About City Hunter

What i don't like about this drama?
What is there not to like about this drama?
This year i've written a few reviews and i feel like i had the same thought about each show i commented here. Well, it is true things like Secret Garden or 49 Days were seriously good for different reasons, but pretending City Hunter can't compare would be an unfair lie. So excuse me while i am repetitive.


City Hunter is perfect from every single point of view.
The intricate plot, the unfaltering suspence, the many characters in the round, the consistency, the emotions, the message and the relevance to nowadays.


It often happens to see great dramas losing points as the end approaches because secondary characters are left behind or lose importance for no reason, as if writers and producers put them there to raise the numbers and gave them some action to justify their presence, but forgot about them because there wasn't really the need for them to be there.
This doesn't happen in City Hunter. Everyone is there for a specific cause, whether that's made clear from the start or later in the game. Nobody fades away either.
There is no stereotype in their personality. Nobody's completely good or evil, not even Jin Pyo who in the end leaves us a tiny, easily unnoticed sparkle of what is a long buried good heart. 
Yun Sung is against his father's bloody plan but gives in to personal involvement, just like Bae Sik Joong has a secret and Young Joo's choice between law and family isn't as easy as his ethics would want it to be.
Everyone has flaws and ghosts. This makes everything more real.


When i mention 'a relevance to nowadays' i mean it in a way that might me too personal for you to understand. But i live in a country where politicians are politicians for the sake of the money they get. I am absolutely positive nobody down in Rome is there because of a honest steady care toward this country.
God knows how much we could use a City Hunter here. And i know, luckily or not, we are not the only ones.


But apart from this digression, the emotions every single second delivers are as coherent as the characters of the story.
It's a constant growth, that breaks in several climaxes and makes you expect to stop and withdraw, but it just keeps increasing until you literally, phisically feel stuffed.
That's what i felt, at least.


And then what's left to say? Lee Min Ho was terrific. I love the completeness of this adjective.
The chemistry between Min Ho and Min Young was palpable...Well, no wonder. They are real. But i have to say there was a good complicity between other couples, as well: Yun Sung and Young Joo, Young Joo and Sae Hee, Na Na and Sae Hee, Yun Sung and Ahjussi (no point in calling him differently).
I've heard better soundtracks than this one, but the melodies were just so motivating.


Do you want one negative point? The last two minutes. Just because after the solidity of the previous 20 episodes and the unbearableness of the close, i was expecting a denouement, an epilogue that matched. While i found the last three scenes a bit bland. I wouldn't say the ending is not satisfying though. Just too calm.


That's it. It's a very technical review, this one. Maybe because i couldn't really see myself in anyone and of course in the events either, therefore i couldn't feel much more than simple incomparable tension.
But this is just another amazing detail of the product, i guess: it's distant, yet emotionally filling.


Though i feel the need to dedicate myself to something lighter for a while now, i know i miss it already. 


Love Ya,
Menu ah

My 49 Days Journey

I'm not sure i've analyzed this well enough to write an entry already, but i'm also afraid if too much time passes then i will forget what i already know and wanna say, so...here i am.


2011 dramas are the best i've ever watched. If we don't count my all time favorite top5  but we just compare them to last year dramas and the older ones i've watched, this year beats them all.
Yet, 49 Days is even better.
It's literally a journey, just like the one Ji Hyun has to go through. It's not made of events or expectations. You just walk with the characters and see what happens, their reactions and emotions, all projected toward knowing how they're all gonna end. You're waiting for the 49 days to pass, just like them and with them.
One would expect it to be depressing because it starts with death and death lingers there through the whole journey, but it's not. It's actually wisely funny. Deep and touching. Cute and heart-warming.
Though the adjective i feel like using the most is surprising. Right when you start thinking everything is getting dull or that the events are reaching an epilogue, something shocks you.


