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My Drama Ratings
Ratings Shown: [ENJOYMENT LEVEL/HOW GOOD THE DRAMA IS]
[*****10 Stars*****]
Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi/The Legend [5/5]
[Bae Yong-Jun, Lee Ji-Ah, Moon So-Ri]
My favourite drama ever, hands down. Historical fantasy (I am a SUCKER for fantasy, especially done well), an extended cast who are ALL loveable, a main character who really understands what it is to be a king and kind of responsibility and power he holds. And every single woman is badass, from main characters to those who only get a few odd scenes.
Story of a Man/The Slingshot [5/5]
[Park Yong-Ha, Park Si-Yeon, Kim Kang-Woo, Park Ki-Woong]
So damn slick. A drama about taking on the rich, the influencial, the apathetic who don't care who they crush to meet their goals, and taking them on with a rag-tag group which is only half any useful skills at all, a quarter flirtation, and a a quarter sheer determination. You never quite know where this story is going to go next but it all fits together wonderfully.
Coffee Prince [5/5]
[Yoon Eun-Hye, Gong Yoo, Lee Sun-Gyun, Chae Jung-Ahn]
Probably my favourite heroine ever. I had so much love for Go Eun-Chan that anything she wanted I just backed her on, even if I wouldn't have personally agreed. Anything Eun-Chan wanted mattered. She deserved all good things, and I completely FELT the love story. Crossdressing done the best I have ever seen it, and so much admiration for them not backing down from Han-Kyul's questioning his sexuality. The supporting cast were great too.
[*****9 Stars****]
The Return of Iljimae [4.5/4.5]
[Jung Il Woo, Yoon Jin Seo, Kim Min Jong, Jung Hye Young]
Watch this and be prepared to fall utterly in love, only to get your heart ripped right out on the journey. Iljimae is the most fucked-up, tortured protagonist I've ever seen (and I've read about FitzChivalry Farseer!). He is so flawed, but I grew to love him so, so incredibly much despite that. And so many other characters. The storytelling was weak at the beginning, and also a little towards the end. But the writing of the characters was amazing, and when it was good it was VERY, VERY GOOD.
[****8 Stars****]
Gokusen [5/3]
[Nakama Yukie, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Narimiya Hiroki]
I got so much enjoyment out of watching this I can't quite explain it. I loved Yankumi, I loved Shin, I loved all the other delinquents in class 3-D. It was completely formulaic and predictable from episode to episode which I admit, but I'm a crime show fan which does the same thing so it didn't dampen my own enjoyment at all.
Hana Yori Dango [5/3]
[Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi]
Another early drama of mine, Hana Yori Dango is probably the best way to introduce someone to what dramas are all about. The insanity, the Cinderella story that dramas are so intent on overusing and abusing, a spunky heroine you can't help but love, and a complete idiot who shouldn't be the love interest but somehow is. I have to say I didn't care one whit for Rui (he was too slick, I felt he was sleazy) so that side of it didn't tug at me much.
Hana Yori Dango Returns! [5/3]
[Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi]
Hana Yori Dango 2, the one with the fiancee out of nowhere! Shigeru was quite hilarious, and she definitely added something new to the drama, which in some ways had a lot of the same things going on (down to the odd scene appearing again, just in a different setting). But everything that made HYD great made this great too. I think a lot of people would just rate the two seasons together without making a distinction.
Maou [4/4]
[Ohno Satoshi, Ikuta Toma, Kobayashi Ryoko]
I watched this for Ohno - I was curious and his acting did not let me down - but also for the plot. Seriously creepy and awesome, but my god did Toma ever get to stop running? And Shiori was completely under-utilized. The ending you'll either love it or hate it, I suspect. I loved it.
