Goblin

Korean title : 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비

Other title : Goblin: The Lonely and Great God / Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

16 episodes

Aired on tvN from 2016 Dec to 2017 Jan

Main cast :

• Gong Yoo as Kim Shin
• Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak
• Lee Dong Wook as Wang Yeo
• Yoo In Na as Kim Sun / Sunny
• Yook Sung Jae as Yoo Duk Hwa
• Lee El as Samshin Granny
• Kim Sung Kyum as President Yoo Shin Woo
  
• Jo Woo Jin as Secretary Kim Soo Bok
  

 Production credits :

• Production company: Hwa and Dam Pictures
• Director: Lee Eung Bok; Yoon Jong Ho (ep 3-16)
• Screenwriter: Kim Eun Sook

Notes : 

• I mentioned that I would watch this drama in my review of Touch your heart, in which Yoo In Na and Lee Dong Wook were reunited as the romantic leads. Park Kyung Hye who is a ghost here would become one of their coworkers in Touch your heart.
• This drama was huge, from what I gathered, so I had high expectations.
  
• The screenwriter also wrote Secret garden (and A Millionaire's first love, which is a real blast from the past!). I don't see many similarities except for the fantasy aspects. She also wrote The Heirs!
  
• I have watched episode 8 weeks ago and I don't feel like picking it up so it's a DNF but I may resume watching at some point. It's the first time I felt that way. Usually when I DNF, it's definitive. OK, when I came back to this draft, I had tried to pick it up again and still didn't feel like going through it all so after episode 9, I jumped straight to the final episode. 

 

 Review : DNF 

Title : Straightforward. Maybe too much? I make fun of titles but I wish this drama had a more poetic name that would better reflect the feel of the drama. But it's ok and recognizable enough.

Boy : He's a goblin. I tried to look up what it means in Korean folkore but didn't find much. Anyway, here is what I got from the drama. He was once a mortal but was resurrected after his violent death as an immortal being with powers such as teleportation. When we met him, he's hundreds years-old and waiting for the one person who can put an end to his life. I actually don't remember much about him or his personality.

Girl : Spunky high schooler with a terrible homelife. Oh, and she sees ghosts. And she should have died. And she is the one who is supposed to end Boy's life. I like her, she acts cute and she is also really fierce, determined in adversity.

Other boy : He's a grim reaper. He's resigned but when there is a perspective of something more, he doesn't quite know what to do and how to act. There are hints of a backstory which could develop his character but I didn't get it in the episodes I've watched.

Other girl : She runs a coffee place. Of all 4 main characters, she's the one I understood the least. She is human with no supernatural powers... I think? But I think she acts weird? Again, there are hints of a backstory but when I stopped watching, it had not been explored.

Plot / relationships : Here is my main gripe with the drama. I didn't get the plot. It's at the same time simple and convoluted. There was not enough momentum for me. As for the relationships, the most interesting one was the "friendship" between Boy and Other Boy. As for the romance, there were many moments that were very romantic, and the actors sell it for the most part... but "destined love" is not my favourite trope.

Theme : death. I don't have a "theme" bullet point so I've added it just for this drama. I don't agree with how death is presented but it's an interesting theme to explore.

Clichés :  Hundreds years-old and teenager in love. Star-crossed lovers.

Funny? Surprisingly yes. I am impressed by how they managed to get the tone right and how successful they are at both the tragic/poignant and the funny/light-hearted.

Music : Do I really need to talk about the OST? I feel like it's iconic. Stay with me and Round and round are so so good and go so well with the atmosphere of the drama.

Bonus : Goblin has the best cinematography I've ever seen in a drama. The production value and the special effects are amazing.

Bottom line : I feel bad DNF-ing this drama because I'm a completist, because it has a lot of impressively well-done things going for it (tone, music, atmosphere), and because it is so well-liked. But as objectively good Goblin may be, it is not the drama for me. It also felt to me a bit too self-conscious, too enamoured of itself, like a collection of striking scenes that don't add up to a satisfying whole. Anyway, I applaud the ambition but it's a DNF.

