Tag: Hwang In Yeop

Review: Why Her?

Posted November 17, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Why Her?

Starring: Seo Hyun Jin, Hwang In Yeob, Heo Joon Ho, Bae In Hyuk, Jo Young Jin, Kim Sun Hyuk
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 16
Genre: Law, Melodrama, Mystery, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Park Soo Jin
Screenwriter: Kim Ji Eun
Where I Watched It: Viki
Recommended By: N/A
Who I Watched It For: Hwang In Yeop

The youngest partner at one of the nation’s most prestigious law offices, Oh Soo Jae has already proven she has what it takes to be one of the country’s best lawyers. Driven by her self-righteous principles and a never-ending desire to win, Soo Jae is well on her way to becoming one of TK Law Firm’s top attorneys. But when one of her cases takes an unexpected turn, Soo Jae is forced to watch as all of her hard work comes crumbling down around her. Demoted at work, Soo Jae is forced to take on the role of adjunct professor at a local law school. Determined to win back her position within the firm, Soo Jae does her best to settle into her new role but the sting of demotion still lingers. Only after meeting Gong Chan, a university student whose path frequently crosses with Soo Jae, does that sting begin to lessen. Despite carrying the burdens of a painful past, Gong Chan’s warm heart remains strong, especially as his affection for Soo Jae grows.

Obviously smitten with Soo Jae, Gong Chan stays by her side, even as she struggles to find a way back into the firm’s good graces. Will her determination and Gong Chan’s support be enough to restore her position, or will the powers that be continue to push her down?

Hwang In Yeop is the main reason this drama was on my radar. I really enjoyed his character and his acting in True Beauty so when I saw that he was starring in a new drama, I put it on my watch list. I was excited to see him in a role where he was the main lead. This drama was plot heavy but I really enjoyed the character development between the two main leads. It’s not my favorite drama of the year or anything but I enjoyed it a great deal any way.

The Story

This story follows our main female lead, Oh Soo Jae, who is a lawyer at one of the top law firms in Korea. When we first meet Soo Jae, it’s obvious that she’s working on adding more accomplishments to her already impressive resume but it isn’t easy for her. She’s gone through so much in her life and she’s worked hard to get where she is but being where she is comes with a lot of shit. She’s at the very center of everything that this show has to offer. She’s surrounded by so much corruption and is trying her best for redemption and each episode presented case after case after case that made reaching for the things she wanted so much harder.

The bad guys needed to be brought down because they were some serious bad guys and Soo Jae proved with every passing episode that she was the one to bring them down. When a case she’s working on goes bad, she’s sent to work as a law professor and that is where she meets our male main lead, Gong Chan. Gong Chan is a victim of the bad guys and when things heat up between Soo Jae and Gong Chan, we find out that there’s a deeper connection where the two of them are concerned. Things really take off when they start working together at the school clinic. They have the same enemy and though Soo Jae thinks she needs to take them down on her own, I was glad that she had a team that was ready to have her back against them.

Main Male Lead

Hwang In Yeop won me over in True Beauty so I was excited to see him tackle another role, a main lead role at that. Gong Chan’s story was an interesting one and it was one of my favorite things about the beginning of this drama. I wanted to see how he tackled all the wrongs that were done to him but there were times when I thought the story moved his part of the story really slowly. I also thought the way that his story was told was stilted and weird.

There were times when I didn’t buy that Gong Chan was mad. I wished he was a lot more mad than he showed. I liked how steadfast he was in his love for Soo Jae and I loved that he was a good person, with a good heart no matter how different his life turned out (through no fault of his own). My heart hurt for the things that he went through and when he finally gets the justice for everything he went through, I was relieved for him. I just wished that a lot of the way that things were handled where he was concerned, was handled differently. I still love me some Hwang In Yeop though.

Main Female Lead

Soo Jae is the main character in this drama and I thought she handled her role really well. She was a bad ass in the courtroom and I liked that thought she came off cold and reserved, she was fair and she was caring in her own reserved way. She was always thinking one step ahead of everyone else and it wasn’t hard to see why she was at the top of her game. She worked really hard to get there and suffered even harder on her way to the top. She wasn’t always at the top and the way that she fought her way up there and continued to fight at every turn was exhausting for me to watch so I’d imagine it was even more exhausting for her.

