are you human

i guess since i watched my holo love, my netflix gave suggestion around similar topic. thus "are you human" popping up in my feed. i read the synopsis and watched clips of the movie in youtube. and it seemed more interesting than holo love, so i watched this one. i never saw seo kang joon before, so crossing my finger that this would be a good one.

title: are you human

cast: seo kang joon, gong seung yeon, lee joon hyuk, park hwan hee, kim sung ryung, yu oh seong, park yeong gyu

genre: romantic melodrama, fantasy

nam shin (seo kang joon) was just 7 years old when suddenly his life changed overnight. his dad was (accused of) having suicide, and his mom was banned to live with him. he had to live with his grandpa who threatened him that he had to do that or his grandpa would harm his mom. his mom didn't know it and only told to stay away or her father in law would harm nam shin. his mother was a genius scientist in AI industry, so since she missed him so much, she built an AI robot that looked like nam shin completely and named him nam shin I. the first one couldn't smile and walked downstair, so she kept perfecting him and made him grow just like nam shin. so there were nam shin I (the childhood nam shin), nam shin II (the teenager nam shin) and finally nam shin III (adult nam shin/ seo kang joon). the adult nam shin III was almost perfect, only that he didn't have many experience in human relation. oh, i forgot to mention that dr. laura oh (kim sung ryung), nam shin's mom lived in czech republic. 

meanwhile, nam shin was still living in korea, under his grandfather's watch. he had a loyal assistant, ji young hoon (lee joon hyuk). shin was making a scene, getting a fight with one of his bodyguard who was caught taking his pictures, kang so bong (gong seung yeon). kang so bong ended up getting fired while shin caught his flight. at first young hoon thought he was going to the US, but shin called him that he was going somewhere else. he was going to czech republic, wanting to prove something.

he was going to the same market as his mom and nam shin III were going, and he was facing nam shin III face to face when he was hit by a truck that made him went into coma. since shin was the only heir to his grandfather's company, his mom had no choice but to order nam shin III to take shin's place in order to secure it. his condition couldn't be known by other people in the company, especially by one of the director, seo jeong gil (yu oh seong). young hoon who immediately went to czech to catch up with shin met with dr. laura as well as david (choi deok moon). young hoon agreed to put nam shin III as shin's substitute and even taught nam shin III how to act like the real shin.

at first, only nam shin III, young hoon and dr. laura were back to korea, but after a suspicious man lurking around dr. oh's house, david decided to bring shin back to korea as well. back in korea, nam shin III managed to pose as shin at the company event, even better. however, later he was involved in a fire and saved several people, and later saved so bong who came to beg her old job back because she found out shin was collaborating with the reporter who asked so bong to take pictures secretly in exchange for money. he was almost caught by so bong as his back was exposed due to the fire, but young hoon and dr. laura managed to save him in time. later at the company, so bong cried her heart to beg her job back (later we found out the reason was so bon agreed to be jeong gil's inside person) and nam shin III acted as he was taught to do, hugged the person who cried. and so he did with so bong. and that surprised many people. at the end, so bong was hired back as nam shin III personal bodyguard while young hoon warned nam shin III to act like the real shin. problem didn't stop there as shin's grandpa told shin III to just marry his fiancee, seo ye na (park hwan hee) who was jeong gil's daughter as well. jeong gil opposed to the marriage contract but ye na insisted to proceed with the marriage plan.

however, ye na found out the truth about shin condition and agreed to play along as long as she got to marry shin. at work, the self driving car project that shin was working on got some trouble because of a hacker hired by jeong gil. the road test failed as the car went crazy, shin III tried to save both the car and more people and stopped it in time before it crashed into a big truck. however, that accident exposed his back again, and this time so bong saw it clearly. dr. oh immediately dragged them both along with young hoon to repair shin III. so bong at first was reluctant to help shin III, and planned to sell the secret to jeong gil. but later she decided to help shin III. as problems kept popping up here and there, so bong was the only one that knew shin III's secret as well as the only one that could help him aside from young hoon obviously. since shin III was heavily relied on so bong, that made so bong felt something else toward the robot. on the other hand, both shin's mom started to shift. she became more concern that shin's condition were out in public, and even installed a kill switch in case the real shin woke up and they had to get rid the AI. david became angry and told so bong about it. so bong begged dr. oh to get rid of the kill switch, but she didn't budge.

there were problems with shin's grandpa as well. first time he tried to deceive people by acting like he got dementia, but shin III found out that he was lying. but then shin III found out that grandpa was really got dementia and helped him to cover the condition from the real shin. we also found out that so bong got kidnapped on shin's wedding day and make shin III to save so bong even though it meant that he had to expose himself. however, later we found out that grandpa got something to do with shin III's development as shin III's server was inside grandpa's company building. later when shin woke up, he was angry because his mom got his substitute running around and everyone believed that the robot was him. shin also confused everyone since he kept popping up here and there, causing scenes, even young hoon and so bong got confused to tell the difference between them, aside from shin's battery watch.

shin was even angry enough to steal the manual override and he ordered shin III to choke his grandfather. luckily, so bong caught him on time and even managed to persuade shin III just in time before she was injured as well. however, shin became angrier. he then collided with jeong gil to get rid of grandpa and even threatened his aunt to give up her shares. however, young hoon started to realize that the real shin must be stopped. together with so bong and shin III, they managed to steal grandpa's shares that was stole by shin the first time, and later exposed shin III at the company meeting. completely defeated, jeong gil was fired, while shin disappeared for awhile only to find that there was a kill switch. at that time, dr. oh finally realized that she was wrong to put shin III as number two, and that she should treat them both the same. so she handed the kill switch to shin III and so bong. but shin stole the kill switch and activated it.

at the end dr. oh sacrificed herself and tried to undo the kill switch but she could only postponed it. shin III also sacrificed himself to save shin and so bong from jeong gil. jeong gil was arrested, ye na moved to US to live with her mom. young hoon became CEO and fast forward couple years later, so bong was still crying over shin III. shin tried to pose as shin III to cheer so bong but his plan backfired. at the end, we saw that shin used his money to search and repair shin III together with david and they let shin III back with so bong. however, shin III was not as sophisticated as he used to be, and he became more human now since at last we saw he could shed a tear.

what i love:

- gee.. this plot was better. they kept the AI as the winner and not let the human jerk win. though the idea of loving an AI is impossible, but watching so bong's true love for shin III is so moving. i bet everyone would root for shin III.