Mei-chan no Shitsuji [5/3]
[Eikura Nana, Mizushima Hiro, Sato Takeru, Yamada Yu]
I watched all ten episodes in two days. I ejoyed the HELL out of this and rode the crack wave for those 48 hours, even when we were nearing the end and Mei's motives and reasoning made absolutely no sense to me at all. Kento complicated things unnecessarily and yet never seemed a real threat. Mei and Rihito were AWESOME together, and a lot of the supporting cast were amusing enough to keep things rolling on. And don't forget Lucia!
My Prince/Lai Ka Qing Wa Wang Zi [5/3]
[Yu Ya, Zhong Kai, Wu Di Wen, Zhang Xiao Chen, Song Xiao Bo, Wu Jian Fei]
I suspect most people wouldn't think much of this drama, but it was the simpilicity that got me. The heart of this drama is the family and the amazingly tight bond they have. Every member of it is wonderful, and the mum is especially awesome. Some parts were too rushed, trying to fit too much romance in, but Zhi Chen's romantic storyline just about killed me while following it, the emotions felt realistic to me.
The Quiz Show [4/4]
[Katagiri Jin, Totsugi Shigeyuki]
Oh the awesome fuckedupness of this show. By the time I was about to complain over the repetitiveness of the Quiz Show format they opened it up a bit with more backstory. I could've done with even MORE of that, longer episodes and more of the rapport between the two main characters. By the end I knew exactly what was coming, and perhaps it could've got the message across better.
[****7 Stars***]
Ace wo Nerae [4/3]
[Ueto Aya, Matsumoto Rio, Sakai Ayana]
My first drama ever, so I'll always remember it with fondness. Also it was about tennis, which I adore, which makes me not terribly objective XD I imagine it's not the most thrilling, or unpredictable show, but I liked pretty much every character in it, which does a lot for me in a drama.
Nobuta wo Produce [3/4]
[Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki]
This drama has a reputation for being amazing because of its subject matter, the way it turns convention on its head, and for the way friendship is portrayed. But the ending ruined my enjoyment of it completely. A drama that starts bad can be forgiven and make up for it and climb to much higher ratings. A drama that ends in a way I dislike brings the whole thing down like THAT. I seem to be in the minority on this though; plenty of people loved it thoroughly.
You're Beautiful/Minami Shineyo [4/3]
[Jang Geun-Suk, Park Shin-Hye, Lee Hong-Ki, Jung Yong-Hwa]
What a huge amount of crack and madness. My first Hong sisters drama, and so I probably enjoyed it a lot more than people who knew what to expect from their brand of drama writing. Sometimes it went a little too over the top, and Mi-Nyu is officially the dumbest heroine EVER, but there are parts that are just to be treasured amongst the craziness.
Joseon X-Files/Secret Investigation Record [3/4]
[Kim Ji-Hoon, Im Jung-Eun, Kim Gab-Soo, Jo Hee-Bong]
My enjoyment of this rolleroastered all over the place. Some episodes were amazing, some bored me a little. I went into it with expectations of mainly UFOs (not having seen much of the original X-Files I hadn't realised how many other kinds of X-File there were), and the beginning captivated me utterly. I think there was just a smidge TOO much collectively left unexplained by the end though. I don't mind ambiguity, but some of us need a little more to speculate on.
Yankee-kun to Megane-chan [4/3]
[Narimiya Hiroki, Naka Riisa, Hongo Kanata, Koyanagi Yu, Kawaguchi Haruna]
Pretty classic drama formatting, especially for a school drama. Character with a secret they don't want found out ends up in a group of mismatched students who all manage to get along, because it's not what's on the outside that matters really. I sped through this pretty quickly, but it didn't have enough unique moments that thrilled me or tugged at my heart. I did enjoy the girls kicking ass though :D
[***6 Stars***]
The Rose [3/3]
[Ella Chen, Jerry Huang, Joe Cheng , Joelle Lu as Han Fu Rong, Cecilia Yip]
This drama went on too long. By the end I was just skimming through the episodes, although I did literally watch every one otherwise this would be on the unfinished list! Too many of the characters were too unlikable too often, and there was so much of the flustered heroine. I wasn't really buying any of the romantic feelings anyone was feeling in the end, and there were probably a record number of birth secrets that just got so old.
