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.

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

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

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!

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...