- thumbs up for seo kang joon. he managed to portray different personality for the AI and the human shin. as human, shin was a brute ruthless and emotionless human because he was left under his grandpa's care who didn't care for anyone else as long as his company would keep surviving. while shin III was a loving and caring AI who grew up under the love of his creator, dr. oh. i guess it's a way showing that a mother's love truly change someone. even though that it's just an AI.

- all actors were good, however, i don't like the child actor that play shin I/little shin. he was too stiff, but i guess considering he's still a child, it's understandable.

what i don't like:

- can the makeup artist tone down the makeup? they make so bong and shin looked so white. you can tell the shade difference. why don't they put on usual makeup like young hoon? or david? it looks more natural that way. and shin was hit by a truck. can't they put on more bandages on him? he should look like a mummy after being involved in big accident like that.

- the usual power struggle plot. from the grandfather, to shin's dad suicide/killing to shin/shin III vs jeong gil. i have to agree what young hoon said to grandpa, that he didn't envy grandpa's life because he was always suspicious to other people. and he became lonely at the end. 

rating: 9/10

binge worthy: yes

recommend for: those who don't mind fantasy love story (between human being and non human), fans of seo kang joon and gong seung yeon, those who watched holo love and hate it should watch this. i bet it will console your angry heart after watching holo love. 

my holo love

i've been watching my holo love teaser in my netflix feed, and since i have nothing to watch, i decided to watch it. i only have seen the female actress, so i was worried this might be a dud. if you read my other post, you'd know that i hate having too much leftover in my netflix feed. i mean i don't like too many "continue watching" drama in my list. 

title: my holo love

cast: yoon hyun min, ko sung hee

genre: romantic melodrama

han so yeon is an ordinary worker at a eyewear company. she didn't have many friends at work because she hid the truth about her condition, that she had face blindness. her life was ordinary until she found a weird glasses in her bag. however, it's not an ordinary glasses. it was a holo glass. the moment she put on the glasses, she could see a holo in form of a human being. the company named the hologram image as holo (yoon hyun min), but nobody knew that the holo was made according to the portrait of its founder, go nan do (yoon hyun min).

nan do was planning to take back the glasses, but there's an incident, so he retreated. he told his adoptive sister goo yoo jin (choi yeo jin) that they were going to do a beta test for holo and asked her sister to postponed the launch date as well as talked to the investors. yoo jin has been posing as the creator of holo since nan do has been living in the shadow since high school. in the past, nan do hacked korean government system and was chased by the cop, so he decided to fake his death, thus living in the shadow since then. 

holo caught up that so yeon had face blindness so he's been helping her to recognize faces at work. suddenly her coworkers opened up to her as she warmed up to them herself. holo also caught up that so yeon had a crush on her coworker, and offered to be her love guide. while nan do was surprised hearing holo's ideas. mainly because holo was the first one that recognize so yeon when yoo jin was being chased so she hid the glasses in so yeon's bag per holo's suggestion. now holo was being initiative again, offering help to so yeon as his love tutor. nan do was curious why so yeon changed holo's program, so he asked yoo jin to prolong the beta test. he even moved as so yeon's next door neighbour, and he discovered so yeon's condition since so yeon didn't recognize him, even though he had the same face as holo. 

since holo was a most wanted AI program, so yeon's life has been in danger as well. the love plan fell apart as holo program's was attacked when so yeon was about to confess about holo's existence to her love crush, as well as her face blindness condition. her love crush didn't believe about her confession that all this time she was only talking to holo, and not to other guy. nan do then tried to replace holo with himself, torturing himself in the process as holo didn't need to eat, drink or sleep, but nan do did. anyway, in the process so yeon fallen in love with holo, while nan do acted weirdly since holo started to show interest in so yeon, making yoo jin confused as nan do has been super rational, but became weird because of so yeon. so yeon then confessed to holo about her feeling, and nan do at first was against holo and so yeon, but later let holo lived his own way. he planned to make another holo version, so the original holo became so yeon's solely, and the one that got marketed is another holo. however, as time went by, so yeon felt there was something missing in her relationship with holo. even though holo has been super gentle and caring, he was, after all, just a hologram, not a real human being. while nan do on the other hand, started to feel attracted to so yeon as well. we saw then that apparently, nan do was a little boy that happened to live next door to so yeon, and nan do's mom often let nan do played, ate and slept at so yeon's house when his mother was working.

yoo jin realized the change in nan do, and told nan do that he created holo in order to replace his mother. nan do's mother died when nan do was very little, and they assumed nan do's mom was having suicide. nan do was feeling betrayed as he was going on picnic when his mom was found dead. he felt abandoned by his mom, so he made holo as his only loving and caring friend. and he let his only friend to be with so yeon, because he loved so yeon as well. anyway, danger was coming closer. magic mirror, nan do's competitor, played dirty. they kidnapped so yeon, and nan do, who was helped by holo, managed to save so yeon. at that time, so yeon suddenly could see nan do's face (as well as holo). apparently, so yeon's condition was psychological. she was under extreme stress that she couldn't see faces anymore. and the doctor said it would come back once the problem was solved. but so yeon couldn't pinpoint the real reason why she couldn't see faces anymore. we just saw glimpses of her past, while she was having picnic with her parents, she saw something horrible that made her suffer face blindness afterward.

