My Top 10 K-dramas of 2013~

Yay!! My very first post of 2014:D This year I didn’t watch as many Kdramas as last year due to many reasons so I’m just going to do my TOP 10 Kdramas.So without further ado here it is:

TOP 1- I Hear Your Voice

This drama leads the first place by capturing our hearts with its noona romance. It seemed like an unexpected pairing at first but you will fall more and more in love with it as the plot develops and as our main couple’s chemistry oozes out! Have you ever think that sometimes if the character speaks his/her thoughts, a lot of things would be solved? Well, we have Park Soo Ha’s I-Can-Read-Thoughts abilities so I guess it’s dream come true!

TOP 2- Man From The Stars

To be honest this might as well be my TOP 1 but since this is still airing, I think it wouldn’t be fair because I can’t fully judge the drama yet. It has the crazy elements that you can’t get from any other character other than our actress Song Yi and the existence of the alien plot is unique by itself. This drama is definitely one that any drama-addict should watch. I seriously can’t wait for the episode tonight!

TOP 3- The Master’s Sun

This drama is without a doubt one that you should look out for (get it?! because it has ghosts~no?….sorry I have a weird sense of humour:P) Anyway what else can you expect from So Ji Sub and Kong Hyo Jin? This drama combines the elements of horror and romance really well and the chilly romance stands out to become my TOP 3 of 2013.

TOP 4- Empress Ki

Empress Ki is 4th on my list because again, it is not finished yet. It is also because it is so long! I swear long dramas are good for when you are watching it as it is airing but if you are to rewatch it, it can become troublesome. Ha Ji Won is back with more ass-kicking action since last year’s King 2 Hearts  and I am loving it! Too bad she is merely a maid now and I can’t wait to see more of her sassy side. This is the only long drama on my list and it is pretty high up so I’m expecting a lot from it. I hope you guys will check it out as well because I surely wouldn’t want you to miss this gem from dramaland.

TOP 5- Gu Family Book 

Oh Gu Family Book, where would I be without this portion of gumiho goodness this year? This drama caught my eye from the start with Wol Ryung and Seo Hwa’s tragic love story. It is just full of sadness and I actually didn’t realize how sad this drama is until the very end. I’m sure everyone is same as me, wondering where the hell is the Gu Family Book but I guess we’ll never know. But I guess if there would be a second season it would probably be about Kang Chi trying to find the Gu Family Book in modern day because he just found Yeo Wool. Despite the title being kinda irrelevant from the story, Gu Family Book is still a drama you guys should check out.

TOP 6- The Heirs

The Heirs garners a lot of attention in the second half of our drama year with the popular cast such as Park Shin Hye, Lee Min Ho, Choi Jin Hyuk, Kim Ji Won, etc. The Heirs is also titled as the second popular drama “Boys Over Flowers” since it has a similar setting with the whole rich high school kids in an infamous exquisite school and the rich guy, poor girl falls in love plot. Despite the similar settings and romance, I am surprised to say that it actually has a totally different vibe to Boys Over Flowers and it doesn’t remind me of it at all.

TOP 7- Flower Boy Next Door

Another Flower Boy series to swoon over this year~ unfortunately, for me it wasn’t that much of a flower boy image to me. I’m sorry and don’t get me wrong, I love Enrique and the other boys but Jin-Rok to me has more manly charms than flowery ones with his mustache hanging. I guess you can argue that it’s another type of Flower Boy but not to me. Nevertheless this drama is great in the sense that it is fun, cute and full of stalker goodness:P I guess the scriptwriter finally decided to write about one of us? except for the fact the we don’t have Enrique at our door with a panda hood:T^T

TOP 8- Dating Agency Cyrano 

If you are into romance like me, this drama is definitely for you. I loved the way the plot is all about helping other people’s romance and it’s adorable to see the different types of romance blossom one by one. Soo Young from Girl’s Generation is not bad at acting and it’s fresh to see this couple. This drama is a fun watch if you have time and I certainly enjoyed it a lot.

