Drama review for 'I hear your voice'

'I hear your voice' is a drama written by the same talented screenwriter who wrote the story for 'Dream High'.  The screenwriter is known as Park Hye-Ryun and both her works for I hear your voice and Dream High became big hits.  I will look forward to her new works from now on.  Her writing style and the way she unfolds the story and its characters is really different compared to other writers.  It's clean cut without leaving you confused.  Each episode ends with a cliff hanger, making you want to watch more.

Now that I am writing about 'I hear your voice', I'm surprised that I didn't write about 'Dream High' which is also one of the best Korean dramas I have seen so far.  In terms of the story and the characters' depth, just like 'I hear your voice', Dream High was a very well fabricated story which made the viewers grow attached to the characters and want to follow their story.



Song Sam Dong and Go Hye Mi the main characters in Dream High really left me a good impression although they did not outshine anyone at the beginning but they grew throughout the drama and in the end they shined more than anyone.

Dream High - Go Hye Mi & Song Sam Dong

There were many scenes I liked in Dream High :) lol One of my favorite scenes even includes the toilet scene when Song Sam Dong was waiting outside in the snow while Hye Mi was singing in the toilet.  That scene looked really peaceful, sweet and well shot.  It would not surprise me if Sam Dong fell for Hye Mi just then Lol ^^

You can watch  that scene by clicking on this link:
Sam Dong waiting for Hae Mi (outdoor toilet scene)

There are many good scenes and good songs in Dream High.  Definitely this is a drama that I would highly recommend to newcomers in the drama world.





Another one of my favorite scenes is the one where Hye Mi makes hand signs to help Sam Dong find the right pitch to sing although he has lost most of his hearing.  You can click on the following link to watch that touching scene:
Hae Mi helps Sam Dong sing with the right pitch

If I continue to write about Dream High, this will turn into a Dream High review instead of 'I hear your voice' review...but still I'm starting to find several common points between both dramas











Just like Song Sam Dong loves only Go Hye Mi, in 'I hear your voice' Park Soo Ha loves only Jang Hye Sung.  Even the way they break down and cry desperately to express their desperation and sadness when they learn that they might lose the one they love also makes both characters Soo Ha and Sam Dong look similar.

Click the link to watch:
Sam Dong chasing after Hye Mi and crying scene

Park Soo Ha in 'I hear your voice' hugging Hye Sung after being rescued:

                                                                             

I hear your voice - Sweet umbrella scene

Also, I wonder if it is a coincidence that the school uniform in 'I hear your voice' and 'Dream High' look kinda similar ^^

Jang Hye Sung & Lawyer Cha in school uniform

That's the first thing I noticed in episode 1 of 'I hear your voice' although I didn't know yet that the same screenwriter had written both dramas :)

'I hear your voice' school uniform

Dream High cast in school uniform

I hear your voice is a drama with many genres mixed into it creating a very interesting and original combination.  The drama includes romance, fantasy and thriller genres.


















'I hear your voice' also gives us an insight on the legal system in Korea and the legal professions of attorneys, lawyer, judge and prosecutor.  In fact, another thing I like about Korean dramas is that they are really good at detailing professions in their story line, for example the drama 'Emergency Couple' focuses on the medical field and doctors in the emergency room hence there are several surgery scenes and they use many medical procedures and terms to explain the conditions of the patients.
In the drama 'I hear your voice' as well there are numerous court scenes and legal terms used by the actors.

This drama has elements of fantasy because the male lead character Park Soo Ha has the ability to read people's mind by looking into their eyes.  With this ability Soo Ha is able to find the truth behind the lies and assist the lawyer Hye Sung in solving various cases.  However, sometimes it is better to lie than reveal the truth.

For instance, in Episode 14, meanwhile Jang Hye Sung is facing Seo Do Yeon to reveal her the horrible truth, Soo Ha is walking in a crowd, reading the passers-by's minds and thinking to himself:

''Whether it be the world or a relationship, what makes it peaceful can more often be lies rather than the truth.  Lies temporarily seal a conflict, put anxiety to sleep.  The truth is more uncomfortable than the lie; most people want to disregard the truth.  I also want to disregard the truth."

But on Hye Sung's side, she finally reveals the truth to Seo Do Yeon.
In this episode, Soo Ha realizes that Jang Hye Sung is now chasing after the truth more than himself who can see the truth.

