Comments

A Koala Reminisces: 2011 Year End Drama Reviews — 100 Comments

  1. Thanks for this, hysterical as usual!
    I had to skim to read only the shows I watched.
    Athena: Goddess of War – So stupid and big-budgeted it was like an apocalyptic combination of suck and bling. Hahahahahaha!

    Did you really watch all of Poseidon?

    Agree with you on BL. YKS could very well have walked away with his rose if they wanted to turn that whole story into something else. I woulda bought it.

    • another~

      did u really watch paradise ranch??i only can stand unti epi 3 then i skip to the last one..

      nway i totally agree with bubu jing xin.it took me months to get over it..hunting for bts,forum and recap after watching it many times..n more make me to open my eyes for mainland,hk and tw drama back!

      did u watch ghetto justice??i really want to see ur review about that drama

  2. Thanks. I may not share your views on some dramas but i really enjoyed reading your rants 😀 Love your pan-asian take here so i keep coming back. Cheers!

  3. I did not watch a single drama listed in your good shows, but watched 90% of the ones listed as may be or sucks!! i think i need to work on my choice in 2012.

  4. You’re a much better fan than I am for sticking with PR that long. I vowed to finish it for Changmin’s sake too but I just.could.not. I wonder if it’s the directing… because I swear Lee Yeonhee isn’t that terrible an actress

    • Yes, lee yeon hee is that terrible of an actress sorry to say. Which is sad considering that she has been in quite a number of dramas and movies with some great actors yet her acting gets worse and worse with each project.

  5. OCKoala, my dear, what I love about you is the diversity of the dramas you are willing to watch and review and recap and moon over or spit upon, depending on your mood. This is an excellent piece. Thanks for taking the time to do a year in review!

  6. Auntie K
    Thank you so much for that lovely trip down Kdrama lane. Oh Lie To Me and Secret Garden will always have a special place in my Kdrama diary. LTM brought me playmates that were insanely crazy about a plot that stopped making sense 1/4 of the way and just keep sinking…..fast but we still kept the faith and watched to the bitter end. Secret Garden totally made me a fangirl of Binnie, Ha Ji Won and the word Oppa became a permanent fixture used in my vocabulary. I would be crazy if I didn’t mention the crack show called City Hunter. Omo omo omo where do I begin, I mean Lee Min Hot!!! those pink pants, the bromance, the evil daddy club and the badassness of Ex Government Agent turned Vengeful Fake Dad. Oh so many moments, so many memories. I am just so thankful that I found your playground and have been entertained ever since.

    Thanks again for a great year of recaps, can’t wait to see what 2012 brings

    Cya mates later
    AKP Fighting!!!

  7. Wow… Fantastic, able to review so many drama for sharing. Well done.
    So far, I only watch office girl and always waiting for next episode to air. May consider watching other drama.

  8. this message is redundant and probably non-sensical, but SUNNY HAPPINESS WOOO YEAHH~ loved it to bits. Thank you for the entertaining overview of 2011 dramas. I’m looking forward to checking out 2012 dramas in your playground.

    • will just like to add that: Kaseifu No Mita is one unforgettable 2011 drama for me. The finale is coming out this wednesday and i can’t wait!

  9. Thanks for your review. For me 2011 was the year of reading recaps because there was so much dramas that I was interested in watching as well as considering to watch and did not have time to. I would start watching them and after a time stop not necessarily because the drama was not interesting but the recaps were more so. Such was the case for me at this site, javabeans, soompi, rebel soul, dramatomy and thundie’s prattle. For that I am grateful to all of you, thanks. I got more done by reading than watching & at the same time not really lose out. I am not a fan of tw drama as I think they drag the story too much for too long & the storyline feels the same in all of them, I tend to watch 2 episodes & lose interest afterwards. The exception being black & white I surely miss it & autumn concerto which introduced us to a darling little boy. The jdramas though I watched a little were not bad as I finished most of them. It was mostly kdramas this year and with the introduction of cable shows it felt like kdrama overload I am still trying to catch up. I decided this year to stay away from melodramas as they were headachey for me.

    My favs for 2011 were:
    1. Tree with deep roots – thought provoking, superb acting and great storyline. Has me hook, line and sinker
    2. Vampire Prosecutor- for those not watching it. WATCH IT
    3. Princess Man – thought provoking, good acting and growth for all the main characters.
    4. Can you hear my heart – beautiful love story all around and I don’t mean romantic love only, they had a variety of love expressed in the show . They had a fantastic cast and interesting characters.
    5. Flower Boy Raymun Shop – funny shows with the right use of metaphors to bring the messages across.
    6. Protect the Boss – finally a heroine who was no shrinking violet to meanie moms.

    For Japanese I recommend JIN1 &2 , Tempest – I got addicted to this one.

    Have a good weekend everyone and gone for now.