TOP 9-Cheongdamdong Alice

I personally found the plot a little bit silly but Park Si Hoo’s character definitely made up for it. Seriously, it made me wonder if there is really a person like him in real life. He literally scripts what he is going to say to certain people and practice it in front of a mirror. I don’t know but I just felt so warm and fuzzy seeing how Jean Thierry Cha falls in love again . However, there were moments where I just face-palmed myself so much at the stupidity of it.

TOP 10- 7th Grade Civil Servant

The last drama on my list is 7th Grade Civil Servant. I actually struggled picking the last one but I guess it didn’t really matter because Joo Won also played in Good Doctor. I finally decided to pick this one because I actually like this couple more. It was really intense to see them together because they are both spies and I really like the idea of couples keeping secrets from each other. Whoever said that relationships don’t last when you keep secrets from each other, here’s a big fat example to slap back at your face!

Highly Recommended 

1. School 2013

I decided to watch this after I watched The Heirs and fell in love with Kim Woo Bin oppa. This was actually really good and it nearly made my list. I love the way it deals with the friendships of high school students. Awhh!! I totally ship Woo Bin and Jong Suk! It’s okay if you don’t get Eun Sang, Woo Bin, you still have your Jong Suk!

2. Good Doctor

This drama is medical based and I am kinda biased towards medical dramas because I want to be a doctor myself. I definitely love this drama a lot more compared to Medical Top Team for obvious reasons which I am not going to name. But one element that caught my eye more than anything else is Joo Won’s character. He endured many hardships because of his disability and he wasn’t trust despite his talent in medicine but he break through this barrier to become a reliable doctor. This aspect of the drama really touched me and I want to share it with you guys.

3. That Winter, The Wind Blows

This drama is one of the classics and there is no doubt that it is excellently made. I really enjoyed it but I prefer fresh plots and eccentric characters and this is why this drama didn’t made my list. I love this drama and I think you guys should check it out. It is just my personally preference that I like dramas with a not-a-so-tragic plot. I think it is such a pity that it ddidn’t made my list because it has an amazing cast.

This year is certainly a great year for Kdramas and I am looking forward to more drama goodness next year. The list above is just based on the dramas that I’ve watched this years and it is not a lot because of my school studies. I plan to watch more of 2013 dramas that are high-complimented such as Secret and Two Weeks so if there is more, you guys should tell me. Thank you guys for reading this and I hope you had a Happy New Year! ^^

Kdrama: That Winter, the Wind Blows Review~

Title: That Winter, the Wind Blows

Main Cast:

• Zo In Sung as Oh Soo
• Song Hye Kyo as Oh Young
• Kim Bum as Park Jin Sung
• Jung Eun Ji as Moon Hee Sun
• Bae Jong Ok as Wang Hye Ji
• Kim Tae Woo as Zo Moo Cheol
• Kim Kyu Cheol as Jang Sung
• Kim Young Hoon as Lee Myung Ho 
• Seo Hyo Rim as Jin So Ra
• Im Se Mi as Son Mi Ra
• Choi Seung Kyung as Sim Joong Tae

My Rating: 9.5/10 Turtles

Synopsis: 

Oh Soo is best-friends with another Oh Soo, who is the long lost brother of the rich blind heiress Oh Young. Oh Soo is framed by his girlfriend for embezzlement because she is going abroad for a year and doesn’t want to lose Oh Soo. Oh Soo meets Oh Young before his escape from the police. The Brother Oh Soo dies in an car accident in front of Oh Young while trying to help Oh Soo escape. Oh Soo is still caught by the police and he is sent to prison for a year.

A year later, Oh Soo is out of the prison but he has to pay back the embezzlement or he will die on the hands of Moo Cheol, a gangster. Meanwhile, Lawyer Jang, a close acquaintance of Oh Young is looking for Oh Young’s brother and he comes across Oh Soo. Oh Soo decides to pretend to be Oh Young’s brother and con Oh Young to pay back the embezzlement.

My Thoughts: 

When I first read the synopsis of this drama I swear I watched a similar drama from somewhere else which I can’t quite remember. I went for it and just as I thought, it is not bad at all. Just from looking at the cast I knew that this is an awesome drama so I started it without hesitation. I just finished this a week ago and since I was busy with the recap, I didn’t have time until now.

