news: another month passed

Yes Toma-sama!  I'm going right along with you!!

Ah yes. Month two was rather successful despite the lack of posting I'd been planning. But plans will always end up out the window when it comes to me anyway. My only fear is that, despite my continued obsession with the Korean entertainment arena, I will be less motivated to write about drama series that I've been watching. But we'll just see how things turn out.

It took me about four months before I got tired of anime and manga and ended up putting animanga zone on hiatus. But during that time, I was still reading a lot of manga even if I'd stopped watching anime. I had so many plans to do short pieces on all the shoujo genre one-shot stories I'd read. But then I just kind of gave up and let it fly... Also, I was in the middle of trying to sort out my life career-wise.

As of the creation of the drama zone, my career is already jump-started and there is very little to keep me from continuing to write about my beloved Asian drama and entertainment. Well... that is, all except for my own motivation, of course. I tend to go through phases of fan-ship, so I can only hope that my love for drama series doesn't dwindle too soon. I've always been a fan of good quality entertainment in the Asian viewing area, so that shouldn't be a problem. After all, I grew up watching Hong Kong drama a la TVB, I will gladly sit and watch any random movie, and Korean drama series have yet to disappoint me. Even if I find something that wasn't very satisfying, I can almost immediately pick up an all new series to enjoy.

As of the start of the next month, my plans have slowed down quite a bit. I had intended to have articles already written and ready to be posted for each month. But currently, August was the only successful planning month. Let's just say... I've gotten quite lazy. But no fear; this is probably better for me than having things planned anyway. I will post articles as I see fit. After all, I've been picking up series left and right without having planned to watch them in the first place anyway. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is a prime example of a series I had had no intentions of watching, pre-planned, but ended up watching, loving, and blogging about.

But anyway...

Following the ending of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, my next definite watch will be the highly popular rating's topper, Brilliant Legacy, also known as Shining Inheritance. As the smash hit of 2009, it managed to pull in viewers ratings over 40%, which is pretty much first place material in comparison to other series. My parents started watching it in Cantonese dub and what few random episodes I caught were very interesting, but since I had jumped into those episodes in the middle, I knew that I would need to go back and start from the very beginning just to get the full effect of this brilliant (no pun intended) series. On top of that, I'm a strict "no dub" type of person in which I will struggle through following quickly flitting subtitles with original language audio rather than comfortably watch a series in a language I actually understand. Somehow, dubbed series just don't seem to pick up the full effect of the original (especially a lot that are picked up, dubbed in Cantonese by Hong Kong's major television studio, TVB, because they will also cut random scenes out of the series). As of now, I've already started my dive into Brilliant Legacy and I know I will end up following through to the end pretty quickly.

(This next paragraph includes some slight spoilers.)

It was because of Brilliant Legacy that started watching My Girlfriend is a Gumiho anyway. I was a bit interested in Lee Seung Gi and Han Hyo Joo and happened to come across Gumiho a couple times. And so I finally decided to playfully give the first episode a view and well... refer to my intro info post for how that effect ended up.

To top it off, my October banner is also based off of Gumiho, and those who have seen the series already, I don't know if you'd agree with me, but the Gumiho banner I have up depicts what I feel is the most memorable scene in the series for me. I watched the scene three times: once when I was watching the series itself, second when I needed to copy down the dialogue, and third when I needed to take screen shots. And all three times, I was a rush of emotion and couldn't help but start tearing up again. I've no doubt that no matter how many times I watch that scene, or the other countless heart-wrenching scenes in Gumiho, I will start to get teary-eyed like a baby.

Especially for October when I had been planning on a Gloomy Salad Days banner in celebration of the Halloween month previously, I suddenly had this desire not to attempt a horror-type theme for my blog. Instead, after watching Gumiho, it suddenly occurred to me: What in this world is any more fearful than opening your eyes only to find a loved one has disappeared from your life? Cha Dae Woong's words still resonate through my mind whenever I even think about a proper October, scare-fest-like theme for my banner. Instead of settling on something as "gloomy" as the Death Girl theme, or something cheesy like the Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge banner I'd made for the animanga zone two years ago, or even something freakishly gory like a Saw movie, I decided to settle on a more down-to-earth kind of nightmare: the fear losing a loved one.

But enough of that and enough of the spoiler.

Running Man is a Korean variety program that I have been caught up in lately. My reasons for watching this variety program was rather superficial and shall be explained when I finally finish my "Dedicated to Running Man" page that will be published later on. Look forward to that as I intend to include a lot of information about the show, it's members, and some of my more favorite elements of the show. Also, Song Joong Ki will adoringly be doted on in any post pertaining to him. Look forward to that as well... or not, if you're not a fan of the "pretty boys."


As for other plans I may have....

I have some random "editorial" type of articles written that deal with elements found in drama land as well as just some, well, random thoughts I think about when it comes to Asian entertainment. I plan on having at least two of them published within the next month as I work on compiling some "Top 10" or "Top 5" or "My Faves" or the like lists.

Brilliant Legacy is a rather lengthy series, ending at 28 episodes, and so between that and the other series I need to finish watching (Scent of a Woman, Love Keeps Going, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, etc....) my time will be rather limited. This also includes continued composing of new articles for series I have already seen, practicing my creative brain juices in graphic arts for new banners, and, oh yeah.... my real life job since at least forty hours of my week will be used to make money.

But as a tentative plan, I have the desire to, sooner or later, jump into some other series that I have been interested in since I first laid my eyes on Korean drama series. Included are Secret Garden, Hero, Iljimae, Iris, Athena, and some others. Especially in that list is Secret Garden and Iris due both to their relative popularity and my own curiosity.

But until then, I'm going to try not to put too much on my plate lest I burn out and just completely ditch Asian drama in favor of recuperation.

intro info: My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (Korean)

내 여자친구는 구미호 (Nae Yeojachinguneun Gumiho)

Lee Seung Gi as Cha Dae Woong
Shin Min Ah as Gumiho (Mi Ho)
No Min Woo as Park Dong Ju
Park Soo Jin as Eun Hae In


While the title as well as the official series poster sounds and looks like they would belong to some cheesy comedy flick, the actual sixteen episode drama series is truly an amazing, enchanting, lovable and emotional journey. But as anyone can see, I chose not to use the official poster just because I'm not too fond of it. So instead, I chose a different titled picture which just so happens to be one from the original soundtrack... but we all get the idea, right? If anyone is interested in seeing the official series' poster that is used everywhere else, you can always go to My Girlfriend is a Gumiho @ dramawiki to see it. Without even realizing it, upon watching the story unfold, you easily grow attached to it, so much so, that the ending will leave you yearning for so, so much more. Unfortunately, there tend to be a lot of dragging scenes that don't stand out as too memorable; however, the overall effect of the series as a whole... I would definitely place this one on my list of re-watchable series because of the effect it had on me, personally.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho roughly starts off as a more comedic, fantastical telling of a Nine-Tailed Fox (a gumiho) who's one wish is to become human and live among the human world. But circumstances surrounding her dictated that she would not receive that wish very easily and ends up trapped in a painting for 500 years until the day that fate brings an ignorant fool to unlock her cage.

