You're Beautiful: Final Thoughts

more like, You're a Disappointment.

well, it happened. despite my bitching and moaning, You're Beautiful ended with Go Mi Nam paired with Tae Kyoung. i couldn't. the last episode was so boring because i wasn't invested in their relationship at all -- what did i care if she went off to Africa and continued her ridiculous collection of star-shaped random objects.

Tae Kyoung's character was interesting-ish, but i couldn't get over his creepy-ass face. sorry Jang Keun-Suk. i read online that he claims he hasn't had any plastic surgery, but i think his oddly proportioned and angular face says otherwise.

my non-medical degree definitely sees a nose job, lip injections, the v-line jaw shaving surgery, botox in the cheeks and possibly chin, and fillers injected into the bottom of the eyes (aegeo-sal or whatever). just sayin'.

And doesn't he look like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory when he does his creepy smile?

twins.

final verdict: the series was cute until mid-way craziness and the ending was terrible. actress park shin-hye was charming and likable but still very much a leaky tear duct. 

what should i watch next?

hana, dul, set! press play.

You're Beautiful: Episodes 4 - 13

now that i've seen quite a few kdramas, i must say that every series gets a little crazy at the midpoint. and by crazy, i mean the storyline splits into nonsensical pairings (the stylist and manager ma? cmon. who cares about them, really.) and usually boring filler subplots and events.

while i really enjoyed the beginning half of You're Beautiful, i think i've hit that midpoint crazy. sadly, i believe there's only 16 episodes in total, so perhaps the midpoint crazy will also be the ending point of the story.

i've noticed a slight trend in possible incest-like story lines between the many series i've been watching: Reply 1997's Trash Oppa and the main girl (though not blood, they were raised like siblings which made their entire romance and ultimate marriage really uncomfortable for me), Big's Gil Da Ran and the 18 year old who would have been her little brother-in-law (though the age difference there was the more disturbing factor)

and now for a good 2/3 of You're Beautiful's story, you really do think Taeyong is Go Mi Nam's brother (both sharing Mwo Ran as their mother). the writer's knew this would be a turn-off for the viewers, so they did their best to quickly console us by assuring, multiple times, that we knew Go Mi Nam's mother died giving birth -- but STILL. the seed was already planted and Taeyong and GMN's relation just feels gross. from the start, it was too sibling-like and every time PSH's storyline has her expressing how much she likes Taeyong, it feels like an older brother / hyung-type adoration. Not an I-want-to-get-inside-your-pants kind of love.

definitely sibling love.

i was at least right with Shin Woo (the cutest band member) being PSH's firefighter. the scene of them running around Myeon Dong (separately, but seemingly together bc SW trailed behind PSH) was adorable. the show needed more of that. and damn he looked good -- slap some hipster glasses on anyone and instant sex-factor. 

yeah, you follow her SW. you follow her good.

i have one or two episodes to go in the rest of the series, and i really hope PSH ends up with SW. and while we're at it, Jeremy's confession/love for GMN was just weird and random. stop it writers, you stop it right now.

excuse me, but is that MY harry potter outfit? give it back.

hana, dul, set! press play.

You're Beautiful: Episodes 1 - 3

hello, park shin-hye-cries-alot. we meet again.

i said i needed a break from the leaky tear ducts that is park shin-hye, but this drama came highly recommended by a few friends, so i gave in.

right off the bat, i was really surprised at the tone of this series -- much different from Heirs. THANKFULLY. not so morose and sullen, PSH seems to play a cuter, funnier, slapstick-type character.

after the initial backstory, i definitely got a Coffee-Prince-inspired feel to the plot with PSH dressing up as her twin brother. the funny thing is that male kpop stars are so beautiful and sometimes feminine that someone as soft-looking as PSH (who needs more botox, plastic surgery, and fillers to fix that natural beauty, obvi.) could––with the right swooping bangs and minimal nude lipstick and shimmer––pass as a guy in the kpop world.

