Heirs

Review: 

Truth be told, when I first heard that this was an upcoming drama, I was excited. Personally, I had the thought that this was going to be like Boys Over Flowers..WITH A DIFFERENT STORY LINE. So admittedly, I was curious and excited. I got to say that this drama did meet my standards and I enjoyed it (especially in terms of character depth) but I have to say that there were also parts that I wish could have been changed a little. I'm going to get into the good and bad right now. 

1. Park Shin Hye is amazing at crying scenes. I have known that from all her past dramas...not to mention she played the child part in the sad Stairway To Heaven. As good as she is at crying scenes, her personality in real life is very lively and bubbly and carefree. But throughout the drama, I couldn't help but feel that her character really needed more spirit or strength. Cha Eun Sang seemed to always be crying and crying and crying. She's crying when she faces a dilemma, crying alone in a room, and  so forth. I understood some of her tears but I really thought it would've been amazing where she faces a really heart-wrenching situation and just grits her teeth and raises her head high and gets past it while we're all on the verge of tears. I mean how awesome would that be to see that amount of strength in a character? 

2. I love Lee Min Ho. But his character in this drama annoyed me. I'm not saying all the time...because there were many scenes where I was like: "Oh my gosh, this is so cute" and "Oh...how romantic." I was shipping them together at the very beginning when Eun Sang was in the US. But as it slowly went on, I found myself edging to Choi Young Do more and more. (Kim Tan shippers please don't hate me on this. I'm not saying in any way that I'm not satisfied with the ending, it's just my personal opinion on his character) His character felt really clingy to me. Like...without Cha Eun Sang, he couldn't live. And he constantly spoke of wanting to prove his worth and capability to take care of her to Cha Eun Sang...but time and time again, I was not impressed by his actions. I felt that he was all big talk and no action. It makes sense too. He's a teenager under the rules of his father. I just didn't like how he gave Cha Eun Sang a lot of empty promises. Also, I didn't like this about both the characters of Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang. What is up with the wrist grabbing? And what is up with allowing him to lead you away? A lot of situations had to do with Cha Eun Sang and she should have been there to take care of it and finish it cleanly herself. But almost every time, Kim Tan came and grabbed her wrist and just dragged her away or outside before going back and dealing with it and not letting her deal with her own problems and stand up for herself. Not only that, I felt that he used a lot of sympathy. It was constantly about how his brother was cold and indifferent to him..but the truth is, the brother actually cared for him...only silently. And he always made it seem like his problems were much more bigger than any other character's on this drama. And to put this out there, they all had problems...whether we saw them or not.  

BUT. I will praise him for maturing throughout the entire drama. He learned to stand up for himself and he had a lot more courage and did things that would actually make an impact. And because of that, I applaud him of that. 

(And I do want to ask his stylists...why they made him wear such strange looking clothes throughout the drama. and the amount of make up in that scene where he confronted his father all worn out and all...he looked like he could have been Edward Cullen's best vampire friend or something.) 

3. Choi Young Do. I do admit I was leaning toward him through the entire drama. I liked his character depth a lot and I'll explain. But before I do that, I want to point out that he also used some sympathy points too with his mom who just abandoned him to a father who constantly had affairs. His father was only focused on winning and getting to the top at all costs (even if you have to use underhandedly methods and cheat). His father would hit him/slap him if he didn't meet the expectations. He was also marrying Yoo Rachel's Mom for a business alliance. 

But I felt that his character depth was stronger than Kim Tan's. 

One, because of his father's pressure and how he treated him, Choi Young Do was a feared bully at school. He brought people down. And because he wasn't sure how to react to Cha Eun Sang who he liked, he teased and kind of bullied her also just to see how he would feel for her. 

Two, he began to change from the bully he was. You could literally see him slowly improving himself as he opened up more to Kim Tan and his feelings and worked hard to find a way to beat his father at judo without cheating. And by the end, he was completely focused on finding what brought the best out of him, becoming a better person, and asking for forgiveness. 

Three, he was humorous and easy going. It's really nice to see that in a character. His sarcasm and remarks were some of the many highlights in this drama. 

Four, he treated Cha Eun Sang well most of the time. Other times, he was kind of mean like keeping her from falling in the pool and then just letting go. But he always said something to tell her to take warning. Like for the pool incident, he warned her saying that that was what Kim Tan would do to her, pretend to hold on to her and eventually let her go because of his engagement. 

Five, his own personal emotions and the amount of pain he had to go through knowing that no one really understood him. The best friend he once had is no longer as close as they once were. The girl he liked fell in love with his ex-best friend. The people around him at school are just scared of him. And he missed his mother's love.

4. Chan Young and Bo Na: This couple was another reason to keep watching because of their humor and Bo Na's personality.

5. Myung Soo (acted by Hyung Sik) appeared to be happy and carefree throughout the entire drama...but you see at the end that he might have had more to him than we (as an audience) know and we probably will never know what it truly was. 

6. I felt that they had a lot of potential on Kim Won's love life. The repressed relationship could have had a lot more going on and I felt like I wanted more from that couple and to know more about them because they were similar in some ways to Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang. 

7. They had a lot of great OSTs in that drama. I think a lot of them would have fit a bit more and made the scene more sentimental than the epic: LOVE IS THE MOMENT. I heard that so many times that I couldn't help but just sing along to it even if it was a really touching scene. 

Special shout out to my friend with the initials C.L. who helped write this synopsis along with my help:

Synopsis           

          Whether you are an heir to a large business corporation or an heir to poverty, your worlds will collide with each other and create chaos. Cha Eun Sung lived in poverty with her mother in Korea while her big sister was studying in the United States. Cha Eun Sang takes jobs as a chicken delivery girl and a barista to help her mother pay the bills and she has a dark brooding hatred for the rich. Eun Sang’s sister, Cha Eun Seok calls their mother to tell her she is getting married and needs money for a wedding. Eun Sang takes this chance to go to America to start a new life with her sister but is sorely disappointed when she learns that Eun Seok is not getting married or going to school. Instead Eun Seok is a full time waitress living with an abusive man and is infuriated to find that Eun Sang has discovered her secret. Coldly treating her little sister, she digs through Eun Sang’s suitcase and takes the money. She then runs off telling her sister to go back to Korea, leaving Eun Sang shouting and crying after her.

All the while Kim Tan was sitting in the café looking at them from an open window and becomes acquainted with Eun Sang after he sees his American friend pick up a bag of bean powder from Eun Sang’s bag and his friend becomes hospitalized. This causes a run in with the police and Eun Sang’s passport is temporarily confiscated and she is forced to stay in Kim Tan’s house until it is returned. During her stay she has an unpleasant encounter with Kim Tan’s fiancé Rachel Yoo who demands that Eun Sang leave Kim Tan’s house immediately. Eun Sang eventually returns to South Korea with the help of her friend Chan Young and leaves a love struck Kim Tan behind.

            Kim Tan is one of the heirs to a large business corporation know as the Jeguk group and his fiance Rachel is the heir to a large fashion company, they’re the perfect couple…or is it just an alliance? After his encounter with Eun Sang, Kim Tan starts to have second thoughts about his marriage because he has completely fallen for Eun Sang. He was pretty nonchalant about his marriage before as he wasn’t concerned with it. He was more focused on his cold older brother.

            Eun Sang begins to attend a school full of heirs to large businesses, and upper middle class jobs thanks to Kim Tan’s father who wants her to realize that she and Kim Tan can never be together by observing the school’s high class environment. He wants her to realize that she and Kim Tan come from two different worlds and they can never be together. Kim Tan holds on tightly to Eun Sang and even breaks off his engagement with Rachel to be with Eun Sang. He follows her around in the school which makes it hard for her to avoid him. At home, he is unavoidable also. Her mother works as a maid for his household and they were allowed to live quietly and out of sight there (since the sister took the money away). When Kim Tan came home, she was really shocked to find out he was the second son of the Jeguk Group she hated so much. In school, the classes and groups are very well-distinguished. At home, lines are drawn. It just shows Eun Sang just how different her world is from Tan’s.  

