She Was Pretty (2015)

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Drama: She Was Pretty (그녀는 예뻤다)
Network: MBC
Episodes: 16
Release Date: September 16 – November 11, 2015
Runtime: Wednesday & Thursdays 21:55

Plot
Two childhood sweethearts meet again after 15 years. Sung Jun who used to be fat and unpopular, is now hot, handsome editor of a fashion magazine while Hye Jin who used to be pretty and popular is now ugly and jobless. She persuades her pretty best friend Hari to pretend to be her in front of Sung Jun so as not to disappoint him, but Hye Jin ends up taking an intern job at Most, where Sung Jun is working. Can Sung Jun figure out who is the real Hye Jin and will they end up falling in love?

Main Cast
Hwang Jung Eum – Kim Hye Jin
Park Seo Jun – Ji Sung Jun
Choi Siwon – Kim Shin Hyuk
Koh Joon Hee – Min Hari

Review
Because i just finished watching Revolutionary Love and attended Park Seo Jun’s fun meet that I decided to watch this drama. For the very first time in my 18 years of watching kdramas, I was torn between the main male lead and the male second lead. In fact, if my mind wasn’t hard wired to choose the main lead Sung Jun, i would have chosen Shin Hyun hands down. Sung Jun’s not bad — he is actually sweet and caring, but what really put me off was his really bad attitude at the start of the show. Seems like every time he feels pressure, he turns into a little monster and no matter how much nicer he treated Hye Jin when he fell in love with her, i will never forget how he made her feel so small and so humiliated in front of everyone when he thought she was just a loser. Seriously. How he treats his staff shows how much he treats people. I know, i should cut him a slack because everyone makes a mistake etc and he eventually apologized to her but Hye Jin should have told him off that he can’t treat people like that.Secondly, aside from that time when they were kids, i still dont know what they liked about each other as adults. I feel like it’s the nostalgia, more that anything that is keeping them connected and feeling in love. but it is a powerful feeling and i dont mind them ending up together.

Now Shin Hyuk, no matter how much a good catch he is and how much he also liked Hye Jin, i understand why he didn’t get the girl. he friendzoned himself, almost made fun of her and manipulated her, was always cracking jokes that when he finally is serious about her, Hye Jin didn’t believe him. and Hye Jin is really so stuck on Sung Jun, Shin Hyuk never had a chance except as a friend and older brother. I felt so bad for him — that time when he came running / rather driver in a motorcycle and got into an accident, and Sung Jin beat him to Hye Jin and he was limping all week without Hye Jin knowing what happened. and all those times he had to send her to Sung Jun while his heart his breaking.. and those 2 scenes that made me cry. One, when they had their date and he finally send goodbye to her and he was silently crying while driving back home, and when he met her one last time and hugged her. Aww.. i wish I can fly to wherever he went to in Europe and hug him back.

I love the friendship between Hye Jin and Hari. I didn’t feel angry at Hari – i could understand her, just like how Hye Jin understood her very well. She is starving for love and affection so you can’t blame her for liking Sung Jun because he was the only one who made her feel special even though it was really for Hye Jin. I actually thought that hari and Shin Hyuk were a fun pair — too bad they didn’t become a couple. I guess Shin Hyuk’s love for Hye Jin wouldn’t have been effective if he ended up with hari. and Shin Hyuk as Ten really seems like a loner and a private person.

Finally Hye Jin — i was delaying watching this because Hye Jin looked too “ugly” to watch. but as I watch her with her frizzy hair and red face and slowly changing to the sophisticated “Most” look, I realized how much i missed her old self. She was much more charming and real with her frizzy hair. Sometimes the actress was overacting a bit with her expressions but I eventually liked her and maybe that’s why guys like Sung Jun and Shin Hyuk are falling all over for her.

i recommended this drama to two of my friends and they loved it too!

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Second Love (2015)

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Drama: Second Love (セカンド・ラブ)
Network: TV Asahi
Episodes: 7
Release Date: February 6 – March 20, 2015
Runtime: Friday 23:15 – 24:15
Country: Japan

Plot
Kei is a 28 year old contemporary dancer, who used to win awards and worked in a foreign dance company, but is now struggling to to pass auditions. He is currently working as a loader in a fishing company. One day he failed another audition and wanted to die, but he sees Yui Nishihara in the middle of a bridge, stretching her arms to the sun like a goddess and was captivated by her.

Meanwhile, Yui is in her 30’s and a teacher at prestigious female high school. She is having an affair with an older colleague who has a wife and a child. She also lives and supports her mother. She is not happy with her current situation. Kei goes to the school where Yui works and hands her his name and number. Yui took courage and met up with Kei. What happens next will change both of their lives.

Cast
Kazuya Kamenashi – Kei Taira
Kyoko Fukada – Yui Nishihara

Review
Yay! I actually tried watching different Korean/taiwanese dramas but couldn’t find the drama that will get me hooked. I tried watching Marriage Not Dating – the lead girl was annoying and Hotel King – Lee Dong Wook is gorgeous but i heard the story is bad, so I didn’t continue. I also tried watching 2 other taiwanese dramas but they were too cheesy.
So I ended up watching Second Love. I saw one reviewer totally trash this drama but i actually liked this drama a lot. I have expected japanese dramas to be more fast paced than the korean dramas so while i was suprrised that they were already sleeping together by the end of episode one and moving in together by end of episode 2 (or 3), it was okay for me since i know this show also has 7 episodes.
I think despite the relationship that seems fast forwarded, it was still able to tell the complete story. Boy meets girl, fall in love, move in together, boy becomes busy, girl feels bad, they fight and break up, years later they meet up and got back together.

the story was realistic. the guy is younger and girl is older – obviously they are at different points of their lives. The guy is still trying to jumpstart his career while the girl is settled and wants a family. of course they will clash. I dont blame Kei – he has worked so hard to redeem himself as a dancer and be respected and earn money that if i were his girlfriend, i would have encouraged him too and supported him coz i also want him to succeed. But i also understand Yui – she wants to settle down and Kei can still earn money and dance in Japan, why does he have to go overseas to work and leave her? But i love that both of them were mature and sensible. Even though it was painful, they knew they had to let each other go, especially for Yui, since she wasn’t selfish to Kei and at the same time, she didn’t break like her mother.

As for Kei, sometimes i wanted to shout at him. I dont know if it’s just bad acting but Kazuya had the same expression in almost every scene, i dont know what he is feeling or thinking most of the time. Kei loves Yui and yet ignored her when he became busy. and he kept insisting that he loves her and without Yui he wouldn’t be here right now (is it really love or he is just thankful)? it should not have come as a surprise to him when Yui broke up with him and refused to go with him. When the actor cried, that’s the only time i saw that Kei actually loved Yui too. But alas, i thought it wasn’t the right time for them.
A year later Kei comes back and realizes that work he did was great but it wasn’t meaningful because Yui was not beside him. he found her and begged her to take him back and i’m glad Yui resisted. kei can’t just come back as if nothing happened. Yui has her own life now, one that she is actually happy with and it doesn’t make sense for her to drop it and follow kei. (she didn’t do it before so why should she do it now?) this happened in episode 6 so i was actually scared that they will not end up together. They said their last goodbyes and went their separate ways for the second time. Super happy that by episode 7 they were finally together. at the right time. at the right place. at the right mindset.

There were several side characters that were both interesting and frustrating.

First is Yui’s mother. I hated her for being so dependent on Yui and being so selfish, not wanting Yui to have her own life. but it was nice to see that in the end, when Yui was sad and broken hearted, it was her mother who helped pick up the pieces and protected her.

Second is Naginagi, the older guy Yui had an affair with. First off, what the heck did Yui see in him? He’s not even good looking! Second, while he was nice enough to “hand” Yui over to Kei, i could understand when he got terrifying at Yui. His wife and kids left him and now that he’s free to be with Yui, Yui doesn’t want him anymore. And he sees Yui looking so sad. If i were Nagi, i would probably feel angry too. and i realized he must have really loved Yui that much. I’m glad they became friends in the end.

Now, on the other hand, Kei’s ex girlfriend is an annoying know it all meddling b*tch. I can’t believe the gall of her, talking to Yui like that. and I wish Kei was able to talk to Ayako and tell her to back off. He should know Ayako is ruining his relationship. Though i know Ayako means well, she still does not have the right to break Yui like that.

Fourth, the older lady teacher with the younger boyfriend. I thought she was cool! i’m glad Yui had someone she can talk to. I would also love a cool “sister” like her.

Lastly, the school girl who likes Yui. I honestly think she was unnecessary to the whole story. Like who cares about her?

Oh and i also found out that the two leads are actually dating in real life! That must be why there were sleeping scenes in every episode. Either i have not watched a lot of Jdramas lately or this was an exception.

Overall, this was a simple fast paced story – dont think too much about it and just enjoy the story and romance.