Reviews

I’ll start by being upfront : all in all, Ring Ring Bell is a pretty terrible drama. Its writing is shallow and weak, its production noticeably drops greatly in quality as the show progresses, and about 99.999999999% of the problems these characters managed to wrangle up could have been solved in 2 seconds if anyone ever took the time to talk to the other person involved instead of always assuming they have to “protect my love by hurting them and leaving.” If you enjoy the trope of noble idiocy, boy is this the drama for you. If you can’t stand that cliché, don’t approach this drama with a 10-foot pole, else risk shooting yourself in the foot.

And yet... and yet... I’m reluctant to admit it, but there is something addictive in the drama. Something that pulls you back in and makes you watch it despite wanting to tear all your hair out because of the sheer idiocy of the character’s actions (and a lot of stiff acting). I think that draw may rest solely on Peter Ho’s shoulders, to be perfectly honest. He has a charisma on screen that can’t be denied, and he is very good at switching from being terribly heartbroken in one instant, angry in the next, and portraying such poignant self-hatred at himself in the last, all without having to say a word. It was awesome. He had so much control over his acting in this drama, I was duly impressed. I’ll definitely be looking more into his other works in the future.

All other performances, though, were questionable at best, something to be snickered at at their worst. I’ve seen the lead actress, Janine Chang, in one other drama — Sunny Happiness — and I don’t remember her being this embarrassingly bad at overacting. Or maybe it was just a pure /lack/ of acting. Her performance felt fake and cardboard-y most of the time, only coming through as natural when she was paired with Peter Ho in scenes where they weren’t fighting. I agree with the rest of comments on MDL that say they have good chemistry in this drama, because they do. They really do. Their scenes together as a couple are some of the best moments to look forward to, really.

It’s not only the acting that’s like cardboard, though. The story is also predictable, full of clichés, and terribly managed. I liked where they were going with it in the first 2 episodes maybe, but then we got to the meat of the story. The core of the story is essentially making our cardboard heroine go through all these “trials and tribulations” that make the male lead notice her and gradually want to “put her on the right path” where she could actually, y’know, succeed in life and raise her child properly. Except, of course, she doesn’t want to be “on the right path,” she wants to be on the “noble idiot, self-righteous path” that only makes her and everyone around her miserable in the end. And then the ex’s come back. And then someone’s sacrificing their “happiness” for the person they love — hurting the other person terribly in the process — because that’s what “good people” do, right? Riiight? -.- Gah. I can’t tell you how many times I almost dropped this drama because of the ridiculous scenes it kept showing me one. After. Another. Over. And. Over. Again. Like I said before, 99.999999% of this drama’s problems all had one simple solution : Communication. Simple, effective communication. The problems they were dealing with weren’t even that severe; the writers just kept making so many mountains out of molehills to keep the story dragging on. (I can’t even count how many insignificant, meandering side stories the drama has...)

Let me take this moment to mention the OST as well. 4 words: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” How much do you like this song? No matter your answer, I’m sure after watching this drama, that like will drop about 10 notches. From now on, every time you hear those sweet beginning verses, it’ll dredge up shuddering recollections of a story so full of holes and directing so shoddy, the music will change tracks like 5 times in one scene to fit a general, repetitive sequence of events —> Chase scene! Dramatic accident! Romantic follow-up! But No! I can’t love you! I’ll only hurt you! I must run away! I won’t even try to explain my reasoning! And how dare you ever ask me why!~ Cue : “Twinkle, twinkle little star...” -.- This drama, I swear...

But! when it was good, it really was good. Mainly when Peter Ho was on the screen, but sometimes he could also improve Janine’s acting if they were together and all she had to be was happy. You’ll find yourself routing for them even as female lead does everything in her power to destroy her own happiness (for the millionth time.) The little girl, Duo Duo, was also cute to watch. A little too mature to be in kindergarten, but whatevs. That was the least of the drama’s problems.

It’s a good drama if melodrama and characters going through abysmal situations is your thing. (I admit, I have a weakness to this... heh, probably how I pulled through completing this diamond in the rough). And if you like fairy tale-type stories where everything is tied into a neat little bow at the end, this is also the drama for you. All of our main characters get an epilogue at the end showing how they’ll pull through in the future (and potentially stop making themselves miserable!) That was nice, I guess...