Second Lead

This is the second show that I’ve watched this actor in and I liked this guy a lot more in this drama than I did in the other one (My Roommates a Gumiho). Growing up in the family that he did, it wasn’t hard to see why he wanted to break away from those toxic pieces of shit but even as much as I admired him for that, I still didn’t want him to end up with the girl. I liked that he tried his best to protect everyone around him but his bratty attitude toward the main male lead wasn’t a good look for him and the more he balked at their romance and their feelings for each other, the more I was good on him.

The Cast

There are a lot of familiar faces in this drama and because of that, I thought I’d enjoy it a lot more. My favorite characters were everyone from the school. The team of law students that helped Soo Jae with the cases from the clinic. I loved how they each had a different role on the team and I really enjoyed the way that they all worked together.

The antagonists did their jobs well because I hated their asses. All of them. The way that they used their powers for evil, not giving one damn who was hurt in the process and sending innocent people to prison for things that they, themselves did make me mad and I stayed mad for a lot of the show. I especially hate Choi Tae Gook and Choi Joo Wan. Ugh, just saying their names in my head makes me mad. Haha. Anyway, everyone played their roles well.

Final Thoughts

This drama starts off really strong. I was invested in what happened with both Oh Soo Jae and Gong Chan. I came to love their people and the team that they both worked on. Though I don’t normally enjoy the student/teacher relationship, the way that this relationship came about soothed that beast for me so I wasn’t too annoyed about it.

The overall story being told here was emotionally driven and I liked that. Lots of revenge and bad guys that needed taking down and who better to take them down but Oh Soo Jae? I can’t say that I completely loved the entire show since there were chunks of the show that dragged for me and the story writing itself left me wanting more. The ending was satisfying and I’m not at all mad that I watched it.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

3 out of 5

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Review: The Sound of Magic

Posted October 11, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Sound of Magic

Starring: Ji Chang Wook, Choi Sung Eun, Hwang In Yeop
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 16
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Drama
Country: South Korea
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Who I Watched It For: Ji Chang Wook

High school student Yoon Ah Yi finances herself and her younger sister by working part-time jobs. She doesn’t know where her parents are. Debt collectors drove her father away from home—and then her mother fled too. But even with her poor financial circumstances, Yoon Ah Yi manages to rank near the top of her school academically. Yoon Ah Yi wants to become an adult as soon as possible, to have a stable job.

Her classmate Na Il Deung competes with Yoon Ah Yi for the top grade, but they begin to have feelings for each other.

One day, Yoon Ah Yi meets magician Lee Eul at an abandoned amusement park. He performs magic shows for people who believe in magic. He is a mysterious person; he comforts Yoon Ah Yi who tells him that she believes in magic.

I grew up watching and listening to a lot of musicals but I’ve never seen a k-drama musical before so I was mighty intrigued about this show. The drama also starred Ji Chang Wook and I love him so that was an added bonus in making me want to watch it. I was also pretty stoked to see Hwang In Yeop was in it too. I adored him in True Beauty so I was excited to see him in something else.

This drama follows a young woman, Yoon Ah Yi, as she struggles with raising her younger sister after both of her parents split, leaving both sisters penniless, and all alone. Ah Yi is still a student in high school so she’s super busy. She’s at school all day and then she rushes off to work various part-time jobs to put food on the table and through all of these hardships, she just endures. She goes through every single day with a focused determination to become an adult and a lot of that is because she wants better for herself and for her sister. At school, she battles for the top student spot with Na Il Deung and things get a little spicy when they start to develop feelings for each other.

Things get even more interesting when she meets magician, Lee Eul, at an abandoned amusement park. She starts to believe that there’s magic all around and seeing her come into her own over the course of this show made for a sweet and entertaining drama. I really enjoyed the musical aspect of this show and was delighted every time they broke into song and dance. I thought the dance numbers were done really well and the music was a lot of fun too. There were a lot of themes explored during this drama and I thought Ji Chang Wook, Choi Sung Eun, and Hwang In Yeop did a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life.

There was some confusion for me in the beginning episodes and I’m not going to lie, there were times when the stories dragged but the more that I watched, the more that I came to be invested in not just Yoon Ah Yi, but also in Ri Eul, and Na Il Deung’s character development. Each of their backstories was interesting and my heart hurt for all of them, my heart also rejoiced with them. I was happy with how everything wrapped up and though it’s not my favorite drama of the year, I was glad that I gave it a shot and saw it through to the end. I’ve become a big fan of each of the actors in this show and this show was a huge reason why. I’ll definitely be supporting their other works from here on out. If you need a bit of magic in your life, this might definitely be a go for you.