as so yeon realized that she liked nan do as well, and probably even better since nan do was a real human being, while holo wasn't, she began to compare between the two. she even said to holo that they should stop being a couple as holo wasn't real. that rejection sent holo to isolation. his program was getting error. feeling guilty, so yeon offered her help to nan do. but things were getting weird. while on the other hand, yoo jin got some intel from baek chan sung (hwang chan sung), director of magic mirror as well as the son of the CEO, that his dad was the one that might be behind the accident of nan do and so yeon (nan do was almost killed in motorcycle accident, while so yeon was kidnapped). the police became suspicious of nan do as well because both accidents were saved by holo's hacking into the security system, and that violated the law. nan do managed to dodge the first time, but chan sung's father used his influence so the police tried to arrest nan do.

nan do then had to give up holo. chan sung's father commercialised holo, so yeon felt holo was different, so she became reluctant to use holo. nan do went into hiding. then he hacked magic mirror's program, causing big problem to magic mirror. the only holo's working was so yeon's. long story short, holo was originally created by nan do's mom, so she put a bit programming left in holo's original command lines, and told holo to protect nan do. that explained why holo was being interested in nan do, because so yeon was the only friend that nan do had back in their childhood. when so yeon and nan do was held in magic mirror building, holo managed to break magic mirror's program to save so yeon and nan do. chan sung finally stood up and fight his father, and at the end, good side won again. unfortunately, holo was found guilty of hacking thus his program must be deleted. fast forward one year later, yoo jin married chan sung, and when they were getting their picture taken, holo was captured in one of the picture. giving hope to nan do that one day holo would come back again.

what i like:

- though the whole hologram story might not be new, but the way they make the real person falling in love with the holo first is kind of new. 

- no thinking needed. all questions were answered. from nan do's mom death mystery to nan do's living in the shadow, as well as so yeon's face blindness problem. 

what i don't like:

- though in radio romance i complained that the main actor frowned almost the whole drama, but here, i don't like seeing the main smiling. he seems weird while smiling. it's better when he's just being cool. 

- i don't feel the chemistry between the main. somehow you can see that there's some awkwardness between them. however, i can feel chan sung's love toward yoo jin. though at first they make so yeon picked the holo, but at the end they kept the usual choice, that so yeon picked nan do at the end and made holo disappeared. 

- some actors and actresses were so-so so. 

- the plot is simple. in the beginning, it seems interesting. but as times goes by, you can predict the end. 

rating: 7/10

binge worthy: no

recommended for: someone who like simple story, don't mind about the idea of love between human being and holo.

he is pyschometric

i was actually going to watch mr.queen, but considering that it didn't available on netflix makes me a little bit hesitant to watch it somewhere else. i've watched "find me in your memory" as well as "true beauty" and "alice" somewhere else, but then both find me in your memory and alice were available at netflix recently. that annoys me, so i decided to put my plan on hold. i decided to watch this one as my friend told me it's a good one. actually, looking at the casts, i know no one, so i was hoping this is really good. 

title: he is psychometric

cast: park jin young, shin ye eun, kim kwon, kim da som

genre: crime mystery, police crime story, a bit fantasy

lee ahn (park jin young) was still around 7 years old when fire broke out in their apartment. it was his birthday and he and his parents were about to go to get a dog for him when they were trapped in the elevator. thanks to the apartment security, yoon tae ha (jung suk yong), lee ahn was saved, but both his parents died because the elevator line was cut by the fire. the security then asked kang sung mo (kim kwon), a high school student who lived in the same apartment to bring ahn to safety, while the security tried to save other people. couldn't find exit to save ahn, sung mo decided to jump out the window and landed on the parked cars outside. fast forward, they were both safe, but the police investigation decided the security as the culprit in the case. 

fast forward 12 years later, ahn was in high school and he met yoon jae in (shin ye eun) by accident. she thought he was the peeping tom in the public toilet and apprehended him to the police. later he got out thanks to eun ji soo (kim da som), a police detective that has been close to him and his adoptive big brother, sung mo. apparently, after the fire incident, ahn got a weird gift. when he came in contact with other people's skin, he could see other people's past. 

ahn was accused stealing the school test's key answer, and he got two days to prove that he's not the culprit. jae in was dragged as well because she was furious with the teacher as he told them that certain stereotype wasn't meant to be successful in life. both of them managed to solve the case in their own way. but the culprit was the discriminating teacher that challenged them in the first place. getting fired made him to do revenge. jae in who was hiding her secret about her past life regarding her dad, had to face her fear once again that forced her into hiding once again. fortunately, before she went awol, she found out that ahn had psychometry ability and her patron was sung mo. apparently, ahn, jae in, and sung mo had been put into the same orphanage, thus the link between them started to show. anyway, just before she disappeared, sung mo and ji soo was working on a fire case in the hospital. the method was similar to the apartment's fire case 12 years ago, but sung mo found a witness that say otherwise. ji soo's father, the police commissioner, ordered the case closed quickly. but later they found the witness was dead, so another dead end and another unanswered question. 

fast forward two years later, ahn was trying to get into the police academy and was about to cheat using his psychometry ability when jae in stopped him. jae in got into the police academy and became a probationary officer. however, she got into trouble when she was trying to gather evidence regarding his father's case. she was then placed in a remote security office. both of them tried to find a girl when ahn did psychometry in the river and found a dead body in a luggage instead. the case linked to the hospital fire's case and the whole investigation started. both sung mo and ji soo tried to give ahn another chance to use his psychometry ability and sung mo even ordered jae in to train ahn since ahn's ability has increased since he met jae in again. even ahn managed to read sung mo sometimes, while this whole time ahn couldn't read sung mo at all.

long story short, they found out that the body in the baggage case was related to the hospital fire. there was another name that was related to the case, and it was kang eun joo (jeon mi seon). they also found the killer of the hospital fire's witness might be the real culprit of the apartment fire case. ji soo tried to re-open the case but her father was strongly against it. she was grounded because of that. ahn managed to read sung mo's thing and found out that sung mo had a dark past regarding his dad and his mom. his dad was also related to the kid slave ring in the subway, another case that sung mo closed recently. his dad name was kang geun taek (lee seung joon), but he wasn't registered as legal citizen, hence there's no way to track him. 

