Thursday, May 31, 2018

The Wehaiyo! Drive: Love Flutters

Hello Wehaiyo! Readers,

I do not know if you noticed that I decided to update my blog a bit. I am going to focus more on this blog and try to write and communicate with you all more often. I often think about what I can do with this blog that would suit my readers.

I decided that my Wehaiyo! overall blog will be dedicated to Edutainment (Education plus Entertainment).

I decided to start a weekly series called the Wehaiyo! Drive where I will mention basically the dramas and music that influenced or "drove" my life this week. This could be new or old content.

My husband mentioned to keep my post short. I suppose he is trying to say that I am long-winded. Heh. You have an entire week to read about my Asian Entertainment life. I'll try to make my descriptions short.

This week's Dramas:

1) About Time



Watch it on: Viki

I started this drama this week, episodes 1-4. Usually, I would wait until there were more episodes, but I became more and more curious about the drama. I will continue as Lee Sung Kyung and Lee Sang Yoon's character have an interesting chemistry. It may backfire if Lee Sung Kyung keeps showing up wherever Lee Sang Yoon would be to stalk him, but in this case, we can clearly see he eventually becomes interested in her, so she was lucky that he did not call the police on her. How can anybody hate Lee Sung Kyung? Oh wait, I forgot about Cheese in the Trap where Lee Sung Kyung's character was crazy. Lee Sung Kyung and Lee Sang Yoon's characters fall in love within four episodes and somebody mentioned on the discussion section on Viki with the theory that Lee Sung Kyung's character may be draining Lee Sang Yoon's character's time clock as she gains time on her life clock whenever her heart flutters. I hope not, but then will our main couple die by the end of the drama?

2) Here to Heart



Watch it on: Viki

Wow. I finished 46 episodes. It was a somewhat torturous experience because the ending seemed forced, unrealistic, and unnecessary. Do not read my thoughts if you did not watch the ending yet and do not want me to spoil it. I could not understand the actions of Zhang Han's character. He tries to go through a fake marriage ceremony just to hope that Janine Chang's character would show up to interfere with the wedding ceremony. He was lucky because what if Liang Dawei's character did not show up to break up the wedding to claim his love, Jenny Zhang's character, the bride, back?  It's fine that the wedding was called off, but it was highly unnecessary for him to go into hiding for six months. I know he's rich, but it's unrealistic to cut off relations with everyone and his own company. I know he must have contacted his mother since his mother knew where he was, but he waited 46 episodes and seven years to be with Wen Nuan (Janine Chang). Also, Nanxian (Zhang Han)'s mother suddenly found a voice recording pen from Nanxian's late father that allows her to finally forgive Wen Nuan based on Nanxian's father's wishes. Is this for real? They resolve this big conflict so easily, which could have been resolved at any point in the story. I agree with most viewers that there were too many heartbreaking scenes between our main couple and not enough sweet scenes to show us their undying love for one another.

3) Rich Man, Poor Woman



Watch it on: Viki

It has been a week to start new dramas, and I feel hasty because now I have to wait for each new episode. I saw six episodes over the weekend and now I am stuck waiting for more. Initially, I thought this would be a boring drama because it did not seem as though Suho and Ha Yeon Soo match well as a couple. I also assumed Suho cannot act because of that time when I saw him in pretending to drink beer in an episode of the Happy Together variety show in 2016. 

Suho Drinking Beer Suho Drinking Beer - Happy Together Trusty Young Idols and Actors Special
Suho pretending to drink beer for a beer commercial 

He also did not seem to be too enthusiastic to make a heart sign with Ha Yeon Soo at the Rich Man, Poor Woman press conference.

This Week's Music:


1) NCT 127 - "Chain"



I am feeling crazy here as I probably listened to this song a hundred times. I cannot get sick of it. It took me a few listening rounds to realize that this is a Japanese song. I heard the word 今 or "ima," which means "now" in Japanese mentioned in the lyrics every now and then. There are quite a lot of English lyrics mixed in. Also, I would like to extend a big congratulations to NCT 127 for topping the Oricon chart at number one on 23-MAY-2018. I hope this achievement starts a "chain" reaction to even more success.

