Korean Movie Night: The Grand Heist 바람과 함께 사라지다 (2012) Korean

Cha Tae Hyun, Oh Ji Ho, Min Hyo Rin, Lee Chae Young, Sung dong Il, Ko Chang Seok, Shin Jung Geun, Kim Gil Dong, Song Jong Ho, Chun Bo Geun, Kim Hyang Gi

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

Comedy + Cha Tae Hyun + Heist means it's going to be cheesy, yet great.  It was so campy, but it didn't take itself seriously, and just went with it.  So no, not historically accurate completely, but everything they did was possible with the current technology, such as phosphorous and tunnel digging, etc.  It was like Joseon Ocean's 11, literally.  It was such a formulaic and classic heist movie, from the set up to the introducing of all the specialists, to the drama of them working together and disagreeing, to the gotcha and double gotcha moments.  It was definitely a classic heist movie, which in general I like, even if it is formulaic and predictable.  You all know I would watch anything for Cha Tae Hyun, but him as the brain of the team, the Danny Ocean, while still being comedic was fun.  He was smart and also silly.  Love it.  Oh Ji Ho was naturally the stick-in-the-mud, righteous warrior (named Baek Dong Soo) who is heisting for righteous reasons, but that's fine.  If it means we can see him shirtless and doing martial arts, it's fine.  Very fine.  Then the collection of experts,  who were all very perfect for their roles.  I loved Hyung (Song Jong Ho) as the sneaky master of disguise.  His little smirk was just perfect for it.  The bomb ahjussi was my favorite.  He was practically deaf because, you know, explosions, etc.  They pulled every heisty stereotype with the characters, as the master of disguise was also an expert seducer and the transportation specialist had Mr. T written all over him (so A-Team right there).  They unabashedly whipped out the stereotypes, but it was super fun to watch.  We were just laughing the whole time.  It hit the spot, basically.  We wanted something hilarious, and this one definitely had us laughing like the whole time.  The cast was great, the humor was great, and the kitschy heist tropes were great.  I enjoyed it.  As long as you know what you are getting, it's a good, easy watch.

274. Panda and the Hedgehog 판다양과 고슴도치 (2012) Korean

Lee Dong Hae, Yoon Seung Ah, Choi Jin Hyuk, Yoo So Young

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A+

We started this one because we were in the mood for cheesy and we wanted to look at lots of pretty Dong Hae.  I didn't expect Dong Hae to actually be pretty decent at acting.  Better than some other idols I've watched dramas for.  This was a ridiculous show nevertheless.  The villain was over-the-top bad and I ended up calling him "Rat Saekki" because his was just the worst, and stupid.  I have no idea how he managed to hide from the law for so long, because they were doing so many illegal things, both he and his wife.  They were both the worst.  Really, this show would have sucked completely if it hadn't have been for the bromances.  The girl was annoying enough, with her spacey full of herself ridiculousness, that I didn't really care about the couple.  I just loved Dong Hae with Choi Jin Hyuk and Dong Hae with Halbae.  They were all so adorable.  I know they call him a hedgehog because he's supposed to be spiky on the outside to protect his gooey core, but he was just gooey the whole time.  He was a marshmallow cinnamon bun the whole time.  He barely had any bristly moments at all, and he was an adorable drunk.