kang geun taek kidnapped kang eun joo since her teen days and somehow she managed to give birth to sung mo. both sung mo and his mom never saw the light of days. even when sung mo and his mom managed to run away, the police couldn't do anything because his father wasn't a registered citizen. that makes sung mo and his mom had to move every time his father found them. that night of the apartment's fire, kang geun taek managed to find their home. at first all of them thought that kang eun joo was died in the fire, but later we found out that sung mo managed to sneak kang eun joo out of the country but then she got back after sung mo found out the kid slave ring.

gee.. it was a back and forth plot that makes us think kang geun taek was behind both fire cases. but ahn managed to read the truth when sung mo was missing. ji soo tried to catch kang geun taek but got shot and then died. ahn was feeling guilty because he read sung mo's position and asked ji soo to get there before him. ji soo's father realized his fault and decided to re open both fire cases, letting out the truth that there was a corruption in the apartment development's that linked to the fire case, even though at the end he knew he would be arrested because he was involved in that case in the first place. 

at the end, a heartbreaking truth came out. kang geun taek was arrested, sung mo came out and met his mom, but later we found out the ugly truth about sung mo. his mother testified in kang geun taek's case. ahn's collapsed when he read all those things from the fire cases, so jae in then refrained him from reading murder cases anymore. he then tried the right way to join the police academy, while jae in got promoted after solving those cases. yoon tae ha was released from prison and got his name recovered. 

what i like:

- quite twisting plot. they led us to believe kang geun taek was the culprit up until almost the end. 

- all of the actors and actresses were good. though in the first few episodes, both jin young and ye eun was a bit weird, both their acting got better at the end. i was wondering though, why i never saw other kim kwon's drama considering he's quite good.

what i don't like:

- another corruption behind police department and prosecutor again. 

- i still don't get why sung mo had to help ahn and jae in. ain't that too cruel considering the ending? but i do like how they make sung mo a bit opened up as ahn's power getting stronger. it makes him a little bit like human for a few episodes.

- can't they tie the doctor's hair and the female police's hair in the drama? ain't that would mess with the evidence? gee... all of them (aside from jae in) has long hair.

rating: 7/10

binge worthy: so-so

recommended for: someone who like police crime story (the story twist plot is quite surprising), fans of jin young (i just found out that he was GOT7 member) and ye eun (again, i never saw her before, but lately i saw her as the new innisfree's face), don't mind a bit fantasy (is psychometry really exist?).

true beauty

finally i decided to watch true beauty first instead of mr. queen. mainly because i was curious of cha eun woo. i know that he already starred in other korean dramas, but somehow i don't like the main actress in other dramas, so this is his first drama that i watched. plus, i like moon ga young as well, so i have high hope for this drama.

title: true beauty

cast: moon ga young, cha eun woo, hwang in youp, park yoo na

genre: romantic comedy

lim ju kyung (moon ga young) is a bright young high schooler, but she is unlucky in her appearance. out of all her siblings, she is the ugliest. her dad is quite good looking but her mom isn't. she is often being bullied at school because of her appearance, but she endured it all. but she reached her limit when she was being bullied by her schoolmates because she was rejected by a man she liked. she was on top of a building when she was "saved" by lee su ho (cha eun woo). su ho thought ju kyung was about to have a suicide so he prevented her, but he was seemed angry for some reason. ju kyung's glasses was knocked out and broken so she couldn't see su ho's face clearly, thus she didn't know the face of her savior. she thought they wouldn't meet again. but guess what.. ju kyung's dad got scammed so they lost their apartment and had to move back to their old house, which made ju kyung had to transfer school.

determined not to be bullied again because of her appearance, ju kyung learned how to put on makeup by binge-watching a famous youtuber, selena. she managed to succeed in her new school. all of her friends think that she's naturally pretty, but she knows that she's ugly underneath all that makeup. in her new school, there are two famous boys, one is lee suho, whom ju kyung has met before but she didn't know it yet, and the other one is han seo jun (hwang in yeop). they were best friends before, but due to some unrevealed reason (yet), they became apart and even almost like enemy. outside school, ju kyung has met su ho in her comic rental place without makeup comfortably, thinking that su ho wouldn't find out that she is the "pretty" ju kyung from school. but su ho did. so when ju kyung found out that su ho knew about her true face, she became a running errand girl for su ho, in order to prevent su ho from telling the truth about her appearance at school. while su ho, apparently has started to have feelings for her, thought that this way could make her closer to him, but he was wrong. unfortunately, seo jun caught up that su ho had feelings for ju kyung and made ju kyung his target too. however, seo jun also started to fall in love with ju kyung as well. outside school, ju kyung's mom and seo jun's mom were friends and they lived nearby, that makes things more complicated.

ju kyung unknowingly helped seo jun's little sister, goo won, when she was being bullied for being ugly by her peers in the choir and put on makeup for her when she was about to performed. watching goo won's performance, ju kyung's little brother, ju young has crush on her. while ju kyung's older sister, has crush on ju kyung's homeroom teacher. ju kyung herself, managed to make friends with kang soo jin (park yoo na) and choi soo ah (kang min ah). kang soo jin is second in school, she lost to su ho and got beaten by her dad because of it. soo jin's family were close to su ho's family as well, but her father didn't like that su ho's dad became rich because of his entertainment company, and not like himself, a respectable doctor. while soo ah is a cheerful and cute girl, who has on and off relationship with yoo tae hoon (lee il jun).

at school's camp, things got complicated as su ho wanted to confess to ju kyung. while seo jun knew about it and tried to make su ho jealous. while soo jin started to realize her feelings for su ho and couldn't believe that su ho had a crush on someone else. she also managed to find out about ju kyung's secret but decided to keep ju kyung's secret at first. su ho and ju kyung became closer and even though it was complicated, su ho managed to confess his feelings to ju kyung, and seo jun for the first time let ju kyung to be with su ho and chose not to confess his feeling. su ho and ju kyung became a couple but upon ju kyung's request, they kept it a secret and it annoyed su ho, since they couldn't do things couples do freely. 

