Trace of the Hand

Trace of the Hand

4/10

Trace of the Hand

Genre:                                 Episodes: 17                           Year: 2017

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kim Hong Shik is a shy, dorky collage student who returns to study after his mandatory military service. He gets a new phone which comes installed with ’T-Scope’- an app that lets him read other people’s text messages. Hong Shik uses the app in order to get closer to Park Min Young, a beautiful, popular girl in his class.

Cast:

Shin Jae Ha (Kim Hong Shik)

Hwa Young (Park Min Young)

Kwon Young Min (Park Soon Young)

Hyo Eun (Lee Soo Bin)

General Thoughts:

It’s kind of weird and kind of cool, but those two aspects somehow don’t really mesh together all that well. The series starts out as a cute little romance with a guy who looks to woo his lady love with the help of reading her text messages.

I adore awkward heroes

It’s creepy when you think about it, and surprisingly the drama actually goes down the ‘hey this is creepy’ road rather than just letting it slide because he’s the hero. But there’s no real cuteness in the drama which is a bit of a downer. I mean, I’m only really here to see Shin Jae Ha and Hwa Young be adorable together.

I can relate

And that did not happen. Like, I don’t really even want to list this as a rom-com, but it’s closer to that than anything else. This series is kind of weirdly genre-less. It’s not quite romantic enough to be a romance, it’s not quite comedic enough to be a comedy, it’s not quite mysterious enough to be a mystery, it’s not quite angsty enough to be a melodrama. Like what even are you? That being said, I will watch pretty much anything with Shin Jae Ha in it. He was what snagged me into watching this drama (and I had to search high and low into the deepest depths of the internet to find it with English subs that were available in my region), and in that sense I don’t regret it at all. Shin Jae Ha gives a great performance. It’s not spectacular as the character isn’t all that complex, but he’s able to quietly go from dorky, loveable hero to slightly jerky creep quite seamlessly. I like Hwa Young quite a lot as an actress (scandals aside) and think she’s pretty good. I’ve loved her in everything I’ve seen her in, but this series didn’t really give her a chance to shine. She’s just there to be a pretty face for the hero to go after.

That arm hover tho

As a character Min Young is pretty bland- she doesn’t really seem to have any preference for anything and just goes from one rich guy to the other. Her character gets a tiny bit of development at the end where she says (quite believably I’ll add) that she liked Hong Shik for his company and not his money, but it would have been nice to see her gradually fall for him the same way Hong Shik gradually fell into creepy territory.

Me: You need sleep!
Also Me: I bet I can finish this whole drama in one night!

The end would have been much more dramatic if you actually believed these two people liked each other at all, but I only felt like Hong Shik liked Min Young’s face, and Min Young liked Hong Shik for chasing after her. Be that as it may, the drama has enough in it to hold your attention, and it really is far from predictable. The episodes are short and sweet, rarely going over 8 minutes, so it’s not like it’s a huge time commitment. This series did seem better directed and better edited than a lot of other short series I’ve seen, and that helped keep the quality of the drama up even when the story wasn’t exactly five stars. It never felt like anyone who was a part of making the drama put in a half effort because it’s only a short series shown online, and it was easy to see that everyone on the production side was working pretty hard to keep it schmick and clean.

What Was Great:

A Little Different:

I love not knowing where a story is going, and I’ll admit that despite the story’s flaws, I enjoyed not knowing how everything would turn out. As fun as short, fluffy dramas are, they can all seem a bit the same- to the point where you know what’s going to happen before it plays out.

You'd think this is where we're headed. You'd be wrong.

This drama did not play out the way I was expecting. Which was awesome. I love being surprised (as long as it’s not done poorly). So while I didn't totally adore the way the drama concluded (where’s all my cute at?!), I give two thumbs up for breaking the mould. 

