49 Days

49 Days

6.5/10

49 Days

Genre:                                   Episodes: 20                         Year: 2011

Romance

Melodrama

Supernatural

Synopsis:

When a woman tries to commit suicide by jumping in front of a truck, there is a large accident on the road. The accident causes Shin Ji Hyun to enter a coma, though her spirit lives on outside her body. A Scheduler, a man who transports souls to the afterlife, gives Ji Hyun a chance to return to her body as she wasn’t supposed to die in the accident. Ji Hyun will live if she can find three people who will cry genuine tears of sadness over her. Ji Hyun is allowed to use Song Yi Kyung’s body, as she is the woman who attempted suicide and caused Ji Hyun’s unscheduled death.

Cast:

Lee Yo Won (Song Yi Kyung/ Shin Ji Hyun)

Nam Gyu Ri (Shin Ji Hyun)

Jo Hyun Jae (Han Kang)

Bae Soo Bin (Kang Min Ho)

Jung Il Woo (Scheduler)

Seo Ji Hye (Shin In Jung)

General Thoughts:

This is a drama that really shows how bad acting is much more bearable than bad writing. I was fully engaged in most of the plot for the entire 20 episodes, despite the less that satisfactory standard of acting coming from some (most) of our cast members.

This drama is the answer to Bad Acting vs. Bad Writing

The premise was an interesting one- and had a similar sort of take on death that ‘Goblin’ (which I just finished) had- that there are some deaths that can't be predicted. It was mapped out nicely that the reason Ji Hyun could use Yi Kyung’s body was because she was he one that caused Ji Hyun to die early by attempting to jump in from of traffic and commit suicide.

Who doesn't love a bit of ghost possession?

It was a nice way to connect our two female characters and quickly expose their characters and their differences- Ji Hyun happy, in love, and desperate for life, and Yi Kyung miserable, lonely, and wishing for death. It also introduced us to the best scene stealer I’ve ever seen. Jung Il Woo was fantastic as the Scheduler of Death and held a lot of my interest. A vast reason why I kept coming back to the series was for Il Woo’s steadily growing humanity (paired with his hilarious sarcasm), and the gradual reveal of the life he couldn’t remember. While I found it fairly obvious that he and Yi Kyung were connected, the show revealed it in a nice, natural way, and Jung Il Woo acted it to perfection. His emotions and expressions just seemed even more dynamic as he was acting next to a bunch of people who weren’t very good- but at least it made Jung Il Woo look awesome. On the other hand, I just couldn’t connect with Yi Kyung. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I had no burning desire to see her happy (I was much more invested in Ji Hyun) and didn’t quite see her as a fully fleshed out human being.

The only thing I care about in this situation is the Scheduler

She was supposed to be a sad, melancholy character that caused our hearts to ache for her and her pitiful situation, but I found her a bit exasperating to be honest. Mostly because she didn’t try to do anything. She made no attempt to move on with her life, and that really gave me the sh*ts. Perhaps I would have been a little more invested had we seen just how alone and awful Yi Kyung had felt before she met Yi Kyung, but in flashbacks we were only shown how happy they were together.

What a cute lil meanie weeny

Then they broke up. So it kind of annoyed me that this girl was pinning her life away for some man who she suspected had been cheating on her before his death. I guess, perhaps if a decent actress had been given the role I would be feeling a whole different set of emotions. Despite the set-up of the 3 tears scenario, we actually spent more time dealing with the company take-over than anything else. It wasn’t too bad, in that it helped open Ji Hyun’s eyes to how oblivious and naive she had been before, but I seriously don’t think we needed to spend as much time on it as we did. Considering that we virtually had no information on the company or how Min Ho was going to bankrupt it, there wasn’t a lot of tension. I didn’t believe for one second that Min Ho would actually succeed in seizing control of the company, so a lot of the interest came from how Ji Hyun was using him to her advantage. I wish the show had been just a teensy bit clearer in what her objectives actually were, because it felt like she was just sort of hanging around Min Ho in the hopes that something would happen. I think it would have added an extra layer of interest if Ji Hyun actually went out of her way to seduce Min Ho while in Yi Kyung’s body in order to get the information she needed, rather than just having him fall for her all on his own. Ah well, it was still interesting enough.

The amount of wrist/arm grabbing in this drama is unbelievably high. Haven't you Koreans heard of holding hands?