            Rachel Yoo may seem like the worst person in the world but in a few parts of the drama you have no choice but to sympathize with her. Her mother is marrying a man for his money/alliance and she has gained an unwanted sibling, Choi Young Do. She hates Eun Sang for stealing away Kim Tan and she thinks that she is also seducing Young Do which is why during a camping trip she slaps Eun Sang but Young Do interferes and protects Eun Sang. Once she finds out that Eun Sang is actually poor she decides to expose Eun Sang’s lowly life by ordering a delivery of coffee to a party filled with their rich classmates just to let them all see Eun Sang come and deliver it. Kim Tan also reveals himself as an illegitimate son so in a way Rachel’s plan backfired.

            Choi Young Do is the heir to his father’s company and Kim Tan’s former best friend. After finding out about Kim Tan’s illegitimacy (when they were younger), he is infuriated and breaks off their friendship. Young Do falls in love with Cha Eun-Sang also. He’s in love with her but is not sure how to express it. So he does everything he can to grab her attention by tripping her and pushing her into a pool. But he also protects her and helps her when she is trying to let go of Kim Tan’s hand. At times he may seem like a jerk but he is actually the sweetest. He keeps many secrets for others and when he wants something he will use it as leverage but he will never tell another soul.

            Kim Won is Kim Tan’s older brother who doesn’t acknowledge his younger sibling and is indifferent towards him. His relationship with Jeon Hyun-Joo is very rocky because of his driven attitude towards the top and deep down he knows he is hurting the one he loves but he has no choice but to put it aside. As the drama goes on you see him warming up to Kim Tan and envies his courage in trying to make his relationship work with Eun Sang despite the pressure put on by their father. Kim Won realizes too late that it is lonely at the top.

            Lee Bo Na and Yoon Chan Young are the cutest couple because Bo Na gets jealous very easily because of Chan Young’s relationship with Eun Sang. Chan Young thinks it’s very cute and likes to tease her but Eun Sang gets annoyed because she has to constantly hear Bo Na tell her to stay away from her man. When she finds out that Kim Tan has returned from the U.S. she gets anxious that Chan Young might find out they were once in a relationship and she thinks that Kim Tan is back to win her heart so she keeps telling Kim Tan that she doesn’t like him and he should get over her. Kim Tan and Chan Young find this amusing. Though they seem like the perfect couple (and they are, to be honest), they also had their ups and downs just like any couple and they dealt with them all in their own ways...which is adorably. 

            The heirs are not as special and perfect as we think they are. In fact, they have a lot of pressure upon their shoulders. And the one who wears the crown will bear the weight of the crown. 

Lan Ling Wang

Episodes: 46

Okay, so I know it looks like a lot of episodes. But trust me, this drama is definitely worth watching. I highly recommend this because the character development, the plot, the chemistry between actors, and the acting were all amazing. The actors that acted in this drama were amazing and I have to say I truly enjoyed the antagonists' (king and Zheng'er) performance in this drama, absolutely amazing acting. The OST was also very beautiful and it kind of reminded me of BBJX's OST in some ways. 

Synopsis:

        General Lan Ling, according to history, was a very good-looking man. His face was so beautiful that he had to hide his face during battles. He was a great general and was basically a legendary war god of some sort. He was well-loved by the people which caused the crown prince (General Lan Ling's brother) to feel threatened. He is acted by Feng Shao Feng.Yang Xue Wu is the last priestess of her clan and lives with her blind grandmother. She's lively and is ostracized by the girls in her village and not many people liked her because she was always so wild and causing trouble. She is acted by Ariel Lin. 

        Yang Xue Wu's grandmother had warned her about General  Lan Ling and how she may have a tragic fate with him. However, time and time again, the two keep encountering one another and helping one another. Unconsciously, the two fall in love and Ariel Lin is caught in the war between  Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. She saved a man called Ah Guai who turned out to be the Zhou emperor Yuwen Yong. By saving him, he fell in love with her and their fates became tangled together.

         General Lan Ling also loved Yang Xue Wu but she kept rejecting him because she had saw a fate where he is with a woman named Zheng er. When it was time to select a bride for General Lan  Ling, it was very comedic as he constantly showed his affection more and more toward Yang Xue Wu. It was extremely cute and interesting to watch how she actually was quite well-loved and got chosen as the bride. Zheng er, one of the candidates, tried to get the General Lan Ling to fall in love with her. Zheng er had a crush on General Lan  Ling since she was a servant at the palace. He had helped her avoid getting in trouble with the guards for sneaking out of the palace and she forever remembered him. Now that she's recognized as the god daughter of some official, she is given the opportunity to marry General Lan Ling. However, the plan to get General Lan Ling backfired and she was sent to get punished. 

         Yu Wen Yong who liked Yang Xue Wu backed off when Yang Xue Wu clearly liked General Lan Ling. For the sake of her happiness, Yuwen Yong stepped aside promising that he will come and take care if she is mistreated in any way. Yang Xue Wu married General Lan Ling (aka Fourth Prince). They lead a very happy life together. They faced some hilarious moments and were very loving toward one another. Their servants were also loyal and faithful. His grandmother, the Empress Dowager, was an extremely kind, old woman who favored Yang Xue Wu. Fifth prince was a good friend to have around also (he was a bit of flirt; played by  George Hu). However, trouble occurs when Zheng er comes back to the manor saying that she will be a servant to pay off her debt towards what she had done. However, she had another motive...to get General Lan Ling. 

        Because she lived in the palace, she was very sly and knew to cover her tracks. She was very smart too and quick to catch on to things. She was also quite ruthless. She pretended to be innocent as she purposely did things and caused scenarios to have the Fourth Prince have arguments with Yang Xue Wu. As Yang Xue Wu and the Fourth Prince continued to fight, misunderstandings continued to build up and it made Zheng er seem like the innocent one. The last straw was when Zheng er set up a plan to catch bandits with Yang Xue Wu but then acted as if Yang Xue Wu was accusing her of being dirtied and so forth. Upset, Yang Xue Wu ran off heartbroken. However, when the fourth prince found out about the truth behind what Zheng er was trying to do to his relationship with Yang Xue Wu, he abandons her in the middle of nowhere.

         Zheng er got raped by two men passing by and then tried to commit suicide by hanging herself. However, she was discovered by the crown prince (who had a crush on her since they were younger) and is saved. She tells him that the reason she was like this was because of the fourth prince and Yang Xue Wu and she seeks revenge. The two work together to get revenge and also for the crown prince to successfully inherit the throne. Zheng er marries the crown prince (who later became the emperor after murdering his own father unwillingly). Zheng er was very ruthless, scary, and evil. She had the emperor in the palm of her hand. The emperor was just a bad ruler without his priorities sorted and he had bad judgement about things.

          Based on history, the emperor gets scared of General Lan Ling's power and influence over the citizens who love him so dearly. He ends up sentencing him to death by poison. In this drama, there was a twist to the situation which was really nice to see. I won't reveal too much because I feel like this drama is best watched when you find out things yourself. 

          The crown prince and Zheng er are supposed to be our antagonists. Though I was very annoyed with Zheng er's sly ways and how she tried to manipulate situations, you could still connect with her in some way. She liked a guy so much that she did stupid things and it lead to a point where she couldn't go back. You feel bad for her at times too and you realize she's not that bad of a person. But she's so ruthless as she tried to maintain her cold image, that you would get scared of her only to find herself struggling internally also. As for the crown prince, I had trouble bringing myself to hate him. Every time he did something bad, he felt conflicted and scared and he was told to do a lot of those things by his adviser and Zheng er. He felt very guilty and it makes it hard for you to hate him.  

