Friday 31 July 2020

Crash Landing On You

July 31, 2020 14 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! Salam Aidiladha to my muslim friends too. Here is the weekly k-drama review and it is one of the highest rating drama !


Title : Crash Landing On You / Love's Emergency Landing
Episodes : 16
Genre : Romantic-Comedy, Military, Drama
Director : Lee Jung Hyo
Writer  : Park Ji Eun
Network : tvN, Netflix
Cast : Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jin, Kim Jung Hyun, Seo Ji Hye
Plot :

Yoon Se-Ri is a heiress to Queen Group and also the owner of Seri's Choice apparel company. She volunteer to participate in her new product-testing activity, paragliding. Due to unexpected weather changed, she made an emergency landing in the DMZ between North Korea and South Korea. Captain Re Jeong Hyuk, a North Korean army officer found her and tried to help her to the South Korea border. Se-Ri then make a run from him,which led her to North Korea. Ri Jeong Hyuk then tries to hide and protect her until she made it to her home.
 
Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin had worked together before for a movie, 'The Negotiation' which was released in 2018.

SPOILER ALERT

First off, I was actually a little skeptical to watch this drama due to excessive praises and high rating from all the popular review sites and friends. Well, through my experience, even though the review were all saying great things it turns out just nice for me. However, this drama definitely deserves all the recognition. I usually took almost one week to watch a drama but this drama had an exception. I just couldn't get enough of Seri and Jeong Hyuk. True to every reviewers out there, they really looks good together !

The plot was actually simple to understand. A little details of Seri's family life was actually very relatable to the world of chaebols. Growing up in a competitive and cold family made her unfamiliar to interact with other people. When she ended up in NK, she had the warmth of a family from the woman in the village also the friends she never had in Ri Jeong Hyuk and his company of five. 

Ri Jeong Hyuk had to hide and sent Seri back to her home country without getting caught by the State Security Department (something like the police through my understanding) because he couldn't trust the man in charge. Having a history of losing his dear brother, all the mysterious accident made him anxious to hand her to the man.  The journey of hiding and sending Seri's back to her country was a challenged, they failed a few times, got caught by the SSD, met Jeong Hyuk's fiancee and Seri's ex-fiance, and finally got caught by Jeong Hyuk's father. There was so much things happened in order to sent her back and in all the mess, there were countless funny scenes that got me laughing so much and the romance between two main casts in between the chaos were just so cute!

The heart-wrenching scenes picked up from the moment the two casts were separated, and let me tell you, I cried a river when they finally reunited. Another plus point here was the cameo of Kim Soo Hyun who acted as a spy from NK, a character from a movie, 'Secretly, Greatly' (oh, missing this movie because it is one of my favorite) and Choi Ji Woo  as the actress that one of the comrade love. 

Beside the two main character, I really love it when Seo Dan (Jeong Hyuk's fiancee) and Gu Seung Jun (Seri's ex-fiance) on the screen. They had a great chemistry together. Even though they only realized the love they had for each other a bit late, they really cute. With Seo Dan's cold and fierce and assertive personality match with Seung Jun's quirky and fun and caring personality made them good together. Ohh how I wish they had a little different ending.

The ending of this drama was a little sad for me despite the main couple still together but it is still not enough for me. I mean, two weeks in Switzerland and wait for another whole year?! Aren't that a little excessive ? Or  is it just how NK works? Well, I am not sure but I really need them to be together like together. Another sad thing was, Seri could never asked how the ahjumma back at the village how they're doing let alone met them. As for the closure, she named her next product with their names and face.  They're just between the borders but they can never met again. Same goes to the comrades in Ri Jeong Hyuk's company. They would be wondering if Seri's doing well and can never communicated with her again.

The scenes were all so beautiful and picturesque and my most favorite was the one when Seri's and the comrades went to a picnic. That was a beautiful one. And of course the scenes shoot in Switzerland. That country always had a beautiful places that I really wanted to visit. Maybe someday.