205. History of a Salaryman 샐러리맨 초한지 (2012) Korean

Lee Beom Soo, Jung Gyu Woon, Jung Ryeo Won, Hong Soo Hyun

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: B

I loved this show.  It was so well done.  Lizabreff hates corporate dramas, but she loved this one too.  It was gripping the whole time.  Probably because it was one part sageuk, one part corporate drama, and one part witty comedy (I mean, those hilarious bits at the end of each episode were pure gold).  Also it has three very strong women who kick butt in whatever way they have chosen.  I liked and admired every single one of them, even the evil lady who made me disgusted and full of hate.  She was still super strong and kicked butt (literally) as she rose to power and eventually went crazy with power.  If I have to say anything negative about this show it's that it was extended, which led to the last two episodes being ridiculous.  I mean, they went all sensational court room, which is literally my least favorite type of drama ever.  I pisses me off when people pull ridiculous shiz in a court of law and get away with it.  Maybe I should have been a lawyer.  I also feel like there could have been lots more Yoo Bang.  I can never get enough of Lee Beom Soo and while he was technically the lead in this, this show is pretty equally about all four of our leads, which is a good thing.  I just love Lee Beom Soo.  I think that was another reason the extended ending brought less to the table.  It was more of Wiener Thinker being and idiot (which is really wasn't that much of in the first half) and less of Yoo Bang dominating, since he had to wait two more episodes to do it.  But what character development.  When characters go from bums, country boys, spoiled rich girls, etc. to cool corporate generals, you know you have something good.  I loved Yeo Chi's (Jung Ryeo Won) development the most.  She was amazing.  She was unlikable at the beginning (to the lovable point) with her clueless, cussing, ridiculousness, and then she became a wonderful, strong, cussing wonder woman.  Woo Hee (Hong Soo Hyun) was literally one of the smartest people in the entire drama, and I loved how she used every tool she had, even if it was her sexuality to make that idiot know how big of an idiot he was.  I especially loved the two couples.  We had to extremes of cuteness.  The couple who hilariously fights and eats ice cream together, and the couple who are pushing and pulling too much, but are so adorably in love with each other that we can't wait for them to finally stop being idiots and just make out.  Then Kim Sung Oh had a cameo in the last 3 episodes and when I saw him in the preview I was so excited I screamed into a pillow.  His cameo was one of the most amazing cameos ever.  Because I absolutely love him?  No, it was also hilarious.  He did so good.  So I would like to have had the ending a little more tidy in the writing, but this show was good enough to make up for that.  It was amazing.  I needed something actually good right now, and it was perfect.  Best one I've chosen to watch in a while... well, one of them at least.

Things Dudes Don't Do to Other Dudes (#tdddod) or How to Fail the Gender Benders

So, Lizabreff just finished watching To The Beautiful You.  I'm not sure why we started it.  I think we just needed to watch something stupid, so this was perfect, because it was completely stupid.  The thing that it was the worst at was the whole girl dressed up as a guy.

I mean, there is no way that Sulli would pass for a boy ever anyway.  But she didn't even try to act like one.  And from the start Hyun Woo didn't treat her like one... neither did Minho for that matter... instinct?  Cough cough, unlikely.  Anyway, we started this hashtag #tdddod for all those moments when they obviously treated her like a girl, or she obviously was 100% not acting like a dude and no one seemed to care, because it was that bad.

199. To The Beautiful You 아름다운 그대에게 (2012) Korean

Choi Min Ho, Sulli, Lee Hyun Woo, Kin Ji Won, Seo Jun Young, Kang Ha Neul, Hwang Kwang Hee

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

Also known as Poobutt.  Mostly because my new nickname for Minho is now Poobutt.  Tae Joon was just a grumpy poo butt, and then he was an awkward poo butt after he started to like her.  Also Goo Jae Hee had no character.  She was just awkward and there.  I wondered why the couple was so awkward for me, and it was because Sulli can't act.  You know who can act and stole the show?  Lee Hyun Woo.  I absolutely loved him, and his adorable smile and his squeaky little voice.  He totally stole the show.  Like, completely.  In fact he and Kang Ha Neul (affectionately called Moobs) were the only kids who could act really, oh and Samcheon (Seo Jun Young).  It was just a completely ridiculous show that was fun to watch at first because it was so flipping ridiculous, but then when it got mopey in the last 6 episodes, it was so boring and lame it was almost completely unbearable.  Maybe because once everyone knew she was a girl we couldn't do any more tweets with the hashtag #tdddod (things dudes don't do to other dudes).  There were almost too many to tweet all of them.  It was ridiculous.  Basically she was never convincing as a dude.  When they finally got around to it there were some good bromances.  I missed that little bitca Kwanghee being gay for Hyun Woo.  He totally disappeared by the end.  Weird.  Also I liked all the teachers.  I mean, that hot doctor (Ki Tae Young).  And my OTP was the teacher and coach.  They were adorable.  Basically I loved all the side characters and thought the main couple was a pair of boring poo butts... who can't really act.  And.... yeah.  That's basically it.