Visually the drama didn’t have a lot going for it- there weren’t a heap of expressions going around and there were only about 3 or 4 locations- none all that exciting. Much of the visual enjoyment came from seeing what ridiculous wardrobe choices Jung Il Woo would make, and seeing how weirdly well he pulled them off. The soundtrack wasn’t bad exactly, but it did feel like just your typical melodrama soundtrack- a female ballad with orchestral music where all the songs sound kind of the same. The editing felt pretty ridiculous at times and very dated. There were four cases in the first episode alone where characters walked past each other and we saw the moment they passed each other three times- each shot in slower slo-mo than the last. It was unnecessary and not very subtle. There were odd editing choices throughout the series that really did nothing to enhance it, and just made the drama feel very old- older than 2011.

I only saw this moment from 5 different angles- are you sure it's important?

What Was Great:

Tears and Death:

What let me sit through 20 episodes of awkward editing and sloppy acting was the story. I was invested from the start, and really liked Ji Hyun despite her lack of worldly knowledge.

You dead sucka

The idea of needing genuine tears and that there were different types of tears was an interesting one, and I wish it had come into play a little bit more (it felt like a bit of a rush to have 2 of the 3 tears come in the final moments). All in all, Ji Hyun did seem fairly clueless on all things tear-related. The drama also expressed interesting views on death. Most K-Dramas tend to lean towards there being another world after death or reincarnation, but I liked that this series took a different approach. In ‘49 Days’ death was nothing but a separation and a final goodbye. It’s a sadder approach, but does add a dose of desperation to the story, as well as good reasoning for Ji Hyun’s intense desire to live. You know, beyond not wanting to be dead.

Characterisations:

There characters were all brilliant. Ji Hyun had a nice little path of development throughout the series. She starts as a pretty dim-witted girl who’s too easily trusting, but as each conflict arises Ji Hyun’s learns to face it with confidence and determination. By the end Ji Hyun’s optimistic outlook and love for those around her are seen as an asset not a weakness, as she possesses those characteristics not from just being sheltered and fortunate, but from actively choosing to trust and love those around her despite the risks.

You for you learning how to adult (sort of)

Her relationship with Kang was just too cute and came about in a nice, natural way. Kang was always hard-on-the-outside-squishy-in-the-middle, but it was nice to see him learn to express his feelings to Ji Hyun- her impending death being a major factor in loosening his lips. Ji Hyun also had a really interesting relationship with Yi Kyung.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater

It was enjoyable how Yi Kyung started being able to see Ji Hyun, and how Ji Hyun’s affection for her started to change her life. Due to Ji Hyun caring about Yi Kyung’s wellbeing, Yi Kyung started caring as well. The two developed a nice little friendship that had great dynamics and perfectly showed how the two girls were helping each other live. Our two main villains were also endlessly fascinating. Their conflicting emotions and internal quarrels kept the main company takeover plot interesting, as it added a heap of context to what was going on. Min Ho taking over the company point blank is pretty boring, so it was interesting to see that In Jung was the one who set him up for it, even though she’s the one who gets cold feet. It was a lovely exploration of how love means different things to different people- Ji Hyun loved Min Ho who she’s never really known, In Jung loved Min Ho who she could never meet openly, and Min Ho apparently loved everyone in a weird twisted way. Though I will admit that neither Min Ho or In Jung had any decent reasoning to try and bankrupt the company. Their excuses for there actions were all super, super lame. 

What Wasn’t:

Almost All the Acting:

It was hard to sit through at times, really it was. I nearly ditched this series after Episode 1 because I honestly didn’t think that I could make it through 20 episodes of Nam Gyu Ri’s acting- but then the story snagged me and I kept on going.

Jung Il Woo's face says about as much as you need to know

On the bright side, at least it’s not that our heroine was terrible and seemed even more terrible because everyone else was good- the whole cast was pretty much on the same level. Except Jung Il Woo who was a total standout and acted the pants off everyone else. Bae Soo Bin and Seo Ji Hye were pretty okay- they were mostly mediocre but then had some scenes where they really nailed it and did some great acting.

Completely expressionless isn't the casting choice I'd make, but what would I know?