I didn't intend for this review to get this long lol. Anyway, there is rumor for season two, is it true ?!







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Friday 24 July 2020

Kill Me, Heal Me

July 24, 2020 17 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day ! Phew... I almost didn't make it to this time of the week for I really took my time watching this drama that I only finished it yesterday and write this review right after. Wow, I really took this weekly k-drama review seriously. Well, gotta enjoy it while it lasts.


not mine; credited to the rightful owner

Title : Kill Me, Heal Me
Episodes : 20
Genre : Romantic, Comedy, Drama, Medical
Director : Kim Jin Man
Writer : Jin Soo Wan
Network : MBC
Cast : Ji Sung, Hwang Jung Eum, Park Seo Joon
Plot :

Cha Do Hyun is a successor to Seung Jin Group. He lived in America and refused to go back to Korea. Due to his dark childhood, Do Hyun developed a psychological problem called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or better known as multiple identity disorder or split personality. As one of his personality took him back to South Korea, he had to face his grandmother and took the responsibility as the successor to the group. Do Hyun then hired Oh Ri Jin as his secret psychiatrist. 

This drama is the second drama that starred Ji Sung and Hwang Jung Eum as the main cast. In 2013, they had worked together on a drama called 'Secret Love' which I had been in my to-watch list for so long.

SPOILER ALERT


This drama is  one of my favorite. Well, it is also the main reason why am I so interested in taking psychology, well, old story. Back to the review. From my personal taste, this drama is flawless. From the plot to the casts, it was all great ! Okay, maybe a little bias there.

The writer had successfully address DID not only in the perspective of the patient but also the society around him. I love how the plot mainly focused on Do Hyun lives as a DID patient with all his alter to come out and said their hello at the first half of the drama. The lives he had was not an easy one as he was exposed to the society by being the chaebol for a very known company.

Through the first half, I could say that I had laughed on so much occasions. I especially loves it when either Yona or Perry Park came out. These two characters were my favorite out of all alters that Do Hyun had. I personally loves the satoori that Perry Park used and as for Yona, I love how she would always tried to rebel against Ri Jin and all their arguments were so childish. It is entertaining to me. 

The second half of the drama focused more on the reason why Do Hyun created his alters and what really happened in his childhood. This one here had me tear up every now and then. Oh my... It is so sad to think that he blamed himself for what happened to the point he separates himself to several pieces.

I don't think anyone could do a better job than Ji Sung. I mean, he played six or is it seven different characters in just one drama. To make it even more interesting, he had to change 'himself' in one single cut. And, that's wow. I love the chemistry between Ji Sung and Jung Eum. Maybe it was they had work in together in the past but whatever that is, they really have the chemistry on the screen. Oh, don't forget the brother. Park Seo Joon did wonderful as Ri Jin's brother. Oh, how I wish to have a brother like him.



Auditory Hallucination by Jung Jae In ft NaShow



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Tuesday 21 July 2020

Perfect Proposal

July 21, 2020 6 Comments
Assalamualaikum, and good err night ? Oh, sorry good evening. Alright, it's been like one week ? Maybe ? Since I watch this movie but me being the professional procrastinator, only now I'm feeling great and nice to finish this review. It is yet, another one from South Korea.

not mine; credited to the rightful owner


Title : Perfect Proposal / Secret Temptation
Runtime : 110 minutes
Genre : Romantic Thriller
Country / Language : South Korea / Korean
Released year : 2015
Director : Yoon Jae Koo
Writer : Catherine Arlay (novel), Yoon Jae Koo
Cast : Yoo Yeon Seok, Lim Soo Jung, Lee Kyung Young
Plot :

Ji Yeon works at a bar in Macao to paid off the debt of her ex-business partner. The amounts had accumulated to big figures and she no way out. One day, her friend came up with a job vacancy advertisement that paid big amounts. Tempted with the salary offered, she went to the interview. Ji Yeon then met with Sung Yeol, the son of a millionaire, casino owner, Kim Seok Koo. Sung Yeol offers a job that could make her a most richest woman in Macao. She soon boards the lavish yacht as Kim Seok Koo's caregiver. From that moment onward, she plays an important role to a game to win the inheritance money.

