Baby and I (Movie)

I watched the Korean movie with Jang Geun Suk called Baby and I. This was based on the manga Baby and Me. However, there are some differences. I did feel extremely bad for the main character because he was forced to take care of this baby that wasn't even his to begin with. It wasn't the best movie that I watched mainly because I still couldn't understand how something like this could happen. Other than that, it was comedic and light-hearted. 

Synopsis: 

       Han Joon Su is a high school student who is also a troublemaker. He always fights with his parents and does not obey them. He doesn't have a good relationship with his parents and his parents are sick of his behavior. One day, he found that his parents ran away from home because they couldn't stand him anymore. Despite the fact that his parents abandoned him to fend for himself, he continues to live on without shame or guilt. He feels more free and happy because of it all. That freedom only lasted so long. 

       One day he planned a party with his friends at his empty house and went shopping. After finding something and returning to his cart, he found a baby in the cart with a letter. Not knowing where the child came from, he was baffled. After reading the letter that said it would be better if the baby was raised by Joon Su, he is bewildered by it all and immediately tries to find the person who left the baby in his carriage. Unable to find out much, he is told to be the child's father for the time being till they find the real parent. The child's name, as written in the letter, is Han Woo Ram. Unwillingly, he began to act as the baby's father and he brings the child to school and his part-time job. This caused rumors to go around and also resulting in him getting suspended from school. Not only did the baby cause all these problems for him, he also had no money to take care of the child and himself. He ended up stealing powdered formula for the baby but the baby didn't like that. So he ended up begging women for milk. 

       During the time, he received help from an odd female student who fancied him. She knew her way with babies as she had a lot of younger siblings. Then just in time, his parents came back home and took over in taking care of the baby. They later find out that the baby's real father ju

st happened to be one of Joon Su's friends. That friend felt sorry and was going to take the baby to sign the child up for adoption. However, having already formed a connection with the baby, he refused to send Woo Ram away. In the end, he ends up working out a way to raise the child along with his friend.  

Marry Him if you Dare

This drama was actually very cute and I enjoyed watching it. Naturally, I did notice some flaws and I also wished for stronger moments. However, I felt that this drama was actually really good. It still kind of scared me how similar the two male leads looked so much alike. When I first started it, I thought that Yonghwa was playing the younger version of the role. One big problem I had with this drama that kind of ruined this for me was that I felt the ending was to open. I didn't have any closure. I don't know who ended up with whom and I have to just assume that she ended up with the guy she was meant to end up with. It kind of left me dangling there and that frustrated me so much. I mean, it's the last episode...not some big turning point in the drama. There was no need for such an open ending/cliffhanger.

Synopsis: 

      Na Mi Rae is a 32 year old woman. She's very cheerful and optimistic about life even though she's not completely happy with her own. She works as a call center operator and constantly having to deal with irrational and rude callers. One day, she comes face to face with an older and more mature version of herself. It is herself. This older Mi Rae came from the future ignoring all the risks and trying to use her knowledge to change the course of her life starting with the decisions that she made at age 32. The older Mi Rae wants to stop the younger Mi Rae from falling in love and with and marrying Kim Shin due to unfortunate events that later happened in the future. Kim Shin is the lead anchor of a network television news station. Instead, older Mi Rae wants the younger Mi Rae to date and marry Park Se Joo. Park Se Joo is the network CEO's grandson who is working as a cameramen at the station and no one knows of his true identity. 

      Na Mi Rae thinks that it is all just fake and that the woman is crazy. However, Mi Rae allowed the older version of herself to stay at her home and listened to the warnings though she didn't always heed to them. Mi Rae that she is not happy with the life she has and quits her job. She ends up trying to work as a television writer which forced her to be more involved with Kim Shin and Park Se Joo to the older Mi Rae's dismay. Park Se Joo begins to fall for Mi Rae and everything was going according to plan. However, unfortunately for the older Mi Rae, the younger Mi Rae was falling in love with Kim Shin and Kim Shin was also falling in love with her. Not to mention, a female reporter is also beginning to fall for Park Se Joo. So Na Mi Rae might not even get to have a chance with Park Se Joo when she wants to switch over. Will Na Mi Rae be able to change her destiny and how are the people around her going to play a part? And who is she going to end up with?