2) Pentagon - "Shine"



I know this is not a new song, but I started listening to it again and got hooked on the entire song. I am not too familiar with Pentagon, but I am really digging the song. When they were promoting, I was too lazy to look up the "찌질이 찌질이" (Jjijiri Jjijiri) part and what it meant, so I spent a while wondering what they were talking about, but it sounded interesting. I thought they were going dizzy with love, but the word actually means "loser." After checking the song translation, I am hooked once more on replying this song several times a day.

3) The East Light - "Love Flutters" 



How can anybody not like The East Light? Their songs are so bubbly, light, and fun. I seem to have a "lover flutters" theme this week. As soon as this song was published on Youtube on 24-MAY-2018, I was replaying this song whenever I had a chance. I even sent it to my husband and he likes The East Light too! I want to reserve my summer time for The East Light.

Thanks for reading about what drives my life this week. I hope you enjoyed reading the post and I wish you all a great week too. Please let me know what makes your heart flutter this week.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

The Fifth Annual Dramafever 2016 Awards Review

Hello Wehaiyo readers,

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Dramafever 2016 Awards review in 2018.

I feel like I have not written to you all in a long time. I'm back to do my annual Dramafever Award opinions. Seeing how this is my fourth annual review (reviewing all Dramafever awards except the first), I think repeat readers will know what to expect. However, I have not been catching up with the top shows and most of them are only watched partially. That fact may influence my Dramafever award opinions.

WARNING:

Before we move on, please be aware that this post has a lot of spoilers. If you did not watch some of the nominated dramas yet, you may not want to see any spoilers.

However, I am excited to share my opinions. Let's go!

Best Actress 

Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Kim Go Eun



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Descendants of the Sun, Song Hye Gyo

I feel weird this year. There isn't an actress in the nominated list from last year that stands out above the rest. I want to give a special shout out to Park So Dam for changing my view on her acting as she played such a loveable character on Cinderella and Four Knights.

Ever since I've seen Song Hye Gyo in Full House, she has been doing well with every drama. Descendants of the Sun was a mega drama that went beyond Korean audiences and quite noticeably into China. Although I was not too thrilled with the drama itself, Song Hye Gyo is a safe pick to win best actress as she was well immersed into her role as a surgeon in a chaotic world where basically anything, M3 Virus, bad guys, or bullets, can kill her.

Best Actor

Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo

There are a lot of good actors in this category. Again, I can't seem to pick one over another. This year is pretty tough to pick out best actor and actresses. Gong Yoo does well whatever project he chooses to do and is probably the well-deserved winner of this category.

Best Feature Film

So I Married an Anti-Fan
So Young 2: Never Gone
Miss Granny
Pure Love
Whatcha Wearin'?
Love Forecast



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Pure Love

I cannot imagine Pure Love winning this category, but I think Pure Love won because of our ever-popular leading stars, EXO's D.O. and Kim So Hyun. I thought of the story line as a sad story, which did not give me a satisfying ending. To summarize it, I did not quite understand the film.

As for the other nominees, So I Married an Anti-Fan, was an okay movie, starring fellow EXO's member, Chanyeol and Chinese actress,Yuan Shan Shan. I am way more impressed that Chanyeol attempted to mostly speak Chinese throughout the whole movie. His acting skills may have been okay since his role as an ex-lover to Girls Generation's Seohyun or Seo Joo Hyun was not convincing, but he gets superb credit from me for speaking a foreign language in the film. He was not originally part of EXO-M (the Chinese "Mandarin" sub-unit of EXO), but he must have trained hard for this role. The story started off comical and had a lot of potential for a great story, but I ended up expecting more from the plot.

In continuation of EXO interests, I did not have a chance to see the ex-EXO member, Kris Wu's movie, So Young 2: Never Gone. The previews look somewhat interesting.