This movie is based on a French novel written by Catherine Arley, 'La femme de paille' first published on 1956 by Editions Jeheber. U.S film entitled 'Woman Of Straw' (1964) starring Gina Lollobrigida and Sean Connery was also based on the same novel.

SPOILER ALERT


Why didn't I watch this soon ? I don't think I have ever watched a romantic thriller before and this movie had me really really interested in the genre ! I think this movie had a perfect balance of romance and thriller. The first half would be more romance than thrilling and the second half was vice versa. When I first found out of this movie, I just thought it was thriller because of the scam between Ji Yeon and Sung Yeol to gain Kim Seok Koo's inheritance money. But damn, it was more than that.  I really did not see the plot twist coming. 

I personally loves Ji Yeon's character. She was skeptical when she firs heard of Sung Yeol's proposal and decline the offer. At least, she had that much conscience not to accept his offer. However, with her pressing situation, she had to find a quick way to earn money and Sung Yeol's offer was just right in front of her eyes. Even when the situation came unexpected, she tried to back out but because of the trust she put on Sung Yeol, she endured it all, until she had to take the fall. That's when she seek out to herself and stand up for her.

Another plus point in this movie was the cinematography. Well, it was great and very much picturesque because of the scene on the yacht. Nothing could gone wrong with that, right ? It was so beautiful first half. My favorite scene was when Sung Yeol and Ji Yeon dance while the all the cabin crew was on break. Definitely the best !

This movie progress at a just nice pace. I don't think it was rushed or too slow because everything laid out just nice. The ending was very much satisfying for me even with a little unnecessary character sacrificed. Ji Yeon had her justice and plus point by being the Cinderella that wins. 




trailer


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Friday 17 July 2020

Nobody Knows

July 17, 2020 10 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! How was your week ? I have another k-drama review to shared on and this one was released this year so enjoy the ride. What I have to say first is, this year drama that I have watched was so good that I couldn't pick favorite !

not mine; credited to the rightful owner


Title : Nobody Knows
Episodes : 16
Genre : Crime, Melodrama
Director : Lee Jung Heum
Writer : Lee Eun Hyang
Network : SBS
Cast : Kim Seo Hyung, Ryu Deok Hwan, Ahn Ji Ho, Park Hoon
Plot :

Cha Young Jin lost her only friend to a serial killer. Filling with guilt and trauma of losing her friend, she vows to catch him and she eventually became a detective. After 19 years of chasing the ghost, the killer finally made a move. Young Jin was so close in catching him but lose him when he jumped off the building. The next day, Young Jin receives a news of Eunho, her 15-years old neighbor jumped off a 10 story hotel building. She begin to investigate both cases to find the truth.

 
SPOILER ALERT

The first episode gives a very intense and mystery vibe to me. Starting with the murder of Cha Young Jin's only friend by a serial murderer and the phone call received by Young Jin and back to the present where she lives her live to find the killer. The first few episodes had me overwhelmed a little because there was so much information to suck in and having a big number of characters doesn't help me either. 

The plot was confusing at first because of the unknown story and it makes me really hooked on this drama. After Eunho's accident, the plot slowed down a little as no one really knows what happened to him. Even with the plot slowed down, it doesn't kill the curiosity inside me. The plot had continuously rise confusion and new founding evidence what might happened to Eunho before his fall but nobody could conform the mystery because Eunho was unconscious and well, dead body every time.

One thing that I really didn't expect from this drama was how emotional Young Jin was. Usually, the main character who hold grudges against the serial killer tends to be rude, emotionless and of course fearless. However, Cha Young Jin's character had to portray so much emotion on her. One moment she was so strong and had the willpower to face everything and the next she crumbled down and cry her heart out. 

