Tag: Viki

Review: The Forbidden Marriage

Posted March 7, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Forbidden Marriage

Starring: Kim Young Dae, Park Ju Hyun, Kim Woo Seok, Yang Dong Geun, Park Sun Young, Choi Deok Moon
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Historical, Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Jung Hoon, Park Sang Woo
Screenwriter: Cheon Ji Hye
Where to Watch: Viki, Prime Video

Lee Heon is the king of Joseon. 7 years ago, when he was a crown prince, his beloved wife died. To this day, he has not been able to get over her death. For the past 7 years, the royal family and government members have tried to get King Lee Heon remarried without success. The nation has also implemented a geumhonryung edict, which is a ban on all single women marrying during this time when the king has not married. People are furious over the marriage ban. One day, King Lee Heon hears of a woman named Ye So Rang, who claims the spirit of the king’s late wife exists within the royal palace.

Meanwhile, Ye So Rang is a swindler and claims to interpret marital harmony signs. She is arrested and jailed where Officer Lee Shin Won works. To get out of her predicament, she pretends to be possessed by a spirit in front of Lee Shin Won. During her ruse, she mentions that the spirit of King Lee Heon’s late wife exists within the royal palace. She is then brought in front of the king and he asks her if she can really see his late wife’s spirit. To survive, Ye So Rang acts like her body is possessed by the king’s late wife. Ye So Rang’s lies get bigger and more audacious.

I love me some Kim Young Dae so after watching Shooting Star, I patiently waited for him to come out with something else and this was it. I’m finding that I’m watching more and more shows for the actors that star in them and not the plot or anything like that. I promise I’m not shallow, haha. I do love me some Park Ju Hyun as well so this was a pairing that I didn’t know that I needed. And in a rom-com? Yes, please!

The Story

Kim Young Dae plays a King who has not gotten over his dead wife. He’s still grieving her death and put a law into effect that bans marriage so for the last seven years, everyone has not been able to get married. What everyone doesn’t know is that the King is being haunted by his dead wife. He never gets any peace because his dead wife is always around. So when he meets Ye So Rang and she claims that his late wife is in the palace, he keeps her around so that he can talk to his wife through her and their whirlwind romance takes off. Ye So Rang is battling her own things and is in hiding because she’s never been safe. She’s become a con artist in order to survive and seeing her battle day in and day out made me love her more and more with each episode.

As much as I enjoyed the main romance, the story itself moved slow at times and there were a few episodes where it was so slow that it was very easy for me to be distracted with everything and anything under the sun while the episodes played. That was a bit of a bummer but overall, I did like it.

The Cast

There weren’t too many faces that I didn’t recognize from this drama so it felt like catching up with friends and I enjoyed everyone’s addition to the cast. My favorites of the bunch outside of the two main leads were the second lead, Lee Shin Won, (though I never rooted for him to get the girl, sorry!), and the two palace workers, Se Jang and Won Nyeo, who were trying to steer the King into falling in love so that the marriage ban can be lifted. They were a lot of fun and entertained me with their charm.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama was an enjoyable one that made me laugh, made me get teary-eyed, and entertained me. Though there were slow parts of the show, I still enjoyed it. I liked the romance between the King and and So Rang, I liked the second lead, I loved all of the people we meet from So Rang’s life but from the King’s life as well (except for all of those fuckers that were trying to do him dirty) and a giant fuck you to the woman and her daughter that was trying to do So Rang dirty too. I’m glad that when all was said and done, my girl got her happy ending and was able to return to the person she’s always been and was able to step into the light without hiding anymore. I was glad that the King was able to finally move on from his first love and find love again with my girl. There’s enough here for viewers to enjoy and I thought the visuals (not just the actors but the setting as well) were beautiful and I am glad that I watched it.