then a mayhem happened at su ho's dad company. hee kyung (ju kyung's older sister) found out that the company plagiarized a song composed by leo (it was su ho's secret name) and used it without permit hence confronted su ho's dad about it and told him the truth behind the suicide incident of jung se yeon (kang chan hee). the manager in su ho's dad company decided to let out the bullying rumour around se yeon to cover the scandal of su ho's dad. su ho who came running, heard that and couldn't believe that his dad had involved in the incident. seo jun who came last, confronted su ho without knowing that su ho has been shocked enough to learn the truth and came running toward the busy street, chased by seo jun, and later both got into car accident.

ju kyung came running to the hospital upon hearing su ho's accident, without makeup, without thinking, crying her heart to a man under the blanket, but she was wrong. it wasn't su ho but seo jun. didn't want seo jun to find out about her secret, she covered her face and su ho who came seconds later told seo jun that ju kyung was his cousin. later both of them got back together in the hospital (yep, they were broke up for awhile because su ho wanted their relationship to be out in the open but ju kyung wasn't ready yet). ju kyung also confessed about their relationship to soo jin who seemed okay with it at first, but later we found out that soo jin still wanted to win over su ho. soo jin later found out that ju kyung was bullied by se mi in her old school, conspiring with se mi and uploaded ju kyung's old photo and videos in the school's website, along with her new picture hugging su ho. 

the entire school found out both ju kyung's secret, her old ugly face and her relationship with su ho. shocked by the incident, she ran out, leaving su ho devastated looking for her. while seo jun tracked soo jin and confronted her as the one that uploaded the photos, and even the webmaster and threatened her to take down the photos and video. while ju young (ju kyung's little brother) stepped up and punched his friends who made jokes about ju kyung's ugly face. he might teased his sister at home, but at school, he became her secret defender. even her homeroom teacher, broke up with hee kyung for a bit, because he thought ju kyung was shocked after finding out his relationship with hee kyung. but later he found out that wasn't the case and asked ju kyung's mom to school and told her everything about the bullying.

sad after learning the truth, ju kyung's mom tried to bring ju kyung to a plastic surgeon but backed out after hearing that ju kyung needed to re-do her entire face. however, ju kyung finally came in peace with her old self. she braced herself and went to school the next day bare face. luckily, her classmates were supportive of her choice. soo ah who seemed angry at first, turned out she was furious because ju kyung told her secret to soo jin and not her, thinking that soo ah might leave her because of her ugly face. soo ah also confronted soo jin and told her to apologize to ju kyung. yay to no bullying!

anyway.. soo jin's plan backlashes at her as in the next few days, there was news about soo jin betrayed ju kyung in the school website, leaving soo jin feeling ashamed. seo jun and su ho got back together and seo jun initially asked su ho's permission to admit his feeling to ju kyung in order for him to move on, but his plan didn't work. su ho's dad got back to the US but then got brain hemorrhage so su ho had to fly to the US immediately, leaving ju kyung behind. at first they decided to do LDR, but as su ho's dad condition worsen suddenly and the doctor couldn't predict whether he's going to recover or not, su ho decided to break up with ju kyung as he thought it would be unfair for ju kyung to wait for him.

two years later, without any update from su ho, ju kyung graduated, got an internship in selena beauty shop, while ju young became closer to go woon. seo jun trained back in su ho's dad company under hee kyung's wing and was about to make his debut. when ju kyung was drunk, he accidentally confess his feeling to ju kyung and asked for 5 dates. but after 1 date, su ho came back. he met ju kyung accidentally in namsan. oh yeah, ju kyung found out that su ho was the crybaby boy back in the comic store when they were just little and she finally remembered him. su ho tried to get back with ju kyung but ju kyung denied her feeling at first. but when seo jun told her that su ho was going to go back to the US, ju kyung couldn't deny her feeling and ran to su ho's house. i guess you can guess the rest of the story.

what i like:

- i guess the moral story is how you should accept yourself. you might be born ugly but you might have a bright personality. in this story, you can see how it's not about ju kyung accepting herself, but also her friends accepting as how she is. like su ho who doesn't mind about her appearance. he loves her just as is.

- this story brings up about bullying in school again. i guess considering how bullying became trends nowadays, they have to make several dramas talking about bullying in order to stop kids from thinking it's cool. but i guess it won't matter if the school doesn't do anything about it. in my time, bullying were considered natural stuff to toughen you up, and most teachers have the similar opinion about it. so unless the school teachers and staffs have more updated opinion about it, then bullying will still happen at school.

- this is another story of family love, like how ju kyung's dad teamed up with her because she's the ugly duck. and how her mother finally understood why ju kyung wanted to learn makeup after hearing about her bullying story. also how her older sister and younger brother protect her with their own ways, despite them sometimes annoy each other at home. we also see family conflict and story in seo jun's family and su ho's. as well as soo jin. 

- talking about soo jin, we see again how they bring up the story of pressure from the upper class family for kids to have good grades, to become doctor or lawyer or other prestigious job. similar to sky castle, but in smaller portion.

- all the actresses and actors are good. even the supporting ones. and i have to agree, cha eun woo is a webtoon's adaptation specialist. looking at him you'll agree that he looks like he walks out of the webtoon.

- i don't know i should like it or not. i don't read the webtoon so i don't know how much the scenario is different from the original webtoon. but i do know that in the webtoon, during su ho's absence, ju kyung chose seo jun. while in the drama, ju kyung kept waiting for su ho and at the end, they got back together. as someone who can't deny eun woo's charm, obviously i am #teamsuho. but it must be disappointing for seo jun's fans if you read the webtoon. 

what i don't like:

- though i like how they bring up about being able to accept yourself, i can't say i agree that they use "ugly face" as the condition that you have to accept. like the standard is beauty and being ugly is wrong. and how this drama is full of sponsored items, makeup for example. i do get that makeup can enhance your feature, but in this drama, makeup is a way to cover your flaws. and wearing makeup during high school? in my school days, no one wore makeup even in high school.