No need to mention i will miss the Scheduler the most. His being one step above the others, his guiding with apparent indifference and his comforting comprehension of mankind. His weakness and his love. When the elevator doors close for the last time you stand there and wonder where Ji Hyun would have been without him.
At the same time, though, i will miss everyone else just as much because i felt close to all of them at least once.
Ji Hyun and her naivety, her will and efforts to do her best for everyone, her being misunderstood by people she loves and who can just aim to be better than her, ignoring what a pure soul they were actually blessed to meet. (I don't mean i consider people blessed to meet me, but i identify myself in everything i said untilt the "misunderstood" part. XD)
Yi Kyung eonni. Oh, i will miss hearing that 'eonni'. And Han Kang. Unknowingly the pillars of the whole story. Both struggling with their past.
I won't exactly miss Kang Min Ho, but his character and Shin In Jung are the personifications of what a choice can do to you. They're on the same boat, apparently very similar, but their choices are what sets them apart in the end.
And then Seo Woo and the staff at the Heaven. Ji Hyun's family and Kang's mom. All those secondary characters who made 49 Days world more real and reassuring. Because after all dramas are like life: they make you cry, worry, bite your hands, but there always comes that happy moment that pushes you forward or pulls you up.


The ending is fair. A lot of people say it should have been different, but it was fair. And it simply adds to the already epic epicness. 
But this is what's good about 49 Days: it's the journey that mattered. The ending, you've always known it would come at some point. 
And unconsciously, i knew that was what the closure would be like.


This drama was also amazingly relevant. It was like i was following their journey and they were following mine. 
I had trouble with my friends and the Scheduler said something; i felt lonely and he took Ji Hyun shopping to relieve her; i was happy and everything was good in their world, too.
It was a unique company and it leaves you with a lesson that is like made of a piece of every person you met along the way: Ji Hyun's livelyness, Kang's strength, Yi Kyung's struggling, even Min Ho and In Jung's determination.
A message they've been trying to teach you all along, i guess: when times are hard, recall the days you treasure the most. Gather your courage and live.


Love Ya,
Menu ah

Dream High: another emotional (spoiler-free) entry

I honestly think i should stop writing entries about tv-shows, because explaining why you like a program when your readers don't know what that is about is like trying to explain why water is water.
Nevertheless, i'm gonna try anyway.


Dream High is the most carefree k-drama i've ever seen. You know, your heart aches at least once during an asian show. Like, really aches. Looking back now, this never happened during Dream High.
Oh, i cried. 
Buckets.
Buckets of buckets.
But it was more because of satisfaction, happiness, sympathy.
Dream High is inspiring. Every character is.
Hye Mi, the cold girl who becomes everyone's friend and aware of her selfish past.
Jin Gook and his strength to let go or to put others' sake before his own.
Baek Hee. That bitch! Like, a real one. More than anyone. I really wanted to strangle or drop a pot on her head. >.< But through it all she's just the girl who went to hell and came back by herself.
Jason, the guy who learns what it means being part of a team and not always dancing alone.
Pil Sukie!!! Who's more inspiring than Sushi Girl? The girl who puts herself through something she wouldn't need, if not for the sake to reach something that makes her even happier.
SONG.SAM.DONG.BB! ;_________; (Give me a minute because i still need to realise he's not in my life anymore. *sobs*) Sam Dong ah is the personification of inspiration. The country boy who gets to live the dream and taught people to face no matter what challenge and unfairness with a smile and a determined heart. We're all that country boy. No matter what we dream. We need to believe we all get the same chances in life.
And finally my beloved admired sure missed Kang sonsaeng-nim! \o/ A funnier and korean version of Mr Keats in Dead Poets Society. Who has never wished for a teacher like him? Someone who will push you, despite or just because of your will to give up or your hopelessness. Someone who believes there's always a way as long as you deserve it. And above all someone who doesn't make you pay for his dissatisfaction or his missed goals. Because i suppose he still loves the life he's living.
But apart from this, Dream High is hilarious, too. Yang sonsaeng-nim. You only need this name.
This show is about growing up and fighting. It's about loyalty and the inevitabileness of life, that sometimes breaks you down or breaks you up. And putting yourself back together is exclusively up to you.
It's about believing life isn't still, but it won't move without your shake.
It's about youth and of course dreams.
I got attached to this world much more than i realised, because the ending actually touched me more than i was expecting.
And yet it was perfect. Until the last second.
And there's probably no better way for me to end this entry, if not by quoting my loved and hated and then loved again Jin Gook ah:


"In this world there's no such thing as a foolish dream."