Lee Seung Gi is Cha Dae Woong, a young college boy who has dreams of fame and fortune through action movies. Unfortunately, he has no intention of working for his ambitions, simply wanting a free ride through his grandfather's wealth, ditching classes, spending money, and just having all the fun he wants to have. One day, after running away from his grandfather again, he ends up in a country-side temple where the Gumiho, played by Shin Min Ah, frightens him into freeing her from the Three Gods Grandmother painting by drawing nine tails onto the fox. Following, Dae Woong rushes off in fear and ends up severely injured after tumbling down a cliff onto a riverbank. Since she owes him her freedom, the Gumiho gives him her most precious bead, which is pretty much like her fox's soul and energy which will keep him alive, slowly heal him as well as keep him from any other kind of damage. However, the effects of keeping this fox bead in his body means that Dae Woong must remain by Gumiho's side and never "share his energy", as she puts it, with any other woman. In other words, he is restricted from doing anything that can be defined as cheating, because while he has the fox bead in his body, he pretty much belongs to Gumiho. Doing anything of that nature would damage the fox bead and Gumiho, as well as bring grave trouble to the woman who shared that energy.

And so during this time, Gumiho ends up living with Dae Woong in the Action School attic room, is named Mi Ho by Dae Woong, and slowly learns how to become more like other humans in the human world. Meeting Park Dong Ju who is half-human also helps as he can directly explain to her everything she needs to know according to her own knowledge.

The story then leads into Mi Ho and her plan to become human using the method formulated by Park Dong Ju (No Min Woo). By drinking his blood, Mi Ho will slowly die within the next 100 days and during that time, her fox bead must be kept within a human body without damage or being removed. After that 100 days is up, Mi Ho can retrieve her fox bead and finally become human. What Mi Ho doesn't know, however, is that by the end of that 100 days, the human container for her fox bead will die when the bead is removed because it has absorbed all of that human's soul.

This was a truly beautiful scene, if only because of the way it was shot.
Just check out that lighting.

And thus begins a tragic love story of gumiho and human as Mi Ho and Dae Woong slowly fall for each other, not realizing that after 100 days, only one of them will be allowed to live in the human world.

To be totally honest, even with my own half-baked summary above, I think I would still be hard-pressed to watch this series if it hadn't been due to random curiosity. Because THAT was really one of the only reasons I even chose to watch this series in the first place: I was still trying to figure out what to watch next, I was picking up random series and viewing first episodes, and I was a little curious about Lee Seung Gi.

Every time I went through the list of Korean drama series, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho never once crossed my mind as something I would be interested in at all. I figured that, maybe if I were wanting to watch a cheesy comedy flick, then I would pick it up for fun. The official series' poster looked kind of unappealing and the summaries given sounded too outrageous for my liking. But as stated already, this series turned out to be so much more.

As for Lee Seung Gi, he is not known to me aside from the select few episodes of Shining Inheritance that I caught glimpses of while my parents were watching the Cantonese dubbed version of it. He came off as a fairly charismatic main lead, although having only seen bits and pieces of the series, it wasn't like I was enamored with him... at least not until I watched My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.

Needless to say, Shining Inheritance will soon be one of the next series on my "To Watch" list.

The summary at dramafever.net was spot on when it said that this series boasted two of the most charmingly endearing Korean drama series stars known. Even if the story line had been without substance (which was definitely not the case anyway), the series would have still survived on the wonders of Shin Min Ah and Lee Seung Gi and their stunning, attractive chemistry with each other.

Shin Min Ah is absolutely adorable with her innocent and bubbly, yet straight forward and kickbutt portrayal of Mi Ho, the lovely Gumiho. Judging from the poster and her first appearance in the first episode, I had expected her character to be somewhat of a sassy, sneaky, manipulative vixen who just crashes into the life of the main male lead without any shame or hesitation. This is how a lot of Nine-Tailed Foxes are portrayed in Asian culture story-lines. In historical times, the fox spirit was always a vile woman who came from evil and stole men and caused havoc.

While the crashing into the main male lead's life without hesitation is true, Mi Ho's level of cuteness and childlike carefree spirit is not at all like my expected impression of her. Instead, she is readily lovable and it's hard not to smile and cry with her when following her little sixteen episode tale to the very end. Needless to say, I pre-judged Shin Min Ah because this is the first series I've seen with her presence.

As for Lee Seung Gi, while there is a slight bit of unnaturalness to his acting at times, this fault is very easily overlooked due to his character's enthusiasm and charm as well as the fantastical and comedic mood of the story line. Cha Dae Woong is the typical misguided hero with a heart of gold, starting off as a spoiled rich boy with no ambitions in his life and slowly turning into a more responsible human being who any grandfather would be proud to call his own. In my personal opinion, Lee Seung Gi isn't the most handsome man I've ever seen and I really didn't care too much for him in the first few episodes. But for some strange reason, the moment that Cha Dae Woong shows the first signs of falling in love with Mi Ho, somehow, Lee Seung Gi suddenly becomes so much more handsome and so much more attractive. With some actors, there is just a certain charm to them that cannot be described, and upon the unofficial joining of our couple, that charm that Lee Seung Gi has seemed to suddenly burst ten-fold.

Is it the effect of knowing his sudden change? Is it the demeanor at which it happens? Or did Lee Seung Gi somehow completely become the Cha Dae Woong in love, thus projecting a sense of attractiveness that he would have otherwise not had? Because people say that a lot of women look the most beautiful when they are in love. Does the same apply to men? Do they look more handsome when they fall in love? Do their demeanors change? Does the look in their eyes suddenly captivate everyone in sight? If so, then Lee Seung Gi's ability to become his character role and bring Cha Dae Woong to life was absolutely astounding.

The pairing of Lee Seung Gi with Shin Min Ah is delightfully beautiful. After Gumiho happily attaches herself to Dae Woong and the two end up living together, the combination immediately became a sweet new relationship, even in spite of Cha Dae Woong's continued protests and consistent annoyance with Mi Ho's naivette about the present day world. It was simply natural how the two started off as a funny "master-slave" relationship, slowly became friends, and then finally entering the tragic love story when Dae Woong could finally admit his feelings, getting over his fear of Mi Ho being a non-human.

