"Dating is never easy..." - A Chilling Romance review

Originalname:	오싹한 연애 | Ossakhan Yeonae
Also known as:	Spellbound (International English title) / Eerie Romance (literal title)
Release Date:	1. December 2011
Director:	Hwang In Ho
Writer:	Hwang In Ho
Producer:	Ahn Young Jin, Ahn Sang Hoon, Lee Won Tae

Cast:

Son Ye Jin, Lee Min Ki

Plot

One day, while performing magic on the street, Jo Goo notices a woman (Yeo Ri) in the audience. He follows her and asks her if she wants to take part in his show.

One year later his show is a big success. Yeo Ri performs as the ghost in the show, however no one knows that she actually can see ghosts.

Jo Goo finally manages to get her go drinking with the crew. And... let’s just say... it ends with her ripping his cloths off.

After a while he discovers her secret of being able to see ghosts.

He figures out that she has trouble with dates and decides to help her and introduces her to someone. It would’ve worked out for those two, if it weren’t for a certain ghost. (GHOOOOOOST!!)

Afterwards, they get to know each other better and even go on dates, which leads to pointless shirt ripping again and sharing the same bed!

(Insert pointless subplot with returning girlfriend from France here.)

So, they’re together now. (Yeah, I don’t really have a clue...) and after a weird dance , they sleep together. (Wow, that was...sudden...)

But evil ghost doesn’t want them to be happy and wants to kill Jo Goo off. It all reaches it’s climax at the show and Yeo Ri nearly drowning and Jo Goo floating.

But Yeo Ri gives the ghost back what’s hers and gets free and Jo Goo falls down and is unconscious.

Yeo Ri wants to leave to Oslo and we have that airport scene. But...she...gets on the plane???(WTF? IT’S ROMANCE/COMEDY!!) Oh, I guess she didn’t get on the plane after all and creepy ghost is on the plane. She tries to sneak off but is caught by Jo Goo and they kiss and creepy ghost is watching them. THE END!!!

Conclusion

Firstly, it’s really fun to watch. I mean, for Yeo Ri it was the first time having a boyfriend and she acted sometimes really unsure but then very confident, too. That lead to some funny scenes. Also Jo Goo’s brother was funny, how he wanted to give advices to his younger brother about love. But it looked like he has no clue about what he is saying. Here: A big compliment to the cast. They did a great job.

One thing, that wasn’t so good, was the time that tells us what’s happening. I know it’s a movie and you have only 90min to use. So it happened that they made huge jumps like suddenly they’re together. I asked myself: “What? How did this happen?”, and then I went a scene backwards but there wasn’t any clue. Or the fact that Jo Goo had another girlfriend  before Yeo Ri. That girlfriend went to France, came back, caught them how they slept together in the tent. What happened to her? Did Jo Goo broke up with her? It’s never explained in the movie. And that’s not all. There were other scenes that just felt weird or unexplained. For me it looked like that the whole story was made for a drama but they had to make a movie out of it for whatever reason.

"Are they or aren't they?"- A Study On Bromance

When watching certain movies or series you may noticed two guys... one is trying to comfort the other, who’s crying... the guy slowly puts his arm around the other... lays him on this chest and says: “You know, I’ll be always there for you. Because I care about you” What sound like the beginning of a gay romance isn’t what it seems to appear, it’s something deeper than a friendship, something that has been around since centurys: Bromance.

Dr. Higa will demonstrate it to you.

Thank you very much, Dr. Higa.

The Asian Bromance in Drama

There are different types of Bromances: First there’s the Bromance between brothers (for example: HikaruxKaoru, not the best example I know, but deal with it), then there’s the Bromance between friends (for example: WataruxYuuta, but when I think about it...actually the whole Tumbling-Cast), the Yakuza-Bromance (which you could also count as brotherly love but is really just an employerxemployee; for example: SerizawaxTokyo) and the Bromance between teacher and student(for example: Kawatoxany-student-from-the-Rookies-Team).

In a brotherly bromance it’s mostly that you can’t separate them, the brother is the most important thing in the world and is meant to be protected from it. Hikaru and Kaoru are really a more comedic version of that. OHSHC is mostly a comedy of everything that is Shojo and with the raising amount of Yaoi-fangirls you had to do something like that. You see them always hugging and holding hands and it soon becomes very clear that Kaoru is a little afraid of Haruhi stepping into their world and kind of breaking their bond, but at the same time he wants his brother, Hikaru, to be happy. 

Bromance between friends is mostly is the equal to a girls BFF: they tell each other everything, they scrub each others back at the public bath and he’ll be always there when his friend’s crying to give him a warm embrace or a shoulder grabbing just so he knows his friend’s there and give him a Martin Luther King Speech.

The best pairing to show this relationship in my eyes are Wataru and Yuuta. Wataru and Yuuta have lots of difficulties at the beginning but when he realises what tumbling means to Yuuta, he tries to help him accomplish and defend that dream by making it his dream as well. Yuuta was there for Wataru when his father died and Wataru was there when Yuuta was afraid to jump and he trained with him every night so he could finally jump again, until the point where Yuuta actually attacks Akabane when he wanted to deliver the finishing blow to Wataru. (‘That’s what friends are for.’ If I could cry a manly tear I would, but that would mean I should grow myself a penis and I’m not a snail.)

Yakuza-Bromance or Business-Bromance is mostly based on the fact that you have an Aniki or Sempai who teaches you the thing you need to do in this business. In the Yakuza-Bromance they share a very close bond and it goes as far as devoting their lives for each other including getting beaten up or even die (sounds very gay I know).

The best example I could find were Serizawa and Tokyo from Crows Zero. Tokyo would beat up Genji, his former best friend, for Serizawa. Serizawa wants his safety and is angry when Tokyo lies to him about his condition, even though he did it to not worry him so much. Tokyo is also the only one who calms Serizawa down. They’re deeply devoted to each other and they hope that their friendship will never change. 

Teacher-Student-Bromance really only exists in school drama with nice teachers. Teachers, who devote their lives for their (delinquent) students and want to be their best friend.

