Welcome to this week's Wehaiyo! Drive. This week's theme mostly revolves around achievement and success. I can't wait to get started. This week, I was full of energy, creating posts, watching dramas, listening to music, maintain an old page of my blog, thinking up great ideas for my blog, and so on.
Warning: If you do not want to know the ending, do not read further. Spoilers ahead.
I finished this drama finally. A big success for myself. When I do not like a drama too much, I spend a long time finishing it. However, since I was almost at the end, I figured I would watch until the end to get it over with.
Last week, I grumbled about the ridiculous plot line between Sungyeol and Woohyun, who have the same names in real life. It only takes Sungyeol, who gets sick once a year, to realize that living harmoniously with Woohyun and their mother is the best plan of action. I really wanted to make him get sick earlier in the drama to avoid the biggest conflict of the drama. Solving the mother problem is almost too easy.
I do not understand Sungyeol too well. After everybody is mostly happy, he decides to run away from home (Can a high school student just get up and leave?) to start a new life. On top of that, while he was crossing the street, he was hit by a car and both Woohyun and Seulbi, played by Kim Sae Ron, risked their lives to save Sungyeol.
I also did not understand Angel Brother (type figure), Chun Byungchul, played by Lee Chang Joo, who tries to force Seulbi to become an angel again and then tries to force Seulbi to not remember her past. This angel is such a stubborn character. Also, is an angel who tries to harm humans considered an angel?
When Seulbi loses her memory, I basically shook my head the entire episode. This particular plot line was so unnecessary, but I do like the scenes where her amnesic self has a crush on Sungyeol instead. Irony? Sungyeol then has a great opportunity to reject her. Sungyeol, meanwhile becomes a popular college boy who dates a lot and has a huge following of girls after him. That sudden character change is hard for me to accept.
High School - Love On became a happy ending with every high school student, which is expected for a high school drama. Success!
This is the hottest new drama that just started last week and I can see why. I have only seen two episodes and I have become addicted to the drama already. This drama started off really strong. I love Park Seo Joon and Park Min Young's character in this drama.
Park Min Young's character, Kim Miso, is the ultimate executive assistant. I have no idea how she survived nine grueling years as the executive assistant of Lee Young Joon played by Park Seo Joon. Still, I admire her great sense of patience and her professionalism.
Even though Lee Young Joon is a very narcissistic person, I still can see his dumbfounded charms showing through. It seems odd to me that he would not let women touch him except for Kim Miso. I am anticipating more episodes to find out about his life history. Lee Young Joon's attraction to Park Min Young is the best part of the drama. I can't wait for more episodes.
Since Kim Miso and Lee Young Joon are already much success in their career, I can't wait to see them succeed in their love life.
I started watching Wok of Love since last week. Now, at episode 8, I am excited to see Lee Junho who plays Chef Seo Poong assemble his restaurant team of gangsters led by Doo Chil Sung (Jang Hyuk), what seems like former-masters-of-the-kitchen staff, and the lovely Dan Sae Woo played by Jung Ryeo Won. The drama has a nice pace with mini-sized episodes (30 minutes each). Chef Seo is out for revenge and I cannot wait until that happens with all its hilarity. This is a drama where there are a lot of unfortunate people in difficult circumstances, so I am rooting for all of them to succeed.
Wehaiyo!
This week's Music:
Last week, I mentioned that I would talk about the an exciting and friendly musical feud between our former Mixnine star groups, ONF and A.C.E, who just released their title tracks on June 7th. I feel like these guys put in 200% effort into their performances. Even if the songs sounded bad (which they do not), I still would have supported them just for the effort they put into their performances. I missed these guys so much since YG's music survival program, Mixnine was over. They deserve all the success that they have. Too bad I cannot see them combine into the winning Mixnine group. I am curious about all the backstage banter between the two groups at music shows.
1) A.C.E - "Take Me Higher"
In terms of repeat value, I definitely listened to "Take Me Higher" the most of this week. The music is very relaxing. I have seen A.C.E's busking performance and their live musical performances and was very impressed with their live vocals with complicated and sharp choreography. They are not veterans in the music industry yet, but they are already looking like veterans. Their vocals are very stable.