    • for Japanese: Soredemo, Ikite Yuku (best drama of the year for me and one of the best ever!!!!) there’s also: Suzuki Sensei (but they never dubbed passed episode 5 :'()
      As for Korean: Vampire Prosecutor for sure!!
      Flower boy ramyun shop (never thought I’d like it but if you don’t take it seriously its pretty entertaining + I like how they handle the usual tropes :P)
      Office girl was the 1st tw drama I watch in a while, dunno y I started watching it but I don’t regret 😉
      I don’t think it was so bad of a year 😉 I watched more but the rest wasn’t that memorable 😛

  10. thank you for the year end reviews. it’s been a memorable 2011 and i enjoyed and had a lot of fun watching My Princess, Sunny Happiness, Lie to Me & Office Girls. thank you koala’s playground for making my drama watching experience so much better. =)

  11. Thanks for your funny, eloquent and comprehensive year-end review! It’s nice to read about the TW and J-dramas you watched as well as the K-dramas. Although I skipped some of your kdrama reviews, as I’m in still in the process of writing my own.

    I enjoyed Zenkai Girl as much as you did, although I just couldn’t like Ouran. Except for the Haruhi/Kyoya bits, those made me swoon. Strange, because I loved the anime. I don’t know if you do melodramas – I usually don’t, but the best dorama I watched this year was Soredemo, Ikite Yuku. So dark, and so scary good. Best melo I’ve ever watched. It was incredibly written, directed, acted. I watched it because of my crazy love for Eita, but the whole cast was amazing.

    I watched about 11 episodes of Sunny Happiness and I can’t really remember why I stopped. I should really go back and finish it. The story was so down-to-earth and lovely compared to other TWdramas I’ve seen.

    I love that I always discover new dramas when I read your blog, which I never would have watched if it wasn’t for your recommendation. Thanks for your amazingly prolific year of blogging, may you have a wonderful 2012, both in dramaland and real life. 🙂

    • I can’t get myself in the mood to watch Soredemo.

      Another J-dorama I enjoyed but didn’t review because I’m not done watching it is that cute mystery after dinner one with Keiko and Sho. Love the dry humor and sarcasm.

      • Yeah, it’s not an easy show to watch. I loved it so much I waited to marathon it until the subs were complete, but I found I needed to take breaks between the later episodes. Not because it was bad – it was incredible. But so – real, and intense. You have to be feeling very happy and well-adjusted, I think, to be in the mood for it. 🙂

        I will check out that one, thanks!

      • Like you it took me a long time to start watching Soredemo I thought I don’t feel like watching something depressing although I kept hearing (more like reading :P) how good it was
        It took a lot of stress from school and me looking for something procrastinate 😛 but man it was good!!! But yea pretty intense so if you watching 1-2 episode a week itd be good (although I watched the 1st 7 episodes al together and had to wait for months to watch the rest 😛

  12. I actually watched all of Paradise Ranch, but I think we’ve already had the Changmin-is-adorable-but-should-stick-to-singing discussion. In the end, Lee Yeon-hee actually annoyed me way more than Changmin – at least he has an excuse. What’s hers? She was horrible and her character was so annoying and screechy.

    I was so disappointed in Secret Garden. For me, I checked out totally when a supposed stuntwoman couldn’t even push her skinny little “I earn money well” boyfriend off her when he forced himself on her. Her character became just like every other kdrama female lead ever, which was totally annoying since she was supposed to be all awesome.

    But I loved PtB and My Princess was cute, The Princess’ Man was great crack and had lots of pretty, and Sunny Happiness was like a nice cup of spiced apple cider: a little tangy, but still sweet and warming. All in all, not a wonderful year, but not the worst year, either.

  13. I still blame you and dangermousie for dragging me screaming and protesting down that rabbithole that is TW and Chinese dramas. Alas, you were both right. Sunny Happiness and BBJX for the win! Even Drunken to Love you was a hoot to watch. Sigh. This is why koalas are dangerous. Dangling tempting dramas in front of innocent poodles who then gobble them up like cookies. sigh! LOL! Seriously, BBJX was the crackiest drama of the year for me. Absolute crack. And Sunny Happiness was a lovely show.

    Thanks for letting us play in your playground, and for your lovely roundup of dramas, and hoping for better in the New Year!

    • I’m so happy you found TW-dramas enjoyable. And BBJX is the very definition of a crack drama. I still refuse to take any responsibility for getting people into any drama. 😛

      • I watched SH, DTLY & BBJX based on your recaps. I will forever be in love with Nicky Wu as 4th Prince! Thank you for sharing the love.

  14. Wonderful review Koala! I am so happy that you watched and liked ‘President’. Yay! Another President fan! Ha Hee Ra and Choi Soo Jung were a hoot to watch as their respective characters. Amazing chemistry between husband and wife. I loved how Choi Soo Jung portrayed his character because most of the time I was on the fence about his character. Calm, cool, collected and often times sketchy (a politics driven drama indeed!) I love the tie in with My Princess because I too thought that My Princess should have tried to be a little more realistic with the antagonists and problems within the show. But as you said, the chemistry between KTH and SSH was just too great that I couldn’t stop watching it.

    I absolutely agree with your points about Best Love. I appreciate the script and acting but couldn’t quite get into the characters (especially Dokko Jin). There were a lot of times that he ended up annoying me and I would wish that Pil Joo was the main lead instead. And Yoon In Na as the second lead actress never impressed me. She was cute, but wooden. I’m still not impressed by her acting at all.