it's a shame that the 3 male leads aren't that attractive (to me)––they're a bit too thin and young looking for my taste (typing that sentence out makes me feel like an ajhumma…). this drama is indeed for a younger crowd, though it is cute so far.

i don't know what's happening here, but it involves fluffy animals and i like it.

also, i believe the storyline was influenced by Boys Over Flowers (no complaints here) too, because from the get-go, i got vibes from the not-angry-goth band member with black hair (not the beach blonde barbie band member) that were very much like ji-hoo from BOF. the weird, quiet, but protective friend/lover-ish to jandi. this band member is totes going to be PSH's firefighter. of the 3, he's the cutest so i hope their storyline really develops into a sweet one.

yeah, see the angry one.

of course given all the animosity between the gothic-looking, angry-elf band member and PSH's character, perhaps they will be the main pairing (doesn't this storyline of two guys who both want to protect her---one of whom hated her from the beginning and the other who's watched out for her from the start---sound familiar….).

can't say i really like them as the main couple though, because between the two of them, there's way too much eyeliner.

boom boom time with those two would be such a mess––black streaks everywhere.

onto episodes 4 and beyond! check back for what i think about the rest of the series!

hana, dul, set! press play.

Big: First Impressions and Final Thoughts

Big: or as I like to call it---just stare at Gong Yoo.

sorry interwebz, i should really blog regularly–-episode by episode like i did for Heirs so that the progression from completely enamored with Big to downright heavy eye-rolling at the series will make more sense. 

first of all, can we talk about how beautiful everyone is in this show? the producers really knew what they were doing casting Lee Min Jung, Gong Yoo, and Suzy. their marvelous mugs were just about the only saving graces for the show.

all three (and for the most part everyone on cast except gil da ran's mother and the principal of her school) had very naturally pretty faces. i'm not going to go as far as to say they've never had any sort of plastic surgery done, but good job not poking, prodding, and prying every last inch.

the series started off fantastic. Gong Yoo's performance of playing a stiff, uptight, and somewhat distant but still sweet yoon jae was good----Gong Yoo's performance of an 18 year old who's discovering what it's like to be trapped in the body of a 30 year old was really well done and very entertaining––so the series began as a wildly funny, amazingly cute, and refreshingly entertaining show.

i for one was really excited. and then it went to shit when the writers got hella creepy and decided to turn the once noona (older sister) and nam-dongsaeng (little brother) relationship between gil da ran and gyong joon into one of lovers.

ew. there's not only a significant age difference––18 to 30––but there's just the fact that their relationship was first established as brother and sister-like (not to mention the obvious glaring reveal that gyong joon would actually really be gil da ran's little brother-in-law had she married yoon jae) AND that she was his teacher. what is this amurrricaa? high school teachers can not be dating their high school students. what were the writers thinking?!

when you're watching kdrama (or really anything), you never want to feel guilty, creeped out, or gross about rooting for the main couple––and that's how Big made me feel the entire second half of the show.

i felt weird cheering on gyong joon, and the only reason why it wasn't downright vomit-inducing is because they kept him in this wildly attractive 30-year-old man's chiseled chocolate bar-abs body so that the audience would forget that this 30-year-old high school teacher is actually making goggly eyes at her 18 year old high school student.

the Hong Sisters (writers of Big) knew they fucked up and wrote themselves into a shithole––that's glaringly obvious by the shit-tastic ending of the series when they kept gyong joon in Gong Yoo's body the entire time––because seeing gil da ran with the actual young actor who played gyong joon, even if they dolled him up to look dapper and older, would be creepy.as.fuck. 

and they knew it. that's why they had the final body swap happen off screen. if your entire plot of a show is about two souls switching, the resolution should obviously be this glorious shot of the souls returning to their rightful place and then everyone dancing in a field of flowers with glitter raining from the skies and Gong Yoo's naked statuesque body prancing among the poppies.

obviously.

