Qing Shi Huang Fei/ The Glamorous Imperial Concubine

     I watched this drama with high expectations as I have seen it around but never got around to watching it. I truly thought that the beginning was fascinating and I hoped that it would stay consistent till the end. Unfortunately, to my distaste, this drama began to drag out and started having a lot of unreasonable deaths and scenes that could have been cut out. I fell in love with some of the characters but I also hated how they all kind of just died one by one. It's like one of those dramas where the writers decide to kill off a character whenever it is getting dull. And in all honesty, I started getting upset that so many people were dying pointless deaths when there could have been so much done with the plot. The bad people die but a lot of the good people died also.
        I predicted that this was going to have a similar ending to Legend of Luzhen where the girl is the only one to live at the very end. And unfortunately, my prediction was quite accurate. I felt that there were too many deaths that didn't need to happen and that they just wanted to make it sad and everything. Also, the relationships and connections she had with her two love interests were interesting as they were all different. Both men whole-heatedly loved her which made it hard for me to decide who I wanted her to be with.
The OST was pretty good. I am obsessed with Wallace Huo's song absolutely beautiful, touching, and soft. It feels like one of those soft songs that sound hauntingly gentle. I would recommend you all to check it out. I checked online for the song and I believe it is called Pass Away. The Chinese name for the song is: 倾世.
        I feel like this drama had a lot of potential. Only if the ending didn't start dragging out with an increasing number of deaths in the good people in this drama.

Synopsis: 
       Ma Fu Ya is a princess of the Chu state who had her life changed in one day. Her uncle decided to usurp the throne and overthrow her father (the emperor). He then attempted to kill her family by starting a fire. Thankfully, she manages to escape and becomes an exiled princess hunted down by her uncle. Wanting revenge and also wanting to survive, she lives her life with a new identity and in another kingdom. She begins to piece things together and also plan out her revenge. She decided to avenge her family and restore her kingdom at any cost. She was later on joined with the support of her little brother who had a similar goal in mind, restoring their kingdom.
       Ma Fu Ya ends up winning the love of two kings and had wars waged in her name. Prince of Later Shu, Meng Qi You falls in love with her and also helps her along the way. His character was slightly complicated as he tried extremely hard to deny his love for her. He also had to keep their relationship quiet at first because his younger brother, the crown prince, also favored Ma Fu Ya.
          Prince of Northern Han became her friend before all this happened and was head over heels in love with her. Knowing that she was still alive, he constantly searches for news of her and would help her at any cost. His character was also very unique. He could drop everything and make decisions that would have a negative effect on his country for her. The actor of this prince did extremely well in portraying a character in which your heart moved for because his eyes evoked pity rather than disgust in how easily swayed he is as a king for love. Both love interests were very complex with their own stories. They were jaded but also yearning for the same woman's love. Because they both had different situations but very loyal personalities, it was hard to choose between the two. She ends up choosing Meng Qi You as she began to develop feelings for him romantically while she only had thoughts of friendship with the Prince of Northern Han.
        With each death, succession struggle, battle, war, romance, and betrayal, she grows as a person and understands the people around her more. She continues on for the sake of her people, country, and love. She ends up falling in love with  Prince of Later Shu but nothing goes along smoothly. She also begins to see how people she once knew and cared for could change so quickly (like her brother).

After watching Deja Vu and hating the ending, I was unbelievably disappointed in this ending as well. Mainly because this drama was coming along so well that it made no sense that the story began to fall apart in the later episodes with a lot of scheming and dying. So knowing that she chooses Meng Qi You, the ending was of her seeing an illusion of Meng Qi You (which you can assume dies). It's kind of a promise to continue living on with the memory of him. And I think that's ridiculously stupid because he did not have to die and that the story just felt so cold and desolate at the end. I also felt bad for the downfall of the Princess of Northern Han. She ended up marrying Meng Qi You but was poisoned to be a dummy by Ma Fu Ya's brother who liked her. I felt that it was the brother's sick greed that made this story so weird and twisted toward the end. I feel that the people in this drama had too many ulterior motives and to make it dramatic, people died left and right. It could have had a lot of potential because the characters were pretty well-developed and complex but the story wasn't planned out right and it just began to dull my interest toward the end where I would just expect someone to plop dead. I wish that this drama could have not had so many deaths and tried to settle for a very peaceful but happy ending.