Kawato...where do we start with this happy-go-lucky-teacher... He’s the one who told Mikoshiba to chase his dreams, Aniya to not hide his feelings and Shinjo to finally make real friends. Which teacher would take a hit from their students? Which teacher would stay up late night to help his students? Which teacher would cover for their student and resign for them, when they did something stupid? Kawato would. ‘nuff said. (All Hail Thee Almighty Kawato!!)

And  also there’s my favourite pairing, which fits nowhere in the list but deserves a mentioning: Ba EulxHyun Woo. They’re not really friends, but they’re like an old married couple. Hyun Woo knits a scarf for Ba Eul and tells him he shouldn’t sleep naked. They’re mostly quarrelling, but still are seen together most of the time and you just enjoy seeing them that way.   

The Asian Bromance in Asian Boybands

Bromance seems to have kind of a tradition in asian boybands. It’s mostly...kind of...sort of (yes, I’m very insecure on that topic. Don’t wanna make anyone angry...) It’s actually teasing... But in a very weird way, that really makes you wonder if... they... are...

Super Junior's Heechul

The topic is mostly kissing: they steal the first kiss of unkissed members (for example Jaejoong from TVXQ who kissed Changmin while he was sleeping and Jaejoong thought he was cute, or Doojoon from BEAST who kissed Yoseob suddenly during a fan meeting) or it’s just fanservice (for example Heechul from Super Junior who kisses or embraces his members always).

What’s also remarkable, this happens only between the OTPs (One True Pairings), which are built by the fangirls. Does this mean the Idols do read fanfics...? o.Ô

The Western Bromance

Bromance has kind of a “long” tradition with in our realms too. Think of Sherlock Holmes and his dear Dr. Watson or if you want to go even more back in time Greek mythologies. 

A newer series to feature Bromance is ‘Supernatural’. Peopla who know the series, know what I’m talking about. You can really pair everyone: SamxDean, DeanxCastiel, GabrielxCastiel or SamxCastiel (to name a few).

Sam and Dean have a brotherly Bromance (They’re actually a better example for the brotherly  Bromance). Dean and Castiel are kind of a Friendship-Bromance. Gabriel and Castiel have again a brotherly Bromance.

Final words

Honestly, Bromance is funny, if you know how to handle it. And, well, there are a lot ways to handle it and you, Miss fangirl, know probably more than I do.

Our favourites are the Yakuza- and the Friendship-Bromance. They’re the most common bromances as far as we know.

It is actually remarkable how Bromance became a world phenomenon, I mean it was suddenly known all over the planet, and also how it is more acceptable than a gay relationship.  

AND NOW: LET’S ALL HAVE A BROMANCE-PARTY! WEEEEHEEEEEEEEE! (the manliest sound in the world)

And don’t forget men. Never let that hand of yours go too deep down. It’s basically the same as with the girls: Touching the butt without permission is a no-no!

“Are they or aren’t they?” - Anonymous

"It's lame - but it's everything for me!" - A Tumbling Review

Originalname:	タンブリング
Also known as:	-
Release Date:	17. April - 26. June 2010
Director:	Ayato Matsuda, Kenjiro Kuranuki
Writer:	Michiru Egashira, Yukako Shimizu, Akira Watanabe
Cast:	Yusuke Yamamoto, Koji Seto, Shohei Miura, Shunsuke Daito, Takahiro Nishijima, Satoshi Tomiura, Tomo Yanagishita, Kento Kaku, Soran Tamoto

Plot

Wataru, a delinquent student, has to search for a club activity because of his bad grades. He falls in love quickly with his new classmate. She is in the girls rhythmic gymnastics club. When he finds out that she adores a boy from the male rhythmic gymnastics club, he decides he wants to join them. After lots of quitting, joining and getting accepted by the club members, they finally enter a tournament together and lose. Yuuta, the captain, thinks it’s his fault and finds himself not good enough to do rhythmic gymnastics, even though it was his dream since childhood.

While Wataru was trying to convince Yuuta to be their captain again, Ryousuke, his friend from delinquent days, feels lonelier and gets involved with very bad company. After getting Nippori to lose his part time job Ryousuke finally wants to get out, but they won’t let him. Wataru appears and begs them to let him go and gets beaten up badly. Luckily, the Yakuza-boss arrives and beats the bad guy up instead. So Ryousuke and Wataru are free to go. Yuuta becomes captain again, they get their homeroom teacher to be their coach and have two new members, namely Ryousuke and Nippori.

The new formed group decides that they want to join a festival and start practising. But Nippori leaves the rhythmic gymnastics club. When Wataru asks him for the reason, he replies with being too bad at it. But the real reason is that he had to take extra work so that his sister could go on a school excursion. The group finds it out and helps him and they manage to arrive right in time for their performance. They lose. But all of them are saying that it was great fun anyway.

One of Wataru’s previous “friends”, his name is Akabane Reiji, wants to become King of the school. After the refusing of Ryousuke he wants to bring Kiyama on his side.  But he doesn’t show any interest. So that guy spreads the rumor of Kiyama killing somebody. Which he didn’t. That’s the same Wataru tells everyone in their club. After that Satoshis heart disease is discovered and he can’t be in the club anymore.

In the same time Wataru gets a message, which says that they got Kiyama and he rushes of. It’s a trap for both of them to come to the same place, so they can beat the shit out of Kiyama and Wataru. They fight well until Wataru gets injured because he wanted to protect Kiyama. Fortunatly, he isn’t hurt that bad.

Kiyama makes his peace, joins the club and Satoshi is allowed to stay as manager.

Soon the team gets the chance to join a trainings camp at the university with the girls’ team and the red ones (Keep in mind they’re eeeeevil!). But at the beginning Mizusawa seems to have a problem with Kiyama’s joining to the team. Anyway, at the trainings camp the boys can’t join the real exercises, they have to replace the garbage and clean the windows. During the camp Satoshi finds out the reason why Mizusawa is acting strange. Mizusawa loves Kiyama. But this information was heard of one of the other boys’ team. The next day the boy (of course he had to tell it to everyone) he makes jokes about the homosexuality of Mizusawa and the fact that he loves Kiyama. Nobody of the team knows how to act around Mizusawa and so Mizusawa decides to quit tumbling. His last word to his team mates were formulated in a notebook. Wataru and the others read this and they get guilty conscience. At the end, after Wataru and the others tell him how much they need him and that he can’t quit he comes back and they perform at the exhibition. Because of the unnatural training they get a clean performance (You know, waxing, polishing,waxing…) and surprise everyone.

