Which Kdrama Is Best For Beginner?

Boys Over Flower: Another Love Story Couple

When I first started watching Korean Drama was by accident and I chose the good Kdrama for expert, but not for a beginner. I watched melodrama which was slow and had many sad scenes. However, somehow, I stuck along 20 episodes of it and survived. Since then I realized that there are much more better choices of Kdramas I could have started with.

Watching Korean Drama is very different compared to American Drama and even BBC mini series sitcoms, it is very unique experience. If you are new to Korean Drama or want to experience the craze about Kdrama, then these are the dramas you should start with.

Things to know before watching any Korean Drama:

Korean dramas are 16-24 episodes long, unlike decade running series like “All My Children” or “General Hospital. That means there is finite time and end.
Korean dramas are over an hour long, without any ads or commercials. If you watch it on some streaming drama sites, they would add their own ads every 15 minutes or so, making it long (Unless you get paid subscription)
Make sure before you buy or pay for Kdrama, it has fully English subtitles, or whichever language you prefer. If you are native Korean speaker, ignore this tip.
Korean drama are slower in pace and culture is quite different compared to US or western culture and drama. Sometimes holding hands between lead pairs can take long time.
There is less importance on physical relationship. Sometimes lead pair can kiss in last episodes, or sometimes they may not even kiss despite loving such as “49 days”. Don’t worry, it will not make it dull or less romantic viewing. Believe me and other Kdrama addict fans.
There will be lot of back hugs, piggy back rides, drinking and eating food together, plenty of guy shower scene as they seemed to do lot of thinking during shower.
Storyline either be modern time, or Joseon era of past, or time traveling between old and modern time such as Rooftop Prince or Queen In Hyun’s Man.
Do not start a Korean Drama just before test, before project is due. Believe me, everything will be left as it is and drama will be finished.
You may lose your sleep, just trying to watch JUST ONE MORE episodes. I have done it plenty of time.
You may start to read Kdrama blogs and recruit other people missing out on watching Korean Drama.

Okay, now that I said what to expect, let’s move on important part such as which is the best Korean Drama to start watching. After watching Korean Drama since 2010 and watching many good, bad, ugly and all in between dramas, I can suggest and share my best drama list for new beginners to Kdrama world.

Best Korean Dramas For a Beginner:

One more thing, first episodes is always a introduction of situations, characters and it is all jumble usually for most Korean Drama. You will have to watch at least 2 or 3 episodes to really get in to drama. So, have little patience and watch 2-3 episodes at least.

City Hunter

This is best Kdrama for beginner in my opinion, as the story takes place in modern time, and has cool spy things, politics, love, revenge all rolled in to one. Of course, having a Good looking Lee Min Ho starring in it, sure helps. Based on a famous Japanese comic, CITY HUNTER is a Korean TV drama thriller starring Lee Min-Ho(Boys Over Flowers( and Park Min-Young (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) that follows a trail of revenge and romance all the way to the presidential Blue House.

You’re Beautiful

This series is about 3 guys in boy band group and one girl, pretending to be a boy in a boy band which surely leads to love, confusion and heartaches. Taekyung (Jang Keun-Suk) is A.N.JELL’s arrogant and insufferable lead singer. Guitarist Shinwoo (Jung Yong-Hwa of C.N.Blue) is too perceptive for his own good, and happy-go-lucky drummer Jeremy (Lee Hong-Ki of F.T. Island) is just plain slow on the uptake. Into the boy band mix comes A.N.JELL’s bumbling newbie, Go Minam (Park Shin-Hye). But what the fans don’t know is that he’s actually a she! Roped into posing as her twin brother, Minam has to hide her real identity. But secrets have a way of coming out, especially when her bandmates start falling for her!

Secret Garden:

Story is cute and has un-realistic plot line, but that will not matter, you will want true love life like them in no time. From shiny tracksuits to cappuccino foam kisses, the fantasy romance Secret Garden provided some of the hottest topics in 2011. Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won bicker away in the series as an eccentric, elitist CEO and a spunky stunt woman who hate each other almost as much as they’re undeniably attracted to each other. It’ll take some magical intervention to get these two stubborn lovebirds to ‘fess up to their feelings!