Deja Vu

This drama was pretty good in the beginning.I really liked the OST and the plot that they were setting up. They could do so much with the plot as long as they play it out right with good scenes and good acting.
I started off feeling ambivalent about this drama. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Overtime, it began to get interesting and then it slowly began to drag. It made me wonder how long this plot was going to drag out and when it was going to end.
At the beginning, I could not help but feel slightly annoyed at how depressed the girl was and how she wasn't thinking anything clearly or living her life to the fullest in hopes of changing her fate. The girl is always stuck in the past (sad and all). But I try to understand her situation and it is actually is really interesting. And the OSTs...are so beautiful. There are times when the background music is a bit louder than the voices of the characters, but that's alright because if you are watching it from a source that provides the subs, then you're good to go.
The character development wasn't the best of the best since I felt many of the characters stayed rather consistent and also didn't really change after major events. However, I liked how You Xi's character changed and matured through this entire drama despite being the antagonist. From a young age, she was compared to Hai Lin since they were half-sisters. She was always doing things that she didn't want to do under her mother's watchful eye and was constantly taught how she had to fight to get the things she had. Later on in the drama, she ends up fighting for Xi Wei's love from Hai Lin and did the most ridiculous and crazy things. As it continued on, she slowly pushes them away and then realizes her wrongs and moves past it all. I just felt that it showed her grow and mature as a person and leave the mindset that she had as a child to always compete, compare, and fight.
As for the ending of this drama, I was absolutely shocked with how bad it was. At that point, the drama between Hai Lin, You Xi, Xi Wei, their fates, and the things sacrificed to go back in time were dragging out. So I expected some happy ending which made up for all the disasters that took place in this drama. But I really hated the ending because it didn't really fit into what was happening and it just felt like the writers put it there so that we'd be like, "Aw, love triumphs all," when in reality, I think the majority went: "wtf."

Provided Synopsis:

When given the chance, can a woman get the same man to fall in love with her all over again? Hai Lin (Mandy Wei) is an accomplished professional ballerina whose life is as wonderful as she could have hoped. Engaged to the love of her life, Xi Wei (How Yao), and pregnant with his child, Hai Lin looks forward to their marriage and to settled bliss. But all of her dreams end tragically one day when a terrible car accident takes Xi Wei’s life and makes her miscarry. Devastated, Hai Lin is upset enough to try to take her own life, but a wise magician appears in her life and makes her an offer she can’t refuse. The magician gives Hai Lin the chance to go back in time to relive her life with Xi Wei — but only if she agrees to give up her most cherished thing. 
        Saving her love was the most important. So she immediately went back in time to save her love from the fire in which they first met. She got her foot injured from a flying shard of glass. And with that, she sacrificed the one thing that was important to her. Ballet. And with that, her ballerina career also vanished in this new life. Xi Wei then believed that it was Hai Lin's half-sister who saved him from the fire. He starts to date You Xi but didn't really feel as strongly as You Xi did to him. Despite desperately avoiding him and living in her own personal despair, time and time again, she encounters Xi Wei and helps him in many ways with his business and life. 
        As time goes on, Xi Wei acknowledges his growing feelings for Hai Lin while another man, Director Fang, begins to fall in love with Hai Lin. Director Fang knowing that Hai Lin went back in time to save Xi Wei began to try to help her get over him and look forward to a new future. However, instead of listening to him since he was trying to help her reach the goal she wanted to, she pushed him away and demanded him to stay out of her business. And contradicting herself, she ends up running to help Xi Wei and not trying to move to a new future where their fates won't bring a downfall on one person. When she decided she could not give up on Xi Wei, Director Fang began to encourage and support her again saying that she should have the courage to love because no one knows if they are destined to be separated. 
       The two end up falling for one another again and Xi Wei breaks up with You  Xi. Unwilling, You Xi begins to compete against Hai Lin and tries to win Xi Wei back at all cost. After going through much turmoil and many situations that tested the strength of their relationship, the couple finally gets together. Now, I'm going to explain what I think the ending is interpreted to mean since it was kind of confusing. Basically, they were destined not to be together but they fought against fate and were getting married. So the magician that had done many transactions with them before, told them that in order for them to be together, more sacrifices her to be made. The two agree because of their love for one another. It turns out that in order for them to love and live peacefully, Xi Wei had to grow old. And even so, the two still loved one another for who they were and ended up getting married. A sacrifice had to be made and that was Xi Wei's youth. And since he did that, the couple finally gets to be together and they no longer worried about how Xi Wei's appearance is now of an old man. I guess it is one of those "love triumphs all and can change the fates of others" drama. 

Prime Minister and I/Prime Minister is Dating

                                       

This drama ended? What? I felt that the ending was a little abrupt. Maybe it was because I was starting to get tired of the drama's slow progress or maybe I just felt that the ending could have been a little better.  I started off this drama excited and happy. The beginning was amazing because it was touching, funny, and it reminded me of The Sound of Music. Yoona is gorgeous as always. I am actually quite enjoying the performance of the Prime Minister. He's so amusing in many scenes. It's also nice to see Yoon Si Yoon in the drama too even though he's the second lead. 