Of all the nominees, I probably would have picked Miss Granny as the winner, though not by that much difference. I did like Shim Eun Kyung's acting a lot as she really went into character for her role as Granny. I also like the theme of having second chances to pursue one's dreams. When we add the cute B1A4's Jung Jin Young as Granny's grandson, I see a bonus factor. This movie was very sweet and I would not mind seeing a sequel.

Lastly, I have seen the other romantic comedies, Whatcha Wearin' and Love Forecast. Whatcha Wearin' is a great romantic comedy where you watch the main couple, Ji Sung and Kim Ah Joong, fall in love as they go from strangers to lovers. It was a bit awkard for me to watch Ji Sung in a sex scene though. However, it's a great rom-com to watch at least once.

I was a bit disappointed in Love Forecast though despite the movie starring great leads Lee Seung Gi and Moon Chae Won. I am a great fan of Moon Chae Won, but I am not a great fan of the plot. There simply was not enough chemistry between the leads and I felt the love mostly fizzled since they were friends most of the movie. Lee Seung Gi's character had to go on a Gyro Drop amusement park ride to even spit out his confession for Moon Chae Won's character. I actually saw this movie on an airplane. However, I somehow would not mind watching it again.

Best Supporting Actor

Signal, Jo Jin Woong
Jealousy Incarnate, Go Kyung Pyo
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, Kang Ha Neul
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Lee Dong Wook
Descendants of the Sun, Jin Goo
Cheese In the Trap, Seo Kang Joon



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Lee Dong Wook

Ah! This list of nominees for the Best Supporting Actor is very tough. I think these actors were outstanding in their roles. However, if I had to pick a winner, it has to be Jo Jin Woong's character from Signal. It was hard enough already acting alone most of the time and he had to act such emotional scenes in the absence of other actors in his scenes. I cannot imagine crying the way he did while sitting in a car alone talking about the future.

Best Supporting Actress

Signal, Jo Jin Woong
Jealousy Incarnate, Go Kyung Pyo
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, Kang Ha Neul
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Lee Dong Wook
Descendants of the Sun, Jin Goo
Cheese In the Trap, Seo Kang Joon



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Yoo In Na

This category did not stand out for me as I did not notice any actresses that particularly did better than another nominee. I want to stay neutral on this category. However, there were some great performances and some of these ladies became rising stars who eventually became leads in the next drama.

Yoo In Na's character in Goblin: the Lonely and Great God did not stand out. She seems to take on the same type of role in every drama. However, she played her role well. I felt bad for her character since her memories were wiped out either through reincarnation or the Grim Reaper and there isn't anything she can do about her situation.

I was surprised to see Lee Sung Kyung in such a crazy role for Cheese in the Trap. I found her character fascinating because she is unrealistic, but still pursues her interest with no hesitation. After watching Lee Sung Kyung in this drama, I have definitely put her on the rising star radar and of course, she came back as the lead of a more popular drama, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.

Descendants of the Sun's Kim Ji Won is also another rising star. I did not like her too much since she played an annoying character such as Yoo "Ra-El" (Rachel) in Heirs, but she has gotten more popular because of her strong woman role, which is strong enough to go against the leading lady, Song Hye Kyo's character in Descendants of the Sun. Just as I thought, Kim Ji Won became a loveable leading lady character in one of my favorite dramas, Fight My Way.

For Mao Xiao Tong, I was excited to see her in another drama again after obsessing over Love O2OThe Princess Weiyoung is another drama that sucked me in quickly as this is not the type of drama I could try to stop watching, so I watched about 21 episodes at once. In this drama, Mao Xiao Tong's character seems very innocent girl on the outside. Her family circumstances led her to be on the main character, Princess Weiyoung's side, but becomes more and more cunning as she tries to improve her prestige and her relationship with Prince Nanan or Tuoba Yu. This role is vastly different from her bubbly, clumsy, and charming role as the main character, Bei Weiwei's best friend in Love O2O. I am very interested in further watching Mao Xiao Tong dramas.