The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries

Taiwanese title: 黑糖群俠傳 (黑糖群侠传)

Aired on StarTV
From 2008 June to October
13 episodes

Main cast:

Wang Zi as Linghu Cong

Albee Huang as Ren Ying Ying

Ah Wei as Guo Jing

Yako Chan as Lu Jian Ning

Wang Jing Qiao as Xiao Long Nu

Ah Ben as Wei Xiao Bao

Xiao Yu as Chu Liu Xiang

Xiao Ma as Yi He Cang Tai

Mei Mei as Guardian Sheng Nu

Zhang Ke Fan (張克帆) as Lu Da You

Wang De Sheng (王德生) as West Side principal

Amanda Chou as Tian Shan Tong Lao

Ao Quan as Hong Shi Ba

Christine Fan as Dong Fang Bu Bai

Notes:
- Like Brown Sugar Macchiato, it features members of music bands Lollipop, Hey Girl and Choc7 in the main cast and in cameos.
- It's a spoof of modern wuxia novels.
- Warning: Special effects are really bad. Since they are aware of it, they don't use them that much.
- Rewatching!

Review: Fav!

Title: "Brown Sugar" is a callback to "Brown Sugar Macchiato"

Boy: He's an orphan who was brought up by the principal of a magical martial arts school. Naturally gifted and hard-working, he is the strongest of his generation. Besides that, he's also a great leader.

Girl: She's an outcast because her father worked for the big bad. Moreover, she's quite shy so she seems cold and stand-offish.

Boy: He's a particularly clumsy and selfless guy. I didn't really care.

Girl: She's the only daughter of a teacher. She acts like a spoiled kid but she is not annoying as she is prompt to recognise her faults.

Plot: So there is a big bad who is threatening the balance of the land. He's currently ill so he needs a magical thingie in order to restore his powers. There is also a traitor inside the school.

Relationships: We follow three couples and there is no insta-love. Everyone has his agenda, his personnality with qualities and flaws. I was invested in the romantic relationships, but also in the friendships and the family bonds.

Other characters: I will single out the bad guys and especially The bad guy who is really scary. We don't see him much but these scenes are effective at conveying his evilness.

Funny factor? Yes, silly but funny.

Music: Good.

What the... ? One might say "the entire drama". But I give a pass to a lot of things (beggars society?) because I suppose it comes with the genre. However, I don't think a character's deafness being played for laugh can be excused. It only happens at the beginning or it would have ruined everything.

Bottom line: Under the silliness and bad special effects, I like the characters and care about what happened to them. Though its resolution was lacking, the plot was interesting, progressing steadily. Fab!

Nobuta wo Produce

Japanese title: 野ブタ。をプロデュース

Aired on NTV
From 2005 October to December
10 episodes

Main cast:

Kamenashi Kazuya: Kiritani Shuji

Yamashita Tomohisa: Kusano Akira

Horikita Maki: Kotani Nobuko

Toda Erika; Uehara Mariko

Ukaji Takashi: Kiritani Satoru

Nakajima Yuto: Kiritani Koji

Okada Yoshinori: Yokoyama Takeshi

Natsuki Mari: Catherine

Notes:
- Ignited my crush on you-know-who
- Seriously, everyone is in this drama!
- I rewatched it some months ago so review is from memories!

 

Review: Fav!

Title: Apt. Tells the premise.

Boy: He's popular, has a pretty and nice girlfriend but he's unsatisfied. Actually he forces himself to be nice so that people would like him.

Girl: Other people pick on her because she's weird. She always holds her head down, her face hidden by hair and talks with difficulty to people. But she really has a heart of gold.

Other boy: He doesn't care that people don't care for him. He's as weird as Girl though in a different way.

Plot / relationships: Though romantic feelings interfere as they're bound to, the main Relationship is the unlikely frienship between these three high school students. Each episode tells a self contained story that make the frienship grow.