The rest…well, yeah. At first I didn’t think anything could be a cringe-worthy as Nam Gyu Ri’s acting, and I was actually quite looking forward to when it would be Lee Yo Won as our heroine. But as time went on, I actually found myself preferring Nam Gyu Ri. While her acting was really not that good, it was at least consistent, and I gradually got used to her performance as she settled into the character and didn’t try and do anything too over the top (most of her crying scenes were pretty unbelievable). But rather than getting used to Lee Yo Won’s performance, it actually started to annoy me more. I liked Nam Gyu Ri’s take on Ji Hyun better, and started to find myself wanting her to wake up just so I wouldn’t have to face Lee Yo Won acting her anymore- her idea of innocent brightness was just not as cute nor as convincing. Granted, she did have the challenge of acting two characters, but still. It seemed like Lee Yo Won really didn’t know how to distinguish Yi Kyung and Ji Hyun. While Ji Hyun was bubbly and emotional, Yi Kyung was just…nothing. And it’s not that she was written that way either. She was a character carrying deep guilt and sadness, but I didn’t really feel that from Lee Yo Won at all (see Park Bo Young for a highly successful performance in a similar situation).

There was alarmingly little talent to share between our two female leads

Yi Kyung just became a big blur who was super boring and super nothing-y unless she was being possessed. Jo Hyun Jae was okay as Han Kang- he didn’t have to do anything too taxing. I didn’t love him as much as might have if Kang was played by a man who could do killer I-love-you-but-I’m-holding-it-in face, but I liked him enough.

Basically the Whole End:

Yeah, so Ji Hyun dies. Not what I was wanting. I’m not against having the heroine die (I liked it in ‘Goblin’ and in ‘Mirror of the Witch’), but you have to give me some sort of heads up that it’s a possibility.

Congratulations, you're alive! For like 5 more days.

Narratively it did make sense, but on an emotional level it wasn’t what I was wanting- and if I have to convince myself that I’m okay with the ending, then really, I’m not okay with the ending and you’ve done something wrong. Like, the whole point of this series hasn’t just been about Ji Hyun learning things through experience and whatnot- it’s about her actually getting back alive in her own body. And being cute with Han Kang in her own body. Because really, the suckiest part about that whole ending is that Han Kang gets nothing. He never gets to properly love the girl, he never gets to hug her her in her own body or anything. What kind of ganky-ass romance is that? And I’m almost certain that Ji Hyun was supposed to get her original lifespan back- and I’m not sure that that’s how it played out. The cause of her death is a complication arising from her injuries of that very same accident. Like, what the hell? If she’s going to be brought back to life shouldn’t everything be healed? It’s like telling someone that they won’t die from being hit by a car and later specifying that they technically didn’t die from getting hit by a car, they died from blood loss or whatever. The worst part about Ji Hyun’s death is that it was absolutely unnecessary. All the emotions that we get from Ji Hyun’s death, and all the points the show is trying to make about living on once a loved one has died we’ve already seen in Yi Kyung and Scheduler’s relationship- we didn’t need to see that same scenario play out twice.

I don't think we really needed the two romances to have the exact same ending

Our main characters totally could have been happy, but the writers were just going for shock value. Ji Hyun’s death also impacted how happy I felt about the two girls being sisters. It could have been a cute extra tidbit at the end to find out that they’re actually related, but it all feels twisted after Ji Hyun’s death. Like, oops sorry one kid’s dead, but here have a consolation daughter. Come on show, you’re better than that. At least you should have been.

Re-watch?

Nope. 20 Episodes of that acting was quite enough, thank you.

49 days and three genuine tears later she's...still dead

Cinderella and Four Knights

Cinderella and Four Knights

3.5/10

Cinderella and Four Knights

Genre:                                Episodes: 16                             Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy 

Synopsis:

Eun Ha Won lives with her step-mother and step-sister, and works several part-time jobs in order to save up for her university tuition. After an accidental encounter with the heir to large corporation, her charm and tenacity is noticed by the company’s Chairman. Ha Won is hired by the Chairman to keep his three grandsons under control and try and turn them into a real family.

Cast:

Park So Dam (Eun Ha Won)

Jung Il Woo (Kang Ji Woon)

Ahn Jae Hyun (Kang Hyn Min)

Lee Jung Shin (Kang Seo Woo)

Choi Min (Lee Yoon Sung)

Son Naeun (Park Hye Ji)

General Thoughts:

Oyyyyyyy, this drama. I’ve rolled my eyes so much I think they’re permanently stuck in the back of my head. This writer is very talented- but not in a good way. Seriously, it’s a special skill to have 4 handsome men living in the same house as 1 cute girl and make it so completely boring to watch. Where’s the fluff? Where’s the cute? Not f*cking here that’s for sure.