What Wasn’t:

Anti Hero:

Sooooo it broke the mould, but I didn’t really like where our hero ended up once he was out of the mould. There’s an art to making characters who do less than savoury things loveable, and that just did not happen here. As the drama went on I found myself liking Hong Shik less and less, and the way he was using he message-reading app was becoming super creepy.

When he not only reads all your texts but also has a stalker shrine of you

At first I wondered if it was just my take on the hero, but once he started blackmailing people for money I was pretty sure that the writers were going out of their way to make him seem like a bad dude. Which is fine if he had his redeeming qualities. But he didn’t. Blind and innocent love might have saved him, but that wasn’t really the case. By the end Hong Shik was viewing Min Young as a trophy to be won rather than a girl he liked, and that was only further enforced by his boredom after they started dating (and flirting with other girls on your phone while on a date- just ew). Because we’d spent so much of the series seeing things through Hong Shik’s eyes, it was hard to then reverse that. Min Young was nothing more than a girl he wanted to ‘win’ and Soon Young was the sliiiiiightly less creepy ex who had to be beaten. So once it became clear that Hong Shik wasn’t actually a nice guy, there wasn’t really anyone left in the show to like. This kind of reversal might have worked nicely if there was a lot of depth and story backing it up- but in a short series that rounds out to about 100 minutes, that just wasn’t likely to happen. And so it didn’t.

Recommend?

No, I wouldn’t really. It’s easy enough to get through if you really want to, but there are other short series I’d rate above this one.

Dear Shin Jae Ha, Please play a nice, loveable hero next time. From fangirls everywhere.

Age of Youth

Age of Youth

8/10

Age of Youth

Genre:                               Episodes: 12                         Year: 2016

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Five university students live in a share house, and each girl lives with their own dreams and struggles. The story follows the five girls and their friendships as they learn about each other and the secrets they each keep hidden.

Cast:

Han Ye Ri (Yoon Jin Myung)

Park Hye Soo (Yoo Eun Jae)

Hwa Young (Kang Yi Na)

Han Seung Yeon (Jung Ye Eun)

Park Eun Bin (Song Ji Won)

Shin Hyun Soo (Yoon Jong Yeol)

Yoon Park (Park Jae Wan)

Ji Il Joo (Go Doo Young)

Son Seung Won (Im Sung Min)

Yoon Jong Hoon (Seo Dong Joo)

General Thoughts:

While in no way perfect, the drama still manages to capture hearts, tug at your emotions, and leave in a sadly satisfying way. It’s not often that I find myself sad to watch a drama go (especially not with those longer ones that drag on for more episodes than necessary), but it was a tad sad having to say goodbye to these five wonderful girls.

Our glorious heroines

The writer did such a great job with these characters, as did the actresses who portrayed them. While each girl was distinctly different and had their own quirky characteristics, they never fell into a typical K-Drama heroine category. While the girls definitely had overarching qualities that you could use to label them (studious, shy, glamorous, bubbly, loud) there was so much more to every one of their characters.

Girl friendships are where it's at

To add to how amazing our five heroines were, we had the splendid friendship that was shared between them. The show really hit the nail on the head with the way it began. We enter into this share-house with Eun Jae, who is as new to the situation as we are, so it gives us time to observe the other girls that will be in our story. Then as each episode goes by we have a different main narrator for the hour, with one girl taking centre stage for that episode. Yet the other girls were always present, sometimes coming in with snippets of their own story, sometimes being completely involved in another’s story as either a support, a friend, or an obstacle. As for each girl’s story, they were all unique and different. While most of the stories were a little too dramatic to be considered ‘everyday’ stories, there were always aspects of our characters and their situations that felt similar and relatable: feeling isolated, lost, confused and scared as you try to make your way through the world as an ‘adult’. While none of the storylines were exactly new, the writing and characters were like a breath of fresh air, and completely invigorated the story, making it seem totally original again. I loved that the show felt very ’20’. I haven’t watched a heap of shows that focus on this stage of life, so it was nice to have a drama that was so focused on this period.