from a fellow writer's perspective, even though the storyline jumped off into the deep end having gil da ran and gyong joon fall for one another, this could had been rectified by explaining that gil da ran had always loved yoon jae and she had always kept him in mind, even in gyong joon's switched body. that any feelings between gil da ran and gyong joon were remnants from gil da ran and yoon jae's relationship––and if anything, having his body switched with gyong joon allowed him to be free-er with gil da ran and less stiff (sure it's actually gyong joon's soul and mind inside yoon jae's body, but the writers could have explained that the spontaneous, fun, charismatic essence of gyong joon inside yoon jae's body remained with him after the switch back––like a life lesson learned YOLO-ing for him.).

when the two souls finally swap back (in my version of the should-have-been ending), gil da ran and gyong joon don't remember anything and gil da ran and yoon jae go on to have a lovey-dovey marriage and happy ending, because the love gyong joon felt for gil da ran in yoon jae's body remained in yoon jae's body, and he could feel how much more his love grew for gil da ran. PLUS gyong joon remains in gil da ran and yoon jae's life, having gained a noona-in-law and hyung and family, and everyone's happy, and there's no ickiness in gaining pleasure from this cute, cheesy ending. 

obviously, the Hong sisters should hire me as a third sister to write with. ladies, i'm all yours. just name a time and place and i will fly there to meet you with my pen ready. my only payment request: Gong Yoo, shirtless.

yes, please. thank you.

hana, dul set! press play.

Scent of a Woman: FAIL

Scent of a Woman? more like Bored as a Woman-Viewer

fail, fail, triple-ty fail fail fail. Scent of a Woman is so slow and boring, even the stars in that promo poster look bored. 

i'm not sure what went wrong with this movie (both leads are attractive enough) other than the plot and story progression was just bland (and it even involved cancer!! how can this be?)

the male lead is good looking but a perfect example that stars don't necessarily need to all get the double eyelid surgery to look sexy and succeed on screen, because he had the deepest-set double eyelids i've ever seen (be it natural or not), and was sexy enough, but i still had zero interest in the show after watching just 30 minutes of it. and he just looked so bored and sleepy all the time.

this is how he looked in the entire show --  like a stagnant ken doll.

his face never reacted to anything -- which i normally like of my plastic ponies because it's indicative of just how much filler they shoveled into their faces, but this was too much. i think he was actually sleeping with his eyes open the entire series.

they even look bored here during a supposedly sexy moment!

also the female lead was so rail thin, it irked me. i wanted to feed her a big bowl of ramen and then some.

lastly, maybe i didn't watch enough with all 8 episodes i tortured self with before abandoning ship with gusto, but what.in.the.fuck does the title mean? who and why are we smelling a lady? 

this drama was the first one i could not finish -- and i'm extremely OCD about finishing everything that i start even if i hate it.

in other less ranty news, i started BIG with Gong Yoo and i LOVE it to bits and pieces. i will write an entry about how enamored i am with his impossibly tiny ball-point pen-tip head and how funny the story is so far next! so look out for that!

alright, let's never talk about Scent of a Woman again. stop smelling women!

hana, dul, set! press play.

Faith (The Great Doctor): Final Thoughts

Faith or sometimes called The Great Doctor
(I call it Ultimate Lee MinHo Action Time)

this was my first historical drama (sageuk), y'all, and at first i was like "what is going on, and why is my pretty pony's mane of luscious locks so long!" but i really wasn't complaining, just confused. (the more hair on LMH's pretty little head, the less there is wrong in the world…)

touch. touch. i want to touch.

not that i know that much about sageuks, but this one was unusual in that it had a fantasy aspect to it -- the high doctor came from the future in a leaf-blowing time warp thingy, and many of the characters had superpowers like lightening-fingers and fire-hands. 

he had like blowing power…and ridiculous white hair.