I personally loves all the actors in this drama. Watching Ryu Deok Hwan played a righteous teacher was a bit awkward for me because of all the God Quiz's season that I watched back then. I kind of get attached to his easy-going and playful character. This character definitely gave me a new side of him. As for Ahn Jiho who played Eunho, he really did well and the character fits him well. I love the way he interacts with Young Jin, always with admiration. Park Hoon was admirable as always. He creep me out when he acts all nice and righteous before his facade fall down. I keep wondering if he really did the bad things before his secret was revealed. His character quasi like Im Joo Hwan's in 'The Game:Towards Zero'. And I think I have spoke too much of Kim Seo Hyung who played Cha Young Jin.

The ending of the drama was a big satisfaction for me. I love how every character had their closure and patched up the loose ends. And the best things was, no one from the detective team were killed off, just a little scratched but that was the nature of their character. I personally think that everyone would enjoy this drama like I do. 


Saay - Happiness

Richard Parkers - A Secret That No One Can Solve




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Monday 13 July 2020

I'm Not A Monster by Sara Aisha

July 13, 2020 6 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest... Harini kita update #bookreview pulak eh. Novel pinjam aje ni hehe.



Tajuk : I'm Not A Monster
Penulis : Sara Aisha
Mukasurat : 662 pages
Penerbit : Penulisan Enterprise
ISBN : 9789672102526
Blurb :

"I would stand in the shadow of your heart, and tell you I'm not afraid of your dark." - Andrea Gibson

Dia... Ryu

Seorang Red Dragon. Tidak perlu banyak cakap. Tidak perlu berkata apa-apa. Hanya dengan satu pergerakan, dia boleh mematahkan tulang-temulang sang lawan.

Dia... Maya

Seorang gadis biasa. Itu yang dia fikir selama ini. Satu malam jahanam mengubah segala-galanya. Dia jadi pelarian. Dia jadi manusia yang kematian jiwa.

Takdir. Sesuatu yang paling aneh. Menemukan mereka dalam satu pertemuan yang juga aneh. Lalu, Maya membuat keputusan paling gila.

"Aku mahu tinggal di sini. Di rumah ini." - MAYA
"Kau tahu siapa aku,kan? Dan apa aku boleh buat pada kau?" - RYU

Bagi Ryu, Maya itu sekadar orang tahanan. Bagi Maya, Ryu itu tempat persembunyian. Dalam ganasnya Ryu, dia tidak pernah menyakiti Maya. Tetapi sampai bila ? Mampukah Ryu menghalang diri daripada mencabut nyawa Maya kalau dia tahu siapa wanita itu sebenarnya? Atau dia juga akan buat keputusan paling gila ? Melindungi Maya dengan nyawanya sendiri?

"Jangan mati depan aku." -RYU

"Kau Ryu aku. Dan aku Maya kau." - MAYA

Keputusan akhirnya diambil. Namun, yang jadi galang gantinya adalah nyawa dan darah!

"Everyone has a monster within." - ARJUNA KAEDA


Aku actually dah lama sangat tak baca novel-novel yang boleh kata baru. Semenjak aku masuk asrama masa form 4, aku takde beli novel sangat cuma sekadar usha dekat internet. Dan novel-novel Sara Aisha is one of yan aku selalu nak beli and baca. Tapi sayangnya, sampai sekarang pun masih dok usha dekat internet aje.

With that said, ni adalah first novel action yang aku baca from SA, which is a bit bummer sebab aku ada angan-angan nak baca novel yang dia released ikut turutan tapi takpelah... Kita capai je mana ada. Ni pun bukan hak milik aku tetapi hanya dipinjamkan oleh my sekepala anak buah. Haha.

Memandangkan this is my first action novel (after years of re-reading Mikhail by RAM), I took almost a month nak habiskan. Bukan sebab tak best cuma pace pembacaan aku agak slow dengan mood yang tunggang-langgang tambah pulak dengan term-term penulis yang aku tak faham. Haa, semua ni penyebab aku ambil masa lama sangat. Term yang aku maksudkan ni bukanlah scientific term ke apa cuma ia adalah bahasa Kantonis yang digunakan i.e : hungkwan, dailo, memang tunggang terbalik la kepala aku nak teka maksud. Once aku dapat grasp the meaning of those terms, lajulah sikit aku baca.