This series was absolutely amazing from beginning until the end and even the supporting characters were enjoyable to watch. The love rivals, of course, were the typical formula of an annoyingly evil female love rival, Eun Hae In, who selfishly wanted everything to be hers, even Dae Woong; and the good man third wheel, Park Dong Ju, who readily loved Mi Ho for his own reasons, calmly doing whatever Mi Ho desired in order to make her happy, even if his first intentions had been to just quietly observe what she was up to in the human world. Park Dong Ju, however, was a complete enigma to me as I wasn't really sure what it was he was up to; but for the most part, anyone could tell that while he was the guy who hunted and killed supernatural beings like Gumiho, he truly DID keep her happiness as his number one priority the more he got to know her.

Forming a teacher-student relationship, even though Park Dong Ju ends up caring for Mi Ho as more than just a student or a friend, they still gave off more of a brother-sister air about them. Mi Ho was the whiny but excited cute little sister while Park Dong Ju was the loving, wizened elder brother who was there to protect her. In it's own way, it was pretty sweet.

Dae Woong's two best friends, Kim Byung Soo and Ban Seon Yeo were pretty much nonexistent and useless (as like most of the main male leads' best friends). The crazy little side romance between Cha Min Suk (Dae Woong's aunt) and Ban Doo Hong (Seon Yeo's father) reminded me a LOT of the strange love story in My Girl between Jang Il Do and Bae In Sun due to over-dramatization and weird antics.

Needless to say, this is another extremely successful Hong Sisters' Production and seeing as how I have already seen and enjoyed four of them, I will continue to look forward to more series under their names.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is a very surprisingly wonderful gem among drama series. Because I had gone into the story line with low expectations, I was greatly ecstatic about what I ended up getting out of it in the end. It isn't perfect by any standards at all; in fact there were moments that, once gone are simply history and you don't think about them anymore. The story has a lot of innocent humor, charming actors and actresses, and an extremely emotional climactic turning point and ending. Despite the fact that we have an idea how the ending will happen and how much more heartbreak there will be just to get there, when everything suddenly presents itself, the story line really DOES hit where it hurts the most. But because of the way it is executed, it's all extremely memorable and worth the sixteen episode journey.

The series also showcases music by the main lead, Lee Seung Gi, who originally debuted as a singer at the young age of 17 in 2004 before making his first acting debut in 2006. Other music was very in tune with the mood of the series and I especially liked Fox Rain by Lee Sun Hee which sounds very like traditional Asian music. This is definitely a series worth watching even if you're in the middle of catching up with other current series.

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Hoy hoy!

Related articles:
thoughts: My Girlfriend is a Gumiho -- **coming soon** -- Look forward to a more in-depth look at this series in discussion

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intro info: Personal Preference (Korean)

aka 개인의 취향 - (Gaeinui Chwihyang) -- aka Gae In's Taste/ Personal Taste

Son Ye Jin as Park Gae In
Lee Min Ho as Jeon Jin Ho
Kim Ji Suk as Han Chang Ryul
Wang Ji Hye as Kim In Hee


Personal Preference, while summarized with a refreshing idea of a man pretending to be gay in order to live with a woman for his own career-related motives, ultimately ends up becoming a personal journey of our female lead wherein she learns how to respect and love herself with the help of her "gay housemate." There were moments when I wondered whether there had been controversy by viewers about how the homosexual roles (or even the pretend homosexual roles) were portrayed, but then I just shrugged and moved into enjoying the series.

Park Gae In is introduced as an indifferent fashion disaster with no respect or care for herself as a woman. She does not care for her appearance and will meet her boyfriend for dates wearing only sweats and no make-up; and she is a total pushover, readily answering to her friends' and boyfriend's every beck and call. Entirely trusting of people is what eventually ended up causing her hurt and pain when her ten year long roommate and best friend ends up stealing her boyfriend with plans for getting married without Gae In's knowledge. (Can you say, total failure in life?)

Jeon Jin Ho is an ambitious and one-tracked business man; as an architect and CEO of a very small company nearing bankruptcy, his one goal is to attain the rights to the popular Dam Art Project which is being granted by Choi Do Bin and his company. Learning that the preferred ideals for the project would be similar to a place called Sanggojae, Jin Ho is determined to study the small home in order to come up with inspiration for his own designs.

Having met Park Gae In recently and getting off on the wrong foot with her, it comes as a surprise as well as a complication in Jin Ho's plans when he finds out that Sanggojae is the home created and built by Park Chul Han, Gae In's father, and that the house is currently home to the chaotic and strange young woman. Due to circumstances, Gae In must put up one of her rooms in Sanggojae for rent after her roommate, Kim In Hee leaves and so Jin Ho does not hesitate to pick up that opportunity. As fate would have it, a few misunderstandings from an earlier moment causes Gae In to mistaken Jin Ho as a man who loves men, thus making her readily allow Jin Ho into her home.

After all, what girl in their right mind would want to live in the same home as the charming, good-looking, sexy Lee Min Ho look-alike? Right? Right? Let's just say that in HER shoes, I would probably pretend to mistaken this guy as a homosexual in order to grant him the rights to move in as well. After City Hunter, I think it's time that this blogger admit that she totally fangirl's Lee Min Ho...

ANYWAY...

Moving right along: the story continues on from there, following the new lifestyle of Park Gae In, now living with a "gay housemate" and struggling with her recent heartbreak and betrayal by her boyfriend and ex-housemate, Kim In Hee. Along the way, the cliches of any romantic comedy begin to catch up with the story line including humorous scenes, emotional turns, and a sweet and new blossoming romance between land lady and tenant -- a failed woman and a fake homosexual man.

I really enjoyed watching this series a lot, if only for the comedic value and light hearted entertainment. Instead of simply focusing on the everyday lives of a strange set of housemates living together, the story continues on to include Gae In's development and improvement as Jin Ho teaches her how to love and respect herself as well as demand love and respect from others when she deserves it. While starting off with a really refreshing plot idea, the series eventually tapers off into a simple love story, much like any other romantic comedies out there with the same values and ideals being taught as well as the same, predictable events that serve to turn the plot.

This is not to say that I didn't like Personal Preference. The way it was directed and presented was very delightful to follow along with despite some unfortunate dragging moments. Son Ye Jin excellently portrayed the unpredictably chaotic yet trusting Park Gae In, bringing her to life with perfect comedic timing and wonderful emotional ups and downs. Gae In's strange actions every so often tend to make any viewer smile just as Jeon Jin Ho finds her few antics endearing. Lee Min Ho, aside from being a bit monotonous, presented to the viewers an extremely serious and mature young architect with only slight tendencies towards teasing and joking as well as a cute boyish charm. Of course, his character was sometimes so straight laced that it was hard to believe he'd allow himself to simply move in with a woman and live with her so naturally (even IF he often claimed that he didn't see her as a woman). Asian culture is fairly more conservative than many would like to believe, after all.