First of all the acting in this drama is no doubt, stunning. As expected with top actors like Zo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo this drama is very well portrayed but Jung Eun Ji impressed me the most. At first I didn’t know that she is an idol actress so I didn’t have any prejudice against. She has successfully impressed me with her natural acting skills! Usually I focus mainly on the main actors but I found my eyes following in every scene she is in so props to this new actress for making this drama even better for me!

Oh Soo is a character you would sympathize with but I don’t feel any of it. He was thrown away by his parents like trash and he just decides to live like trash. Listen Oh Soo, if you are thrown away like that it doesn’t mean you should live like trash! Instead you should live well to let your parents regret throwing you away! I just hate when people use their bad experiences as excuses to do something bad or give up. To me, Oh Soo is no different from the villains of other dramas I watched who use their scarred past as their excuses to be evil.

On the other hand, Oh Young is not someone that I completely like either. She gives up her life too easily when there are other people fighting so hard for their lives. I think this is why Oh Young and Oh Soo are meant to be together. Both of them fills up for each other’s weaknesses and that’s why Oh Young decides to do the surgery and Oh Soo decides to not live like a walking zombie. In this aspect of the drama, this one thing that pleases me the most.

You know the way dramas always give you some kind of life lessons, in this case, it teaches me that not every one is perfect and that couples are matched because they help each other’s weaknesses with their own strengths. Kinda like – and – equals to a + in maths if you get what I mean.

Kim Bum is superb in this drama and I adore his character because of how loyal he is! But then at the end………..well, let’s just say I didn’t expect him to do what he did just because of Hee Sun. I mean, you see in the drama how protective he is of Oh Soo, even to the point where he slaps Hee Sun for revealing Oh Soo’s secret. So he just caught me by surprise at the end. Side Note, I want to congratulate Kim Bum for finally dating! *claps* I was kinda sad when he didn’t end up with Moon Geun Young in Goddess of Fire but I guess he manage to date her in real life instead^^

It is very heart-breaking to see Oh Soo lie to Oh Young while Oh Young completely trusts him. But then if all of that doesn’t happen then Oh Young would have never fallen for Oh Soo. Now that I think about it, it is actually weird how Oh Young falls for Oh Soo. She thinks of Oh Soo as a brother until he kisses her secretly but like just one kiss and she’s in love? I know you can argue that Oh Young has already fallen in love with Oh Soo and that the kiss is when Oh Young realize that her love for Oh Soo isn’t just siblings-kind-of-love but still. Isn’t it too fast?

Another thing that frustrates me in this drama is the fact that Oh Young trusts others too easily. It doesn’t seem like it if you look at her attitude to Secretary Wang but to Oh Soo’s dark secrets is revealed one at a time and it seems so fast how she can trust Oh Soo again. But I still like it though. I feel like a hypocrite because whenever relationships are slow, I call the drama dragged out but now in this case I think that Oh Young trusts Oh Soo to fast. Hmmm…..I think I need some consultation:P I don’t even know what I want!

*SPOILER* The ending of this drama definitely disappoint me though:( It just seems very silly how Oh Soo has to hide from Oh Young even after all that. Oh Young’s eyes are sort of okay but we don’t really know because she is okay one minute and the next she sees Oh Soo and calls him handsome O.o I’m easily confused by things like that and I hate it when things are unclear and complicated. The ending might be artsy but it is definitely not my cup of tea.  *SPOILER ENDS*

I think this drama is unquestionably one of the “Classic” kdrama with the whole brother/sister thing and the girl being blind. Compared to Stairway to Heaven, this is definitely less tragic so if you are looking for something similar to Stairway to Heaven, this drama is certainly for you. The cast and acting is amazing, the plot is well enough and the chemistry of the main romance is surely there so I would recommend this drama to any Kdrama addicts, as well as any one that is just starting to watch dramas. This is absolutely one that hooks you into the world of Kdramaland!

What is your opinion on Oh Soo and Oh Young’s romance? Do you think the ending is a bit silly as well? Comment below and let me know! You are also welcome to share your opinions with me:D Thank you for reading my review and I hope this can help you^^