    I’m glad to see non Korean dramas make it into this list. Mike He never looked so good than in Sunny Happiness. I actually liked his acting and his chemistry with Janine. It wasn’t over the top and felt natural. But I ended up getting annoyed at the end so I wouldn’t say that this would be my favorite Tw drama ever, but it’s also my favorite of the year just because I ended up finishing it. Couldn’t say the same about DTLY or Material Girl. I STILL haven’t seen BBJX or In Time With You. I feel so behind!

    Are you still keeping up with Nankyoku Tairiku? Soredemo, Ikite Yuku and Don Quixote ended up being my fave jdramas this year. I could not stand Ouran at all haha

    • Nankyoku is a Japanese government propaganda drama. I refuse to watch more. I’ve heard great things about Don Quixote. I need to get on that. But Mike and Janine were both on some special pills in SH because they fairly glowed with natural charm and were just perfect together.

      • You most definitely should try Don Quixote! I must admit that I started it out of my love for Matsuda Shota but by the second episode I was hooked. The drama had a lot of heart and was hilarious to boot. Shota’s chemistry (or should I say bromance?) with Takahashi Katsumi was off the charts lol. This might also be my favorite, if not favorite, Shota roles.

  15. Thanks Lady K for your drama reviews….you’re my source of which drama to watch. your site is in my first 3 sites to check online 🙂

    xoxo

  16. Loved reading your year-end-review. Especially appreciated your comments about the ending for 49 Days as I felt exactly the same.
    Never saw The Duo, but this is the 2nd or 3rd year-end-review I’ve read where it’s been mentioned as a favorite. Guess I’ll have to put it on my to-watch list.
    Also, thanks to your glowing reviews I decided to give SH a chance, and so glad I did.

  17. Thanks for a good read! I’ve been avoiding T-drama for years because I can’t stand the amount of overacting in them, but thanks to you I actually started watching a few of them, even though I lost interest im ITWY, RRB and now starting to get bored of OG as well.
    Oh and I started watching BBJX thanks to you as well, and it was magnificent ride. Skipped ep 30 onwards though cause I’m a chicken like that.
    Really glad I found your blog this year, it really added to my drama watching experience 🙂

  18. Thank you for sharing your 2011 end drama reviews!!

    I remembered the first time you posted about BBJX before its airing, I couldn’t resist the temptation and started to read the novel… It kept me going for more until I reach the end in just two days reading its entirety. When the drama came out, I was so excited and had to watch it again and again… It was also a crack for me! I got my family and friends hooked… Thanks for sharing everything and anything related to drama (either Kdrama, Jdrama, CDrama, Twdrama)!!

    I also have to admit that my fever (for this year’s drama) has dropped a few degrees compared to last year’s dramas! I am still grateful and thankful for all those experiences, enjoyments or not-so-much! 😀

  19. hahahaha.. although i often find your picks and mine are rather differing (in The Great and The Satisfying mostly), I love reading your reviews.. 🙂 And I specially like what you wrote on these:

    Athena: Goddess of War – So stupid and big-budgeted it was like an apocalyptic combination of suck and bling. … piss-poor writing flushed everyone down the toilet. … In the end, I cursed Taewon Entertainment to the Heavens and then pushed delete so fast my fingers jammed the keyboard.

    Poseidon – Managed to be stupider than Athena, which is a feat in an of itself. It was like a community production of a K-drama. ROFL..

    I would definitely trash SMW into this category too!! It’s one of the worst dramas I’ve ever seen. But oh.. Sunny Happiness is that good?? I couldn’t get through the first few episodes, and I thought Janine Chang stil can’t act for goodness sake. Hmmm.. i think i’d have to give it another try then. 🙂 And for Sunshine Angel, WZ’s hotness still cannot compensate for his terrible lack of acting skill.. and I can’t stand his mandarin as well.. although i hate dubbing, but i reckon WZ definitely needs one. 😛

    Thx a lot, koala!! 😀

  20. I enjoyed reading your reviews and agree with your list of the best and worst of 2011. You have great picks for the best of the year, especially picking The Princess’s Man and Me Too, Flower (..and I hope it continues to be good) as your favs for 2011. The love story in The Princess’s Man is one of my favorite part of the movie (though its not yours), but I love the entire drama as a whole from start to end. It’s one of my top favorites to watch again.

    I’m surprise that New Tales of Gisaeng is not on your list. I enjoyed watching this drama too, but toward the end it got a bit messy and delusional with ghosts and demons and all. The struggles that the lead actor went through to be with the love of his life was heartfelt (even though we all know NO SUCH GUY EXIST(especially a wealthy chaebol born with a silver spoon in his mouth) that will go through that much hell to be with someone.

    Two thumbs up, thank you for your year end review! 🙂

  21. Thank you for the review I enjoyed reading it very much. Especially when you didn’t like the dramas…the reviews were better.

    I also love all the posters some of whom I don’t recall seeing.I have to say though although I didn’t watch BBJX till the end the amount of love you showed that drama… I can’t even look at the photos of 4th Prince nowadays without this clutching feeling in my heart 🙁

  22. Great stuff! An epic review, all by your magnificent self. You don’t need any clever framework or gimmick if the writing is as witty and insightful as yours.

    Also, any pimping of President and The Duo — Greatest and Least-Watched dramas of 2011 — warms my jaded little heart.

    • I’d pimp out President and The Duo any day. Thanks for reading, sweetie, and writing such lovely kind words. *blushes* I hope next year is better for both of us.