Every single time Donghun wears these shirts that flip up when he dances, I take notice right away. When Byeongkwan dances his fluid dance moves in the back as they dance in a diagonal line, I am once again, amazed. I have no idea if Byeongkwan is the best dancer I have ever seen.
2) ONF - "Complete"
On the other hand, ONF is also a formidable music opponent. I knew they also had excellent singing and dancing skills since debut and from further watching Mixnine. Since ONF's amazing debut song, "ON/OFF," I had anticipated what they would come back with next. "Complete" is also a very catchy song, which I think will also be very successful. The only thing that is stopping my enjoyment is the fact that I do not know the names of every member. I did know about the members more from watching Mixnine, but I need to see more of them on programs. I will as time goes by.
I cannot help but notice Laun's smiley face in most of their performances. I do not think I can hide from this guy's smiles. He is the smile master. MK has a nice smile as well. They look a bit similar to me. When they smile, I smile. I give honorable mention to Seungjoon, who also caught my eye with his performance. Somehow, I did not notice popular member Hyojin that much. I think I barely recognized Wyatt and U. This is a group I would like to know more about.
3) Doyoung - "Hard For Me"
I think it is hard to get by a Wehaiyo! Drive week without NCT being on my list. Since I am still watching the Rich Man, Poor Woman drama where this song is part of the OST, I am very drawn to Doyoung's poignant, "It's hard for me...to forget you" line in the lyrics. I love Doyoung's voice. I want more of his works. He is such a great singer. I will not forget him, for sure. For those listeners who like this song, I also recommend Cheeze's version of the "Hard For Me" song.
No matter how much success we achieve in life, we cannot forget about our love.
Welcome to the first Wehaiyo! Freestyle review. Every now and then, I get inspired to review something that is not a standard drama, movie, or music. In this case, I watched a short film commercial, but I would like to call it a "story" commercial. I feel that a story commercial is way more effective than an infomercial. I thought I would post about it.
Today's story commercial review is a collaboration between Tous, a "successful and desirable" jewelry brand and the Dingo K-Beauty Youtube channel. The short film sells the Tous "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette product. The product itself is not cheap ($62 for small or $75 for large size). I do not usually buy perfumes, but use sample perfume products from a magazine. After watching this story commercial, I want this perfume. I do not care that I am 36 years old, married, and not in the dating scene. I want this perfume. I am hugely debating clicking my own referral link just to make a purchase.
If you are thinking of buying this product, why not buy it below or the link is also featured at the bottom of this post for those who do not want to wait until the end.
If you have 13 minutes and 16 seconds to spare, you can get through this exciting student love story between Han Jisoo and Kim Jinwoo. You can watch the video now and then read my commentary afterwards.
Update 14-JAN-2024: The Youtube video was made private but the video can still be viewed on Facebook: https://fb.watch/pzTyV4Am5f/
[Things Women Just Know] When a Guy Friend Suddenly Looks Attractive (5년 된 남사친에게 설렌다니?! 완전 사랑스러운 고등학생들의 연애 이야기)
Our story starts off strong at a cafe where within seconds, Han Jisoo (조혜주/Jo Hye Ju or Jo Hye Joo) confesses to her friend, Jinkyung that Jisoo likes her guy friend, Kim Jinwoo (정효준 Jeong Hyo Joon). Her friend spits out her drink in surprise.
It all started the night before when all three friends were at a norebang (karaoke/song room). Jinwoo was singing karaoke and Jisoo was suddenly attracted by his singing voice.
They glance at each other and Jisoo seems too embarassed to go on. She leaves early while Jinwoo continues to sing.
At home, Jisoo agonizes over what she should do when she found out she has a crush on her guy friend. His voice echos in her mind all night long. By morning, she sits in her bed like a zombie and admits that it is time for school.
When Jisoo arrives at school, she is unbelievably the most popular girl in school. She waves to people like a celebrity and she models the latest backpack on her back. She arrives to her desk that is already filled with lots of gifts for her. After giving away some of her gifts and packing other gifts, she opens a small-sized carton of strawberry milk and drinks it. As she tilts her head forward after finishing her milk, she sees Jinwoo sitting opposite of her with a smile. Jisoo almost spits out her drink.
Jisoo remains shy and embarassed as Jinwoo asks her why she left early and whether she is sick. He comments on her red cheeks and and feels her forehead for fever.
