Korean Drama: Watched 2016

The following are the dramas I have watched this year and am about to make reviews when I have the time. Those highlighted are my favorites and in bright pink are recommended and those in lighter pink are still my faves, the rest are still worth watching.

Oh My Venus - So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah
Moorim School - Lee Hyun Woo  and Seo Ye Ji
Baek Hee Has Returned - Kang Ye Won
Beautiful Mind - Jang Hyuk  and Park So Dam
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds - Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung (ongoing
Descendants of the Sun - Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo
Uncontrollably Fond - Kim Woo Bin and Bae Suzy
Page Turner -  Kim So Hyun (girl) and Ji Soo
One More Happy Ending - Jang Na Ra and Jung Kyung Ho
Lucky Romance - Hwang Jung Eum  and Ryu Joon Yul, Lee Soo Hyuk
W - Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo
Marriage Contract - Lee Seo Jin and Uee
Imaginary Cat - Yoo Seung Ho
Jackpot - Jang Geun Suk and Yeo Jin Goo
Doctors - Kim Rae Won and Park Shin Hye
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo  -  Lee Joon Ki and IU (upcoming)
Remember - Yoo Seung Ho and Park Min Young
Please Come Back, Mister - Rain and Kim In Kwon
Beautiful Gong Shim - Nam Goong Min and Bang Min Ah
Cheese in the Trap - Park Hae Jin and Kim Go Eun
Another Oh Hae Young -  Eric and Seo Hyun Jin
Let's Fight Ghost - Ok Taecyeon and Kim So Hyun (girl)
Signal - Lee Je Hoon and Kim Hye Soo
Cinderella and the Four Knights - Jung Il Woo , Park So Dam and Ahn Jae Hyun
Madame Antoine - Han Ye Seul and Sung Joon
Mirror of the Witch -Yoon Shi Yoon and Kim Sae Ron
Age of Youth - Han Ye Ri, Han Seung Yeon , Park Eun Bin, Ryu Hwa Young and Park Hye Soo

Hmm... When will I be able to do some write ups for these? I wonder. 

jalgayeo!

Korean Drama: Descendants of the Sun 2016

Descendants of the Sun is Soong Joong Ki's comeback drama after his military service. It had a blockbuster rating from the first episode till the end. It became very popular in Asia that most of the products endorsed and used by the leads in the drama had a surge in their sales. Subway, Hyundai, Laneige, Dal.Komm Coffee, KGC Cheong Kwan Jang Korean Red Ginseng to name a few.

Drama: Descendants of the Sun (English & literal title)
Revised romanization: Taeyangui Hooye
Hangul: 태양의 후예
Director: Lee Eung-Bok
Writer: Kim Eun-Sook, Kim Won-Suk
Network: KBS2
Episodes: 16
Release Date: February 24 - April 14, 2016
Runtime: Weds. & Thurs. 22:00
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Cast:
Song Joong-ki as Captain Yoo Si-jin (aka Big Boss)
Song Hye-kyo as Doctor Kang Mo-yeon (aka Beauty)
Kim Ji-won as First Lieutenant Yoon Myeong-joo
Jin Goo as Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young (aka Wolf)

I'd rather not post a summary or synopsis of this drama. I am afraid it would be a very long one if I make one. There are a lot of websites out there discussing or having a summary about this, check out Wiki for a general summary.

Korean Drama: Jackpot 2016

ALRIGHT! Another Jang Geun Suk entry to add after so many years! :)

After Bel Ami (Pretty Boy) 2013 comes Jang Geun Suk's latest Korean Drama, Jackpot. I missed watching him act rather than sing. His acting skills will be put to the test in this new series because this is not his typical drama where his character is always on the cool side. Because Jackpot is a period drama, this has a more serious tone than any of his previous dramas.

Drama: The Royal Gambler (English title) / Jackpot (literal title)
Revised romanization: Daebak
Hangul: 대박
Director: Nam Gun
Writer: Kwon Soon-Gyu
Network: SBS
Episodes: 24
Release Date: March 28 - June 14, 2016
Runtime: Monday & Tuesday 22:00
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Cast:
Jang Keun-suk as Baek Dae-gil[1]
Yeo Jin-goo as Yeon Ying-gun (King Yeongjo)
Jun Kwang-ryul as Lee In-jwa (ko)
Choi Min-soo as King Sukjong
Yoon Jin-seo as Suk-bin Choe
Lim Ji-yeon as Dam-seo

Korean Drama: Cheese in the Trap 2016

Cheese in the Trap is based on a webtoon of the same title. As I was waiting for new episodes every week, I read some parts of the webtoon and found it a little confusing because some scenes in the webtoon and the drama were different and I believe the webtoon is still an ongoing project. I guess the writers of the drama had to create the rest of the story.