mix that in with the cartoon drawings that popped up from time to time, and the god-awful amazing hair styles, and it's just a giant jumble of "what the hell is going on...more screen time for LMH's marvelous made-up mug, please."

 that bandana and those side bangs. what is this, the 80s?

my overall thought: the story was interesting and the production was really great (loved all the pretty costumes that the queen and high doctor wore)

but there were too many episodes and the story was dragged out. i'm not well-versed enough in kdramas to know if this is possible, but they really should have made Faith a mini series, like 10 episodes. 

audiences would have been way more captivated by all the fruit ninja slashy-slashy sounds that continuously rang throughout the 20 episodes, and the plot and love story between LMH and high doctor wouldn't have dragged so much. 

besides, the series didn't really get interesting until the last 5 or so episodes (really, once LMH calls high doctor "imja" because i don't know what.the.fuck it means but i sure want him calling me that from his perfectly surgeon-puckered lips!)

and *SPOILER ALERT* the ending, though perhaps predictable and nothing new, was still very sweet. koreans do time travel well. that's right, have LMH waiting under a tree for her for however long it takes to grow a goatee, and set it to the cheesiest and most amazing ballad song ever. oh, the feels. 

give me that goatee, pony. give it to me good.

what should i watch next? i've started Scent of a Woman, but i'm afraid 6 episodes in, i don't really like it and find it extremely boring and snooze-worthy. this may just be the very first kdrama i abandon and don't finish! Another first!

hana, dul, set! press play.

Heirs: Final Thoughts

You get out, LMH, because your fluffy pink cardigan is distracting me. just kidding. come to me in all your fluffiness.

if you followed my previous entries on Heirs as i watched each episode, you'll know that the series didn't live up to my expectations (meaning, since Lee MinHo was in it, it was supposed to be panty-dropping worthy.)

me too, pony. me too.

the series is forgettable (which is why i hadn't updated this blog yet until now -- 2 weeks after i finished the series…because i forgot!), and with the exception of a few well-done, touching moments, there wasn't anything really spectacular, unique, new, or fresh in Heirs.

….except the wardrobe and all the male actors terribly lovely nipped and tucked faces. 

i can't help but want to play a round of chess on your perfectly plastic chest.

normally, when a drama ends and they do the montage -- as they always do -- of everything that has happened in the series, i usually get swept up in it and enjoy seeing everything again. by the end of a good series, i'll feel like i went on a journey with these characters and feel a sense of nostalgia looking back on the earlier moments. usually, if the drama is really good (like Boys Over Flowers or City Hunter or Coffee Prince), the montage will make me want to watch the series again.

none of this occurred with Heirs' montage and in fact, i just wanted it to end about halfway through to see who cha eun sang chooses so i could move on with life and onto my next LMH kdrama (don't judge me and my plastic pony love).

you get in, Park Shin-Cries-Alot. and give me that corgi umbrella. 

Park Shin Hye, though pretty and cute (obviously, not plastic enough….) was really annoying in Heirs. she was too helpless, spineless, and boring as a character -- very much a disappointment as the female lead (not to dump too much on PSH; a lot of it is the writers creating such an awful, meek female character).

next time, writers, let's try and have a more dynamic, assertive female with less overflowing tear ducts, yes? (that last stipulation, about the crying, is a must.)

i heard PSH got casted with my sexy Chil Bong (Yoon Yoo Suk) from Reply 1994 in a movie -- i'm for damn sure going to see that because of his pretty plastic face, but alas, that means i must sit through more of PSH's profuse tears. *sigh*

there's room in my heart for more than just one pony.

in the mean time, interwebz, i'm almost done (i told you i forgot about updating this blog because of the humdrum that was Heirs) with The Great Doctor (or is it called Faith?).

LMH action to the max!

yes, i got it bad. LMH is my sexy plastic overlord and i am his blind, devoted botox-worshiping subject. (ah yes, you can see that i am indeed knee-deep in Great Doctor…).  but alas, that is another entry for another time.

so…much…botox…I LOVE IT.

until then…

hana, dul, set! press play.