At the present moment in the cafe, while Jisoo is still recounting the day's events, Jinkyung asks if Jisoo flirted with Jinwoo. Jisoo insists that she did, continuing her story.
After lunch, Jisoo sat on a bench, waiting for Jinwoo to arrive. The first thing Jinwoo comments on is how great of a hamburger Jisoo missed during lunch. Jisoo wasted no time and showed Jinwoo of a picture of another guy and asked Jinwoo for his thoughts. Jisoo claims that this guy likes all her Insta (Instagram) pics and DMs (direct messages) her constantly. She tells Jinwoo how handsome the man looked, hoping to bring out Jinwoo's jealous feelings and perhaps a confession.
Instead Jinwoo comments that the man is really good looking and Jisoo should introduce the guy to Jinwoo after she meets the guy. Jinwoo chirps out compliment after compliment about this guy and Jisoo almost stomps away in resignation.
Back to the present moment again, Jisoo and her friend were leaving the cafe, grumbling over how Jinwoo does not realize how lucky he was since Jisoo likes him.
In order to make Jinwoo see Jisoo as a girl, Jisoo and her friend head over to the nearby cosmetics store and try on make-up. This part made me feel a bit disappointed because I believe a truly beautiful woman does not need to enhance or over enhance herself with make-up. However, I know that Korean culture is especially very focused on cosmetics to look beautiful.
Jisoo places some cosmetics into her shopping basket, but I wondered as a student, how much money does she have to be able to afford the cosmetics and the "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette. I suppose she is a rich girl since she has the latest backpack.
At home, she dances to some upbeat music, takes a selfie with the "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette, and publishes it on Instagram. Jinwoo does not respond to her post. Instead, Jinwoo uploads a picture of himself and his mention of the "best" burger.
Jisoo resolves to put on a lot of make-up for the next day at school. She struts down the street, flaunting her beauty.
My first thought is, how could a student put so much emphasis on make-up? I really hoped that Jinwoo would not fall for Jisoo because of her make-up as that would be so disappointing.
To my delight, a teacher immediately saw Jisoo with a lot of make-up on and immediately asked her if that was allowed at school.
The situation becomes a bit forced in the story. Jisoo gets her shirt wet while cleaning off her make-up in the bathroom. Honestly, she looks so much prettier with less make-up on. She calls Jinkyung and asks Jinkyung to lend her Jinkyung's P.E. or gym shirt.
After changing, Jisoo notices that the P.E. shirt had a bad odor. Jinkyung apparently had not washed it in a while. This situation sets Jisoo up to use the "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette on herself. The Tous "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette saves the day.
Upon Jisoo walking into the classroom, Jinwoo, with his head on his desk and his eyes closed, smelled an aroma and wakes up. Jisoo expects Jinwoo to mention her perfume. Jinwoo hesitates and announces spaghetti being the meal that would be served for lunch. Jisoo lost to her competition, Jinwoo's appetite.
In the evening, Jisoo sees that Jinwoo posted a photo about spaghetti and the hastag, #BestDayEver. On the other hand, Jisoo thinks that she had the worst day ever instead. At the bus stop, Jinwoo walks up to Jisoo complaining about his stomach when Jisoo was trying to avoid him by leaving earlier. Jisoo asks Jinwoo if he was going to hagwon, which is a private institution, academy, or cram school, but Jinwoo continues to complain about his stomach and therefore, would not be going to hagwon. Jisoo thought Jinwoo was bluffing about his stomach problem.
In the bus, the two sat next to each other in the back row, but were oddly quiet towards each other. Suddenly, Jinwoo leans on Jisoo's shoulder and told her that he was tired and wanted to stay on her shoulder for a while.
Jisoo's heart beats out of control. She secretly pleads not to be embarrassed over her heart-beating situation. With his eyes still closed, Jinwoo asks Jisoo why she was wearing perfume that day. Since his head was on her shoulder, he could probably still smell perfume on her. Jisoo complained about Jinwoo scaring her since he spoke out of the blue. Jinwoo insisted that Jisoo never wore perfume for the five years that he has known her.
Jisoo hesitates and finally blurts out, "So what?" and that she flat-out likes him.
She goes on a tirade in all honesty. She felt her burden being lifted and she felt so much better.