Mary Stayed Out All Night/Marry Me, Mary [3/3]
[Moon Geun-Young, Jang Geun-Suk, Kim Jae-Wook]
This drama swung between insanely cute and just insane. Can't even blame the writer change on the flimsy plot because the plot clearly had no idea what it was doing long before that. Some amazing talent went to waste making this drama, which wasn't about what it thought it was at all. They missed that boat entirely, and even though it had some adorable moments, thinking about how much more it could have been really drops my final ratings of it down.
[***5 Stars**]
Mendol: Ikemen Idols [4/1]
[Kojima Haruna, Takahashi Minami, Minegishi Minami]
Yes, I utterly enjoyed the absolute crack that made no sense whatsoever. But it had crossdressing girls (who were NOT AT ALL CONVINCING), and lesbian lovers and kinkiness, which are all things I have a weakness for. I can admit the whole thing was completely stupid, but it didn't stop me having fun watching it!
[Incomplete/Abandoned Dramas - no rating]
Yasha [incomplete] - I didn't dislike this drama by a long shot. I was loving it actually. Then something happened in it that made me feel unable to continue, but one day I intend to see it through to the end because it was so very promising!
Bambino! [abandoned] - Went into this for Matsumoto Jun. I think I got bored of it.
Tokio ~Chichi e no Dengon~/Message Across Time [abandoned] - Went into this for Sakurai Sho. I think I got bored of it.
Uta no Onii-san [abandoned] - Went into this for Ohno Satoshi. I think I got bored of it.
My Fair Lady/Take Care of the Young Lady/Lady Castle [incomplete] - This drama became insane because it seemed like the plot and characters were constantly changing (even the actors were confused!). Same issues as with Mary Stayed Out All Night, but with Mary I stuck with it because I didn't want it to end with me giving up like I did this one. I will continue it one day, for Yoon Eun-Hye the goddess, and Jung Il-Woo ;)
STILL TO RATE:
What's Up [/]
49 Days [/]
Flower Boy Next Door [/]
Kimi wa Petto [/]
[Matsumoto Jun, Koyuki]
Kurosagi [/]
[Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki]
Ikebukuro West Gate Park [/]
[Nagase Tomoya, Kato Ai, Kubozuka Yosuke, Morishita Aiko, Yamashita Tomohisa]
Yoiko no Mikata [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Matsushita Yuki, Fukiishi Kazue, Endo Shozo]
Yamada Taro Monogatari [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Ninomiya Kazunari, Tabe Mikako, Oshinari Shugo, Shibata Rie]
Stand Up!! [/]
[Ninomiya Kazunari, Yamashita Tomohisa, Suzuki Anne, Narimiya Hiroki, Oguri Shun]
Kisarazu Cat's Eye [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Okada Junichi, Okada Yoshinori, Sato Ryuta, Tsukamoto Takashi]
Koshonin [/]
[Yonekura Ryoko, Shirota Yu]
Akihabara@DEEP [/]
Kazama Shunsuke, Ikuta Toma, Himura Yuki, Hoshino Gen, Kosaka Yuka, Matsushima Hatsune, Honjo Manami]
Long Love Letter [/]
[Kubozuka Yosuke, Tokiwa Takako, Yamada Takayuki, Yamashita Tomohisa]
My Boss, My Hero [/]
[Nagase Tomoya, Tegoshi Yuya, Tanaka Koki, Aragaki Yui]
Wang Qiu Wang Zi/The Prince of Tennis [/]
[Qin Jun Jie, Bai Xu Xu, Zhang Chao, Chen Ze Yu, Zhang Dian Fei, Yang De Min, Mao Fang Yuan, Xue Hao Wen, Wang Chuan Jun]
Wang Qiu Wang Zi 2/The Prince of Tennis 2 [/]
[Qin Jun Jie, Bai Xu Xu, Zhang Chao, Chen Ze Yu, Zhang Dian Fei, Yang De Min, Mao Fang Yuan, Xue Hao Wen, Wang Chuan Jun]
Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi/The Legend [5/5] [Bae Yong-Jun, Lee Ji-Ah, Moon So-Ri]
My favourite drama ever, hands down. Historical fantasy (I am a SUCKER for fantasy, especially done well), an extended cast who are ALL loveable, a main character who really understands what it is to be a king and kind of responsibility and power he holds. And every single woman is badass, from main characters to those who only get a few odd scenes.