One day Yuuta gets scared to jump because of an accident. So he starts a secret training which Wataru discovers. They start training together. The reason why Wataru sees Yuuta training is that he only just figured out that his father is still alive, although very sick, and wants him to visit.

With a little bit training and the help of the other teammates Yuuta can jump again. And even Wataru resolves his problem with visiting his father. The first meeting didn’t go that well.

But Hino has problems with his dad too. Wataru rescues him one night and they end up talking. Wataru say that Hino should go talking with his dad, but Hinosays that Wataru isn’t in any position to lecture him. Wataru takes it to heart and goes back to talk with his dad. He manages to  invite him for the tournament, but he dies meanwhile.

The next day Hino’s father had a talk with the teacher about taking Hino from school. Hino is angry and says that he doesn’t want to do rhythmic gymnastics anymore.

But Wataru hears him and goes and apologizes to his dad and invites him to the tournament.

At the day of the tournament Kiyama and Nippori get lost and beaten up by some delinquents. But Hino replaces them since he owes Wataru this. After this Hino wants to be finally a part of the group performance and because of the great performance with Hino they are chosen to go to the next tournament.

So, one day after practise the group decides that they need new music and new stunts. Kashiwagi, their coach, hears this and tries his best to collect any kind of data he can find.

However, the group decides that they need the help of a professional coach and get one. When they tell Kashiwagi, he hides his disappointment and tells them how happy he is about that.

Training with the professional coach goes well and Kashiwagi thinks that he’s not needed any more. So he considers an offer of one of his old soccer colleagues to teach kids how to play soccer.  He tells his thoughts to the girls’ team’s coach and Wataru overhears this. He tells him to do what he wants, because he helped them so many times and he wants to help him.

But it turns out the professional is an imposter; he taught them the choreography of the last year’s winners (I don’t know how Yuuta didn’t know about this. Thought he was a fan…). Kashiwagi shows up in the same time and, boy, is he angry at the imposter for not taking his team seriously. He hits him and takes full responsibility and resigns. (I think I wrote this somewhere before… but where…?)

Kashiwagi asks the girls’ team coach to look after the boys and she gives the boys a box full of material that Kashiwagi collected for them. She helps them to get a new choreography (It’s called Kashiwagi Special), practised all night with them and on the next day they show it to him. Afterwards they say they don’t want him to leave and he takes back his resignation. (That is apparently possible in Japan.)

Some days later they get a new student which Kaneko recognizes as his childhood friend Yashiro Koichi. Because “Kou-chan” seemed to go down the wrong road, Kaneko wants him to join the club, thinking he could change back to the Kou-chan he knew.
After a couple of incidents like fire in the club room because someone smoked there, and an old man get beaten up, the team stands before a withdraw of the final tournament because Nippori and Ryosuke get accused for those incidents.
It’s obvious who did this but Kaneko doesn’t want to believe this and thinks he can still change his old friend.

Also Wataru’s previous friend Akabane Reiji shows up again! He apparently got expelled and let Kou-chan do all that stupid stuff. Only to cause trouble for Wataru and his team.

Anyway, Kou-chan gives in. He couldn’t stand it any longer because Kaneko was the only one who defeated him. Kou-chan wanted to help his friend and he tells everyone that he is responsible for the incidents.

After some days have passed the Washizu tumbling club (previously named the eeeevil red ones here) asks our tumbling club to train in their hall. Seeing them train, our group realises that they aren’t good enough and they have to improve the choreography. But to be sure who can handle with the new choreography, they make an entrance exam.

Well, the first time they fail miserably. But they eventually talk to each other and find their sync again, but Nippori fails at the tree times backflip and also Kiyama can’t participate because he got a fraction on his wrist.

Akabane, he wants still to destroy the club, actually had an evil plan but Kiyama gets in his way. (He had a heart-breaking goodbye speech on the phone)

Kiyama begs in front of Akabane for his team, but he gets beaten up and Akabane calls Wataru, who decides that he should help his friend even though it means to let go of his hobby.

Wataru now gets beaten up together with Kiyama, but they keep on talking about friendship and so on. Just when Akabane had enough and decided to give Wataru the finishing move, Yuuta and all the others step in and continuously beg for their teammates to be returned.

Akabane finally gets a heart (no seriously, that’s what it feels like while watching) and decides to let them go.

They enter the tournament all beaten up and of course the fine society wonders. But they manage to get the viewers on their side and have a good time on stage, which is why they celebrate even though they’ve lost and couldn’t go to nationals. But as Yuuta says, it’s all about the friends they made. The drama ends with the guys doing flips in the sand.

Conclusion

This drama was great. A real shounen- drama about friendship and chasing after their dreams. I liked it very much. Never the less the music played a big role to make the story that great. The music was epic and matched with every situation. With the music there came always the speeches along and they were also epic. I had sometimes the feeling, that Martin Luther King sits somewhere in a corner and tells the boys what to say. Because of those speeches, I had to cry a lot and not only in the last episode, no, since episode 4 or 5 (it was very early) my tears ran continually down my face.

As for the actors I have to say they did a great job (but what do you expect if there is like Yamamoto Yusuke and Seto Koji in the cast?).

One point what I thought was great, too, was the topic about homosexuality. I didn’t expect it. I never thought that they would really go with this. I mean, when I hear Japan, I still think of a nation where homosexually is still a forbidden theme and not allowed by the society. I think their openness was great. But what it’s sad, they couldn’t hold the topic longer. Homosexually was the topic of only one episode and afterwards it was never mentioned. Maybe Japan isn’t that open after all…

But sometimes the motivations of some characters were poor. I mean, you’re evil only because your friends didn’t ask you to join the club too? Hello? Those pussies! Go home and cry but don’t try to sabotage others. Or this: Every friend let me down and no one believes me, so I’m evil! I don’t really get these motivations to be evil. Here the writers could more think about that the antagonists could have had a deeper personality.