Jinwoo finally smiles. Jisoo asks him if her confession was very funny. Jinwoo denies it and tells her his side of the story.
Apparently, he fell in love with her around the same time at the norebang that night. I think he lost confidence because she ran away that night.
Spot your K-pop favorites on the wall!
He was also rolling around the bed that night thinking about Jisoo and whined over her pretty self on Instagram. In the most funniest scene of the story, he contemplated killing himself for having thoughts about his crush by jumping out his bedroom window, but soon realized that his bedroom is on the first floor.
Jinwoo wonders how he can go to school when he has feelings for his friend, but he comes into the classroom so naturally, as if nothing happened after a mental pep-talk.
After Jisoo showed Jinwoo the Instagram picture of the handsome man and huffs away, Jinwoo berates himself for complimenting the guy.
At night, Jinwoo hilariously wanted to post a negative comment on that guy's Instagram picture. He thought his relationship with Jisoo could have been over before it started.
However, Jinwoo confessed that when Jisoo stood in front of him and especially him in the classroom wearing perfume, he knew that he also liked Jisoo.
Our story ends in shyness as the two look away from one another, but end up reaching for each others hands. It's so cute to see Jisoo, the most popular girl in class, cave into shyness when she is around Jinwoo.
Yay for happy endings! Amazingly, the two lovebirds fell in love and confessed within two nights. How is that for a fast love story?
The behind the scene shots were cute as well.
In the end, do women really know when a guy friend suddenly looks attractive? The possibility is there. In the case of yes, would all women try to pursue their crush or would they cower in the face of friendship?
On one hand, I can understand that a person would not want to risk the possibility to lose a friend after confessing, but on the other hand, a person would not want to regret not being able to confess and risk nothing happening or that his or her friend would start dating someone else. I say, "Seize that moment" like Jisoo does. I only wish she did not have to spend money on cosmetics and perfume in order to seize that moment. Actually, I have a hard time believing she would be rejected by Jinwoo, seeing how she is the most popular girl in school and she obtains nice things. The sweetest part of the story is the evidence that Jisoo and Jinwoo fell in love. I think the writer and the director of this story was really good at portraying so much in so little time.
In case you are interested in seizing your own moment and buying Tous' "Your Moments" Eau De Toilette or other Tous' products (not required), please see below for a discount code. I hope you enjoyed the mini-recap and review.
If you want to buy the Your moments' Eau De Toilette, check out my Amazon affiliate links to support me and Amazon:
Welcome back to our second week of the Wehaiyo! Drive. I had an uneventful week. How about you?
Because I did not do anything particularly exciting or special, what could possibly drive me this week?
Episodes 5-6: I can't believe it. 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 was correct. Am I suppose to expect a tragic ending now? Why does Do-Ha's (Lee Sang Yoon's) clock drain faster than what Michaela (Lee Sung Kyung) gains? I'm glad he has a long lifespan, but at this rate, maybe he can't make it past his thirties in age.
We find out that Madam Oh has the ability to see time clocks too. However, as she also asks herself, what can she do with this power? Her feelings: whatevs. I suppose we'll have to go with the flow.
I am up to episode 16 on this drama. This drama takes forever for me to finish because the story is so absurd. I have been watching Infinite members, Woohyun and Sungyeol, who use the same names in the drama, fight for many episodes and it was suffocating. All of a sudden, they are now fighting over their mom, who is the real mom for Woohyun and step-mom for Sungyeol. Why can't we all get along? I suppose this is the main conflict driving the plot other than Woohyun, who is supposed to die sooner or later because of his destiny. I cannot handle this plot, but I am rolling with it.
I originally watched maybe 12 episodes of this drama, but I stopped to watch other dramas instead. However, I am trying to go back to watching this drama, so I re-watched the first eight episodes this week.
I do like the drama, but why is this drama 40 episodes long? It's true that there is a mystery killer out there who framed our heroine, Bong Hee (Nam Ji Hyun) of being a murderer (Poor Chansung, who is giving me boyfriend vibes similar to Joo's "Bad Guy" music video) and whistles a creepy tune. Even if Bong Hee is acquitted of a murder charge, her reputation remains tarnished.
Shall I go with the flow? I can always count on Mr. Lee Deok Hwa to give me a laugh (Signature line: 무야? Mu-ya? What?)