Final Rating

3.5 out of 5

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The Wednesday Five: My Favorite Second Leads

Posted September 22, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

I’m a list person. I have a list for every single thing in my life from a to-do list, a list of books that I want to read, a running shopping list, and in the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing different k-entertainment lists that I’ve been keeping track of. You’ll be seeing my top 5 lists of stuff like my current celebrity crushes, my favorite k-drama female protagonists, my favorite k-drama male protagonists, my to-be-watched k-dramas, and you know, stuff like that.

This week’s Wednesday Five will feature five of my favorite second leads.

1. Nam Seon Ho from My Country: The New Age

Watching this beautiful man act his ass off made my viewing experience of this drama, all the more pleasurable. This man is fine as hell and his character was much more interesting to me than the first lead. This was the first drama where I was actively cheering for the second lead over the first lead to get the girl. I loved the first lead and felt for him and his hardships but for me, Seon Ho won me over. It was so easy for the viewer to hate Seon Ho because of what we’re given of his character but as the show progresses my love for him grew and grew and grew. I absolutely loved this guy and that is why he’s my top favorite second lead.

2. Kim Jung Hwan from Reply 1988

Man did I adore this guy. I loved his character and how he quietly took care of his loved ones. He wasn’t always easy to understand but he was absolutely always easy to adore. Even though I didn’t cheer for him to get the girl, that didn’t take away from how much I loved him. I loved him, his family, and I loved seeing him care for those around him. His personality was fantastic and though I felt bad for him in the end, I still loved the hell out of him.

3. Han Seo Jun from True Beauty

Han Seo Jun was my introduction to Hwang In Yeop. Even though his character annoyed me in the beginning, he did his very best to turn things around and absolutely did. I loved the hell out of him and my heart for him when things didn’t work for him with the girl. I think he knew that it wasn’t going to end the way that he wanted though. He had so many sweet moments throughout this show and I just loved the hell out of him.

4. Baek In Ho from Cheese in the Trap

This guy was the second second lead that I actively cheered for to get the girl. He deserved her so much but in the end, I didn’t think that she deserved him. He was too good for her and I wanted to punch the girl in the vagina for not seeing the gem that was right in front of her. Man, I loved this guy so much but just take my word for it because the drama itself was trash.

5. Han Ji-Pyeong from The Start Up

Oh man, this was my introduction to Kim Seon Ho and I’m super grateful because holy hot damn I love this guy. He got on my nerves in the show and I wanted him to be more upfront with Dal Mi but I can’t deny that his character appealed to me because the lengths he went to keep his promise melted my heart. His relationship with Dal Mi’s Grandma was such a wholesome ass relationship and I was here for it all. I love love love this guy!

So which second leads did you fall head over heels in love with? Share your favorites in the comments!

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Eye Candy Friday: Han Seo Joon from True Beauty

Posted March 26, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is something that I’ve been doing since I first started my personal blog way back in 2003. That first personal blog is long gone but I’ve never really grown out of the eye candy phase. I’m always up for some eye candy. Whether it’s a character from a book (male or female, I don’t discriminate), a character from a movie or TV Show, if I loved them and want to gush about how much I loved them, you’ll find them here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

This week, I’m featuring Han Seo Joon from the k-drama, True Beauty. There were a lot of things that pissed me off about Seo Joon but I also really loved him too. He was the kind of character that you wanted right next to you when shit hit the fan. He was a great support system to those around him and he felt everything the way that young adults feel thing, and that’s very passionately. There were moments when I questioned how loyal I would continue to be to Su Ho because I came to love Han Seo Joon so much.

His character growth over the course of the show was probably my favorite and his personality and the way that Hwang In Yeop brought his character to life was just *chef’s kiss*. Such a great character and a great actor as well. I will definitely be watching out for more of this guy.

Until next week…enjoy!