What I really like about this drama is that under the weirdness, the emotional beats ring true, I was often moved. Also, it isn't predictable. It's confident, smart, doesn't hold back. It doesn't resort to easy magical fixes.

Other characters: It mostly take place at school though we follow Boy at home and sometimes Other Boy.

Funny factor? Yes but that's not what I liked best.

Music: I like the ending song.

Most egregious cliché: Friendship born from giving a makeover. Dream fakeout.

What the...? So many candidates for this category so let's stop at the first episode: a bookstore only allows good-looking people to read in.

Bottom line: Superficially, every character is weird but in the most important ways they behave like real people and I cared for them and their friendship. Do not watch in public.

Proposal Daisakusen

Japanese title: プロポーズ大作戦

Aired on Fuji TV
April - June 2007
on Monday at 21.00

11 episodes + a Special (March 2008)

Main cast:

Yamashita Tomohisa: Iwase Ken

Nagasawa Masami: Yoshida Rei

Fujiki Naohito: Tada Tetsuya

Eikura Nana: Oku Eri

Hiraoka Yuta: Enokido Mikio

Hamada Gaku: Tsurumi Hisashi

Mikami Hiroshi: the Yosei/Fairy

Notes:
- I rewatched it for the second time and my opinion hasn't changed.
- Hello Manager and one of the coworkers of Hotaru no Hikari.

Review: +/-

Title: Like I ended up doing in most reviews, I’ll  actually use this section to give a short synopsis. In this drama, Boy attends his childhood friend’s wedding. He loves her but never confessed and is full of regrets. Every episode, he returns to a point in the past, starting in high school, to change his actions and better convey his feelings to her hoping she won’t get married to another man.

Girl: She’s nice. Though she has liked Boy since they met as kids, their relationship is based on teasing and she has never managed to confess to him.

Boy: He’s a quiet guy. His present self works hard to change the past and does really cute things for Girl but his past self was at best, totally clueless and more likely but worse, a tool. Therefore it’s too easy to understand why Girl would move on.

Other boy: He’s socially awkward but very earnest.

Friends: I talk about them early in the review because they are important in this drama. Though it’s in the background of the romance story, the friendship theme is indissociable. Girl’s best friend is energetic, joyful and she likes to go out with boys. Boy has two friends: one of them is sincerely in love with Girl’s best friend and has no shame expressing himself openly though he always gets rejected, the other is calm, mature, smart, in a word, cool.

Relationship: Ouch. This is where this drama falls apart. My opinion.

1^st: No chemistry between Boy and Girl. I buy them as friends but not as lovers. Their interactions are mostly teasing and I get that it’s hard when you grew up together to change the relationship you have but the will-they/won’t-they tension was lacking.

2^nd: There is no deep discussion between Boy and Girl, like discussing their dreams, their problems. Emotion only comes from their repressed feelings towards each other and common memories of their school years. Which is not enough to make me believe that two people are endgame.

3^rd: Past Boy didn’t seem to care that much about Girl’s feelings and she was right to move on to Other boy with whom she has better chemistry and who is a great guy.

4^th: Boy is actually quite selfish. He realises he has loved Girl for 14 years, which I’m not convinced of, and decides to win her back. But their love seem childish while her relationship with Other boy feels more mature. Indeed, their characters go better together while her feelings for Boy are kept alive in part by nostalgia.

Funny factor: Running gags. Also Boy keeps talking about events or using catchphrases before they happen, which is fun if you are really familiar with these Japanese pop culture references.

Music: Okay.

Bottom line: This is a high-concept drama. Bonus point for originality but the format of each episode gets tiring. Introduction: he goes into the past. Conclusion: he comes back. Seeing only “moments” in their lives was a bit superficial. I didn’t root for the main couple but I have to say that the returns to the past were well-handled and interesting, as a concept. I don’t know how it could have been better but it could have been way worse so +/-.