Because as lame and cheesy as it may sound, i'm cynical enough to believe this world nowadays kills dreams. And that is just wrong.


Love Ya,
Menu ah

Let me tell you about Secret Garden

Guys, seriously. I can't live knowing some of you have never watched Secret Garden.
For your own sake, you should give up on your precious lives for a couple of days and give you an amazing gift.
Because this drama is officially my favorite after Coffee Prince and Boys Over Flowers. Which are, for those who don't know me well, the only two dramas i've ever recommended in my life.
Though i watched many many other shows, they all disappointed me somehow. Some were awesome and left me speechless or in rage at the end, some were awesome but not enough. Playful Kiss and You're Beautiful are possibly the only two dramas i miss from time to time except Coffee Prince and BOF.
This is how amazing Secret Garden is.
And i started watching it almost accidentally. Because i needed to distract myself while waiting for the new episodes of Dream High. And i even felt sorry because i didn't want to cheat on Sam Dong bb.


Anyway...reasons why i love Secret Garden.

• It's unexpected. Every character does exactly the last thing you expect them to do. If you've watched dramas for 12 months non-stop, you start believing everyone acts the same way. You know, there's always the bad guy who refuses to fall in love and the simple humble poor troubled girl who stumbles into him. And then there's this other guy who loves her so much that he'll eventually let her go and the bitch who wants the first guy so badly that he'd even sell her butt in order to get what she wants. Secret Garden is different. I swear, i haven't really hated anyone and i didn't get that 'Omg i can't wait for another episode! I need to know if *random character* is gonna screw up!' sort of feeling. Except when Joo Won's mom was in the frame. If you believed Goo Jun Pyo's mother was unbearable..tsk. This is worse. And i'm not just saying.
• It's surreal. You all know they switch bodies at some point, right? That's the originality of the drama. And though it may just seem like a useless detail, there to make the show different from any other romance..well, it's not just like that.
• It's real. At the same time it's real. Especially the ending. It's not a complete happy ending and that's what life is like, too. Right?
• The writer is a genius and must be a long lost relative of J.K. Rowling. You'll get to one point of the show and you'll literally go :O Because everything will suddenly makes sense. What seemed like an irrelevant detail at first, will be the key to the meaning of the whole story. Don't stop watching because you feel like all is confusing. Trust me. That's all part of the game.
• Uri Joo Wonie. You've never met such a cheeky character. He's the most hilarious leading role ever and probably the sweetest and most stubborn and smartest one. You're gonna miss his screams. I know you are. He believes there's nothing over him and i believe this is partly the reason why he always ends up doing the right thing (from a viewer's point of view). But he's also human. In a heartbreaking heart-melting way. Not to mention the way he handles things at the end, let me tell you...Or better, let me quote myself. It's the highest level of romanticism a human being could ever dream of.
• Gil Ra Im. The coolest toughest girl in South Korea. She's the classic kdrama female leading role for so many reasons. She's loved and caring. She's tender and hardworking. She has few precious friends and a difficult life, but she shakes it off with a bright smile that mesmerizes all those she meets in the streets. But for once she doesn't give in. She doesn't submit to whatsoever unfairness. And she stands up for herself. 
• Oska oppa! Omg. The hugest douche ever! XD In a good way. The supposed to be "other guy" who's not really the other guy. A conceited spoilt nice thoughtful hallyu star. I don't know what i'd have done without him around. Even thinking of his smile and care and yell makes me want to laugh. He's probably the one i'm gonna miss the most.
• Yoon Seul. She's the bitch. And she really is a bitch. But she doesn't bother you. And i ended up loving her as much as i love the others, in the end. More than a bitch she's that woman who knows who she is and what she wants and will get it eventually. But at the same time she's simply a woman. So she holds grudges and she endures a love pain she can't let go. But she's probably the woman all of us want to be deep down.
• TAE SUN SSI!!! ;_; That amazing stunning sweet cynical young man that will make you want to erase the sadness in his eyes. I swear, my day brightened up when i saw him on the screen. I can't really say anything about him without revealing part of the plot. But you're gonna miss him even before the ending.
• Director Im. He's another other guy. Let's say Oska is Jeremy and he's Shin Woo. Just better. Almost like Ji Hoo, but less unlucky. Again, he won't bug you. And his scenes with Joo Won are the best ones. You don't notice him much at first, but you'll be proud of him in the end. And he won't make you feel sorry for him when you hear him speaking english.
• Secretary Kim. Omg, Secretary Kim. One reason to love him: his voice and expressions. He's just a secretary. But he's hilarious as hell. And i'm saying hilarious 'cause there isn't a word to express how much this man made me laugh. I keep searching. In every language i studied. There just isn't a word. He's Secretary Kim. 
• Ah Young ah. Ra Im's best friend. Enough said. Living in her own world most of the time. Childish and cute. The complete opposite of Ra Im, now that i think about it. But those are the best couples, in my opinion. 

