Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge

This is the live action Japanese adaptation of the manga and anime Wallflower (You honestly thought I would type that name out again XD)

Now this is a relatively short drama, only 10 episodes, but it is highly entertaining. If you have read the manga or seen the anime you know that the plot line is very simple, four drop dead gorgeous males live at a boarding house run by a rich woman who flies around the world looking for a rich man to marry. In order to stay in the boarding house rent free the boys need to change the landladies niece into a lady. Sunako Nakahara however loves horror movies, can't stand beautiful people, and only wants to hang out with her medical doll Hiroshi-kun. Of course the plot had to be a bit condensed for the drama so everything moves faster, and I am kind of happy it does. Sometimes the other two got a bit repetitive.

Sunako is usually hidden behind her bangs and cape, Oomasa Aya, is extremely pretty. She isn't drop dead gorgeous, but the fact that she isn't fake looking or too beautiful makes her all the more appealing. However the character of Sunako herself was much, much more annoying then she had been in the other adaptions of this story. In the manga and anime she is a hermit yes, but she is also a complete badass without Kyohei calling her ugly, but I think it sent a wonderful message. Now this was of course overly fantastical, but it was meant to show that no matter looks everyone has something that they are uncomfortable with and need to overcome and Sunako was a good example of this. 

I love Yuya Tegoshi, but oddly enough he was not my favorite character in this drama. I liked him don't get me wrong, but I will never be the loli type. Although in the Valentine's episode he totally came close to stealing my heart as yet again for his love for his girlfriend as well as how protective he was to Sunako. I also loved that he was the driving force near the end to get Sunako and Kyohei together. I found myself wishing the drama was longer so I had more time to get to know the characters. 

I have always had a thing for the bad boy type and I do enjoy Kyohei, not to mention that Kamenashi Kazuya is extremely good looking, but he is not my favorite boarder either. Which is extremely surprising since he was always in plaid and I totally have a thing for guys in plaid. Then in episode seven he is wearing glasses which is another thing I love on guys, but even that didn't win me over completely. You get to see a lot more of what being beautiful has done to Kyohei then with the other boys as well as how he is a lot like Sunako. When he finally broke down and cried it broke my heart and I realized just how much I was attached to these characters. 

However Oda Takenaga was my favorite house mate, played by Uchi Hiroki. It might be because he was my favorite in the manga and anime as well, but I also have a thing for the quite smart type. Takenaga always seems to know what is going on as well as being the first one that was nice to Sunako. I can't exactly place why I like him so much, well besides the obvious good looks, but he is my favorite character. In the last episode when he is fighting to save Noi and Sunako, that was just extremely hot. The fact that he had problems confessing also struck close to home since I have issues conveying my feelings as well. I loved his character so much. 

The only character that I don't think was cast well was Morii Ranmaru, played by Miyao Shuntaro. It is nothing against him as an actor I was just expecting the hot red-head that was in the anime and manga and he was neither. He didn't really play as big of a role in the drama as the other characters so I feel like his character was forgotten a bit, but he wasn't a major character in the manga either. Near the end however they expanded his character enough to make him as lovable as the other.


So some final notes... Episode six where they are all fighting shirtless and wet, let me just say UNF. I mean the whole episode was good, but I was memorized with that scene, though I was sad Kyohei cut his hair (I like guys with longer hair for some odd reason) Also the real kiss between Sunako and Kyohei was adorable and I loved it to pieces. It was prefect. Overall it was a fun and kind of light hearted drama with a wonderful message and a lot of fun along the way. I give it a 4.5 out of 5

Goong

A friend of mine pushed and shoved me until I watched and finished this drama. It took me a while to get into it, but I am glad that I kept watching it because is slowly made its way into my heart. I think it might have been that in the beginning I had a hard time relating to any of the characters, but as the show progressed they became a lot more lovable and believable. It isn't going to be at the top of my drama list or anything, but at the end I did cry which for me shows that it struck some nerve. I felt as if the relationship between Shin and Chae Kyung could have been developed a lot more, but they still had chemistry. I did find myself a lot of times throughout the drama almost wanting to punch the screen however. I found a lot of the show frustrating and not in a way that made you want to watch more. It took me quite a long time to finish this drama unlike Shining Inheritance and Boys Before Flowers. I just felt that there was no major climax so even when we were at the last few episodes I wasn't finding myself wanting to watch the next episode to make sure it all turned out well in the end.

I have to admit that I didn't like the heroine Chae Kyung at the beginning of the drama. I found her annoying, but her reactions to the situation were a lot more realistic then Jan Di (Boys Before Flowers) and Eun Sung (Shining Inheritance). A reason you love Eun Sung is because she is so strong, but normal people don't have that sort of perseverance. True Chae Kyung is a little more childish then most people would be when they are force to marry a Crown Prince, but her reactions to Palace life are very typical of what a normal girl would feel. Though I got annoyed with her crying or over reactions I found her believable which is made her hardships all the more emotional, though a lot of the times they could have easily been fixed. 