Big

Korean Title: 빅

Aired on KBS2 - June/July 2012

16 episodes

Main cast:

Gong Yoo as Seo Yoon Jae/ Kang Kyun Joon

Lee Min Jung as Kil Da Ran

Shin Won Ho as Kang Kyun Joon

Suzy as Jang Ma Ri

Yoon Hae Young as Lee Jung Hye

Jang Hee Jin as Lee Se Young

Ahn Suk Hwan as Kil Min Kyu

Baek Sung Hyun as Kil Choong Shik

 

 

Review: -

Title: Big. Because the mind of a 18 years-old gets into the body of a 30 years-old man, I guess. But the drama is not about what it is to be "big" (an adult). Apart from the aging aspect, no relation to the Tom Hanks movie.

Girl: She's a high school teacher. She's normal. She's fine. Boy is too. The characters were better than the drama. The actors are good (I even like her father played by someone I complained about in a previous review) and Special mention to Gong Yoo! They were not the problem, the...

Relationship/Plot was. I wanted to DNF this drama but since I am writing this blog, I finished it to review it properly. So I kept watching but I kept comparing it to Zettai Kareshi and Rooftop Prince, and I kept wanting to rewrite the drama, instead of being drawn into it.

Big tries to sell us a controversial couple: a teacher and the 18 years-old boy who found himself in the body of her serious boyfriend. Yep. I think that if you decide to do something controversial, you have to be confident to own it and pull it off. But the drama is inconsistent in the way it deals with this premise. Sometimes ignoring it, sometimes flaunting it (He always calls her "Teacher", Kang Kyun Joon really looks like his age in his real body), sometimes trying awkwardly to say "it's okay". Anyway, I wasn't sold, I didn't want Da Ran and Kyun Joon together.

That's not even the only problem. Others include a mystery that takes way too long and too many fakeouts to be discovered and is not totally resolved, two characters who are transparent plot devices  (I felt really bad for one for how he was (not) treated), and a cop-out of an ending.

Other characters: Their family. Nothing particular but I want to mention some characters I really like: her brother and Ma Ri ("double double crazy"!).

Funny factor? D-stories involving C-list characters. Kind of funny but pointless. Funny moments at the beginning then none (as it's often the case).

Music: Okay.

Bottom line: There were cute bonding ideas, decent characters that were sadly wasted because it was too hard to enjoy when I was cringing at the couple and at the plot.

After the jump, discussion of the plot and of the ending. What I want to change... For those who watched it... and if you haven't, you can still read on since you won't watch it anyway, right? ;)

Rooftop Prince

Korean title:  옥탑방 왕세자

Aired on SBS
March/May 2012
20 episodes

Main cast:

Micky Yoochun as Yong Tae Yong/ Lee Gak

Han Ji Min as Park Ha / Bu Yong

Lee Tae Sung as Yong Tae Moo

Jung Yoo Mi as Hong Se Na / Hwa Yong

Choi Woo Shik as Do Chi San

Jung Suk Won as Woo Yong Sul

Lee Min Ho (not the BoF one) as Song Man Bo

Ban Hyo Jung as President Yeo

Ahn Suk Hwan as Yong Dong Man

Lee Moon Shik as Pyo Taek Soo

Song Ok Sook as Gong Man Ok

Na Young Hee as President Jang

Note:
I watched this drama week-to-week (starting from around the 5th ep), something I rarely do. I usually wait till all the episodes are out. I hate waiting ;) and the experience is more intense. But it also makes inconsistencies more glaring. I hope I would have liked Rooftop Prince as much if I had watched it in less sittings.

Review: Fav!

Title: I shouldn't have made fun of dramas titles because again this one is appropriate. I like it.

Girl: OK. Han Ji Min is in two of my favourite dramas and I don't especially like her. But let's talk about her character. She's a very generic drama girl lead. She's kind. She cares about her family. She's hardworking. She's brash at first but that is toned down quite quickly. More problematic: she does the DUMBEST action in the drama which stalls the plot. Plus she's a bit of a damsel-in-distress at some point.
However, she's brave. Like, a lot. In many ways. She faces whatever is going on.