Final Rating

3.5 out of 5

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Review: He is Psychometric

Posted March 2, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

He is Psychometric

Starring: Park Jin Young, Shin Ye Eun, Kim Kwon, Kim Da Som, Noh Jong Hyun, Go Youn Jung
Year Released: 2019
Number of Episodes: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural
Country: South Korea
Director: Kim Byung Soo
Screenwriter: Yang Jin Ah
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Viki

After losing his parents in a fire, Lee Ahn acquires the power of psychometry, the ability to read a person or an object’s past through physical contact, and he decides to use it to take bad people down. While he does not know how to control his power yet, he meets Yoon Jae In who tries her best to hide her painful secrets. Together with his foster guardian, prosecutor Kang Seong Mo, and the latter’s colleague, investigator Eun Ji Soo, they team up to solve an elusive case that has been haunting the lives of Ahn, Sung Mo, and Jae In. The case revolves around the life of prosecutor Kang’s mother and father, who were the main cause of the fire. Jae In and Lee Ahn heal each other through their past present and future and find the culprit.

My best friend Therese and I started this drama right after we finished Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow because we wanted some more Go Youn Jung. We are huge fans of both her and Lee Jae Wook. We finished this show in just a few days and came away huge fans of Park Jin Young’s fine ass. Haha.

The Story

Our main character, Lee Ahn gets hurt in an apartment fire that took both of his parents from him when he was like ten years old. He also gets the power of psychometry. This power of his came with a lot of growing pains but once he’s a teenager, he’s come to terms with this power, and though he doesn’t have control over his powers, he knows to keeps his hands off of people if he doesn’t want to be bombarded by their pasts. He’s a very confident person that lives with his older brother. He’s part of a found family of people that were affected from the apartment fire and he’s determined to grow up into a good, upstanding adult just like his older foster brother. When he meets Yoon Jae In, she hates his guts because of a misunderstanding and the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that she’s got a tight grip on her secrets, and her past.

This drama centers around Lee Ahn but also around everyone close to him. Their lives are all connected through cases that are all connected to that apartment fire and seeing everything come together piece by piece made for a very engaging drama that me and my best friend enjoyed from start to finish.

The Cast

Our main couple, Lee Ahn and Yoon Jae In were cute but I’ll admit that I enjoyed their romance as it was developing. Once they got together, I cared more about everything and everyone else. That’s not to say that I didn’t love Lee Ahn and Yoon Jae In, cause I did. I just kept waiting for crumbs from Kim So Hyun (Go Youn Jung) more. Lee Ahn was my favorite and I loved every bit of his acting in this show. He showed us such great scenes with a variety of emotions and knocked every single scene out of the park. The humor, the sweetness, the love he had for the people around him while still feeling the effects of being an orphan and without his parents. The way that he clung to his older brother and the hurts he suffered throughout the show made me a really big fan of Park Jin Young. He really showed out.

I loved all of the other characters as well. From the older brother, Kang Sung Mo to the detective, Eun Ji Soo and then Lee Dae Bong and Kim So Hyun and even Jae In’s Aunt and her boss at the police station. They were all such great characters and did a great job of bringing this story to life. The only character outside of Park Jin Young and Go Youn Jung that I knew was Shin Ye Eun. I knew her as that little cheeky ass girl from Yumi’s Cells that made me mad at Jin Young’s character, haha.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a solid drama that my bestie and I enjoyed the heck out of. This was definitely one of the better ones that we’ve watched lately and there have been some duds that we didn’t even end up finishing so it was good to be excited about a drama after Alchemy of Souls finished. I love that Therese LOVES Jin Young now and I loved that she seems to be enjoying k-dramas more and more with me because let me tell you, watching these shows with someone else who is just as invested in it all as you are makes the watching experience that much more fun. Big ups to the writers, the actors, and the staff that delivered a solid story with characters that had us rooting for them and even when things didn’t go our way, we still enjoyed this one. So yeah, I definitely recommend this one.

Final Rating

4 out of 5

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Review: Unlock My Boss

Posted February 23, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Unlock My Boss

Starring: Chae Jong Hyeop, Park Sung Woong, Seo Eun Soo, Heo Ji Na, Ahn Nae Sang, Kim Sung Oh
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Mystery
Country: South Korea
Director: Lee Chul Ha
Screenwriter: Kim Hyun Min
Where to Watch: Viki

As founder and CEO of one of the country’s largest IT companies, Kim Sun Joo is a name everyone knows. A true genius in his field, Sun Joo has everything in life going for him. But living at the top comes with its own set of challenges, and some would stop at nothing to bring him down. In this case, literally.