Leia Mais

I've been watching Korean and Japanese dramas since january 2011 and this is the first drama I'm reviewing. (I always wanted to use this sentence and I had one shot; so, sorry in advance.) I didn't expect to watch anything that came close to City Hunter, while Healer surpassed it unmeasurably!

This will be a very short review: By far the best Korean drama I've watched so far - and I watched a decent number of them.

This drama has everything: breath-taking story, very good acting, music much above average, overall a very well calculated entertainment value.

Pace - In my personal experience, this was closest to perfection in terms of pace. I'm a marathon person. So I just sit down and watch all episodes in 40 hours or so. As a result, in most dramas, I lose interested after watching the two thirds of the episodes - so you have no choice but fast forward those exaggerated scenes full of staring and misunderstandings. This wasn't the case for Healer, the story was breath-taking from the beginning to the end. Let me add that the story captures you from the first episode onwards - which is somewhat rare also in Korean dramas in my opinion.

Cliches - There is a decent amount of cliches in the drama which are used smartly. so it captures both the new-comers to Dramaland as well as seasoned watchers who are tired of the cliches. I was especially happy because there were minimum number of misunderstandings and actual communication!

Love - Awesome dosage to my taste! Not sticky, boring love but also not one of those that make you go rrrrrrrrr at the end due to unsatisfaction. Let me add that the presence of SEX (finally in a Korean drama) is one of the reasons I rated it so highly. Enough with the 15 year-old approach to love and sex. The one and only sex-oriented and somewhat erotic episode is not overdone at all, but just the right dosage.

Female lead - This is important. You don't have the traditional idiotic female lead - which is somehow associated with innocence and purity. No, female leads don't have to be complete idiots to be cute and attractive and thank god we have a mart one here.

Male lead - Ehm... Well, I'm a straight woman so the "eye candy" element is crucial for me. And oh yeah I was satisfied! :) no more comments on this...

Acting - Much much above average, one of the best I've watched so far!! I wouldn't expect this much from Ji Chang Wook, I was very very surprised! And of course, chapeau to ahjumma! Brava!

Still I couldn't cover everything but I can't write forever. So if you're reading this to decide about watching or not, stop reading and start watching. Definitely I'll be watching again in a few months.

Thank you for everyone who worked on this drama to bring it to its current quality level! Hallyu wave owes you guys big time! =))

Leia Mais

Okay this show was just so cute, and mostly funny like a Rom Com should be. I like Lee Seung Gi in this role and I think he does well even with the emotional parts which I wasn't sure he would be able to handle. I loved Shin Min Ah in this as the Gumiho, her ability to pull off child like and naive behavior was great.

I hated Hyo Min's character with a passion. Her character had a very unflattering (much worse than troll) nick-name from me about half way through. I am not so certain that her character had any real value to the story though, and I kinda felt (several of times) that her character could meet an untimely end and it wouldn't effect the story too much.

On a similar note No Min Woo was a little bit of a disappointment in this. I love him in "Full House Take 2" and I felt his character was so flat in this drama (that said he was gorgeous in every scene and I can see why he was cast in such a magical and unworldly role- ???)

I liked that I was in suspense up till the end but the end was also a little abrupt .... "My girlfriend is a fox...." I also hated that the "goddess" shows up in the end but doesn't really do anything.

Overall the show was fun and entertaining. I enjoyed it, but there were just some plot/story holes that I would have liked fixed.

Leia Mais

Perfection. That is the only word I can use to describe the absolute treasure that was Healer.

Funnily enough, I almost passed by this drama and, had I not been practically forced to push the play button, I would have missed out on the best drama I've seen in my twelve years of drama watching experience. Even the fact that this is my first drama review on MDL shows how highly I think of this drama and how strongly I feel that the overall rating of #2 and popularity of #1 is completely well deserved. Healer has become my top favorite drama, dethroning my previous favorite, which had held onto the top spot for the last seven years. That's the power of Healer.