Welcome to the 20s- where we drink away our problems

Most dramas tend to go for late 20s-30 and focus on an everlasting love, or on the teens and first love. But ‘Age of Youth’ focuses itself on that weirdly messy period of time in between. Our characters have all made mistakes and have pasts that they have to deal with, but they also have such a question-mark over their futures. Plot-wise I do wish we’d got into some of the stories a little quicker, as while the pacing of the show never felt drawn out (yay for 12 episodes), it did feel a little rushed at the end in regards to Eun Jae’s story, and Ji Won didn’t even really get a story at all.

There were some great love-lines flying around

And while I love that the series focused mainly on the relationships between the girls, I do wish we’d had just a smidge more on the boys. Jae Wan and Doo Young had the perfect amount of screen time and story, but I wouldn’t have been mad if the other three boys were given a little more attention. Jong Yeol had a cute love-line, but did disappear in the middle there as the drama only focused a lot on Eun Jae in the beginning and then at the end. Our other two boys, Sung Min and Dong Joo, were hard to catch a glimpse of. Blink and you might miss them. I do wish that a little more effort had been put into Dong Joo and Yi Na’s relationship, as I found Dong Joo such an interesting character. It’s pretty common to see the ‘sugar daddy’ card played, so I enjoyed that this drama branched out a little and had a male gold-digger. It’s not a new or unheard of concept, but it is rarely seen on screen. His feelings for Yi Na were pretty heavily hinted at, and I dearly wish we could have seen some sort of reciprocated feelings on Yi Na's part. Son Seung Won caught my eye as the young version of the villain in ‘Healer’ and I’ve eagerly anticipated seeing him in more roles since then. Sadly, his character here is pretty blasé and relatively unimportant- but he did sparkle nicely in those scenes he was given.

If you'd made some moves on her maybe you would have gotten more screen-time

The cinematography was beautiful and really gave the whole show a melancholy, reflective feeling. The shots and angles were lovely, but what really caught my attention was the colour of this drama. It’s very soft and clean and gives off a bit of a dream-like, nostalgic quality that was simply stunning. The music helped support this weird (yet totally likeable) melancholy but heartwarming vibe, and really gave the show a sense of endearment. 

What Was Great:

Our Girls:

The characters were great and the actresses were great. If you have both of those things, it’s pretty hard to dislike the characters. Every girl had both likeable and dislikable aspects, and the show really capitalised on that, showing how relationships must overcome these less than wonderful parts of a person in order to be able to continue enjoying all these other wonderful things about them.

You can't not love these girls

What was really sweet about the relationships between the girls is that it wasn’t super in-your-face that they were making a drama that focused on female friendships. While the heart and soul of this drama was definitely all the gal pals, the lovely friendship moments came about in beautifully unforced ways. It was sweet and natural and never overplayed, which only made it that much more rewarding to watch.

Oddly dark for a slice-of-life drama

Rather than having great acts of friendship to display the love between the girls, the show opted for rather mundane, everyday, yet totally heart-tugging ways for the girls to show that they cared, and this made all the relationships feel wonderfully real and authentic.

Our Stories:

I was thoroughly invested in all the different stories going on in this drama. The romances were adorable and you couldn’t help but root for our heroines in all their endeavours- romance or other. The drama shined light on every one of our girls (though Ji Won definitely got less light than the others), and as each story slowly played out, we learned more and more about our different girls, their pasts, and what shaped them into the people they were in the present. It’s a wonderful example of beautiful, fluid writing that keeps the series completely engaging from start to finish. 

Our Visuals:

It’s so pretty to watch. Obviously the girls are all gorgeous and stunning (especially Hwa Young- I mean really, how can anyone be that attractive?), and the boys aren’t bad to look at either. But what really set the drama apart from others visually was the beautiful way it was shot. Even in the funny moments the drama managed to snag a rather thoughtful, pensive tone. The whole thing was just so, so pretty.