Hunted down by an unknown killer, Sun Joo becomes the unfortunate victim of a senseless murder. But instead of leaving this life, Sun Joo’s spirit somehow takes up residence in his smartphone. Now trapped within his phone, Sun Joo might have spent an eternity there, had Park In Sung not stumbled upon it.

A down-and-out university graduate unable to find a job, In Sung is shocked to find a phone inhabited by the spirit of Sun Joo. Taking advantage of the situation Sun Joo does his best to convince In Sung to help him; a task which becomes much easier once he mentions the hefty reward he’s willing to give In Sung in exchange for his services.

Taking on the role of temporary CEO, In Sung steps into Sun Joo’s shoes at the company, much to the chagrin of his secretary, Jung Se Yeon. Working together in secret, will the two be able to find those responsible for Sun Joo’s death?

I became a fan of Chae Jong Hyeop after watching him in The Witch’s Diner and Love All Play. So when this one was being promoted, it was on my radar strictly because Jong Hyeop starred in it. The story itself isn’t one that I thought I would enjoy since it seemed too silly for me and while it’s not a favorite of mine, this show did entertain and keep me curious enough to finish it out though I didn’t think I would in the middle.

The Story

So this drama follows a young man who teams up with the administrative assistant of a CEO of one of the largest IT companies in South Korea as they try to get their boss out of the smartphone. Park In Sung found the phone near his parents house and after some back and forth, arguing with the man that claims to be stuck in the phone, he decides that since he doesn’t have anything else going on, he’ll take a stab at helping this guy find out what happened, who is behind his abduction, and live the rich life for a little bit. Little did he know the adventure that awaited him once he took the job on.

Male Lead

Park In Sung is a down on his luck young adult that can’t seem to land a steady job. He’s been trying but he’s been striking out so when this dream job lands in his lap, he finds himself jumping through hoop after hoop to stay afloat. He’s trying to land a steady job to get his parents, specifically his dad off his back since he seems to have lost confidence that In Sung is going to accomplish anything in his life so he wants him to come back home and help him run their family farm. In Sung is determined to succeed no matter what and with his drive and the good head that he had on his shoulder, I was rooting him on. I loved the way that he was with everyone from the CEO’s young daughter to Uncle Mafia to the female lead, he was genuinely nice to everyone and really tried his hardest to do always do the right thing and I lovedhat about him.

Female Lead

I’m not going to lie, when we’re first introduced to Se Yeong’s character, I didn’t realize she was the female lead and I was side-eyeing the hell out of her. I thought she played a part in the CEO’s abduction and I thought just a whole lot of things that weren’t good. I’m glad that I was wrong on every point because she was so different from Park In Sung and yet I really loved those differences. I loved how smart she was, how strong she was and I really felt for her character and everything she was going through at the same time that she was trying to help find her boss. She ended up being one of my favorite characters and I’m glad for that cause she was pretty awesome. Very relatable.

The Cast

It was a pleasant surprise to see a child actress in this show that I loved so much in the last show that I watched her in. The CEO’s daughter, Min Ah. I absolutely loved her in Our Blues and absolutely loved her in this one as well. I saw a lot of familiar faces in this drama and enjoyed what each of them brought to the show. The characters aren’t what I had issues with, I struggled with the story being told…but I did like everyone (except the bad guys, eff them, haha).

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama isn’t going to be a favorite of mine but I did enjoy everyone’s efforts. The acting, the humor, the heart were all great. I just wished that I connected with the story being told. The whole AI stuff, the abduction, the bad guys themselves, all of it was super fluffy to me and while I enjoyed the actors, the characters, it was them that I kept tuning in for. I did enjoy the show but I spent most of the time watching this one, hoping that next week it would pick up.