Reply 1994

                                      

 I had high expectations for this drama because I adored Reply 1997. Thankfully, this drama did not disappoint me and it actually made it harder for me to figure out what happens to each person and who they end up with. It was really well-written and frustrating to watch at the same time.

I did think that they were going to use the basketball fangirling concept that they had at the beginning throughout the entire drama. I was worried that it would be too similar to 1997. However, they didn't continue it entirely with that and I felt that it had a more mature air to it since they are talking about their college life and falling in love and dealing with problems. This was a really satisfying drama to watch. I think it fascinates me how one day I'll probably be doing the same thing as they are. I'll look back to our old days with my friends and think about all the stupid moments and life changing moments we experienced as we grew up. 

Synopsis:

         This drama takes place in 1994 and focuses on six university students as they transition to adulthood. Six university students from various provincial areas live together at a boarding house in Seoul. The boarding house is run by a couple with a daughter named Sung Na Jeong. Just like Reply 1997, the story transitions from 2013 to 1994 and leaves us guessing just who her husband is. To make matters worse, there are a lot more possible options in this drama (before it dwindled down to two very good options). 

       Now in 2013, Sung Na Jeong is a mature woman living in modern-day Seoul with her husband and son. She thinks back to her wedding (that does not show any information of who the husband is) and as her friends come over to her house, they think back on the days when they lived together at the boarding house. 

       Her parents had moved from Gyeongsang Province to Seoul to start the Shin Chon Boarding House. She was 20 years old and crazy about the college basketball star Lee Sang Min. There were many boys living in the boarding house and her future husband is among them. All of them have nicknames that are used throughout the drama, leaving us guessing just who is going to be her future husband. Trash is a third-year medical student and was like her older brother. When she was younger, Trash, her brother, and her were best friends. When her brother died, Trash became her older brother and she had dreams to marry him when she grew up. He's called Trash because he's very dirty and unorganized. Sam Cheon Po is a computer engineering major. He is awkward and uptight and feels like he doesn't fit in. Haitai is another computer engineering major who likes to play a lot. He likes video games, girls, going to dance clubs, and so forth. Binggrae is a first-year medical student and he had the viewers questioning his sexuality as he showed a great amount of interest in Trash. Chil Bong is Binggrae's cousin and he is a pitcher on the Yonsei University Baseball Team. He later on become quite famous and had a successful baseball career. There was one girl at the boarding house who was rather broody and tended to curse a lot. She was called Jo Yoon Jin and was obsessed with the popular Seo Taiji and Boys.

          As they get to know one another and begin to become best friends, they begin to fall in love. Some people dated others outside the boarding house while some others did. Na Jeong soon found herself stuck in a love triangle where she liked Trash and Chilbong liked her.  Throughout the drama, it leaves us questioning her options and then who she picks. It's a story of growing up, maturing, falling in love, and looking back on friendships that lasted all these years. 

Le Jun Kai

This was definitely not my cup of tea. It was a bit violent for me and the characters all seemed to have this masochistic trait. I did not like it at all and the ending was confusing and disappointing also. They didn't time this drama out well since the story took place in 9 episodes. It was very dramatic. There was good acting, overall. However, the story did not interest me and the relationship between our two "lovers' was extremely violent. It wasn't fun for me to watch because I just felt bitter resentment toward the way the woman was just being thrown around. I also didn't like how she seemed to just accept it for how it was a lot of the times. 

       Throughout this drama I couldn't understand what was up with the random anger issues and how the main lead always had this urge to hit people. It just felt like one very twisted drama and I cannot bring myself to say that I like it. 

One thing that I liked about this drama: The songs 

The song used in the beginning and at the end were both great and I enjoyed both. 

