292. Money Flower 돈꽃 (2017) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Park Se Young, Jang Seung Jo, Lee Mi Sook, Lee Soon Jae

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect revenge drama, or a more perfect makjang drama. This was thoroughly enjoyable all around. But then when you have someone like Jang Hyuk to pull off the subtle expression acting as he portrayed the icon of restraint and cold calculation, Kang Pil Joo, even the most ridiculous of makjang becomes wonderful. It really brings new life to that revenge being served cold business. He was the freaking puppet master king! No one suspected him, no one could stop him, he was just smarter and better than everyone, and it was so fun to watch. So many secret plots, so much manipulation, and so many secret DNA tests! Haha!

Men Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will: Ahjussi Edition

It's been a while and I've realized that I need revisit this topic of actors who I love so much I watch pretty much anything for them.  I realized that I need to pay homage to the Ahjussi in my life, because as I grow older, the oppas I like are pretty much all really ahjussi.  Am I really that close in age to 40?  Eek!

Yeah, that's the definition I'm going to use for Ahjussi- 40 and up.  Omo, do I love the ahjussi these days.  I find myself way more attracted to them, and able to connect to them, then say, those puppies in the high school dramas.  Yeah, when I do watch the high school dramas I am checking out the teacher actors, like in School 2013 or Sassy Go Go, who have some of the oppas (or donggaps) that I love.  So here is a list of "Ahjussi" actors (some of who are just barely 40) who I would watch anything for, or have watched complete nonsense for, or would just love to see in everything.  Can't they just be in everything so the quality of everything goes up?

Please Teach Me English 영어완전정복 (2003) Korean

Lee Na Young, Jang Hyuk, Angela Kelly, Na Moon Hee

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

This movie was a lot more funny than I thought it would be.  I was expecting something super campy, and it kind of was, but as peeps with experience in teaching English, or as anyone who has taken any foreign language classes, it was much more hilarious.  Lee Na Young was amazing.  I loved her little cartoon character, inner thoughts, and especially their dreams.  Those language learner dreams were amazing.  Jang Hyuk was great as the "playboy" who was really just an awkward big talker.  Their relationship was funny, and like most movies developed quickly but a bit naturally.  Naturally there was plenty of misunderstandings.  I was worried about that English teacher at first.  She seemed like a bad teacher and a bit slutty at first.  But she became hilarious and a lovable character, especially when we learned more about her and her "type."  It is definitely 2003, but not in a bad way.  It's cute and hilarious.  I especially loved Lee Beom Soo's cameo.  We were watching for it and it was delightful.  The important thing to remember is that it is a bit campy and they are certainly not trying to take themselves serious.  It's supposed to be funny and ridiculous, and it is.  It is also sweet and relatable, especially for those language teachers and learners.

Aladdin and the Three Amigos: Chuno is Full of Nicknames

We are the three aAAAAAAAAmigos!  And amigos forever we'll be.... EEEEEEEEEEE!

That was literally the first thing that popped into all of our heads as we started the first episode of Chuno.  And with these three amigos being shirtless hotties, we were excited to watch... at first.  Oh Chuno, so good, yet so draggy.  Once I hit episode 11, it was awesome, but getting to that point was frustrating.  It was frustrating after that too.  But the thing that was consistently good, despite the near misses and frustrating no talk just fight and die mentality, was how good the characters were.  We had names for all of them, like usual.  And even the ones I hated most of the time made me cry by the end.  Nice development.

150. Chuno 추노 (2010) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Oh Ji Ho, Lee Da Hae, Gong Hyung Jin, Lee Jong Hyuk

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I started out watching this with Curdy and Lizabreff, because Curdy loves Jang Hyuk and Lizabreff and I had been planning on watching it eventually anyway.  Well, that lasted about 8 episodes.  Then, after a long break, I had to continue on alone until the end.  Because the first eight episodes are basically the same thing over and over, with a lot of action and way too many near misses.  There are so many near misses that it is ridiculous.  I wanted to get violent with an ice pick, as tweeted by me: "The sheer # of near misses in #Chuno is making me want to stab things with an ice pick. You know, like ice and stuff."  But we literally stopped right as it got really good, instead of just actiony good.  Even though there were still so many more near misses and people drove me crazy with their stubborn nobility and pride (yeah, I'm talking about you, Arms).  And while they did kill like everyone off, they didn't kill off all my favorites, like I thought they did.  They literally make you think everyone will die, but it's not a completely sad ending... well... it kind of is, but it leaves you with hope and stuff.  It raises a lot of questions about equality and humanity, and also about life and death.  I have to admit that I never really paid attention during the politics talks by all the bad dudes, so I'm not 100% sure of the motivation behind some of the dastardly plots.  I really don't know why they did some of the lousy things they did.  I just know the outcomes and stuff.  I might need to read some recaps of some episodes, haha.  This is a bad habit of mine while watching sageuks.  I don't do those boring court and politics scenes well.  I do have to say that everyone did an amazing job acting and all the characters were good enough to deserve nicknames, so that is a mark of a good drama character-wise.  They made most of the main characters sympathetic at some point.  Even Basket Head (Lee Jong Hyuk), although that wasn't always the case.  I hated him a lot in certain scenes (leave Monkey and Secretary Ko alone!).  It was a good, but long and very involved show.  Very emotional in spots and very, very actiony in others.  Kind of a dude show like 95% of the time.  So... good overall, just a bit draggy about certain plots, and pretty predictable too, even though it is not stereotypical.  It is 24 episodes long.