But for what it is, I honestly liked it. It was very surprising and fun to watch. And that being said: REAL MEN WEAR PINK!

"...making my heart boil"- A Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Review

Originalname:	꽃미남 라면가게 | Ggotminam Ramyeongage
Also known as:	Flower Boy Ramen Shop
Release Date:	31. October - 20. December 2011
Director:	Jung Jung Hwa
Writer:	Yoon Nan Joong
Cast:	Jung Il Woo, Lee Chung Ah, Lee Ki Woo, Park Min Woo, Jo Yoon Woo, Ho Soo

Plot

Yang Eun Bi, a stubborn headstrong woman, is a teacher in training. She is waiting for her boyfriend to return from the army. When he returned, however, she went to the festival of their old school alone, because of him being too tired to accompany her.

She then accidentally meets Cha Chi Soo again. (Yes, they met before: it involved a very embarrassing scene in a public toilet) And she also meets her army boyfriend there and guess what, he is cheating on her. He tells her that she was being to clingy and that it scares him. She tells him angrily that she already has a new boyfriend, Cha Chi Soo, and gets into his car. They drive away.

Suddenly she starts crying and he tells her to get out, because she’d get his car dirty. (Our main love interest everyone! And guess what? He’s an asshole!)

No time to grieve, the next day is our teacher in trainings first school day. In which she figures out that Cha Chi Soo is in her class! (Remember: Age is just a number, jail is just a room…)

Cha Chi Soo, being the spoiled brat and heartbreaker that he is, decides to play a little bit with her feelings. (Why is it that no woman can resist him and that they lose all sense of reason when they’re with him?)

She eventually finds it out and of course is angry. So angry that she throws a volleyball at him. (Note: She was a volleyball player in her school days.)

Considering that it wasn’t anyone she hit but Cha Chi Soo and this school belongs to the Cha family she gets fired.

But that isn’t quite what Chi Soo wanted. So he wants his dad to bring her back.

After a few events later Eun Bi’s father, a ramyun shop owner, dies. She decides to completely give up on being a teacher and becomes the shop owner after a man named Choi Kang Hyuk convinces her to do so. With Chi Soo, Kim Ba Wool and Woo Hyun Woo the workers are complete. And Flower Boy Ramyun Shop opens his doors.

Chi Soo, who has already fallen for his teacher, tries to win her heart but he has found a rival in Kang Hyuk.

One day Kang Hyuk wants to go out with Eun Bi. They want to go the cinema and the date is going well. But he has to leave her for a short time. In this time, Chi Soo appears in the cinema, takes her out and kisses her in the front of the building. Guess who saw this. You’re right, it was Kang Hyuk. After Chi Soo kissed her, Kang Hyuk has to see, how Chis Soo and Eun Bi are driving away.

While Eun BI is trying to sort her feelings both of them have a battle for her heart. But Chi Soo seems to not get that money isn’t everything for Eun Bi and she tells him, that if he would only be a good man for her, if he learned how to cook ramen.

Chi Soo doesn’t want to lose her and so he asks Kang Hyuk for help, which he does. Chi Soo manages to make a bowl of ramen and begs her to try it. Eun Bi, being afraid of her feelings, doesn’t even want to try it. But she eventually gives in and they embrace each other.

Some days later Kang Hyuk catches how Chi Soo and Eun Bi were together in her room. He puts Eun Bi out, locks the door and announces Cha Chi Soo that they have the same mother. (*sniff* M. Night Shyamalan would be proud!)

But she hasn’t decided who she wants to pick. After an advice from her best female friend, she goes with both on a date. Yang Fatale is born. The date with Choi Kan Hyuk went really well, but the date with Cha Chi Soo was a disaster. He wants her to leave the shop and to work at the Cha Company. Naturally, she gets really upsets and heads home.

Cha Chi Soo who doesn’t want to lose her goes to the shop and wants to win her back. Eun Bi pretends to be sleeping because before Choi Kang Hyunk was there. When Chi Soo comes into her room, he lies down next to her and embracing her when she sleeps. After a short argue, she let him do this. But they got disturbed because of the suddenly appearing voice of Cha Chi Soo’s father who is talking to Kang Hyuk.

The BIG BAD PARENT say no, no to relationship and threatens to destroy the shop. Chi Soo finds out about this and decides to give up their relationship for the shop seeing how all those people need it.

Both Eun Bi and Chi Soo are sulking in their homes. Until Eun Bi snaps on the day of her best friend’s wedding and  goes, armed with a toilet plunger, to her true loves rescue . The mission succeeds but the shop has be closed down and all of them go separated ways. Even Chi Soo and Eun Bi since he has to do military service.

We leave the show with an Epilogue seeing that Eun Bi and  Chi Soo meet again after military service passed.

Conclusion

It’s not bad, but it isn’t that good, too. The story was well thought out and realistic. I mean, Mister Cha gave an ultimatum (son back or the shop gets closed) and he resists on this till the end. The shop gets closed when Cha Chi Soo decides to be together with Eun Bi. It isn’t a fluffy-puffy ending and that’s good so. It’s enough that everyone gets a happy ending of their own. Kim Ba Wool has his girlfriend, Woo Hyun Woo gets to know a woman on the toilet (and the story starts again with a new cast starring Woo Hyun Woo in the main role xD) and Kang Hyuk? Well, he speaks the epilogue because it isn’t known what he is doing (probably sleeping and dreaming of them).
The cast was also very good. They matched with their roles. Sadly I couldn’t really tell about the support characters in the plot but this is because they didn’t really support the main plot. They had a sort of an own main story. Yeah, Kim Ba Wool didn’t like Cha Chi Soo and wanted to protect Eun Bi from him, or he learned how to cook and to work in a ramyun shop, but that’s all. Very funny was the pairing Kim Ba Wool and Woo Hyun Woo. They reminded me sometimes of an old married couple.