  23. I would love to see City Hunter in the list, it’s one of the great drama of 2011. I can’t help myself but to re-watch again again for the third time

  24. Secret Garden!!! I am so glad you feel the same way Koala!! I couldn’t get into that drama, even though I did sit through the entire drama…

    BBJX… can’t agree more!! Will check out the other recommendations on your list! Thanks for your hard work!! 🙂

  25. Great year-end review! I agree with what you said on the shows I watched, which were SG, Princess’ Man and MoH. I’m surprised BL and 49 Days weren’t part of your top list. You made such wonderful and enjoyable recaps to read that I imagined you liked them. Can’t wait for next year! I’ll be sure to look out for it 😉

  26. thanks koala unnie for all the reviewsa and updates……
    agreed on most dramas on ur list apart form dream high being that top on ur list of satisfyin… wasn’t for me in any way looked at ..possibly!!! 🙁
    n yah thks for introducin me to the c-drama world with BBJX and SH …loved it <3.. the best of the best!!!!
    n surlt the tw-drama land did more justice for me than any k-drama this year in terms of improvement…nevertheless enjoyed watchin my princess, 49 days. LTM ..
    have to agree on M2F ….. hope it turns the latter half into sumthin that it will be in the top watch'd 2011 drama for me * fingers crossed*….
    thks once again …waitin for ur playful reviews n recaps for 2012…
    m really lookin forward to tw-drama world with blue-cherly combo kickin of in happy michelin kitchen…n many more …yummmm:P

  27. Thanks for the reviews, Koala, I always enjoy reading your opinions even when we agree or disagree!

    🙂 The very intangible elements of why a drama stays with one person while it leaves another person flat is a study in psychology, I wouldn’t wonder, but it sure makes our lives more interesting as we discuss and defend our personal attachment and feelings about k-dramas!

    Cheers for another fabulous year on your blog, thanks so much for all your work (a labor of love, we know, for the most part), and looking forward to 2012! 🙂

  28. I’m so thankful and it’s oh so refreshing to read an end-of-the-year review that includes jdoramas and tw/c-dramas as well. I swear if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have even got over my reluctance to watch more tw/c-dramas. Maybe I shouldn’t be so thankful then? LOL 😉

    I still love SH and i’m so glad you recced it. I did enjoy DTLY (except I forgot to watch the lst 5 eps? Er. I should catch up, I think) and oh I WILL get to BBJX eventually (I already have a few eps, but let’s hope I can make some time for them)

    Re: Secret Garden. Word. Word. WOOOOORD! I’m sorry, but I just can’t get over how mad that drama made me and yes, I BLAME it for tainting my kdrama addiction.

    Ooooh the Duo sounds great. It was on my to watch list, but then RL got in the way and I couldn’t watch it as it aired. And then I forgot. *facepalm*

    And thank God, there seems to be a romcom I can actually start and FINISH watching: Me, Too Flower! Thank you, I was about to give up the genre altogether. You know how much I love romcoms and how much saying I’d give them up cost me.

    Sadly, 2011 was a bad year for me as far as dramas go. I think I dropped more dramas this year than all the previous years combined together. IDK, I guess i hit that famous stage every drama watcher gets to at some point, the honeymoon-is-over phase? (English fail, sorry)

  29. Thanks, Koala, for the reviews. I also watched President and really liked it. I also liked PM, LTM, PTB and ILR. Unfortunately, wasted my time on SMW (Eric fan) Athena, half of BL and PR and because I love Siwon, Poseidon (extremely juvenile…) I wasted so many hours watching bad dramas, I could have read War and Peace. Hopefully 2012 will be better. I’ m watching Kimchi Family which seems promising after two episodes.

  30. You brought me back to Nicky, and for that I’m forever thankful. BBJX is THE show for me this year – no mean feat as I totally avoid China-production and avoid all sad shows.

    Can’t say if I’ll ever pick up another China production but I’m definitely continung to stalk your playground! Great job!

  31. Sunny Happiness and lie to me are the UGH dramas for me.
    SH is actually one of the most boring tw-drama for me this year, so predictable.. i don’t see the difference from SH and Mei Le, Jia You (by mike and cyndi), both are alright in the beginning and turn for the draggy pace towards the end.
    I finished it though, it’s just a matter of personal taste i guess.
    LTM is a mess of drama, YEH and KJH can do better than that, i guess they have chemistry but the storyline of LTM is just not capable of making the whole drama better.

    BBJX is my best drama of the year definitely, everything is just so moving. It leaves a long aftertaste for me.

    In Time with you.. despite disliking some of the characterizations, i feel it’s real that these characters are so flawed, it got a nice directing, nice music, nice acting, the ending felt rushed but definitely one of the better quality TW-dramas lately.

    I need romance is definitely in one of my top 3 list of dramas this year. It’s so cute and vibrant!! I hate the ending of how the girl got back with her boyfriend though =p But other than that, it was a fun ride and was pleasantly surprised by the quality as this is my first cable drama. The similarities with The women who can’t get married is quite welcoming, i love that drama as well.

    Best love….. was perhaps not the “best” Hong Sister dramas for me… along with my girlfriend is a gumiho… i didn’t like these 2 dramas as much as their other dramas… It just lack of OOMPH.