Boy: Asian dramas are really good with male lead characters. They pretty much have to if the romance is a big part of the story. Here, Boy is just the right kind of arrogant and cute. But what I liked the most is that he's really smart. In a lot of dramas, Boy runs a big company usually thanks to his family and it is implied or mentioned that he is clever. But here, since it's a plot driven drama, we can see Boy using his brain to try to understand what is going on and what he should do. And he has good ideas. (+)

Other boy and girl: They have a lot of screentime so they deserve to be singled out. They are the "enemies" and I liked them. I think they are developed beyond the "they are just evil" theme (though it wouldn't have hurt to pad their motivations- I did that in my head) and their path is really interesting. (+) I can't say more without spoiling and I really don't want to spoil you on this drama because...

the Plot is the Number one reason this drama is a Fav. The threads were generic, especially the 'I want to take over a company" but :
I was seriously impressed by how many balls the drama throw in the air and how it managed to catch all of them. I like how everyone act mostly rationally (except for the DUMBEST action in the drama and it made it stick out even more). I like how expertly the plot and the characters interconnected. I like how it progressed steadily, almost never stalling (except after, you know, the DUMBEST action ever). I like how at any given point, the drama could go on many different directions and I had no idea which one it would take and it would end up one I hadn't even thought about. I didn't even like the end for many reasons but that couldn't spoil the enjoyment of everything that happened before.

Relationship: It worked well with the plot (though it could have been even more integrated). I like how it was built, the obstacles were natural. However, I don't know if it's because I'm lukewarm about Girl or... OK, I know. I think their characters don't match, for whatever reasons. (I would develop more but I'd need to heavily spoil what happens). Still, I'm willing to buy it because I love this drama!

Other characters: You see from the "main cast" that there are a lot of them. I like all the older ones except for the father of Other boy. The actor also played Geum Jan Di's father in Boys over flowers and he overacts. It was annoying. Other important characters are Boy's companions. They each have a distinctive strength and they are a treat. The way they react, the way they evolve... They are adjacent to the plot but at the same time, they are totally necessary.

Funny factor: A little. As many dramas, especially at the beginning since the premise of the drama is a huge opportunity for comedy.

Music: Plays its role. I grew to like it but it was sometimes distracting instead of enhancing what is happening.

Other points: There are historical parts and fantastic elements. Both are a Plus for me.

On another note, I have to mention the shameless product placements. At this point, the cars are a given (though I have no idea which brand they were using since I had never seen that logo before) but now, it's the phones. If you watch the Vampire Diaries, you know the scene where Klaus writes with a stylus "I will" instead of typing it. This (not exactly for the same app) happens twice and it's so obvious. Product placements are sometimes necessary but in these cases, they are litteral ads and become distracting. End of rant.

Bottom line: This is the first Fav I featured so I want to reiterate that this does not mean that the drama has no faults. I mentioned some of them in this review but in the end, the good was great enough to make me overlook its failings. Maybe on a second viewing, it will be different but for now:
- The storylines are strong. There are high stakes.
- The relationships between the characters are compelling.
- Events unfold naturally and logically. Actions have consequences. Nothing sticks out as totally unnecessary.
- It has heart.
FAV!


Developments after the jump: BIG SPOILERS ALERT! And I think that the surprises are important here...

Secret Garden

Korean title: 시크릿 가든

Aired on SBS - Winter 2010/11 - 20 episodes

Main cast:

Hyun Bin as Kim Joo Won

Ha Ji Won as Gil Ra Im

Yoon Sang Hyun as Choi Woo Young/Oska

Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul

Lee Philip as Im Jong Soo

Lee Jong Suk as Han Tae Ssun

Yoo In Na as Im Ah Young

Kim Ji Sook as Moon Yeon Hong

Park Joon Geum as Moon Boon Hong

Kim Sung Oh as Kim Sung Woo

In supporting parts:
Hello "Bad guy" from Capital Scandal!
Hello "Director's friend" from Heartstrings! :)

[2020 July 18th edit : I just did a rewatch, and I have thoughts. I'll just add them in italics. My perspective have changed in 8 (!) years and I'm less enthused.]