         The Zhou emperor, Yuwen Yong, time and time again, proved he was a great man. Not only was he on good terms with General Lan Ling (only fighting because they are at war), he was also very caring towards Yang Xue  Wu. He was a great ruler who cared about his people and balanced everything quite well. He was a great character and  I adored him. Another character I absolutely adored was Xiao Dong. I thought I would hate him at first because he sold her to a brothel in the beginning (he needed the money because his grandmother was sick). However, he felt guilty about it and they got close afterwards. He worked in the manor as a servant and was totally loyal. I think he had a crush on Yang Xue Wu also but he said that he knows his place and will only watch over her. He was the best friend and most dependable person Yang Xue Wu had (other than Fourth Prince and Yuwen Yong). 

         All in all, this drama was amazing. It had a great story line, a very touching love story, and great acting and chemistry. The characters all had depth and some background. They all had flaws and their moments of vulnerability which made this drama so perfect. I highly recommend this and I think you will all fall in love with this drama and the characters. The acting was amazing and I have to say this is one of those dramas where you hate the antagonist but you understand/feel bad for them. Great drama! 

Just You

EPISODES: 21 

This drama was perfect in so many ways. It was funny, it was adorable, it as romantic, and it was just a great drama that kept me hooked. It was funny and light-hearted and it was also kind of realistic in some cases. It was a great drama to watch and it was very enjoyable. In every episode, there were scenes that had me laughing out loud and scenes that made me squeal. The story was amazing, the characters were fun to watch, the interactions were amusing, and the buildup to the relationship was adorable to watch. I was extremely pleased with the ending and I am so glad I came across this drama and I would recommend all to watch this because it was definitely make you smile. The chemistry between the actors were also very cute and fun to watch.


 Synopsis: 
     Cheng Liang Liang is a kind-hearted and naive girl. She loves roses and her goldfish (that she treats as a child). She is very warm-hearted and she loves her friends and parents. She is also extremely friendly to others and always smiling. Not to mention, one trait that I can really connect with, she loves to eat. It just so happened that one day, she discovers that someone had bought the house she was renting. Refusing to leave as she had just recently paid rent, she ends up having to live together with this person.  This person is Qi Yi. He's very cold and very demanding, he gave a lot of rules that she had to abide when living in his house. Some of those things include keeping the place clean and organized, and making sure that the bathroom is dry after she showers, and so forth.
     Not only does she have to deal with him at home but he just so happened to be the boss of the company where she works. Qi Yi believes that people can't work and be productive if they are dating at work, so he but up a dating ban. This made all of Liang Liang's co-workers upset. Liang Liang's best friend, Kate, who also works there just so happened to be dating Alex (another co-worker). So when her friends Kate and Princess (who doesn't work at the company but comes once in a while to send lunch and so forth) find out that Liang Liang and the Boss are living together, they immediately tell her to get the move on and make him fall in love with her. Maybe if he fell in love with her, he'll get rid of the dating ban!
      It was extremely cute and humorous watching Liang Liang take her friends' advice. However, throughout the drama, the two bonded and she caused a lot of trouble for him also. At first their relationship with one another wasn't too good, he wasn't used to her over-happy attitude and he didn't know how to deal with her energy. She was really persistant even though Qi Yi tried to ignore her a couple of times. It was really cute.  Overtime, he gets used to her and realizes her good qualities. They learn to live together without really disturbing one another. When Qi Yi accidentally fed Liang Ling's beloved fish the wrong thing, her fish dies. He tries to replace the fish so that she's not sad but Liang Liang recognized that this was not the fish she raised ever since she was a little girl. It was the first time, he saw just how passionate and how connected she was to things that she loved. A lot of people thought she was being overdramatic about it, but I think it shows that even though it is just a fish, the fact that she had it for so long and became deeply connected to it shows her character.

      New character additions were then shown.  The first one to appear was Dean. This guy is the best, to be very honest. He was very caring towards Liang Liang and he did show a bit of interest towards her. However, he took her feelings into consideration and he had a very unique friendship with Qi Yi. Throughout the drama, he was almost like Cupid. He would instigate jealousy from the guys so that the couples can work out their problems in the end. He's a really sweet guy and his addition to the drama made it more enjoyable. The second character addition, is the annoying ex-girlfriend of Qi Yi. The reason why Qi Yi is so so cold and against "dating" was because this ex-girlfriend (Jia Yu) had commitment issues. She made up a lie and left him on the day he was going to propose. Now she's back when Qi Yi has already built a steady relationship with Liang Liang (and finally smiling a lot more also). She wants to win him back and is making up another lie about the reason why she left and how she did it for him and so forth. She was extremely annoying throughout the drama and I absolutely despised her. I understood more about why she acted like that and why her character is like that but I didn't like her character for bringing so much sadness into the drama.
      This drama as the character interactions were cute. It was also nice to see how Liang Liang's parents and his parents all played a part in the drama. Qi Yi who had been looking for his mother for years, finally got to reunite his family (which was extremely adorable). I loved all the minor couples and the way the co-workers helped out one another like best friends would. It was a great drama, comedic, sweet, romantic, and really enjoyable. The ending was unbelievably satisfying (for the last episode, you have to finish watching the ending credits/song to see the ending) and perfect. Also their chemistry was amazing, they had a great relationship offset also, and their kiss scenes were pretty good.

Only part that was frustrating was that towards the end, all of the attention was focused on Jia Yu and Qi Yi was trying to be nice and help her get over her problems, but Liang Liang was left to struggle by herself. But other than that, I thought it was good. It made Liang Liang stronger and more likely to make a move and so forth. So I would highly recommend this. 

Master's Sun

EPISODES: 17

This was an amazing drama that I enjoyed. I loved it so much. It was so simple and natural. I loved the actors and the different stories behind each ghost. It was well done and the soundtrack was absolutely lovely and fun. I wished that it could've been longer but it was perfect just the way it is. The ending also made me feel good. Great drama and I would definitely recommend this. This was fun, cute, and the random ghosts that appeared kept the story interesting. It was a very nice drama to watch and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Synopsis: 

    Tae Gong Sil was involved in an accident a few years ago. After that, she was able to see and hear ghosts. She lived in constant fear and rarely slept. She didn't wash her hair and didn't look her best when she went out. Ghosts followed and chased her just to have her do favors for them. Before her accident and her ability to see ghosts, she was known as the Big Sun among her friends (Tae yang: Sun; Miss Tae). However, after the accident, she ended all connections with her friends. She lives in a rooftop room and cleans around the place where she's living. 

     One night, she came across Joong Won. He is the president of a shopping mall named Kingdom. He's arrogant and calculative. He is also very cold. It just so happened that whenever she touched Joong Won, the ghosts would disappear and she wouldn't see them or sense them. Because of his ability to keep her from seeing ghosts, she went to go find him at Kingdom. At first he didn't believe that she could see ghosts and figured she was just a bit crazy and didn't pay too much attention to her. But he came to realize that she could be a big help towards him and Kingdom. She starts off working as a part of the cleaning department at Kingdom and interacted with several ghosts within the mall. 

      As they get closer, Joong Won asks her to look for Heejoo (his ex-girlfriend who stole his money but died in a car accident). He was kidnapped then and had to read something (which traumatized him resulting him not being able to read).

So he has this bitter resentment towards his ex-girlfriend and wants Tae Gong Sil to help find out where his money is. He calls her the million-dollar radar. Throughout the drama, each episode was a different ghost story asking her for help. I loved the interactions between the ghosts, the individual stories, and the connection between the main characters. The acting was amazing and their chemistry was really unique and fun to watch.
         Her friends called Tae Gong Sil the big sun when they attended school. But there was also a little sun at the school. She's called Tae Yi Ryung and she's an actress now. She's pretty and a bit cocky. I was worried that I would hate her since she might cause problems between the main couple. Thankfully, she didn't pose too much of a threat throughout the drama and I got to say, I found her really cute throughout the drama. She liked Kang Woo and did everything to chase after him. As for Kang Woo, he liked Tae Gong Sil. He was really nice to her and she liked him at one point also. But I was really confused with his character because I wasn't sure if he was pretending to like her or actually liked her. At the end, I think he did truly like her but she already moved on.
        I loved this drama. It was fun, the ghosts were scary at first but they are actually not that bad as you continue on, the mini stories in each episode was very cute, the interactions between all the actors were enjoyable, and the acting was great. This definitely is one of my favorite dramas.