194. I Need Romance 2012 로맨스가 필요해 2012 (2012) Korean

Jung Yu Mi, Lee Jin Wook, Kim Ji Suk, Kim Ji Woo, Kang Ye Sol

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

Also known as I Need Nasty 2, this one was every bit as bad as the first one, except I actually liked both male actors okay, because neither one was Yul (Yuuuuuuuuuuuuul! <hiss hiss>).  The problem was that it was just as frustratingly as predictable.  Basically it's a show full of idiots and sexy time.  The end.  At least in this one her dumbo boyfriend didn't ever cheat on her but instead just lied to everyone, including himself, for the entire show, unless it was too late and then he tried and failed, and then there was a magic year gap that somehow made everything better.  Yeah right.  The main girl once again comes full circle and ends up right where she started, we hope this time wiser maybe.  But we're not holding our breath for fear of passing out.

Here is the list of the couples in the order I cared about them:

1. Awkward Couple- Woo Ji Hee (Kang Ye Sol) and Kim Tae Woo (Heo Tae Hee).  I wish this couple had gotten more screen time.  They were awkward and adorable.  But they almost magically got together because that's how little time we actually saw them.  Sad.

2. Married Girl and Stupid Oppa- Sun Jae Kyung (Kim Ji Woo) and Han Jung Min (In Gyo Jin).  This couple was so fussy and sensitive.  But at least we saw them trying to work things out. They were more frustrating but at least I had hope for a reasonable reconciliation.  PS, the only reason he is known as Stupid Oppa is because of Birth of a Beauty.

3. Kim Ji Suk and the Ginkgo Tree- yes, this relationship counts for more than most.  As a kid, his character took care of a ginkgo tree because he was lonely.  He watered it everyday too.  Cute.  Then he gets a baby gingko tree that is supposed to represent his relationship with the main girl, but I cared more about him longingly looking at it every time they were broken up or had a fight than the fact that they were broken up or had a fight.

4. The Main Love Triangle Crap- Tsunami (Jung Yu Mi), Dumbo (Lee Jin Wook), and Mr. Perfect (Kim Ji Suk).  We've got a messy, messy love triangle that is full of lies and too much past.  Just too messy to actually care about.  Tsunami Yeol Mae (Jung Yu Mi) is smothering and selfish, but I loved how she was honest and tried. But Dumbo- aka Seok Hyun (Lee Jin Wook) on the other hand is cryptic, slithery-outy, and lies to everyone including himself.  There are obviously reasons he keeps lying to keep them from being together, but we honestly just don't care.  Then there is Shin Ji Hoon (Kim Ji Suk) who is like the perfect nice guy, if not a bit too aegyo.  Nice guys don't win in this shows (not yet) and so while we love how cute he is, we know he doesn't really have a chance.  Especially when the break up is based on frustrating lies and he is literally too nice for her.

So the show had lots of sexy time, even more frustrating lying and fighting, etc., and the longest, boringest drawn out ending ever.  Well... what did I expect?  It was I Need Nasty 2.  Blech... but also yes, cuz hot men and relatably flawed bitca women.  This one is a step up from the first, but not as good as the 3rd, from what I hear.

"I love Choi Daniel in So Ji Sub's Body" and Some Nicknames in Phantom

I was surprised at how much this drama sucked me in at once.  Now I regret not watching it when it first came out, but not at the same time, because now we could watch it as fast as we wanted... and that was very very fast.

How could I resist watching it when I finally figured out that it had some of my favorite actors?  So Ji Sub (that man is just so very sexy), Choi Daniel (I'm pretty sure I just want to marry him, he's so freakin' hot), and Uhm Ki Joon (also known as Grumpy Cat). Once I figured that out, I was watching it pretty much the next day.