    Secret Garden was great but towards the end, i felt it lost the steam… too bad it could go to my top 3 for this year if it kept the pacing of the first half. I also didn’t care enough for the leads to get together =p

    Ouran High school is just an alright drama, maybe i still prefer the anime. The girl is cute, the drama is on spot with the comedy but i just forget about it after i finished it. Zenkai Girl was pretty good the first half and draggy the later half, SO annoying that i can’t finish.

    Protect the boss…. funny and breezy but left no aftertaste, i also didn’t like this coupling enough to be immersed in the drama.

    Me too, flower is an unexpected drama i fell in love with, however since ep 10… i’m getting tired of the angsty….. if only it kept the pace of the first half… i guess a lot of dramas always get trapped in the later half to become draggy..

    Overall, 2011 is quite a good year, i saw some gems from Chinese drama, Japanese drama… K-dramas category is a bit lacking the OOMPH factor this year.

  32. Thank you Ms Koala for sharing. It seems like you had an interesting run with the dramas this year as I did and turns out, I agree with a lot of your points here. 🙂

    Over the year, for 2011 aired dramas, across K, TW and C – there were so many that I was into for the first 6 episodes or what have you, and then kaput… it dropped off the deep end and so I jumped ship.

    The ones that I loved: The Princess Man, BBJX, The Fierce Wife and that’s all I can remember.

    The ones that I loved from the started and then I dropped: Drunken to Love You, OG, PTB, Best Love — can’t even remember the rest now. I did finish these but with really no interested whatsoever. Best Love — It just wasn’t my cup of tea no matter how much I wanted to love it since so many people did.

    “I can’t believe I watched this” category – Paradise Ranch, I watched 2 times – shocking I know. I label it as the worst Kdrama of the year. Athena – I don’t even know where it went wrong… everywhere? Spy MW – what in the world was this? ITWY – I have the same grip about the show as you, Ms Koala. Who the heck is YC? I wanted to like it soo much since I like Winnie & Ariel and this is her last drama in the forseeable future.

    LTM was also really cracktastic for me for that period in the middle of 2011, I rewatched it many times during that period but forgettable now. Same with Secret Garden.

    I want to watch The Duo since a lot of people recommended it as well as TWDR once that one finishes airing. I think I like watching sagueks once they are in completion. I sustained myself this year by catching up on other dramas from prior years that I didn’t have time to watch. I’m on a saguek roll after BBJX sucked me back into that crazy period pieces.

    Thank you Ms Koala for sharing and all your efforts. Hope 2012 brings us a lot more good dramas that touch our hearts.

  33. Bu Bu Jing Xin and Sunny Happiness were honestly the best.
    I haven’t watched Chinese/Taiwanese dramas for a while, but I picked up Sunny Happiness because of your recaps and am very glad that I did so (: It wasn’t perfect, but I really liked it over many of the top-rated dramas this year (i.e. In Time With You & Drunken to love you). Personally, I think this was one of Janine Chang’s best dramas.
    But Bu Bu Jing Xin was honestly the best show for me this year. I read the original novel (and cried very badly while reading it), and while I was expected to be disappointed, I was kind of surprised by the show. It was soooooo beautiful. It lived up to its hype and I was honestly, just really happy watching the show. Look at their costumes! All so pretty.

    Korean dramas wise, I liked the front part of President, but towards the end it kind of lost me. It’s probably because it’s about politics, but I do think it was a good drama, it just didn’t attract me. But given adequate spare time, it’s one of the dramas that I would like to pick up again.
    I liked Secret Garden, despite it being secretly-all-fluff-and-not-much-depth. But I liked it because of Hyun Bin (maybe it’s because it’s his last before the army, he put in all his effort), and while I adore Ha Jiwon, she wasn’t exactly outstanding in this. I thought Kim Sarang was even more outstanding than her – her bitchiness at the start and love-hate relationship with OSKA was lovely!

    Two other dramas I adored but you didn’t list out was Vampire Prosecutor – Yun Jeong Hoon is one hot vampire prosecutor – which I thought was surprisingly good. But to be objective, I didn’t set high expectations for it to begin with, so it might just be me. The other was New Tales of Gisaeng. The ending sucked (what’s with the general ghost and the grandmother ghost!?) but I liked the storyline between Dan Saran and Ah Damo. It wasn’t the best drama around, but overall it impressed me.

    • I haven’t watched VP yet (plan to), and never wanted to watch Gisaeng, especially know it went crazy at the end. But I know plenty of folks addicted to it when it aired.

  34. I saw a cameo by Choi Kang Hee on “Thank You”. Her chemistry with Jang Hyuk was hot. I think next time if Jang Hyuk is ever in another drama like Midas, Choi Kang Hee should be casted as his love interest.

    • You are not the first to remark on that. Choi Kang Hee’s cameo on TY was amazing, and her chemistry was much better with Jang Hyuk than his chemistry with leading lady Gong Hyo Jin. In fact, GHJ had better chemistry with Shin Sung Rok in TY than with Jang Hyuk. Chemistry really can’t be forced.

