Goodbye Mr. Loser (Movie)

This is a Chinese comedy movie about a middle aged man named Xia Luo. He's always been a loser from high school to adulthood. In school, he was the class clown and was often laughed at and never taken seriously. In adulthood, he was lazy and rarely did much to help support his family. When he gets invited to a wedding of his high school crush Qiu Ya, Xiao Luo is determined to at least show up in a cool car and with cool clothes just to put on an appearance of how far he's gotten. However, even in that case, he gets made fun of for past memories and also on how overdressed he was. Xia Luo gets drunk at the wedding and embarasses himself. His wife, upset that he was at the wedding when he said he was going to visit his mother's grave, gets angry at him and exposes his true self to all his friends about how he's been living and how lazy he is.
       After getting chased around by his wife Ma Dong Mei, he locks himself in the bathroom. When he sobered up and walked out, he finds himself back in time and at his high school. He is given a chance to relive his entire life again and so he decides to make the best of it. He decides to chase after his high school crush and he also became famous by plagiarizing popular songs that haven't been produced yet. He gets to relive his life again from high school to adulthood. He becomes rich and famous and looked up to his peers. He got the girl of his dreams. But he soon realizes that he isn't happy with what he has and begins to realize that he should have cherished what he did have instead of wish for something else.

Very funny movie and very interesting to watch how his new life played out and how it changed a lot of his friends' lives as well.

Descendants of the Sun

Ep: 16
Summary: 
Yoo Shi Jin is the leader of a Special Forces unit and meets the trauma surgeon Kang Mo Yeon during an incident that happened with his second-in-command on their day off. Yoo Shi Jin falls for Kang Mo Yeon and asks her out on a date. However, on their date, Yoo Shi Jin gets called to duty and Kang Mo Yeon realizes the difference between their jobs and the differences in the way they view things. She would spend hours in the operation room with the sole purpose of saving a patient while Yoo Shi Jin puts emphasis that he would kill to protect his country. The two decide part ways but their relationship was fated. It just so happened that Yoo Shi Jin and his second-in-command, Seo Dae Young, were deployed to a fictional war-torn country called Urk to keep peace and Kang Mo Yeon and a medical team were assigned to go there as well. The two fall in love again and learn to understand one another, help one another, and overcome many obstacles together. The two also learned to adapt to one another in situations where she can't always be with him or when they have to do long distance for a while.Throughout the drama Seo Dae Young's relationship with the lieutenant's daughter, army doctor Yoon Myeong Ju was an interesting contrast between the main couple.

Review: 
      This drama was absolutely amazing and definitely one of the best dramas I watched this entire year. It pulled on all my heartstrings, it made me fall in love with every single character, it made me ship everyone together, it made me excited, it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me fall in love with it. This drama is a roller coaster of emotions and I loved the chemistry between all the actors and actresses. They did an amazing job portraying their roles and their characters were all full of life. It is impossible to dislike any character in this drama because you learn to understand them and they are all comedic and realistic at the same time. I liked how realistic the relationships went and how they used the main couple and the other couple as a contrast to each other to show that all relationships are different but sincerity between them two still remain. I really enjoyed this drama and one minute I'll be laughing and one minute I'll be crying. It got to a point where I started watching the drama during my free periods at school.
    I liked the way the guys often treated the girls. From what I remember, there were no yelling or acting like a macho/controlling type of guy. They were all very caring toward their girlfriends and often would talk it out half jokingly/half serious about minor issues and hug one another when it came to serious issues. It definitely made it easier for me to fall in love with the guys because they had a lot of respect toward their girlfriends and both were also very mature when they needed to be. I really enjoyed seeing a very positive and healthy relationship in this drama.
      Definitely an amazing drama with many memorable scenes. It's no wonder that this drama was such a big hit. Highly recommend.

Please Come Back, Mister

Episodes: 16
Summary: 
Kim Young Soo (Kim In Kwon) was a hard-working employee of a major department store. He awas always optimistic and worked so hard that he sometimes disregarded himself and his family. Han Ki Tak is a tough guy who runs a restaurant and has held on to his first love, who is now a celebrity, after all these years. Kim Young Soo dies in what looked like a suicide after a tough day on the job. Han Kki Tak also died on the same day in car accident as he tried to help his actress ex-girlfriend Song Yi Yeon. As the two are on a train bound for heaven, Young Soo decides he has to go back to make sure his wife and daughter are taken care of and so both he and Ki Tak jump off the train. The two end up making a deal with the angel Ma Ya who allows them to go back to Earth to take care of certain matters under certain conditions. The two have rules during the time they are at Earth or else they would be faced with a deadly consequence.
       Upon waking up, back on Earth, the two find that they are in a different body constructed from an image of their minds. Young Soo wakes up in the body of a good looking young man, that by accident resembled Lee Hae Joon, the illegitimate son of the department store's chairman. Han Ki Tak wakes up in the body of an attractive woman. The two learn to work with their new bodies and also deal with any of the new issues that come in the way. They begin to tie their loose ends. One trying to help his family and to also reveal the truth of his death and the other trying to help the woman he loves. The stories of these two become intertwined as Han Ki Tak's actress ex-girlfriend was the ex-wife of the chairman's first son Cha Jae Kook who is battling Cha Hae Joon for the position in the department store.