It was so nice to look at

What Wasn’t:

Some Unanswered Questions:

While all the stories were loveable and engaging, there were some aspects to them that left me wanting a little more explanation. My main question-mark after the series ended was what the deal was with the ballerina ex-roommate.

Please give me my answers now

It felt like the drama had more mysteries it wanted to go into regarding her character- it felt like she was going to be used for more than just a tool to have Eun Jae suspect that her roommates weren’t very nice people. I kept expecting her to make a reappearance (maybe as a part of Ji Won’s story as she was rather story-less, and is ballerina the Hyo Jin that Ji Won called out to in one of the epilogues?). But alas, she never returned. I felt a little disappointed that this question wasn’t answered- simply because the drama had set her up like some big secret. None of the girls seemed comfortable talking about her and it just seemed like one big lie that she left because she got knocked up. After learning more about each of the housemates, I seriously doubt they’d cut ties with someone just because she got pregnant. But unfortunately for us, we’ll never know. Another unanswered question was the ringing in Ji Won’s ears. Seeing as she was supposedly lying about seeing ghosts and reading auras, I wondered if maybe she did have some supernatural power she didn’t know about yet. But that seemed to eventuate to nothing, and the drama ended without really explaining Ji Won’s ringing ears. And then there’s Doo Young. While we do get to see occasional instances of him being a giant jerk, he mostly just came across as a boyfriend who took his girlfriend for granted.

From uncaring to crazy in one fell swoop

While I appreciate that the show did go into domestic violence, I would have liked to see a gradual buildup to Ye Eun’s kidnapping, as it just seemed to be a bolt from the blue. I think it would have had more effect if his violent behaviours started of small and we saw Ye Eun ignoring or explaining away his actions until it climaxed at the kidnapping. As it was, it was a tad random to have him turn into a deranged, psychopathic kidnapper when he’d really been played as a disinterested boyfriend who cheats for most of the show’s run.

Re-watch?

I would love to go back and revisit this drama when I have the time. The relationships (both friendship and romantic) were just so sweet, and the drama has managed to snag a rather unique niche for itself where there’s nothing else quite like it around. It’s truly a very, very enjoyable drama.

Super satisfying

Ex-Girlfriend Club

Ex-Girlfriend Club

5.5/10

Ex-Girlfiend Club

Genre:                                 Episodes: 12                                   Year: 2015

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kim Soo Jin is a movie producer at a company that has recently declared bankruptcy. The only way for Soo Jin to save the company is to finish making the movie they bought the rights for. The movie is based off a webtoon about one man and his three ex-girlfriends. The author of the webtoon is Bang Myung Soo, Soo Jin’s ex-boyfriend. The situation becomes even more complicated when the three ex-girlfriends depicted in the webtoon hear about the movie, and come to prevent it from being filmed.

Cast:

Song Ji Hyo (Kim Soo Jin)

Hyun Yo Han (Bang Myung Soo)

Lee Yoon Ji (Jang Hwa Young)

Jang Ji Eun (Na Ji Ah)

Hwa Young (Ra Ra)

Do Sang Woo (Director Jo Geun)

General Thoughts:

I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m glad the series got an episode cutback, but I’m not exactly devastated. I feel sad for all the people who poured so much effort and love into making the series, but I will admit- the cutback did wonders in getting that plot moving. The drama definitely started out on the slow side. It was like an old pony slowly making its way towards its destination, stopping occasionally to feel the sun and munch some grass. Not a bad picture- but not exactly exciting.

Pretty...but a little bland

The writers had a great premise- one guy, three exes and a ‘some’ girl all brought together by one event. Then they had some hilarious situations that could ensue from that premise- and I will admit, some of the situations were ridiculously funny. But then the writers sort of strung these events together in whatever way seemed mildly plausible.