Roof Top Prince:

This drama story takes places in both modern and old Joseon era times, however it is mostly in modern present time. There is re-incarnation of both male leads and female leads in both modern and olden era.

Prince Lee Gak finds himself time traveling 300 years into the future with his 3 trusted sidekicks as they are investigating murder of Princess, his wife. They would have to go through considerable challenges as he adapts to 21st century Seoul and Park-ha. Can love last when there is 300 years gap? You will laugh, cry and fall in love with Omurice, J4 (Joseon 4 guys) and lead pair’s love story.

Full House:

This was very popular series in 2004, by singer actor Rain and I can see why, it has every thing Kdrama needs, rich, good looking male lead, pretty, happy go lucky poor female lead, fake marriage contract and love square.

Female lead Han Ji-eun’s loses her house by greedy friend to Rain. She and rain makes an arrangement for her to earn her house back by working at home for him, which leads to Fake Marriage contract and confusion and eventual love. Even though I am not a big Rain fan, I like his acting in this series.

Boys Over Flower:

This is high school romance story between unlikely pair has its origin in Japanese Manga. Only reason you should watch this drama is, unless you have watched Boys Over Flower once you do not know Kdrama. While it has too much hype as most popular Korean dram, you should watch it for experience and who Jan Di and Gun Pyo are, and who F4, fabulous four guys are. Story takes place in high school where F4 are rich, good looking and bully to the core. One poor girl, stands up to them and 2 guys falls for her from F4. How their love survives between evil mom, memory loss and fiance is what makes it fun.

Queen In Hyun’s Man:

To people who complain that there are not enough hot kisses in Korean drama should watch this drama as it has many passionate kisses between the lead pair. They are dating in real life at the time, so I guess the chemistry shows up on screen. The story takes place in modern time but time traveling is also there. Male lead who is smart, considerate and adapts to modern life quickly. Love story has cute, comedy scenes are there and fun to watch, so go ahead and try it.

The Heirs:

The Heirs also takes place in high school and stars Lee Min Ho. But unlike Lee Min Ho character from Boys Over Flowers, here Lee Min Ho’s Character Kim Tan is more mature and level headed person, even though he used to be a bully in past. Kim Tan is in California in first few episodes, his English leaves lot to desire but it will not matter. Love story between illegitimate rich son and housekeeper’s daughter is shown in realistic way. Seeing screwed up lives of rich parents and kids made me feel at ease that I am not rich. Watch this series for fun viewing as it is in modern times that we can relate.

IIjimae:

Unlike other Korean Drama for beginner, this is only Kdrama that is completely takes place in olden time. The reason I picked it here but it story line is similar to Robin Hood. The hero or Iijimae robs and steal to help poor, oppressed people under corrupt lawmakers. We get to see his past story to why he does what he does. There is love from 2 girls that Iljimae has, but does he have time for it? I believe, new Kdrama viewers will love this series even though it is takes place in Joseon era.

Dream High:

Dream high is a feel-good fluff Kdrama that is fun to watch. Six students at Kirin High School have the dream of becoming K-pop idols. During their school years, they learn how to develop their singing, songwriting and dancing skills while undergoing personal growth. They also go through their love life and start to develop feelings for each other. Each one of the students has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, but they strive to debut with the support and guidance of each other. The series was so popular that there is season 2 of Dream High was made with new actors and season 1 actors making a cameos in it.

So, pick any one of the drama and start watching Korean Drama, soon you will be viewing more complex and wonderful world of Korean Drama in no time.