Review: 
This drama definitely was one of my favorites. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me ship all the characters together simply because the chemistry between all of them was so  good. The acting was also off the charts. I absolutely adored this drama because it was the perfect mix of all that life is: romance, laughter, hard work, family, friends, letting go, happiness, and pain. This drama felt both raw and comical at the same time and it really pulled on all of my heart strings. I wish that the ending could have explained a bit more of what happened to them all and so forth but I also appreciated the beauty of it once again tying together the fates and destinies of people together. There were so many plot twists and moments where you realize all their fates are interconnected. It was absolutely amazing. I loved how mutually supportive a lot of the characters were to each other. I loved the new relationships formed in the new bodies with their old friends and families. Definitely a must watch for all those interested in a drama that can make them laugh and cry at the same time. This drama also has a great share of amazing actors and eye candy that played their roles unbelievably well.

There's not much to say other than that I highly recommend you watch this!!! 

The Imperial Doctress

                                 

Episodes: 50

Synopsis:

The Tan family spans many generations of doctors, with many past ancestors who were imperial physicians. But when powerful enemies frame their family, the royal court passes a ruling that future generations of the Tan family are forbidden from practicing medicine. Thus the Tan family are forced to change their last name to Hang. Hang Yunxian (Liu Shi Shi) secretly learns the art of traditional Chinese medicine from her grandmother and helps to cure plagues and illnesses among the common people. Yunxian overcomes many societal obstacles in her passion and pursuit of medicine. And when she meets Emperor Zhu Qizhen (Wallace Huo), he wields a great deal of influence in Yunxian fulfilling her destiny to become the first female physician of the Ming Dynasty. 

Review:

    I enjoyed this drama for a lot of reasons. I watched it primarily because some of my favorite actors feature in this drama. The main character, Liu Shi Shi, has been a personal favorite since I saw her in the drama Bubujingxin. In this drama, I saw that beauty and strength once again (especially at the end of the drama). At the same time, her character was also very different in this drama but I enjoyed how she gave this very comfortable/familiar vibe. The emperor, Wallace Huo, is also a favorite simply because I absolutely enjoy his acting, his piercing gaze, and everything about him. 

       I appreciate this drama so much in the fact that the characters have both the societal/traditional values of the time back then (as it is a historical drama) but also want the best for our main character with a more advanced kind of thinking. All of the male leads (love interests) have continuously pushed the main character forward in her desire to learn more about medicine and to work as a physician. All of them did have the whole “the man is the dominant one and you are the female” type mindset at one point but they also took pride in the main character’s skills and admired her and respected her. They also slowly started seeing her as their equal as her skills came to play more often. I wasn't surprised when I liked the emperor more than Prince Cheng because I had a lot of issues with the character Yun Xian (our main character) loved. But I was surprised when I began to start liking Ye Xian more (her love interest when the emperor and Yun Xian were captured by the Oirat clan). He wasn't the best at times and had these dominant tendencies in which he would try to force her to do things such as marry him or be with him (etc) but as he developed more feelings for her, I truly saw his respect for her and admiration for her grow more and more. It got to a point where he put her on a pedestal and chose her happiness over everything else. He let her go and never went to disturb the life that she chose for herself.
         The emperor was definitely an all-time favorite for me. During his reign and during his fall, he maintained a benevolent king (hot-headed, yes...but a good king nonetheless). Throughout the drama, he respected her feelings and did not force his or her emotions into doing anything that would make her unhappy. He helped her rise socially so that she had more freedom to practice medicine as a woman. He supported her even when he suffered when he lost his power. He protected her the best he could in all scenarios and despite almost being killed, he comforted her first. His kindness and the freedom he gave her were absolutely amazing. He was also a great husband to the empress. He respected her and was extremely loyal considering he had an entire harem to his disposal yet he only maintained his relationship with the empress. He also had similar thoughts as Yun Xian to not hurt the empress by getting together. It was very evident to a lot of viewers that they definitely had chemistry between one another (Yun Xian and the emperor) but they couldn't be together because of other people, their morals, the situations at hand, and so forth.