4 girls, 1 guy

To be completely honest, I’m still not 100% sure why the exes rocked up to protest the making of the film- sure it’s not the nicest thing to have our story out there for everyone to see, but no one will know it’s you. Unless you make a huge fuss about it and draw attention to yourself. Which, oops, they kind of did. Plus, the webtoon was already published so their stories were already out there. While the funny moments were undoubtably funny, I was sometimes a little confused as to how we got there- because the only logical explanation would be that our characters are a bunch of simpletons. Speaking of our characters, I thought they were more or less delightful with solid acting to back them up. If not more than solid acting. I do feel as though the impressive acting actually ended up covering for a bit of a lack in the writing. While the show did have a lot of flaws, one of the things it did well was its presentation of the exes. They weren’t horrible, vengeful women out to get their ex. They were their own people with their own motivations and desires. It was nice to take a trip away from typical K-Drama ex-girlfriends. But sadly, there’s not a whole lot you can talk about with this drama, as not a whole lot happened.

Petty revenge is always a fun time

I can see why it really resonated with some people, but I can also see (perhaps a tad more clearly) why the ratings were so low. It’s enjoyable enough but it’s definitely not an outstanding drama. Nothing in it is annoying enough to put you off, but at the same time there isn’t a lot going on story-wise.

What Was Great:

The Exes:

All the exes were fantastic. I’m already a huge fan of Lee Yoon Ji, so there wasn’t much risk in disliking the lioness. I find that Lee Yoon Ji can bring a lot of spark to her characters. She’s one of those rare actresses that can be bold and assertive without coming across as b*tchy or too dominating.

What commitment to a character looks like

She has a marvellous ability to express the vulnerability of her character, even when her character is putting on a strong front. Not to mention she’s hilarious. Lee Yoon Ji can totally bring the crazy to a character without going over the top. She added layers to her character that I’m not completely sure were there on paper, and dove into her role with complete dedication. Hwa Young was delightful as the fox ex. She could be completely sexy while still exuding an aura of innocence. Many actresses would have fallen into the trap of making Ra Ra a character that was too much of a sex-symbol, or just too dumb, but Hwa Young did an excellent job at keeping the purity of her character alive, even in situations when her character wasn’t exactly pure. Ra Ra as a character was just wonderful as well. She was one of the most understandable exes- she was an actress struggling to land substantial roles, a movie needed her okay to go ahead- blackmail for role in the movie. Makes perfect sense. Director shows interest in her as a person rather than an object and offered constructive feedback about her work as an actress- she falls for him. Makes perfect sense. Other exes want to squish Soo Jin and the Director together to get Soo Jin away from Myung Soo- she makes sure Myung Soo is well aware of the goings on and can intervene. Makes absolute, wonderfully perfect sense. Hooray! Not to mention it was nice to have an ex who didn’t really care about the love-life of the main man, so long as it didn’t interfere with hers.

Because nothing builds friendship quite like ruining the relationship of a mutual ex

Jang Ji Eun did a well enough job with her character. I didn’t love the cat ex as I always felt her intentions were unclear- did she want Myung Soo back or not? Ignoring the less than understandable character, Jang Ji Eun did well in expressing the changing feelings of Na Ji Ah (particularly towards the other exes) without breaking Ji Ah’s elegant, if icy, demeanour. 

Go ahead- try and hate him

The Man:

I don’t know how they managed to get away with making the leading man so likeable. It’s a story about a guy and all his exes. And yet…you still like him. Granted, the series doesn’t exactly deeply explore why all these relationships ended up failing, but you’d still imagine that one guy paired with four girls would come across a little slimy. But on the contrary, he just came across as really sweet. While he may no longer hold a flame for any of his exes, he can’t seem to turn his back on them if they appear to be in trouble- particularly Ji Ah. It’s the cause of a lot of his problems with Soo Jin, but you can’t exactly condemn a man for being too nice. Add in the fact that Byun Yo Han is just super adorable and you’ve got the combination for a really cute, likeable male lead.