A Terracotta Warrior/Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior

This is a drama that takes place in three time periods with a concept of love and reincarnation. I really enjoyed this drama because the three stories were all unique and humorous in their own ways. I found a lot of the scenes very romantic and it was interesting to watch and see how they seemed to still have a form of connection to their past lives together. I enjoyed it and I always like these dramas that have to deal with different time periods.

Synopsis:

       Our story starts off in the Qin dynasty. Han Dong er is a girl of spunk and is the daughter of a teacher. She loves stars a lot and one day saw shooting stars fall from the sky. These shooting stars caused a lot of chaos for those working on the terracotta warriors. Meng Tian Fang is the general who kept a close watch on the making of the terracotta warriors. The next day, Han Dong er decided she wanted to go find the shooting stars. She found fragments of pieces as she went along and just so happened upon the emperor who was being chased down by assassins. She didn't know it was the emperor but tried to help him. However, she accidentally hit the emperor and got mistaken as an assassin instead by Meng Tian Fang. The emperor began to like her and knew that she had tried to save him so he demanded them keep her at the terracotta place. Scared, she managed to get away. She only came back, dressed as a man, to find her butterfly pendant and ended up working there until she got found out. 

        Overtime, Meng Tian Fang also came to like her, especially after finding out that she was a girl. So Han Dong er is in between this love triangle. However, she chooses Meng Tian Fang. They face a lot together. Meanwhile, people in the palace, were making an elixir of immortality. Han Dong er stole one of the immortality medicine. Meng Tian Fang and her fall in love and she loses her virginity to him. However, they get found out by the emperor. Infuriated, he punishes them and orders that Meng Tian Fang be turned into a terracotta warrior alive. Before wrapping him with cloth and then clay, Han Dong er went up to him and gave him the medicine. However, this medicine didn't play much of an important role besides that people wanted to have it. Han Dong er ended up accompanying him and got burned alive.

         Now, it is the early 1900s. Zhu Li  Li, a reincarnation of Han Dong er, is an aspiring actress. Her childhood friend, Lan Tian, is the reincarnation of Meng Tian Fang. They know nothing about their past lives. However, they are currently filming a drama together and it is the exact story of Meng Tian Fang and Han Dong er. The truth is that this drama wasn't actually for entertainment purposes. The director, a reincarnation of the emperor, wants to find the tomb of the Qin emperor and see if there are any "living" terracotta warriors. Zhu  Li Li and Lan Tian ended up actually falling into the tomb. Lan Tian notices a terracotta warrior that looks very similar to him and while observing, in a sudden moment, the spirit within the terracotta warrior entered Lan Tian's body. This was hilarious because it was actually Meng Tian Fang's spirit and he didn't know that Han  Dong er already died. So he believed that Zhu Li Li was the love of his life. There were a lot of moments where he didn't understand the world around him but he still protected her. Zhu Li  Li was beginning to fall in love with Lan Tian so she didn't understand why he became this "Meng Tian Fang." A lot of people believed that maybe he got hit on the head and believed that he was the drama role he was acting as, Meng Tian Fang. However, there were some people who believed he may just be a living terracotta. They enter the tomb which had a lot of traps and dangers. This story ends with Zhu Li Li taking a bullet for Lan Tian/Meng Tian Fang and Meng Tian Fang realized that the love that he knew wasn't going to be here even if Zhu Li Li was a reincarnation. 

          Now it's set in modern day China..or at least it was modern when this drama came out. They don't remember any of their past lives and they will not remember it to the very end of the story. But I liked it because it was like this. They start to find out more of the story of Han Dong er and Meng Tian Fang and also the story of Zhu Li Li as they tried to solve the puzzle of the living terracotta and protect the emperor's tomb. A Japanese man named Haneda claims he's the descendant of Xu Fu (who made the elixir) and wants to find it. As a lot of drama is involved in this as they try to figure things out, I felt it was also very light-hearted between the main leads. They don't know who each other is from their past lives but they still fell in love. And it was the sweetest ending ever because he said the exact same thing that Meng Tian Fang had said, that he would love her even if it was a thousand years later. And it shows that even though they don't remember their past lives, their soul remembers and that no matter what their love story won't change.  

Shining Days (璀璨人生) (Cui Can Ren Sheng)

This drama had an amazing concept and a great story line. It was very complicated with the relationships and it showed changes in the human character as they become colder and crueler over time. For most dramas, it's very happy and cheerful while focusing on the main leads' happy but conflicted relationship. Not in this case. This drama basically combined every bad possible scenario into one and it didn't entirely focus on the main relationship as there were some conflicts as she tried to find the person she could trust. It also shows how fate brought a couple back together after fifteen years and also how much emotional and physical turmoil they have to go through. It was absolutely amazing, the story of this drama. It made me tear up in the beginning first few episodes and was very dramatic throughout the rest of the drama. They had an amazing cast who really knew how to act and play their role. I loved how they all did an amazing job in portraying pain, betrayal, and how they are only thinking for their own benefit often.

I liked the story concept of it all. But I feel like it had a bit too many components that show the negative side of things. I felt it was unreasonably dramatic for a lot of scenes and that this drama could've been resolved in fewer episodes. I disliked how towards the end, the episodes showed so many flashbacks that it didn't really focus on the main story. The cast was amazing and did a great job in portraying the scenes and their characters. But since they are so amazing at showing their characters, I felt that more could have been done with this drama like to have less betrayal and for them to have some humorous moments. 

Synopsis:

         Though this drama starts off with a brief scene of a girl jumping off what looks like a bridge, our story actually starts many years ago. One woman called Yu Yue was madly in love with her fiance, Ye Ping Tao. She decides to let him meet up with her best friend. Her best friend is very wealthy and her name is Yang Man Ping. But it just so happened that Yang Man Ping liked the fiance and the fiance, wanting a better future and career for himself, marries Yang Man Ping. 

            Yu Yue is devastated as she cries and begs for her best friend to give her fiance back since she had nothing. But Yang Man Ping refused saying that she was pregnant and that she couldn't possibly let her child live without a father. They leave and Yu Yue tries to commit suicide. She gets saved by a couple of people and an old woman in the crowd, checked her pulse and told her that she was also pregnant. She was very solemn for many months, living with her brother. 

            Then this is what started all the drama in this series. It just so happened that Yu Yue and Yang Man Ping were in the same hospital giving birth to their child. Their children were born on the same month, day, year and in the same hospital. While Yu Yue was considering signing up her daughter for adoption, she overhears some nurses talking about the present they received from the Yang family. Hearing this, she goes to make sure that it truly is her ex-fiance and ex-best friend. It was. And in that moment, she did the craziest thing ever. She managed to swap the babies saying that she wanted her daughter to live a good life so that she won't end up like her, being discriminated because they were poor. And she swore that she will make sure that Yang Man  Ping's daughter doesn't get anything or be anything. 

          Our story immediately kicks into when the kids have grown to be children. Yu Fei is actually Yang Man Ping's daughter. Only Yu Yue knows the truth. Her brother, Yu Fei's uncle, doesn't even know. He treats her like a father would and takes care of her. He is a stunt actor hoping for a big break that never comes. Yu Fei is very filial towards her mother even though her mother casts her aside coldly time and time again. She constantly asks her uncle why her mother hates her so much and her uncle would say, "She doesn't hate you, it's just because you look like your dad and he abandoned your mother." 

             This was literally what her uncle thought was the case as he didn't understand how a mother could be so cold to her daughter. Yu Yue purposely started to work in the cafeteria at Ye Ling's school. Ye Ling is Yu Yue's biological daughter who goes to an elite school and practices ballet every day. She watched over Ye Ling and treated Ye Ling better than Yu Fei. Yu Fei went to the elite school every day after her regular school to help her mother out. She helped earn money by eating food that the other kids didn't like to eat so that she can help with their living conditions since Yu Yue has asthma. She just so happened to see Ye Ling get bullied by a girl named Xiao Hui for getting top place in ballet. She stood up for Ye Ling and from then on they became good friends. 