- and let's not forget about the two years gap when su ho was MIA. i have my own suspicion about the long gap. one, as high schooler, they won't be able to make happy ending as high schooler still have years ahead in their life. their love story might end. but as an adult, their happy ending is closer. plus they get to make the steamy scene as they're pictured as adult. but as high schooler, sleeping over is outrageous, even though nowadays even asian can accept that most high schoolers are not virgin anymore. second, as high schooler, they probably couldn't accept alcohol beverages as sponsor. but if they were pictured as adult, you can see drinking scenes thus soju appeared in the scene. most of the drama we could only see hee kyung and ju kyung's parents drinking. but they were just supporting ones. so i bet the sponsorship would want the mains to do the drinking scene. that's why probably they jumped into adult life so they can have drinking scenes. but again.. these are my suspicion. 

- if they want to make his father to undergo brain surgery, at least shave his head! or make him suffer from another disease. i bet you've watched enough medical drama to understand that you have to shave the hair for brain surgery!

rating: 9/10

binge worthy: yes.

recommended for: the fans of the webtoon or interested in the webtoon but haven't read it yet, fans of eun woo, moon ga yeong and hwang in youp, don't mind high school love story which is usually a bit cheesy.

radio romance

i was finished watching love alarm and obviously netflix would recommend me another kim so hyun's drama, so i decided to watch radio romance. i was interested when i saw the synopsis, but i was forcing myself to finish it. call me weird, but somehow i'm getting irritated by the list of my "continue to watch" in netflix. those dramas or film were boring, so i lost interest watching them. but this one, though it's not my favorite, but i managed to finish it just so it would be gone from the list. 

title: radio romance

cast: yoon doo joon, kim so hyun, yoon park, yura

genre: romantic

ji soo ho (yoon doo joon) is a top actor from a well known family. his dad is a veteran actor, and her mom is the CEO of their entertainment company. though they look like a happy and enviable family, the truth is it's all just an act. his father involved in a scandal with younger actress while his mom was not his birth mom, and she has been putting up with her husband's scandal for way too long. and soo ho himself, got depressed and couldn't sleep without sleeping pills. 

while song geu rim (kim so hyun) is an assistant writer in a radio, but it was her dream to become a writer. unfortunately, she has been a running errand girls rather than achieving her dream as a writer. moreover, her previous DJ has been MIA and then ran away, leaving her team disbanded and suspended for awhile. but then PD lee kang (yoon park) showed up. he was a legendary PD in the radio company. his program was always a hit before he took a leave and went to india. he then was chosen to save the radio company and gathered another team. he put together geu rim and go hoon jung (jo byung gyu) under his wing. his first idea was casting a top actor as their DJ, and soo ho was his pick.

geu rim then tried her best to cast soo ho. seeing her persistent effort, he decided to give it a try. but apparently that's not his reason to give in. back in his childhood days, apparently soo ho had met geu rim in a hospital. back when geu rim mother has just an eye surgery that left her blind, geu rim was learning how to live with a blind person, so she took a class there and had her eyes blindfolded. at that time, she met soo ho with blindfold on so she almost never saw his face. apparently soo ho was falling in love with geu rim back in the days and he was annoyed that she forgot about him when she met him again. 

problem rose when soo ho's mom tried to control soo ho's life, while soo ho for once wanted to do the radio thing for himself. long story short, soo ho managed to succeed as radio DJ, while geu rim managed to be a competent writer under lee kang's guidance. their love triangle story also began there. soo ho tried to swoon geu rim while pd kang apparently also had feeling for her. however, geu rim managed to remember soo ho as her first love thus accepting soo ho's feeling for her. 

however, their relationship had to face several blocks. from soo ho's legal mom disapproval to their relationship being out in public. and also soo ho's past. there was another boy in both soo ho and geu rim's past. soo ho was hospitalized because he took too many sleeping pills, even as a boy. he then met a boy who had terminal disease and made friend with him. that boy had crush on geu rim first, and he told soo ho that he was going to confess his feeling when he won the singing contest. soo ho was their mailman at first, but then soo ho began to develop feelings for her as well and he even kissed her first, but that boy saw soo ho kissing geu rim. then soo hoo, who was feeling guilty, didn't want to meet the boy and the boy came rushing across the street and got hit instead. he was died and soo ho was feeling guilty up until he met geu rim again.

geu rim then found out that her first love was indeed soo ho, but the other one was the one that sent her letters. soo ho who still kept the letter, gave it to geu rim, and then found out that the boy had found out that soo ho had feeling for geu rim and he decided to give up. his next letters were apparently for soo ho. feeling relieved from his guilt, he finally could move on with his relationship with geu rim. soo ho life also got upside down because his father scandal was out in public, he decided not to cover up for his parents anymore and admitted that their perfect family life was all a lie. but at the end, his dad was the one that's not up for family thing, while soo ho kept in touch with his legal mom, who was changed at the end. on the side, we also see how soo ho's managed got a love story as well.

what i like:

- well, at least they fill in the gap for all the questions in the drama. 

- at least his manager got better love story and more exciting/lively that soo ho's. and could we let his manager teach him a thing or two about how to handle a girl? 

what i don't like:

- gee... i can't believe someone could actually frown almost all episodes of the drama. if you watched, you'd see that i'm talking about soo ho. up until he was in the clear with his parents and his childhood guilt, soo ho was always frown and cold. until probably couple last episodes, we then start to see him smile. 

- the story is boring. pretty flat. with all the problems from his childhood, his parents and this love triangle, all of them don't help with the pretty boring storyline. 

