Time for the second round of the upcoming dramas.
Shine
or Go Crazy
I still don’t know if I’m just not interested or if
I’m just not into it yet. There’s a huge gap between the two you’d say. But
honestly I’m still not sure about how I feel. I want to be interested or at
least curious but there’s a little I don’t know that prevent me to go excited.
I like the cast, at least the male cast.
The last time I saw Jang Hyuk, he was cracking me up in Fated To Love You. I realized then how much I love when
those ‘serious’ actors play zippy, ridiculous
funny and over the top characters. It’s refreshing and hilarious! Now Jang
Hyuk’s back with something more…grave and tragic in Shine or Go Crazy. He’ll
portrait a Goryeo prince in line for the throne. He’s been predicted since
child that he’ll cause the country’s ruin. That’s not exactly a good start
in life but despite this terrible prophecy, the prince decided to live happily.
The character is described having a lot sense of humor.
Oh
Yeon-Seo
will be his love interest, playing the last princess of the nation of Balhae.
They will cross paths and fall in love. Maybe is their bad fortunes (she’s the
princess of a dying nation and he’ll the cause the country’s devastation) that
will consolidate their love. I don’t recall having watched any drama with Oh
Yeao-Seo. Her last drama was a huge national success but for undefined reason
I’m not interested. I thought I caught her in Medical Top Team but I remember having given up on the drama before
having started it. Oooppss. She played in Baby
Face Beauty but I’m quite not able to remember her or her character. This
doesn’t mean anything but that’s not good sign either. That doesn’t call into
question her acting at all, far from that. I hope she has a strong presence because
Jang Hyuk is the type of filling the screen with his charisma, so the person in
front of him has to have a strong presence to balance.
The first drama where I saw Im Joo-Hwan was in What’s
Up. The drama is among one of my favourite dramas! He played with so much sensibility.
You know he has this average face but managed to make a lot go through his eyes
and his expressions. I loved him in What’s
Up. I was ready to catch one of his army comeback’s project (Watch Out For
Fools)
but the total of 120 episodes completely ruined my motivation. He’s the second
lead here and will opposite Jang Hyunk as he’ll play his ambitious half-brother
who hides his true feelings and only want to rule instead of his brother. He
will fall for the princess as well (as it wasn’t already complicate like that
for Jang Huyk). I can totally see Im Joo-Hwan playing that cold and
ready-to-do-anything’s brother, a devilish prince with the face of an angel! Honey Lee completes the cast. She’ll
play a beautiful princess who’s not only beautiful but knows how to make
poison. What else do you need in life after all? She will be a romantic rival
for Jang Hyuk’s love. No doubt that we will have serious psychological fights.
No talking about the swords fights (mmmhhh the cinematography better be good).
The premise sure sounds good and I know that
somehow,
at some point,
I’ll find myself attracted by the drama (maybe when I’ll start
it?).
Level of
excitement: 7/10 (Jang Hyuk, Im Joo-Hwan, make it shine guys!)
Scheduled:
19 January on MBC
Ho-Gu’s Love
My level of
excitement for this drama is at his highest. I’m impatient enough to say that
I’m counting down the days before the premiere! Someone screams with me because
we have a good potential here. We have UEE
and Choi Woo-Shik in a promise of a
sweet, fluffy and enjoyable drama. The casting is adorable as can be and the
premise’s quite nice. I’ve liked UEE since Ojaggkyo
Brothers. Even if I haven’t caught her previous dramas (Gold Rainbow and Jeon Woo-chi) I would still say that it’s in Ojaggkyo Brothers that I preferred her the most.
Ho-Gu’s Love is the upcoming drama of tvN starring Choi Woo-Shik (Fated To Love You) as the eponym hero
and UEE as her love interest. Ho-Gu has failed the civil service seven times,
he’s a perpetual single and has no game. Not really flattering. He will end up saddle
looking for an unidentified child. UEE will play Do-he a ‘swimming goddess’
from the national team and was Ho-Gu first love. They will meet after several
years and their friendship will eventually turn into a sweet romance.
UEE can be fun,
joyful, sweet, played the girl we like to hate (You’re Beautiful) and still be expressive enough to let some
emotions showing through. Rom-com’s are totally her domain and it’s something
she can do greatly. It’s hard to believe that this will be Choi Woo-Shik first leading role but it will
actually be. No doubt about him being able to do good and to carry the drama.