The characters of Kim In Hee and Han Chang Ryul were both characteristically and predictably selfish third wheels, caring only for what they wanted without even thinking about how they would hurt another -- or even how they had already hurt someone else in their own plights. Of course, Chang Ryul DOES redeem himself by finally realizing that his care for Gae In does not mean that he needs to make her fall for him again, but rather, allowing her to be happy with her own life.

Aside from a few little factors, Personal Preference is a great series. It consisted of a more complete happy ending than a lot of other series usually have; but at the same time it still left much to be desired about the conclusion to all the series' conflicts. The progress of the story line was built very well, but after the final climax, the final ending seemed to have lost all steam and simply ended. Conclusions dropped from the sky like hail and the series wraps itself up in time to meet the sixteen episode quota.

Nonetheless, for an entertaining and funny enjoyment, Personal Preference is one that I wouldn't mind recommending to people for it's intended value as a romantic comedy.

For fans of Lee Min Ho, definitely check this one out, although I wouldn't say that this is one of his best. I certainly wouldn't have paid much attention to him (aside from his good looks and charming qualities) if I had based my newfound love interests in Personal Preference's Jeon Jin Ho. Of course, with only so few series to compare with, it's hard to say which is his best, but as of today, I'm totally going for his presentation in City Hunter as vastly improved from this one. Then again, I might just be too obsessed with Lee Yoon Sung to really give an objective opinion.

Personal Preference had a good and stable story line, excellent characters to relate with, a lovely setting in the home of Sanggojae, and some very laid back and catchy insert songs by Younha, 4minute, Kim Tae Woo and 2AM. Setting aside various cliches and flaws, the series itself was overall a fun experience.

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Related articles:
thoughts: Personal Preference (Korean) - *coming soon* - Look forward to a more in-depth look at the series in discusion

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intro info: Goong (Korean)

Yoon Eun Hye as Shin Chae Kyung
Joo Ji Hoon as Lee Shin
Kim Jeong Hoon as Lee Yool
Song Ji Hyo as Min Hyo Rin

Goong @ dramawiki

Goong, also known as Palace or Princess Hours, is a classic Korean manhwa to television series adaptation that became a huge hit among the South Korean viewers, especially young girls. During it's run in 2006, Goong was one of the highest rated series, placing up to 2nd compared to other series being broadcast at the time. As the series that made Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon the popular young new stars that they are today, there never seemed to be a doubt that Goong wasn't a good series.

The series tells the tale of a young girl named Shin Chae Kyung who reigns from a small, commoner family during a fictional time in Korea where monarchy still exists in modern society; it is the Korean version of England where a royal family exists as significant figures, but not necessarily for governing reasons. Due to an agreement between the grandfather's from two families, Shin Chae Kyung has been promised in marriage to the present Crown Prince Lee Shin. While there is still an option for both of these kids to back out of that agreement, for their own personal reasons, they choose to get married and start their lives together as Crown Prince and Crown Princess.

Along the way, viewers play witness to Chae Kyung's endeavors as she goes through her trials and tribulations, trying to become an ideal princess to the royal family, trying to fit in with palace life, and trying to make her marriage with Shin work despite their differences. And just as any romantic comedy story line would have it, comedic antics ensue, our main couple slowly learn to like each other and eventually fall in love, and along the way, various obstacles force them to continuously doubt and become upset with each other. On an aside, half-baked political intrigue also occur among the adults which end up affecting the kids as well.

This series, as far as storyline is concerned, is told very well through the eyes of Shin Chae Kyung, an easily excitable and happy-go-lucky young girl trying to figure out what she's doing with her life now that she's become a member of the royal family. Her bubbly personality does a number on the people around her, slowly molding the palace to adapt to her strange and chaotic habits. Of course, this isn't to say that she is completely powerful as she goes through her own sadness and depression, being imprisoned in a place where rules and regulations control everyone's lives and where there is no room for mistakes because your every move is watched by the public and a set of men known as the Elders.

The love story between Chae Kyung and Shin cannot be said to be the sweetest or the most exciting. These two are merely two kids thrown together and made to learn how to love each other. Through obligation and after a certain amount of time being together, the two begin to grow on one another, although due to lack of communication and mistrust, are always fighting and coming across misunderstandings. Nonetheless, the story depicts a very natural and slow development of romance for the main couple; two kids falling in love with each other due to circumstances.

The series holds an air of melancholy; the royals are never happy because of all of their duties and their controlled life. Lee Yool and his mother Lady Hwa Yong are convinced that their lives were lost after they were banished from the palace and have returned for revenge. Min Hyo Rin was unfortunately jilted by her two year boyfriend when he ends up marrying a complete stranger. Lee Shin feels trapped in his own family as he never receives any warmth from his parents anymore and cannot even choose to dream a different future other than becoming a king. Chae Kyung's joyous attitude briefly disappears when she finally lets the palace life suffocate her after letting her feelings for Lee Shin overcome her.

There were points in this series that I really felt these kids could use a big reality check; at the age of nineteen, your lives are NOT over because of a lost love or a lost family, or even anything in general. But the way that everyone was going on about how miserable they were, you'd think that the world was coming to an end.

The only saving grace for this series' dark undertones are Chae Kyung's family and her friends who consistently lend support and love for our female protagonist when she's feeling her worst. I especially enjoyed the presence of these people, even Chae Kyung's little brother who is contantly calling her names, because deep down, you can tell he cares about her even if he won't admit it. The warmth that you get from Chae Kyung's friends and her family really does outshine the dreary atmosphere of the royals and the aristocrats. Give me a commoner's home any day, because despite the luxuries and glamor of a rich person's life, I don't think I'd ever be able to have fun.

Nonetheless, Goong is a fantastic series that I enjoyed from beginning until the very end, although there were many fairly irritating aspects to the series that just made my teeth grind. But, alas, not everything can be perfect; I wouldn't have changed any of the story line for any reason anyway since even the irritating parts made Goong what it is today. Goong is a classic television series depicting a tale of love, family, friendship, duty and dreams.

With a charming cast of characters, enjoyable hilarious antics, emotional ups and down, wonderful scenery in am amazing palace backdrop and beautiful costumes, I highly recommend Goong to anyone who is interested in some fun entertainment. It's also rather useful for those looking for a good cry as there are lots of scenes that tug at heartstrings and make you reach for tissues just to dab at watery eyes. Highly enjoyable and a very gorgeous series with some flaws here and there; this is what makes Goong the great series that it turned out to be.