    • Why can’t you get over it? Why do I need to write about it? It should be clear I’ve not watched it, and I might as well add I have no plans to watch it. You’ve spent the last two months pimping OB in random posts of mine, which is fine, but it’s probably more satisfying to enjoy it yourself and other fans rather than forcing it down everyone else’s throat.

  35. Tee hee, I am not the only one who loved President too. After watching, I listened to so many Trax songs. Jay Kim is one of the better idol actors and the main lead couple owned the drama. So good and so different from the usual Korean rom-com.

  36. Hey Koala!
    thanks for that review:) I pretty much fell with most of your ratings/reviews with some exceptions (everyone keeps talking about The Duo in their year-end reviews but I haven’t seen anyone actually talk about it at any other times so I keep getting surprised it’s so well rated..I think I need to give it another chance lol..) also I couldn’t get past the first few episodes of Sunny Happiness, but thats probably cuz I can’t handle Mike He’s acting anymore (as well as his hair in the drama…keep the bada$$ look Mike, it suit you better lol)
    I also want to thank you so much for adding some Jdrama reviews… I love jdramas and I haven’t found many people talking about them so I was really excited to read those reviews especially so please continue with those for sure!!

    I do remember your Spy recaps though (I didn’t watch the drama just read your colorful recaps 🙂 and I’ve always wanted to send you this clip but I don’t think I ever did… I started watching Kentertainment a while back and I was hooked on Family Outing and one of their guests gave me the BIGGEST laugh of all their guests (still does whenever I go back and re-watch) and when Spy came out I realized who he was.. Lee Jin Wook!! he’s there for 2 episodes but the best part is when he has to help with morning breakfast and he picks Jaesuk to help him… the whole episode is good but just this section is so funny– you wouldn’t believe stiff hottie spy would be like this… I don’t know how you feel about us posting videos so I’ll just let you know its Family outing episode 12 a little bit before half way through (its on dailymotion etc).. I dunno if you’ve seen it or not but I thought you’d enjoy it 🙂
    thanks for all your work:)

  37. Thanks dear ockoala!
    Among all the 2001 end-of-the-year reviews I’ve read, my taste coincides with ockoala the most. For me, this year, Bu Bu Jing Xin has given me a greatest delight. It’s just impeccable in every aspect. And I am kind of relieved to see that ockoala doesn’t like Secret Garden. Every time I complaint about SG to anyone around me, I feel like that I am a freak and they are ready to launch a hyun-bin love war against me. (C’mon, “Friends, Our Legend” is way better a drama than a verbose and rather empty drama like SG). The only drama I actually disagree with ockoala is Lie to Me. I know ockoala loves it for different reasons, but for me it’s just an unbearable viewing experience since basically there is not even a story at all. But I wouldn’t deny the sizzling chemistry between KJW and EYH.:D

    I was a bit taken aback at ockoala’s harsh comments on In Time with You first, but when I re-watched the drama for the second time, I realized that ockoala’s critique makes the most sense compared to other raving reviews. Ultimately, In Time with You is a sexist drama written by a female writer against women. In order to create a lovelorn saint that is Da-ren, the script writer to a certain extent risks demonizing every other character or making them rather one-dimensional. So Ding Li Wei becomes a heartless traitor and Youqing a selfish dominatrix. What appalls me is that this drama claims to delineate the inner struggle and growth of the career women reaching their 30s, the “value” and the “identity” of these women go down the toilet when it comes to men. The ending actually pissed me off. So the appeal of a mature woman is to have a family and have a loved one (that is, a man)? It feels like the murmuring of Confucius teaching. I only appreciate the drama for the fact that I finally got to know Ariel Lin. Yes. Her performance is not perfect, but she does all she can to render this thinly-written character alive. While everyone raves about Bolin, my heart goes out to Ariel since she just keeps challenging herself for better or for worse. (I see Bolin playing similar roles in other dramas and film projects). I will try to watch some of Ariel’s other drams during X’mas break!

  38. Thank you for taking the time to write a full review on the whole year of dramas. I’m a regular reader of your blog, though I don’t comment much. Not because I don’t want to, but mainly I only want to say something if I’m adding to the discussion.

    So I just wanted to say thank you for blogging, because I appreciate your wit, your tenacity, and your creative writing style. I’m actually Canadian and I don’t have much time to watch dramas, but I always enjoy reading what you have to say about them. And just because you recommended Sunny Happiness, I will check it out on my holidays.

    Also, everything you wrote about Best Love – it felt like you took the words out of my mouth. I had a hard time understanding the hype around it and I love how you articulated your critique of it. Thank you!
    And keep blogging 🙂

  39. Wow, you sure watch alot of dramas Ms K~

    I am glad that Lie to Me is still quite close to the top of your list ^^

    I am still quite addicted to HH OTP….that I find I don’t like Secret Garden, which eveyone says you are supposed to love it….lol

    But I am starting to lose faith about the possiblity of releasing a Director’s Cut DVD of LTM, there is still no news until now, even Best Love, Prinecess Man, etc already releasing their D Cut DVD….sigh….thats the part that makes me sad about LTM, miss them so much that wanna see more of their unaired scenes T_T

  40. Thanks Koala-unni!
    I amazed by your ability to cover so many dramas and write so many recaps, for which I’m grateful, even for dramas that don’t interest me much.