               Yu Fei was also friends with a boy that was very smart and was trying to be successful in the future called Yu Yang. They were very good friends. She also helped save a boy that was being kidnapped and they shared a strong connection with one another. The boy was called Zhang He Fan. They never met again after getting saved and they didn't even know what one another's name was. But Zhang He Fan fell in love with her and couldn't forget her and he would never forget her eyes. 

               Yu Yue also began to feel guilty overtime for treating Yu Fei the way she was. She decides to hide the truth when Ye Ling heads off to England with her family and promised to repay Yu Fei for how she treated her. 

               Now they are older and that is when everything gets out of control. I'll try to summarize this. So Yu Fei works hard but tries to not be successful. This is because Yu Yue had an asthma attack once (which led to her being thankful and sorry towards Yu Fei) and Yu Fei made a personal promise to herself saying that as long as her mother could wake up, she'll be willing to never be successful. Yu Fei is in a relationship with Yu Yang (the smart boy from her childhood). They are in love but they didn't have much money to provide for themselves. Ye Ling met Zhang He Fan overseas and since her eyes were similar to the girl who had saved him before, they dated for a while. But he still couldn't forget "the eyes" and broke up with her. But she was not able to let go. These four people meet again when Ye Ling and Zhang He Fan go back to China. 

            Yu  Yang ends up falling in love with Ye Ling and begins to abandon and mistreat Yu Fei time and time again. But for his own personal gain, he had to pretend to still be in a relationship with her and still care for her. He fooled her so that they got engaged and she even got pregnant, but he still was so cruel to her and tried to get her to get rid of the child. Ye Ling got hit by a car for Zhang He Fan and became temporarily blind. To repay her for losing her eyesight, they get engaged. However, on their wedding day, Yu Fei found out that Ye Ling had something going on with Yu Yang and Yu Yang told her that he didn't want her anymore. (Yu Yang was such the instigator of many problems). She asks about it afterwards and Ye Ling says it was because she was drunk and thought it was He Fan and begs Yu Fei to forgive her and not tell He Fan that her eyes did recover after the surgery. But He Fan heard it all and felt betrayed, so he left Ye Ling. Slowly, he finds himself going back to Yu Fei's side and promising to take care of her child also. Yu Yang and Ye Ling combine forces to torture Yu Fei. After many betrayals, lies, and people using one another, the truth is revealed about the identities of the girls. It brings more stress, betrayal, and lies. 

             Everything managed to get resolved after a long way around. It showed how some people will lie and use you and betray others to get something that they can benefit from. It's very hard to watch and it really breaks down on one's character. I basically just watched Yu Fei's character just get broken down bit by bit because of the betrayals around her. However it was nice to see that everyone found their own form of happiness in a way and what comes around goes around. I loved the acting but I feel the drama could have been improved in many ways. 

The Legend of Mulan 花木兰传奇

Alright, Hua Mulan is that hero that Disney made a film about. Disney just changed the last name to Fa. However, when I first heard of this drama, I was interested. I wanted to watch it. I knew there would be romance involved since this is a television series. But seriously, knowing that it's a drama and they'll choose a pretty actress, but I expected her to be like a tomboy which would explain how she was able to fight on battlefields. So when I first started watching this, I didn't understand why they made the girl have so much make up on at the beginning of the drama. Thankfully, it was only in the beginning. 

       Also, in most movie or drama adaptions of this story, Mulan usually falls in love with the captain of their side. However, in this drama, they twist it so it's a love story between enemies at battle and lovers personally. This drama did have flaws, no doubt, and parts that could've been improved. However, overall, it wasn't too bad and was interesting to watch to see their feelings of having to fight with one another and how it'll harm the other if they won. 

Synopsis:

          Hua Mulan's village was well known for stitchery and embroidery. Hua Mulan was extremely good at sewing. However, even just sewing, she faced a lot of problems where it seemed like someone was personally trying to attack her. Their village was responsible for making the Intermarriage Image to prevent a war from breaking out. She was part of the project but it seemed that someone was trying to prevent them to get the job done. One woman working there died and Mulan was also targeted.
        She went through issues where her hands trembled and she couldn't sew. Thankfully, with the help of many, she learned a technique that helped heal her hands. Then at one point, she was targeted and it caused her to go blind. Thankfully, she overcame all that. During the time, she fell in love with a prince named Duo Lun who was part of the enemy's family. He was kind and loved Mulan and tried so hard to convince his father not to start a war. But his voice in this matter wasn't loud enough. So despite offering his father a bride and a peace offering, the war still started. 

        Since the Hua family didn't have a son, the father was expected to go. Mulan made the decision to go in his place. The night before the men were supposed to register themselves and arrive for attendance call, she poured her dad a couple of drinks and he went to sleep. Because of the drinks, he was bound to wake up later. So she took the time to prepare herself to go in his place. She tied her hair up and wore her dad's armor. When her father woke up to find his armor missing, he knew exactly what his daughter did without even reading her note that she left behind. He went out to go find her but the army had already set off. And her father seemed to just have this feeling that she won't be coming back as he knew how brutal war was.

        The prince came by a few times in search of her. He had wanted to marry her but since the war started, he wanted to take her someplace safe. Her father wouldn't reveal information because he was angry at how the war still started despite everything. He said things like how she might never come back and told him to leave over and over again.  Many of the villagers didn't know Mulan left. The only people who knew the truth was her father and some of the people she knew from the village who had also gone to fight. She was kind to people, helpful, just, and that allowed her to make quite a lot of friends. Her courage, bravery, and skill made her a brave fighter who was praised by the captain. Over time, her success even became known to the emperor. 

        However, during this process, the prince realized she was a soldier and that they were on opposite sides. They constantly met on battlefields, both not willing to hurt the other yet still having to complete their duty. They were both conflicted and the prince was constantly thinking of ways to not hurt her, how to help her, and he didn't care about the throne his father was offering to him to be next in line. He only cared about Mulan. During this time, the two suffered emotional turmoil and they were also conflicted on whether they fight for their country and family or for their love. During this entire time, many people on the enemy side were trying to get rid of Mulan and Mulan had also became very close to certain people on her side. Thankfully, the people she knew from her village helped her keep her secret and offered her help often.Whether the characters died or not, they were all heroes and brave people. It was nice to see how in the end, everything seemed to work out for Mulan. She was recognized as women in front of the army she led and in front of the emperor, the emperor excused her from punishment as she helped the country and offers her the status of being a general, and she ends up giving up her status as a general to go home. Going home meant returning back to the life she once knew and she could focus building on the relationship she has with that prince.  

Flowers in Fog

                                    

This drama was absolutely amazing. It had an amazing plot with twists and an absolutely touching ending. It was a great drama to watch with so many cute moments, funny scenes, sad scenes, and a lot of drama. It was a great drama to watch and I would recommend for all of you to check this drama out. 

Synopsis: 

       This story would start many years ago at an orphanage when our four beautiful ladies were just children. At that orphanage, four orphans got to know one another very well and became so close that they were like sisters. The oldest orphan was older than the other three by many years and so she took on the role of the big sister and the three's parents in a way. She cared for them and loved them. She taught them things and she sang for them when they were sick. They sang a song called Hua Fei Hua Wu Fei Wu (which is the title of this drama) together. The oldest orphan was known as Xue Hua (snowflake). She had said that since they were orphans, they were flowers without roots. So she gave each of them a name and they called each other that. She chose Xue Hua for herself. Xue Hua means snowflake, but when you write it in Chinese, the hua means flower. So it's basically a flower without a root. 

      She named the others Huo Hua (fire spark, the hua meaning flower), lang hua (wave flower, like the foam in the ocean when a wave crashes), and yan hua (smoke). They didn't really know each other's real names as they only used these names for one another. Then Xue Hua is taken away to live with her aunt. The four promised that they would one day meet again and the three little ones sent their big sister away, unwillingly, promising to come and find her when they are older. Xue Hua goes and continues to learn and develop her talent of singing and acting and later falls in love with a man named Qi Yuan. She is later known as Angel. Together with Qi Yuan, they acted in this play and sang and acted. The two became quite famous and they really loved one another. 