December 30, 2013December 31, 2013

My Lovely Kim Sam Soon

My Lovely Sam Soon Korean Drama Review

This Kdrama Genre is Romance, Comedy with 16 episodes and aired on MBC network from June 2005 to July 2005. Main star cast are, Kim Sun Ah as Kim Sam-soon, Hyun Bin as Hyun Jin-heon, Jung Ryu Won as Yoo Hee-jin and Daniel Henney as Dr. Henry Kim. I liked Hyun Bin since “Millionaire’s First Love” and had seen Daniel Henney in “Seducing Mr. Perfect” and both are great in here as well as female leads.

Plot follows like a quite a few Korean Drama before, poor female leads is too good, gets dumped by boyfriend. She gets in love/marriage contract with rich and jerk male lead, and eventually both fall in love for real. Kim Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On one day, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo (Lee Kyu Han), cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant’s chief baker. Nevertheless, they started to have feeling for each other and Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun’s girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun’s ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back.

It’s a story about a 29-year-old woman named Kim Sam Soon. Prior to turning 30, Sam Soon had basically three goals, i.e. to find love, to officially change her name to Kim Hee-jin and to run a bakery business. She graduated in Paris and was a highly qualified pastry chef, who, has the habit of baking cakes and pastries to relax. Nothing was going right for Sam Soon at the start of the story. Her long-time boyfriend dumped her for a slim, pretty, rich, and younger woman. Worst, people often laughed when she introduce herself. And she was jobless. She lived with her mother and elder sister who returned from Paris after a divorce.

Buy: My Lovely Sam Soon (English Subtitles)

My Lovely Same Soon Korean Drama Trailer

Plot in details: The story starts with Sam Soon’s series of bad luck. Her luck changed when she was offered a job as a pastry chef in an expensive western restaurant called ‘Bon Appetite’. There, she met Hyun Jin-heon who was 3 years younger than her and who was also the owner of the restaurant. Jin-heon, was not a very nice boss and often bully her.

However, forced by desperation for money, Sam Soon approached her boss for a loan. At first he flatly refused. Later he agreed, but on the condition that she agreed to pose as his girlfriend and fiance for the next few months. Sam Soon reluctantly agreed and vowed to pay him back as soon as she could. Jin-heon had his own problems. He was trying to runaway from his mother’s arranged marriage plans. He thought he could convince his mother to stop, thinking that he was already involved in a serious relationship with Sam Soon.

Gradually, Sam Soon developed feelings for Jin-heon and later confessed. Jin-heon, on the other hand, was confused especially when his ex-girlfriend, Lee He-jin, returned from the United States to continue their relationship. Jin-heon refused to admit that he loved Sam Soon and forced himself to start again with Hee-jin. At about the same time, Sam Soon’s ex-boyfriend returned and started to woo her back despite being married. He wanted to make her his mistress.

This drove Jin-heon crazy and he finally understood his feelings for Sam Soon. He confessed to Sam Soon but was too afraid to break-up with Hee-jin. Hee-jin was suffering from an eating disorder and had just recovered from cancer. Obviously, the poor woman found out and fell ill again. It worried Jin-heon but luckily, her hunk of a doctor cum friend Daniel Henny was there to support her. She decided to return to the US with Dennis but requested Jin-heon to accompany her to the US for one last time and stay for a week. Jin-heon was reluctant but went ahead after seeking ‘approval’ from Sam Soon.

Surprisingly, he didn’t return as promised. After waiting around for months, the broken-hearted Sam Soon decided to move on and start a bakery shop together with her sister. When Sam Soon was starting a new relationship with another guy, came back. He claimed that he has been sending postcards to her while traveling alone in the US. Of course Sam Soon accepted him back but the ending is not 100% happy and is a bit disappointing. If you want to know, buy the DVD la.

One outstanding thing about the drama was that Sam Soon’s character wasn’t the typical feminine roles Korean dramas often portray. In fact, she’s quite the opposite. She has bad hair, a bit fat, poor sense of fashion, rough demeanor, often uses rude language and has a really bad temper. It amazes me how an anti-hero character would grow into such a lovable one.