Review: +

Title: I think it refers to the name of a place in a drama but I don't think it matches the drama.

Girl: Kick-a. Like, literally. She's a stuntwoman and it's glorious to watch the action scenes. She also has a cute side and the actress does a great job. I used to not get "girl crush" but now I do :). (+)

Other girl: I like her but I don't really know what to think of her. Is she supposed to be nice or mean? Is she doing everything out of resentment? (-) [Bizarrely, I actually like her more now and I understand her motivations. It's not her fault that she is trapped in a bad storyline.]

Boy: Arrogant and cute. He has his weaknesses and quirks which is sometimes funny and also gives him some personality. (+) [As someone who is now in the workplace and who know people who got severely depressed after being harassed at work, I was uncomfortable with how badly Boy treats his employees. Moreover, he's never really called out on it and never apologise for it or shown to have changed his ways.]

Other boy: As I said in another review, I don't know what is my problem with the actor Yoon Sang Hyun. He's a good actor and everything but... there's just something off. Anyway, back to more objective remarks: his character is interesting. He's funny (like saying cheesy things and being self-aware about it) and non-confident while being a huge star. Also, I really like his relationship with Boy. [I like him less now. I feel that he only has two modes: screaming and moping. It's too bad because his character of an aging Hallyu star, like Girl's, is not common in dramas.]

Relationships: The main couple has an insanely hot chemistry. Just for them, it was almost a Fav. (I think I remember from Sam-Soon that Hyun Bin is good with chemistry.) Anyway, it makes possible to overlook some of the stalkerish and borderline offensive stuff happening because it's obvious that she is sensitive to his courting. Their dynamic is at the same time cute and hot. (+) [This is the biggest change after my rewatch, I felt less chemistry and was more sensitive to the lack of respect for physical boundaries and the possessiveness. I kept thinking: "what if someone behaved that way with me, I would hate it." It only works if you watch it as fairytale like.]

Alas, there is another relationship happening at the same time... and I don't know what to make of this one. It's too melodramatic, it's simultaneously clear and not clear why they broke up and it's devoid of chemistry. I didn't care about them. Also a lot of their story is showed in flash-backs, not in chronological order, so it doesn't help to understand their relationship. (-) [This hasn't changed. This relationship is still a disaster. I forwarded almost all their scenes. I also realised that there is no progress, no evolution whatsoever between them for a good part of the runtime.]

Plot: The plot with the main couple is great. I love it, I love almost everything that happens. I can't really develop because I don't want to spoil and it's a drama for which spoilers should be avoided. (+)
But I didn't like the storyline with the mother. Not only it is a cliché (something I can be OK with if done properly) but it was annoyingly repetitive. (-) [This bothered me less now.]
The storyline with Other boy was okay. But I didn't find it as engaging as the main storyline.

Other characters: Family: I didn't have any interest in his family. As I said, it is one weakness of this drama. Friends: Very good. All of them were funny and nice. Bad guy: There isn't any bad guy per se, but I like the character that is the closest to being one.

Funny factor: Pretty good. Characters and situations and recurring jokes.

Music: It was ok. [On rewatch, I noticed the musical theme associated to the other main relationship and disliked it.]

Bottom line: I so wanted this drama to become one of my Fav! Because I loved the main couple and their story. Unfortunately, a not-so-great B-storyline/couple and an annoying, repetitive plot device with the mother makes it only a Plus. (Which is also good). I would recommend watching it and fast-forward some scenes. ;)
[I still really like this drama !! Its strengths: it's funny, there are strong characters (though some are kinda wasted), there are surprises (I won't reveal any of them though one is spoiled in every synopsis) and the end is satisfying.]


After the jump, a more complete review with spoilers!