One great moral of this drama is to forgive; not because you don't feel hatred anymore but because you don't want to spend the remaining of your life hating someone.  This is actually Hwang Dal Joong's line in the episode he is acquitted.  Hwang Dal Joong said:

''I forgive him.  I don't have much time left.  I don't want to spend the remaining of my life hating someone.  I wish that the feeling I feel before I die wouldn't be that horrible.  That's why I'm forgiving him."

Hearing Hwang Dal Joong's words, Jang Hye Sung tears up as she remembers her mother's last words which had a similar note.

The last words of Hye Sung's mother were: "You promise me.  Don't spend your life hating someone.  Once a person is born into this world, the life is not even long enough to love each other, right? okay?"

On the other hand the judge Seo Dae Suk is a hopeless case because even in the end, he does not admit his mistake and persists that he did nothing wrong.

Now lets move on to the lighter parts of the drama i.e the romance between Hye Sung and Soo Ha.

Child Soo Ha & teenager Hye Sung

In fact, there is a considerable age gap between Soo Ha and Hye Sung...  Hye Sung is much older than Soo Ha who is just a 19 year old high-schooler when the drama begins.  However, because of their history together, I think their love story is really sweet.  Jang Hye Sung is Park Soo Ha's first first love (cheos sarang) since she was the one who saved his life when he was 11 years old.  At that age, Soo Ha promised that he would protect Hye Sung who put her own life at risk to save him.


Soo Ha and Hye Sung were eventually separated for several years but Soo Ha remembered Hye Sung and kept his promise to protect her no matter what.

Despite their age gap, the two of them make a really cute couple.




     

If you're looking for a good drama to watch, I would highly recommend: 'I hear your voice' :)  Enjoy.

Drama review for 'Wild Romance'

Hi

welcome to Alice Chronicle :)
I enjoy watching dramas and I will be sharing my perspective on different dramas I've seen through this blog.

The drama to be reviewed today is Wild Romance ^^

This drama is about baseball... why would I watch a drama about baseball seriously?  I don't even understand the sport... (This sport is not practiced in my country... and it's not a popular sport where I live) I watched all the episodes though O_o
No just kidding, the drama is not just about baseball, but it is centered around baseball and not being able to practice the sport.
Baseball (Yagu) is really popular in S.Korea, they have national baseball teams with fervent supporters and all.
Well, the main character Park Moo Yeol is a Baseball Pro from the Red Dreamers team.
The girl lead 'Eun Jae' works as a bodyguard and is a diehard supporter of Blue Seagulls which is the rival team of the Red Dreamers.  (It's hard to believe that a girl with such a small frame can be a bodyguard...seriously...but that's why it's just a drama...).

I started watching this drama because the summary of the drama piqued my interest and somehow I've been looking for dramas starring Hong Jong Hyun & Lee Dong Wook ^^'' Lol  The last drama with Lee Dong Wook I saw was My Girl (A romantic comedy) with quite an interesting plot.  While the last series with Hong Jong Hyun is the sitcom 'Vampire Idol' and the minidrama 'Her lovely heels'.

I like interesting plots which are original, creative and out of the ordinary.  Just like this one for Wild romance; the beginning itself is like funny crazy and so uncommon.  This must be one of the reasons I liked 'My Love from another star' very much.  Of course the acting has to be great too.

But Wild Romance cannot be compared to 'My love from another star'. The genre is different, the premise is different.  Still I would recommend this drama, it is sincere and has several funny parts.
Especially the parts between Kim manager and Eun Jae's friend:

The mysterious parts:
One mysterious character manipulated the other characters' inner feelings to get them to do really bad things. Somehow, it's similar to a thriller or psychological drama.  Throughout the drama, I've been suspecting everyone while trying to guess who is the real culprit behind the many incidents.  This must be one of the reasons why I kept on watching till the end ^^''
Then when the culprit was revealed, it was interesting to understand the latter's point of view.

Overall impression:
Overall the story was original and well written and the acting was convincing.  But still there are holes in the plot which I could have been skipped and others which leave us with a vague conclusion.
For instance, I think the part with 'Eun Jae's mother who abandonned her family and came back so many years later' was not necessary.  I  understand that it is a background story of Eun Jae but I think it does not bring much to the story.  It would not have made much difference if that part was played differently; for instance if the mother did not come back again it would not have made much difference.

Another part of the story which remains vague to me is the character Seo Yoon Yi's origin...

Firstly, I still wonder how is he related to the criminal?  Is he the latter's son or just a bait for Park Moo Yeol?
Secondly did Seo Yoon Yi die when he was fed that poison by the criminal?