- i know that kim soo hyun is a child actress and she is a veteran, but still. ain't she not in her adult year when she filmed this drama? then why filmed her as an adult, with all the drinking scenes and stuff? 

rating: 6/10

binge worthy: no

recommended for: those who don't have anything to watch, fans of kim so hyun and maybe yoon do joon. 

love alarm

this might not be my best decision to watch this series, but i was curious about song kang. especially since sweet home is trending right now. i don't like horror series, so i won't watch sweet home, so i guess love alarm would be a good option for now. i know that kim so hyun is a veteran actress considering her age, but somehow i'm not interested in watching her dramas, so i guess this is the first time. anyway, i thought it would be done in 8 episodes, but i'm not doing my research completely. turns out there would be a season 2. so let's talk about season 1 for now.

title: love alarm

cast: song kang, kim so hyun, jung ga ram, go min si

genre: romantic melodrama, teen/youth drama

kim jo jo (kim so hyun) is a hardworking girl who apparently has a dark past. both her parents were dead due to tragic incident in the past, leaving her to pay her parents' debt to her aunty. she has several part time jobs to pay the debt, her "grandma" hospital bill, as well as her personal needs. anything else isn't important for her. at first we knew that she was in a relationship with il sik (shin seung ho), a judo player. jo jo also has to endure park gul mi (go min si)'s torture, since she is her cousin who lives under the same roof as her.

while hwang sun oh (song kang) is a famous teen model who grew up in a rich family, but apparently his family isn't that enviable. his dad is a congressman and all he cared about is the family status in front of public eyes. while his mom is a former actress who only cares about her fame. luckily, in his dysfunctional family, he found a best friend, lee hye yeong (jung ga ram). hye yeong is the son of sun oh's family helper who both live under the same roof as sun oh. 

sun oh was attracted to kim jo jo from the first sight, and he was curious about her as she seemed to be unaffected by his handsomeness as well as his popularity. then enter love alarm. an application that would notify you whenever someone has romantic feeling for you within 10 meter radius from you. problems start to arise because of this application. gul mi was hoping that sun oh would ring her love alarm, but turned out it was cheong duk gu (lee jae eung) who rang hers and it disgusted her that she turned him down flat right away, hurting duk gu's feeling. gul mi didn't know that duk gu was the secret developer of love alarm (until the end, they hasn't revealed duk gu as the developer yet).

while sun oh, who in the first place, was only interested in kim jo jo because he saw that hye yeong had feeling for jo jo, finally intrigued by her as well. he openly told hye yeong about his feeling for jo jo and both decided that the decision is up to jo jo. while il sik was excited about his love alarm ring, thinking that it was jo jo, while the truth was it was kim jung go (z.hera) who rang his. jo jo then broke up with il sik after il sik found out about jo jo kissing sun oh. while il sik later found out about jung go's feeling but told her to get rid of her feeling.

sun oh pressed jo jo to download the app to find out whether or not jo jo likes him back. and jo jo did. both their love alarm rang confirming that they both had feelings for each other, leaving hye yeong heartbroken but he decided to respect jo jo's choice and backed up. their relationship brought problem as gul mi tried her best to separate them, spreading rumors and stuff. while on the school trip to jeju, there was a fire accident that led jo jo back to her past, remembering her parents death which was apparently from suicide. jo jo was almost died with her parents as well, but she managed to escape and went to "grandma"'s house (i guess grandma was just a neighbour but loved her as her own grandchildren). her classmates surprised finding jo jo's traumatic response and the rumor led jo jo to run away with sun oh. while on their way back, they got into accident.

fast forward four years later, we find that jo jo broke up with sun oh, telling him that she didn't love him anymore because she was afraid that their relationship could hurt her and sun oh as well. she downloaded the shield given by duk gu and once she downloaded it, she could cover her feeling and her crush's love alarm won't ring anymore. sun oh shocked when he saw that jo jo didn't ring his love alarm anymore and went back to the US, but later came back to korea with a new girlfriend whom he didn't love. while hye yeong was about to go to an internship when he encountered jo jo again. he decided not to back down and confessed his feeling to jo jo, leaving jo jo confused. 

sun oh couldn't believe that jo jo didn't love him anymore, pushing jo jo to reject hye yeoung as well. sun oh was afraid that jo jo would later dump hye yeong as jo jo did to him. while jo jo couldn't say anything because part of her still loved sun oh, but part of her started to feel comfortable with hye yeong. sun oh asked proof from love alarm, but jo jo couldn't tell that her love alarm won't ring anyone because of the shield. the series ended at the launch of love 2.0. sun oh and his girlfriend was invited to the launch, while jo jo got mysterious invitation. she came to ask the developer to get rid of the shield to find out her own feeling. while hye yeong came rushing to catch jo jo. at the end, sun oh's girlfriend got a kick in the gut because she saw that sun oh did ring someone else's love alarm, jo jo's. and jo jo still got two hearts, one from sun oh, one from hye yeong. who will she choose? sun oh or hye yeong?

what i like:

- the new idea that using an application could help you confess your feeling quicker. though it might get ugly as well. in the drama we saw that some boys got confused as their rang other boys' alarm. they became disgusted in themselves as they never thought that they liked the same sex.

- well written plot. in the beginning we see sweet love story between two teenagers, but then as they grew up, it got complicated. i can't wait how they plot the second season, as the big question is already there from the first season.

- at first i thought the aunt would be like the park so dam's stepmother in "cinderella and the four knights". but i was wrong. when she found out that gul mi stole jo jo's money, she agreed to jo jo's term and scolded gul mi for using money that wasn't hers. i guess there's still justice in jo jo's life.

- all the actors and actresses were good, even the supporting ones. i like jo jo teacher in particular. he was care about jo jo and pretty intuitive too. and the outfit were okay i guess. humble and simple clothing for those who in need for money, but flashy outfit for sun oh and his family.

what i don't like:

- another story about love triangle and dysfunctional family. at least this time hye yeong was pretty brave, for stepping down at first. and the dysfunctional family is not the main center of the story. but it might changed in the second season.