Final Rating

3 out of 5

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Review: Summer Srike

Posted February 14, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Summer Strike

Starring: Yim Si Wan, Kim Seol Hyun, Shin Eun Soo, a.mond, Park Ye Young, Kwak Min Gyoo
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Drama, Life, Melodrama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Lee Yoon Jung
Screenwriter: Lee Yoon Jung
Where to Watch: Viki

Lee Yeo Reum is a young woman whose career and life are going very well: She has just been awarded permanent contract status at work, and she has a boyfriend she likes very much. But work is starting to get stressful, and then she is hit with a double whammy of misfortune. Her mother dies in a tragic accident just moments after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Feeling utterly dejected and burned out, she decides to quit her job, head to the seaside, and do absolutely nothing for a while – at least until she can recharge her batteries and recover mentally.

She moves to a small seaside village named Angok. And it is here that she meets An Dae Beom, a stuttering librarian who also has his share of skeletons in the closet. Many years ago, he was a math prodigy with a bright academic future ahead of him. But circumstances have forced him away from the big city and the scholastic life. What will happen when these two lost souls meet – and will a spell of “doing nothing” in this small town really cure their ills?

I enjoyed Yim Si Wan and Kim Seol Hyun in other stuff that I’ve watched this in and with how much I enjoyed Our Blues, I thought this had a similar vibe so I was interested in watching it. The first couple of episodes set up the rest of the drama and I’m not going lie, it was slow and I almost didn’t think that I would continue on after the third episode but I’m glad that I stuck with it, even if it didn’t end up being a favorite of mine.

The Story

This story follows our main female lead, Lee Yeo Reum. When we first meet Yeo Reum, she’s working an office job that she hates and dating a guy that doesn’t seem all that interested in her and no matter what she does, she can’t seem to get out of the funk that she’s in. Her boss at work is an asshole, her boyfriend dumps her, and when unexpected grief strikes, Yeo Reum is out. She moves herself to a small town and decides that she’s not going to force herself to rush into finding another job. She’s taking time off do whatever she wants to do. She’s going on a summer strike. When she starts to build a life for herself, make new friends, and everything, she starts to wonder if she should stick around…

Male Lead

I don’t remember watching an introverted male lead in a drama that is as introverted as Dae Beom. I’m usually interested in the more confident male leads but I thought that Yim Si Wan did a really great job of bringing Dae Bom to life. The show was a little on the slow side but even with that, I was invested in what was going on. I was invested in Dae Bom, in his life, in his past, in what really happened with his sister and family, in just about everything and a large part of that was because Yim Si Wan.

He was a great part of the community and a huge draw for me as far as making me come back for more. I adored him.

Female Lead

Our leading lady is the center of the show as the story, and everything else revolves around her. So it was a bit of a let down that I was much more invested in everyone around her then I was in her. I thought she did well as a friend to Kim Bom. I thought she was great with Sung Min, Jae Hoon, and Sung Min’s kid and I didn’t think she deserved the shit she got from Ji Young but overall, her character wasn’t my favorite at all. I would have actually preferred for Kim Bom to be the main lead. I thought her story was much more interesting.

The Cast

I was really invested in the side stories going on here. From trying to figure out what really happened at the pool room, to grieving with Kim Bom and her brother, to everything that went down with Dae Beom and the professor, I was here for all of that. It just took me a long to get invested in those things. The beginning was a lot slower than I would have liked but once Yeo Reum gets to Angok and people start showing up in her life, things picked up but while I enjoyed getting to know everyone else, I can’t say the same for Yeo Reum. I don’t recall seeing any of the other characters in any other drama aside from the kid from Hospital Playlist and the two main leads but I did take notice of the two teens from the show, Bom and Jae Hoon. I did really like the both of them.