    My own list:

    Drama of the year – BBJX (and I still have 3 episodes left to watch, will read the novel next).
    Totally invested in the story, characters, acting and cinematography.

    Satisfactory – City Hunter (liked the storyline), Lie to Me (for the crackiest OTP of the year), Secret Garden (love Hyun Bin), The Fierce Wife (it was heartfelt).

    Middling – Best Love (can’t get into Dokko Jin), Protect the Boss (extension almost killed it), My Princess (love the OTP but sroty is blah)

    Can do without – DTLY (love Joseph Chang, but lost me midway), RRB (same old plot devices but likely to watch till the end, dunno why).

    I’m tyring to get myself back into J-doramas, it’s been so long.
    Last was Takuya Kimura’s Change and before that Nodame Cantabile (which I loved). Not many J-doramas with the J-actors / actresses of my era (Takuya Kimura, Fujiki Naohito, Matsushima Nanako etc) and I’m so unfamiliar with the current and upcoming J-actors/actresses.

  41. *hugs* early cheers for a better 2012 to come! My top TWdrama is also SH, if not for you, I won’t get on the addiction bandwagon so early, I really didn’t see any hint of it being decent, but was planning on watching it for Janine one rainy day much later. I was insulted as a woman by ITWY, it made me love Ariel less and that’s an inexcusable crime. DTLY also deflated like a souffle very early on for me, Rainie is now back to her square one in my book, my goodwill over To Get Her all poof!

    BBJX is also the most cracktastic Cdrama for me, there are scenes dripping with drama gold where everything just clicks and since it’s not happening as often to me nowadays, it’ll forever have a special place. It’s a pity though they can’t just do that extra push with of the CGs. I can turn a blind eye if this was 1982, but almost 30 yrs later, that lily pad and the Mongolian tundra r blunders on otherwise a near perfect gem.

    I think I’m having a 7 yr itch with Kdramas this year, maybe it’s coinciding with a crappier year, maybe SG just snapped my fuse, I just can’t stop seeing the flaws everywhere I look, and fail to connect with everything. Things I finished either got me angry just to rem the waste of time(Ripley) or tepid (49 days). With ur raves (and others’), I’ll finish Duo and President, I liked them enough but am stalled at eps 4/5, I’m sad I might have forever lost that moment of falling in love first sight when I initially got whirled into the Kdrama love affair, with the visual of a Samsoon spotting a scarf on head that Christmas eve, or the tender loving words of Naeuri ‘ Your pain is my pain‘, or the hook of double intrigue/swoon/mincing of my heart of U!T!W! as twins.

    • I can only hug you and weep for the days of yore when everything new seems so shiny and interesting. Maybe 2012 will be better?

  42. I agree that Secret Garden may not have been the best drama, but there is one thing I have to give it credit for. Many times the heroine and the mother-in-law do not get along and the mother-in-law tries to get rid of her/ pay her off/ basically make her go away. Then the heroine marries her chaebol prince hero and…everything’s just peachy? I liked that the mother stuck to her convictions at the end and when she said I won’t accept you she meant it AND the drama actually showed that it wasn’t quite a happily ever after.

  43. Thank you for the review. It was an amazing read.

    This was the year I rediscovered tw-drama and watched my first c-drama. I don’t love BBJX as much as most. I could never get invested in 4th Prince’s story and that dampen my love for it. But lovely show lovely acting and introduced me to Chinese actors.

    Tw-drama how much you’ve changed. I still remember Prince turns To Frog and ISWAK which I each couldn’t get pass 10 mins of the show. I cringed the whole time. But wow B&W. When Chen Lin flipped Pi Zhi it got me there. What spunk! And Janine Cheng’s character is the smartest out of the bunch. And Mark Chao what talent. And Zai Zai could actually act and is not some prince charming (sorry impression was from Meteor Garden). The story got increasingly ridiculous at the end. But such an amazing ride. Then your OG recap got be curious and started watching OG. Love love it! The story is dragging right now but its such a light happy fluffy drama that its my happy pill. I couldn’t get pass the first few minutes of SH but I shall have to try again when I’m in a mood for a romcom (can only squeal at one couple at a time).

    For k-dramas, I couldn’t get passed the first few minutes of everything I watched that aired this year. I watched 3-4 episodes of CH, INR, PTB? 1 episode each of LTM, TWDR, MP, BL, Manny, Duo. 10 minutes of MTF, FBRS and tons I don’t remember. I watched Damo and thats it for k-drama for me this year.

    Here’s hoping for a better k-drama year and an awesome tw/c-drama year!

    p/s: I love your Damo review on TP.

  44. I agree with you, korean drama watching is really subjective and it’s all about the connection. My unabashed love for LTM directed me to your blog and since then I’ve been a happy camper. Uhmmkay, I guess I’d better start watching T & J dramas too because your reviews are great. Thanks Koala and Happy Holidays!

  45. Captain K,
    Ah, you write so eloquently! Thanks for the awesome year end review and giving insight to dramas outside of the usual K-drama fare. I was talking to my friend the other day and started giving T-drama recommendations based on yours!