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Review: True Beauty

Posted March 23, 2021 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: True BeautyTrue Beauty
Starring: Cha Eun Woo, Moon Ga Young, Hwang In Yeop
Year Released: 2020
Number of Episodes: 16
Recommended By: Cha Eun Woo
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Format: Online Stream
Source: Viki
four-half-stars

Im Joo Kyung (Moon Ga Young) is a high schooler who is upbeat and positive about most things – except for her appearance!

She hates the idea of being seen in public without makeup, but fortunately has become a self-taught makeup expert, with a little help from a plethora of internet video tutorials.

What she has learned online has transformed her life. At school, she is known as one of the prettiest girls in class – although she secretly lives in fear of her schoolmates discovering what she looks like behind the makeup!

In fact, there is only one person from school who has ever seen her minus her “mask” – Lee Su Ho (Cha Eun Woo).

He is a top-grade student with impressive basketball skills. He is also dashingly handsome, and many of his female classmates have a crush on him.

However, Lee Su Ho harbors a few dark secrets from his past, and shuns attention in class.

Slowly, these two individuals become drawn together – and learn more about one another’s secrets!

This drama was based on a long-running web-based cartoon of the same name, penned by Yaongyi.

“True Beauty” is a 2020 South Korean drama series that was directed by Kim Sang Hyub.

I heard about this show before it came out so I was looking forward to watching it once it started airing and I didn’t waste any time once it started up. I will admit that I didn’t read the webtoon so I went into this drama without any knowledge of the storyline. Cha Eun Woo is an actor that I like and I was looking forward to seeing his fine ass in another drama.

True Beauty was an engaging and entertaining k-drama and I really enjoyed it. There were some parts of the show that I didn’t care for but overall, it was good. Let’s break down my thoughts about the bigger parts of the show, shall we?

Male Lead: Lee Su Ho

Actor: Cha Eun Woo

Like I mentioned before, I was interested in this drama because I wanted to see Cha Eun Woo in another show and this was up. His character in this show was a lot similar to the character that he played in the last drama of his that I watched (My I.D. is Gangnam Beauty). While he plays the reserved hottie very well, I was hoping that Lee Su Ho would be a lot different from Do Kyung Suk. Oh well.

As far as Su Ho goes, I liked his character. I liked that to him, Lim Joo Kyung was perfect just the way that she was. He liked her and because he liked her, she was beautiful to him. I liked that he never forgot who Joo Kyung was and that getting to know her now made him softer than the hard shell he carried around him at school. What I didn’t care for was the abrupt manner in which he cut Joo Kyung out when things got a little rough. I did feel for him when he wanted to come forward with their relationship and she wouldn’t let him and I even liked that he was understanding and let Joo Kyung call the shots where their relationship was concerned. It was more important that they were together than it was that people knew.

My heart hurt for him and everything that he went through in his short life. He carried around a lot of heavy burdens that made me hope for better days for him. I think that was why I was such a huge fan of his and for him getting the girl.

I didn’t understand why he took on so much responsibility for things that were out of his hands but I didn’t exactly hate him for all of that. It frustrated me that he took so long to explain his side of things with Seo Joon but on that end, I was more pissed off at Seo Joon and the way that he handled their whole estrangement than Su Ho. Overall, Su Ho was a great character that I was rooting for from beginning to end. Never did I not want him to get the girl, no matter how much I came to like Seo Joon, for me, I was always Team Su Ho.

Female Lead: Lim Joo Kyung

Actress: Moon Ga Young

I haven’t watched Moon Ga Young in anything that I can remember finishing though I did see her in Tempted and I didn’t care for her character in that show. I was a really big fan of her character in this show though.

Lim Joo Kyung has never been a beauty, at least in the eyes of her schoolmates. For as long as she can remember, she’s been made fun of and when she gets a little older, the bullying starts and it gets so bad that she wishes to transfer schools. She gets her wish when her socially awkward but very good-looking father gets their family into a bit of money trouble and they have to move back to their old house where she grew up.

The move brings about a transfer in schools and Lim Joo Kyung takes this as chance for her to start fresh and not be the school gofer anymore. I really enjoyed Joo Kyung’s character. She had such a bright personality that was only dimmed by her bullies. I liked seeing her really grow into herself. I did think that there were times when she was super extra about keeping her bare face a secret. There were plenty of times that I rolled my eyes down the street because she was super extra about a lot of things but I also understood where she was coming from. Her bullying at her old school affected her and we saw it so when she finally grew a spine and started speaking up for herself, I was so damned happy that I cheered.