        As for Prince Cheng...I did not mind him in the beginning. I was pretty open-minded to her liking him more and wanting to marry him. But I was already turned off in the beginning when he started to try to "temporarily" stop her from practicing medicine just to appease his power-hungry mother and to get married with her. When she chose not to, he would get upset or do something that made me annoyed. He continuously hurt her...on purpose or whatever. He got married to someone else to protect her but his wife would continuously threaten Yun Xian because she had the prince's favor.  When he later took over the throne when the emperor was captured by the Oirat, he became tyrannical over time. When the emperor and Yun Xian safely made it back home, he would get upset every time someone challenged his position as emperor. He would hit people. He would yell at people. He would say hurtful things. One thing that I refuse to forgive this prince for is that toward the very end of the drama, due to his jealousy, rage, and suspicion, he raped the main character (who was technically his consort but still she didn't consent) and afterward when she was evidently distraught he got annoyed that she wouldn't stop crying and defending the emperor. (So if you plan on watching this, I recommend being careful...I think around ep 45. They will have a scene before it warning about it happening so this is just a warning). He was a character I didn't like and afterward the screenwriters tried to redeem his character and make his apology seem sincere. But for me it was hard for me to view him as someone I would ever want our main lead to end up with ever.  However i did google the history in which this drama was based on and the screenwriters did try to keep it as close to history as possible from the emperor, the empress dowager, the kidnapping of the emperor and being held hostage by the Oirat, Yexian letting him go and Yexian's struggle over time, and the Prince becoming emperor and not giving up the throne, and his wives did include a woman with the last name Wang and a consort with the last name Hang (which was our main character's last name). Thankfully, the screenwriters hinted at a relationship forming between Yun Xian and the emperor at the very end of the drama because I wouldn't be happy that she lived her life being loyal to this emperor who was so emotionally abusive. 

          Also the OSTs of this drama were beautiful and befitting for a lot of scenes.
          I did have an issue in the beginning because Yun Xian's constant need to save people and against traditional/societal values that her family were trying to place importance on started to bug me. Her family wanted to make sure her reputation didn't go down the drain but she would constantly fight it. So I didn't like Yun Xian's relationship with her father in the beginning and I wished that she could have more balance since considering the time everything she was doing was unfitting for a woman. 

Madame Antoine

                                   

Episodes: 16 

Synopsis:  

Go Hye Rim uses her strong instincts and observational skills to run a Madame Antoine Cafe and play the role of a fortuneteller for her clients. Pretending that she can talk to the spirit of Marie Antoinette, Hye Rim is pretty successful in what she does. However, one day, a psychotherapy clinic opens right above her cafe. After constantly butting heads with the psychotherapist, Choi Soo Hyun, they come to an agreement in which she helps work as an adviser to him. 

    However, there is more to this plot when we find that Choi Soo Hyun is running a top secret experiment on her. He says that the experiment is about what one's ideal type is and its relation to one's immune system. Instead, it is an experiment on love in which he presents three different men to her who all treat her amazingly well. As she falls in love with one of them, she will go through certain phases of the experiment to show her love. The final part of the experiment includes tying ribbons around a tree and calling out "I love you!" 

     He decides to run this experiment on Go Hye Rim. However, Hye Rim is smarter than expected. Will she beat him at his own game or will she fall in love with him despite it all? 

Review: 

I really enjoyed this drama initially because it was quirky and cute. The characters were all very intelligent and unique. It was very nice to see a woman with so much experience, knowledge, and insight as Go Hye Rim did. She was also very smart as she doubted certain aspects of the characters, of the experiment, and she wasn't scared to take revenge when she needed to do so. Go Hye Rim is a divorcee and she has a daughter who soon went to go live with her father. Her ex-husband and daughter didn't play that big of a role throughout the drama and I think it was more to get a back story about her and how harsh love was to her. 

     I liked how both Choi Soo Hyun and Go Hye Rim involve themselves with psychology. This drama used a lot of psychology concepts in treating different clients and it greatly influenced the interactions between the characters. It was very interesting to see them come together because they both used psychology in a different way. One used in a very factual sense and based it all on science, anatomy, and chemistry. The other based it on emotions and noticed little details to get insight. It was very interesting to see how they both worked together to help out clients and how together they were able to help the people more than they would have on their own. 

      I liked how the main character wasn't fooled by the experiment and that she found out pretty early on. She was also very smart in how she cautiously tested waters and so far. However, I did start to get annoyed that she started disregard that fact and fall in love, hoping that Choi Soo Hyun would give up on the experiment. However, nonetheless, she was still a strong woman throughout the drama and managed herself pretty well despite being deceived and despite possibly being heartbroken. I didn't like how she treated her sister at times because she felt as though she was the center of attention. Her sister really was looking out for Hye Rim but Hye Rim was always pushing her down at times. I did like how the sister found love with someone who really saw her as beautiful and I loved how they shared a cute romance throughout the drama. 