The Funny:

Goodness, when the show wanted to be funny, it was funny. There were cute and sweet moments, but it was the humour that really sold the show. Even hough it might not have made sense how we got to a certain situation, you almost didn’t mind the lack of sense purely because it was so darn hilarious. All the actors in the drama did an excellent job at bringing on the laughs. They devoted themselves 100% to their characters, which made for some pretty spectacular reactions and faces.

Mere moments before the best bro-fight you'll ever witness

The Soundtrack:

The soundtrack is catchy and cute. Never before have I experienced a song that so perfectly captures the awkwardness of a situation. Also, the opening theme was perfectly in tune with the tone of the drama, and told you what to expect from the series. 

What Wasn’t:

Some of Song Ji Hyo:

I really adore Song Ji Hyo, and I find her to be an excellent actress. Being a fixed member in ‘Running Man’ she’s well used to providing the laughs, and she can definitely deliver strong, feisty heroines. My issue with Song Ji Hyo (and it kills me to say this) is that she can’t do cutesy romance well.

Beloved Ji Hyo's aegyo...it's not good

She can do believable romance, I’ve seen it other dramas- but sadly this isn’t one of her best works. She’s fantastic when she’s yelling at the ex-girlfriends, she’s fantastic when she’s telling Myung Soo what’s what, and she’s fantastic in the frantic, panicked, comedic situations. But her romance with the main man did fall a tad flat. Hyun Yo Han is so good at delivering the cutesy, childish adorableness. Song Ji Hyo…not so much. And unfortunately, standing Song Ji Hyo next to a man who’s so good at the cute, made her attempts seem that much worse than they actually were. In a couple of scenes I could practically feel Song Ji Hyo’s embarrassment oozing out of my screen. Sadly, this also impacted on the chemistry between our two leads. It didn’t hurt the chemistry enough that it was unbelievable that the two characters would end up as lovers, but it did make them seem as though they were better suited as friends. Because their relationship was most believable when Soo Jin and Myung Soo were acting as childish, immature friends. Sorry Ace, I still love you.

Not the most romantic romance

Length Between Laughs:

While the funny moments were very, very funny, the spaces between these moments were very, very long. It was worthwhile sticking through the patches of drawn out plot to get to the awesome moments of hilarity, but there were times when the series did boarder on boring. After about the third of fourth episode, it feels kind of like you’re watching the same thing over and over until the newest comedic scene makes an appearance and makes you laugh your butt off. And then you’re back to the same old repetition. 

A little bit how it felt waiting for the next funny scene

The Cat:

I just didn’t get the deal with the cat. The writers played their cards too close to the vest with that one. In order to maintain the mystery around this particular ex, they gave up any chance of creating an understandable character.

Jeez woman, what do you even want?

I understand that her character's development may have suffered brutally due to the episode cutback (I think our heroine felt a fair amount of this as well), but she just didn’t make a heap of sense. Ji Ah seemed to flit from one state of mind to the next with the same stoney exterior, and didn’t let us viewers in on her thought processes that lead to her change of mind. Times when she was interfering in Myung Soo and Soo Jin’s relationship she just became downright irritating. She stated that she didn’t want to date Myung Soo again, so why is she making such a fuss? At least our lioness actually verbalised reasoning behind why she wanted to interfere in the relationship. Even if Hwa Young’s excuses made little logical sense, they made emotional sense once she verbalised her feelings. Unlike Ji Ah. Who apparently just messed around with everything because she had nothing better to do. It’s not like she’s got a restaurant to run or anything.

Re-watch?

No. This drama came so close to being something that was truly amazing, but the writing let the team down. The premise and the cast were all fantastic, but the drama just lost its direction and had no idea how to add enough believable (and non-frustrating) conflict to keep it consistently interesting.

Behold- the everlasting magic of friendship