But I had also my problems. Because of those problems I stopped for a while to watch this drama. My problems were that she was his teacher and he was her student. Call me old fashioned but on my opinion the man has to be older than the women. But yeah, I think that was a message from the drama. It  doesn’t matters who’s older is or how big the age gap is; it only matters that it is love.
One fact that wasn’t good, was the twist (“Cha Chi Soo, I’m your brother”). It suddenly appears (this isn’t that bad, it tensioned the story) but then there was nothing. It didn’t get developed. The two characters remained at the still same position they were before. That’s sad because I think this could have been a great sub-plot. But this had to come sooner and not at the end of the drama. So it looks like: “Oh we have one episode left. What do we want to do? Oh, let’s make them brothers but afterwards we don’t go in to it and leave it.” You understand?

  

Nonetheless, I would recommend it to people who are tolerant with this kind of relationship. And for those who aren’t but are into the story, you have to be patient because after some episodes you get used to it and Cha Chi Soo develops and gets more mature so it goes to okay. Just don’t watch it at once.

“If he’s the river, I’m the sea. I’ll always come back to you”- A Study on 'Mr. Brightside'

 [REUPLOAD!]

So, my sister and I were watching a K- drama recently (If you haven’t watched “You’re beautiful” yet: Consider doing so. It’s really a fun ride through the world of Asian Drama) and we realised something through our Asian – Drama – Experience (We literally reached the final stage of enlightenment xD):

Now in – what I call – Shoujo Drama (Yeah, I am a Japanese influenced person) there’s always two or more love interests of the main character (<-- usually a girl). And you know there’s “this one guy”, you know from the very beginning: “That’s him! That’s THE GUY! She will fall for him!”

Let’s list the features of this guy, shall we? First of all, he’s mean! Take Hana Yori Dango for an example: He makes her life a living hell just because she stood up against their bulling and that’s not all he wants her to get violated by students he paid (in the drama at least) just so she can bow and lick his shoe clean. (Imagine if they would’ve been asked, how they met… awkward…) or in the K- Drama “You’re beautiful”: He nearly let’s her drown just because he wants to see how she’ll get out of the mess (Charming, right?) But that’s okay… WHAT?! Bella didn’t even manage to change Edward!

And that’s basically the whole point in the Asian Drama, he needs to change in order to become the great man you know he’ll become. But to do that he needs a heart breaking backstory in order to show that he’s not that bad at all. Mostly, it’s the mean mother that completely ignored her son. (Seriously, what’s wrong with Drama- mums.)

Ah, and before I forget, he is mostly the high- school celebrity. The guys want to be like him and the girls want to be with him.

Well, obviously we can’t just let that end here, because like I said there’s - what I like call – “the other guy” or “Mr. Brightside”. You instantly know when he pops up, shining like a white knight and helps her out: “That’s THE OTHER GUY! He’ll never get the girl.” And you sadly shake your head and constantly feel sorry for him. Even though nothing has happened yet to feel sorry about that character!

So there are two basic characters of the other guy: the best friend of the main love interest, the random guy, who just pops up, meets the girl and falls for her. The features of those guys are mostly the same but there are some differences.

So his features are: First of all he’s an eye candy…. He looks a lot better than the main love interest. (Why doesn’t the better looking guy get the girl?!)

But now let’s get serious: He’s gentle and I don’t mean like “gentle... a little bit nicer” I mean he’s really well behaved. He will always appear when the guy dumps her to comfort her. It’s almost like he has an alarm in his head. He’ll always be there to hug her when she’s crying in a dark room (“You’re beautiful”). He’s like a Guardian Angel always watching over her and he always happens to hear things that he shouldn’t hear. So you basically always know when the main couple is hugging and the camera shifts to the left that he’s somewhere there, standing behind a wall, gazing at her while looking like a puppy in the rain. And you are like: “Oh my god, why do you have to be standing there in this moment!” And even though you like the main pairing and can’t wait until Mr. and Mrs. “Dense” come together, the other guy has the so-called “pity- bonus” (it’s not that much worth as the “death- bonus” but still  higher than the “main pairing- bonus”)and you can’t help but cheer for him instead. And if it wasn’t humiliating enough that he doesn’t get the girl, he’s even helping our main love interest to get together with the girl in the final episode. Sometimes the other guy even tells the main love interest that he (the main love interest) is in love because that idiot doesn’t even realise it, for god’s sake!

At the end you can’t help but wonder: Would someone in real life really choose someone who constantly makes her cry over someone who’s always there or here when she’s feeling down. (You know: A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, right?) I mean, when you’re young, you are more attracted by a bad boy but that’s only for short. When you want to get serious, you’ll choose the guy who dries your tears and lends his shoulder or embraces you when you really need it.

I guess that’s a question everyone has to answer for themselves.

Then again, Dramas are not about reality, they’re about dreams and how far the main character goes to realise them. No matter how hard the way to her love is. No matter how many hardships she has to face. In the end she gets together with the man she loves. The other guy and the girl mostly stay friends and he becomes a good pal. He’s mostly alone in the end but still happy he could make her smile.

    “If he’s the river, I’m the sea. I’ll always come back to you”- Yu, Koizora (Sky Of Love)

"Ninth Inning, Two Outs, Bases loaded..."- A Rookies Review

Originalname:	ルーキーズ | Rukizu
Also known as:	-
Release Date:	19. April - 28. July 2008
Director:	Yuichiro Hirakawa, Takeyoshi Yamamoto, Jun Muto
Writer:	Yoshihiro Izumi, Masanori Morita (manga)
Cast:	Ryuta Sato, Hayato Ichihara, Keisuke Koide, Yuu Shirota, Akiyoshi Nakao, Sousuke Takaoka, Kenta Kiritani, Takeru Sato, Kazuyuki Asano, Shunji Igarashi, Yosuke Kawamura, Hiroyuki Onoue, Eri Murakawa

 Plot

A baseball match. That’s how it all begins. The baseball team is aiming for Koushien Championship. But as their batter angrily hits the catcher with his bat, their dreams were shattered as well.