If strong characters all around, both male and female, are your thing, watch it. If a solid love line without stupid, nonsensical love triangles and noble idiocy break ups are your thing, watch it. If you enjoy a good action, romance, political, and gripping-the-edge-of-your-seat-intense drama, then this is definitely, definitely for you. Watch it.

The acting by the ENTIRE cast is flawless. The OST is amazing and so well suited to each scene that its played in. Healer will make you experience the widest range of emotions throughout its 20 episodes and you'll still feel like you didn't get enough. Heartwarming, touching, beautiful, intriguing, heartbreaking, action-packed, downright hilarious, and so perfect! That's Healer.

In fact, I don't think there are enough words in the world to describe Healer and the effect it has on me and this is coming from a writer. The plot was solid, the pacing was perfectly balanced while never slow, and the characters were so natural and realistic. I walked into this drama unfamiliar with the cast and walked away a fan of all three leads and then some.

If you've ever fallen so in love with someone or something to the point where your heart hurts and throbs with the pain of overwhelming emotions, then you'll understand what Healer has done to me. But, quite frankly, it would hurt more to never experience this drama than to deal with the withdrawal of a perfect in every aspect drama.

Leia Mais

the drama does not grab me in the first episode. but it contains some gap generations which make me anxious what will make the story grows. the transition of the character in 1981 to the new generation are so good that make me wonder what will the story bring to us.

a must watch drama that hit all the nice spots for me. yup, it's not perfect but it has so little wrong for me. great casts and production teams. can't tell more, watch the show yourself ! Healer has a heart, not your cliche or typical Korean dramas out there. Healer has its very own charms, and extraordinary.

Leia Mais

Nodame Cantabile is a very funny and entertaining drama. I wasn't expecting much of it, but I ended up loving it. It surprised me in every single way.

The story is great. It is extremely funny, I laughed a lot watching and it also has it's dramatic moments. The characters are fantastic. Nodame is so eccentric, but she's also lovable. The story and the characters develop brilliantly, and it was also more original than I expected.

The acting may be a bit exaggerated, but it fits the tone of the drama and the story perfectly. Ueno Juri is PERFECT as Nodame, I don't think anyoine will ever play her as well as Ueno. Takenaka Naoto was AMAZING, I laughed every single time he appeared. Koide Keisuke also surprised me. I had seen him in ''N no Tame ni'', and I still can't believe it's the same person.

The music is no doubt the best aspect of this drama. I've never really listened to classical music, but I think I've become a fan thanks to this drama.

To sum up, Nodame Cantabile is a very fun and entertaining drama, with a great story, great acting, and a fantastic soundtrack.

Leia Mais

Story: This is a modern re-take on the famous historical figure - Wu Ze Tian. Empress Wu is renown as the only female emperor in China but most importantly, she is also famous for her cruelty with historical records of infanticide (she murdered her own baby), murder, amputation, torture etc. Although an intelligent and educated woman, her rule was marred by reports of her cruelty against her own children, relatives, ministers and servants. However, scholars have also praised her for her brilliance in administration. She made wise decisions in selecting capable ministers though she was quick to punish any mistakes - often cruelly. During her rule, the Tang dynasty expanded rapidly and became the biggest empire - extending to beyond the west of Turkey and with Japan and the Korean peninsula firmly under Chinese rule. If we are to re-interprete the life of Wu Ze Tian in the context of her life in early China, we might arrive at a conclusion of a perfectionist feminist with a tendency to punish incompetence and perceived betrayals. After all, Wu Ze Tian lived in a purely patriarchal society where a female ruler is a taboo that has to be taken down regardless of consequences. Women as leaders is bad luck - a curse or even can be viewed as Satan himself. Yin can never dominate Yang - the very essence of Taoist teaching; which was the main teaching during the Tang dynasty. Under such circumstances and having lived all her life under the rule of incompetent males - what is a brilliant woman to do? She had no choice but to defy traditions and society - killing anyone who stood in her way (these are ppl who cannot accept a female ruler) and resorting to lies and murders to frame others so she could rise to position. It is true then, that when women fight, they don't fight fair!