          Huo Hua was adopted by the Ye family and named Ye Fan. She always played the violin well ever since she was a little kid. Many years later, she sets out to find her Xue Hua and heads off to a school called France Art Institute of Oriental and she goes there to study violin. In that school, it was made a rule to speak Chinese. This school was opened by the Qi family and therefore Qi Yuan was a professor there. He was cold and bitter and never smiled. He had a little brother named Qi Fei who was kind, lively, happy, and free-spirited. She went there in hopes of finding more about the whereabouts of Xue Hua who went there. However, she found out that Xue Hua had been with Qi Yuan and rumor is that she committed suicide. The rumors from then said things like Qi Yuan was cheating on Snowflake and so forth. So Ye Fan goes there to find out more and in a way, get revenge by dating Qi Yuan's little brother, Qi Fei. However, as their relationship progressed, she found herself loving him more and more.
            Trouble starts occurring as they start finding out that Huo Hua had been blackmailing them about Xue Hua's death. When they found out why Ye Fan was here, they reveal the truth to her. Due to her blackmailing, Qi Fei became very distant. She also found out that the rumor about Xue Hua committing suicide was actually made up because they wanted people to think she had died when she was actually suffering from a crippling disease. She was very depressed, refused to talk, and only cried. She could only move her eyes. However, when she saw Ye Fan and realized it was her Huo Hua, a part of me came back to life as she actually said a few words and smiled. In this process, Ye Fan was hoping to get back together with Qi Fei because she actually loved him. However, he still couldn't get over the fact that he was used and so forth and so they never really got back together. Then due to a situation back home, she went left without a word begging her friend to let her borrow money. However, overtime, since they both loved one another, Qi Fei went to go find her and try to start afresh together only to find that there were more obstacles ahead of them.

        Lang Hua and Yan  Hua were adopted by the Bai family. They were together all these years. Their names are Bai Hai Hua and Bai Meng Hua. Bai Hai Hua (Lang Hua) is now a nurse and is appointed to be the special nurse of a cranky, old man. She's very strict with him and she's also kind at the same time. She has enough power in her to be able to deal with this old man. She later gets caught up with this family as she tries to get his son to come and actually visit his father instead of always sneaking around asking her about his father's condition. She managed to get a father-son reunion and ended up falling in love with that man. The man has a very fiery personality, gets mad easily, but he loved her and she was able to control him in many ways. They were very happy together for a while. But of course, they also faced troubles and problems with the company in which the old man had owned. However, they were able to get over it together, helping each other. 

       Meng Hua/Xiao Meng (Yan Hua) works at a company that distributes metal nails. She works as a secretary. She meets a worker there named Xu Hao who constantly helps her and who begins to like her. As they develop feelings, Xiao Meng gets caught in a love triangle when Han Li and Xu Hao. Han Li was the head and she couldn't really be rude to him. However, she chose Xu Hao in the end. She had a really cute relationship with Xu Hao and he really took care of her and treated her really well. There were a lot of moments when Xu Hao was jealous due to Han Li. It was also very humorous when Xu Hao's mother came to visit them from the countryside and kept feeding them chicken. It was really cute how Xu Hao kept trying to keep his girlfriend happy as well as not hurt his mother's feelings. 

          Han Li, sad and brokenhearted from when Xiao Meng chose Xu Hao, came across Ye Fan who was back in China due to family financial issues after her father's death. They got to know each other and Han  Li helped her pay a family debt and he began to like her. However, when Qi Fei found out that she had problems back home and he actually still loved her, he goes to China to try to find her. He tries looking for her in all her past homes and so forth and finally finds her and tries to win her back. But now Han Li is there as a love rival. However, it was very clear that Ye Fan still loved him also and Han Li  is kicked out of this relationship also. During this process, Ye Fan finds her Lang Hua and Yan Hua. Then the three flowers got to video chat with Xue Hua in France. Afterwards they got to have their little reunion and it was very sweet. However, as all these couples face their problems and overcome them, they face a happy future and their own happy ending. And thankfully, Han Li also found his own happily ever after. The ending was so touching for it showed that love can overcome anything. And I think many of you would enjoy this drama. It was the cutest drama and absolutely thrilling. You never knew what was about to happen and it was nice to see. So I would definitely recommend this drama. 

Seven Something (Movie)

                                              

This was a Thai film featuring 2PM Nichkhun. I actually watched this on the plane and it wasn't too bad. This movie was basically split into three parts, each part being about a different couple. I just read that this movie was shot by three different directors which is the reason for three different couples in different parts of the movie. So, I'm going to do a synopsis on this film because it was interesting showing different sides of different relationships.

Synopsis: 

       First love story: It is titled "14" and it is about two teenagers who started dating. They both were very attracted to one another but the main thing that caused problems between them were social networks. The boy thrived on them. The internet and social networks were his life. He would make tons of statuses, ask for help online on what to do, ask for suggestions online, and make many youtube videos. The girl started getting upset for whenever they went on dates, he was always carrying his camera. Every time they wanted to do something, it was always pictures first and so forth. She was annoyed but she put up with it and didn't really complain. However, things started really getting worse and I could understand why she was so angry. He first started uploading videos on youtube and even made a music video of her. She was angry for just a little while because she didn't know why he wanted to publicize their relationship so much but got over it...because, let's face it...he made a music video of her. He was kind of upset that she had disliked the video online and when she got rid of it, she decided to sing him a little song to make him happier. They did this on video chat and he recorded the whole thing. Then he ended up posting it on youtube. She was not happy. She was wearing clothes that kind of revealed the bra on the side and she was being goofy and she did not mean for it to go online. And then it got so many views and inappropriate comments. She was angry and he got worried and deleted it. The problem was not gone as others had downloaded it and put it back online. So this was basically about the social network causing the boy to hurt the girl's feelings. However, he went to apologize to her and I believe (if I didn't remember this wrong) they got back together.

Second Story: This is actually about a former actor and actress who acted in a movie called Sea You Again. This movie that they acted was about the boy being the least popular member of a boy band and the girl being a member of some rival group. They hated one another and somehow got stranded on this island. Before they got rescued, they fell in love and it ended as them being saved and brought to shore without knowing if they will be enemies or friends back home. So that was the sort of movie they had filmed together. In the filming process, the two began to bond and they ended up dating. They had a lot of fights together and a lot of ways to get revenge. However the relationship started going downhill when the girl started having these cheating scandals and the couple started fighting more and more often. Then he totally insulted her at an awards ceremony when he got his award and the couple just split. Now, originally this guy was just going to act in this one film and then work at the aquarium or something like that, and he did. The girl however wanted to continue on as an actress and be famous. Now, there is going to be a part 2 of Sea You Again. So she comes to find the boy at the aquarium to get him to work with her at the movie. He doesn't want to and in the end the roles are given to different and younger actors. However, they did practice the script and revealed their true feelings in a way and in the end, you see them asking each other if they can love each other again.

Third Story: This is the story starring Nichkhun, just to let you know. He plays a young runner who runs despite having asthma. He plans on running in the marathon and practices every day. This is because, last year, he joined the marathon, but because he had no preparation whatsoever, he ended up collapsing and going to the hospital. The girl, who is older than the boy, had lost her husband in a plane accident. She's still recovering and she promised her past husband that she won't marry anyone. But as she gets to know this boy and they start running together, preparing for the marathon together, she begins to start falling for him. He constantly encourages her and says what she wants to hear. He helps her often and taught her that she can change her life as long as she sets her heart to it. So she begins to run with him, developing feelings that she thinks she shouldn't. So she is torn with guilt of not staying faithful to her past husband and falling for this young man. So there was a moment where she pushes him away and she cried a lot too. However, as she begins to move on and actually manages to finish the marathon with him. She succeeded in leaving behind her past and begin to look forward towards a new future.