Heirs: Episodes 16 - 17. Kim Woo-Bin's forehead won me over.

the writers of Heirs really should have had what happens in episodes 16–17 occur earlier in the series. it would have kept the audience way more engaged instead of viewers rolling their eyes midway through because it was more of the same (crying, some creepy stalking, a ubiquitous dream catcher, and more crying). 

not the slightest bit creepy, right? CES's face says she kinda agrees.

after Kim Woo-Bin released his bangs and shielded the evil that was emanating from his bare forehead, he became so much more likable and cute. i found myself cheering for him after cha eun sang moved off to wherever that beach-exile place was with the book store.

at the police station after KWB found her and hugged the bejeesus out of her, and when he went to see her and instead ate with CES's mother, i squealed and thought i'd be totally okay if the storyline casted my beautiful plastic pony Lee Min Ho aside and had KWB and CES get together and make pretty pale babies. 

this made the show a little more exciting and engaging -- though it is a bit too late since it's within the last 4 episodes of the series. this development of KWB's character and his relationship with CES should have happened earlier.

what the series had done well, however, are the few and far between subtle and touching moments such as when LMH and CES walk past each other when they're grounded in the mansion and then they -- for a brief moment -- lock hands. also, ridiculously touching and squeal worthy: when KWB runs like a madman to find LMH because his mother is about to be sent away.

be still my raging racing heart -- that KWB can run better and sexier than any little plastic pony ever could. long bangs swooshing up and down in the air, giving way to the palest and most evil forehead anyone has ever seen. give me more. and give it to me in slow-motion, please.

now let's talk about LMH's lovely filler-saturated forehead. up until episode 17, i laughed every time LMH stepped on screen because his clothes were ridiculous, his face, though it has had many tweaks, honestly just looks too old to be in high school, and his character was lackluster. but behold, in this episode when he invites CES to accompany him to the lavish birthday party thrown for him by his sinister father, his hair is noticeably different and his bare, deliciously golden forehead is released for all the world to see. 

and what a dashing, heart-stopping forehead it is. clown shirts be damned, my swoon-worthy pretty LMH is back and i want to mount him like the perfect plastic pony that he is.

clearly, Heirs set out to make known the power of foreheads.

can't wait to see how this show wraps up and who else's forehead will be revealed.

what's hiding under those bangs, Rachel? hmm?

hana, dul, set! press play.

Heirs: Episode 6 - 15. I've found the source of Kim Woo-Bin's evil

so i'm more than halfway through the series, and out of no where, Kim Woo Bin's character changes his hair style from the high, slick back, perfectly plastered wave to a more shaggy, so-korean, side swoop bang that justin beiber blatantly ripped off from the koreans.

evil Kim Woo Bin's hair in the beginning of the series

and wouldn't know you it? his character becomes a little more likable, and he's a bit more open and kind in his interactions with cha eun sang. thus, obviously, the source of Kim Woo Bin's evil is his forehead. 

once his beautifully botoxed, pretty plastic forehead was shielded by a curtain of his lusciously dyed korean-red-orange#39 hair (that's the color on the dye box that every kpop star uses, obviously.), all the evil was gone from his pale precious face and all that remained was a surgeon's cutout of a mug that just yearns to be loved.

this story line makes perfect sense. 

especially the part where LMH runs up behind cha eun sang and rips her ponytail holder out of her hair, freeing her long mane of korean-red-orange#39––a public declaration that she's worthy to be seen with him (when her hair is down). the slow-mo effect of that scene made it all the more painful to watch amazing. 

i've noticed LMH has a rather abrupt and sometimes violent way with his co-star actresses. it used to bother me a lot when i watched Boys over Flowers how he threw Jandi around and yanked and pulled her here and there. i thought it was the character, but i'm starting to think it's just LMH's interaction with women in general. 

gentler, my lovely plastic pony. no need for such violence when everyone's so beautiful. 