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Related articles:
thoughts: Goong (Korean) - a more in depth look at the series in discussion

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intro info: Sungkyunkwan Scandal (Korean)

성균관 스캔들 - (Seonggyungwan Seugaendeul)

Park Min Young as Kim Yoon Hee
Micky Yoochun as Lee Seon Joon
Yoo Ah In as Moon Jae Shin
Song Joong Ki as Gu Yong Ha

For more details: Sungkyunkwan Scandal @ dramawiki

Park Min Young leads the story of Sungkyunkwan Scandal, an historical romantic comedy about a girl who disguises herself as her brother in order to get into the highly revered Sungkyunkwan University where government officials are educated.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal is allotted in the fusion historical genre, which, to my research, means that while it is set in a historical period, it also contains the atmosphere of more modern times; character creation, social events, comedic antics, and the like will be more relative as a form of modern telling rather than serious historical tale. And so Sungkyunkwan Scandal was not meant to be taken in a serious light, but to be viewed purely for comedic and warm-hearted enjoyment.

While tagged as a romantic comedy, and basing its story line around the same cliches and plot devices as a typical romantic comedy with a girl pretending to be a boy, there is no doubt that the series is so much more than just that. Sungkyunkwan Scandal did not promote itself as anything more than just another entertaining love story, set in the historical era of Joseon Korea during the reign of Emperor Jeung Jo. And so while mulling over the idea of watching this series, I don't think I expected to get out of it such an unpredictably meaningful journey of one girl's plight from her need to survive life with her family and into her gradual development into dreaming for a life much bigger and better than she could ever be allowed to have.

While pretending to be a man, Kim Hoon Yee's characteristic
adorable personality still comes to surface readily.

Kim Yoon Hee (nicknamed Daemul) is an intelligent and duty-bound young girl who starts off the series presented as a young man who sells literary knowledge in order to make a living. The viewers are quickly shown that this young scholar is no more than a young girl dressed in men's garb, struggling to earn money for her family. Due to her family problems -- a dead father and an ill brother, leaving two women who cannot make a living otherwise -- Yoon Hee has unhesitatingly donned her brother, Kim Yoon Shik's persona in order to work for money and living expenses. And so our female protagonist actually starts off the story line already having been using the guise of her brother to make ends meet for her poor family.

This character is very similar to Park Min Young's most recent role in City Hunter, Kim Na Na, where the girl is also struggling to support her poor livelihood. And so it's a bit of a challenge for the actress to figure out how to portray both characters (both of them strong women in their time) without creating a repeat. At the beginning, it almost seemed like Kim Yoon Hee was an exact replica of Kim Na Na, except in two different time periods, but as the series progressed, there is no doubt that I began to see differences and separate both female characters from one another fairly easily. While not quite sure how to word it, there is a certain quality to each of the two characters that makes them different.

And to be totally honest, I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Kim Yoon Hee much more so than the Kim Na Na from City Hunter. There is an evident main lead embodiment in Kim Yoon Hee as opposed to the "static female background lead hiding behind the male lead" atmosphere that is projected by Kim Na Na, even despite the level of admiration I have in her irrationally brave and kick-butt character.

Back to the series...

Brother: Yoon Shik (left) and Mother (right)
What to do as a poor family with no rights and no form of survival...

As stated in later episodes, Yoon Hee had been living her life as her brother ever since a very young age after the death of her father. Highly intelligent and witty, it was up to her to help her family survive life since the real Yoon Shik was unable to work and women were not allowed to do anything at all except for marry and have children and raise children. And so this story doesn't take a girl and suddenly throw her into this cross-dressing dilemma, this story only starts her off where she needs to begin her newest journey.

Due to her brother's illness, the family is still stuck in a massive debt that needs to be paid off soon -- otherwise, Yoon Hee might find herself being used as a means to cover that debt. And so with money being the most important factor for survival, Yoon Hee has no other choice but to continue pretending to be a man when the chance comes for her to become a student scholar at Sungkyunkwan University, which will eventually help solve a lot of her financial problems.

Within the first entire episode of Sungkyunkwan Scandal, the viewer is already introduced to the much deeper plot device of the series aside from the love story: the injustices of historical monarchy during a time when aristocrats are clearly using their power and their money to make life even more miserable for those of lesser privileged statuses while they continue to prosper for themselves. Kim Yoon Hee is a woman who has no faith in her own country's government and politics, knowing that the only way to live is to rely on herself; because the ideal Joseon that people talk about does not exist in her eyes. After all, a country that allows the common man to suffer poverty and death without a fighting chance, but who allows those with money and power to continue prospering without worry... this is a country that Yoon Hee has come to hate.

Several different subjects are touched upon during the entirety of the series and in doing so, Sungkyunkwan Scandal ends up being a much more insightful and much more meaningful story than anyone would have ever expected simply from brief summaries or even the light-hearted promotions used to advertise the series. Between the social injustices to the political intrigue of fighting factions and finally a few mysteries that need to be investigated, Sungkyunkwan Scandal is a gem of a story that has been overlooked and under-hyped.

Aside from the story line itself and the intended romance between the main couple, Kim Yoon Hee and Lee Seon Joon, the series also depicts a very heartwarming friendship between four men -- well three men and one woman disguised as a man -- as they come together and learn to like each other as well as learn to work together.

The upstanding citizen, Lee Seon Joon, looking his proudest and best.

Lee Seon Joon (nicknamed Garang) is the son of a high ranking official, leader of the powerful Noron faction. While he is an upstanding citizen, a righteous young man with dreams and ideals, he is also the stereotype "stick-in-the-mud" who has learned his ways from books and laws and his father's teachings and so he is rather arrogant and stubborn in his ways. What this young man lacks is a sense of realism which is brought to him when he meets Kim Yoon Hee (in the guise of Kim Yoon Shik) and finds out the hard way just how wrong he has been about his ideal world of law-abiding citizens, prosperity, and harmony among all the people. He's like the proverbial caged-bird who would probably die at the hands of any wild cat due to his ignorance of the real world. Slowly, but surely, this extremely optimistic "ivory-tower" prince begins to learn how to see the world without his books and rose-colored glasses and realize what he truly needs to do to help the country become a better place.

In contrast, Kim Yoon Hee has always seen nothing but the devastating injustices of life among the common people. She sees no future for Joseon and so can only ever believe in survival for the present. But meeting Lee Seon Joon and through his optimistic ideals, she learns to believe that there CAN be a better world for her and for generations to come after her. Life may not be as well-balanced as it is in the present, but there are certainly hopes that can be dreamed for. And so through Lee Seon Joon's constant pushing, Yoon Hee not only becomes hopeful but also learns how to develop and improve upon her own person, become stronger and better fit to help bring about the new Joseon that everyone dreams about.