This week's Music:
1) Park Bo Ram -- "Yesterday" from the About Time OST
I feel the tragedy already with this song. The song has a calming feel, so I can only hope that I have no regrets when I leave this world. The song is beautiful, yet sad. The song fits perfectly in line with the About Time drama. Park Bo Ram's sings this song beautifully and delicately.
2) Wanna One (Triple Position) - "Kangaroo"
On June 4th, 2018, Wanna One's special album, "Light," was released. However, I am not too interested in the title track, but more interested in the light and bouncy "Kangaroo" track featuring Wanna One's sub-unit, Triple Position, which includes Kang Daniel, Kim Jaehwan, and Park Woojin with Zico as their producer and collaborator.
The song is about pushing aside the work and going on a trip with someone special. Why not just get up and go? You can tell that sounds exciting to me since I did not have much of an exciting week. Let's bounce!
3) NCT 127 -- "Baby Don't Like It"
Warning: For adults (18+) only because of the ending of the song.
As I was saying, since I did not have much to look forward to, I just let my Youtube go on autoplay and this song keeps popping up on my playlist throughout the week. The chorus of "My baby don't like it when you come around..." sound pretty catchy. I can only conclude that this song is about a guy's wavering feelings for another woman who is not his girlfriend. A cheating song? Do I go with the flow for this one?
However, I did listen to this song a lot, but it was not until I was writing this post and listening to it for review did I actually notice squeaky sounds at the end of the song. What? So, the guy actually goes and presumably cheats on his girlfriend at the end?
Woah, sometimes NCT surprises me with these adult themes. I thought NCT U's "Baby Don't Stop" was already too hot to handle. I am glad Haechan (Please save Haechan's innocence who just turned 18 years old on June 6th!), according to this Youtube video, sings chorus only. Still, listening to 18-year-old Mark rap about possible cheating feels weird in a certain way. However, the song, minus the ending, is so good to listen to that I am just going to roll with it.
Bad boys coming through!
Next week I will probably talk about an exciting and friendly musical feud between our former Mixnine star groups, ONF and A.C.E, who just released their title tracks on June 7th. I'm sure they will be on replay for my next Wehaiyo! Drive. Thank you for joining me for this week's Wehaiyo! Drive. What drove your life this week?
Since "Where to learn K-pop Dance in New York" is such a popular post at Wehaiyo!, I thought I would update it to reflect the most current information. I scanned the Internet for the latest updates. Of course, not all of us can go to Korea and join the 1MILLION Dance studio, then for people in New York, the following dance studios are the next best places.
ARE YOU READY, NEW YORRRRRK?
Why do I focus on New York? Because I am based in New York. If there is a popular demand for other places, I may consider posting about it.
If you know of a K-pop dance studio in the New York state, please let me know and I will feature the dance studio in my next update.
#1 – I Love Dance (ILD) – Manhattan and Queens, NY
Certainly, the number one place I recommend to learn K-pop moves is to go to the I Love Dance studio in Flushing or Manhattan, NY. According to their website, more than 80% of its members are non-Korean, so that is great for those who may be intimidated by not knowing the language or culture. Their Facebook page has more than 20,000 followers.
Honestly, it doesn’t get any better than this place where founder MJ Choi and her staff are super dedicated to the art of K-pop. They have classes regularly in Manhattan and in their main studio in Flushing. I Love Dance (ILD) feature monthly K-pop dance classes where students learn the choreography of a featured K-pop song or songs each week over the course of one month.
From time to time, I Love Dance recruits dancers to cover a K-pop music video. I Love Dance also organizes flash mob activities in the New York/New Jersey area, especially when a K-pop concert is held in the area. Personally, I have participated in the first K-pop flash mob in Times Square in October 2011 and the 2NE1 Flashmob in August 2012. It doesn’t matter whether you dance well or bad, as long as you have the dedication, you will be accepted into I Love Dance. MJ Choi is a charismatic person.
After the completion of learning a dance, the class dance is usually recorded and uploaded on Youtube. I would encourage everybody to subscribe to their Youtube channel. You’d be amazed at what students can learn in a month. MJ Choi has an affinity for Korean hip-hop style dances. I have never taken an official class at I Love Dance, but my advice for students would be to be dedicated, don’t give up, and practice! I sincerely believe dancers can become K-pop stars after training with I Love Dance.