I did not watch Jealousy Incarnate fully and cannot comment on Park Ji Young's acting role. I also took sneak peaks at Please Come Back Mister, so I cannot comment on Lee Min Jung's role either. However, I would have thought Lee Min Jung is a main character and not a supporting character in the drama.


BEST SNS DRAMA


High End Crush
Touching You
Click Your Heart
Go Ho's Starry Night
Detective Alice
Thumping Spike



And the winner is...





DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Go Ho's Starry Night

I agree with the viewers. I enjoyed Go Ho's Starry Nighta lot. It was not a drama that I finished in one sitting, but I enjoyed every episode as there were five men who came into Go Ho's love life or at least wanted to be a contender to become her boyfriend. I would have flipped a table if Kim Young Kwang and Yuri's characters did not end up together. They are physically a beautiful couple. I am seeing so many sides to Kim Young Kwang with every drama. He has the ability to play a lot of different characters, but I love his angry characters such as this drama and D-day. I wish this was a full fledge drama as the story was too short. Our couple does not actually be together until the last episode and that was kind of disappointing since I wanted to see more sweet scenes. As a bonus, in this drama, I took notice of actor Shin Jae Ha and I knew he would be a rising star too. He played a memorable role as a younger, but lustful man than Yuri's character. He eventually took another noticeable role as Lee Jong Suk's brother and Kim So Hyun's boyfriend in While You Were Sleeping. It's not a bad deal, right?

High End Crush was strange SNS drama where I was not sure where exactly the plot was going. It started off interesting as Jung Il Woo's character instantly develops a crush on Jin Se Yun's character even though he is denying it for a good chunk of the drama. A major problem with this drama is that I did not feel that the female lead, Jin Se Yun's character, reciprocates Jung Il Woo's love. She seems to be rejecting him for most of the drama. The plot takes a weird turn as he tries to find her home in the mountains and she won't leave her home in the mountains to be with him or to work with him. I am not too impressed with actress Jin Se Yun since I had seen her previously in Doctor Stranger and I really wanted Lee Jong Suk's character to end up with Kang So Ra's character.

Initially, I did not want to watch Click Your Heart because I thought it would be a cheesy teenage drama. However, I gave it a try and found the drama experience interesting and entertaining. I did grow up on the choose-your-own-adventures children books and found it so entertaining. Knowing myself, I eventually ended up picking every type of ending just to see the result. My favorite ending is the B2 ending with Angel (Kang) Chani. I cried when I saw Angel Chani appear at the end after he wakes up from a coma. However, it was fairly disappointing to not see Min Ah and Chani's relationship develop because of lack of drama time. Because of this drama, I am introduced to the Neoz group, which eventually became the SF9 dance music boy group.

I did not have a chance to watch the Touching You and Detective Alice dramas, so I will not comment on it.

I did watch a few episodes of Thumping Spike and so far, the drama seems to be fun with an appealing lead couple, Hwang Seung Eon and Song Jae Rim. I did not want to see this drama because I was in the middle of watching We Got Married reality show with Song Jae Rim and Kim So Eun as one of the couples. Ironically, Kim So Eun is the main female lead for Thumping Spike 2 with another hottie, Lee Won Geun. On the other hand, Hwang Seung Eon already caught my interest when she played Han Ye Seul's sister in Madame Antoine where Hwang Seung Eon's character pretends to teach Lee Joo Hyung's character how to woo Han Ye Seul including how to do a steamy kiss. I would think there will be a steamy kiss in Thumping Spike because both Song Jae Rim and Hwang Seung Eon are great kissers.



BEST CHINESE LANGUAGE DRAMA


When a Snail Falls In Love
Life Plan A and B
Love O2O
The Princess Weiyoung
My Amazing Boyfriend
Bromance



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: The Princess Weiyoung

This is one of my favorite categories, because I love Chinese dramas. I suppose Dramafever needs to have a Chinese category just to make sure a Chinese drama can win an award. Sadly, I did not watch many of the nominated dramas except for Love O2O and Bromance.