Now, that is what history remembers Wu Ze Tian as - brilliant, perfectionist, strategist & murderer. But is this the personal Wu Ze Tian? This series acted and produced by Fan Bing Bing give viewers a different take on the cruel empress - one that colours We Ze Tian as a kind woman who fell victim to broken relationships, lies and plots of others around her. A helpless and vengeful Wu Ze Tian??? Hmmm....I know many who are skeptical of this! At least I know my aging mum who's a bit of a Chinese history buff cursed this portrayal of Wu Ze Tian. All Chinese knew this empress as a cruel person - why is she suddenly a nice, innocent and victim-of-circumstance person? Perhaps, this is just another perspective - albeit a more feminist perspective of Wu Ze Tian. We all know that Fan Bing Bing's a consummate feminist and this is her attempt to give the world a different portrayal of powerful Chinese female historical figures. Her next project is a drama on Empress Dowager Cixi. The Chinese hated Cixi even to this day. There is a tradition in China where ppl spit at her grave and curse her even to this day - that is how hated this woman is. Like Wu Ze Tian, she murdered many - including her own children and relatives. She's also the woman who signed away HK, Macau and many important Chinese ports to the Brits so she could continue with her opium addiction. Unlike Wu Ze Tian who at least ruled the country wisely and contributed to the expansion of the Chinese empire, Cixi actually almost destroyed it. The Chinese saw the last of the Chinese emperors, partially thanks to her. So, how will Fan Bing Bing portray Cixi as a heroine in her next project? Let's wait and see...

Acting/Cast: Acting is good as all actors and actresses are very experienced. No problems in this department. The costumes are brilliant. Although the cleavages are common to the Tang dynasty's fashion, the elaborated designs, bright multi-colours and accessories may be a little too modern (and fanciful) to the time. There are also many instances when Wu Ze Tian has a more elaborate costume compared to the other women who were higher ranked than her. She even out-shone the emperor's costumes.. which is a no-no. It is obvious that the best costumes are reserved for Fan Bing Bing's main character of Wu Ze Tian which kind of created an unrealistic atmosphere. She should have gone with less elaborate costumes as befitting her station in the palace instead of insisting on being the 'peacock' of the lot.

Music: The OSTs are ok but not the main feature of this drama.

Overall: It's a good enough entertainment but let's be honest here, with 96 episodes... I don't know anyone who is crazy enough to re-watch this again. It is not the 'WOW!' kind of drama that would cause you to re-watch it. It's a once-off drama that is good enough to keep you entertained.

Leia Mais

Ive come upon this series by accident. I clicked it instead of the one im suppose to. I admit i fell in love with xiao xiong at first sight. I thought he kinda looks like josh groban. Lols.. But im a sailormoon fanatic up until now so i said to myself, looks cool and kinda similar to the sailormoon live action. Ive watched it and finished it in a week. I loved it snd craving for more. I admit their acting was a bit OA at times esp xiao feng but thats where the charisma comes from. I love the inserts, the voice over explanations and the comedy here and there. Of course my one tru love is xiao xiong. He does his drama well and has that drop dead gorgeous smile. -_- My eyes almost dropped seeing those expensive cars at his mansion but fall to ponder how come he and the ko bad girls are always just running when they have all those cars around. I hate that xiao yang is over mentioned in the story but has the least scenes but i guess thats part of the story. I was hoping that the third evil sister, the bullied transferee was teacher wei yis's long lost sister and was just kidnapped or brainwashed since the principal's twin brother was also the one who killed and destroyed their kingdom. I hated that the story ended with no closure regarding charlie and xiao feng's relationship and xioa xiong and kate's as i was rooting for them. I hated this ended too soon for me as ive known thrm only for a week now im totally having a separation anxiety

Leia Mais

"You're Beautiful" is one of those dramas that I feel like everybody just need to watch, it was recommended to me as one of the "classics" and since I'm new to dramaland I think it was a good, nice step towards my introduction to this world. It was hilariously funny, perfect to watch when you're having a bad day and need to lift your spirits up, if you're ready to go through the amount of cheesiness of this story, that is.(but the first part, is mostly genuine comedy). I'm not going to lie, however, while it had many good points, it also had its bad points that definitely shouldn't be ignored.

