Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Review:// Scholar Who Walks the Night


Kim Sung Yeol (Lee Jun Ki) is a vampire who has been searching 120 years for the secret method for defeating the tyrannical vampire Gwi who controls the palace. Jo Yang Sun (Lee Yoo Bi) is a bookseller who was raised as a boy and continues to disguise herself to earn a living for her family. Fate brings them together in a bloody quest to save the country.

The Good:  The storyline and characters were interesting, and even though it didn't reach its full potential, the drama was enjoyable to watch. It offered political intrigue, romance, mystery, horror, and the very beautiful Lee Soo Hyuk as Gwi.

The Bad:  The leads did quite a bit of over-acting. It may have been the director pushing them to open their eyes wider and deepen their expressions; a bit distracting, but forgivable. However, with the exception of Gwi, the vampires made such exaggerated grimaces and rolling of their eyes that it looked comical. Director Lee Sung Joon of The Moon Embracing the Sun fame, does not have experience with supernatural or horror productions and it shows.

Jin Se Yun was originally offered the role of Jo Yang Sun, and I think she would have done a better job. Yang Sun is an earnest woman with a child-like sense of wonder. Lee Yoo Bi portrayed her as not just child-like, but as if she were a child. Despite that, there was some chemistry between the leads, however, I kept wondering how in the world a grown man could fall in love with someone who seemed 10 years old.

The ending was lukewarm, evoking no real emotion after all that build up. The last scene seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought that had no explanation. I was expecting more from writer Jang Hyun Joo who previously worked on Coffee Prince and Paradise Ranch.

Though there were a lot of negatives, the drama was visually beautiful, the cast of side characters was lovable, and the story was interesting enough to carry me through to the end.

Scholar Who Walks the Night is based on the manhwa Bameul Geotneun Sunbi written by Jo Joo Hee, and wonderfully drawn by Han Seung Hee. Unfortunately it is not licensed in English and there are no scanlations available. I would love to be able to read it and compare the storyline with the drama.


Happy Birthday December Week 4!

22

Danny Ahn (formerly of G.O.D)
Park Joon Hyung
Sungyong (TOUCH)

23

Jaehyo (Block B)
Kang Sung
No Young Kook
Sanghoon (100%)
Yeo Wook Hwan

24

Aiba Masaki (Arashi)
Park Sang Jo
QL (BTL)

25

Ahn Nae Sang
Choi Kwon
Kim Dong Hyun
Kim Joon Ho

26

Ahn Jung Hoon
Chaejin (MYNAME)
Haru (M.Pire)
Ji Sang Ryul
Jo Jung Suk
Lee Jae Hwang
Oguri Shun

27

Choi Seung Kyeong
Jung Seung Ho
Jung Yoo Suk
Ok Taek Yeon (2PM)

28

Choi Soo Jong
Choi Woong
He Mike (He Jun Xiang)
Kim Hyung Il

29

Lee Hwi Jae
Lee Young Joon

30

Han Ki Won
Han Ki Woong
Jisoo (Seventeen)
K. Will
V (BTS)
Yoon Da Hoon

31

Im Hyun Shik
Nam Sung Jin

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Happy Birthday December Week 3!

15

Choi Jae Won
Go In Bum
Jo Young Jin
Kim Hak Joon
Lee Jae Yoon
Park Kwi Soon
Steve Yoo
Xiah Junsu (JYJ)
Yun Joon Suk

16

Baek Bong Ki
Kidoh (Topp Dogg)
Oh Tae Kyung
Park Seo Joon

17

Hyun Jung (TYKEYS)
Jang Ji Woo
Kil Yong Woo
Kim Bo Kang
Lee Jae Jin (F.T. Island)
Park Young Tae
Sooyoon (Royal Pirates)
Sungjoon (Boy's Republic)

18

Jo Kyung Hoon
Jo Sang Goo

19

Kim Jong Jin
Kim Kwang Gyu
Kwon Byung Gil
Lee Un
Yong Joon Hyung (B2ST)

20

Hwang In Deok
Hyukjin (100%)
Jang Hyuk
T.K. (C-Clown)
Yoon Kye Sang

21

Bobby (iKON)
Han Seung Hyun
Hyungtae (Busker Busker)
Kim Hyuk

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Review:// Masked Prosecutor


Ha Dae Chul (Joo Sang Wook) is a prosecutor in a corrupt justice system where criminals use the law to escape punishment. By night we wears a mask to right the wrongs that would otherwise go unresolved.  Yoo Min Hee (Kim Sun Ah) is the crime division chief at the Gangham Police Station who finds herself bumping heads with the seemingly shallow prosecutor. Consequently, she also happens to be his first love; a one-sided love, for the most part.

The Good:  This drama boasts an excellent cast, each actor perfectly suited for their role. Joo Sang Wook and Kim Sun Ah have good chemistry together, delivering a satisfying sense of push and pull. There is intrigue, as our leads both have family issues that are tied into the main plot. The bad guys are unconscionably bad, and powerful as well. This is balanced with comedy and an adorable bromance.

The Bad:  The writing could use a lot of improvement. The police work was sloppy, making everyone look incompetent enough that it was a distraction. Although the threads of the story came together neatly, it was presented in a very straightforward, one-dimensional way. There wasn't a sense of multi-layered storytelling or emotional development. As for the culmination of the romance, it was anti-climactic to be sure. At the end (pardon me for being sexist) I thought to myself: a man wrote this. So I checked, and yes, Choi Jin Won was responsible for the flat writing and lack of romantic satisfaction. He is also the writer for another big disappointment of mine, Big Man.

I was going to rate Masked Prosecutor a six, but gave it an extra half point just because the actors really pulled through and made their characters shine despite the script. Not just the leads, but the entire cast performed well. 


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Happy Birthday December Week 2!

08

Inagaki Goro (SMAP)
Jo Sung Kyu
Yeon Kyu Jin

09

Bae Soo Bin
Choi Min Ho (SHINee)
Han Sang Jin
Heechul (ZE:A)
Ki Tae Young

10

Kwon Hyung Joon
Park Se Joon (SPEED)

11

J:eta (AlphaBAT)
Jo Dong Hyuk
Jung Man Shik
Lee do Hyun
Ohn Joo Wan
Ryu (Mr. Mr)
Song Jae Hee

12

David McInnis
Dok Go Young Jae
Im Jong Yoon
Lee Kyung Young
Seung Ri (Big Bang)
Shin Seung Hwan

13

Go Se Won
Joo Ah Sung
Kim Jung Tae
Won Tae Hee

14

B-Bomb (Block B)
Choi Won Hong
Lee Sun Ho
Onew (SHINee)
Shin Gook

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Happy Birthday December Week 1!

01

Byun Woo Min
Im Si Wan (ZE:A)
Lee Tae Woo

02

Choi Sung Gook
Kim Do Hyun
Yoonhak (Supernova)

03

Baek Joon Ki
Kim Hyung Gon (A-JAX)
Kim Jung Woon
Peter (One Way)

04

Jin (BTS)
Red (M.Pire)

06

Ryu Dam

07

Choi Sung Min (SPEED)
Kang Ji Hoo
Ryu Tae Joon
Shin Min Soo
Teo (Lunafly)