Other Flushing classes include Kpop diet dance, yoga, kids Kpop, and kids modern dance classes. Other Manhattan classes include basic popping and K-pop diet classes. I Love Dance also welcomes suggestion for K-pop song choreography requests.
Classes at I Love Dance are considered expensive, but I can see it is worth the money with great instructors, organized business structure, professionalism, and their very own dance crew. Currently, I Love Dance offers monthly packages with 1-6 or unlimited classes per week and they also have a special drop-in class price. Flushing and Manhattan locations have the same price.
The 1,600 foot I Love Dance studio can be rented for parties or events. K-pop class instruction can also be an added service for the special event.
Every year, I Love Dance hosts a annual showcase with an admission charge featuring K-pop and Hip-Hop performances.
For those dancers who think about being a Korean professional singer or actor, Born Star is an option. Founded in 2008 by the Korean rock guitarist, Kim Tae-Won from the famous rock band, Boohwal, many trainee hopefuls may gravitate towards Born Star Training Center, which may provide them experience and the path to success and stardom. Kim Tae Won also acts as the Director or Dean of Born Star Training Center.
Born Star Training Center has close ties to many agencies. Opportunities may include produce digital music singles, television dramas and films, commercials, and other multimedia contents. Trainees will have opportunities to attend casting calls and may be represented by Born Star. To enter the Born Star as a trainee, the applicant must go through a four-step admissions process: Application, Interview, Audition, Registration and Evaluation.
The facility itself has practice rooms, recording studios, and class rooms just like a entertainment company. There are programs in acting, vocal, musical, dance, and Korean language.
The reason why I am including Born Star Training Center on the list is because they do have drop-in and hobbyist dance classes. Dancers may purchase a single class or a four-class package. Classes are 90-minutes long with a timeline of warm-up, learning the dance technique and choreography, recording a dance video, and ending with the cool down/stretch.
If you’re cash-strapped, I recommend going to Bodhi Fitness in Flushing, NY for your K-pop fix. Joanne teaches the Let's Dance and Abs & Stretch classes at Bodhi Fitness. Classes are 40-45 minutes long and begin with a warm-up before learning choreography. I joined Bodhi Fitness for about two years before I stopped my membership after the birth of my daughter in 2014. Even though the class are short, there is a good amount of choreography each time. I do not recommend skipping a class while learning choreography for a song because afterwards, it is harder for a student to catch up, unless the choreography happens to be easier. To do my best, I usually attend classes, download the actual dance choreography on my phone, study it on my free time, and practice on my own time. Otherwise, I would have to relearn last week’s choreography and commit the current week’s choreography to memory. After learning the entire song, we used to film our dance cover casually and the video is uploaded to a closed group on Facebook. Seeing a video of myself is great for the memories. There is no pressure to dance well and I’ve seen a lot of people quit the class upon their first try because they probably feel too overwhelmed, especially when they join mid-way through a song.
Classes are included in your membership to the gym. Please ask Bodhi Fitness for the current prices. Taxes and fees are included plus there is free parking in the basement. If you have health insurance that reimburses you for gym visits, Bodhi Fitness should fit the requirements and essentially defray the costs partially or entirely.
I paid $365 for a yearly membership. That’s $7 a week, $3.50 per class. I also take belly dancing and Zumba with another wonderful instructor so the savings are even more. If not, other prices are 6 months for $270, 3 months for $170, or a monthly membership $50 + $50 initiation fee.
I recently heard of DreaMer Studio through an Instagram ad, which lead me to think about updating this topic. I am happy to discover more places that teach K-pop dance. I did not take any classes here, but I can see that DreaMer studio is a great fit for those who are beginners and would like to try it out. Based on their website and Facebook page, the staff seems to be fluent in English and Chinese. According to their website, every class includes review time of the choreography in slow motion at the beginning of class. A music tutorial video may be provided if requested. Personally, I think it is hard to learn the choreography without some type of video guide to look at while I practice outside the studio. I used to sit in the car and review choreography, rewinding a million times until I think I know the choreography on top actual practice.