- why they have to make it so short? but i have to say the writer is quite genius for putting a solid story in 8 episodes.

rating: 8/10

binge worthy: might be

recommended for: those who like teen love story, love song kang and kim so hyun, and don't mind getting curious about the ending.

my secret romance

i need to stop skipping dramas.. after i watched the secret life of my secretary in 3 days, i watched this drama in 2 days. skipping unimportant scenes and just focusing on the main actor and actress. gee.. i need to stop. anyway, somehow i want to watch romcom again since it makes me laugh, so i hope this one too.

title: my secret romance

cast: sung hoon, song ji eun, kim jae young, jeong da sol

genre: romantic comedy, a bit melodrama

cha jin wook (sung hoon) is a chaebol from daebok company. he was having too much fun, playing around with girls and partying, but he never got serious with one girl. his father found out about it and sent him to the resort that they owned to work there as a bellboy. while lee yu mi (song ji eun) is an energetic hard-working girl who loves food but failed to be a cook. she became a nutritionist instead. her mother was getting married for the second time in the same resort, so yu mi had no option but to ride on a bus to go to the resort. while jin wook was forced to take the bus and met yu mi for the first time.

in the resort, jin wook kept playing around, doing nothing. at the same time, yu mi was embarrassed since her mother selfishly put her old pictures from an adult movie that she starred in, embarrassing both yu mi and her new husband. but yumi suffered the most since she has been getting the same treatment since high school. she then ran away from the venue, and accidentally ran over jin wook who was bringing the wedding cake. both were smitten for the first time. but their meeting didn't end there. the manager told jin wook to apologize to yu mi, but being a jackass, he sent wine to yu mi room instead of apologizing. unfortunately, while she was going to go in the bathtub, she slipped and spilled the wine on her. jin wook mistakenly thought that she was injured so he rushed her over and even called for ambulance. imagine how surprised they both when yu mi woke up feeling ticklish when the paramedic tested her reflex.

feeling embarrassed, yu mi walked around the resort while jin wook managed to steal his car key back and made a quick stop at his mother's place, leaving flowers in front of her porch. back on his way, he found yu mi sitting at the bus stop so he stopped and offered to accompany her. they both drank and one thing lead to another. they both spent the night together in jin wook's car. but in the morning, yu mi realized what they have done and ran away before jin wook woke up. she left her breast pad in his car while she brought jin wook's coat with her.

after that night, both of them couldn't forget each other, but yu mi thought they wouldn't meet again. three years later, jin wook had become a hardworking son, working his ass off in the company so he could forget yu mi. imagine his surprise when he saw yu mi walking in the same building. he found out that she was the new nutritionist and made a plan to pay her back for leaving him naked in the car the following morning. yu mi then found out that jin wook was the chaebol and worried that he might have wrong impression of her, so she pretended to forget it all. while jin wook was determined to make her remember. he asked her to make him three meals a day, sometimes even more in addition to her usual workload. he also asked her to date him 10 times. both still have feelings for each other, so after so many dates and stuff, both jin wook and yu mi couldn't deny their feeling.

however, there's a misunderstanding when jin wook saw yu mi with dong gu. dong gu was her mother's son with her new husband. but since dong gu is 3 years old, he thought dong gu was his since it was 3 years ago that they slept together. jin wook's father also misunderstood as well and thought jin wook had a wedlock son, but later it was cleared up that dong gu wasn't yumi's. and what a drama would be without other people that like them as well? entered anchor joo hye ri (jung da sol) who has crush on jin wook since high school, but jin wook didn't like her. his father also approved of hye ri but jin wook insisted that hye ri wasn't the one for him. using her position as anchor, she let out her love story a bit, making it public that she had one-sided love for a chaebol.

there's also jung hyun tae (kim jae young). yu mi's friend as well as a writer and cafe owner. he rented the first floor while yu mi lived in the second floor. he had crush on yu mi but never told her. when yu mi got shaken by hye ri and tried to leave jin wook, jin wook held off as he was afraid that yumi would run from him, but yu mi resigned from her post and moved to a rural college. at that time, yu mi's mom made it even worse. she appeared in a talk show talking about her past and even told the public that her daughter was dating a chaebol and that he and his dad mistaken about dong goo. the truth about yu mi's mom was an adult movie star stirred up again. this time it hit her even harder. jin wook, who found out from his assistant, instantly went out to find her. this time it took while before he found her.

accidentally, yu mi met jin wook's mom and got the recipe of abalone porridge, which was jin wook's favorite. later jin wook's mom told him that he should run after the girl that he loves. jin wook finally managed to find yu mi, spent the night again with her only to find yu mi left her once again. for yu mi, jin wook was a dream and it's time for her to wake up. while jin wook was desperate, yu mi's mom appeared again on talk show and this time she told everyone (probably directed to yu mi) that they should follow their heart. her past career being an adult movie star shouldn't affected anyone love's story. at that time, hyun tae lent yu mi his motorcycle so yu mi could go to jin wook's office. jin wook was racing back to his office but his car broke, so he ran. in the office, they both admitted that they still love each other, and hugged each other. they didn't care that everyone could see them now. 

at the end we saw that yu mi's mom remarried again with her second husband and she kept playing her old photos as adult movie star. yu mi and jin wook were back together and still in progress to get jin wook's dad approval.

what i like:

- simple story about life, i guess. the fact that yu mi's mom is an adult movie star has been haunted yu mi forever. but at the end her mom told her that she shouldn't let it affected her, and just follow her heart.

- how they make a mistake like a one night stand could be working. thought it's almost impossible, i think the message here is that you can correct your mistake.

what i don't like:

- cheesy typical love story. like how hye ri did everything she could even bashing yu mi so she could win jin wook. and how jin wook used cheesy tricks so he could kiss yu mi. like the accident in the pool. he managed to rent the whole pool but forgot to tell the lifeguard to be off duty? 

- another chaebol - ordinary girl love story. and the problem with the parent that only want their kids to marry another wealthy kid or famous kid and not just ordinary people.

- how they lean hard on sung hoon's masculinity. and that cheesy back fall? how many times must jin wook catch falling yu mi? ain't that back fall soooo outdated? at this time, i can tell that some dramas sell their actor actress kissing a lot too much, and this drama is one of them.

rating: 7/10

binge worthy: so-so

recommended for: those who like sung hoon and ji eun, don't mind cheesy love story.