Overall, I’m giving this drama a high score of 8.5/10. It’s highly recommended for those who are desperate for a good laugh. It has many funny scenes that would make your eyes water with laughter. (Source: CheAyu)

This drama won a quite a few awards, such as;

Awards

42ND THE PAEKSANG AWARDS
– Best Drama, My Lovely Sam-Soon
– Best Screenplay, Kim Do Woo
– Most Popular Couple, Hyun Bin, and Kim Sun Ah
– Best Cast, My Lovely Sam-Soon

MBC AWARDS 2005
– New Actor Award, Daniel Henney
– Popularity Award, The Main Couple Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah
– Best Couple Award,Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah
– Excellence Award , Jung Ryu Won
– Top Excellence Award/ Male: Hyun Bin
– Top Excellence Award/ Female: Kim Sun Ah
– Greatest Award, Kim Sun Ah

SEOUL DRAMA AWARDS 2006
– Best Mini Series, My Lovely Sam-Soon

Buy: My Lovely Sam Soon (English Subtitles)

April 15, 2013January 18, 2014

Boys Over Flowers Korean Drama Review

Boys Over Flower:

I did not know the hype of boys over flower so much when I started out watching Korean Dramas so It was not my first watched nor it is my most top favorite Korean drama. So, why I am writing about it? Boys over Flowers created a Korean wave and made a culture impact that still visible since 2009, when it was first aired.

The show starts with bulling and blood in high school, where a kid is ready to die to avoid all F4’s bullying. There seemed to be no signs of law and order or good teacher, adult to stop all of these atrocities. I thought I would stop it but after watching 2 episodes I got hooked and curious enough to see the end, so I invested over 25 hours to watch this and I can say I was not disappointed. The bully and all characters grows with time and you can understand loneliness around all richness and money. F4, flower four boys are surely handsome and easy on eyes which surely helps female fan base like me.

If you are fan of Lee Min Ho, then this is show for you. The guy has charm and he makes his character alive, one can feel his pain and agony. I did not care much for the Jan Di’s character, as she hardly shows any feeling or care towards Goo Joon Pyo. I like the character played by Kim So Eun as Jan Di’s best friend Chu Ga Eul. She could have been a lead lady, she is pretty, holds her dignity while caring for a guy and is level headed.

Buy Boys Over Flowers With English Subtitles

Cast:

Koo Hye Sun as Geum Jan Di
Lee Min Ho as Goo Joon Pyo
Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo
Kim Bum as So Yi Jung
Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin

Kim So Eun as Chu Ga Eul (Jan Di’s best friend)
Kim Hyun Joo as Goo Joon Hee (Joon Pyo’s elder sister)
Lee Hye Young as Kang Hee Soo (Joon Pyo’s mother)
Han Chae Young as Min Seo Hyun (F4’s best friend/Ji Hoo’s ex girl friend)
Lee Min Jung as Ha Jae Kyung (JK Group’s CEO’s daughter and Jun Pyo’s fiancee)
Lee Jung Gil as Yoon Seok Young (Ji Hoo’s grandfather)
Jung Ho Bin as Jung Sang Rok (Kang Hee Soo’s Chief Secretary)

Geum Jan Di (Koo Hye Sun)

As I mentioned earlier, Jan Di’s character confused me a bit. When I see her pictures on internet, she looks pretty but during most of the show she looked not so pretty most of time, sometimes she looked cute but never pretty enough comparing to other korean Drama heroine. She was about 25 when this series came out as a highs chooler, she was older compared to all F4s, but being small and petite worked in her favor.

I also could not fathom that why all the guys either was loving her or wanting to protect her. Her character came across as confused and occasionally heartless, especially when Lee Min Ho character did so much her and her family, she kept on thinking of Yoo Ji Hoo instead. At first shown as feisty female, who can kick ass. However, as show progresses, she becomes typical Korean cliche heroine who ends up crying a lot and not fighting much. I am not against crying females, as I cry myself at littlest thing but then again, I am not trying to pass a kickboxing champion too.