Synopsis:

     There's a man named Le Jun Kai. His life revolves around hatred and revenge. He begins to woo the enemy's daughter, Ye Zi, and got her to fall into his trap. She fell in love with him and believed that he was the warm, caring man she got to know. They got married and she realized that that was not the case. He mistreated her, ignored her, and even brought girls home. He did everything to make her life a living hell. Slowly, he begins to fall in love with Ye Zi. Unwilling to cave into his feelings, he tries to remain cold and neutral and deny what he is feeling. Afraid that he'll end up revealing what he really feels, he divorces her and sends her on her way.

       After a few years later, he found out that she had given birth his son and raised the child by herself in unpleasant surroundings. She was poor and they lived in a shabby house. The child understood the struggles and was a very obedient and caring child. Finding out about this child, he decides to get to know his son. He ended up taking him away from Ye Zi to raise him in more desirable and better conditions for the child. As this continued on, he feels his feelings for Ye Zi arise and he deals with everything around him. He begins to take care and protect the child and slowly begins to reveal his feelings for Ye Zi. But could it be too late? 

Kimi ni todoke (From Me to You)- (MOVIE)

This is a Japanese movie and it was very simple and very sweet. It revolves around a starting romance, escaping isolation, and making friends that are genuine and caring. I thought this movie was very cute and I learned that it was actually based on a manga.

Synopsis:
      Sawako Kuronuma is a kind girl who grew up doing good deeds and wanting to be a good person. Her hair was long and she lived happily throughout her childhood. However, when the horror movie: "The Ring" came out, she became known as Sadako due to her resemblance to the little girl in the movie. Because of that, she was feared, misunderstood, and isolated because of her scary appearance. She was very quiet and everyone in the classroom avoided her like she could curse them. However, she's is shy and genuine and really wants to make friends and talk to other people.
       When a popular boy that she had come to admire, Kazehaya, befriends her and helps stand up for her, she sees a whole new side to life. She befriends two girls who actually care for her as much as she cares for them. She begins to fall in love and she slowly gains the acceptance of other students. They did go through a lot of things together and they all helped to find her own voice. Though I was a little disappointed to not see a kiss between the main characters, I thought the concept of finding yourself without being influenced by what others thought of you was nice and I enjoyed seeing the friendship develop.

I Need Romance

I finally got to watching I Need Romance seasons 1 and 2! The third one is now airing and I've been watching that lately. By this point, I kind of get the idea of how this drama is going to go. I like it even though it is kind of predictable. Basically, the girl is going to end up with the first guy even if the second lead is so much more nicer and caring. That is just how this drama goes. Another big give away is the picture the drama uses at the beginning, they kind of show you who is going to end up with who. On the bright side, the soundtrack was actually a lot of fun to listen to and the characters have pretty good love stories.

Synopsis: 
This drama follows the lives of three women who are best friends. They are all in their thirties with successful careers and are not married. Sun Woo In Young is a concierge manager at a hotel. She isn't married but has a flirty boyfriend (who works as a director) named Kim Sung Soo. She believes in their relationship as they are in love but his actions make her doubt their love constantly. They dated for ten years and yet her boyfriend does not seem to have any plans for marriage and still gets into scandals with other women (including an actress in his latest movie.) After breaking up with her boyfriend, she gets tied up with Bae Sung Hyun who works at the same hotel as her. She later found out that he is actually the son of the hotel's president. To get back at her ex-boyfriend who slept with the actress Kang Hee, she breaks up with him and starts to date Sung Soo. Slowly, she begins to fall in love with him and her ex-boyfriend begins to try to win her back and also still being her friend.
        Park Seo Yeon runs an online clothing store. She's very free-spirited and sexually active. She believes that she should be able to get what she wants and she will get it at all costs. She also a bit of a flirt in a way. She's known for sleeping with many men. In this drama, it shows her transition from being able to walk from man to man freely to falling in love with just one.
         Kang Hyun Joo is a lawyer specializing in divorce and her life was basically controlled by her mother. She gets stood up at her own wedding by her fiance Kim Tae Woo. They dated for three years and his reason for leaving her was that he had no sexual appeal when he's with her. However, after he left, Park Seo Yeon did end up with a guy that liked her and took care of her.