But the reason why i love Secret Garden the most is that the more you watch the more you realise it's all about destiny. If their lives didn't go the way they went, they wouldn't meet. Despite how hard it was, it was all worth it. But if they're soulmates then it means if their lives were different and they didn't meet, then they would never fall in love? Or they had to live a love that's not the best they could aim for?

You'll understand when and if you watch the drama. I can't say anything else or i'll give you spoilers.

But yes. In the end it was fate.

And i'm a huge fan of fate.

 

Basically, this is just the perfect drama for me. Touching, involving, funny, sweet but not too troublesome. And i'm writing this post for your own good. Because in a few months everyone is gonna talk about Secret Garden, giving for granted that you know what they're talking about. Like we do with BOF. Who doesn't know what's BOF? You seriously don't want to be left behind.

And now i'm gonna watch the specials and then i'll sit in a corner and cry my heart out.

Goodbye, Playful Kiss

[According to me this post is spoiler-free. In case our idea of spoiler is different and you don't want to risk ruining your final episode don't read. I don't mention any specific scene, anyway. Just a quote you can easily skip.]


I'll be quick.
I'm feeling something weird right now.
I've loved this drama to an extent and in a way that's different from how i loved every other drama.
I'm attached to very few characters in my respectably long list of dramas: basically the F4, Ga Eul, Jeremy and the whole Coffee Prince cast.
But i can't think of one character of Playful Kiss that i'm not gonna miss.
I've loved everyone: Seung Jo, Ha Ni, their fathers, Seung Jo's mom (that crazy awesome woman!), Eun Jo (smart funny kid *pats head*), MIN AH!!! (Little cute female Harry Potter, i'm gonna miss you!!!), Ju Ri, even Hae Ra (once she dropped the evil mask, i loved her too), and Bong Joon Gu, my one and only Lock Dude! Tell me there's a guy like him somewhere out there.
I wish they all had a spin-off.
The final episode made me smile and cry so much: smile because they all get their happy ending. Cry...well, more like a lump in my throat..One of the good ones. Those that makes you suffer in a positive way. Because it's over.
I know, i can always rewatch the whole show, but it won't be the same. The smiles, laughter and tears a drama can give you, you really live them just once. The other times are like a dejà vu. It's still good to feel, but it's nothing new. And Playful Kiss gave me SO MANY good feelings.
That's why i was so mad when Allkpop first and all of my followers later told me about the kiss in the rain. I tripped over it. I didn't mean to see it, but i ran into the screencap and well...it takes less than a second to see a picture. I didn't have time to keep myself from looking. In one second the greatest feeling the drama was supposed to make me feel was gone. Puff. And i had no chance to go back and change that. I didn't have the chance to feel what most of you got to feel. I hate you all for that! >.<
I may have overreacted, but i was really really mad after watching the thirteenth episode.
Anyway...I hate when a drama ends. And i hate when a kdrama ends because though it lasts only one season, less than 20 episodes, it makes me feel things it takes 7 years to an american tv-show to make me feel.
*sighs* I guess all i have left to say is: JJANG! Everyone, just JJANG!
And LEADER JJANG! Because i'm not sure i would have watched this show if it wasn't for him. And i would have missed 2 awesome funny full months.
Whatever reviews said, i loved every second of his acting. I've rewatched a few episodes of Boys Over Flowers recently and i did notice he's improved. So, JJANG! 
And while everyone is busy posting Seung Jo's words everywhere, i'll leave you with the quote that made me start weeping during the last episode:


"If it wasn't for Ha Ni i wouldn't be here now. Whether that's loyalty, friendship or love, Ha Ni is nailed inside me." 