Now to talk about this show without too many spoilers or whatnot.  But it's old, so that shouldn't be too big of a problem... unless you're like me and waited to watch it...

141. Hero 히어로 (2012) Korean

Yang Dong Geun, Han Chae Ah, Son Byung Ho, Choi Chul Ho, Park Won Sang

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: B

Total dude show.  Post-apocalyptic, futuristic, and just fun.  I would have enjoyed it more if I had been consistent in watching it, but even though it was only 9 episodes long, I took like three months to watch it.  The best part about it is that our hero is so apathetic, immature, and disrespectful of everything.  Basically he is hilarious and just in it for the fun of it.  I loved how he chases the pretty cop around, getting into her business and stuff.  But it also has good character progression, because although he starts out just doing it for fun, or to help his cop crush, he starts seeing the injustice and doing it for the right reasons.  It's very Batman-esque though, complete with the black costume, mask vigilante thing, and his butler friend, who we called Alfred.  The fight scenes were either super fast, or slow-mo, so you know they are good stuff.  It was always funny and intriguing, and moves at a good pace.  In fact, they could have easily made it a full 16 episodes.  9 was just too few... even though scheduling made me watch it so spread out.  But that was because of time and my friend's schedule, and not because it was draggy or I didn't like it.  It was good.

121. Phantom 유령 (2012) Korean

So Ji Sub, Lee Yeon Hee, Uhm Ki Joon, Kwak Do Won, Song Ha Yoon, Choi Daniel

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Blow my mind, why don't you!  Amazing!  I usually predict everything before  it happens, but not so much in this one.  Especially in the first few episodes.  Tricked us.  Then they kept trying to trick us, but we did figure things out a bit better once we got more familiar with the style.  It's more like an American cop show than a Korean drama.  The style of tropes that is, although it's still very Korean.  Also, there are just so many awesome people cast in it.  I started it for So Ji Sub, Choi Daniel, and Uhm Ki Joon (aka Grumpy Cat) but I ended up just loving Kwak Do Won (who I hated in Good Doctor).  Man that dude is a good actor.  Crazy Cow was my favorite character, and I thought I was going to hate him.  That just shows you how much the first two episodes tricked me.  Also this has about as much romance as 3 Days, in the fact that it really doesn't have much of a romance, at least not the one that you are going to expect.  It just keeps wishy washing around with the main romance, but that is not even a problem.  I would give it a higher rating, but there were a few holes in the plot, even though it was pretty much awesomely written, and there was some frustration (especially with a few of the tiny plot arcs that were suddenly too predictable), but really, I just loved this show.  Except I am now really paranoid about cyber security, which I was already super big into.

112. King of Dramas 드라마의 제왕 (2012-2013) Korean

Kim Myung Min, Jung Ryeo Won, Choi Siwon, Oh Ji Eun

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

This show was so great up until the last two episodes, and then it was just eh.  Not as bad as some, but I just didn't really pay attention to the last two because I had been informed that they were pretty lame.  It's a drama about people making a drama, so it's very behind the scenes and very, very meta.  Seriously makes fun of the industry at all levels.  I am so glad that I waited to watch this until after I was well seasoned, because I am sure that it was much funnier to me because of that.  Best part- Siwon!!!!  Seriously.  Siwon is a bias crusher.  He played his part so well.  He's like the younger version Doko Jin (Cha Seung Won's character in Greatest Love) and I loved every moment that he was on screen.  So funny, so perfect, and when he got his hair cut, so drastically handsome too.  I also loved PD Joo.  We probably shouted "PD Joo!" every time that guy came on screen.  Loved him, he was so cute.  Didn't love the turtlenecks that he kept on wearing though.  I think pretty much all the good people were awesome and amazing.  Lee Go Eun was awesome.  She was one of the best female leads ever.  Especially once she could read Anthony Kim.  Perfect.  I will admit that this drama gave me some serious anxiety, because it was chiefly about a writer, and every time they pulled crap on her and messed with her writing I would get so angry.  Grr.  The villains of the piece were super hateful most of the time.  So glad we got past them.  So basically, it was an awesome show and then the last two episodes were like eh, way sloppier than the rest of the show.  Mostly the very last episode.  I don't think it needed to be extended at all, but whatever.  It was pretty cleverly written before that, and having watched the kind of crap that drama writers have to go through, I might be a little more merciful... for a while.