He was comic and so loveable in Fated To
Love You and Rooftop Prince
(where he wore the tracksuit wonderfully) that you could only fall for him. I’m
sure he’ll bring a special something to the hero and I’m looking forward to
it.
Along with the two leads, Im
Seulong has been cast as a lawyer and the rival for UEE’s love. A lawyer is
the total opposite of a looser (!) so I hope for hilarious oppositions and
amusing situations between the two men. Han
Geun-sub (Vampire Idol) will be
Ho-Gu’s best friend and Lee Soo Kyung
(not the lead from Let’s Eat but the
rookie actress from the movie Coin Locker Girl) will complete the tableau playing Ho-Gu’s crazy
and boyish twin who’s know nothing about love except what she learned in books.
The producers of
Ho-Gu’s Love are the ones behind Flower Boy
Ramyun Shop. First good sign. Ho-Gu’s Love will be
an adaptation of a webtoon of the same name whom the creator is no other than
the one behind Flower Boy next
Door’s drama
adaptation. That’s enough. Have
I already said how excited I am for this drama? See you soon February!
Level Of
Excitement: 9/10 (Throw me a lot a sweet romance!!)
Scheduled: 09 February on tvN.
Scheduled: 09 February on tvN.
Unkind Women
The love triangle is officially complete: Song Jae-Rim (Surplus Princess) will be the hero, Lee Hana (High School King of
Savvy), her love interest and Kim
Ji-Suk (Angel Eyes) the rival.
That’s great, really but let’s stop beating around the bush, I kind of lose
interest the names after Song Jae-Rim! He somehow has that power on me. The
upcoming Unkind Woman will see Song
Jae-Rim playing the lead for the first time. Incredible, you’ve seen the guy in
so many projects. Yeah in most, he played second roles but he didn’t go
unnoticed! It’s hard to believe that this time: 1) he won’t die or end up in
jail, 2)we won’t have to watch the drama with anger or worries, wondering what
will happen to him, 3) he will get the girl, for sure! (Unless the drama decides
to change the tacit dramaland rules in which case I’ll be forced to go directly
there and ask for explanations.) On the other hand I’m less, let’s just say, convinced by the heroin, Lee Hana. So far I’ve only seen the first episode of High School King of Savvy and if she was
ok she didn’t blow me away. It’s also true that you need more than one episode
to fully enjoy someone’s acting. Well I’ll go with trust and will hope for her
to be a super good and charismatic partner to Song Jae-Rim. And I promise she
better be good cause he’ll steal all the (my) attention!
Unkind
Women
will be about three generations of well unkind women living under the same
roof. Kim Hye-Ja (Mother) has been cast as the matriarch
and the mother of two daughters: Do
Ji-Won (Healer) who’s a news
anchor and Chae Shi-Ra who became a
mom at 20. Lee Hana will then play that child. She will lose her teacher job
thanks to Kim Ji-Suk’s character. The latter will then do everything to repair his
fault and will fall for her.
Kim Ji-Suk is a good second lead I suppose and
while I haven’t catch any of his post army projects, I really liked him in Personal Taste. He had a certain charm
in it and it was quiet hard to hate him. But this time it’s going to be harsh
not to scream at my screen because of him. Don’t know why, I just feel it. Song
Jae-Rim and Kim Ji-Suk will play half-brothers and rivals in love (maybe that’s
why?). Gosh I can’t recall how many times I’ve said that brothers fighting for
the same girl is the worst case scenario. The worst. It’s no doubt
heart-breaking to see two brothers quarrelling to get the girl. Ahhhhrrggg I
really hate that. Song Jae-Rim on
his side will play a fencing instructor. He was a Lee Hana’s classmate and
isn’t very interested in women. Well Lee Hana might change all that.
Beside that small
(such an euphemism!) brothers detail, I like the idea of having all
these women under one roof. It can only be the promise of strong and intense
moments. I just hope the drama will choose to go the funny and heart-warming
path and not the melodramatic and tearjerker one. Fingers crossed.
Level Of
Excitement: 7,5/10 (Song Jae-Rim, nothing more to add.)
Scheduled:
February on KBS.
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