But if you aren't into contract marriage dramas, then heads up, this is a contract marriage drama. So you'll probably already guess that the two in the contract marriage are going to end up falling in love and actually staying in the marriage for real. It is the typical story line for contract marriages. 

Synopsis:

              Kwon Yul is a prime minister candidate and is pretty popular among women and so he is basically treated as a celebrity figure in a way. He's a strong candidate and struggles with learning to raise his three children (Two sons, 1 daughter) alone while being strict with them, disciplining them, and teaching them how to be role models and to avoid revealing information to reporters. Na Da Jeong, on the other hand, is a young and lively reporter for a magazine that only features scandals and all that. Basically, she's a paparazzi/reporter. So when they hear that Kwon Yul is a big topic, Na Da Jeong is sent to find out some of his secrets/scandals...like is he dating his secretary? What's up with his love life?

        However, time and time again, they meet and there are some misunderstandings. Man Se, one of the prime minister's kids (youngest son), really likes Da Jeong and ends up looking up to Da Jeong as a mother figure. Da Jeong's father wanted her to get married and was ill, so she asked for a contract marriage lasting only 6 months to help fulfill her father's wishes. The prime minister refused until he found out information on her situation and realized the truth in her words. So they got married (by contract). They begin to learn from one another. The prime minister begins to relax and the children open up to Da Jeong and the prime minister. They all begin to look at her as a mother figure and got along quite well. Da Jeong was the first to acknowledge her growing feelings for her husband-by-contract. The prime minister also began to feel something but was constantly brought down with guilt that he was somehow disappointing his past wife. 

        Ryu Jin is Kwon Yul's rival and he is there to constantly rub it in the prime minister's face. His sister happened to be Kwon Yul's past wife and he always blamed Kwon Yul for the death of his sister. He's not the only one with a grudge. Kang In Ho, a top elite officer that follows the Prime Minister as a security guard, also feels resentment on behalf of his brother who is in a coma. It just so happened the death of his past wife and the brother of Kang In Ho were in the same car when the accident happened. Kang In Ho begins to fall in love with Da Jeong, cautiously, as he found out about her ties with the Prime Minister and began to question where she had her proprieties set. After realizing the truth, he continues to like her causing misunderstandings and awkward moments. Meanwhile, the secretary/assistant of the Prime Minister, Seo Hye Joo, was also trying to distract herself from her crush that she had on the Prime Minister for all these years. Then shocking events occur when they realize that the wife is not dead and when the couple begins to question if they could really be together. It has a good story line but I wonder why I feel that the ending was so abrupt. Maybe it's just me...

Good Doctor

                                     

I'm sorry that I was not able to post this right after watching this drama. I have a lot going on lately and could not dedicate myself to writing these posts as often as I could before. Hopefully, you guys have kept an eye on my tumblr blog to see what's up. As it has been a while since I watched it, I remember feeling that this was a very cute drama and that the relationship between the two characters was nice to see. I felt that it was touching with all these different stories within this as well as a growing romance between one who could not express himself that well and one who accepts all that. 

Synopsis: 

       Park Si On has a savant syndrome which causes him to have child-like mannerisms and difficulty expressing himself. However, he was a medical genius and ended up working at a hospital in hopes of being pediatric surgeon. As a child, he adored his medical kit and his brother. His older brother always protected him from the neighborhood bullies and the two shared a strong connection. Then a traumatic incident occurred which resulted in the death of his older brother. Si On continued on in hopes of saving more kids so that they would have the future his brother was not able to have. However, his brilliant mind in medicine was not accepted by many doctors and it caused conflict between Kim Do Han and him. Kim Do Han is one of the best pediatric surgeons in Korea and had to work alongside with Park Si On unwillingly. 

       With different approaches and ways, Kim Do Han and Park Si On begin to develop a liking toward Cha Yoon Seo who works with them. Things get complicated and the relationship between Si On and Kim Do Han gradually became better. I really liked the character development through the drama though I wanted to punch some characters in the face while watching this. 

        The side stories in this drama were also very touching and enlightening. This was a cute drama and I thought Joo Won did a great job acting his role. I also developed a liking for many of the characters who worked there and I was glad to see that Kim Do Han began acting like a big brother for Park Si On.  I also liked how Park Si On's relationship grew with an understanding of his mannerisms and that they managed to get along. 

I Need Romance 2

This drama is very similar to I Need Romance only with different cast members and a new story line and new scenarios. Again, we have two possible men for our female lead to choose from. Again, the drama follows three women who are best friends and the different situations in their love lives and so forth. Just like in the first I Need Romance, I actually preferred the second male lead a lot better and I thought he was much more supportive, caring, and understanding of her needs than the first male lead.
      Personally (do not hate me for this, just a personal opinion), I did not like this drama that much. Compared to the first season and the current season (I Need Romance 3), I did not like this drama. I did not like how slowly the relationship was building and how they picked fights with one another constantly. It was wearing me out and I constantly wanted to stop watching.