Besides offering K-pop classes for girls, DreaMer Studio specifically offers classes for boys as well. Rose Lu teaches boys style K-pop while Sherlin Li teaches hip-hop girls style K-pop. There are other instructors who teach popping, hip-hop, and girls dance. Classes are available for adults, teens, and children at the Queens or Manhattan location. I see other classes available on the Flushing location calendar such as fitness, jazz, G style jazz, kids foundation, and pole dancing classes. On the Manhattan calendar, Hip-Hop Foundation, Urban Choreo are classes not previously mentioned, which are held on weekends only.
DreaMer Studio releases videos of some of the songs that they are working on in the studio as well as make Youtube videos of the choreography that can either be personally choreographed by their choreographers or the official choreography of the song. The videos are not at the level of I Love Dance studio, but again, this is a great choice for those who are beginners to show their talent.
Besides K-pop dance, DreaMer Studio offers music instruction in guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, bass drum. Vocal lessons are also available. Music classes are available at the Flushing location only.
It seems the DreaMer studio itself can also be rented as well.
Dreamer Studio itself also sells its own apparel, so feel free to go to Flushing to check it out.
Tuition is clearly stated at the Flushing location with the options to pay per class, 10-40 classes (with expiration dates), or a one, three, six month or one year unlimited class card for all classes with the exception of pole dancing. A kids card is available to take one class per week for two months, half year, or one year with expiration dates. Private instruction is also available per class, 12 classes with a bonus class, or 20 classes with two bonus classes. Private instruction for more than one person can also be inquired with DreaMer Studio staff. The prices overall seem affordable and that is good bonus to join them now before they start raising prices.
There are also special events that I did not mention, so please be sure to follow their Facebook page to make sure you do not miss out on free classes or summer camp sessions.
At the Manhattan location, there are options to pay per class, but there is a promotion where a dancer can take two classes for the price of one class. Otherwise, they also offer the 10-20 class pass with the same prices and expiration dates as the Flushing location (Note: prices are subject to change after publishing this post).
#5 – Eastern School of Music, Art and Dance – Queens, NY
The Easter School of Music, Art and Dance is a great option for young students to learn K-pop as well as the other arts. K-pop classes are available every Wednesday and Friday, 6:00-7:00 PM for ages 7-10 and 7:00-8:00 PM for ages 11-19 for either eight lessons, once a week or 16 lessons, twice a week. Please see the website for the latest tuition price. The dress code is comfortable clothes and sneakers.
Girls, aged 6-11, who are very interested in Kpop dance can join the Eastern Dance Crew where practice is held every Friday from 7:00 to 8:00 PM in a 12-week program. Those who are interested must be already in the K-pop class, receive a recommendation from the dance instructor, and need to audition and contact the school for audition times and information.
Namhee Kang and Joanne Lee (who also teaches at Bodhi fitness) are the dance instructors.
Other than K-pop classes, there are art, ballet, voice, percussion, guitar, brass, woodwind, strings, piano, and language classes. This is the type of place that will train students from beginners all the way to professionals. For music students, the Eastern School of Music, Art, and Dance also hosts NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) and ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). The school also has a repair shop to service instruments. Music instruments are also available for rental. The Eastern Hall at the school can also be rented for special events.
The school operates on three semesters a year: Spring, Summer, Fall. An Eastern School Festival is held annually for students to showcase their talent. Participants are expected to pay application fees to join this event.
Founded in 2007, Lollipop Dance Studio offers K-pop dance classes seemingly for all ages. The studio also performs dance covers and post dance videos on their Facebook page. Mandy is the instructor for K-pop classes. I saw that they also held a dance showcase at the Fort Hamilton High School.
Overall, the instructors and students seem to be a fun group who love to dance. They may dance to or perform Chinese songs as well. They also offer other classes such as Hip-Hop, Street Jazz, Ballet, Salsa, Latin Dance and more styles.
Hopefully, I introduced you to enough options to get your k-popping started. I wish you all the best in going out there and showing your stuff. Be limitless!
I hope to also write about K-pop Zumba in a future post. Stay tuned...
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.
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?
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.
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 pretending to drink beer for a beer commercial
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.
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!
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.
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.
I cannot imagine Pure Lovewinning 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 despitethe 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.
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.
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 O2O. The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2015where 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.
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.
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.
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 K2, Descendants 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Star, so he seems to do his bad boy part well.
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.