LMH aside, i like KWB's character more now that his bangs have been let down and his evilness has subsided. i think they should have done this sooner (like when KWB came to CES's coffeeshop and confessed he was feeling lonely and wanted company…this could have been the opening for really sweet moments and more development between the characters love storyline---tasty cheesy moments instead of that cheap spraycan cheese Heirs has been shoving down our throats). 

Heirs needs more subtle sweet moments (allowing for storyline development) and less drastic, abrupt "i love you, i must protect you" scenes. KWB's character is ripe for exploiting the typical arc of: he's a bad boy on the outside because he comes from a broken home, but on the inside he's a sweet and sensitive teddy bear and he only shows that side to a special someone (cha eun sang!!). 

i think that character arc would draw in a lot more viewers' sympathy for KWB and explain more of why he likes her so much. because right now, it's a very empty story of LMH likes her, KWB likes her. you're not sure why and you don't really believe it because there's so little development between them.

there's enough collagen to go around, boys. but, i must say CES (played by Park Shin Hye) has a rather natural-looking, pretty face. 

there's a softness and actual movement in hers that many other kdrama stars don't have--AND I HATE IT. 

i hope she doesn't tweak anything else. she should take advantage of the fact that she can move her eyebrows and learn more facial expressions other than just crying. 

hana, dul, set! press play.

Heirs: Episodes 5-6

so. much. crying.

cha eun sang always looks like she's on the verge of tears -- it's pretty much the only reaction she has to everything. i was sure she was going to jump in when evil kim woo-bin was torturing that giant-hipster-glasses guy at his locker and at least yell, "YA!" really loud -- or like cut off some of his preciously molded hair or something remotely exciting.

but no, she cried. 

also, the clothes on this series are laughably awesome. every time LMH enters the shot, i feel like he just got done rummaging through his best friend's closet -- and his best friend is a clown. highlighter yellow pants with a sweater covered in christmas ornaments = sex. all of it.

merry christmas to all! and to all a good sweater.

also, can we give a shout out to that amazingly small woman (Park Joon Geum) who always plays the angry mother? she was in Secret Garden and pretty much played the exact same character. when she walked out to meet her husband's mistress at the art gallery in her 10-inch hot pink heels and was still 6 inches shorter than everyone else, i just wanted to pick her up and put her in my pocket. how can someone be so small -- i'm pretty sure she's part leprechaun. absolutely positive.

lucky charms! magically delicious!

ya know what else there is a lot of in this series besides tears? cheese. there is a lot of cheese in this one. and i really like cheese, but i wish there were more jokes or funny parts. every single moment you're watching Heirs, you feel like someone is about to die going off of their stone-serious facial expressions and the crazy dramatic music. and it's kind of jarring how little development the characters' feelings for one another is given considering this is a korean drama. it's supposed to be like 20 episodes of do they like each other or don't they like each other, of he likes me, he likes me not, she likes me, she likes me not. LMH's character, right off the bat, is like edward cullen-ing her ass. like "let me drive you in my armor car so you don't break" and "i'm going to run vampire-fast to say hello to you because i super like you" every second. it's a bit too much too fast and hard to believe (yes, even by kdrama standards).

andddddd, i love that song they play every single time LMH comes out from behind the corner and stares at eun sang. every episode ends with LMH and KWB giving cha run sang the love-death stare. it's so romantic and sweet and not the least bit creepy.

they zero in on her like she's a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and they're both santa clause after a long night of chimney shimmying. i wish men stared at me like they wanted to eat me alive. it's so romantic.

see that little leaf on the right hand side? LMH is hiding behind it.

also not creepy -- how the dream catcher somehow always manages to find itself hanging right above cha eun sang no matter where she is. *high five* LMH. you're everywhere. and you're tall, so that means you're good at hanging dream catchers.

i love all of it and am already watching episode 7 while i type this.

hana, dul, set! press play.