While I liked the concept of the genderbend plot and the way it was used, I felt like sometimes it tried to be too "draggy" and some situations were questionable. Why?
1. Go Mi Nyu's being a "nun in-training" didn't manage to excuse her overall Marry Sue-ish dullness. I understand up to innocence, naivety and inexperience, but a naive and innocent person doesn't particularly also need to be dull. Sure, I can believe it up to the point she believes all of what she is told and is easily manipulated (which was a pretty funny element and lead to interesting situations in her case, actually), but I can't forgive her lack of deduction and connection skills where "information" is served to her on a silver plater. I found it an incoherence in her character to be able to "read" between the lines in certain situations, but not in others, maybe more important ones.
2. Go Mi Nam's character. Despite him being the cause and trigger of all the following situations presented in the drama and he presumably cares a lot for his twin sister, I found it disappointing that he never made a "proper" appereance where we actually could have been able to figure out what he thought and where he stands.
3. Shin Woo's relationship with Go Mi Nyu. While I do like Shin Woo's character, I never got an actual "genuine" feeling from his relationship with Go Mi Nyu. I kept feeling that he was getting "used" throghout all the drama to trigger certain events or simply to make us feel sorry for him... Which.. wasn't very nice thing to do...i don't think Shin Woo got a very big character development, which is a real shame. (Yonghwa FTW though)
4. While definitely part of the comedy and it was hilarious most of the time, Tae Kyung's self centered attitude was also often annoying (exclusively) in the last part of the show, simply because the situation didn't require his sassiness.
5. Most of the scenes in the last 2 episodes felt "useless". I did really appreciate it's attempt to close up all unresolved issues, however, but I didnt find necessary the whole dramatic dispute between the main pairing of the show. BUT, in the end I was able to forgive it because the last 10 minutes of episode 16 made me fall into a deep case of giggling and fangirling. *wink wink*

Now the good parts ! As I said before, "You're Beautiful" offers a type of comedy that can't possibly not make you end up giggling in a corner, but it's also not only about that, It has an involving plot regarding other serious issues too, how kpop idols live and maybe a bit of reality on kpop fanclubs and how idols have to deal with the reporters, which was a very nice inthrough.
Character wise, Tae Kyung definitely got the most character development, and I never imagined it any other way around. It's funny now when looking back to the first few episodes. While I did complain a bit about Shin Woo, however, I do consider Jeremy also had his share of development, despite being a comic relief, and was able to provide us with his own moment of "maturity". The side cast was also extremely enjoyable for their roles.

The cast was great. Excepting when Park Shin Hye seemed to have ler legs tied when walking, I don't even know who even came with the idea of making her walk like that...xD but even she did a good job on portraying what she needed to portray. And I always remain fascinated by her sobbing skills at least in this drama. Jang Geun Suk's acting was probably my main source of entertaining alongside Hongki's. JGS's evil smirks and jealous sulky expressions and Hongki's laughs and weirded out, desperate faces made me not able to look at them without cracking a smile. I don't really know what to say about UEE, but she was good enough to make me believe in her He Yi's "bitchie" attitude.

The OST is amazing. enough said.

And my final vote is 8.5. I would have really wanted to give it more, but because of those things above that quite bothered me in the end I couldn't be THAT biased and lean towards the 9. But 8.5 is still a pretty good rating ! I recommend it to everybody, or at least all of you who like romantic comedies or are into "otome games". You'll understand what I mean, after you watch. *wink wink*

Leia Mais

When i find a drama that has remakes i usually watch all remakes, just so i can compare one to another, so i watched Korean whitch is original version, then Japanese and lastly Taiwanese, i loved Taiwanese the most, because the acting was great, and Jiro Wang did a great job, so my favorite Taiwanese actor didnt let me down.

At first i thought it was an exact replica of Korean version, but as i watched every episode, they put something new in, and it was a really great drama, worthy of watching. I know how Taiwanese dramas know to drag things, but i never saw any of dragging here like i did in Meteor Garden, or It started with a kiss.

As i said in my opinion its the best out of 3, i absolutely loved it :D

Leia Mais