My Asian Dramas: Lee Min Ho

Showing posts with label Lee Min Ho. Show all posts

April 26, 2021

Legend of The Blue Sea

Occult figures have always fascinated me and I liked watching movies and series about them as well as reading endless series of books. Add to that some ancient tales, curses and prophecies and you've ensnared me for weeks 😍 While witches and other magic-using characters are my favorite characters (yes, I'm a Harry Potter fan, how can I not be a millennial), mermaids are probably second only to vampires. Fairies and elves are high up somewhere too, but other creatures along with werewolves are quite low on my olcultic list.

Mermaids are extremely interesting characters and probably legends about them can be found in the stories of most countries of the world. It was interesting that I could find also a loose korean alternative of "Little Mermaind" 😅

I came across "The Legend Of The Blue Sea" while looking for productions with my wonderful Lee Min Ho 💙 The female lead (Jun Ji Hyun) didn't speak to me in the trailers, but in the series she suited her character very well. She played literal fish out of the water - everything was out of the context, was everywhere and had too much energy. In some moments I liked her more than the male lead 🙈🙊🙉

Sometime in the XVI century in Joseon, young governor Kim Dam Ryung (Lee Min Ho) has been appointed in his position. During his journey he stays for a night at the in run my Mr Yang. During that evening the owner shows Dam Ryung freshly captured mermaind named Shim Chung (Jun Ji Hyun). He is astinished by her and doesn't agree with keeping her in a captivity. Later that night decides to let Shim Chung go into the ocean.

In the modern-day Seoul Kim Dam Ryung is called Heo Joon Jae and is a con-man. He run away from his home years ago and decided to have this kind of life. One day he mets Shim Chung, now Seo Hwa, who wears absurdly expensive jade bracelet. Joon Jae at first is interested in her due to the bracelet only but with time she becomes more than that.

When a dangerous killer named Ma Dae Yeong is sent to by Joon Jae’s stepmother, his life starts to be way more complicated. Seo Hwa who decided to stay with him has to or adapt to this strange new environment or let the boy go.

This is my third drama with Min Ho and I'm smitten with it 👌 He's a fantastic actor but it wasn't his best performance. He was much better in Heirs and The King. As for the main actress, she's GREAT. Ji Hyun is a new face for me and I think I will look for another drama to see her because I like her acting 😊

As for the drama itself, it has a really unique script. The series is fantastic to watch, broken down into two historical periods. More of these please! This is one of the most interesting propositions about mermaids I have ever seen or read 👍 Although the script was brilliant and so was the cast, the lack of chemistry between the leads was massive. If it wasn't for the skills of the actors and the efficient editing of the film material, my assessment would be more severe aka lower. I am giving it 7/10! (edit: it's begining of 2022 and in retrospect, I think I should have rated this series 6.5/10)

The drama was very pleasant to watch, it was smooth, there were no moments where I would think about droping it 😇 There are so many funny moments here that it's impossible to get bored! I don't want to reveal too much information because there's a lot going on in Legend Of The Blue Sea, therefore I'm cutting my review here.

I recommend seeing the drama, its positivity stimulates and puts you on your feet. It allows you to better start a new day 😁 Enjoy!

January 21, 2021

Heirs - Inheritors

While in Poland, my friend recommended me to see Inheritors with a warning that this is an old series and the actors wear old school late 2000s clothes and have flip phones 🙈🙉🙊 So as this drama was recommended by many on various social media and having my buddies' confirmation that it is cool to see, I searched for Heirs on Viki.

It's been almost 9 years since the drama was released, the appearance of the actors and the quality of the series have changed drasticaly! Park Shin-Hye hasn't changed that much, I mean yeah she grew up but her face even now is round and adorable.... but Lee Min Ho! He has come a long way from the horrible haircut from Boys Over Flowers to current look (I solemely apologize to longtime K-drama fans, I will never see this drama exactly because of the hairstyles and clothes of the leads). The 2000s stayed good by him 😂😂😂 It is honestly strange and hard to look at it and compare him toThe King in Ethernal Monarch or simply in the photos from the recent photo sessions 😆😅😂 He did very well growing up!

Moving on to the plot. It starts in US (in California to be exact) where Kim Tan, the second son of Jeguk Group CEO, studies. He was send abroad to study but it's more an exile due to his complicated status in Korea. One day he meets Cha Eun Sang who searches of her older sister. A few random situations make Eun Sang move in for few days to Tan's villa. Time passes and he feels falling for her bur never knowing that she's the daughter of his longterm family's housekeeper. Unfortunately his fiancée, Rachel Yoo (Kim Ji-Won), decides to visit the villa as well and she is .... slightly dissatisfied with the housemate 😅 She tries once again to convince him to come back to Korea. Tan decides to move back to Korea and join his highschool mates but all he thinks about is to see Eun Sang once again. Fate likes to play tricks and lovebirds meet very quickly 😇😈

The description is one thing, but what happens after Tan comes to his family home and re-enters high school's walls is a total social avalanche & disruption. Some are happy he came back but others are angry or feared. There was planty of secondary characters and here are the more interesting ones:

Lee Bo-Na (played by Krystal) - first girlfriend of Kim Tan and now they are something like friends (?). She doesn't believe in friendship between man and woman. What I like about Bo-Na is that she evolved from spoiled CEO daughter to friendly girl that Eun Sang in finding her place. At the beginning I thought she will be as Yoo Rachel but luckly she got better in time!
Choi Young-Do (Kim Woo-bin) - next ex- in Tan's life but this time its a ex-best friend. The combination of his frustration and his short-tempered character ended up taking over as Tan disappeared to harass others. He is ranked highest in the school system but his grades do not reflect it. Despite his intelligence, he and Tan end up in the bottom of the student highscore list. His father, Choi Dong-wook is mercilessly strict and physically abusive towards him, and engages with him in judo matches to get him to do things. He is a complicated character who fights with himself and the rest of the world throughout the series. It is interesting to watch him change when he is with Eun.
The most original and total icon of this series is Jo Myung-soo (Park Hyung-sik). He is the most laid-back character of all in the drama, and he does whatever it takes to not be qualified of taking over his parents' law firm. He is super playful and loves taking photos. He is mostly in friends with Young-Do but what's interesting that in his hangout cave on special photowall you can find pictures of all his friends - including both Tan and Young-Do. His character brightens up whole serie and God bless him for the laughs 😆💜

I went into this drama without big expectations and what I imagined - I got. It is a good drama but it didn't exactly got me. I give it 6/10.... or maybe I could strech it to 6,5/10 because plot was nice and I liked how the characters were diversed. As mentioned before, there was many side characters and at one moment I was overwhelmed with them but in the same time they where quite developed so this is a con that turned out to be a pro. I like dramas where plot is not only about the leads and theirs families. Here we have the enemy, friends, their families and some past. I like it 😊

I was warned that the story even though ok doesn't have much to offer and not much happened indeed. Everyone was fighting about something that wasn't there - I think this explains it the best. Even the narrator at the end even says something like "not much has changed" and I couldn't agree anymore 🙊🙉🙈

Music.... I know it was 9 years ago but the music.... not my cup of tea .... 😬👎

I don't think I'd rewatch Heirs but will mention it when people ask about old dramas and beginings of Park Shin-Hye, Lee Min Ho and Kim Woo-bin. There was plenty of funny moments and crazy outfits that need to be spreaded! In overall it was a alright drama, but not worth the hype it got in the Internet. I am aware that it old and in the past it was a wow.... This is why it is still OK. It proofs that the drama was not that bad as the starring cast is still present on the screens and developed their carees. Their acting was really good and that saved the drama!

June 30, 2020

The King: Ethernal Monarch

Today is my birthday (yey me!) and at midnight I have finished The King drama. I must admit, it was not what I was expecting. Plot was interesting and I wanted to give another kdrama a chance. First episodes evere confusing because of 2 parallel worlds and past stories inbetween but OH.MY.GOD! 😱If this is how kdramas in general goes like, I think I found my thing 😲 This serie was so so so good that I couldn't stop watching it.

And the lead! 😍 Lee Min-Ho .... Are all koreans so handsome? I'm sorry to say that but I had never expect that 😅 I've gown up with north-american and european actors and singers like Brat Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Garou, etc. Tall, muscular, manly man.... and here we have subtle man, still tall, but with subtle beauty not showing much of his body (I wish he would tho 😈😇) I'm totally dumbfounded by change of my preferences.

Let's go back to the drama itself.

It starts in parallel world where Korea is not divided, there was no war and Lee Gon is it's emperor. He is viewed by the citizens as the perfect leader but no one know than when he was eight years old, his father was murdered in front of him by Gon's uncle. Today, instead of rulling the country he prefers to escape the palace. During one of his escapades, he sees himself propelled into "our" world where he meets Jeong Tae Eul (Eun Kim Do), a police officer. It is hard for him to adapt to the new world and new surounding but with her and her's co-workers help he is able to solve the mistery behind his fathers death and finds misterious girl that protected him years ago.

The synopsis is a bit vague but I don't want to give you too much information and spoil the serie. What I can add is that both worlds consist of the same people but their realities are totally different. In one world Jo Eun Sub (Hwan Woo Do 💓 I am now on a quest to find kdrama with him in a lead.... I'm in love!) is a right hand of the kind and in the other his name is Jo Young and he works with Jeong Tae Eul. It's quite fun to see how different the life can go with certain events won't take place.

Acting in the drama is top. It doesn't feel like thye actors are playing their role, they are the role. Hardly ever you can see so well paired actor and the fictional character. Were the roles written for them? After watching Crash landing on you, which in my opinion is totally excelent, i'm really impressed by korean acting skills. I know I know... I sound racist. The thing is that I had never associate Far East with entertrainment sector. Those 2 serieses are definately changing my view on that.

To sum up, watch it people if you haven't done it yet because its worth it. Now I'm curious about korean productions and must verify is they are all so good. See you at next review!