Effectively, no clarifications were given concerning Seo Yoon Yi...


Moreover, does the criminal use hypnosis?  If not, then how did the latter get one of the victims to destroy a whole gallery of paintings without remembering what she did the day after?

Apart from that, I was surprised to know that the main actress was actually the one who acted in Athena and Playful kiss.  The difference that the ahjumma hairstyle can make to one's image is really surprising:

Lee Si Young in 'Playful kiss'

Lee Si Young in 'Wild Romance'

Moreover, Jessica from SNSD also acted in this drama...I have to admit that I find her character weird and annoying...  Although she is an adult, she acts childishly at times which makes her not such a like-able character.  It's actually difficult to understand such a character and the reasons behind her actions... or whether her actions are genuine...  I actually think that she does not like Park Moo Yeol in the story...

Anyway, the story ended well and the criminal was caught.
The story does teach us a lesson i.e. to make the best out of your youth days or else you might regret when you grow old...because you will not be able to return back to those days...

My Review of K-Drama - 'Faith' (The Great Doctor)

Faith / The great doctor 

This drama is of the historical, fantasy (time travel), medical and romance genre. 

Warning - There are spoilers ahead.  It's your choice to read or not to read ^^''

This drama is in fact my first historical Korean Drama; I watched a historical Chinese drama (Beauties of the King) before but this is my first time watching a Korean one.

But one thing I've seen in common in those two historical dramas is the high propensity to kill people; human life is simply undervalued in historical dramas; I'm not using the term 'undervalued' lightly here because there is really a lot of blood spilled from multiple deaths every episodes.  Historical dramas remind me that people from that long long...very long time ago sacrificed their lives easily as if they did not really expect to live long (which is not surprising judging by the conditions in which people from several hundreds of years ago lived).
As seen in the drama 'Faith' there is effectively an episode where the lead character 'Choi Young' is fighting with assassins and while waiting for them to attack he said something like 'for us living means not dying...'

How pessimistic do those words sound in the ears of developed nations today.  Those words really represent the extent to which people from those old times didn't expect much from 'living' (in this drama it's said to be 600 years ago to be more precise).

Overall, what I mean by this intro is that historical dramas represent a specific genre which might seem dark, heavy and depressing to certain people, although there are a few scenes which can make you smile.
Still, the plot and characters seemed quite interesting and original to me.

This drama takes us to the land of Goryeo, which is modern day Korea from around 600 years ago. Goryeo is the land where the main protagonist 'Choi Young' lives.  Choi Young is played by Lee Min Ho and despite his pretty boy looks, he did an excellent job in portraying such a courageous, tough and loyal character.

Choi Young is not a fictional character.  Choi Young is an epic warrior who really existed during the Goryeo era and has left his mark in the annals of history.

Of course this drama is not the real depiction of Choi Young's story but a fictive story built up around the character Choi Young.

In the drama, Choi Young is a strong fighter who leads a group of warriors called the Woodalchis.

The woodalchis can be recognized by the clothes they wear: dark blue garments beneath a grey armor as shown in the pics below.
Cool outfits right! ^^




The Woodalchis might not be the strongest warriors out there but they are brave and faithful to Choi Young and the King.  They are faithful to the point of giving up their lives while fighting the enemy to protect their king.

Woodalchi warriors even have their epic theme music (click link below):

Faith OST: 'I am Woodalchi'

Cool right! ^^




The story begins with the queen of Goryeo being gravely injured during an attack by assassins.  The queen is on the verge of death and the only solution to save her is to find 'the God's doctor'.  The King orders our hero Choi Young to go through the door (a sort of vortex) which according to them will lead to the God's world.  Choi Young obeys.  He goes through the door which lands him into the modern day (21st century) South Korea.  There he kidnaps a doctor specialized in cosmetic surgery after forcing her to perform a surgery before him to prove that she is God's doctor.  That scene was pretty intense and unexpected.  Choi Young inflicted the exact same injury that the queen had to a nearby person and forced the doctor to save that person.
To me the surgery scene looked really realistic (although they must be performing it on a dummy in reality ^^'').  Anyway I find the surgery scenes in korean dramas really believable and realistic but not scary (that's probably why I also enjoyed watching the drama 'Emergency couple' ^^).  The surgery looks so intricate and all that I feel like a little kid watching a magician performing a magic trick.  That's how amazing the surgery scenes look to me.

