2008 was a great, but not excellent year for dramas in general. Here are my reviews for the dramas that I've watched, barely watched and still watching..
First on my MUST WATCH list is Hong Gil Dong. I love the intensity of Kang Ji Hwan's acting as well as his sense of humor. Sung Yuri totally improved her acting too and she really does play the goofy, over the top role well. Also true that Jang Geun-seok's acting was mostly flat on this one. Or was it just his role that was supposed to be one-dimensional. Still one of the best dramas for 2008.
After Hong Gil Dong, I checked out Three Dads and One Mom because of Jae Hee (one of my favorite actors since Delightful Girl Choon Hyang). I actually enjoyed the bonding of the three men. They were hilarious when taking care of the baby and watching her grow up. What was bad about it was that none of the three men actually had any chemistry with Eugene. This is a should watch drama.
Also watched Iljimae afterwards since the summary was like Hong Gil Dong and starring Lee Jun Ki. I loved all the dramas he's done so far so of course I couldn't miss his new one. However, I was a bit disappointed at the drama (the editing was so bad I couldn't follow what was going on the first few episodes). The PD kept jumping all over the place. I did like the action scenes on this one especially acted well by Jun Ki. But again with the messed up ending. I mean what did happen.
Tried watching Robber because Jang Hyuk did so well on Thank You and Lee Da-hae from My Girl and wanted to forget her Hello Miss disaster. The beginning was funny. The acting was superb. What made me not enjoy the drama was the over dramatic storyline so I dropped it halfway through.
When those dramas ended or not finished, I didn't know what to watch next so had to look at D-addicts again for something. What I found surprising was Last Scandal. It totally belongs in the MUST WATCH list. It has all the cliches of a Korean drama, but the acting is top notch that I can't help watching the next episode. I started watching it after all the episodes have already been subbed. It's never too late to watch this awesome drama. And yes I am sad to find out that this will be Choi Jin-shil's last drama after her untimely death.
Then for the fall season, browsing through the Korean blogs news site, D-addicts, there were so many anticipated dramas. What I planned to watch were East of Eden, Kingdom of the Wind, Painter of the Wind, Beethoven Virus.
East of Eden belongs in the unwatchable or barely watched category. Yes I did try the first 4 episodes especially with most of the cast I've grown to like when seeing most of their older dramas. Found out about Kim Bum (cute Yi-jung of BOF's F4) here and his intense acting role. But even with the best of the best acting in a drama, it totally reminded me of many Korean tragic dramas which I've come to hate ever since I've watched too many of the early days (ok I'm talking about the first two years I've been watching Korean dramas in general so it's maybe not that long ago). Korean tragic dramas are those where the good guys always get treated so poorly and do not do anything for their circumstances while the bad guys prevail. Another aspect which totally made me drop the entire drama was the # of episodes planned for it. Dude, if I have to watch a drama with 50 episodes of crying, why not just scrap it now.
Don't need to say much, but Excellent for Kingdom of the Wind and Painter of the Wind.
However, this may be a shock to some people but Beethoven Virus so far belongs in the still watching even if it kills me list. Ok, I've only seen the first 4 episodes then stopped. I have all episodes downloaded but need to find the will to watch it. What got me annoyed was when Du Ru Mi suddenly started having a crush on the Evil Maestro (what did she see in him?). I'm talking about the episode where they had their first public concert and she didn't want him to leave. That was too early to be mesmerized because he only treated her like trash.
The still watching drama because the subs are going way too slow are Gourmet and Every Night. First Gourmet is a very unlike any Kdramas I've seen. It reminds me of Yakitate Japan, Hikaru no Go or Shounen sports animes where they have contests, rivalry and good food with an awesome cast. I haven't seen much of Kim Rae-won since My Love Patzzi (well I did try watching Which Star Are You From, but I totally need to make time for that and have the patience to watch something boring). Yet, this drama is enjoyable because of his honest, feel good acting.
Every Night with Kim Sam Soon and Lee Dong Gun belongs to the Watchable category. It also has a different take of Korean drama. The focus isn't on the love story (sorry must say that Lee Dong Gun and Kim Sun-ah didn't have much of a chemistry but their bickering scenes were hilarious), but Korean historical artifacts. I like learning about culture and restoring them has never been done in dramas before. It's different and unpredictable. I actually liked the mystery-ness of it all.