Synopsis:
        Yeol Mae and her best friends are all in their thirties. They are all successful women with different careers and who enjoy their independent lifestyles along with taking care of their love lives. Yeol Mae's life would be consummate if her love life wasn't so complicated. She had been in a relationship with her boyfriend Seok Hyun for along time. They met when they were very, very young and grew up together. They had eventually started dating but ended up breaking up five times.  Their relationship was not getting any better and was heading for the worse. It was also a very confusing relationship as they ended up being just friends and neighbors who live together.
        They continue on having a very close relationship but deny that there are any emotional attachments. Then comes along Ji Hoon, her new love interest, who owns a coffee shop. Yeol  Mae and Ji  Hoon fall in love with one another which instigates the jealousy from Seok Hyun. He realizes he is still in love with her and is not ready to give up on their relationship.

My Love from Another Star-별에서 온 그대

This definitely made my favorite dramas of 2014 list. It was hilarious and thrilling throughout the whole drama.  I could not help myself but fall in love with the female lead and her confident image and I couldn't help myself from fangirling over Kim Soo Hyun who played the role of Do Min Joon. I felt that the supernatural romance was extremely fun and very realistically made in this drama. Apparently, some people have said that the ending was bad and all that. However, I think otherwise and I will explain this at the end of my synopsis. 

Synopsis: 

      Do  Min Joon is an alien from another star.  He came to Earth around 400 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty. He's handsome and learned a lot about humans and their culture. During that time that he was there, he befriended a girl who began to like him. Tragically, the girl died and Do Min Joon was not able to board the UFO and return home. It caused him to stay on Earth for another 400 years. He learned that it was not wise to reveal his identity and became very cynical towards humans. They all ran away upon finding out about his powers, which include stopping time, levitating objects, teleporting, and much more.

        In modern day Korea, Do Min Joon did have one friend known as Lawyer Jang. Lawyer Jang knows of his identity and takes care of him like a father would. Their friendship dates a long way back and the beginning of their friendship was extremely touching. He knew that he was to leave Earth and go back to his star soon and hoped that he could continue on without making any ties to objects or humans. 

         Cheon Song Yi is Korea's top actress. She's confident, pompous, and hilarious. Despite all that, she still cares for the people she loves. Her friend Se Mi is always her supporting actress, even in love. A rich family's third son, Hui Kyeong, fell in love with her when she was still a childhood actress. He constantly expresses himself in hopes that one day she'll see it and love him more than just as a friend. Se Mi, on the other hand, had a growing crush on Hui Kyeong for all the years and began to feel resentful and bitter toward Cheon Song Yi. Cheon Song Yi meets Do Min Joon at the college she's enrolled in.  He's a professor and also her next door neighbor. After meeting each other for a few times, they became very close to one another whether they liked it or  not.   

          Then the unthinkable happens. In an event that Cheon Song Yi went to, a rival actress named Han Yoo Ra fell over the edge of the boat and died. Almost instantly, the blame was placed on Cheon Song Yi as their relationship was not good. Because of this, her fame instantly went down and Se Mi's immediately shot up. From the start of the drama, you will find that Hui Kyeong's brother, Jae Kyeong, is a heinous psychopathic murderer and he begins plotting to kill  Cheon Song Yi in fear that she will blab out his past relationship with Han Yoo Ra. This was when Cheon Song Yi and Do Min Joon begin to get tied up with one another. She constantly went to his house whenever she was lonely and for protection. He also made it his duty to make sure that she was okay despite not wanting any ties. Slowly the two begin to fall in love but they face the adversities caused by Jae Kyeong, his unwillingness to have any ties left on Earth, and also masking the fact that he's an alien. 

           This was an amazing drama and I would highly recommend this. 

SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT WATCH THIS YET.

ENDING SPOILER. 

Okay, so I honestly enjoyed the ending. One, he comes back to Earth through a wormhole. I searched this up online and a wormhole is: 

 A wormhole, also known as an Einstein–Rosen bridge, is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would fundamentally be a "shortcut" through spacetime

 How awesome is that? One, he comes back and stops time. And every time he comes back, the time he manages to stop gets longer. When he disappears from Earth, he is back on his planet and the time starts again. At the end of the drama, Cheon Song Yi mentioned that he could now stop time for up to an year and that it'll get longer as they continue on. You guys do realize that she could get pregnant and have a kid with this frozen time concept? 

Besides, would it make sense that he just miraculously turned into a human when he's an alien? And they made it clear that she can't go to his planet and he can't stay unless he wants to die. So by doing this, the drama is consistent with the ending and I enjoy that a lot. 

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.