This is a Park Hae Jin drama. Yeah!! Though the female lead, Kim Go Eun, I am not so familiar with, she portrayed her character Hong Seol very well. As always, I am watching the drama because of Hae Jin-sshi. He looks so tall and skinny here whereas in My Love from the Stars, he didn't really shine then. I Loved his dark and mysterious character in this drama. Though, I believe he had also played a dark character in another drama before (I haven't watched it yet) but this one, he shined although his character is dark. You know what I mean?

Drama: Cheese in the Trap
Revised romanization: Cheese in the Trap
Hangul: 치즈 인 더 트랩
Director: Lee Yoon-Jung
Writer: Soon Ggi (original comic), Kim Nam-Hee
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: January 4 - March 1, 2016
Runtime: Mondays & Tuesdays 23:00
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Cast:
Park Hae-jin as Yoo Jung
Kim Go-eun as Hong Seol
Seo Kang-joon as Baek In-ho
Lee Sung-kyung as Baek In-ha
Park Min-ji as Jang Bo-ra
Nam Joo-hyuk as Kwon Eun-taek

Synopsis:
This drama series shows the delicate relationship between a female university student Hong Seol (Kim Go-eun) and her senior Yoo Jung (Park Hae-jin). Hong Seol does part-time jobs since her household is poor, while Yoo Jung is perfect with good academics and athletics, plus he is kind. However, Yoo Jung also seems to have a dark side with some people holding grudges against him. (AsianWiki)

Korean Drama: Producer 2015

I have a lot of back logs. Been away for over a year and I need to post dramas I watched in 2015. It is not much but still quite a few though. Here is the first one: Producer. I am watching because of you know who. :)

After "My Love from the Stars" come Kim Soo Hyun's 2015 drama "Producers".  Unlike "My Love from the Stars", where Kim Soo Hyun plays a cool alien, in Producer he plays Baek Seung Chan, a not so popular and somewhat stupid character in the drama.

Drama: Producer
Title: 프로듀사 / Peurodyusa
Also known as: The Producers
Genre: Drama
Episodes: 12
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2015-May-15 to 2015-Jun-20
Air time: Friday & Saturday 21:15

Cast: 

Kim Soo Hyun as Baek Seung Chan (27, KBS Entertainment World newbie PD)

Cha Tae Hyun as Ra Joon Mo (35, 1 Night 2 Day's PD)

Gong Hyo Jin as Tak Ye Jin (35, Music Bank's PD)

IU as Cindy (23, singer/member of Pinky4)

Synopsis
A cheeky workplace romantic comedy, The Producers centers around, aptly, the producers working in KBS's variety department, featuring a bevy of cameo appearances from stars and a cascade of tongue-in-cheek references to showbiz, celebrities, and industry practices. Kim Soo Hyun continues his hot streak of hit projects as the bumbling rookie producer who's book-smart and street-stupid, while Cha Tae Hyun is his jaded veteran PD sunbae. Gong Hyo Jin plays a veteran PD whose prickly outer shell hides a softer inner marshmallow, and IU rounds out the cast as the haughty Kpop superstar. Shows are produced, mistakes are made, and people fall in love multiple times over.  Source: (DramaWiki)

This is rather an unusual drama. It focuses on the how reality shows in Korea are being setup, planned and implemented. It portrays the drama behind the scenes of every reality shows before, during and after they are filmed. Somehow, viewers are given the opportunity to understand producers and their efforts. Producers are given justice in this drama.

Going back to Kim Soo Hyun's character, although Baek Seung Chan looked stupid in most of the episodes, I loved how he was able to show how new Producers are treated. I don't know if it is real but yeah, I think it is not just in the entertainment industry that newbies are treated like that, it is in the corporate industry as a whole. Another thing I like with his character was how he has grown from being shy irrelevant, towards the end he was able to change the hearts of people around him. He became outspoken and respected by his peers and specially his seniors. Cindy (IU) also played a big role in the development of each character.

In every episode, I keep laughing whenever Seung Chan and Cindy are together. They either fight or Seung Chan just ignores Cindy's feelings towards him which was cute.

Overall, definitely a must watch. Oh, did I mention that they have a lot of artist who had a cameo appearances for this drama? I mean A LOT. From idols to experienced and well respected artists in Korea. There was Sandara Park, Minwoo, Kim Min Jae and a lot more. Don't forget to find and identify the cameo stars.