We cut to some months later we see the same team, that was so eager to go to Koushien, became a group full of violent delinquents. They would’ve been thrown out of school already but since that would mean a loss of reputation, they are still there.

But the principal has a plan. He hires a teacher, who was known for hitting his student and resigned afterwards. He should repeat his mistakes and the delinquents should have a fight with the teacher, so that all of them could be thrown out.

Without knowing the teacher arrives at the school. It’s our main character Kawato.

Mikoshiba is a nice student, who has only one dream since the incident happened: To play baseball with friends once again. But since his dream is so hopeless, he decides that he just should drop out of school. But Kawato steps in and tells him to wait until he knows, what Kawato can do. With that Kawato decided to become the baseball coach.

Since Mikoshiba begins to trust Kawato, he gives him the keys to the clubroom, much to the dislike of the clubmembers. They want Sekikawa, the fastest, to steal it back, but while he was trying to do so, he gets to know why Kawato was hired. He begins to think differently of Kawato.

As Shinjo finds out that they cleared out their ‘paradise’, he gets really angry. And he tracks down Sekikawa and beats him unconscious. The rest of the group arrives and tells him to stop, because this is not the way you treat your friends. Shinjo says that he’ll not tolerate any kind of betrayal. As Mikoshiba speaks up, he gets dragged to the roof. The others want to stop him, but drag Sekikawa into the nursery first.

Sekikawa tells them what he heard when he was getting the keys and they run to the roof and Sekikawa stops Kawato from hitting Shinjo. Instead he lets himself get hit by Shinjo and covers up for him afterwards.

Kawato finds Wakana, Okada, Yufune and Hiyama smoking on the roof one day. Okada, Yufune and Hiyama quickly hide their cigarettes but Wakana states that he couldn’t throw them out since it would mean he didn’t have enough members. Kawato takes his cigarette, puts it out and then hides it in his pocket. Wakana, who is pissed off, lies to him by telling that they would rather play football. Kawato believes him and tries everything possible to get them into the football club. This and watching him weeding the ground at impossible hours finally gets Wakana to feel bad and he confesses that he lied to him. (A hilarious chasing scene later) Wakana decides to join the team with Okada, Yufune and Hiyama to follow soon after him.

The baseball club has to face more hardships as someone wrote mean things on the walls of their clubroom. This gets the club members angry and they go to defend their pride. As they arrive they find Aniya and Shuji already fighting.

Things work out fine for them and they don’t get suspended.

On the next day Aniya arrives at the newly painted room while the club is dressing up. After a good laugh they go out and Aniya is left alone in the room, gazing at the “Aim for Koushien” poster which Kawato made for them. Kawato gets in and Aniya yells that he shouldn’t be that stupid since he’s only amateur, rips the poster apart and storms out. This gets to Kawato and he tries his best to be a real coach.

Aniya however also still hasn’t forgotten about baseball since he teaches the kids how to do it.

There is a pitcher vs. batter duel between Kawato and Aniya (with epic rain, epic slowmotion and epic mud) which Kawato loses and, according to his agreement with Aniya, has to give up on the baseball club.

On the next day he wants to tell his boys that he has to stop being their coach, but Aniya comes in his training cloths, tells that Kawato has to learn the rules to not be an amateur anymore. So he joins after all.

And that is good because their first game is waiting. With Aniya they have the minimum requested players. Most of the pressure lays on Aniya since he’s the best player. To win this match he has to run, to throw the ball very fast and to hit very strong. No wonder he gets exhausted. Kawato sees that and risks an inning to lose that Aniya can rest. But there is another problem. Wakana, the catcher, can’t close his hand because he had to catch the fast balls from Aniya. His hand is red.
In the mean time we see that Shinjo is in the dressing room and looking at the changes. Then he sees a locker with his name on it and in this locker are his clothes. This plucks his heart since he believed after all those things he did, they wouldn’t want him back.
In the moment, it’s the 9^th inning bases are loaded, Wakana has to bat, but he can’t grab the batter perfectly. To hide his injuries he tells a joke: he will hit with one hand. In this moment, Shinjo appears in whole uniform. He knows that Wakana is injured and replaces him. He hits the ball and it’s a homerun. The Rookies win this game.

However the coach still wants revenge because Kawato hit him during the game. The principal resigns for Kawato. (But the new principal is still a hole, so his resignation was entirely pointless! Yay…)

One night Hiyama decides to train because he is the worst batter in the team. But Enatsu, who was that batter that hit the catcher with his bat, finds him and beats him up.

Through a phone call he reaches the others who of course want to help him. But Kawato comes and decides that they should have a match. And so the game against their shadows from their past begins.

Enatsu doesn’t take the game serious and plays on his own. His teammates don’t approve of this and they nearly start a fight on the field. But through Kawatos speech they start to play seriously and they nearly win the game. But our team manages to improve tooand ends up winning against them.

They feel better now. And qualification games lay ahead so Captain Mikoshiba and manager Yagi went to the lottery drawing of their next opponent. But as they come to school they find their baseball field covered in trash and completely demolished. The first years responsible for this appear. One of them, Uesaka, states that his biggest dream is to conquer Tokyo and to get to his dream he has to beat the violent baseball team first. But the team doesn’t want to fight since this would cost them Koushien. So they just pick up the trash.

Mikoshiba is having a hard time on his own since his team is known as the violent baseball team and nobody wants them to participate. He gets to feel all the hate of the other teams and begins to wonder if they’re allowed to participate. He talks with Kawato about it in the locker room while the other eavesdrop from outside.

After they won some games the journalists get interested in them and find out that Kawato had a violent past. The high school baseball confederation demand to talk to him. But they get interrupted by a teacher saying that the baseball club has been in a fight again, when they really didn’t fight back.

Kawato begs them to not expel them. And they agree on two conditions: Kawato isn’t allowed to come to the game and if their team doesn’t win the game they’ll get expelled.

So the game starts without Kawato and it couldn’t go worse since Wakana, Sekikawa and Aniya have major injuries from the fight.