LOCK DUDE! *grabs sleeve* DON'T LEAVE ME!!!!!!!


I think i need to spend the night listening to G.NA's Kiss Me. I cried the most while that song started playing in the episode. When the theme song plays it means it's really over. Waaaaaaaaaah.....;_;
I'm so sad ydek. I'm not pretending. I swear. Ottoke?

Ok, let's just name it 'Untitled'

I tried to find a title but i couldn't think of anything that wasn't too lame. XD

And it didn't turn out exactly like i expected it to be, but i'm satisfied nevertheless.

It's more a simple conversation than a real story, but i've always had this feeling that Jeremy was kind of put aside after a while.

Just...be kind to me. XD

'So! It's my turn to catch up with her!'

Jeremy appeared all of a sudden and forced my brother and Shin Woo to leave us alone.

I smiled while looking at them: judging by their annoyed and resigned looks, they had already silently agreed not to quarrel. They simply disappeared into the dorm.

Jeremy turned to face me, his sturdy smile printed on his face.

'GO MI NAM!!' He shouted and hugged me.

'I...You shouldn't call me Go Mi Nam anymore,' i told him while hugging him back.

He let me go and sat next to me. He raised his shoulders and replied:

'As long as your brother isn't around, you'll always be Go Mi Nam to me.'

It didn't make sense, but yet...It was Jeremy. A lot of things that made sense to him were nonsense to anyone else.

'So...how was your trip?' he asked me still smiling like a child at the funfair.

'Great, thanks. But it's nice to be home...'

'Homesick?'

I thought about that for a while, then realized there was nothing to think about and simply nodded. Of course i had been homesick.

He put his arm around my shoulders and leaned his head on mine. I heard Tae Kyung's voice in my mind saying 'Jeremy tends to hug everyone 'cause he's scottish'.

Nevertheless, that "bad scottish habit" of his always made me feel better.

'Who did you miss the most?' he asked.

'None...i missed you all..' i told him honestly.

He straightened up and scolded me:

'Go Mi Nam, you shouldn't tell lies. Tae Kyung won't get mad if you say you missed me the most!'

I laughed, though i wasn't sure of how much he actually meant what he had just said.

All of a sudden Jeremy's smile weakened. That worried me, because the very one time i had seen his smile fading, it had been fully and inequivocably my fault. And in that moment there was only him and me sitting there. If he had stopped smiling it had to be because of me.

Then he stared at the sky and his face brightened again. After all that time i should have got used to Jeremy's sudden change of mood...still, i hadn't.

'Go Mi Nam! We're friends, right?' and he turned to look at me in the eyes.

It wasn't clear to me if i was feeling ill at ease because of Jeremy's unpredictability or because of the question itself. Why did he need to ask?

'Of course we are. Aren't you my bestfriend?'

And the veil of gloominess came back in his eyes. Though it wasn't exactly gloominess. It felt more like...disappointment and resignation. I was starting to be scared by that conversation. For a moment i even took into account the possibility of standing up and walking into the dorm myself. Yet, i wanted to know what was going on. If something was actually going on.

'I haven't behaved like a bestfriend, though. I've been kind of selfish.' He was staring at his right foot which was drawing a half circle on the ground. He looked like an embarassed teenage girl.

Selfish? What had i done to make him think that? I had been away for months. We had barely talked on the phone. If he had to feel anything, that anything was supposed to be anger.

'Jeremy...you're probably the least selfish person i've ever met.' I tried to smile hoping to make him smile, too. But he wasn't looking at me.

'Uhm...probably. But since you left i've been thinking...A bestfriend is supposed to always be there. It's that kind of person you want to share everything with,' he looked at me again and concluded 'I didn't let you do that.'

In my mind it was like something just unjammed. I knew exactly what he was talking about. Therefore i was praying he would stop.