I did not actually finish The Princess Weiyoung drama. I am very captivated by the story line and amazed at how Princess Weiyoung, which is actually Princess Feng Xin'er who took Princess Weiyoung's identity to survive, actually escaped trouble and death so many times. Actually, this type of escape-trouble-or-death-at-every-turn is a classic Chinese story line, but it inspires me every time to believe that good will eventually overcome evil. While waiting for more episodes to come out, I eventually stopped watching to look at other dramas with available episodes. I will eventually finish this drama.

While I do enjoy The Princess Weiyoung, I think of Love O2O as the ultimate winner of this category. I was obsessed over this drama to the point where I am not over this drama even after it ended. I would search for anything to see Yang Yang and Zheng Shuang as a couple again. This pair is killing me and I wish they were a couple in real life. As a bonus, anybody who likes this pair can also go see their Jasmine Tea commercial, which they filmed before Love O2O. What amazes me about the Love O2O drama is that our main couple remained strong throughout the entire drama. Most dramas usually have situations or people who split up the main couple during the drama, but in this drama, nothing can separate this couple as they remain side by side through thick and thin. There is an amazing amount of trust between them, so even if they are doing other things or spending time with other people, there are no problems. Yang Yang's character is so mature that he lets Zheng Shuang's character resolve her own relationship problems without his help as he believes she can do it herself. As soon as their characters officially meet in real life as they are an online "married" couple in a MMORPG game, they became an official couple. I thought my brother, who is in the game industry, would like this drama, but surprisingly, my brother thought it was super cheesy and unrealistic. I am a romantic at heart, so I consider this couple the strongest couple I have ever seen in a drama.

I watched the Bromance drama, but I did not like the main couple played by Megan Lai and Baron Chen. I cringe at dramas where the female has to hide her identity by playing a male character. Although Megan Lai played her role fairly realistically, I still did not like it. The writer practically forced situations where they have to act as if they were a gay couple. If it were not for the side couple story line, I would have taken a long time to finish this drama. I became a fan of the Bii and Katie Chen couple. It was fun to watch them fall in love and it was fun to watch Katie Chen's character challenge Bii's character and pierce through his stoic demeanor. At first, I thought Katie's character faked her illness, but then she never lied to Bii's character as she really did have an illness. I have not felt this way about being obsessed over a secondary couple in a drama since Kim Bum and Kim So Eun, the Soeulmate couple in Boys Over Flowers


BEST KISS


Descendants of the Sun, Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Gyo
Another Oh Hae Young, Eric Mun and Seo Hyun Jin
Cinderella and Four Knights, Jung Il Woo and Park So Dam
Cheese In the Trap, Park Hae Jin and Kim Go Eun
Jealousy Incarnate, Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin
Bromance, Baron Chen and Megan Lai



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Jealousy Incarnate, Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin

By the way, I loved how Jo Jung Suk kissed the award after his acceptance speech. This is a category where I do not have to worry about whether I watched the drama or not, though I should at least watch every kiss scene.

I did see many steamy and passionate kiss scenes in Jealousy Incarnate and I understand why Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin won the award. However, I am not too fond of this couple. I personally think Eric Mun and Seo Hyun Jin should win this award for Another Oh Hae Young because they look like a matching hot couple and their kiss scenes seem so passionate. I will give an honorable mention for Jung Il Woo and Park So Dam's drunk kiss scene in episode eight of Cinderella and Four Knights because it was so cute and natural.


BEST VARIETY SHOW


The Return of Superman
Running Man
After School Club (No longer available on Dramafever, but available on Viki)
Infinity Challenge
Simply K-pop (Not available on Dramafever, but available on Viki)
2 Days 1 Night



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Running Man

With 311 episodes available on Dramafever, we can see how ever-popular Running Man is for four Dramafever award seasons. In fact, Running Man is undefeated in this category. I cannot comment too much on this category because I do not have much time to actually watch variety shows. However, I do know that the Running Man show can easily make me laugh.



