I wasn’t expecting Pinocchio to have the depth for one more emotional wring out of me but I’ve never been happier to be served wrong. Throughout this drama I tried hard to keep my expectations level, neither underselling the consistent writing or giving it too much due that it was bound to let me down. A good drama is hard … Continue reading →
This isn’t the first time I’ve had to churn out back-to-back recaps for a K-drama but previous experience certainly doesn’t make it easier. It does help that the drama in question is Pinocchio, still so compelling and satisfying even if the light moments are few and the serious stuff remains front and center. I suppose the two cute leads have … Continue reading →
The fourth and latest preview for Hyde, Jekyll, Me is the best yet, showcasing in a short thirty seconds just enough backstory and juicy tidbits to whet my appetite. It’s actually arriving next week now that Pinocchio wraps up tomorrow, turning the Wed-Thurs time slot into a battle of the personality disorders. Unlike Kill Me Heal Me and the main … Continue reading →
Doing the variety show circuit in K-ent is par for the course when promoting dramas but most are just one episode guest starring gigs. Less frequent but more invaluable is when an actor or actress will get a popularity resurgence after becoming a variety show regular whether it’s of the talking, living together, or doing something difficult in a foreign … Continue reading →
I gotta give MBC credit for the level of epic fail on the promos for upcoming fantasy fusion sageuk Shine or Go Crazy. Remember well that this meshed genre was also used to describe last year’s laughable mess Records of a Night Watchman, which let’s not forget also aired on MBC. Sure ROTC led the ratings for a very weak … Continue reading →
It’s time to say goodbye to Pinocchio, a drama that is on the longer prime time offering side at 20 episodes yet felt much too short at times. If this was a weekend drama about the lives of young reporters then I would have stayed on even if the overarching conspiracy of Cha Ok and Bum Jo’s mom was doled … Continue reading →
Talk about a case of spectacularly bad timing for Han Ye Seul, but if she did screw up and break some Korean finance laws then I reckon the timing is just her cross to bear. After wrapping her weekend drama Birth of a Beauty this past weekend, getting positive reviews and K-netizens forgiveness finally after the Spy Myung Wol fiasco … Continue reading →
I was beginning to despair that Hyde, Jekyll, Me couldn’t or wouldn’t deliver anything with a smidge of pizzaz before the actual drama premiered. Forget my optimism that the actual drama will be interesting on Hyun Bin and Han Ji Min‘s involvement alone, I still want to be swept away by the promos and gushing over the sneak peek visuals. … Continue reading →
Take this potential casting news with a grain of salt, but for sure the show is happening. MBC is partnering up with a Chinese media to co-produce the Chinese version of celebrity fake dating/co-habiting show We Got Married. This trend follows the official licensing last year of popular K-variety shows such as Daddy, Where Are We Going? and Running Man … Continue reading →
It’s a tale of two sides of the Strait last week as the big scandal from last summer 2014 came to an end at nearly the same time for the two major participants involved. It’s nearly six months since the August 2014 shocking Beijing drug arrest of Taiwanese actor Kai Ko and Hong Kong actor Jaycee Chan, better known as … Continue reading →
Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu is nothing if not consistent the whole way through. All the characters stay the same for the most part in ways that can either be aggravating or satisfying depending on how a viewer approaches this story. The ten-episode dorama was the latter for me, definitely skewing towards the satisfying less for the outcome than for the … Continue reading →
Whether Pinocchio is considered a modest or moderate success as a K-drama, one element of undeniable breakthrough was leading lady Park Shin Hye finally showing off an all-around acting performance that includes credible romantic stirring and attraction on her part. Whether she got over the hump on her own or leading man Lee Jong Seok had a helping hand in it, … Continue reading →
The 2014 drama year in C-ent didn’t just end with hilarious Cleavage-gate around The Empress of China, the much dreaded Yu Zheng adaptation of Return of the Condor Heroes (English drama title of this version is called Romance of the Condor Heroes) arrived and promptly confirmed the validity behind all the casting hullabaloo last year over Michelle Chen being cast as Xiaolongnu, … Continue reading →