106. Bridal Mask 각시탈 (2012) Korean

Joo Won, Jin Se Yeon, Park Ki Woong, Han Chae Ah, Shin Hyun Joon

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

Holy cow.  That... okay.  I am actually glad that I didn't watch this when it was current (although part of me is also very sad about that for the same reason) because I would not have made it through it all so graciously without all the spoilers I had, such as who died and so on.  Because so many people died (except the people we wanted to die, like Goiso).  Wow, those last few episodes were just a blood bath.  Wow.  But this was so, so, so good!  It took me so long because I was watching it with a friend, and the holiday scheduling was hard, but that just made it better, as we bounced our comments and nicknames off, making it that much more fun.  We're all glad we watched it together (but maybe need a lighter one for the next one).  I have several friends who have read recaps of the ending, or watched the last episode and decided not to watch it, that is a mistake, because this show is so good that it doesn't matter that it is bloody, tragic, and very full of propaganda.  It's worth it.  The propaganda is probably the part that bothered me the most.  I know it's a Korean drama, and therefore completely Koreancentric, but still, some of it was so over-the-top that I couldn't swallow it.  Such as the plot to make Korea the center of the Japanese empire.  Right.  But just roll your eyes and go with it, it was aired during a time of Japan and Korea fighting over that island thing, so they would make it a political statement more than normal.  But the acting.  Slow clap for Joo Won and Park Ki Woong!  I already loved those boys, but boy do I love them now.  Woo hoo!  Overall it was just a really well done drama, enough so that the little annoying bits and propaganday type deals were forgiven.  It was just that epic.

99. Sweet Sweet Bodyguard 剩女保鏢 (2012) Taiwanese

Alien Huang, Summer Meng, Li Li Ren, Yuan Ai Fei

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

The problem with these super long dramas (besides the fact that you have to wait for forever for them to get subbed) is that there is so much time for so much crap to happen.  And seriously in this one just about all the crap did happen, but it was strangely not as horrible as it could have been.  I actually started this one on accident.  It was autoplayed after I had finished an episode of something, and I was too lazy to be social that night, or even stop the autoplay, so I just let it go, and it hooked me right away.  It was delightfully cheesy and different enough to be interesting.  I think the biggest thing I liked about it, besides my deep obsession with Alien Huang, was how realistic it tried to stay while also being over-the-top and crazy.  There was a lot of very natural character developments, and especially a lot of natural relationship developments.  The main couple went from being enemies, to friends, to one-sided love, to the realization they liked each other, to lovers.  That was a good development, the sort that only comes when they make you wait 82 episodes for the happy ending (making the last two episodes the draggiest of them all).  However there was also a bunch of ridiculous situations that all seemed to get solved magically, from the bitca mother suddenly letting her ex-boyfriend (who didn't happen to be the actual father) continue to raise her kid to the thought dead dad magically being alive, rich, and eventually magically coming to the wedding and giving in to the daughter.  Yep, it was cheesy and magically solved a lot of the time.  I don't see why they had to make him blind so we could go through a couple more draggy depressing episodes right there at the end, but whatever.  At least his eyesight wasn't magically healed in the same way as some other temporarily blind story plots.  He did have to go to magical America to get surgery and wait a year (not the year wait!!!!) which is a bit more realistic.  Also, they had to trick us with the blindness until the very very end, and then only give us hints and innuendo to make up for those long drawn out episodes.  Oh well.  I was too invested in all the characters to stop watching because of some severely melodramatic plot twists.  It had it all, but I had to keep watching anyways.  Blindness, check.  Girl who refuses to get an abortion even though she might die, check.  Evil bitca moms being annoying for forever, check and check (since there were two of them).  That one grandma who just wants to match make and have great grandchildren, check.  But the characters all made it worth it to me, so I still liked it.  I just wish it would have been 75 or less instead of 82.  But that is more episodes of Alien Huang... until he was gone to America... those episodes I didn't like so much.

