park Min Young, and Ji Chang Wook. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Putting my love for him aside, moments with him and Young Shin (Park Min Young) were totally off the charts. The reason why I was always looking forward with the episodes is to see him wearing his love on his sleeves for her (with Eternal Love playing in the background). Damn. Can someone direct me to a guy like him?

Healer would have been perfect all throughout but the intensity kinda went down in the last few episodes (intensity = Bongsoo x Youngshin moments). I wish the last episode wasn’t the last and there will be an extra one just to stretch what happened in the end more. It felt rushed :(. Anyway, thinking back, I’m still happy that I got to watch Healer and discover my love for Ji Chang Wook (he replaced So Ji Sup as my #1 oppa).

Rating:   

Ji Chang Wook rating: 10+++ stars

Twdrama review: In a Good Way

Tags

drama review, in a good way, lego li, taiwanese drama, tw drama

My grandpa told me that a person’s freedom is as big as the depth he understands himself – Liu Chuan

Number of episodes: 26
Year of Broadcast: 2013-14
Broadcast Network: SETTV
Plot source: DramaWiki

In the summer of 1995, childhood friends Zheng Ren Wei and Lin Jia En took their college entrance exam. Zheng got into a college in Taipei and was ready to start an exciting life in the big city. Lin, unfortunately, failed the test and was stuck in the countryside. Bored out of her mind, Lin decided to go find Zheng and spend her 4th year of high school in Taipei as well.

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“I want you freedom, like a bird~”.

Most of the kids far away from the city proper (well, I did) always thinks that going to the Metro to study college is the ultimate “independent” thing to do.

Story

In a Good Way (IaGW) is a coming of age story about two childhood bestfriends (Jia En and Ren Wei) who discovers more of the world after going to college in Taipei.

Having spent all his life in their village, Ren Wei only has one goal in mind: to attend college in Taipei. For him, going to college equates to having his freedom and achieving independence. After passing his college entrance examination, Ren Wei finally goes to Taipei, leaving Jia En behind.  Jia En, feeling bored without Ren Wei behind, decided to follow her friend to Taipei, and it is here where she meets friends that would change her life.

And because I don’t want to leave you with just this summary, I’ll

Thai drama review: Full House

Tags

full house thai, thai drama review

But you know what? Amongst all the bad things that happened, you’re the best thing in them.

Number of episodes: 20
Year of Broadcast: 2014
Broadcast Network: Channel 8
Plot source: Doramax264

Aom-am is a naive writer who got swindled out of everything she owned including her house. Stranded in Korea, she managed to borrow money from an actor Mike to return to Thailand. On her return, she found out that her house was bought by Mike. In an attempt to get her possessions back, she entered in a contract marriage with Mike. The initially business relationship between the two turns into personal as they start to rely and care for each other. Based on a popular manhwa of the same title.

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note: I have had this review sitting on my laptop for months! 

Confession time: I am not a fan of Full House (the Korean one). Truth is, I have watched the series five years after the original FH aired.

While there were things that were endearing in FH, I wasn’t much a fan of the plot  (the reason why I am bringing this up will be tackled later).

Recently, the Thailand version of FH has been “popping” up on my radar. It wasn’t until my friend/officemate shared the link of “Oh Baby I” MV on my FB wall that I have finally decided to watch it. I fell in love at first hearing the song (Mike’s voice is sooo lovely).

So my thoughts after finishing the entire series?

In my opinion, it is better than the original version. The Korean version’s casts may have the upper-ups in the looks department but if I were to judge based on the overall impact, I choose the Thai version.

The reason why I was hesitant to watch FH Thai was because I did not find the

Kdrama: Fated to Love You

Tags

fated to love you, kdrama, kdrama review

There isn’t a thing that can’t be done in this world – Lee Gun to Mi Young

Number of episodes: 20
Year of Broadcast: 2014
Broadcast Network: MBC
Plot source: DramaWiki

A chaebol heir and a “post-it” girl are forced to marry after their one night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy.
Fated to Love You is the remake of the highly successful 2008 Taiwanese drama starring Joe Chen and Ethan Ruan.