Story of a Man/The Slingshot [5/5] [Park Yong-Ha, Park Si-Yeon, Kim Kang-Woo, Park Ki-Woong]
So damn slick. A drama about taking on the rich, the influencial, the apathetic who don't care who they crush to meet their goals, and taking them on with a rag-tag group which is only half any useful skills at all, a quarter flirtation, and a a quarter sheer determination. You never quite know where this story is going to go next but it all fits together wonderfully.
Coffee Prince [5/5] [Yoon Eun-Hye, Gong Yoo, Lee Sun-Gyun, Chae Jung-Ahn]
Probably my favourite heroine ever. I had so much love for Go Eun-Chan that anything she wanted I just backed her on, even if I wouldn't have personally agreed. Anything Eun-Chan wanted mattered. She deserved all good things, and I completely FELT the love story. Crossdressing done the best I have ever seen it, and so much admiration for them not backing down from Han-Kyul's questioning his sexuality. The supporting cast were great too.
The Return of Iljimae [4.5/4.5][Jung Il Woo, Yoon Jin Seo, Kim Min Jong, Jung Hye Young]
Watch this and be prepared to fall utterly in love, only to get your heart ripped right out on the journey. Iljimae is the most fucked-up, tortured protagonist I've ever seen (and I've read about FitzChivalry Farseer!). He is so flawed, but I grew to love him so, so incredibly much despite that. And so many other characters. The storytelling was weak at the beginning, and also a little towards the end. But the writing of the characters was amazing, and when it was good it was VERY, VERY GOOD.
Gokusen [5/3][Nakama Yukie, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Narimiya Hiroki]
I got so much enjoyment out of watching this I can't quite explain it. I loved Yankumi, I loved Shin, I loved all the other delinquents in class 3-D. It was completely formulaic and predictable from episode to episode which I admit, but I'm a crime show fan which does the same thing so it didn't dampen my own enjoyment at all.
Hana Yori Dango [5/3] [Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi]
Another early drama of mine, Hana Yori Dango is probably the best way to introduce someone to what dramas are all about. The insanity, the Cinderella story that dramas are so intent on overusing and abusing, a spunky heroine you can't help but love, and a complete idiot who shouldn't be the love interest but somehow is. I have to say I didn't care one whit for Rui (he was too slick, I felt he was sleazy) so that side of it didn't tug at me much.
Hana Yori Dango Returns! [5/3] [Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi]
Hana Yori Dango 2, the one with the fiancee out of nowhere! Shigeru was quite hilarious, and she definitely added something new to the drama, which in some ways had a lot of the same things going on (down to the odd scene appearing again, just in a different setting). But everything that made HYD great made this great too. I think a lot of people would just rate the two seasons together without making a distinction.
Maou [4/4][Ohno Satoshi, Ikuta Toma, Kobayashi Ryoko]
I watched this for Ohno - I was curious and his acting did not let me down - but also for the plot. Seriously creepy and awesome, but my god did Toma ever get to stop running? And Shiori was completely under-utilized. The ending you'll either love it or hate it, I suspect. I loved it.
Mei-chan no Shitsuji [5/3] [Eikura Nana, Mizushima Hiro, Sato Takeru, Yamada Yu]
I watched all ten episodes in two days. I ejoyed the HELL out of this and rode the crack wave for those 48 hours, even when we were nearing the end and Mei's motives and reasoning made absolutely no sense to me at all. Kento complicated things unnecessarily and yet never seemed a real threat. Mei and Rihito were AWESOME together, and a lot of the supporting cast were amusing enough to keep things rolling on. And don't forget Lucia!