My Lucky Star

This drama had an interesting story line. Though it is similar to many other dramas, such as the guy being rich and the girl being poor and kindhearted, it was still interesting as it was slightly different. I actually enjoyed the drama. It came out in 2007. I liked how the girl was very outspoken and loud and that they loved each other for their personalities. The one thing that ticks me off in almost every drama, is voice dubbing. Yoo Ha Na plays the main lead. Since she's Korean and this is a drama that uses Chinese, it was a dubbed voice. I couldn't stand how high pitched the voice was, especially the laugh that sounded kind of fake and not very real. But other than that, I watched it for the story line. Also, some of her facial expressions that she made was kind of awkward for me to watch.

Synopsis:

     In the beginning of the drama, Xia Zhi Xing made fake jewelry and tricked people into buying the jewelry. She was a liar and a con-artist. She lied often also. Her nickname, which is mostly used, is Ah Xing. At this time, she was with her boyfriend Shi San. They were going to get married and they were conning this one woman together when the cops appeared. Shi San wanted her to con this woman to earn more money for their marriage. So they ran away, as quickly as possible. Ah Xing covers up for Shi San and is put in jail for a year. She was in contact with her boyfriend for six months, then afterwards, Shi San didn't contact her. She was still very naive, believing that he is waiting for her to get engaged. She kept thinking of the possibilities waiting for her when she's released. When she is released, she crosses paths with Zhong Tian Qi. They had met before on the day that she got arrested.

      Zhong Tian Qi is the second master of a jewelry empire known as E-Shine. He was dating a girl named Ou Ya Ruo. However, she ended up dumping him for his brother. It was because his brother would give her more power and stuff. When he gets invited to the wedding, he shows up after resisting many times. He finds out that his past mother's necklace, Queen Mary, was being auctioned off. Upset, he goes to find Ou Ya Ruo who has it in her possession and steals it. So when he runs into Ah Xing, the gem fell and the people running after Tian Qi assumed Ah Xing was a part in stealing the gem. They put a cuff on one of her hands before Tian Qi frees her. She immediately cuffs him with the other saying that she needs him to prove her innocence. So they basically walk around like that for a while, then she demands to go and find her boyfriend.

        However, to her shock, Shi San was actually found to be married with another woman and that woman was pregnant. This broke her heart and she tried to act like she was okay. They went through a lot and Tian Qi also saw a bit of her personality, the way that she treasured ten dollars worth of star stickers over an expensive jewel. Tian Qi, not wanting to go home and give up his mother's gem, follows Ah Xing to her village. Only to find the entire village angry as they demand for her to return money. After many events together, they come to fall in love with one another and care of one another. The entire time, Ah Xing did not know that Tian Qi was the second master. She assumed that he was a thief with a drunk father ordering him to do so. She knew about his ex-girlfriend who chose the brother over him. But they fell in love with one another for their personalities, disregarding status. 

         However, trouble occurs when her past of jewelry fraud was exposed to the public due to her relationship with E-Shine's second master. She's shocked at his identity and was heartbroken at the fact that he said that he didn't have a relationship with her at a press conference. After they came over that obstacle, more troubles came. For one thing, Tian Qi's father doesn't approve of their relationship and when Tian Qi leaves, his father tells him not to return. In order to make money, Tian Qi makes a bet and does a racing competition resulting in him getting injured. They didn't have much money and Shi San was begging her to give him money because his daughter had a heart problem. So when Tian Qi's father made a deal of giving her money and telling her to leave so that he can take care of Tian Qi, she agrees unwillingly. 

          When Tian Qi wakes up, his brother offers to help bring her to him. However, they were faced with a horrible accident resulting in Tian Jun's death. Five years later, the two meet again. He is angry at her because he thought that she was the one who caused the car crash. However, he still loved her and she still loved him. Slowly, they begin to rebuild their relationship and start their own happily ever after. 

This had comedy, romance, misunderstanding, love, other relationships, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, family drama, a lot of life-threatening moments, and it had basically everything. Thankfully, this drama does not have any sad endings or memory loss episodes. 

Female Prime Minister/ Legend of Lu Zhen

This drama was really good and I enjoyed the chemistry between our main characters. The main characters did a great job in acting and they seemed to really love each other. The main characters are also very close in real life, so it was nice to see them act together in this drama. I felt that this drama had a lot going on and you worry, you watch with awe when lovers in this drama help one another in every way they can, and there are also some humorous moments. 

          In this drama, the guy really respects Lu Zhen (the girl) and it was nice to see how they treated one another as equals, which is rare based on the fact that this was a historical drama. So I really liked that. I also liked how they made me change minds about certain characters. It allowed me to like some characters overtime such as the emperor's wife who he called Gui Fei. There were a lot of situations where people tried to harm Lu Zhen, which is normal considering it is within the palace. It kept you on a edge a lot of times. 

This drama had a great cast who knew how to act, I just wish there were more scenes allowing us to fall deeper into this story. It was a good drama and I enjoyed watching the amazing chemistry between the main couple. I would've liked more characterization of the more important characters allowing the drama to reach full potential. Mainly because this drama was captivating in its own way but the actors can act and they all do a great job at it. I would've liked them to be able to show that a bit more. However, I got to say, I was pretty satisfied with this and the chemistry was crazy! The main characters are just so likable. 

Synopsis: 

       Lu Zhen is the daughter of a wealthy merchant. She helps her father around a lot and is doted on. Her stepmother despises her although her stepsister looks up to her. When her father passes away, she runs away to escape her stepmother and tried to flee into the palace to hide from assassination attempts. She's a smart, well-taught girl and enters the palace as an attendant through much trouble. In this process, she meets a guy named Gao Zhan. In episode 3, she throws a fit to make him take care of himself since he was upset about an injury on his arm. It was that moment that he was caught off guard and began to fall for the kind-hearted Lu Zhen. They help one another. They later on meet in the palace, where she is a palace maid. 

         She has a lot of skills including making pottery, making clothing and stitching, and she has a great personality and attitude allowing her to make friends. However, she gets promoted often and climbs up the palace hierarchy causing some problems. For one thing, she is watched over by Gao Zhan. She does not know who he is for he lied to her saying that he's only someone minor in the palace but has relations. She falls in love with him as he is in love with her. However, she refuses him to help her wanting to take care of things herself. But as she faces problems, he comes to her rescue over and over again. 

         The emperor only has one love which is his beloved "Gui Fei." Gao Zhan is his brother in a way and is next in line to the throne. However, Gao Zhan and the emperor have a great relationship. The emperor, Gui Fei, and Gao Zhan had a history together. When they were little, they became acquainted with one another. Gui Fei was a princess and so the emperor's mother constantly pushed him to approach her. The emperor and Gao Zhan both liked her. However, the princess (Xiao Guan Yin) liked Gao Zhan and so the emperor only watched from afar. The Princess and Gao Zhan become lovers but Gao Zhan is heartbroken when she marries his older brother. However, she still loves Gao Zhan and doesn't quite understand when he says that he loves Lu Zhen. Gao Zhan explains everything to Gui Fei to let her understand. The emperor, knowing Gui Fei didn't love him, gave her everything. He only married others because he was forced to but showed them no interest. That sort of devotion was extremely sweet to see and eventually Gui Fei gave in.

            There were many people causing problems. One person, Ah Bi, liked Gao Zhan and did everything to make Lu Zhen miserable. Gao Zhan was also heartbroken as he only loved one woman and that was Lu Zhen. The emperor's mother also did a lot of things, sending people to do dirty work, and doing horrible things that the emperor couldn't believe his mother did. The emperor and his empress were happy now and she was now pregnant with child. But his mother wants to continue to use her son for power, and in her desperate attempt to reach her son, she ruined their starting family. She also ruined Lu Zhen's chances to be with Gao Zhan due to political reasons that came up in the future. 