Once again I fell for the "Other Guy" who is Prince Lee Yul. I found him more attractive as well as a complete sweetheart compared to Shin. Much like the other dramas I watched the lead male worked his way into my heart, but my first "crush" was on the other male lead. I guess that shows good writing though since that is what the director wants you to do usually. As the drama progressed I still loved him, but his character was much too weak in my opinion and after a while he got slightly annoying because he just said the same thing over and over again.

In contrast I found Shin to be too ridged a character. It is alright for the male to hide his feelings, but I felt as if this series went far too long before actually making the relationship "real". You just wait and wait and wait and it gets to the point where you just want to scream at them. I liked Shin and I know that he was supposed to play the arrogant crown prince, but there is a point where it was a little too much and they got very close a couple of times to crossing it. However the one thing that did really impress me was the kissing scene. OMG IT WAS MORE THEN THREE SECONDS. I was really glad that after waiting so freaking long it was an intense scene.   

Overall I think that it is for sure worth a watch if you have time, but it isn't something that I think needs to be watched ASAP. I give it a 3 out of 5. Even though I loved the Queen Mother as well as Princess Hye-myung, Chae Kyung's friends besides Kang-hyun where extremely annoying and the plot wasn't especially driven.

Shining Inheritance!

So I am a big fan of Asian Dramas and I just finished my second full series Shining Inheritance. Let me just say that after the first episode I was hooked and even though classes and work made me take a long time to finish the series it was completely worth it. I know that a lot of people don't like watching foreign movies or shows because they have to read the sub titles and I understand that. I also think that just because something is in a different language does not mean it can't still be funny and pull at your heart strings. This drama made me laugh, cry, be angry, and just about everything in between. It gets five stars! If you want to watch on your own and don't want me to spoil it for you, stop reading now and go watch it on Dramafever :)

I loved the lead characters so much and I found the acting to be very good. You felt for Eun Sung so much and couldn't help but love her. She made you love her from the first episode and the love she had for her brother Eun Woo. True at parts I wanted her to smack her step mother and step sister, but the fact that she didn't shows just how strong she was. And at the end when she does finally hit Seung Mi I wanted it to be her mother, but it was great all the same. At the beginning of the series I was a little worried that she would just be sitting around crying all the time, but I soon saw that she would not be held down for long. She reminded me a lot of the lead character from Boys Before Flowers Jan Di. If you haven't seen Boy Before Flowers go watch it now! That gets like 300 stars and I will be making a lot of comparisons between the two :)

Both the male roles Hwan (left) and Joon (right) were also very well portrayed so that you fell in love with them both. They are also very attractive :) Now because I watched and loves Boys Before Flowers I was a little harder on the males to begin with, but again as the series progress I grew to love them. Though both series lead, Hwan and Jun Pyo, are almost the same character I found Hwan to be a lot more likable a lot earlier in the series, but Jun Pyo pulled at your heart strings more because he did love Jan Di so  much, but something always happened to complicate the relationship. Hwan was a bit more realistic as a person who you would find in real life and though the storyline was a bit far fetched you completely forget about that. Joon was so sweet that I instantly fell in love with him and even though I knew he wouldn't get to be with Eun Sung in the end I found myself at times rooting for him. Also the fact that he wasn't just the "other guy" but also had a sub-story line of his own made him even more lovable. He was the perfect guy that any girl would want to date and in real life any girl with half a brain or heart would have gone for him instead of Hwan, but that is the beauty of drama. Everything turns out for the best just like a fairytale.

This series has a Cinderella story plot line and the wicked stepmother is about as horrible as you can get. It is remarkable just how evil she is and what she makes her daughter so as well. Now she does get punished in the end, but I don't think it was nearly as severe as it should have been. In the last episode however you get the idea that she is suffering while Seung Mi was happy teaching and being with her mom.

If we are talking about Cinderella stories then Hwan's grandmother is the fairy godmother. She is so sweet and helps Eun Sung so much, but she isn't so perfect that she is unrealistic. She really wants Eun Sung to take over the company and is upset when she doesn't. She is also so tricky that at times you don't know whether she is helping or not. Also the fact that she has Alzheimer's makes her even more human. Also the fact that she doesn't realize Hwan loves Eun Sung until the end makes everything more believable.

Overall it was an excellent series and I highly recommend it. I gave away a few things, but still there are so many twists and turns that even if I described the whole series you would still be surprised at parts. It had the right mix of romance, humor, and down right depressing points. I could go on and on about how all the characters were lovable, but it is better if you just go watch it yourself. I promise that you won't be disappointed.