The drama is really cool and the adventure continues with the doctor being forcefully taken to Goryeo by Choi Young who sent an electric shock wave to push back the police force blocking his way.

That scene was pretty cool and it's actually the only scene when Choi Young uses his powers to its full extent.  After that he doesn't use his electric shock wave much...maybe because the special effects cost too much for the production team to reproduce.  After all this drama cost a fortune to produce.

After that Choi Young takes the doctor (Eun Soo) to the gate to return back to Goryeo where his king and queen are waiting for them.

The adventure continues with plenty of tumultuous events for our heroine Eun Soo and our hero Choi Young.


I hated the king at some point because of his lack of initiative and cowardice.  He was relying too much of Choi Young to help him.  Without Choi Young, the king would be dead meat.  Also, despite Choi Young's loyalty to the king, there were several times that the King doubted him and believed the enemy's words that Choi Young was a traitor.

During those times, I wished that Choi Young would just leave Goryeo with EunSoo and live in the 21st century Korea.

Just like in the manga Fushigi Yugi/The mysterious play in which the warrior Tamahome goes to the modern world with Miaka.

I guess that the drama would have taken a completely different turn in that case ^^ (a bit like the korean drama: Rooftop Prince).

Choi Young does remind me a little bit about Tamahome though ^^''
Both of them have the same cool look.

If someone were to cosplay Tamahome, I think Choi Young (lee Min ho) would look great as him.


See!!  >_<

Anyway this drama is a good watch.  I would recommend it to people who like to watch fantasy dramas.

The ending is a bit lacking though because it left me with a vague impression.  Ok the ending is a happy one, but they could have given a bit more details instead of just ending it with Choi Young and Eun Soo staring at each other from a distance.  There could have expressed their emotions more with a hug at least.  They have been waiting to meet each other again after several years after all...come on you should tear up cry and run into each other's arms...that was missing!! ^^'' aigoo...

When I think about it in the anime Fushigi Yugi as well the ending had them just staring at each other from a distance, but at least Miaka was tearing up at the sight of Tamahome because she was deeply touched to finally see him again.

Now enough of my complaints; I still do recommend this drama :)  Sorry for the spoilers but still Watch it! The actors, the filming crew, the scriptwriters and other staff put in a lot of effort, hard work and talent.

Drama Review for 'My Love from another star'

Hi

I haven't posted anything in a while.
It's not that I haven't been watching dramas, it's just that the dramas I've been watching lately have not given me much of a boost to write about them.
But today I feel like writing about some of the good dramas (in my opinion) which I've seen lately.

First let me make a list of the most recent dramas I have seen:

1.  My love from another star
2.  Dating agency Cyrano (reached Episode 13,  I have dropped this drama for a while)
3.  Her lovely heels
4.  Wild Romance 
5.  Emergency Couple
6.  Hotel King (32 episodes in all; reached Episode 17, 15 more episodes to go...can I make it?)
7.  I hear your voice (Just started watching, reached Episode 2)

Let me start by reviewing 'My love from another star' starring Kim Soo Hyun one of my favorite actors.
WARNING:  Spoiler Alert!!  Don't read if you don't want any spoilers >_<

My love from another star

My love from another star is a big hit of 2014 starring Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun.

Originality of the plot

The story is about an alien who has been living of Earth for 400 years since the Joseon era.  The alien in question is Do Min Joon. He has supernatural powers which include his super hearing, his ability to teleport, to freeze time, to dsiplace objects by telekinesis, fast healing and maintaining the same physical appearance despite living over hundreds of years.  But he becomes very weak when contaminated with human fluids including blood and saliva.  He is extremely wealthy because he invested in buying large expanse of land which was cheap during the Joseon era but cost billions today.  

Do Min Joon has been leaving a quiet life while remaining unnoticed by humans during those 400 years.  Although, he revealed his secret a couple of times during his 400 years, the reactions were mixed and different; most humans were terrorized, others did not take him seriously, while some thought he was amazing.  

Another original aspect of the plot is that within the 400 years Do Min Joon  has lived through, he has met the same girl thrice.  The first time he met her was during the Joseon era, when he saved her life but lost her eventually; the second time he saved her life again during the 21st century and the girl grew older to become the adult Cheon Song Yi who he met again as his next door neighbor and student at university.  Cheon Song Yi also gets mixed up in a big twist whereby she is accused of leading rival actress Han Yoo Ra to commit suicide.    