Aku personally sangat suka novel ni walaupun first part jalan cerita lebih banyak fokus pada kongsi gelap punya hal dan jugak Ryu punya conflict antara prinsip dan juga kesetiaan, aku rasa selesa dan sangat seronok baca. Bagi aku, apa yang aku baca seolah-olah tengah tengok action movie. Maybe aku je yang rasa macam ni. 

Plot penceritaan novel ni agak tipikal plot cerita aksi bagi aku sebab tak banyak elemen surprise bagi aku. Almost every plot twists, aku dapat agak dan yeah, sasaran mengena. Nevertheless, aku tetap seronok baca. For Sara Aisha's avid fan mungkin teruja dengan kemunculan Arjuna Kaeda from Salju Kyoto. Aku yang tak pernah baca Salju Kyoto pun terasa seronok sebab character dia unik walau dengan beberapa scene je dalam novel ni. So, I definitely have to read her other books !

Aku tutup dengan favorite quotes from this novel,  tapi semua from Arjuna punya line hm, sorry Ryu.




-thes
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Friday 10 July 2020

Reply 1997

July 10, 2020 8 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! As promised, this is the review for this week. And as I have said before, I will make review  of an old k-drama and this one was released back in 2012. Yes, it was that long but I really love this drama that I have watched it for countless times. 




Title : Reply 1997
Episodes : 16
Genre : Romance, Drama
Director : Shin Won Ho
Writer : Lee Woo Jung, Lee Sun Hye, Kim Ran Joo
Network : tvN
Related : Reply 1994, Reply 1988
Cast : Seo In Guk, Jung Eunji, Hoya, Eun Ji Won, Shin So Yul, Lee Si On
Plot :

Set back in 1997, Sung Shi Won is a high school student who is a fan of H.O.T. She had a life-long friend, Yoon Yoon Jae who was also a family friend. They grew up together and soon, he begin to realize that he had feelings for her. Things started to get on their way and they grew apart.



SPOILER ALERT

This is the first part of the  'Reply 1990s' series and the one that I enjoyed the most. And this is the drama where my love for Sung Dong Il and Lee Il Hwa was born. Starting from this drama, I keep seeking for more of SDI, he really had that veteran actor vibe on him. He seems so laid back with every character he played and for me, this is the most natural of him. 

This drama had me feels so much. At the beginning of the drama, it was so humorous that I keep laughing. Especially whenever Lee Si On is on the scene. He seriously is a hilarious guy. Not to forget all those banter between Yoon Jae and Shi Won whenever they had the chance to, they are cute. And my most favorite pair was Shi Won and her dad. I love how his dad hate her love for H.O.T and how much she defended him but in the end of the day, they still be there for each other. 

But things changed from a lot of humor to the seriousness of figuring out the future. How their romances blossom or wither away and how much they had grew up into adults. All the romances were on the climax to the ending of the drama. I couldn't stop smiling during the last few episodes.

One of the things that keep me hooked into the drama was how the director change the scene from 1990s to the present (2012 at that time). Those scenes keep me guessing who ended up with Shi Won, and what happen in between those time. It is amazing that they are able to keep their friendship when most of them went apart. I envy that so much. Another thing that make me love this drama so much was the used of Busan accent. I find it cute. 

So here is where I ended the review, hope you love it !