Outside of the stadium we see Kawato listening to the game. After a while Uesaka finds him and tells him to go inside since his team needs him. He then decides despite of his agreement to be with his team. He gets caught by the security and escorted to the confederations chef. So they agree that Kawato would resign.

He comes to the game and it begins to look better for the team. Everyone gives his best and they win the game.

Since Kawato resigned they lost the rest of the matches and didn’t reach Koushien, but they still practised a lot during that time. Kawato ends up returning (He took his teacher exam during that time) and everyone is happy to see him.

Conclusion

After the rollercoaster ride that “My GF is a Gumiho” gave me, my poor heart couldn’t take anymore Romance. So I switched to the next best thing: BROMANCE!

“Rookies” is a nice drama about friendship and achieving your dream. (You know, the normal stuff…) So focus on the good and bad stuff. Firstly, the good stuff: The cast was good! They could play the funny moments as well as the serious ones. In my opinion, Koide Keisuke (Mikoshiba) was the best actor. You could really feel his devotion for baseball and his teammates. Also, I think his change was the most visible and comprehensible: From the shy boy to a remarkable Captain. The others were just good and that worked well for their roles, although Ichihara Hayato and Murakawa Eri could’ve had a little bit more chemistry. (Seriously, even Koide Keisuke and Murakawa Eri had more chemistry!)

All matches were EPIC! I mean, epic slides, epic running, epic hitting, epic speeches, epic rain and not to forget the most important: EPIC SLOWMOTION!

The music was great! The score and also the ending song KISEKI from Greeeen were very fitting and matched with the emotions. KISEKI represented for me the hope that dragged them through the story. Though, I had to get used to it first. I wasn’t used to hear such tunes from J-Rock. But it grew to me very quickly and found myself humming the tune very often.

Let’s go to the bad stuff: Only Mikoshiba had a character development. The others mostly remained the same. And that’s really a let-down for a story that is partly about changing.

What also was annoying, every time a new face appeared you knew, that he wanted to destroy the baseball team. The guys already had to fight with enough prejudice. They should’ve just let the story take that direction more towards the end.

And now a funny aspect: the half Crows Zero Cast was in this drama!

Let’s start with Takaoka Sousuke aka Wakana. His role wasn’t much different from Izaki, the role he played in Crows Zero. In both he was a fighter, except in Rookies he had more funny scenes.

Next, Tsutomu Takahashi, who played Takashi Makise, in Rookies he had the role  as a regular student who attacked Aniya.

Really?

And now for the person, who surprised us the most. We really didn’t recognize him. Kenta Kiritani, who played Tokio in Crows Zero, had the role of Hiratsuka in Rookies. I was shocked! Tokio was one of my favourite characters in Crows Zero and here he was just a comic relieve I didn’t really care about. Clap your hands everyone for a really unpredictable actor!  

There are more people who played in Crows Zero, because of that you especially look at the similarities, but Rookies really can’t be Crows Zero, since it goes into another direction than Crows Zero.

You should go check it out if you have time and need a rest from Romance.

"My friend Mi Ho, a cute Gumiho..."- A My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Review

Originalname:	내 여자친구는 구미호 | Nae Yeochineun Gumiho
Also known as:	My Girlfriend Is A Nine-Tailed Fox
Release Date:	11. August - 30. September 2010
Director:	Boo Sung Chul
Writer:	Hong Mi Ran, Hong Jeong Eun
Cast:	Lee Seung Gi, Shin Min Ah, No Min Woo, Park Soo Jin

Plot

At the very beginning of this drama we get introduced to Dae Woong and his dazzling, beautiful girlfriend Mi Ho. Yet he is afraid her, we’ll soon get to know why…

So we figure out that she’s a nine-tailed fox (Gumiho) and that Dae Woong was the one who freed her from a picture she got banned in. He got scared of her and ran away, falling down a cliff and breaking a lot of bones. To save him Mi Ho gives him her bead, so it can heal him.

In the next morning Dae Woong tries to get rid of her because he thinks she’s insane.  He manages to do so by saying; if she really is a Gumiho she should just follow him. She tells him that she’ll find him, take the bead out of him and kill him. Dae Woong gets into the bus without thinking much about her threat.

But they meet again in the Action Schools gym and as promised she shows him her nine tails and takes the bead. Dae Woong falls into a coma, when she decides that she won’t kill him yet and gives it back to him.

In the mean time we get to know our third main character - Park Dong Joo. He gets called by the monk from the temple, where the Gumiho was banned. Park Dong Joo is actually a goblin, but to can live with the humans he is hidden as a vet. When he sees that the Gumiho isn’t in the picture, the chasing starts. When he meets Mi Ho for the first time, she reminds him of Kil Dal, a love interest he had a long time ago. But she asked him to kill her in order to save the life of her beloved human. And this is what he does.

After the first disappearance of Mi Ho, she gets to know that there’s a way to become human. So since Dae Woong wants her bead back, because he isn’t yet fully healed and in order to play in the action movie he’s participating in, he needs to. So both agree on a love contract: He would get the bead for hundred days and she would be his girlfriend during that time. Which is what Dong Joo told her to do, leaving out a little detail. When the bead absorbs all of the human chi within Dae Woong, he dies.

So, while Dae Woong and Mi Ho keep up that couple game, with Dae Woong slowly realising that he actually really likes Mi Ho, Dong Joo, being now good friends with Mi Ho, tries to prepare her for Dae Woongs death.

So, after a lot of meat - I mean – time, Eun Hye In (who does appear in the previous episodes as Dae Woongs Noona and love interest but is just plain unnerving to talk about) finds out that Mi Ho is a Gumiho and forces her to be her stunt double in order to get the role she always wanted. But being afraid of Mi Ho and angry at Dae Woong, because he doesn’t realise in which danger he has brought himself, she kisses him. This causes Mi Ho to run wild and nearly attacking her, if Dae Woong wouldn’t have stepped in. However, she loses her ring in the process.