My Prince/Lai Ka Qing Wa Wang Zi [5/3] [Yu Ya, Zhong Kai, Wu Di Wen, Zhang Xiao Chen, Song Xiao Bo, Wu Jian Fei]
I suspect most people wouldn't think much of this drama, but it was the simpilicity that got me. The heart of this drama is the family and the amazingly tight bond they have. Every member of it is wonderful, and the mum is especially awesome. Some parts were too rushed, trying to fit too much romance in, but Zhi Chen's romantic storyline just about killed me while following it, the emotions felt realistic to me.
The Quiz Show [4/4] [Katagiri Jin, Totsugi Shigeyuki]
Oh the awesome fuckedupness of this show. By the time I was about to complain over the repetitiveness of the Quiz Show format they opened it up a bit with more backstory. I could've done with even MORE of that, longer episodes and more of the rapport between the two main characters. By the end I knew exactly what was coming, and perhaps it could've got the message across better.
Ace wo Nerae [4/3] [Ueto Aya, Matsumoto Rio, Sakai Ayana]
My first drama ever, so I'll always remember it with fondness. Also it was about tennis, which I adore, which makes me not terribly objective XD I imagine it's not the most thrilling, or unpredictable show, but I liked pretty much every character in it, which does a lot for me in a drama.
Nobuta wo Produce [3/4][Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki]
This drama has a reputation for being amazing because of its subject matter, the way it turns convention on its head, and for the way friendship is portrayed. But the ending ruined my enjoyment of it completely. A drama that starts bad can be forgiven and make up for it and climb to much higher ratings. A drama that ends in a way I dislike brings the whole thing down like THAT. I seem to be in the minority on this though; plenty of people loved it thoroughly.
You're Beautiful/Minami Shineyo [4/3] [Jang Geun-Suk, Park Shin-Hye, Lee Hong-Ki, Jung Yong-Hwa]
What a huge amount of crack and madness. My first Hong sisters drama, and so I probably enjoyed it a lot more than people who knew what to expect from their brand of drama writing. Sometimes it went a little too over the top, and Mi-Nyu is officially the dumbest heroine EVER, but there are parts that are just to be treasured amongst the craziness.
Joseon X-Files/Secret Investigation Record [3/4] [Kim Ji-Hoon, Im Jung-Eun, Kim Gab-Soo, Jo Hee-Bong]
My enjoyment of this rolleroastered all over the place. Some episodes were amazing, some bored me a little. I went into it with expectations of mainly UFOs (not having seen much of the original X-Files I hadn't realised how many other kinds of X-File there were), and the beginning captivated me utterly. I think there was just a smidge TOO much collectively left unexplained by the end though. I don't mind ambiguity, but some of us need a little more to speculate on.
Yankee-kun to Megane-chan [4/3] [Narimiya Hiroki, Naka Riisa, Hongo Kanata, Koyanagi Yu, Kawaguchi Haruna]
Pretty classic drama formatting, especially for a school drama. Character with a secret they don't want found out ends up in a group of mismatched students who all manage to get along, because it's not what's on the outside that matters really. I sped through this pretty quickly, but it didn't have enough unique moments that thrilled me or tugged at my heart. I did enjoy the girls kicking ass though :D
The Rose [3/3] [Ella Chen, Jerry Huang, Joe Cheng , Joelle Lu as Han Fu Rong, Cecilia Yip]
This drama went on too long. By the end I was just skimming through the episodes, although I did literally watch every one otherwise this would be on the unfinished list! Too many of the characters were too unlikable too often, and there was so much of the flustered heroine. I wasn't really buying any of the romantic feelings anyone was feeling in the end, and there were probably a record number of birth secrets that just got so old.