Overall the plot has many unexpected but simple to understand elements and twists which make it such an original, creative and engaging drama to follow.  The elements might all seem unrealistic but the way they are depicted and carried out in the drama make them believable and entertaining to watch.  

How often do we see such a well constructed and well planned story of an alien and a hallyu star falling in love?? The drama is just brilliant. Hence, I give the originality of the plot a 5 out of 5.  

The main characters:

The male lead character Do Min Joon is really compelling.  

Do Min Joon with his calm, cold and uncaring demeanor at the beginning is actually a lonely character who has been waiting for a long long time for those of his kind to come back for him.  Despite the loneliness, Do Min Joon still enjoyed living as a human in his own way, by collecting artifacts and antiques from each period he spent on Earth.  He is also a bookworm who studied a lot about humans and their culture.  He has embarked into many different identities and careers throughout his time on Earth, at some point he was a  banker, a doctor, a lecturer and so on.  

Banker Do Min Joon                                                Lecturer Do Min Joon

                       

I wonder if he had to change his name numerous times while changing identities...??  In this case is his real name really Do Min Joon?? ^^''  

Anyway, each time he meets Cheon Song Yi or her past self, his character starts to express his emotions more while desperately trying to save her.  

This depair he goes through somehow showed us another side of Do Min Joon, a side of him whereby he displays very human feelings to care for and protect the one he loves.  The love he feels for Cheon Song Yi leads him to take risks to rescue her when she is in danger and to even reveal his true identity to her and to the public.  

However, Do Min Joon knows that he cannot remain on Earth long because he is starting to disappear...  although he has been waiting to return back to his planet initially, after meeting Cheon Song Yi he feels a sense of belonging and the urge to remain by her side forever no matter 

what.  

This character Do Min Joon is actually very sincere and earnest about his feelings.  He is mostly a pacifist, never using his powers to harm or take advantage of innocent people.      

The female lead character is Cheon Song Yi who described in one word is a diva.

Cheon Song Yi is rude, spoiled, overly dramatic and  an egocentric character.
At the beginning Cheon Song Yi really annoyed me because of how superficial and dumb she acted.  But after a few episodes, I started to like her character for her honesty which I interpreted solely as rudeness and egocentricity before.  Her acting stupid is just because she is dense and clumsy.





In fact Cheon Song Yi is also a funny character in this drama.  There are several scenes in which she just cracks me up, for example this scene where she begs Do Min Joon to come back in return she will give him her shoes which she thought he has a fetish for XD  

There's also the scene where is competing with her rival Han YooRa by making the best model poses according to her at their friend's wedding photoshoot.

Another silly Cheon Song Yi scene is when she was trying to eavesdrop on Do Min Joon next door although their houses have soundproof walls.







Overall Cheon Song Yi is a very frank and direct character who speaks up her mind and feelings although she is not always confident about the response that she will get when confronting Do Min Joon.  Despite knowing that Do Min Joon is an alien and cannot remain with her all the time, she still loves him.  The name she cries out when she is in danger is Do Min Joon, because she trusts that Min Joon will save her.

Definitely, Do Min Joon and Cheon Song Yi complement each other.

Overall Quality

I have to say that there are several cool scenes in this drama, for instance:



1.  The scene where Song Yi's car is going down a slope towards a cliff, Do Min Joon suddenly teleports in front of the car and stops it with this bare hand




2.  The scene when Do Min Joon is furious at Jae Kyung and throws him off the building with this telekinesis powers:

Behind the scenes for this stunt

Btw that Jae Kyung guy is crazy; no matter how evil you are you should not mess up with an alien.
Good that he ended up in prison in the end.

3.  Then there're the teleportation scenes, the time freezing scenes and so on.

I really enjoyed this drama.  It's very original and the cast's acting is wonderful.  The script was very well written and the scenes very well planned and orchestrated.
Of course the drama OSTs are great too. You can listen to the OSTs of the drama by clicking on the links below :) Enjoy ^^

My love from another star OST: 'Hello, Goodbye' by Sistar's Hyorin

My love from another star OST: 'Every Moment of You' by Sung Shi Kyung

My love from another star OST: 'Tears Like Today' by Huh Gak

My love from another star OST: 'In Front Of Your House' by Kim Soo Hyun

My love from another star OST: 'My Destiny' by Lyn

My love from another star OST: 'I Love You' by Just

This is a year 2014 drama which I would highly recommend.

Thank you for your interest.
I hope you enjoyed my drama review.