BEST BROMANCE


Bromance, Baron Chen and Megan Lai
Cinderella and Four Knights, Jung Il Woo and Ahn Jae Hyun
Descendants of the Sun, Song Joong Ki and Jin Goo
Jealousy Incarnate, Jo Jung Suk and Go Kyung Pyo
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook
Squad 38, Ma Dong Suk and Seo In Guk



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Cinderella and Four Knights, Jung Il Woo and Ahn Jae Hyun

Why is Baron Chen and Megan Lai in this category? I suppose if we talk about a fake bromance, then they would apply to this category or is Dramafever trying to include this drama in the nominees because it has the word, "Bromance," in it?

Jung Il Woo and Ahn Jae Hyun winning this category is a mystery for me. I judge bromance as having a tight bond between two guys. Jung Il Woo and Ahn Jae Hyun's characters were at odds for most of the drama where they give each other dirty looks, so I simply did not feel the bromance between them.

The top contenders for the award in my opinion would be between Descendants of the Sun's Song Joong Ki and Jin Goo and Goblin: The Lonely and Great God's Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook. Nobody can break Song Joong Ki and Jin Goo's bromance character bond because I would think that even if the two men were separated, they would still telepathically understand each other, especially on the battlefield when they have each other's backs and death can happen at any moment. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook's characters have a good rapport despite them not liking each other. They may fight, but there are subtle hints that deep down inside, they care for each other. When the Goblin finally knows the truth about the Grim Reaper's identity, the Goblin's tears while he furiously grabbed the Grim Reaper by the collar proves that this was a painfully deep bromance. The Grim Reaper ends up praying at the temple for his sins.

For the record, I have not seen Squad 38 yet.


RISING STAR


Love O2O, Yang Yang
Cheese In the Trap, Nam Joo Hyuk
Let's Fight, Ghost, Kim So Hyun
Age of Youth, Park Hye Soo
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Yook Sung Jae
My Amazing Boyfriend, Wu Qian



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Cheese In the Trap, Nam Joo Hyuk

I do think that Nam Joo Hyuk is a rising star, but not because of Cheese In the Trap, where he did not receive much of a role besides being Park Min Ji's supportive boyfriend. If he won because of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, then I would most definitely support his win. However, his role in Cheese In the Trap is definitely a step up from School 2015 where his character was the chosen main boyfriend, but his character seemed unnecessary for the story.

Yang Yang is my pick for rising star since he especially became super famous after Love O2O. How can a man like Yang Yang be so cool? I first saw him in the movie, The Left Ear, where he played a model student-turn-corrupted, jerk character, so I did not admire him at that time because his character greatly disappointed me. However, I cannot wait for Yang Yang's next appearance on Dramafever besides his supporting role on I Belonged To You.

Kim So Hyun already was a rising star since starring in numerous dramas. I enjoy watching her works even though I may not like some of the dramas. I feel the same for Yook Sung Jae, who is already a rising star since School 2015 where up to the last episode, he almost stole Kim So Hyun's character away from Nam Joo Hyuk's character. By the way, Yook Sung Jae's performance as a spoiled rich boy and God (when God took over his body) in Goblin: The Lonely and Great God was very convincing. He is truly an actor who has solid acting skills. Since this category is for a rising star, which I tend to think it is for somebody who has not been an rising star before, I disqualified Kim So Hyun and Yook Sung Jae since they were already rising stars in my opinion.


BEST COUPLE


Another Oh Hae Young, Eric Mun and Seo Hyun Jin
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun
Doctor Crush, Kim Rae Won and Park Shin Hye
Jealousy Incarnate, Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin
Uncontrollably Fond (Lightly, Ardently), Kim Woo Bin and Suzy
Descendants of the Sun, Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Gyo



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun

I am not too surprised about the winner of this category since Goblin: The Lonely and Great God is a popular drama. However, I had a hard time believing that somebody as strong and mature as the Goblin would fall in love with a 16-year-old immature and hyper girl. Their relationship was not realistic to me. If Kim Go Eun's character was more mature, then I would have thought she matched well with the Goblin.