    • Ooooh, you’re recommending TW-dramas! That makes me happy. Even if I know its quality is mostly iffy, some of them are pretty entertaining and heartwarming to watch. ^__^

  46. Loved this end-of-the-year wrap-up!
    Some reviews I agreed with, some not – but they were all interesting.
    I will now go and sulk that my own top & bottom wasn’t included – City Hunter for top K-drama, and Love Keeps Going for my all-time worst. Paradise Ranch was beyond awful, but at least all the 2 main actors showed up for the final episode, unlike the final ep of LKG where Mike Hee was either too embarrassed (or just forgot) to appear – possibly the smartest thing he did concerning this horror show.

  47. Thanks for the reviews and I must said that I’m bit surprise to see that as much as you love LTM( from every time I see when I came here), you still admit its flaws. I usually checking your posts and reading it silently since I’m not good in English to give long comments. Even though I don’t like most of your fav dramas and still don’t understand your love for certain dramas, I admit like what Ran(Nomanymore’s site owner) said as her tagline, every drama is good for someone

    • I also feel like I want to see PR to see how bad is ChangMin’s acting. My friend and I were discussing about idols who turn to actors and so far, I think Taec is the worst but my friend said that ChangMin’s the worst so far from the idol list,lol

  48. Wow, it’s out ♪ I so want to read it now but I have to pack right now. I’m going to copy/paste everything and read it all on my flight tomorrow. Just by skimming through Duo review part. I know it’s going to be a great treat for me tomorrow.

    Thank you! XOXO

  49. Thanks for such an entertaining review, as always! I’m not watching anything right now but it’s just the lack of time really. But since your review for Sunshine Happiness is great, I think it would be one of the choices of what I would watch next. Merry Christmas dear ockoala unnie and a prosperous 2012 for you and your family!

  50. Man, Thanks for write a wonderful review.. It’s very well written…!!

    I just finished TPM yesterday…. And glad YOu feel the same feeling as me towards TPM..
    I thought I am the only one who didn’t connected with the main love story in The Princess Man…. I’m I’m not the only one who felt that way 🙂
    Instead, I’m more invested for the 2nd OTP… They make me cried my eyes out during their last encounter. It’s weird considering my biased towards park shi hoo.. Then I realized, From the start I never invested with their chemistry… I wait and wait they will pull me in, but it never happened… Then finally I realize, If I’m not invested with the OTP from the start, It means They Would never invested me emotionally till the end…

  51. Thanks for the review. This was the first year where I watched several dramas from different countries. I really like coming to your blog and I am quite picky about the dramas I watch. I do find that you and I have similar tastes. I loved BBJX and LTM. I rewatched both more than once. I liked Sunny Happiness as well and it has made me a fan of both actors. I agree about Protect the Boss. It had a great beginning, but really waned for me. The finale was better than most k-dramas, but the storytelling had gone off so much in the last few eps. Based on your review, I’ll check out Ouran HSC as well and perhaps MTF. Thanks for the posts and happy Christmas and new year.

  52. BBJX is one of the best drama I have seen in a long long time. I watch mainly kdramas (alot) and the occasional TW stuff. Always felt Cdrama has good production sets but crappy dialogue and script. But BBJX just blew me away with its amazing depth, the characters and story are still haunting me ….
    And Ockaola it was due to ur rave reviews that I watch it ! Thks
    Other shows in 2011 for me are City Hunter, Sign, FBRS, Princess Man, Vampire Prosecutor. Heard some good stuff abt Me Too Flower will probably watch that next

  53. It seems like no one is really that fond of Drunken To Love You. I agree that it has some lame secondary characters and usual plotlines, but the OTP was perfect. I loved every single moment shared between the two leads – they’re the only characters I cared about in this drama. I was really surprised by how well Joseph Chang handled the lead role in a drama. His character SONG JIE XIU is THE MOST AMAZING MAN EVER! I really hope he does more dramas in the future because it’s very pleasing to watch him in a comedic role – he usually appears in dark or serious movies and he needs a chance to shine.

  54. Guess what? two of your Beloved dramas definitely top my drama list.
    Sunny Happiness and Bu Bu jing Xin.
    Of course, i watched both before discovering your blog, but after going though your captions of the dramas, i started to remember the details of those dramas and made me love it even more.
    Both drama captured my heart is every way in the world.
    Like you said. Sunny Happiness contains everybit of cliche plot but yet it flows marvelously, not making any moment boring.
    BU Bu Jing Xin also made me bawled like a baby even after rewatching it the 10th time (no kidding). it is absolutely stunning and worthy every single second on screen. the plot created by Tong Hua made me bowed down to her. She’s indeed a genius.
    The cast of both dramas are extremely beautiful and fitting for their role.

  55. Thanks for the review, I really love the fact that you watch Korean-Japanese-Chinese dramas like me. ^^ I’m so behind on my dramas as I’m busy with work, so your blog has helped me a lot to choose which ones should I really watch. I’ve watched the others (like Sunny Happiness and Princess Man) and I totally agree with your comments. Keep doing year end reviews like this one. ^^

  56. Wow! You actually watched this much drama within a year? I’m in awe. I’ve only watched one of the drama mentioned above that is The Princess’ Man and I love every bits of it. My friend kept asking me to watch BuBuJingXin but I refrained because of the long episodes. I’m thinking of giving it a go after reading your review on BBJX. Btw, I’m curious about your 2012 year end drama reviews. Anticipating it. =)

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