92. Miss Rose 螺絲小姐要出嫁 (2012) Taiwanese

Megan Lai, Roy Qiu, Puff Guo, Jao Jun Ya, Tia Li, Paul Hsu

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: B

Emotional manipulation.  That was all this show was.  A butt load of emotional manipulation.  It started off so well too.  The premise of a hard working secretary making a bet with a fortune teller that she'd get married that year is cool.  But that plot was like the minor, minor detail and not the main plot.  She's an awkward secretary who ends up in this "golden boy of business's" life and makes him want to break free from his shackles of emotional manipulation.  He is indebted to his boss, who raised him and took care of his mom ever since his dad died, and so has to be engaged to his boss's spoiled daughter who still thinks of him as the chauffeur's son and treats him like crap, all to pay his boss back and take the role of successor.  Once he falls in love with the secretary, then everyone in his world gives him crap and keeps manipulating him, including his mom, who I seriously wanted to slap because she was the worst kind of manipulator.  Then there was the evil head of the secretary's company who was manipulating things because he didn't want the golden boy dude to remove him from the company he was embezzling money from.   Also there was the head bitca who trained the spoiled fiancee in the ways of the bitca, turning her from a spoiled but honest brat into a full fledged bitca.  Then there is the older dude who cruelly dumped the secretary girl for money and career, who decided that he made a mistake and turns into a cray cray creep trying to win her back.  Seriously, a whole lot of crappy manipulation that made it really really hard to finish no matter how hot Roy Qiu is.  Too bad he had to deal with all that crap all the time, I felt so sorry for him.  But Paul Hsu made up for a lot.  His character was adorable, even if his romantic counter part was "stone face" Tia Li.  She's actually way better in this one than she is in Fall in Love With Me, but I never believed she liked Paul Hsu's character, not good acting on her part.  Love Puff, but her character is not the best, but she played it very well.

80. Inborn Pair 真愛找麻煩 (2011-2012) Taiwanese

Chris Wang, Annie Chen, Xie Kun Da, Puff Guo, Chris Wu

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Another one of those super long (like 84 episode) dramas that make me wonder why I started them but really love in spite of that.  Annie Chen is still studying to pass the bar exam (she has the worst luck) and Chris Wang is the CEO of a zoo resort.  The have a chance encounter that makes him thing she's a home wrecker and she thinks he's a cheater.  Then they run into each other at the temple, where they get the fame fortune.  Then the grandmother (my favorite Taiwanese baby hungry grandmother- the same one as in Love Around) finds out that she is the girl that she promised would marry her grandson because Annie's grandfather saved her family's life when both Chris and Annie were in the womb.  The grandma then does everything she can to force that promise's fulfillment, even pretending she has cancer.  So the couple, even though they started out hating each other, decides to have a secret contract marriage to make the grandmother happy.  Then lots of crap happens.  Annie has a short temper, Chris has a girl who is totes in love with him and not willing to let him go, Annie's first love shows back up, and there is pressure to have a baby, etc.  They are also both really stupid and won't admit they like each other when they clearly do.  Also, there is the other sibling drama.  The older sister is so dumb and controlling that she basically sets herself up to be cheated on by being too willful.  The younger brother is a horrible ladies man, but he meets his match when the girl he picked on in kindergarten comes back for revenge.  So in spite of all the craziness, and long running series, it is actually pretty enjoyable.  I hated the other girl, and his mom, and the cheating husband crap, but the main couple (Annie and Chris) and little brother couple (Kun Da and Puff Guo) are super compelling and I loved it.  I've loved Puff since Just You, and this is further proof that she is a great actress, because her character is so different in this one.  She is a calm, well mannered, yet revenge seeking/man training girl with a cool gangster background.  Yes.  Even though this show was silly, I still liked it.