It's a great fit for these two to change each other for the better; as other reviewers have mentioned, Kim Yoon Hee and Lee Seon Joon share the "you complete me" relationship wherein they both seem to be able to push the other to improve and change.

Manly and Crude Geul-oh (Moon Jae Shin);
even HE becomes a soft teddy bear in fascination
 when faced with his beloved Yoon Hee

Moon Jae Shin (nicknamed Geul-oh) is a son from a lower ranking official of the Soron faction, a crude and tragic hero who has suffered loss so grave that it has torn him and his father apart since the beginning of the series. His need to avenge that loss brings him to the forefront as a secret rebel against the current government power as well as an immediate enemy of any and all people in the Noron faction. Mainly keeping to himself with only one close friend, Moon Jae Shin, through the encounter with Kim Yoon Hee and Lee Seon Joon slowly begins to change his views on the idea of harmony between factions. While hating Lee Seon Joon in the beginning, Moon Jae Shin learns to set aside his hate and start forming a bond with this person he views as an enemy, realizing that he alone cannot help change the future.

Yeorim... There are no words to describe that adorably inebriated smirk.
Gu Yong Ha is our omniscient god!

Finally, we come to Gu Yong Ha (nicknamed Yeorim), the son of a merchant who starts off the series as a bored yet flambuoyant young man, always looking for something to keep him excited and always trying to butt himself into matters that pique his interest. With a little fancy twirl and the words, "I'm Gu Yong Ha," there really is no other way to describe this fun-loving, outspoken gem of a young man. Consistently watching the action from the sidelines, it is the forming of one unit with the former three that begin to bring him into the heart of the action rather than just remaining in the spectator's zone watching everyone else butt heads or reading his adult picture books. But Gu Yong Ha proves to be a very significant asset to his three companions, almost as an omnicient being who seems to know exactly what is going on, when it is happening and why it would occur.

The lovely personality of our beloved and gorgeous Yeorim -- which literally means "forest of females" -- is the glue that keeps our heroes together after they form their four person, historical boy group, the Jalgeum Quartet. Extra "bromance" and the sensitive love and care that Gu Yong Ha gives to his three friends can only be experienced in full force, portrayed with the utmost excellence by adorable and pretty Song Joong Ki.

In the forthcoming review article of Sungkyunkwan Scandal, please excuse me as I gush fangirl heart eyes at Gu Yong Ha's god-like presence. Whether he's playing around or during his rarely seen serious moments, Song Joong Ki manages to captivate and steal the spotlight from the rest of the group so easily that he has come to be my most favorite of this so dubbed "Joseon F4."

Modern boy bands step aside;
the Jalgeum Quartet will show you how it's really done!

One thing I would love to point out is the excellently planned unification of the Jalgeum Quartet, consisting of people from four different social status with four fairly different, yet at the same time quite similar personalities. Lee Seon Joon is from the Noron faction, Moon Jae Shin is a Soron, Kim Yoon Hee is stated to be a Namin (a southlander), and Gu Yong Ha belongs to no faction as a simple son of a wealthy merchant. Collectively, these four bring together the ideal of harmony among people from different backgrounds while at the same time striving for a similar cause.

In this group of four, no one is the ultimate leader, no one has a specific trait that stands out among the rest and no one is specifically assigned to any particular category. Because setting aside their factional backgrounds, the four of them are simply three men and one woman who have joined in friendship through their trials and continue to develop and grow and improve upon each other. They all have their obvious strengths and defining character flaws, but the series naturally smooths out these descriptions so that none of the four are isolated as a certain character type (as would normally happen in other romantic comedies with a group of main leads). Things like "The Pretty One," "The Manly One," "The Smart One," or "The Leader"... These don't exist in our beloved Jalgeum Quartet, because if they did, then the series' concept would ultimately isolate each of the four individuals into a static personality. And, of course, we don't want that to happen; we want to see normal character development and watch as our heroes all improve and change for the better.

It isn't simply the romance of the series or even the action or the political intrigue that makes Sungkyunkwan Scandal such an inspirational hit. It is the bonding of the four main leads and their fight for the ideal future and a better life that makes this series so wonderful from the beginning until the very ending -- from the moment that the four meet each other, to their constant fighting and bickering, to their unification due to circumstances, until finally they sincerely begin to care about one another as true friends.

I personally really enjoyed Sungkyunkwan Scandal, if only for the friendship and the comedy. The chemistry between these four, whether as the actors or as the characters was so great that you cannot help but give a little cheer the very moment that they finally form their four person group. You learn to fall in love with each of the Jalgeum Quartet as their story lines come to surface, and because of this, Sungkyunkwan Scandal becomes a so much more amazing epic journey.

Is this series completely perfect? No, it isn't. There are flaws, just as there will always be flaws. But the underlying concept and the overall series as it's complete, wonderful self has made the series an outstandingly memorable experience to follow along with.

I don't even care that a lot of angst had taken place or that supporting antagonists were ever-present. The other girl who was love rival to Kim Yoon Hee didn't even really seem so significant when you look at the bigger picture. Political intrigue and social scandals only served as a support to the four person unification, but nonetheless, were well-thought out. Investigations by the Jalgeum Quartet were thrilling to watch and the ultimate truth behind them were amazingly momentous. Supporting characters were nice to have around as comrades, friends, fellow scholars and the like, however minuscule their roles seemed to be.

And it also helps that there are the three dashing young men and Park Min Young's extremely adorable portrayal of Kim Yoon Hee to bask upon.

Having expected nothing more than a simple love story filled with the usual antics of a typical romantic comedy, I was pleasantly surprised by the much more amazing story that I received from this series' and its' presentation. With excellent actors, wonderfully created characters, beautiful scenic backdrops and a riveting story line to follow, I would totally recommend Sungkyunkwan Scandal to anyone looking for a meaningful, humorous, action-packed and exciting journey.

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Related articles:
news: Sungkyunkwan Scandal movie!

thoughts: Sungkyunkwan Scandal - *coming soon* - Look forward to a more in-depth look at this series in discussion

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news: Sungkyunkwan Scandal movie!

I saw this article today and thought that I really had to share it, if anyone is interested, that is:

QTV to Air "Sungkyunkwan Scandal: The Movie" at K-Pop Express

This news got me a little excited since I became a huge fan of Song Joong Ki for his role as Gu Yong Ha in this series, a bored, witty, and flamboyant young scholar who is probably the most adorable thing to grace Korean drama (at least in my opinion).

As the K-Pop Express article states, this movie will be a remake of the twenty episode series to mark the one year anniversary of it's broadcast. Consisting of three good looking men and one very elegantly pretty girl who were combined into a unit of close camaraderie, the series was a huge hit among fans as well as a gem of a series. I certain had a lot of fun watching it over and over again just for the laughs and the insights and the fun as well as the lovable Yeorim's (Gu Yong Ha's nickname) cuteness, coolness, witticisms, and loveliness all in one excellent Song Joong Ki package.