When she goes to Macau to meet Goo Jun Pyo and he breaks off the relationship, she is sad for moment and then she goes off to site seeing with Yoo Ji Hoo all around and shown smiling and happy while Goo Jun Pyo who broke off the relationship looked more pained and in love compared to her. It bothered me much and felt she did not deserve the love if she was not willing to work hard for him to show her emotion. But of course, this is modern take on Cinderella so story revolves around her and we wish for her to succeed and find happiness.

Goo Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho)

When this drama came out, Lee Min Ho was a newcomer and this drama made him the star loved by many people in Korea and Japan. He is one of the reason I wanted to watch and find out about all hype about it.

I did not care much about his curly hair style or unique fur wardrobes that he wore. He is handsome, tall and can act just by showing his eye expressions. He made the bully character likeable. I like scenes where he spends time with Jan Di’s family, has a sleep over, makes Kim Chi and so on. He is nice guy, innocent child inside hiding behind cold, angry persona. He did well to show that, at least to me and my friend.

If you want to know more about star necklace he gives to Jan Di, see here: Boys Over Flower Star Necklace

Yoon Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun Joong)

Someone wrote that out of all F4 Ji Hoo was most beautiful! Apart from Jan Di and Jun Pyo, he had biggest part and being part of love triangle. I heard he was offered the role of Jun Pyo but he chose Ji Hoo Role instead. I can see why, his character has many things that are positive, he plays music well, he is actually one of F4, who does not take part in bullying much and helps Jan Di many times and becomes friend and protector of her over the time. I like scenes with grand father and family issues that we all face regardless of how rich or poor we may be.

He hair style and color reminds me of Kang Jun Sang of Winter Sonata and he laughs and has similar mannerism as well.

So Yi Jung (Kim Bum)

Kim Bum had a big role and it was nice to see his character of playboy who is really good guy lost somewhere surprised me. He is cute and has a nice smile, however it was hard to imagine as a playboy and heartbreaker, as he looks innocent and young to be bad. That just me, I still enjoy his character and his talent at being a potter.

Don’t they look cute Together?

I liked to side love story of him with Ga Eul that developed slowly but surely. I think these two supporting character had more love and chemistry together compared to main lead, don’t you think? I wanted to know more about them and their life.

Song Woo Bin (Kim Joon)

Woo Bin seemed more Americanized and said Yo Yo,. and Wasss up type of things. We know he is from the mob family and handsome but we do not get much know much about his life outside of F4 and friend circle. It’s too bad, it would have been nice.Other Characters:

Goo Jun Pyo’s Mom was one nasty lady, as Jun Pyo called “Old hag” (at least in english translation, I am not sure what does it mean in Korean, is it same?) She is so ruthless to break Jan Di’s family and her so her son can be married to rich. I hated her, that means she was good at acting as nasty lady.

Goo Jun Pyo sister had a small role but whenever she came, she left a impact as a loving sister who wants to do right thing and not afraid to share what she thinks. She becomes big supporter of Jan Di as well.

Jan Di’s parents are big money minded, poor parents who do not plan things well and leave kids alone more often than they should. One thing is for sure, despite all their shortcoming, they seemed like a family who loved each others, including Jan Di’s little brother.

Ga Eul, Jan Di’s best friend was cute and much more level headed compared to Jan Di. I liked how she held on to her dignity while liking Yi Jung.

Lee Min Jung as Ha Jae Kyung was likable in some sort of way. She seemed so much more fitted and similar to Goo Jun Pyo’s Character, in some other time, they might have been perfectly fit for each other but it was not meant to be for this one.

Many other supporting characters with small roles were great. While this show is not Oscar worthy in acting part, for entertaining in super duper and 100% great. As I said, I could not stop watching, it was not love story that held me but it was charm of all F4! They all wore suits, and nice clothes and looked great in even crappy designer clothes somehow.

F4: Flower Four or Fabulous Four?

Buy Boys Over Flowers With English Subtitles

Have you watched it? What did you think of it/