      It was harder to get into the drama as it went on because it was hard to trust or enjoy the romance when I knew about the experiment and Choi Soo Hyun's intentions. Even though feelings were developing for both parties, I couldn't trust it. I also found it amazing how quickly the other two men who started developing feelings for her during the experiment immediately lost feelings soon after they decided to drop out of the experiment. At the end, they all had other people they interacted with more than they did with her. I didn't enjoy the romance as much because it was built on false pretenses and revenge. It was fun to watch but it was really hard to get into the drama. 

      I also felt bad for Doctor Bae Mi Ran as she suffered from thyroid cancer. But I didn't like how the drama kept constantly bringing Seungchan and her together and kind of forced this idea of how she just had an "innocent one-sided crush on him" and all that. She's fine to do that but I wish it wasn't forced and I wish the other characters didn't always mesh them together. I liked their friendship toward one another and all that. But it was weird every time the fact that she liked him in a romantic way came up considering they had a 36 year age difference. 

Chronicle of Life

Episodes: 37
Synopsis:
       The story starts off when our main characters are all children. The young emperor and his loyal subject Nalan Rong Ruo defeat subjects who are planning treason under the careful guidance of the Empress Dowager. Liang er is the daughter of one of the subjects tied to acts of treason. On the day of her tenth birthday, she witnesses the slaughter of her entire family. Her mother protects her from death and makes her promise to live on and to go to the Nalan Residence before passing away. Liang Er encounters numerous dangers and meets the young emperor. The two help each other and make the young emperor makes a promise to come back for her. Liang Er finally makes it to the Nalan Residence.
      After a series of traumatic events, Liang er hits her head and develops amnesia. For the next 8 years, the Nalan family mask her as a servant and rename her as Wei Ling Lang. Nalan Rong Ruo, having grown up with her, takes care ocf her and the two eventually fall in love. Their love is met with great opposition from the Nalan family as they know the truth behind Ling Lang's identity and so she gets sent to the palace as a maid to prevent the relationship from further continuing. This begins the friendship of the emperor as he meets her again after 8 years of seeing her.  The two end up developing romantic feelings for each other and must overcome the politics of the inner court and also the past resurfacing. At the same time, another survivor (Liang Er's brother) is in the palace as a eunuch to seek revenge on the emperor for his family. In this drama, love, family, friendship, sacrifices, and being torn between hate and love is all present.

Review: 
     I really enjoyed this drama. It gave me a lot of feels throughout the drama, especially at the end. The end basically makes you feel a nostalgic sadness that fills up your soul. The characters are all very fascinating, unique, and all have their own character. They all play a role throughout the entire drama. It was nice to see the changing relationships between the characters and to be a part of the internal struggle of continuing revenge and living a hate-filled life or choosing love and giving up on vengeance. The internal politics of the court played an important role throughout the drama. However, this drama definitely was extremely cute and endearing in the romantic aspect. I greatly enjoyed it.

Battle of Changsha

Episodes: 32 
Synopsis:
      This is the story about a family living in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. The story takes place during the Anti-Japanese war and reflected what their lives were like during that period. With air raids and student protests, their stories are all linked to one another and also to their changing surroundings. Characters grow and develop over the course of events both blissful and depressing.
       The main character is a girl named Hu Xiang Xiang. She is a spoiled, naive young girl who is running away from a blind date set up by her brother in law. Her brother in law was hoping to marry her off so that she could avoid the war in Changsha but her stubborn personality and reluctance causes her to run around town like a madman while being chased by her brother in law. All the while, her twin brother is trying to help her out. It's a very comedic scene. While running, she bumps into the very man that she was supposed to be going on a blind date with, Gu Qing Ming.
         They started off with bad terms and butted heads upon meeting one another causing the brother in law to have to find another blind date for her. Despite being innocent and ignorant to her surroundings, war soon reaches her family and forces her to grow up quickly. After a series of deaths and killings carried out by Japanese troops, her family gets involved with the war. Xiang Xiang becomes a nurse to help save lives. All the while, she constantly receives help from Gu Qing Ming whenever needed and the romance between them begins to develop in a time of chaos and war.

Review: 
      Wallace Huo was such brilliant eye candy. The relationship was absolutely endearing and mutually supportive of one another and very befitting considering the circumstances presented. The war, politics, and the different lifestyles as people accommodated to the times were all linked together and well executed. I enjoyed the comedic relief in the beginning and I loved how the drama had a change in tone as it got more serious and as the characters were growing up and learning more about their world. Really enjoyed it for the story, the relationships, the side-plots, and so forth. Highly recommend.