76. The Innocent Man 세상 어디에도 없는 착한 남자 (2012) Korean

Song Joong Ki, Moon Chae Won, Park Si Yeon, Lee Kwang Soo

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

This is a heavy show.  Lots of hard things, but also lots of great actors and eye candy.  Song Joong Ki never ceases to amaze me, and neither does Moon Chae Won.  But seriously, this show is about a bunch of not nice people.  The point is that there is no such thing as a nice guy/innocent man.  Kang Ma Ru (Song Joong Ki) goes to prison for six years to cover up the manslaughter of his girlfriend Han Jae Jee (Park Si Yeon), only to get out and find that she's married a rich older man and had his child.  So, after becoming a bartender and gigolo, he decides to get revenge by seducing the older man's daughter Seo Eun Ji (Moon Chae Won).  Things of course get super messy.  Even with the whole brain surgery and memory loss type deals that get thrown in, this show is super well done.  Like I said, Moon Chae Won is on of my favorite actresses, and she is super great in this one.  However, its a very heavy drama and hard to watch because of the themes and all the depressing type things that are happening.  In fact the only bright spot of the show most of the time is Lee Kwang Soo, who plays Kang Ma Ru's best friend, and Lee Yu Bi, Ma Ru's little sister, who are probably the funniest part of the whole show.  But I think the show ended fairly well for how messed up everything gets, and it gets pretty messed up.  Still, it is a very good show, well written and executed.  Basically all these actors are pretty amazing.  Especially Song Joong Ki.

71. A Gentleman's Dignity 신사의 품격 (2012) Korean

Jang Dong Gun, Kim Ha Neul, Kim Min Jong, Kim Soo Ro, Lee Jong Hyuk

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: B+

Probably one of my favorite dramas of all time... still.  That is saying something, and it's not just for the multiple G-Dragon references (though those don't hurt).  This show is hilarious.  The antics of the F40 are so great.  This is the story of a bunch of 40 year old men who have been best friends since high school.  The main point of this is that even though they are all 40, all of them well set in their careers and well established gentlemen, they are at heart still 18, especially when together.  Each episode begins with a scene that doesn't usually have anything to do with the current episode plot but gives us more background as to their characters and past history.  These scenes range from when they first meet to just random occurrences in their friendship (such as them watching the final episode of Sandglass together or meeting Sooyang from SNSD at a coffee shop).  Also, the cast is stellar, even though they are all definitely ahjussi, they are super sexy mens.  I never thought the drama was ridiculous or over the top, maybe because of the mature cast, the normal even mom drama wasn't going to be a part of this, since they are all old enough to be the parents.  Even as ridiculous as they are, all the characters seemed very realistic or at least relateable, and though I am nowhere near 40 yet, it was way easier to relate to the 35-40 year olds than the 24 year old girl (who was much closer to my own age at the time).  Go figure.  Other bonuses are Kim Woo Bin and Lee Jong Hyun playing high schoolers.