Dae Beom’s noona got on my hot damn nerves. She was snobby for no reason and her attitude toward Yeo Reum bothered me but so did her attitude toward Sung Min. The way that she kept trying to warn Yeo Reum away from Dae Beom made me want to pull her hair but when she kept getting turned down, I was like, well, that’s what your ass gets. But aside from her, Sung Min’s Dad, and the professor, I liked everyone else.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama was a little on the slow side and while it took me some time to warm up to everything, I did eventually warm up. I thought the romance between Dae Beom and Yeo Reum was cute but I liked the romance between Kim Bom and Jae Hoon more. I cried, I laughed, I happy sighed, and I got hella angry but even with all that, this isn’t a drama that will stay with me and that was a bummer. Still, it was a solid drama.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

3.5 out of 5

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Review: Fan Letter, Please

Posted January 10, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Fan Letter, Please

Starring: Yoon Park, Choi Soo Young, Shin Yeon Woo, Jeon In Ji, Kang Da Hyun, Kim Sang Woo
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Country: South Korea
Where to Watch: Viki

Han Kang Hee is a top star actress who started acting ever since childhood. Because of the pressure as a top star, her self-esteem begins to drop and bad comments about her drama increase. The stress caused by those comments keeps her away from fanletters as well. In this crisis, she coincidentally runs into her first love, Jung Seok. He was a popular kid back in school but is now a single father of a sick child. His daughter Yu Na writes a fanletter to Kang Hee as her huge fan. However, as her letter doesn’t make it to Kang Hee, Jung Seok writes back instead. Kang Hee’s story with a beloved fan and her first love begins with a special fanletter.

Yoon Park made his way onto my radar when I watched him in Forecasting Love and Weather last year. His character started off as such an ass but I’m glad that over the course of the show his character kept right on charming me until eventually, he completely won me over. I don’t remember watching him in any other show so when I saw that this show was coming out, I was in.

The Story

This drama tells the story of A-List actress, Han Kang Hee, and a guy from high school, Bang Jung Seok. Jung Seok had a big crush on Kang Hee when they were in school but after a misunderstanding, they fell out with each other and drifted apart. Years later, they run into each other as adults and their lives are completely different and they, themselves are even more different. Jung Seok is a single father with a daughter who has cancer. Kang Hee is a famous actress that is struggling with PR issues. Jung Seok’s daughter is a huge Kang Hee fan and when she starts writing letters to her, her father delivers them and to everyone’s surprise, Kang Hee starts writing her back.

Kang Hee is also surprised when it comes to her attention that she’s been writing letters to a young girl with cancer and when she finds out that the girl’s father is someone she actually knows, she’s curious.

Male Lead

Yoon Park as Jung Seok was such a sweetheart and a good father and I absolutely adored him. He was smart and he was hard-working and such a devoted father that it was hard not to root for him. It was more than obvious that he still harbored a secret crush on Kang Hee but seeing him grow more and more confident in himself as the show progressed made for an enjoyable viewing experience. He’s not the perfect character that has all of his shit together but he’s a flawed character that is trying his best and I really liked that about him.

Female Lead

I haven’t watched a whole lot of shows with Choi Soo Young in them but I do like her acting. This was a fantastic role for her and I thought she did really well with it. Kang Hee was perfect on the outside but a mess on the inside and seeing her work through her issues and become stronger and stronger as the show progressed was great. It took her a while to work through her fear of getting fan letters (her reason for that was completely understandable, btw) and seeing her grow closer and closer to both Jung Seok and his daughter was great too.

The Cast

Aside from the two main leads, not a lot of other people were familiar to me. There were just a couple of people that I recognized from other shows so I can’t really say much about everyone. As much as I enjoyed the characters from the hospital (the other kids and the Moms), and then the reporter guy, not a lot of them were memorable though I’m sure that will change once I see more stuff with them in them.

The main leads definitely carried this show for me.

Final Thoughts

This show was a lot of fun. It was funny, it made me happy sigh and it even made me tear up as well. It packed a pretty great punch for such a short show. I thought for sure that I’d find it lacking in some way or form but that wasn’t the case at all. I didn’t think that it felt rushed or that the relationship and story suffered from not having more time to develop. I thought the actors, the writers, and everyone else told a solid story, developed a strong romance, and brought about a lovely cast of characters that charmed the socks right off of me. From the main characters to the kids, even the high school friends, and the convenience store owner, everyone did their thing and I enjoyed every last bit of it.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4 out of 5

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