It sounds like the movie will simply be a retelling of the original story line, so there won't be anything new to look forward to, but I'm still anticipating it just to see how the producers will fit the entirety of SKK Scandal into a few hours. Also, it is mentioned that there will be interviews of our cast and some behind-the-scenes footage and NG scenes to enjoy.

I say, the more Jalgeum Quartet, the better!

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Related articles:

intro info: Sungkyunkwan Scandal

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thoughts: Moonlight Resonance (TVB) - part 2 review

Moonlight Resonance @ dramawiki

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This article contains a lot of spoilers so read at your own risk.

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I won't go into details about the story line to this series -- after all, it was a typical plot wherein everyone schemes to take over the riches of a family business. There are good people and there are bad people and then there are complications. And so for a more thorough summary, it would be best to check out any wiki sites out there (like the one I have listed above), because I'm not going to really bother with the summary here. (Unless I decide to create an intro info article for this series.)

The beginning of the series had been quite the build-up and with all the hype and glamor, I had been expecting Moonlight to be on par with it’s predecessor. As I had mentioned in the previous blog back in 2008, I was truly looking forward to the happy endings that were advertised as well as how the series would handle the social taboos that presented themselves in the form of our two main romantic couples.

Raymond Lam was cast as Kam Wing Ho/Ah Ho and Linda Chung was cast as Yu So Chau/Ah Chau and the two were placed together as the new “golden couple” of TVB after their excellent chemistry in Heart of Greed. While they didn’t end up together in the end after Raymond’s extravagant and heart-breaking death scene, the viewers hoped for the day that the two could be paired up again and have a happy ending. This was a prayer answered in the form of the spin-off sequel to Heart of Greed.

Moses Chan was cast as Kam Wing Ka/Ah Ka and Tavia Yeung was cast as Seun Ho Yeut/Ah Yeut as another couple put together; they were never a couple that was looked forward to, but it was a breath of fresh air as compared to pairing Tavia with Bosco Wong again, and again, and again, and again. And with both of their popularities, this couple was rather anticipated as well.

On a side note, the downfall with TVB, I think, is that they only have so many favorite main leads and must reuse and recycle them over and over again. Hong Kong is a small place after all, compared to the likes of Korea or Japan. While this works for the fans who love nothing more than to see their favorite onscreen couple get together (over and over and over again), it gets a little old for others after a while -- pairing a couple up twice or maybe even a third time is fun, but after that, you want to see them in a new role with a new person for whole new possibilities. Maybe after a couple years we can bring this beloved couple back together for more fun, but only after a few years when other possibilities have been experimented with.

What I had mentioned before were the social taboos presented. Ah Ho and Ah Chau were two kids who had grown up together, pretty much best friends in the traditional childhood loves. But a twist of events caused by the “evil and calculating” Yan Hung played by Michelle Yim broke apart a once happy family and later turned Ah Ho and Ah Chau into step-siblings when Yan Hung married Ah Ho’s father Kam Tai Jo played by Ha Yu.

The idea of step-siblings falling in love with each other has been addressed in few other story lines before -- none that I’ve ever really read about. But the idea was interesting and I had my anxiety amped up in order to find out how this issue would be dealt with in the future. After all, the two were obviously in love with each other from the beginning, the two obviously got along with each other very well, and there were family members trying to remind them that they were now “brother and sister” and could not be together romantically.

Oh, the angst! The suspense! The delicious possibilities!

The anxiety was built up about this plot... but then it fizzled as soon as the character of Dr. Ling Chi Shun showed up (played by Bosco Wong) to sweep Ah Chau off of her feet and make her fall in love with him. This particular relationship development, unfortunately, was disappointing from the start. Ling Chi Shun liked Ah Chau, but ever since the beginning, she did not reciprocate those feelings. She got along with him, she admired him, and she could have been his best friend. But the only reason she even got together with the doctor was because she needed to move on and away from Ah Ho because of the taboo. So when this happened, I was expecting that maybe the drama would start -- Ah Chau probably would have some inner turmoil about not being able to be with the person she actually loved and instead was using a good man as a fall back.

But then the relationship ended up making Ah Chau fall recklessly in love with Ling Chi Shun as well -- an unexpected turn of events and a rather senseless action. Unfortunately, as the viewer, I never really understood how that happened. One moment, she was in love with Ah Ho, the next moment she could so easily put her entire emotions into loving Ling Chi Shun. And so when the two had to break up on account of him still being in love with a former girlfriend, she was devastated and went crawling back to Ah Ho for comfort, thus falling in love with him all over again. I just never understood why she was so depressed about her break up with the good doctor because throughout their relationship, they didn’t even seem like they were that much in love.

Sure, they had great chemistry with each other -- but as friends. Ah Chau never convinced me that she had been able to move on and accept Ling Chi Shun as her boyfriend; so when the "devastating break-up" came around, I couldn't accept that she was suffering that much about it at all. I'm almost certain that this couple had been a means to try the pairing out so that viewers would be able to accept the couple in a later series that aired after this one, not mattering how small their roles; and Bosco Wong's appearance in the series was just a way for the producers to be able to recycle their actors from Heart of Greed into the new plot. Don't get me wrong, I like Bosco Wong and I think his acting is top notch; but his role really could have been done by anyone or could have been non-existent and down-sized (unlike the role of Raymond Lam's Alfred in the predecessor).

And then the ending of this relationship? The taboo of Ah Chau and Ah Ho being step-siblings in love was never even addressed. The two just sort of... got together and all was well. Where did that taboo go? I guess maybe after Yan Hung was divorced and kicked out of the family, it was suddenly okay for the two to be in love again because now they were no longer step-siblings?

I’m not sure if that’s even how real life would work out. Or maybe it is and I just need to get with the times.

Setting that one aside, the second romantic couple brought to the forefront had an even harder time. Granted, while we make a point to emphasize that neither of the parties of each couple are blood related, it still serves to point out social taboos when relationships have a title put to them.

Tavia Yeung plays Ah Yeut who was adopted by the Kam family when she was young. She grew up together with all of her adopted siblings and eventually ended up being part of the family even if she wasn’t blood related. Ah Ka, played by Moses Chan, was her elder brother and should have remained as thus. The two love and take care of each other as siblings should and it was pretty nice.