69. 12 Signs of Love 일년에 열두남자 (2012) Korean

Yoon Jin Seo, Koh Joon Hee, On Joo Wan, Bae Geu Rin

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: B

I watched this one because it was on Netflix and Julian Kang.  Rawr.  However it was really stupid and I think suffered from extremely bad writing and over influence of the public.  It's about a girl who is stupid and has a misunderstanding with her boyfriend because of her over thinking and they break up.  Then, to keep her job, she has to write a column pretending to be this famous author, about dating and having sex with a man from each of the astrological signs.  It starts because of writing about her ex-boyfriend to save her skin once, and it becomes so popular that she is forced to continue.  So it is a bit interesting to see her discover each man, but it's really quite silly.  I think that no one liked her so much that in the end they might have changed it so that she didn't end up with her ex again, but that might have been always planned.  I don't know.  I'm not sure what the point of keeping him around was if that wasn't always the case.  I mean, the way they wrapped up the ending was a stretch,  throwing in a new man, etc, made absolutely no sense, narrative speaking.  I've seen enough opinions of how everyone loved the other girl so much that I am sure most people liked her more than the main girl so that might have severely influenced the ending.  Also, they took so much time at first, that some of the signs got rushed through.  Like I said, really bad writing.  Also, Julian Kang's character was bad, so that just made it even less cool.  Yeah, absolutely silly show.  A little embarrassed I watched it.  Wouldn't recommend it.

64. Switch Girl 1&2 スイッチガール！！ (2011 & 2012) Japanese

Nishiuchi Mariya, Kiriyama Renn, Sakata Rikako, Jinnai Sho

Drama Rating: 2/10     Neck Score: A

I know there are two seasons here, and I watched them at two separate times... but they were close together, and the show is show short that I can just talk about it together.  I'm embarrassed to say I watched this, a bit, since it's a pretty gross show.  I don't just mean with the nasty fart humor etc when she is in her "off" mode, but in the fact that the whole show basically revolves around sex.  Seriously.  Especially the 2nd season.  Seriously the main plot arc was her wanting to have sex with him, since they were together, but then every bad guy wanted to rape them all, etc.  It was crazy.  So, a lot of sex humor, especially in the 2nd season, and also a lot of nasty humor, which I'm fine with, but this was excessive.  I mean really excessive.  But props to the show, it's pretty much exactly like the manga.  Exactly.  Also the dudes in it are pretty hot, but still.  It gives off a bit of nasty feel to it theme-wise.  It's all about sex.

59. Arang and the Magistrate 아랑사또전 (2012) Korean

Lee Joon Ki, Shin Min Ah, Yeon Woo Jin

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

I really liked this one.  It is a fantasy/horror sageuk.  Mostly fantasy though.  Shin Min Ah is a ghost with no memory and Lee Joon Ki can see ghosts.  He looking for his mom, she might know because of a hair pin, so he becomes the magistrate to help her figure out who she is so he can find his mom.  Then you have lots of other mystery that is tied up in it, and the Jade Emperor and Yama (king of the underworld) pulling strings here and there to have the mystery (and their problems) solved.  There is fighting (yay to Joon Ki's sexy fighting skills) and mystery, romance of course, and plenty of funny.  It is very compelling, especially as the mystery unfolds and the plot thickens, etc.  It's got lots of buddhist things in it, obviously with the Jade Emperor, so you have to be ok with that kind of stuff.  These ghosts are also not scary, but there are scary or rather intense or suspenseful parts.  I mean, Arang was murdered and there are several more attempted murders so yeah.  Lots of good characters too, to love and hate and love.  So, good one.  Liked it.  One of the best parts is the servant friend dude flipping his wet hair.  Animal magnetism.  Love it.

56. Queen In Hyun's Man 인현왕후의 남자 (2012) Korean

Ji Hyun Woo, Yoo In Na, Kim Jin Woo, Ga Deuk Hi

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

One of the best fusion sageuks and time traveling type deals I've seen.  He's a scholar from Joseon times trying to restore Queen In Hyun to the throne and every time he "dies" he is transported to modern times where he meets an actress playing Queen In Hyun in a sageuk.  But every time he goes back and forth the time line is different, with different changes and memories and things getting messed up.  It's really cool.  Also, Ji Hyun Woo is hot.  I didn't think so at first, but he definitely grows on you.  His character is way hotter than him in this.  Also, this couple dated for a while because their chemistry was so good, but that didn't last through his military service.  Anyways, it's got a very intricate plot, with lots of different twist that can be taken because of the whole time travel thing.  And some very clever humor as well.  It does get cheesy in spots, but how else are you supposed to resolve something like this?  A bit of cheese is good now and then, and this one is really good.