The Doctor Crush couple made me cringe. I am not saying that couples with a big age gap do not make a great couple, but I did not particularly feel any chemistry and love between the characters except for episode four where Kim Rae Won's character arrived on a helicopter and asked Park Shin Hye's character some direct questions to find out if she was still single. That scene made my heart skip a beat. The rest of the drama was romantically forgettable.

I know there is a huge following for Descendants of the Sun and the fact that Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo married each other in real life, but as far as the drama goes, I was initially interested in the couple, but as I continued watching the subsequent episodes and how Song Hye Kyo rejected Song Joong Ki, I felt romantically bored. I still need to finish the drama as I might have stopped half way. Their kissing scenes did not stir any interest for me. Since I previously saw Nice Guy before the Descendants of the Sun drama, I think Song Joong Ki's chemistry with Moon Chae Won is off the charts, which meant that their acting is awesome. My fantasies about them being together in real life has been stopped short.


BEST KOREAN DRAMA - COMEDY


Cheese In the Trap
Let's Fight Ghost
The Entertainer
Another Oh Hae Young
Cinderella and Four Knights
Jealousy Incarnate



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Cinderella and Four Knights

Eek! I cannot say too much about this category because I have not actually completely seen these dramas except for Cheese in The Trap. It seems that none of these nominees were particularly comedic in my opinion. 


BEST KOREAN DRAMA - MELODRAMA


Uncontrollably Fond (Lightly, Ardently)
The K2
Doctor Crush
Descendants of the Sun
Signal
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God

I am not sure how to judge this category as there are a lot of strong nominees. Goblin: The Lonely and Great God seems to be the appropriate winner. However, I also think The K2Descendants of the Sun, and Signalcan also be potential winners in that there were a lot of action scenes and Signal provided a lot of emotional cliffhangers.



BEST VILLIAN


Uncontrollably Fond (Lightly, Ardently), Im Joo Eun
The K2, Song Yoon Ah
Remember, Nam Goong Min
The Princess Weiyoung, Vanness Wu
Let's Fight Ghost, Kwon Yool
Descendants of the Sun, David McInnis



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Descendants of the Sun, David McInnis

The voters have spoken. They want to see more of David McInnis. When I first saw him, I wondered who he was. He played his classic villain role well. Even though I only watched half the drama, I wondered why he became a baddie in the first place. I know that he turned evil because selling weapons was profitable, but why would somebody change so suddenly?

I did watch several episodes of The K2 and deep down, I feel Song Yoon Ah's role was not a complete villain. She still has the ability to care for others such as when she was in a car crash, she was worried about Ji Chang Wook's character. However, since I did not finish the drama, maybe she became more villain later on.

I do not see Vanness Wu's character in The Princess Weiyoung as completely villain yet since I only watched half way. Vanness Wu makes his moves carefully and quietly, but because he has not taken any action, I do not see him as a full-fledged villain yet. Sometimes, certain situations force people to become villain.

I saw the nominated scene of Nam Goong Min in the video above and I am impressed by Nam Goong Min's performance. I did not watch the drama, Remember, yet. His character seems to have a lot of screws loose in his brain as he kills without hesitation. I think he can also be a winner along with David McInnis. I do prefer Nam Goong Min as a good guy since his villain role is so scary, though not as scary as actor Lee Min Ki's villian roles.


BEST ENSEMBLE


Dear My Friends
Squad 38
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo
Moorim School
Cheese In the Trap
Age of Youth



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Scarlet Heart: Ryeo

The Scarlet Heart: Ryeo ensemble winning this award seems fitting. Usually in historical dramas, the royal brothers endlessly scheme against each other for power, but at least for the first few episodes, the princes get along really well with the exception of Prince So, who is an outcast. I liked seeing them play games and make jokes together. Even the eldest Prince Yo enjoys the humor behind his serious face.