Mary Stayed Out All Night/Marry Me, Mary [3/3] [Moon Geun-Young, Jang Geun-Suk, Kim Jae-Wook]
This drama swung between insanely cute and just insane. Can't even blame the writer change on the flimsy plot because the plot clearly had no idea what it was doing long before that. Some amazing talent went to waste making this drama, which wasn't about what it thought it was at all. They missed that boat entirely, and even though it had some adorable moments, thinking about how much more it could have been really drops my final ratings of it down.
Mendol: Ikemen Idols [4/1][Kojima Haruna, Takahashi Minami, Minegishi Minami]
Yes, I utterly enjoyed the absolute crack that made no sense whatsoever. But it had crossdressing girls (who were NOT AT ALL CONVINCING), and lesbian lovers and kinkiness, which are all things I have a weakness for. I can admit the whole thing was completely stupid, but it didn't stop me having fun watching it!
Yasha [incomplete] - I didn't dislike this drama by a long shot. I was loving it actually. Then something happened in it that made me feel unable to continue, but one day I intend to see it through to the end because it was so very promising!
Bambino! [abandoned] - Went into this for Matsumoto Jun. I think I got bored of it.
Tokio ~Chichi e no Dengon~/Message Across Time [abandoned] - Went into this for Sakurai Sho. I think I got bored of it.
Uta no Onii-san [abandoned] - Went into this for Ohno Satoshi. I think I got bored of it.
My Fair Lady/Take Care of the Young Lady/Lady Castle [incomplete] - This drama became insane because it seemed like the plot and characters were constantly changing (even the actors were confused!). Same issues as with Mary Stayed Out All Night, but with Mary I stuck with it because I didn't want it to end with me giving up like I did this one. I will continue it one day, for Yoon Eun-Hye the goddess, and Jung Il-Woo ;)
STILL TO RATE:
What's Up [/]
49 Days [/]
Flower Boy Next Door [/]
Kimi wa Petto [/]
[Matsumoto Jun, Koyuki]
Kurosagi [/]
[Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki]
Ikebukuro West Gate Park [/]
[Nagase Tomoya, Kato Ai, Kubozuka Yosuke, Morishita Aiko, Yamashita Tomohisa]
Yoiko no Mikata [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Matsushita Yuki, Fukiishi Kazue, Endo Shozo]
Yamada Taro Monogatari [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Ninomiya Kazunari, Tabe Mikako, Oshinari Shugo, Shibata Rie]
Stand Up!! [/]
[Ninomiya Kazunari, Yamashita Tomohisa, Suzuki Anne, Narimiya Hiroki, Oguri Shun]
Kisarazu Cat's Eye [/]
[Sakurai Sho, Okada Junichi, Okada Yoshinori, Sato Ryuta, Tsukamoto Takashi]
Koshonin [/]
[Yonekura Ryoko, Shirota Yu]
Akihabara@DEEP [/]
Kazama Shunsuke, Ikuta Toma, Himura Yuki, Hoshino Gen, Kosaka Yuka, Matsushima Hatsune, Honjo Manami]
Long Love Letter [/]
[Kubozuka Yosuke, Tokiwa Takako, Yamada Takayuki, Yamashita Tomohisa]
My Boss, My Hero [/]
[Nagase Tomoya, Tegoshi Yuya, Tanaka Koki, Aragaki Yui]
Wang Qiu Wang Zi/The Prince of Tennis [/]
[Qin Jun Jie, Bai Xu Xu, Zhang Chao, Chen Ze Yu, Zhang Dian Fei, Yang De Min, Mao Fang Yuan, Xue Hao Wen, Wang Chuan Jun]
Wang Qiu Wang Zi 2/The Prince of Tennis 2 [/]
[Qin Jun Jie, Bai Xu Xu, Zhang Chao, Chen Ze Yu, Zhang Dian Fei, Yang De Min, Mao Fang Yuan, Xue Hao Wen, Wang Chuan Jun]