I was desperately searching for something to say. Anything. Just a word or a sentence that could forbid him to say more. But i failed and he went on:

'I don't want you to think i'm not happy for you. That's not the reason why i've never asked you about Tae Kyung.'

I had no choice. I had been silent for too long. I had to answer:

'Then why?'

A voice in my head immediately asked me if i was in my right mind. I didn't care why. I didn't care at all. I didn't want Jeremy to feel guilty.

'I guess...because i felt so overwhelmed when i realized you loved him more than you loved me...that i wasn't sure if i could handle the uncut version of your story,' he smiled at the last part.

'I didn't expect you to come and ask me about that, anyway. I can imagine how you feel about this. I'm not mad.'

Finally i could say something reasonable.

'But that's just the point! While you were gone, i kept hearing about Go Mi Nam and Hwang Tae Kyung's legendary happy ending. And one day i realized that since i consider you my bestfriend i should have been the one who told everyone about your story...yet i was just the stubborn unloved kid who had missed the tale because i made you feel like you couldn't share that with me.'

He had spoken with such passion that i just felt the rush to stop him.

'It's not a big deal...I mean...You live with Tae Kyung. It would be weird knowing the "uncut version" of our tale, right?'

He laughed. An honest laugh that lightened my heart and made me want to laugh with him.

I took advantage of his good mood to talk:

'It's true i've never come to you to tell you that story. But it wasn't because you made me feel i couldn't. I don't consider you my bestfriend because i need you to know everything about me. I mean...yes, but that just comes with the packet. I consider you my bestfriend because i can't feel down when i'm around you,' I looked at him with the brightest smile i could show him 'You're my magic bus, Jeremy.'

According to his expression, that could just have been the best thing i could tell him. Still, acting like the curious kid who was hiding inside him, he asked:

'What do you mean?'

'Well...what does the magic bus mean to you?'

'It erases every bad feeling,' he replied without even weighing his words...and as soon as he finished talking, he seemed to grab the meaning of my words.

He smiled even more brightly and straightened up.

'I erase all of your bad feelings?'

I nodded.

'Really?'

'Yes.'

'Every single one?'

I burst into laughter: 'Totally!'

'GO MI NAM!!!'

He opened his arms and hugged me again.

While we were holding each other, Jolie came closer. Jeremy let me go, went down on his knees and hugged his dog, too.

'Jolie!! Go Mi Nam missed us!!'

I just sat there, staring at that scene.

That was Jeremy. The boy who was in front of me in that moment. That irreplaceable happy-go-lucky kind of person who, i had learned, wasn't always unbothered by his own feelings, but somehow had taught himself how to handle them.

I needed Jeremy in my life. It didn't matter if i couldn't tell him some things. That didn't matter. I had my brother and Tae Kyung for that.

The first part of Jeremy's speech had scared me because i was probably the only person on earth who had seen Jeremy crying. And i hadn't stopped to feel guilty about that yet. I hoped not to see him sad ever again.

On that night he had asked me to forget everything i had heard on the magic bus because he couldn't go back to be Jeremy if i couldn't delete that episode from my memory. When he had stepped out of the bus and asked me if i wanted an ice-cream, like nothing had truly happened, i wondered if anyone could understand Jeremy's true feelings.

And i had never quit wondering that. Every time he smiled or laughed i asked myself if he was pretending.

That was the reason why i had never bothered him with my story. I was too afraid he could just smile at me not to hurt me, while inside he was actually hurt himself.

'Oh! Jolie! We should throw a party now that Go Mi Nam is back!'

He jumped to his feet, looked at me one more time, said "I'm late! I have to go!' and ran toward the door. Before stepping into the dorm he turned one last time and added:

'It's really nice to have you home!' and disappeared.

I smiled and felt Jolie's paw touching my leg.

I stroked her, but after a while i just felt the need to kneel down as well and hold her like Jeremy had done earlier.

That conversation with Jeremy made me light-hearted and hyper. To a girl who had never really had friends, realizing that behind that door there were at least four people who loved her with all their heart and soul was just the warmest feeling ever.

Yes, it was nice to be home.