Mi Ho, being afraid of herself, thinks that Eun Hye In is right with her being a monster. So the Gumiho thinks the only way to become a human is to be independent from Dae Woong. She starts to work so she can buy her own food. This starts to scare Dae Woong since he really began to like her. He thinks her behaviour is the result of he has lost her couple ring which she gave him to look after. So he searches for the ring. But for the moment he can’t find it, so he tries to cheer Mi Ho up with going somewhere she likes or with beef. But she rejects his offers kindly. On the day when her fake human identity, which Dong Joo created for her, has her birthday, after the birthday party with Dong Joo she goes to the place she always wanted to go with Dae Woong. Coincidently, Dae Woong is also there and has finally found the ring. He tells her, in very drama manner, not to go and then they fall into each other’s arms. In the evening, she tells him everything and he sings a song for her and kisses her afterwards. He tells her that he’s in love with her and she finally tells him that she’ll become human.

But their luck can’t hold long, as Mi Ho discovers that Dae Woong must die in order for her to become human. So she tries to kill herself with Dong Joos dagger. Of course Dong Joo can’t let that happen, since he already lost his first love like that. He tells Eun Hye In that Dae Woong will die when the 100 days are over, hoping that he’ll want to break all bonds with Mi Ho, so he and Mi Ho can go to Japan and never return again.

But Dae Woong manages to return in time and tells her to take the bead away from him right now. So, on the 50^th day, she takes out the bead. Nobody knows what’ll happen now.

But as she continuous dying, though Dong Joo telling Dae Woong that this is bad, he makes the decision, which Dong Joo told him to do, he breaks up with her. (Seriously, why do they even keep listening to this guy!!)

After returning from his shooting in China, he finds Mi Ho, who’s preparing  to get married to Dong Joo, and after he stalked her awhile, she shows him that her tails are still disappearing, meaning that she’s still dying. So his sacrifice was useless in the end. He tells her that she should give him the bead so they can finish what they started. To which she agrees.

Dong Joo eventually finds out that she had never planned to live with him as half human, but to die instead. She asks him to return the bead to Dae Woong so that he’ll have his full lifespan back, which he does. But he has a change of heart afterwards and tells Dae Woong, why she gave the bead to him.

At the airport, where Dong Joo and Mi Ho wait the plane to Japan, Dong Joo finally made the decision to let her go. Dae Woong arrives in the right moment (AGAIN!) and the embrace each other and go home, leaving Dong Joo alone.

At the last day, Dae Woong and Mi Ho try to revive some happy memories, but everything they want to do, they can’t, because it is tomorrow. Like watching the fountain or meeting their friends. This is the first time where we can see that Mi Ho really doesn’t want to die. However, they have some happy time with the fireworks and end up in the Action Schools Gym. Where Dae Woong tells her, that he’s more afraid of her dying, then he was back at that time when she showed him her tails. She closes his eyes and tells him to think of it as a dream and disappears.

Some time passes and we see Dae Woong became a famous actor what he always wanted. He gives interviews because of his movie debut and also autographs. At once Dong Joo appears and tells him that Mi Ho can come back “when the sky goes crazy”. It happens that on this day there will be a solar eclipse - the sky is going crazy. At the time when the moon is covering the sun, Dae Woong gets a phone call. It’s Mi Ho. He runs through the whole area searching for her. When the moon is uncovering the sun, the call ends. Resigned, Dae Woong sits on the stair. But then he sees her. She’s standing in her white dress at the bottom of the stairs and smile at him. He runs towards her and embraces her.

In the evening they’re on the balcony, celebrating her return. But Dae Woong is curious if she is human or a Gumiho. She reveals that she has still one tail left. So that means she is a fox.

Conclusion

We love this drama. It has comedy, it has romance, it has tragedy and above all: it has drama. It’s like they looked up the word “drama” in the dictionary and blew it up into this huge Drama. And the finale was just great. It was a constant rollercoaster of feelings. I cried two times and I never cried two times in an episode before. What was really clever, they turned the whole main and second love interest thing. The second love interest makes a character development too and the main love interest seems more generous.
I also think the Drama was sponsored by a meat factory because meat had a big part in it. You really want to eat meat when you’re watching the Drama. With that said, let’s go to the actors.

Lee Seung Ki who played Dae Woong was great. Actually, I never loved the main love interest, but I could really feel for him here. It did make the whole love triangle more plausible. You may ask why he was great, it’s because he played well. At the beginning Dae Woong was a spoiled brat. But he grew through his love for Mi Ho. And this whole aspect was portrayed very well. There were also some very funny scenes in which he imagines how he could escape from Mi Ho when they are at the gym the first time. When he imagines it, it seemed very easy and very cool, but as soon as he tried it, it didn’t work that well. And Mi Ho was only standing in the middle of the gym and staring at him.

Shin Min Ah played Mi Ho. She is soo cute (insert auntie voice here). I also liked her very much. She was able to act as a child who experiences a whole new word. But she could also act well when the child decided to grew up and become more independent. Her character seemed also to mature through love and she also did that portrayal very well. The absolute cutest scene with her was when she was in the park with Dae Woong and she shouted: “I like you so, so, so, so, so, so, so much!” Or when she ate meat, she danced because of happiness.

No Min Woo played Dong Joo. He’s hot! The eye candy of the Drama! And he played the role of the second love interest very well. Even though, as I stated in the beginning, it wasn’t the very typical second love interest character. I liked how you could never know what he was thinking at the moment. And just at the end you realised that he truly did love her. His backstory is never fully explained and that is very sad. I’m sure they could’ve put it in somewhere. You really feel sorry for him since he loses the woman he loves a second time. But I really like how the Sam Shin Grandmother asks him: “What is better: ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘Thank you’?” And from the look of his face, he would choose ‘Thank you’, which means, that he had a better relationship with her this time.

And now for something totally out of the plot: IT HAS JEREMY FROM A.N.JELL (You’re beautiful) IN IT!!!! You see him in the last episode when Eun Hye In is working with him. She wants to ask him out and practises the moves Mi Ho has taught her. This pairing is totally weird…

Anyway, since I guess you’re still reading this boring extremely long review, that does the Drama no justice: What are you doing? Go watch it!!