            Lu Zhen and Gao Zhen were devoted to one another. However, due to many opposing parties and situations not working in their favor, Lu Zhen could not be with Gao Zhan as his wife and empress. There was a social status difference and many political issues from before that did not allow Gao Zhan to claim her as his wife, who he did wed with only the emperor and empress present. For political reasons, they were not allowed to be together or let him bestow her any title such as the empress.So he appoints her with the highest position in land, as the female prime minister. And their love story continued on this way.

I found this drama interesting, mainly for the chemistry between the main couple and for the emperor and empress love line. The chemistry between characters were amazing whether it was hate or love. I was a bit frustrated with the ending, because like always, I wanted a particularly happy ending since Lu Zhen and Gao Zhan went through so much and suffered to be together. However, I was a bit upset with the ending. But I was happy, that at least, they were together. I feel sad scenes were portrayed extremely well between the main couple and also the way Xiao Guan Ying (Gui Fei) portrays sorrow when she realizes the man that she loves will never love her again. And the way she portrays her new-found happiness as she falls in love with the emperor. 

This is a drama that I think would be a good choice to check out. 

I hear your Voice

                                       

So sorry for this late post on I Hear Your Voice. I wasn't able to watch the last two episodes for a while till recently. So let's get to this synopsis and what I feel about this drama. 

           This drama definitely hit the top of my list. It was funny, it was cute, it was dramatic, it was scary, it was thrilling, it was sad, and it wrapped up really nicely. This drama had everything that made it amazing and captivating. I got hooked on the first episode and couldn't stop anticipating for the next episode to come out. It was amazing and I just loved the thrill of watching it. It was truly an amazing job in acting and in the way the drama was portrayed.

          I loved all the actors and actresses in this drama especially Min Joon Gook because he made me despise him yet I still anticipated his performance of being extremely creepy. He played a great villain in this drama. He had his own back story on how he became all crazy and stuff. I loved his acting and his character was so conflicted that it was scary to watch him. But in the end, I felt bad for him in a way because he couldn't forgive and had to find someone to blame. I loved the main characters. Jang Hye Sung was feisty and her character was really refreshing. And thankfully, they made reasonable choices in times of crisis. I also liked Lawyer Jang's friendship/rivalry with the prosecutor because it was a unique friendship that they had based on their similar personalities. 

             Also, of course, I can't forget a minor couple in this drama. Though they never really got together, I see a future of them being together. Although Go Sung Bin had a crush on Soo Ha, she still helped Lawyer Jang and Park Soo Ha. She also was a funny character with a quick temper and an ability to mix a lot of curse words into one sentence. We can't deny that these two would make a cute couple and as usual, they are always arguing about the smallest things and it's kind of cute to watch them. 

Synopsis:  

       This story should start when our main characters were still minors. Park Soo Ha, only a kid, was in the car with his father one night. A truck crashed into their car and thankfully, they were only injured and not dead. However, at that moment, Soo Ha got the ability to read minds. He watched as the truck driver walked over and when his father asked for help, he heard the truck driver's thoughts of how he did not kill the man at once. So he took a steel pipe, broke the windshield, and continued to swing down to kill the father. Before he could kill Park Sooha, he was caught by two teenage girls who immediately ran to hide from this murderer. 

        The two teenagers that witnessed this were Jang Hye Sung and Seo Do Yeon. Jang Hye Sung had caught Seo Do Yeon cheating on an exam. Seo Do Yeon realized that she got caught by Jang Hye Sung but because Jang Hye Sung didn't say anything, she ended up placing first in the highest score. Jang Hye Sung's mother works for Seo Do Yeon's dad as a housekeeper. That day, they were celebrating for Seo Do Yeon placing first. Seo Do Yeon had invited a bunch of her friends to celebrate. When they finally ushered Jang Hye Sung to join them shoot fireworks, a girl accidentally shot her firework at Seo Do Yeon's eye. Jang Hye Sung was not the person who shot the firework since she had only just picked hers up. However, the girl that fired it blamed Jang Hye Sung and Seo Do Yeon did also. Her mother was fired but still believed that her daughter was not a liar and trusted her daughter and only her daughter. That night, the two girls were talking and Jang Hye Sung was basically saying that if you saw me aiming a firework at you, your first instinct would be to duck and avoid the firework. The two had similar personalities so they clashed when they were together. That was when they heard the noise and saw the murder. 

           The murderer, the name is Min Joon Gook, followed the girls. The two hid in the bushes and so Min Joon Gook warned them not to tell anyone or else he will personally go after them. The two however, both with stubborn personalities, decided to head to the courtroom and stand as witness. They were to enter at the same time but Seo Do Yeon ditched at the last moment. Jang Hye Sung stood witness at that trial and got Min Joon Gook locked away, with him swearing to come after her. Park Soo Ha, who claimed that he could read minds was laughed at despite actually being able to. Because no one believed him after saying that, it was going to be a hopeless case where Min Joon Gook is set free. But because Jang Hye Sung, stood witness, justice was served. So little Park Soo Ha promised that one day he will take care of her and protect her. 

           Ten years pass and Jang Hye Sung is now a public defense attorney while Park Soo Ha is a high school student. Jang Hye Sung is very cool but extremely rude, she does not wholeheartedly devote herself to her trials and doesn't seem to care much about the law. She doesn't try hard to prove their innocence or help the person she's defending. She pretty much goes to trial without even remembering the name of the person she's defending. She didn't really trust the law that much especially since she risked her life to stand witness at Park Soo Ha's father's case. She had totally pushed that kid from ten years again in the back of her mind. But Park Soo Ha was devoted on finding her. 

           The two manage to interact and meet often when Park Soo Ha's friend is accused of pushing a girl through a window at their school. In reality, his friend, Go Sung Bin, was in the room painting her nails. When she went to the window to see what had happened, she saw the girl that everyone bullied for getting plastic surgery and getting into an entertainment company lying there, injured. The girl was seriously injured going into a coma and so forth. Because she was at that window, people ultimately assumed that she was the one who pushed the girl out of the window and so did the teachers. When she got Lawyer Jang (Jang Hye Sung) as her lawyer, she was struck dumb when even Lawyer Jang didn't believe her. So she attempts suicide before getting saved by Park Soo Ha. Because of this, he realized the person he thought was ideal, kind, and perfect was not who she was. So, determined, he begins to work alongside with Lawyer Jang to make sure that she stood for others for justice. 

            The two get closer and after winning Go Sung Bin's case, Jang Hye Sung got close with Go Sung Bin and also Lawyer Cha. Lawyer Cha is a passionate lawyer trusting all his clients. Jang  Hye Sung and Lawyer  Cha seemed to be getting attracted to one another for a while. However, when Park Soo Ha heard Min Joon Gook's thoughts one day, he knew that he was released. The two begin living together when there were  signs that Min Joon Gook had tried to find her and got news about her from different people. As Jang Hye Sung begins to fall in love with Park Soo Ha (Park Soo Ha was already in love with her), she was scared that this relationship would end and they were really cute together despite the age difference.

           Then as Min Joon Gook's journey for revenge continued on, the lives of these characters become entwined in a way. Seo Do Yeon found out that she was not the real daughter of the person she called "father" and instead is the daughter of Hwang Dal Joong (the guy who was inmates with Min Joon Gook). Hwang Dal Joong is a good man who loved his daughter. However, wanting to escape debt, his wife faked her own death by cutting off her left hand and giving her daughter away. Because of this, he was put behind bars. Seo Do Yeon and  Jang Hye Sung have a unique friendship where they care for each other but get annoyed with one another. Min Joon Gook kills Lawyer Jang's Mom, attempts to kill Park Soo Ha, and then cuts off his own hand to fake his own death and frame Park Soo Ha. However, Soo Ha had made a promise to Lawyer Jang (like Lawyer Jang did to her mom) that no matter what, he is not to kill for revenge because than he would be no different than Min Joon Gook. As the couple go through many twists and turns, along with perky and helpful Lawyer Cha, and many adorable moments with some of the supporting characters, they get a sweet ending  where people learn to trust, to love, and to forgive.