I really liked her character, really cheered for her to come into her own and I just really enjoyed her being part of the show. She was my absolute favorite thing about this show.

Second Lead: Han Seo Joon

Actor: Hwang In Yeop

This is the first show that I’ve ever seen Hwang In Yeop in and I am super happy about that. I thought he was a fantastic second lead and though I never really cheered for him to get the girl, I did come to really like his character.

I struggled with his character in the beginning. The way that he treated Su Ho, the way that he felt justified in treating Su Ho the way that he did, pissed me off. Sure, I didn’t understand their history but I’ve never been a fan of lashing out to hurt others because you’re hurting too. I did feel for him once I started to get to know him. He lost his best friend and then he helped his sick Mom so I felt bad once started liking Joo Kyung because it was more than a little evident where her feelings were.

There were points in the show where my loyalty to Su Ho were tested. There were plenty of times when Seo Joon showed that his feelings for Joo Kyung were true and that I lingered over maybe thinking it was okay if the second lead won the girl in the end but those times never lasted because in my heart of hearts, I was a true Team Su Ho member. I did feel for Seo Joon but I was much more interested in him making things right with Su Ho. I longed more for the two of them to come to terms with their past so that they could both move on to more peaceful futures with each other.

Hwang In Yeop is a great actor and I felt every emotion he poured into his character in this show and I’m looking forward to more dramas with him in it.

The Romance

The romance between Lee Su Ho and Lim Joo Kyung was a super cute one. I really enjoyed seeing both the past Su Ho and Joo Kyung and the current Su Ho and Joo Kyung. Su Ho was such a loner and needed someone like Joo Kyung in his life. Especially considering his home life and everything he went through on that front. Joo Kyung needed someone like Su Ho in her life as well. He was completely loyal to her and didn’t care what she looked like. He was so emotionally invested in her happiness that it made me happy.

The love triangle never really felt like a love triangle to me because Lim Joo Kyung loved who she loved and never once did she waver in that. Not even when Su Ho was being an ass for years. She was faithful to him and to their relationship, even when he didn’t deserve it…she was Team Su Ho. I completely understood it and rooted for the two of them to figure themselves out. She never had the chance to hide her true self from him and I loved that she never forgot it. He loved her no matter what her face looked like and even though Seo Joon did as well after a while, I always rooted for Su Ho and Joo Kyung.

The Supporting Cast

The supporting cast was a memorable one for sure. I think of all of the groups of friends covered in this show, my favorite was probably Su Ho’s friend group after he fell out with Seo Joon. I liked all of the boys but my favorite was Su Ho’s group because they were so freaking funny with how jealous they got of Seo Joon. Su Ho was theirs and they didn’t let anyone (even Su Ho) forget it.

Seo Joon’s squad was a loyal squad as well and though I did like them, I liked the nerds a smidge more. Joo Kyung’s new school squad wasn’t my favorite for obvious reasons and there were times when I wanted to smack some sense into Joo Kyung herself but every single time I thought that, Joo Kyung came to her senses. I loved that her personality never really changed throughout the show. She was just as kindhearted in the end as she was in the beginning and though she lost her way a time or two, she always came through and her friends benefitted from her forgiving nature.

Aside from the school friends, I also really enjoyed getting to know Joo Kyung’s family and the secondary romance between her sister and their teacher was a fun addition to this show. The teacher reminded me of how extra Joo Kyung was but they were both such charming characters that it worked in their favor because I was a fan of theirs throughout the entire show. I loved seeing Joo Kyung’s younger brother and Seo Joon’s younger sister bicker their way to becoming close and I really enjoyed seeing Su Ho and his father work on rebuilding their relationship as well. Lots of great characters for sure.

The Story

There was a lot to offer with this show and for me, personally, I never once got bored with what was happening. There are plenty of shows with slow beginnings or middles that drag but I didn’t find that to be the case with True Beauty. Each of the main characters shined in their own way and brought something different to the table that made tuning in every week a delight. I’m very happy that I gave this show a try and I’m looking forward to more acting goodness from this cast. I definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a fun high school romance with charming characters and some deep plotlines that will keep you glued to your screen. This was a delightful k-drama and you won’t be sorry, I don’t think.

Final Grade

4.25 out of 5
four-half-stars

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