I would also root for the Moorim School ensemble because they show great teamwork despite their personal issues. I wish they had more action scenes together, but this drama aims at more drama than action. Lee Hyun Woo and Lee Hong Bin's friendship became so unusually strong that they would give up their ambitions for one another. The last episode where they confess their friendship is very touching. I am surprised they are not nominated for the Bromance category.

For me, the Cheese In the Trap ensemble was a big mess. I am not sure why they are nominated. Sadly, I did not watch the other nominated dramas.



BEST HISTORICAL DRAMA


Moonlight Drawn by Clouds
Mirror of the Witch
Imperial Doctress
Six Flying Dragons
The Princess Weiyoung
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Scarlet Heart: Ryeo

I think Scarlet Heart: Ryeo was a popular drama with viewers and therefore is the imminent winner of this category. Seeing all these videos makes me want to finish this drama ASAP.

I cannot comment too much on this category because the only drama I watched in full was Imperial Doctress, which fell a bit short of my expectations due to the strange plots toward the end of the drama where the king was kidnapped and then our lead couple was eventually separated for many years.

However, I heard a lot of great things about Six Flying Dragons as well. I saw a few episodes so far, which was interesting, but there are a lot of characters introduced in the beginning. This drama is very long with 50 episodes. I will finish it one day.


BEST BAD BOY


Friend 2, Kim Woo Bin
So Young 2: Never Gone, Kris Wu
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, Lee Joon Ki
Doctor Romantic, Han Suk Kyu
Cinderella and Four Knights, Ahn Jae Hyun
The K2, Ji Chang Wook


And the winner is...





DRAMAFEVER WINNER: The K2, Ji Chang Wook

This category is all subjective and I do support our winner, Ji Chang Wook. His action scenes are amazing. I have not seen his whole drama, but so far, I find it exciting to watch. He is our action bad boy winner.

I think Lee Joon Ki makes a great bad boy as well in appearances. He seems to be oozing with badness in Scarlet Heart: Ryeo. I think his metal face mask accentuates that bad boy look along with his black wardrobe.

As for an emotional bad boy, I vote for Ahn Jae Hyun in Cinderella and Four Knights. He made it so tough for his love interest, Son Na Eun, since he tried to push her away because of what happened in the past with her brother, his good friend. Because his character hides his emotions well, I honestly do not know if he liked leading lady, Park So Dam for real either as they tried to kiss, although I am not sure if that was a dream sequence. He even played a character with seemingly many girlfriends in My Love From Another Starso he seems to do his bad boy part well.

I have not seen the other nominated works.


BEST EATING SCENE


Let's Drink (Drinking Solo)
Les Interpretes
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God
Cinderella and Four Knights
Let's Fight Ghost
Another Oh Hae Young



And the winner is...




DRAMAFEVER WINNER: Let's Drink (Drinking Solo)

There is a clear winner in this category. Honestly, I think Dramafever made this category up just to give Let's Drink (Drinking Solo) their very own award. The other nominees with one or two scenes do not compare. The entire Let's Drink (Drinking Solo) show is about dining solo and even with drinks, there was a lot of food that makes me salivate in every episode. We even listen to Ha Suk Jin's character explain his philosophy for why he dines solo in almost every episode (We see other characters dine solo as well). This must be a very fun and delicious role for Ha Suk Jin to play and I am sure he will sell any food or drink commercial well in real life. In fact, why did this drama not get nominated for Best Ensemble or Best Korean Drama - Comedy? The bond among the entire cast was enjoyable to watch. As for the Dramafever winner video, it is funny to watch poor Park Ha Sun's character snack and drink beer while watching Ha Suk Jin's character eat and drink so well on his SNS (Social Network Service / Social Media).


I finally reviewed the entire Fifth Annual Dramafever awards. I hope you enjoy reading my opinions, but I am also sorry that I did not completely watch many of the nominated works. I recommend two dramas, which are not nominated in many categories as the two "must watch" dramas of 2016 year: Signal and Let's Drink (Drinking Solo).

I will try to revive my blog and write more in the future. Please look forward to more of my posts. By bye, for now.
Update cookies preferences