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note: As of current writing, there are only 10 episodes aired of this drama. Will add more thoughts as the show progresses.

After the high that I received from watching Emergency Couple, I was disappointed to learn that the next project/character that Choi Jin Hyuk would take was the second lead guy to the Korean remake of Fated to Love You (FTLY). I have watched the Taiwanese version (although not entirely), and given Jin Hyuk’s manliness, I thought that he suited the lead guy role well. Adding to that observation was the fact that I was not overly familiar with Jang Hyuk – I have known of Bright Girl’s Success Story but I did not fancy watching it.

We can’t always win the game of life, but as long as you have that “chip”, you will always have hope and the chance, so keep it well.

Fast forward to the first episode. My opinion on whether I like the drama or not was still not formed. However, come episode two, especially that scene towards the end, I knew right then and there, that I have found the “one”.

That one drama that can captivate me whatever it does. That one drama that will leave me

Pinoy movie review: She’s Dating the Gangster

Tags

daniel padilla, kathryn bernardo, pinoy movie, she's dating the gangster, she's dating the gangster review

This post is long overdue (should’ve posted it last week)

Year of Broadcast: 2014
Country: Philippines
Plot & Photo source: Wikipedia

The story revolves around Athena Dizon (Kathryn Bernardo), a 17-year-old student, and Kenji Delos Reyes (Daniel Padilla), a rebellious teenager who is reputed to be a member of a local school Sindikato gang. They begin a false romance in order to spite Kenji’s ex-girlfriend, and Athena thinks everything will be fine. She slowly realises that her life is not as steady, as her relationship with Kenji inevitably transforms into something greater.

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I have found my favorite Filipino movie of all time (and probably one of my favorite movies of all time).

She’s Dating the Gangster (SDTG) is a movie based on a popular story on Wattpad.

My first encounter with Kenji and Athena was when I first read the published book version (not the Wattpad one). After reading it, I was dumbfounded on what the “fanatics” saw about the story. I was okay with the general plot but what made me dislike the story was the “event” towards the end. I found it immature and it spoiled the whole story for me.

Prior to watching SDTG, I have watched another movie based on a Wattpad story entitled

Kmovie review: Miracle in Cell No. 7

Tags

kmovie, Korean Movie, miracle in cell no 7

Year of Broadcast: 2013
Country: South Korea
Plot & Photo source: Wikipedia

Lee Yong-gu (Ryu Seung Ryong) is a mentally challenged man with the intelligence of a 6-year-old, which is actually the age of his own daughter Ye-sung (Kal So Won) who is much smarter than her peers. The two of them lead a happy life while Yong-gu makes a living by working as a parking attendant at a local supermarket. But one day, when the police commissioner’s young daughter dies in a strange accident, Yong-gu is the one who happens to find her. He is falsely accused and sentenced to death for abduction, sexual assault, and murder of a minor. Ye-sung is sent to a childcare institution and Yong-gu gets imprisoned and assigned to Cell No. 7, the harshest cell in a maximum security prison.

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I blame this movie for my sickness last week (I was absent at work for two days).

This review will be simple and sweet. If ever you haven’t watched this movie yet, I suggest you do so now.

The thing with Miracle in Cell No. 7 is it started in a light-hearted manner (except the beginning where we are introduced to the circumstances surrounding Yong-gu and Ye-sung), the type where you’ll laugh out loud but as it neared the end, you’ll be left bawling your eyes out.

For those who don’t like overly dramatic movies, don’t be dissuaded from giving this movie a try because this is the type of movie where in the drama comes from your heart being touched after witnessing the pure love between a father and his daughter. I honestly think everyone should watch this, it is that great (it’s a new favorite).

This film turned me into an ugly sobbing mess. I was watching with my little nephew and he was asking me why I was crying and after that, I just bawled out loud (yeah it was embarrassing). Also, I was looking for more info about the movie after watching it and as I read the comments from those who have watched it, tears just started to fall.

I will not go into specifics about this film because it is better appreciated through watching but one thing you should now is the little child actress rocks!

No wonder this movie has become a big hit in South Korea 🙂

My rating: