Ghost, Episodes 4, 5, and a TINY bit of 6

So, this is going to be a short entry from me. I've gotten through episodes 4 and 5 of Ghost, and it's kept my attention very well so far. I really do have nothing too bad to say about it, except for one character that just gets on my LAST NERVE...

*rantrantrant*

HYUK JOO IS SO ANNOYING! In episode 5, we find out who the actual killer is, and I guess he's supposed to be the bad guy, but I hate Hyuk Joo more than the bad guy! I had to stop like one minute into episode 6 to complain about him because I literally just screamed in my apartment, "REALLY?? REALLY????" (Although I guess my neighbors are used to my screaming antics from sports by now, so they probably assume I'm watching football or baseball on TV... which I currently am at the moment, but that's besides the point.... ^^;;)

Hyuk Joo hates Woo Hyun because of incidents from the past. Fine. But he hates him SO much, he's getting tunnel vision. He's the Team Leader of the Cyber Security team for God's sakes, but his mind is SO FOCUSED on Woo Hyun, and catching him, and throwing him under the bus, that he fails to even think about the cyber crimes that could um, possibly affect ALL OF SEOUL?? >___< *angry*

Basically, Hyuk Joo has an idea of who "Woo Hyun" really is. So while Woo Hyun and the rest of the cyber team are trying to catch a notorious group of hackers who may or may not have possibly put in a virus that is going to attack a server that affects all of Seoul, Hyuk Joo becomes all excited that OMG Woo Hyun might be Ki Young. When Woo Hyun/Ki Young realizes how/when this virus is going to spread, he makes way to his car (which is in a parking garage of a building because he went to the previous place of where our hackers were hiding). Hyuk Joo basically corners him and is all "AH HAH! I'M ARRESTING YOU FOR SUSPICION OF MURDER, WOO HYUN. OR SHOULD I SAY KI YOUNG???" Woo Hyun yells at him and says that he doesn't have time for this, but Hyuk Joo thinks that it's just an excuse for him to not be arrested.

That's all fine and dandy dude, but while this is going on, all lights go out, the computers freeze, traffic lights go out, people get stuck on elevators, and lights in operating rooms of hospitals go off. And all he's caring about is catching Ki Young/Hades????

Start episode 6. These guys are in the parking garage in complete darkness, and Woo Hyun/Ki Young says to him AGAIN that the real attack was on an electric power company, and they need to go ASAP. Hyuk Joo says, "I don't believe you." (Cue me going, "REALLY?? REALLY?????" and angrily going on to the blogger to rant about this... ^^;). OH YEAH. THEY'RE IN COMPLETE DARKNESS, AND THEY HEAR THE CHAOS GOING ON OUTSIDE, AND HE DOESN'T BELIEVE HIM.

Woo Hyun/Ki Young: "When Seoul is thrown into chaos... will you believe me then?"

YEAH. BITCH. *angry face*

Anyway, I should get back to watching episode 6. If I come across anyone/anything else that bothers me, stay tuned! ^____^

Arang and the Magistrate Ep 4

There's not much real plot advancement in this episode, rather the episode sets things up to allow more progress in future episodes.  They're now positioned more logically to investigate Arang's death and allow romance to blossom.

The special effects in this episode were disappointing.  I'd been happy with the first three episodes, as they stayed with what they knew, resulting in smooth wire-work and smoky ghost effects.  Their use of green-screens and CG here was incredibly unnatural.

So far, one of the most interesting elements of this series to me is the Korean concepts of death and the afterlife.  It's not something I'm well versed in, so their legends, traditions and conceptualizations are novel to me.  In this episode, I was particularly fascinated with their choice of scenery for the River Styx.  Definitely not the Odyssey-inspired river I'm accustomed to.

I also really enjoy the seemingly petty approach the Kings of Heaven & Hell take to dealing with souls.

Summary:
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In this episode, Arang follows the lead ghost-catcher into the afterlife.  After an entertaining jaunt across the River Styx and getting past a creepy guardian-creature-thing (see image), she meets the Emperor Jade and the King of Hell.  They make a deal with her: she will return to being human for three moons.  During that time, if she can find out the truth behind her death and kills her killer, she'll be allowed entrance into heaven.  If she fails, she'll suffer an eternity in the worst kind of hell.  The Kings have a bet going based on her challenge, but its clear they also have a larger goal, perhaps related to the missing souls that were discussed previously.

Arang returns in her spiffy new body, steals some new clothes, and appears before Eun Oh.  He's understandably freaked that she's back, let alone that she got a new human body.  Eun Oh has been coordinating her original body's funeral and leaves her behind to go to the burial.  Interested in seeing her own funeral, Arang disguises herself (poorly) and follows.  On the way, she bumps into Joo Wal, the shady nobleman's son.  When they touch, Joo Wal's ring lights up, seeming to indicate that she's the right girl that he's been looking for.  Just in time, too, because his full moon deadline is only one day away.

Scenes of Note:

• The Kings of Heaven & Hell casually discussing famine and plague as they play Go.
• The super-creepy guardian-creature-thing.

Rich Man Poor Woman Ep 10

Yay, the second to last episode!  The majority of this episode was so warm and sweet.  Of course, being the second to last, it had to end with some sort of sad conflict.  I'm so looking forward to the final episode.  

Summary:

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The episode begins with Asahina's arrest for insider trading.  We don't see the trial, but we do see him settled behind bars.  Hyuga tries to visit him repeatedly throughout the episode, but Asahina refuses to see him.  Asahina reflects from jail on how wonderful their time together at Next Innovation really was.

At the Wonder Wall office, Natsui is giving Hyuga etiquette lessons and critiquing his social skills.  She follows him to various client meetings and gives him a 1 to 100 score after each one.  He's frustrated with the low scores she keeps giving him, but by the last meeting, where he presents a crowd with new 3D scanning technology to allow customers to try on clothing from home, he scores a more-than-perfect 120, even getting some clients' names right.  

Natsui is flustered by how perfect and handsome Hyuga has become, but she's also disappointed.  Now that he's mastered basic social skills and etiquette, she feels she's no longer of any assistance to him.  Having exhausted her purpose, she feels the need to distance herself because she of her feelings for him.  She takes a part-time job at a lab and messages Hyuga that she'll be taking a break for a while.  

With Natsui gone and not accepting his calls, Hyuga sets off on a mission to find her.  He stalks her house and frequent haunts and eventually ends up trying her rural home town.  On the train out, he runs into Yoko, who travels with him for the remainder of the trip.  They stay at Natsui's family inn.  The family, not knowing who they are, gossip about their oldest daughter who declined a prestigious job to start a company with the man she loves.  At this point, Hyuga is clear and open with Yoko about his feelings for Natsui.

Before they leave town, Yoko convinces Hyuga to visit his mother's restaurant.  He doesn't reveal that he's her son, but the visit leaves him satisfied.  He's surprised that he's not hurt or angry.  Yoko suggests that he's no longer searching for his mother and is now yearning more for someone else.  

Back in the city, the Next Innovation accountant had been trying to get Hyuga to come back to Next Innovation.  The company is on the verge of being acquired by a large tech company and the accountant doesn't want to see true innovators trampled under corporate giants.  Hyuga initially refuses, but by the episode's end, we learn that he plans to return to the company.  He leaves Wonder Wall to the three-amigo-coders and also asks the guy he'd previously invested in to support the venture.

Hyuga eventually tracks Natsui down at the lab where she's working.  He approaches her at the bus stop and they both have something to say to each other.  Hyuga chickens out and tells her he came to tell her he's rejoining Next Innovation.  He also tells her that there's someone he's been searching for, but he doesn't say its her.  Instead, he lets her share her piece, which is to inform him that she's taking a job at the lab and needs to do something on her own.  She apologizes for breaking her promise to always stay at his side.  He lies that he hadn't taken the promise seriously.  

They part ways.  As they walk, each looks back, but their timing is bad and their eyes never meet. 

;___;

Scenes of Note:

• Natsui harshly lecturing Hyuga on etiquette and giving him low marks.
• Hyuga searching desperately for Natsui, calling her millions of times and peaking in the windows of her apartment.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta 5

This episode takes a turn that I was expecting, weakening the story's impact but also making it more palatable.  Ultimately, I'm OK with the change, if slightly irritated by how many problems have and will continue to stem directly from a lack of communication.  If characters just talked to each other in dramas, 99% of the issues would never even become issues...

It's set to continue with the angst and intensity in upcoming episodes, but they're now positioned to at least have the potential of a socially-acceptable happy ending.  But since it's a jdrama, they may decide to eschew the happy ending altogether.

Summary:
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As Kashiwagi is leaving, Uemura returns to the school and makes some attempt to defend him against the students' bullying.  Kashiwagi is awaiting discipline from the school committee and the principal insists he continue coming to school in the interim, to face what he's done to the students and Uemura.  Saeki's mother is keeping her home from school, but Saeki wants to go, saying she has something important to explain.

After school one day, Uemura meets Kashiwagi and explains her doubts that he actually slept with Saeki.  It's too unlike him and he could be covering up for Saeki.  She sets off, intent on finding the truth for herself.

She meets again with Kashiwagi's brother and learns the truth about that night after she left.  Kashiwagi's brother had attacked their mother and the brother had then proceeded to blame his entire life on Kashiwagi. Uemura then goes to the hospital to meet up with Saeki for her side of the story.  Before Saeki explains, Kashiwagi nearly collapses.  The nurse tells her she's anemic and should see a doctor; Uemura leaves again without an explanation from Saeki.

Tired of hurting people, Saeki goes to the school to the school to explain things fully.  As Kashiwagi is facing his students and taking the blame, she interrupts, saying everything was a lie.  We then learn the full explanation behind that night.

Saeki explains to the students about her condition, her dead sister, and her parents' broken marriage.  She says she had wanted to feel like her sister, so she'd dressed and put on make up, gone out that night and allowed herself to be picked up by a random man.  She slept with him and immediately regretted it.  She ran into Kashiwagi at a cafe later that night purely by chance.

Kashiwagi was drunk after the falling out with his brother.  Saeki struck up a conversation with him, then helped him get home that night.  He drunkenly stripped and went to bed and she followed him in without his knowledge.  Regretting her one night stand and wishing it had been with him, she crawled into bed with him and had taken the photo as a keepsake.

In the aftermath, Uemura talks about how everything can return to the way it was, but Kashiwagi worries that Saeki will have no one by her side.  When Saeki shows up to school the next day, Kashiwagi is the only one that greets her.

From a brief flashback, we find out that Uemura is 7 weeks pregnant and also submitted paperwork to cancel their wedding.  As the episode ends, she angstily muses that Kashiwagi may be in love for the first time and that she can't stand in the way...

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 4

Another crazy-intense episode and this time they break out the heavy hitting dialogue, too! This is definitely an "all grown up" series for Miura Haruma (although I suppose he's been playing some really mature roles even since he was a kid in "14 Sai no Haha").

Summary:
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After reading her worrisome journal posts, Kashiwagi runs to Saeki and meets her at a cafe.  Presumably, this is the cafe where they first met? It's unclear how he knew where to find her.  Uemura calls Kashiwagi while he's there and Kashiwagi hangs up on her.  Kashiwagi gives Sonoda's cell phone to Saeki and tells her the entries made him want to "see the real her".  She asks if they can just go back to being student and teacher, but Kashiwagi says he can't pretend nothing happened.

Kashiwagi missed dozens of Uemura's calls while he was meeting with Saeki and sending her home.  They meet in front of a park and Uemura freaks out on him a bit.  She asks if he's in love with Saeki.

The Nurse, Aya, visits a grave site and meets with Saeki's father.  Aya was apparently in the same accident as Saeki and her sister.  She also has a mini-flashback to her phone call to the school--it turns out she didn't tell them about the affair.

At school, Uemura is starting to lose it, while Saeki claims she's trying to forget the entire incident for Kashiwagi's sake.

Later, Uemura and her roommate are opening wedding RSVPs when Uemura begins to cry.  She tells her roommate about Kashiwagi's affair and admits she doesn't feel like herself anymore.  She skips school the next day.

Aya stops Kashiwagi for a chat after school and tells him it's because he's a teacher that she can't forgive him.  Kashiwagi takes it to heart and visit's his family's shop afterwards.  He apologizes in advance to them that things are going to be difficult, but he will work them out.

Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he plans to tell the school he's slept with a student (although to protect Saeki he plans to keep her identity a secret).  Uemura asks him to forget about it, saying that she can forgive and forget, but only if no one else knows what happened.  She freaks out again, asking "What's wrong with living as a scumbag teacher who sacrificed his student for his own happiness?!"  Kashiwagi has too many principles and Uemura feels burdened by them.

Nurse Aya messages Saeki that she's coming to the school to tell them what happened.  She can't let it go.  Saeki runs to stop her, abandoning her cell phone on her desk in the classroom.  A classmate picks up the phone and finds the blackmail photo of Kashiwagi sleeping.  Soon, the entire class knows.

Kashiwagi walks into the classroom and they confront him.  Saeki tries to pass the photo off as something else, but no one buys it.  Kashiwagi admits it and apologizes to the class.  A lot of powerful accusations are tossed around and one kid attacks him.  The teachers get involve, send Uemura home and isolate Saeki in the nurse's office.

As Uemura is on her way home, she gets nauseous and then very worried--perhaps she's pregnant?

Saeki goes to leave with Sonoda but stops when she sees Kashiwagi bowing down to all the other teachers...

Scenes of Note:
There were a ton of noteworthy scenes in this episode, but the best might be the class confronting him.  There are a number of great Uemura-freak-out bits, too.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 3

Another intense episode with character development out the wazoo--none of the roles are black-and-white at this point.  So much happened in this episode, I'm curious to see how the series will run for 10 episodes if this pace keeps up.

I wonder if it was weird for Toda Erika to be romantically involved with a younger actor?  It's only 2 years, but the difference between a 21 year old and a 23 year old can be pretty big...Miura Haruma was playing a high-schooler just one year ago (Bloody Monday 2) and Toda Erika's been playing post-high school characters since at least 2007 (Liar Game)...

I'm torn between loving the soundtrack by Pink and hating its upbeat placement among really serious scenes.  But her typically angry music sort of fits and it definitely adds to the tension of the serious scenes...

Summary:
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The episode starts with Uemura seeing the blackmail picture of Kashiwagi, sent by Saeki.  She now has no doubt that the two slept together. Before Kashiwagi & Uemura can talk things through, Uemura gets a call that her father's been hospitalized.  The two rush over and nearly run into Saeki at the hospital.  They learn that Uemura's father will be fine with just a hernia and they quickly go to leave.  Kashiwagi heads down to the lobby ahead of Uemura and has just enough time to run into Saeki and the nurse before Uemura catches up.  Saeki happily introduces them to the nurse as "the man I slept with and his fiancee".  Saeki makes it clear to the nurse how much she's enjoying messing with the couple.

In this episode, we learn the details of Uemura's condition.  She has Congenital Ovarian Dysfunction, in which medication is needed to produce secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts and menstruation.  We also learn that Saeki acquired her arm scars in an accident 4 years previous.

Kashiwagi follows Uemura home and says its up to her to decide if she wants to stay together or proceed with the wedding.  Uemura flips out at Kashiwagi, saying that she shouldn't have to decide all the important things and leaves it up to him to think about their future.

At school, they are both noticeably depressed.  Saeki corners Kashiwagi in the cafeteria, promising she'll do anything to separate them.

Uemura confronts Kashiwagi's brother at the family liquor store to ask about the night before school started. The Kashiwagi brothers were together when she had left early, that evening.  Kashiwagi's brother claims Kashiwagi had left early and that nothing had happened.

Uemura and Kashiwagi arrange to meet after school one night to talk things over.  When Kashiwagi gets home, he finds Saeki had used the key to get into his apartment.  Uemura walks in shortly after and almost flees, seeing the two together.  Kashiwagi gives a great little speech about how he loves Uemura and he's sorry that he hurt Saeki, but he has no intention of letting things continue.  Saeki returns the key and flees, while Uemura stays.  Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he wants to cancel the wedding before the school hears anything about the affair.  He's clearly still feeling guilty and wants to protect Uemura.  Uemura leaves, hurt and angry, grousing about how Kashiwagi is too honest and she would have forgiven him.

Saeki flees in tears to Sonoda, her short-haired friend with the money problems.  It becomes clear that Saeki  had been putting on a brave front and she truly did have feelings for Kashiwagi.  She associates Kashiwagi rejecting her with her not being a "real girl" because of her disorder.

Saeki skips school for several days and Sonoda begins to worry.  After Kashiwagi gives a lecture about how "slugs are not defective snails," Sonoda ties Kashiwagi back to Saeki's mystery man.  Saeki had posted the same comment to her blog, saying she'd overheard a man saying that and fell in love with him for it.  Sonoda corners Kashiwagi about the affair, claiming he'd played with Saeki's feelings.

Because Saeki had skipped school for so many days, Kashiwagi has to do a home-visit.  He meets with Saeki's mom while Saeki is at the hospital.  Saeki comes home as he's leaving, along with the nurse from the hospital.  The nurse is now able to connect Kashiwagi as both the guy Saeki slept with and her homeroom teacher.

Saeki and Kashiwagi go for a walk, in which Saeki explains about the accident which killed her perfect older sister, some details about her illness, and her true feelings for him.  Kashiwagi begins to feel bad for her.

Uemura goes to the wedding planning office and picks out the cake and menu.  She calls Kashiwagi to tell him she needs him and still wants to get married.  They're on the verge of making up, when Kashiwagi gets a call that Saeki is missing.  Seeing her recent foreboding blog posts, he gets a bit freaked out and goes running off.  Meanwhile, the nurse calls the school office with some information about Kashiwagi...
Scenes of Note:
The scene where Uemura tells Kashiwagi she still wants to be together on the phone, then Kashiwagi goes running off and you're not quite sure who he's running to...

Lie to Me (Korea, 2011, Cinderella Romance)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lie_to_Me
Lie to Me is a Cinderella story based on a web of lies.  It's unapologetically cliched and the series of extreme circumstances through which the couple get together are in no way believable.  Nevertheless, the crazy scenarios manage to highlight the couple's involuntary chemistry.  You've got two very strong leads in Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan, although their looks might take some time to grow on you--he's the uber-masculine type (look at those eyebrows) so it weirds me out to see him act dorky and I had a terrible time seeing her as anything but Coffee Prince's Eun Chan.

This series is absolutely enjoyable for the first 3/4 of the series.  There's a love polygon between four relatively likable characters, the main couple has by far the best screen chemistry of the polygon, and the female love rival is neither super-pitiable nor super-obnoxious.  It's always enjoyable to see the lavish gifts and extreme makeover that come with a Cinderella story and Eun Hye's character is a great mix of independent strength and peer-pressured weakness.  The most painful part of the first three-quarters is watching Sung Joon's character, Hyun Sang Hee, play the too-nice, forgotten, underdog love interest. (I seriously love him, but he's even better in Shut Up! Flower Boy Band.)  And even as you feel bad for him, he's fantastic in his role as self-appointed fairy-godmother.  (Actually, the most painful part might be the cringe-worthy setups and coincidences that have the leads embarassing each other in public...but still, totally worth watching up to this point.)

Then comes the last quarter of the series.  It's terrible.  It's honestly bad enough that I would recommend avoiding the entire series, no matter how much I loved the first handful of episodes.  It dives deeper into the realm of painfully forced conflicts and unrealistic separations than any other Cinderella-story I've seen.  Even a Hong-sister's drama's forced separation doesn't compare in senselessness and aggravation.  Grr...it still makes me mad just remembering the last few episodes (and I gave myself several weeks to cool off before writing this summary).

The final three episodes are by far the worst.  While you get something of a happy ending (however dissatisfying it may be) for the main couple, many supporting characters' problems were left unresolved.  One of my favorite characters was almost entirely left in limbo.  What a disappointing end to what had started off as a wonderfully addictive series.

Arang and the Magistrate Ep 3

Jade Emperor/King of Heaven--shouldn't he have better cheekbones?  >.<

So by the third episode, three things particularly stand out:
1.  I'll be so surprised the day Jun Ki plays a mature character.  He's certainly not delving into that new territory as Eun Oh.
2.  What happened to great cheekbones on important characters?  Maybe it's the hats and hairstyles, but Yoo Seung Ho (the Jade Emperor/King of Heaven) and Yun Woo Jin (Joo Wal) are both surprisngly round-faced so far...Lee Jun Ki has always been pretty-round faced, but it's his look...
3.  I'm really enjoying the fact that Eun Oh is the only person who can see ghosts.  The townsfolk must think he's insane, as they often see him talking animatedly to no one, walking awkwardly as he's carrying nothing, and engaging in crazy acrobatic fights with invisible foes.

Summary:
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Overall, Joo Wal is being portrayed as more evil, Eun Oh is developing more affection and empathy for Arang, and the Kings of Heaven and Hell continue to play boardgames while clearly worrying about their growing soul-related problems.

In this epsiode, a corpse is found after a long rain. It's the late magistrate's daughter and definitely Arang's body, but Eun Oh is disappointed to see that his mother's hair pin is missing.  Arang, understandably upset by the sight, runs off and Eun Oh takes the body back to her room.  Joo Wal also shows up and argues against Eun Oh taking the body.  He makes it clear that, although they may have been engaged, he never had any feelings for the girl.

After Eun Oh arranges for the body to be cleaned up and guarded (I wonder if they're going to provide a convenient explanation why it's not decayed after 3 years), he goes in search of Arang.  Meanwhile, she is working with the female shaman at a holy site, where tehy trap the Death God and hold him until he agrees to let her meet the King of Heaven/Jade Emperor.

The Kings of Heaven and Hell are playing Go, aware of the negotiations Arang is attempting on the earthly plain.  The King of Hell reasserts his claim to her soul, but after the Jade Emperor makes a particularly great move in the game, the two negotiate a new deal: if Jade Emperor takes back his last move, the King of Hell will consider letting him meet with Arang...

Scenes of Note:
The fight scene in the barn, which ends with a random villager looking into the barn to see why the magistrate was making such a ruccous by himself.

Arang and the Magistrate Ep 1 & 2

I've been so excited for this series, as it marks Lee Jun Ki's return to dramas after serving his 2 years in the military.  It's an interesting premise, taking a more supernatural-approach to a historical drama.  But regardless of the particular story line, it should be a good fit for Jun Ki, who captured my attention in "The King and the Clown" and "Iljimae".  Yay, he's back!

The choreography looks like it will also be a major draw for this series.  There are a ton of fight scenes among otherworldly and supernatural creatures, which lends itself to a lot of impressive wire-work and impossible-looking moves.

Summary:
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Arang and the Magistrate starts with a government official (Kim Eun Oh, played by Lee Jun Ki) wandering in the forest with his manservant.  We learn from the manservant that Eun Oh is looking for his mother and his quest is particularly ill-timed--they are traveling through a forest known for its ghosts, toward a town that had lost its three most recent magistrates to ghosts.  The manservant is terrified of ghosts, but Eun Oh scoffs that they don't exist.

In the same forest, a lone girl, Arang, is cursing because she's become separated from her band of ghost-buddies.  She finds her ghost-buddies as they begin harassing a troop of living travelers.  Because they've interfered with living humans, they've called down the otherworldly ghost-catchers upon themselves.  Her ghost buddies quickly are captured and dissipated by the ghost-catchers, but Arang flees and is followed by a single ghost-catcher.  She runs past Eun Oh and his manservant and it becomes apparent that Eun Oh could see her, while his manservant could not.

We get some exposition in the beginning of the episode--Arang is apparently a virgin ghost with no memories of her previous life.  She does not know her name or how she died and refuses to pass on to the next world until she finds the truth.  Eun Oh is the (presumably illegitimate) son of a retired official who still holds a great deal of politicl clout and a slave woman.  His mother sent him to live with his father years ago, but all Eun Oh has ever wanted was to live with his mother.  He secretly posesses great shaman-powers to not only see, but also touch, ghosts.

Arang and Eun Oh first meet in a tiny shack in the woods, where both had taken shelter from the rain.  Eun Oh pretends not to see or hear Arang, as it has been his experience that ghosts will immediately ask for inconvenient favors if they know a human can hear them.  They don't interact until the next day, in a town, when Arang catches Eun Oh shooing away some persistent street-ghosts.  She nags him persistently, asking him to find out who she was and how she died.  He argues that he's not a magistrate and has no responsibility toward her.  She gets him to agree that if he were a magistrate, he would help her.  He has no intention of ever becoming a magistrate, so he quickly makes the promise.

Arang, having haunted around the area recently, knows that the town is desperately looking for a magistrate. They've lost the last three magistrates to ghosts on the first night of their appointments.  (In reality, Arang had attempted to appear before each one to ask their help and she had scared each one to death...)  She blackmails a weak female shaman into helping her and soon three low-ranking government officials are kidnapping Eun Oh to become their new magistrate (just for the night, as they believe he too will be killed by ghosts).

The next day, Eun Oh is still alive.  Eun Oh has no intention of sticking around as the magistrate, until he realizes that Arang is wearing a hair pin he had given to his mother.  She had the hair pin since before her death, so the only way to learn how she acquired the pin is to help her recover her pre-death memories.  He resigns himself to sticking around as the magistrate until the mystery is solved.

The three low-ranking government officials are upset because they don't actually want a functioning magistrate in the area.  They are corrupt and in service of the evil local official, Nobleman Choi.  Choi was sent to the area after a demotion, but he rules over the town as if he were king.  He and his son, Joo Wal, are up to some very shady activities and feel threatened by the new magistrate.  They refer to the next full moon (a "rotten moon" that comes once a year) as an impending deadline.  Joo Wal needs to acquire enough girls by the full moon for some seemingly otherworldly purpose.  Throughout the episodes, rumors hint that bad things happen to young women around this time of year.  It's the same time that Arang died, three years ago, so it seems that Joo Wal and Arang's death are linked.

We learn that the late-Magistrate (presumably 4 Magistrates ago, since Arang killed the last 3) had a daughter who went missing around the time of Arang's death.  Eun Oh investigates and finds that the needlepoint on Arang's dress matches with the needlepoint-in-progress of the late-Magistrate's daughter.  Although Arang doesn't feel like the identity is the right fit, they proceed to investigage.  The late-Magistrate's daughter had been engaged to Joo Wal, so Arang & Eun Oh plan to go meet with him to learn more about her.  When Arang spots Joo Wal, she has a major panic attack/heart-palpitations, which they chalk it up to her having been in love with him.

Meanwhile, Joo Wal had been looking for a particular girl that he must find before the full moon.  He goes to a gisaeng house, but doesn't find anyone appropriate.

Throughout the episodes, we see the King of Heaven and the King of Hell playing a game of Go and talking about recent troubles with the souls.  Many more ghosts are staying on the earthly plain and a number of souls have gone missing altogether.  They reference Arang several times and the King of Hell asserts that he has claim to her, since she's disobeyed the order of things by walking the earth as a ghost.

Scenes of Note:
Episode 1, end, where Arang fights the townspeople, the ghost-catchers descend, and Eun Oh comes to her rescue on horseback.

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Ep 14

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop continues to execute all the romantic cliches unapologetically and with such style.  It's a drama that doesn't suck me in, but every episode puts a smile on my face--a light diversion.  Even when it delves into more serious or angsty subjects, it quickly returns to the more comfortable grounds of humour or romance.  It's a light and happy drama with just enough plot to keep it from falling into the pit of "pointless & meaningless".

Summary:
Show Summary...although honestly, does enough happen in an episode of FBRS to warrant a summary? ^___^;;

Type out spoiler here In episode 14, we begin to see the plot progress a bit more quickly, as it is approaching the end.  Eun Bi learns that Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk are half-brothers and she begins to meditate on how she's tearing a family apart (even if they didn't know they were family prior to falling for her).  Before she can mull too much over her troubles, a neighborhood ahjumma breaks the tension with a joke about her living situation among the boys, essentially saying: "You'd think the next rumor would be that two brothers have fallen for you!"

Chi Soo defies his father even more than before, moving into the Ramyun Shop house, despite sacrificing all his beloved luxuries (his bed, his bidet, his car, his phone, his credit cards, etc.) in the process.  He stands firm, but meanwhile, Chi Soo's father has diabolical plans in the works.  Eun Bi wonders why there were no customers throughout the day, and finds that the Chasung food company is offering free Ramyun nearby, a pointed attack at their business.  Kang Hyuk also meets with President Cha and learns that there are two options for the Chasung redevelopment of their area: if Chi Soo stays with  Eun Bi and the ramyun shop, their shop will be wiped out; if Chi Soo returns to his father, the ramyun shop will be preserved and development will proceed around rather than through their business.

The overall romantic direction of this episode appears to be that Eun Bi's feelings are skewing toward Chi Soo, but she's thinking seriously about the consequences of their relationship, while Chi Soo is selfishly thinking of the short term.  He complains loudly about what he's sacrificed to be with her, and Eun Bi questions whether he's thought through that this amount of sacrifice would only be the beginning.  Kang Hyuk also gets the feeling that Eun Bi's feelings are warmer toward Chi Soo and it seems he may begin distancing himself.

Scenes of Note:
The highlight of the episode is when Eun Bi is sick and responsible Hyun Woo orders Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk to stay out of her room to let her rest.  Naturally, Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk end up sleeping on either side of Eun Bi.  When Eun Bi calls for help, Hyun Woo and later Ba Wool both end up sleeping alongside the other two.  Sick and crowded between four beautiful men, she grumpily asks what country she saved in a past life to deserve all this.

Bridal Mask Ep1

The start of Bridal Mask lives up to the hype.  It feels like a movie, more than a drama, which isn't unusual for high-budget historical dramas.  Rather than one more Joseon-era drama, it's set in the 1930's, during the Japanese invasion.  The cars, guns and fashions on display reinforce just how high-budget this series will be.

The relative recentness of events makes the injustices and corruption seem more real and offensive.  Happening only 80 years go, it's harder to brush off an injust death sentence or needless death as just "the way things were".

The first episode does a lovely job making you care about the characters.  Already, I have strong feelings about many of them; although, I'm sure some of my feelings will become confused as people fall into their respective hero and villain roles.  Currently, some of these good/bad assignments are in limbo.

Summary:
Show text

The series begins with the funeral procession for a "patriot" who in reality had been a corrupt judge who had sold out his Korean countrymen at any opportunity.  The funeral is interrupted by the title character and vigilante, Bridal Mask.  We are also introduced to a few key characters--the girl who assists Bridal Mask, Boon Yi/Esther; and two officers who are trying to capture Bridal Mask: mean-spirited officer, Kimura Kenji and the main character (who so far is certainly not acting the part of a hero), Lee Kang To.

The story then jumps back in time to when Lee Kang To was promoted to his current rank.  They make a big deal about how he's Korean-born but still getting promoted.  We then jump to his mother and his mentally challenged older brother in the town marketplace, being harassed because Kang To had sold out to be a "dog of the Japanese".  Kang To arrives, tries to give his mother money, gets berrated by his mother, packs his bags and leaves.  We see a flashback to when Kang To was younger and learn that his brother had once been strong of body and mind, but had been tortured, leading to his current state.

We then jump to a school building, where a kindly Kimura Shunji is teaching his young class.  Lee Kang To stops by after the class and the two spar with wooden swords.  The crazy-complicated web of relationships begin to build as we learn that: kind-hearted school teacher Shunji and mean-spirited officer Kenji are brothers; Shunji and Kang To appear to have a strong friendshpi, and Shunji previously had a close (master-and-servant? friends?) relationship with the acrobatic vigilante-girl Boon Yi/Esther.

A little later, at the courthouse, Dam Sa Ri, an independence fighter, is on trial and sentenced to death along with his four compatriots.  Kang To, as the arresting officer, is at the trial.  Boon Yi/Esther bursts in on the trial and beats up the majority of the officers because apparently Dam Sa Ri is her father.  When she's in trouble, Bridal Mask shows up and Boon Yi/Esther is able to escape with her father.  Chaos and wonderfully choreographed fight scenes ensue and ultimately the judge is killed by Bridal Mask.

With this, we jump forward again to the corrupt judge's funeral and the aftermath where various higher-ups are throwing around the blame.  Kenji is taken off of the hunt for Bridal Mask, instead it's assigned to Kang To.

We learn that the judge was part of a shady underground organization that's controlling the police and other positions of power.  Bridal Mask is targeting their members, but the organization also feels threatened by Kang To.  Kimura Kenji is a member and he arranges for Kang To to be killed in a way they would never be suspected for.  While Kang To is taking some paperwork out to his car, Bridal Mask shows up and points a gun at his head.

Scenes of Note:
Fighting with his mom about being a dog of the Japanese.
The fight scene in the courtroom, mid-episode.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 1 & 2

This series has much greater intensity than I expected.  For the longest time, the uber-dorky promo picture had turned me off from this series, even though I knew I wanted to see it.  So far, I'm nervous the entire time I'm watching it.  I'm rooting for Miura Haruma and don't want to see bad things happen to his character, even if he's partially at fault.

It definitely has some of the appeal of Akai Ito and Koizora, for their similar focus on teenage sexuality and the anticipation of bad things happending to the characters (and maybe they deserve it a little, but you still root for them).  It has less similarity with Majo no Jouken, even though they both focus on teacher-student relationships.  In Majo no Jouken the teacher-student couple was the one to root for and this is definitely not the case here.

Summary:
Show Summary

The basic premise is that Kashiwagi Shuji (played by Miura Haruma) is a young high school teacher.  He's popular with students, parents and other teachers.  He's currently engaged to another teacher, Uemura Natsumi (played by Toda Erika) to complete his ho-hum perfect life.  The series starts with Kashiwagi waking up late on the first day of school, with no memories of the night before, and finding a strange girl in his bed.  He gives her a key to lock up after herself, with instructions to leave the key in the mail box (this apparently is the choice way to handle a one night stand in Japan according to all the dramas I've seen).

At school, he starts his first day of class and soon finds that the girl he slept with is a student, Saeki Hikari (played by Takei Emi).  Throughout the episode we learn she's sort of obsessed with Kashiwagi and she starts to get close to his fiance, Uemura, by joining the basketball team where Uemura is the coach.  Saeki isn't at all secretive about her dislike for Uemura--she says things like "I adore you and want to destroy you" and tosses a basketball at Uemura's face.  She's further developed as the villain by her blackmail material--a photo of Kashiwagi sleeping from the morning-after on her cell phone and has held onto the key that she was supposed to lock up with and leave in the mail box.  Saeki also has a mysterious illness that apparently requires taking medication at school and frequent trips to the gynecology department of a hospital.

Kashiwagi goes through his days feeling horrendously guilty and hypocritical.  He tries to continue as a strong role model to his homeroom and even has to give a mini-lecture on teenaged sex.  He emphasizes the importance of not sleeping with someone casually and how sex will change you and your relationships, feeling like a hypocrit the entire time.  Kashiwagi is paranoid that someone will find out throughout the episodes, and rightly so, as by the end of the second episode Saeki has emailed Uemura the sleeping blackmail photo.

As a side note, we learn about some of the individual students who are facing problems such as working part-time at a maid cafe due to their parents debt and a high school couple who is adjusting to their relationship becoming more serious and intimate.  We also learn that Uemura's roommate, who is planning their wedding, is a childhood friend of both Uemura and Kashiwagi and was previously in love with Kashiwagi.  Kashiwagi's brother also appears to hold some grudge against the couple.

Scenes of Note:

• The first few minutes of the first episode, where Kashiwagi finds an unknown girl in his bed.
• The middle of the first episode, where Kashiwagi has a nightmare that Saeki announces the affair in class.
• The end of the first episode, where Kashiwagi gives a lecture on teenage sex.
• The end of the first episode, where Saeki confronts him, asking "did you change after you had sex with me?"
• The beginning of the second epsiode, which sums up the first episode.
• The scene toward the beginning of the second episode, where Kashiwagi freaks out, "Why are the woman I'm marrying and the woman I slept with playing catch!" and then Saeki confronts him in his lab.

Rich Man, Poor Woman Episode 9

*Flail* *Flail* *Flail*  My love for this series continues to grow.  I'm going to be so sad to see this series end.

They do a fantastic job almost-but-not touching in this episode.  It suits their evolving, not-quite-romantic relationship really well.  There's a lot more focus on romance, but I suspect from the ending that the next episode will veer back into the business-y side of things.  I actually appreciated the introduction of some typical cliches to advance and explore the characters' romantic feelings.  The romantic tension hit a level where a typical big misunderstanding felt almost necessary.  Overall, each of the cliches were well executed and didn't drag out unnecessarily.  In fact, I think each one was wrapped up within minutes of its introduction.  If only K-dramas knew how to do this...

Summary:
Show text

In this episode, you find out that the majority of Hyuga's posessions were in Next Innovation's name, so he's lost them.  He'd also already rented a small office space, expecting the Three-Amigo-Programmers to follow him to start a new company, so that has left him well and truly broke (he has $1,500 to his name).  He shows up at Sawaki's doorstep with all his worldly possessions (which includes his precious Roomba, how cute) and asks to live with her.  I'm surprisingly fine with the way they handled that "poor-man-moves-in-and-romance-blossoms" cliche.  But of course, I'm even happier that they didn't follow through on it.  He comes to his senses and is presumably staying at the shrine or at the rented office--they don't really go into it.

Hyuga and Sawaki kill time at the rented office, not really having anything to do, while we see Asahina succumbing to pressure to lower implementation costs of the stolen Personal File project.  He agrees to change the interface, showcasing a wretched, government-website like design and thoroughly disappointing their important business-champion, Secretary Fujikawa.  Fujikawa stealthily takes her concerns and the data to Sawaki, offering Hyuga the opportunity to take another (cheaper) crack at the interface through a sub-contractor.

Before Sawaki has the opportunity to share this good news with Hyuga, she receives mysterious bonus money form Next Innovation.  She meets up with Asahina in order to return the money to him but Yoko (Asahina's sister and Sawaki's rival for Hyuga's attention) coordinates things so that Hyuga sees the two together and is hurt.  This is the first time that Yoko's jealousy really overpowers her sense of decency, but the misunderstanding isn't overdone and she is human enough to pretty quickly feel remorse.

The confrontation afterward leads to Hyuga and Sawaki parting ways, but before she leaves, Sawaki posts dozens of dorky memos on the walls with the details of the new interface project.  After discovering the notes, Hyuga's feelings clearly change and he sets to work on the project.  Once his interface is completed (within 3 days, magic) Sawaki and Hyuga reunite adorably.  The Three-Amigo-Programmers are also won over by the interface and the 5 happily set up shop together.  The episode ends on a cliff hanger with a news bulletin showing Asahina being arrested for the previous personal data leak and insider trading.

Scenes of Note:
It's such a shame this is too far in the series to clip for panels.  My favorites were the almost-kiss, Sawaki trying to link arms with Hyuga and being brushed off, and Hyuga cornering her in the storage room at the end of the episode.  I'm frankly disappointed there was no kiss scene to follow, but I have high expectations for the next two episodes.

Switch Girl (Japan, 2011, High School Romance)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Switch_Girl!!

This is a super short drama, best summed up as a whole bunch of simple adjectives: dumb, light, fluffy, fun, and completely lacking in deeper meaning.  Based off the manga of the same name, it's an enjoyable super manga-like high school romantic comedy.

The heroine is a "switch girl", meaning she has an "on" mode (her popular and beautiful persona at school and among her friends) and an "off" mode (her true personality, most akin to that of a dirty old man).  She happens to fall in love with a transfer student who has the opposite "switch" modes.  He's a dweeby, coke-bottle glasses-wearing boy at school and a fashionable and popular ikemen in his time off.

Pros:

• Good high school chemistry.
• Quick watch.
• An aggressive heroine.

Cons:

• Not much substance to the series.
• Cliches abound. 

Scenes to clip: TBD

Rich Man, Poor Woman Ep 8

It's been a while since a series has pumped me up like this one does.  It's a wonderful combination of romance and business drama.  It's refreshing to have intensity without wanting to climb the walls in frustration and rip out some characters hair...

The episodes keep getting better.  This episode shows the most clear mutual feelings between the hero and heroine so far. Even their physical closeness is stepped up a notch.

The dialogue in this episode was some of the most intense in any romantic drama I've seen. The characters started exposing their true colors, there was a lot of shouting--both angry and loving. I have so much love for this episode and this series.

Show Slightly More Detailed/Spoiler-y Summary

I love that Sawaki has grown a backbone--we saw evidence of it developing earlier series, but she really comes into her own in this episode.  She manages to talk back, stand up for herself, and come out with some biting remarks without losing her extremely well-educated politeness.  That said, I almost wanted her to make a scene when Hyuga was having his fit in front of the office.

The betrayal scenario was a bit over-done, I feel.  In the real world, I like to think that such an obvious usurper would face at least some backlash.  I also think it's unlikely that the hero would fall into such extreme and sudden poverty.  It would have been more believable if he were either entirely bankrupted or if he remained with at least a few thousand dollars to his name. Leaving him with $50 to his name is just a bit too conveniently close to broke.

Ghost, Episode 3

So... Before the Episode 3 recap... A few things that came to mind after thinking about the first two episodes:

A pondering Marielle + Recap

- How he looks after reconstructive surgery is kind of unrealistic. I mean his whole body was CHARRED. And after a year, he looks perfectly fine and only with a few scars...?

- Funny how even his voice became different... ^_^; I wonder if they were the same height too?

- I didn't type this in my last recap because it was only supposed to be a basic one, but while Ki Young was in the hospital, the guy who tried to kill both him and Woo Hyun sneaked into the hospital and tried to kill him again by stealing him away and almost gave him lethal injection. ANYWAY..... After Kang Mi takes him away and saves him... Why doesn't he try to go back and kill him? I think I might have missed something, but maybe he was told by a higher power to stay back? No idea... But I would think that since he's up and walking again, then he would be in danger of being killed again as well....

Anyway, on to Episode 3. The episode starts off with a girl (who was scared crapless by a mysterious Phantom hacker at the end of ep 2) waking up, turning the lights on in her bathroom, and seeing "Remember the sin made by your hands" written in lipstick on the mirror. Then on her forehead, "Go die" is also written. This creeped me out SO much. What an awful way to start the morning. >_<

Next, we see Kang Mi try to help Ki Young be as "Woo Hyun"-y as possible. She shows him pictures of people he would work with and what their relationship is with Woo Hyun. She also tells him what's "Woo Hyun"-like and not very "Woo Hyun"-like - Like how he never drank beer, so Ki Young shouldn't be drinking beer either. That'd be too strange. Also, he has to be aloof at work because that's how Woo Hyun is like. If he's greeted, just greet back politely and don't smile. That sort of thing.

He gets back to work and finds out, unfortunately, he'd been demoted from Team Leader. The new Team Leader is Kwon Hyuk Joo, who was the crimes chief in charge of the investigation (also, he knows almost nothing about computers, but he's very good with crime scenes).

A surprise welcome back party is also thrown for him. Aww....

Anyway, 2 other women besides the girl in the beginning of the episode are also cyber stalked and die. And the girl at the beginning dies too. In each case, the cyber team finds the women in their apartments with scary writings on the walls saying stuff like "Die Die Die!", and the deaths made to look like suicides. They find out that the things that tie them all together is that the writings on their walls are actually comments that they had made as netizens being all anti-Hyo Jung when she was going through her sex scandal. News starts to spread... Hyo Jung haters are dying for saying bad things about her? It turns out that the cyber stalker who killed these girls is NOT the one who killed Hyo Jung... But Ki Young determines that he must know Hyo Jung's killer... since he saw a half-pic of the killer on cyber stalker's hard drive after hacking into it.

They realize that another connection between the 3 women is that they all saw the same musical and all received an email to get a VIP ticket to the show. The musical is called "A Magician's Dream". When investigating the theatre and talking to the worker at the front desk, they find out that all VIP tickets are to the same seat - that is D7. So, whoever is stalked and murdered.... must have also sat in that same seat. Are they all connected or is it just a coincidence? Hmmm...

They are about to leave when Ki Young's assistant at the online newspaper he used to work at - Seung Yoon - shows up and claims that she received an email for a VIP ticket. Uh oh.

Seung Yoon and Kang Mi end up switching seats to see what would happen... The show starts, and it's two stories about couples falling in love, with the help of a mysterious "Phantom" who does magic tricks (to make the scenes more romantic, I guess).

In the meantime Hyuk Joo is interrogating a man named Seung Jae, who is suspect #1 as Hyo Jung's killer, because he was the boyfriend of one of the women who died. Also, he used to be Hyo Jung's manager until 2 months before she died. He claims he did not kill her, and his girlfriend was not the one who wrote those hateful comments online - He did. He also mentions that it all started with that musical - And actually, he was the one who received the VIP ticket to the show. He just forwarded it to his girlfriend so she could watch it...

Back at the musical, the couples on stage end up with happy endings. The Phantom asks who will accept his love, and the spotlight shines down on seat D7 - on Kang Mi! The theatre lights go off, and when they go back on again, Kang Mi is gone...

Episode 3 was just as interesting as the last two. I read a comment online that says that the portrayal of hacking is so creepy, it kind of makes me want to not check my email ever again. ^_^;; Overall this episode was very good. Very suspenseful, and the whole hacking thing is creeping me out. I thought it was very nice that certain character traits are being channeled (not going to say specifically what since this part of my post isn't hidden ^_^;), but it's nice to see some emotion in our main male lead.

Also, there was a scene where The Stare is given between our main male and our main female, and I SO hope that doesn't mean that they're going to unnecessarily add romance in this drama. >_< At least, romance that is so out of place and prevents our female lead from making rational decisions.

Scenes of note: There's a good hacking/cyber team running around trying to catch the bad guy scene. I'll have to time it later on, but it's a good scene that shows both the hacking and police aspect. Could be used for both the Police and Suspense category if we choose to keep them.

Lucky Seven (Japan, 2012, Mystery)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Lucky Seven is a typical mystery drama about a team of private investigators doing everything in their power to help people.  Most episodes involve simple, heart-warming investigations where the detectives prioritize improving the lives of their clients over making money.  A deeper mystery, hinted at throughout but fully explored in the final two episodes, carries most of the series intensity and helps the series end strong.

In Lucky Seven, MatsuJun plays an unmotivated, womanizing Freeter.  A series of events finds him chasing down Eita's character, which leads him to the Lucky Detective Agency, owned by Matsushima Nanako.  The president is so impressed that MatsuJun was able to tail Eita, her best detective, that she hires him on the spot.  MatsuJun spends the remainder of the series helping people, fighting with his quirky detective colleagues, learning the tricks of the trade, and developing really, really (really, really, really, really) awesome fighting skills.

Pros:

• A super-strong all-star cast: MatsuJun (Hana Yori Dango), Eita (Voice), Matsushima Nanako (Majo no Jouken), Naka Riisa (Ninkyo Helper)...(and others who have super-strong credits, but I just don't <3 them as much...)
• MatsuJun's hair--it's not super permy!
• The fight choreography is really well done.  It was definitely the strongest part of the series.
• Entertaining infiltration scenes--not on the same level as Yukan Club, but they're the next best thing.
• MatsuJun and Eita's as action stars.  They clearly did some serious training for these roles.  
• Koyama Keiichiro as a papa.  It's a minor role, but he's perfect for it.  All young dads should look like him.
• Did I mention the fight choreography?
• A MatsuJun vs. Eita + Cage Match?...Yes, please. ^_________^

Cons:

• MatsuJun's hair--it's not super permy!  (Yes, I also put it as a "pro", but perm-free MatsuJun takes some time getting used to...)
• A few of the conversation scenes get unnecessarily warm and sentimental, killing the momentum of the episode.
• Their detective logic can be overly simple.  This is far from a brain-teaser mystery.
• Eita + Mustach = Cringeworthy

Ghost, Episodes 1 and 2

I finally decided to start on the Korean drama "Ghost", which aired this summer. At first glance, the title of it can be deceiving - someone would think that it would be about ghosts (of course).

I watched the first two episodes, and from now on, I will try to give an episode-by-episode update. But here is a basic summary:

SPOILERS AHEAD ^_^

It starts off with the supposed suicide of an up-and-coming actress named Shin Hyo Jung, who jumps out of her apartment window. It is assumed that she committed suicide because she was involved in a sex scandal and basically couldn't take the talk and rumors anymore. Prior to jumping out of her window, she had also Tweeted that she was going to die anyway.

Our lead male is Kim Woo Hyun (played by actor So Ji Sub), team leader of the cyber investigation squad. We see his team try to take down illegal gambling sites, but as they try to save the data stored on the computers, a notorious hacker called Hades beats them to it and causes all the servers to self-destruct, destroying the evidence. Here's our antagonist.

Our female lead is Yoo Kang Mi (played by Lee Yeon Hee). She is also a member of the cyber investigation team. I think her role is to be a super beauty, but to be kick-ass and super intelligent. Well, she doesn't really seem super intelligent (not like our hacker, who is a ghost behind the computer... hence the title ^^;), but she doesn't seem dumb at all.

Anyway, the police are being quick to rule the actress's death a suicide. I mean, the girl jumped out the window. But our friend Hades posts a clip to the city's video board that shows the actress being pushed out the window by a guy. So.... The assumption of it being a suicide is squished pretty quickly. But since Hades put up the video, then Hades ALSO must be the killer...

The cyber investigation team analyzes the clip and concludes that it has not been edited or tampered with. They see a reflection in the window, and after increasing the quality of it, creating an outline of the face, and then trying to find a match.... They find a match. His name is Park Ki Young (played by Daniel Choi), and he apparently went to the same police academy as Woo Hyun. They were roommates, but he dropped out. So, he becomes Top Suspect #1.

Ki Young runs into Kang Mi after infiltrating the police department (he was trying to find the actress's laptop to find a certain clip), and he swears to her that he didn't kill her. He confirms that he is Hades, but he didn't kill her. He had hacked into her laptop in order to find a file called Phantom. He received an email that said that if he found it, then he would be rewarded (money, I think).

Kang Mi doesn't believe him, but allows him to find the clip in front of her. He finds the Phantom file in a file called "36.avi". The actress used steganography to hide the file... hiding a message in another file or writing. So, Ki Young finds it and extracts it. They expected to find a list of sexual favors or clients or something to do with the sex scandal... but he finds another video.

We find out later that the video is of a man being poisoned and killed. And then men around him are just watching. One of them stands up. It's our main guy... WOO HYUN.

O_O So our main guy who's supposed to be a good guy is actually a bad guy??? *mind blown*

Anyway, Woo Hyun and Ki Young meet at a factory to discuss this. Ki Young chews out Woo Hyun, asking what he was doing just sitting there and watching the man die. Woo Hyun basically says he regrets it and wants to turn things around. He tells Ki Young to go and leave the country and live peacefully, because if he sticks around, he'd be charged for murder. *cue bromance*

The rest of the police figure out that Ki Young is with Woo Hyun, so they head to the factory.... only to see it get blown up. Oh no! One body is totally charred and completely dead, the other is still.... really ugly, but hey, he's moving and alive! So they rush him to the hospital.

At the hospital, they identify him as Woo Hyun, by his ID. His body is so deformed, that they can only go by the ID. However......

Back at the police station, Kang Mi sees Woo Hyun's badge by his computer. Then she remembers Ki Young wearing his own fake badge, with the name "Kim Woo Hyun"....

O_O....

Kang Mi goes to confirm that the Woo Hyun at the hospital is actually Ki Young (much to the resentment of the disgruntled nurse, who says to leave the patient alone because he needs to be stable). She takes his fingerprints. Tries to match it up with Woo Hyun's.... and it's negative. That patient is NOT Woo Hyun.

So Kang Mi freaks out and asks Ki Young/Woo Hyun all these questions, and he basically says that someone else was in that factory. He tried to kill him. And that Woo Hyun wanted to change everything around. And after thinking about it, Kang Mi decides to help him.

After a few scenes of Kang Mi sneaking around, switching dental files, and disguising herself as someone working on Woo Hyun's autopsy, it is confirmed that the charred dead body IS Ki Young. And the patient in the hospital is team leader Woo Hyun. The identity of Woo Hyun lives.

But that's not all. Ki Young/Woo Hyun's body has been discombobulated in such as way that extensive surgery and rehabilitation is needed. It really is a miracle that he lived. A year passes by, and we see a man at "Ki Young"'s grave.

It's the real Ki Young. With - after extensive surgeries - the face of the late Woo Hyun. Ki Young lives with Woo Hyun's identity and, with Kang Mi's help, swears to find the killer that did this to them.

I am extremely pleased with how this drama starts off.  It's intense and suspenseful.  And I can't believe all the things that happened in the first two episodes. I haven't really come across a Korean suspense drama that really sucks you in so quickly.  It had me yelling at my computer.  It had me have that feeling of "OMG what's going to happen next??", which I hadn't felt since Bloody Monday or Maou.

I'm just worried about 2 things:  1.)  It'll end up stupid (like some unnecessary romance or political inter-department drama), or 2.)  They won't be able to keep up this pace for 20 episodes.

But for now I am very pleased, and I can't wait to watch the rest of this series!

Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Japan, 2012, Mystery)

My first post! ^_^  Kaki no Kakatta Heya translates to "The Locked Room Murders", and it is about a security guy obsessed with locks who helps two lawyers solve "locked room" murders.  These cases seem impossible for a murder to take place and would instead be considered suicide if it weren't for these lawyers consulting this genius weird guy.  This drama is episodic, with each episode being a different mystery (except for the last two episodes, which is one big mystery, but that type of formula is pretty standard for mystery dramas).

Ohno from J-pop group Arashi is in this drama, and it's the first drama I've seen him in since "Maou".  He looks very good for his age, even though he's just in his early 30's.  It was quite entertaining for me to see him with his awesome lack-of-facial expression while playing the lock-obsessed genius weirdo.  He was exactly like this in "Maou" too, which kind of added to his creepiness because you (as the viewer) can't really tell what he's thinking.

Toda Erika is one of the lawyers that helps out with the cases.  I like her as an actress - I tend to not really like the characters she plays though.  She's always had that innocent girl-next-door look, which kind of type-casts her to innocent girl/kind-of-dumb roles ("Liar Game", anyone?).  She wasn't quite ditzy/dumb in this drama (of course not, she's a lawyer), but some of her antics tended to channel that naivety and innocence she portrayed in past characters.


Pros:

• Cases were good enough to keep you interested

• Pretty standard, solve-by-episode type of drama that will please any sort of mystery drama fan

 
Cons:

• No character development.  Kind of  understandable since it was an episodic drama, but it left me kind of dry, since I've seen mystery dramas of the same format but still had a good amount of character development.

• When Ohno's character solves a mystery, it's sort of unrealistic at points.  He tended to tell the criminal what EXACTLY they did, step-by-step, at what time, how they did it, what they were wearing, etc.  I know he's supposed to be a genius, but.... come on. O_o

• Ending left me hanging.  Some people probably wouldn't have minded an ending like this one.  But I like closure.  I hate having to ask myself a question at the end of a series like, "Wait, so does that mean he __________????" even though it might have seemed like it was implied.

Overall, it wasn't bad for a typical mystery drama to pass time.

MyDramaList Rating:  6/10 (Fine)

Yokai Ningen Bem (Japan, 2011, Supernatural/Family Drama?)

A formulaic and mostly episodic series torn between being a family/home drama and a supernatural adventure story, it's ultimately hard to care very much about Yokai Ningen Bem.  It starts with strong potential and attempts to go out with a bang, but falters consistently in between.

It would be a good series for a family audience.  If this was an American movie from the 90's, it would totally be rated PG and star Robin Williams.  I have no idea why I feel this way, though.

Pros:

• There are some absolutely adorable Kame-paternal instinct scenes.
• On occasion (particularly the first episode or two), the demonstration of their supernatural powers is cool.
• Suzuki Fuki (the child actor)'s performance is quite strong.  He may have been my favorite character.  Because of his age, his goody-goody character isn't quite so annoying.
• It's appropriate for a family audience, particularly for preteen children, almost as a transition between tokusatsu and prime time drama.

Cons:

• The heroes are so earnest and altruistic, it's annoying. 
• It could have been much darker, with a lot more intrigue.
• Kame was unable to rock his grey-haired sexiness to its fullest.
• Anne's outfits are unflattering.  
• Kitamura Kazuki was wasted as a milddle-aged softy of a father.  Give me back my sexy, arrogant Kitamura Kazuki from Hokaben, Iryu or Akihabara@Deep!

A Gentleman's Dignity Episode 15

Summary:
Show Summary

The cute life lesson at the beginning of the episode shows the boys serving a day of their army reserve service and being jerk to an enlisted private serving his mandatory two years.  Years later, they find out that the kid they were a jerk to is the child of an important potential client.  Lesson: Be nice to people, you don't know who they might be in the future.

The episode starts with Childhood Sweetheart (Kim Eun Hee) and Do Jin meeting.  We find out that Childhood Sweetheart tried to introduce him to their secret son eight years ago, but Do Jin had an unreliable amnesia attack at the time and failed to make the meeting.  He has no recollection of the day.  At Yoon's law office, Do Jin and Childhood Sweetheart run into Seo Yi Soo.  Do Jin introduces Childhood Sweetheart as an "ex-girlfriend" and Seo Yi Soo as "a woman he recently lost".  Seo Yi Soo corrects him and introduces her as "a woman he recently dumped".  At the law office, Yoon shows them the results of the paternity test.  Now everyone in the series knows Colin is Do Jin's son.

Jung Rok gathers Yoon and Tae San to brainstorm ways to get Seo Yi Soo and Do Jin back together.  They arrange an "accidental" meeting at the coffee shop.  The estranged couple realize it's a set up and they leave without really talking.  Later, Seo Yi Soo calls Do Jin out and tells him that he had promised to love her at least until the end of the month.  She tells him he has to come out whenever she calls him over the next month, until she is tired of seeing him and ready to break up.  They go on a few awkward non-dates, such as attending a movie but sitting across the isle from each other silently, staring at each other from across the street at a stoplight, etc.

It totally seemed like they were going in the direction of "cute, continuous exposure to each other will lead to the couple getting back together".  However, at the last "date" of the episode, Seo Yi Soo receives a call from her mother.  Do Jin asks about it and she snaps, telling him she didn't give him permission to speak.  When she goes to leave, he grabs her hand and she yells that she's going to see her mother, who abandoned her for 20 years to raise someone else's child.  She asks Do Jin "Do you want to come along and get tips from her," bitchily referencing the fact that he didn't know about his own child for 19 years.  So instead of the "cute resolution" approach, she's apparently going back towards "bitch, overblown reactions to a situation outside of both of their control".  *sigh*

On the Se Ra + Tae Sun front, Se Ra sees Me Ah Ri driving her car, which Min Sook is supposed to have as a deposit for the loan.  Se Ra realizes that Tae Sun must have had the car.  She confronts Min Sook for telling Tae Sun about the loan.  Min Sook explains that she didn't tell him, he just found out through other means.  She gave him the car when he had paid off Se Ra's debt.  Min Sook explains she was preserving Tae Sun's pride over Se Ra's own.

On the Yoon + Me Ah Ri front, Me Ah Ri brings Yoon a gift.  He refuses it and she gets upset as always.  Yoon lectures that they can never be together without destroying his friendship with Tae Sun--a friendship that has lasted longer than Me Ah Ri has been alive.  Me Ah Ri leaves and gets drunk alone in the middle of the day at a karaoke bar.  Her brother comes to pick her up and rages about how he'll send her away and/or end his friendship with Yoon if she continues to act this way.

On the Min Sook + Jung Rok front, you don't see the couple interact at all in this episode.

On the Colin front, we see that his mother (Childhood Sweetheart) returns to Japan but he decides to stay in Korea for a while more.

Scenes of Note:
Nothing worth clipping out.  It's so far into the series that anyone would be spoiled or confused seeing things without context.

My Princess (Korea, 2011, Romance)

This is Princess Diaries, only with an average Korean college student and a ton more political intrigue.  The rival female is delightful to hate--she has no redeeming qualities.  There actually isn't much of a love square, either!


Pros:

• The main character doesn't take herself too seriously.  
• The main romantic interest has a "knight in shining armor" complex without being overbearing--he's adorable, but still manly.
• The rival female is unapologetic about her bitchiness.
• The early and middle episodes were particularly well paced.
• The main character (particularly her facial expressions) reminds me a bit of Super Junior's Heechul.  This gave me endless amusement during the early episodes.

Cons:

• A ho-hum unsatisfying ending.
• The main character's sister fills the "villain you feel sympathy for" role.  The plot lines she's involved with feel forced and unfinished.
• The "political intrigue" is overdone in some places.  No one really cares--it's supposed to be a plot device upon which their romance is built...