The human mind is infinite. Neither its depth nor its end can be known. Some days, they fight to the death. Other days, they share their love for each other. Yes, the truth is inconvenient. But if we don’t accept that, we have to lie with lies. We have to accept inconvenient truths. What we see is not all we know.  -Sung Shi Won 

Life comes and attacks you when you least expect it. It might be sadness, or extreme fear. At that moment, what we can do is, accept reality and admit we lost. We don’t know how life will turn out. There is no way we can avoid it. We just have to face it, and get hurt once in a while… But life sometimes thrills us with unexpected events. And gives us happiness when we overcome hardships. -Yoon Yoon Jae

All For You - eunji ft seo in guk


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Thursday 9 July 2020

Thoughtless Thursday #030

July 09, 2020 4 Comments

credit to : @/momentaryhappiness on instagram

Assalamualaikum, good day dearest. I often find myself read the posts made by that ig account, she had a great with her words and I often find them interesting and of course inspiring. That picture above is one of my favorite, I had it saved both in my phone and laptop. 

The things with me is I made excuses. I had hundreds, thousands and even millions of them. In my head, I wanted to try a lots of things, I wanted to go places and I had tons of plan. I had the passion but that passion wasn't enough for me to complete the tasks and plans I had. And when the chances were gone, I would regret them because well, it was either my only chance or I don't know when will I have the same chance again. 

What I need is courage, the courage that will make me try the things, the courage that will drove me to explore the places and the courage that will drove into working on my plans. Maybe I am too comfortable in my place now that I am scared to go out of the circle. I am scared that if I ever went out of my circle, the world would started to condemn me and press me down. I need the courage to change me first. A slow and steady, starting from this moment because I won't have another chance. This is it.

-thes
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Saturday 4 July 2020

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Friday 3 July 2020

Hospital Playlist

July 03, 2020 4 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! How was your day so far ? I'm thinking of getting back on track for k-drama reviews, one review per week. I'm hoping that it would work even though there was not much new k-drama that caught my attention so probably I will do the old k-drama reviews. Anyway, I will start off the track with this drama. 




Title : Hospital Playlist / Wise Doctor Life
Episodes : 12 
Genre : Drama, Medical, Slice of Life
Director : Shin Won Ho
Writer : Lee Woo Jung
Network : tvN
Cast : Jung Kyung Ho, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jo Jung Seok, Kim Dae Myung, Jeon Mi Do
Related title(s): Hospital Playlist 2
Plot :

This drama portrays life of the doctors, nurses and patients at a hospital. Five doctors, Kim Jun Wan, Ahn Jung Won, Lee Ik Joon, Yang Seok Hyung and Chae Song Hwa went to the same medical school in 1999 and now they work at the same hospital while maintaining their friendship.


I'm sure most of k-drama lovers are known to this facts but I'm still going to share it; (a) director Shin Won Ho and writer Lee Woo Jung had worked together on the hit series 'Reply 1990s' and (b) this drama is a part of the 'Wise Life' series following 'Prison Playbook' that was released back in 2017.


SPOILER ALERT

First off, the vibes of this drama is a whole new and refreshing. It is stress-free drama, something that I don't usually watch but it is nice for a change. Instead of the usual epic, nerve-wrecking and tension in the surgery room, we got a lot more insight of what was happening in the daily lives of those in the hospital; mainly focused on the five friends. 

I love how those five friends had their own character and how they compliment one another. And all the side characters, the family, the hospital management team, the nurses, the patients were all just as great as them. I honestly had an enjoyable time and not to mention a good laugh while watching this drama. 

For the first time ever, I really enjoyed a drama with an absolute no plot twist. I usually get bored  and very very sleepy when there was no element of surprises that changes the characters but this drama had made it to the exception side. Each characters were just slowly opening their mind to show how they feels. 

Even though every episode serves for about one and half hour, I still craves for more of them. Each episode had their own comedic, love, and angst moments while balance out the whole drama. I love how they weren't only focused on their current lives (those five good friends) as the assistant professors on their department but also the story of how they became a good friend. 

The only one thing that I regret was the scenes of Jung Won and Gyeo Ul together. They are the cutest ship in this drama and I definitely up for the next season ! I need to see more of them, together properly ! And of course those other four's love life. It was all left with a huge question mark. What a way to end the drama. 

Out of all good OSTs used in the drama, this is my favorite , enjoyed !


original song by Cool released in 2001

p/s: I need to watch Prison Playbook next..


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