The first few episodes that I watched about the two had not even started out their mutual attraction for one another. It wasn’t until Kate Tsui’s character, Lo Ka Mei appeared that we start getting hints that Ah Yeut has developed feelings for Ah K a-- but before that, she was still treating him just like a brother. And then in the span of one very sad, very emotional scene where Tavia gets to show off how beautifully she can cry and make the viewer feel for her, we suddenly learn that she has been in love with Ah Ka for a long time. But prior to her confession, I don’t think anyone, not even the viewer, suspected that this was even remotely true. The writers needed a turning point for the love story to begin and, to kill two birds with one stone, they wanted Tavia to cry to her heart's content. Because on a much more serious note, Tavia Yeung is one of the few actresses in the entertainment world who can display those heartbreaking crying scenes so beautifully that it makes your heart break just watching her. While this was a good scene for her to display her talent, this was a really senseless scene for the series itself.

And so this was how their relationship was brought into the surface.

To be totally honest, I was disappointed and I was actually kind of put off by it. I wanted to see some better reasoning and some mutual attraction between the two that would have caused something like this to happen. Ah Ka shows throughout that he is very much attracted to Lo Ka Mei and they even start dating. But he never shows any form of romantic interest in Ah Yeut, not even up until the very end right before the two end up together as a couple in the last scene. And Ah Yeut, aside from confessing that she likes Ah Ka, had not shown any sign of romantic interest in him either. Maybe she was attracted to his gentle caring ways... but then again, the brother that she actually grew up in the same house with, Ah Ho, had also taken care of her in a sweet and charming way. Why didn’t she fall for him instead? After all, Tavia and Raymond exhibited better chemistry than Tavia did with Moses.

As the story goes, Ah Ka was never even really around the siblings enough to form any impression on them. Ah Ho was the "big brother" in the family who took care of everyone. If Ah Yeut were to form a crush on one of her non-blood related brothers, it would make more sense that she would do so towards Ah Ho, just because he is the typical charming big brother type and he was more accessible.

On a side note, if Ah Yeut were to form a crush on one of her non-blood related brothers, how come that had never happened before during their young, teenage, hormone raging years? Wouldn't it make more sense for her to feel attracted to one of her non-blood related brothers at a more vulnerable age during a time when they might not have established that sibling relationship yet? After so many years of being brother and sister, suddenly falling in love with each other seems kind of strange, wouldn't it?

But no... disappointment ensued and continued to ensue even outside of these two romances.

Because with the second couple, there were also no social taboos addressed. After all, despite not being blood related, the two were brother and sister for their entire life. HOW does this not merit some sort of objection from family members or even some complications within themselves? Ah Yeut was allowed to continue having a crush on Ah Ka while he subtly ignored it and continued to date his Lo Ka Mei. And the romance was non-existent between this couple anyway while they were left in second priority behind Ah Chau and Ah Ho’s story.

And then when they finally get together in the end, you find yourself wondering... How did this happen so easily? And to top it off, Ah Ka had never bothered to return any of Ah Yeut's supposed feelings, only treating and loving her as a little sister -- this was very obvious.

Setting aside these disappointing resolutions, there are just too many more disappointing resolutions to look at in the series as a whole. The build up was rather good, but ended up becoming bland when the producers seemed to really just want to have a turn of events and a lot of crying scenes in each episode. You got tired of crappy things happening after a while. And then in the end, with the magical flick of the almighty writer’s pen, all problems are suddenly not problems anymore. It was almost as if God or some other higher being suddenly decided to intervene in order to give the viewers a happy ending because the quota of forty episodes was getting closer.

Ah Chau’s final betrayal of her mother was valiant. Except, it wasn’t very realistic. Why, after all this time, did she finally decide to take everything away from her mother and give it back to the rightful owners? And why, if she knew about all the terrible things that her mother had done, did she not seem too stressed about it until those blessed scenes where the director told her to cry to her heart’s content? Why did she still worship that terrible mother who did terrible things? Did this girl not have a backbone or anything? Or did she just relish in the idea of being a damsel, torn between her own biological mother and the rest of the family she loves so much?

It was ridiculous. And it was probably just another way to show the viewers that, yea, Linda Chung is an excellent new talent who can cry wonderfully within a micro-second of action.

And finally, why did everyone in the series not make any sense at all?

Terrible things happened and Yan Hung was allowed to walk all over everyone even though it was blindingly obvious that she was being a malicious evil.

In truth, the writers pretty much just piled blatantly obvious injustices on top of more injustices just so the viewers could get a little teary-eyed and end up hating the ultimate antagonist with a great passion by the very end. But then in the very end, they allow her to become a better person to redeem herself? She goes to jail and realizes her mistakes and suddenly all is forgiven and she can be allowed to be friends with everyone again?

I’m just not sure whether I had been irritated with the last half of the series or just exhausted and didn’t even really care anymore.

I’ve never seen all of Heart of Greed -- it was a tear-jerker from the beginning and I had to quit after the first ten episodes before I became a crying mess, but what I saw of it was rather wonderful; and with all of the hype of it having a rather bitter sweet ending, I was reluctant to continue watching it. But I’m almost thinking that maybe I would have been more satisfied with the resolutions in Heart of Greed than I was with Moonlight Resonance. Moonlight Resonance’s only goal, it seemed, was to throw everyone's favorite cast into a new series with a new plot and try to make everyone cry -- whether due to the depressing scenes or just from irritation.

After all, Moonlight Resonance was part of TVB's new-fangled version of a sequel: take a very popular, well-received series and recreate the plot device with the same cast in different roles but with a similar story type basis. And to be totally honest, with the exception of one recreated sequel, the rest of them hadn't quite been working.

I don’t really care to recommend this series to anyone. I certainly was disappointed in it.

The only saving grace was the build up of the first half of the series and the acting from the cast members. The series boasted a lot of nostalgic flash backs that were fun to follow and some very heart-warming scenes among the family. The cast had great chemistry with each other and brought their characters to life excellently. Raymond Lam is one of my favorite actors... of course, he slept through his character since this nice guy, filial son and sometimes witty young man was definitely NOT a challenge for him to portray. In fact, I think that all the characters were carbon copy created for each cast member except for Michelle Yim who did an excellent job as the villain. In contrast, Lee Si Kei’s all-knowing and all-forgiving, better than thou motherly type of character was a little overdone and really didn’t shine like everyone kept giving her credit for. So she was taken from a rich lady and turned into a poor mother from one series to another... big deal, her personality was the same. And it annoyed me. Because, for one thing, as much as I don’t like Kate Tsui, what her character said about Lee Si Kei’s character was correct -- she always seemed like she had to be in the right and everyone else didn’t know any better. Lo Ka Mei chose a wrong time to convey that thought as it was used incorrectly, but to be totally honest, I think she was right.

Overall, I enjoyed bits and parts of this series. After all, it had some of my favorite actors in it and they were top notch actors as well. But story line wise, I think I would rather not bother with it.

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Related articles:
Extraordinary Moonlight @ Abstract Abyss -- the first impression post at a different blog

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