170. Thank You 고맙습니다 (2007) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Gong Hyo Jin, Seo Shin Ae, Shin Sung Rok, Shin Goo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

How did this show make me like it so much?  It's about cancer, AIDS, dementia, single parenthood, and death.  Basically it's a feely sob story.  And I really liked it.  It was pretty well written and it had amazing actors.  I knew when I found out that it had not only Jang Hyuk but Gong Hyo Jin, Seo Sin Ae, and Shin Sung Rok in it that I would have to watch it.  They are all amazing.  I love Seo Shin Ae.  She's one of those child actresses who can actually act.  She was just perfect.  It was a heartwarming drama that was actually good (I don't tend to like those kinds) and heartwarming.  It left you feeling fuzzy and warm instead of like eye rolling and barfing.  That's a pretty good sign, I would say.  And it never made me feel burdened by its agenda, even when it clearly had one.  Anyway, it was pretty good.  It kept me watching even when Mr. Lee (Shin Goo) was making me cry.  He was awesome.  Mr. Lee!

Shine or Go Crazy for Goryeo Lee Gun- Another Nickname Post

What is better than Lee Gun?  Nothing, but what is pretty much equally awesome is fighting Goryeo Lee Gun, complete with facial hair and plenty of shirtlessness.

He's literally the only reason to watch this show.  Literally?  Ok, there are other reasons, but they are probably all associated with Jang Hyuk.

Fated to Love: Cun Xi vs. Lee Gun

This post had to be written for two men that I love for very different reasons.  Having recently finally finished watching the Korean version of Fated to Love You, I have to talk about it.  I think it's one of my favorite dramas, and might have one of the highest ratings on my drama review page.  Anyways... here it is Cun Xi vs. Lee Gun!

137. Shine or Go Crazy 빛나거나 미치거나 (2015) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Oh Yeon Seo, Lee Ha Nui, Lim Ju Hwan

Drama Rating: 6.5/10     Neck Score: A

This was a very entertaining sageuk, probably because it was not focused on being historically accurate to events, but on an engaging story line.  Also, it had some super stellar actors such as Jang Hyuk and Lee Ha Nui.  The costuming was also super awesome and beautiful.  However it suffers from the typical kdrama complex where the ending just kind of went to crap.  It got super cheesy, wrapped up too quickly, suddenly became boring, broke up the main couple for no reason whatsoever after they finally got together, and then tried to patch it up with an ambiguous band aid of an ending to imply that somehow they will be together, but not really, maybe in the next life?  I don't know what it means, but seriously the second half of the last episode just made me roll my eyes, yawn, repeatedly say "this is so dumb" and tweet about how it was so dumb.  Also, there was way too much Luscious Locks (Lim Ju Hwan).  He was so dumb, his hair was bad, and we hated his face.  He needed to be in this show way less.  We don't care about him, especially when they cut away from our OTP to show him giving up on the girl for good.  They even wasted our time at the very end to show him fixing his life, like we care.  This was HeyCurdy's first drama obsession, and literally first Kdrama she started and sat all the way through, so the ending was extra devastating for her.  But since the beginning was super cheesy, I guess I should have guessed the ending would be too.  But that was 24 episodes, how did they expect me to remember that?  It was very deus ex machina, cheesy, drawn out, and kind of lame, which is sad because it was so good for the first two thirds to three fourths of the show.  Ah well, that's fairly typical for a kdrama.  At least it wasn't Night Watchman bad.  Compared to that, this was a great show.  At least everyone could act.  Also Jang Hyuk = one of the sexiest men who have ever lived.

116. Fated to Love You 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (2014) Korean

Jang Na Ra, Jang Hyuk, Choi Jin Hyuk, Wang Ji Won

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

I was so loyal to the Taiwanese original, that I put off watching this one, especially since his hair was so bad.  Also I heard he had an annoying laugh.  But then, I heard enough good things to make me give it a chance.  Omo.  I loved it!  That's one thing that can be said for remakes, they do have a chance to polish and fine tune, it doesn't always happen that way, but it is a possibility.  This version is very Korean, so that is already going to make it different.  Also, the main couple is much older.  Instead of a pair of 26ish year olds, we have some 30s to late 30s peeps.  This gives it a whole different flavor because instead of accidents, mistakes, and coercion there is a lot more conscious decisions.  Cun Xi was a sweet, but hot tempered and immature man who didn't know what he wanted, while Lee Gun is a sweet, childish, and self-sacrificing man.  He takes responsibility and doesn't flip flop around, which is one of the things that drove us crazy in the other version.  Just make up your mind Cun Xi!  Well, as bad as Lee Gun's hair was at the beginning, I fell in love with him so completely!  I don't think I have ever fallen in love with a male lead quite as much as I did with Lee Gun.  He's handsome (when he got his hair cut... whew!), dorky, sweet, and just generally awesome, even when he makes some dumb decisions like lying for his love's sake (oh Korea and their noble idiocy).  Then there is Choi Jin Hyuk as the other man, Daniel Pitt, who is also sweet, handsome, and generally awesome, and you have an overload.  Seriously, both men were so well dressed!  (Those vests and open necked button ups!  Ah!)  Even when it was pulling at our heartstrings (it literally made Lizabreff cry, and she never does) we loved it.  So many feels!