Not even all that handsome could save this series

The plot is basically the suckiest piece of poo I’ve seen in a long time. I have absolutely no idea why any of the characters acted the way they did- and at times even the actors seemed confused as to what was going on. The stage had been set for a simple, light-hearted romance story about a rags-to-riches girl.

How fun I thought the drama would be vs. How fun it actually was

Sure, the scenario has been done to death- but at least that shows that an engaging story can be made out of this set-up. But while this story is simple, it’s far from light-hearted and romantic, and not one moment was I engaged in the plot. The only plot device this writer seemed to know how to use was to have one character be a total downer and sap the fun out of everything that happened. First it was Ji Woon with his no smiles and incessant ‘get lost’s, then it was Hye Ji because Hyun Min wouldn’t pay attention to her, then Hyun Min because Hye Ji stopped paying attention to him (jeeezusss). Lastly the lovely secretary and Ha Won had some identity crises with the former Noble Idiot-ing off into the distance and the latter falling into a heap of misery because his mommy’s a b*tch. The laughs or cute moments were very, very few. The only character that managed to make it away unscathed was Seo Woo, who was sweet, gentlemanly and loveable throughout. As it’s Lee Jung Shin’s first real big role, I was glad that the character was able to avoid the catastrophes that turned our other heroes into such unlikeable messes. What the most frustrating aspect of this drama was is that we were given virtually no explanation into why our characters were acting/reacting in the ways they did.

Just goes to show that a good looking cast isn't everything in Dramaland

Our leading man seemed to have a personality transplant halfway through. For half the series Ji Woon only had eyes for Hye Ji and followed her around like a miserable puppy. He spares no feelings or words for Ha Won except when he tells her to piss off- then suddenly he’s dumping Hye Ji with no warning because he has feelings for Ha Won?

At the halfway point these kids switched personalities

We all knew it was going to end up like that, and it was clear that there were some sparks between Ha Won and Ji Woon, but there was no progression of feelings, only an abrupt shift in his actions. But at least Ji Woon got a nice personality swap, unlike poor Hyun Min. While he was always arrogant and douchey, Hyun Min was a fun character when he was trying to seduce the only girl who wouldn’t fall for him- Ha Won. The two had awesome chemistry together, and I honestly believed that Hyun Min was falling for Ha Won for real because of how I saw him acting towards her, the way he looked after her, and the way she was able to fluster him. All I saw him do to Hye Ji was ignore her. Yet lo and behold, a couple of episodes later Hyun Min has turned into a sloppy mess because he loves Hye Ji soooooooo much, and she’s stopped following him around. But they caaaaaan’t be together because her brother died (yeah, what?). It was just way too much moping in a drama that was supposed to be cute and cheery. And it really started to feel like ‘Cinderella and Three Knights’, because the loveable Secretary made a pretty swift departure, only to return as a duller, sadder version of himself.

I was rooting for you from Episode 1- until you became Mr. Conflicted

The obvious music cues made me want to bash my head against a wall. Rather than relying on a solid script and the actors’ talents, the series used music as a crutch (or a wheelchair) to attempt to convey what our characters were feeling. Even though I didn’t feel like Ha Won was falling for Ji Woon, I knew that it surely must be happening due to the swoony music and choirs of angels singing whenever he came near her.

*cue the singing angles*

Similarly, although I felt as though Ha Won and Hyun Min had a pretty solid connection (in the early, less-broody stages of the drama), their interactions were never accompanied by angel choirs- so while I saw them hitting it off, the music was used as a way to tell me that this was not going to happen. It really added a sense of confusion to the drama when music was used as one of the main ways to express our characters emotions because…well…the music doesn’t come from the characters. It comes from the production/editing. Another musical gripe is that they rarely ended song in a satisfactory way. Rather than coming in and out gradually in a way that was unnoticeable while watching, quite often a song would just- BAM. FINISH. Right in the middle. Or there would be a really quick  fade out- like super quick. It wasn’t a huge downfall in the series, but it’s just one of those tiny little things that added on top of a bunch of slightly bigger things only served to increase annoyance. While there were glimmers of fun and what should have been, the show’s broody, angsty vibe killed off a lot of the entertainment. It had good potential to be an easy, fun watch, but turned out to be kind of painful to get through.

What Was Great:

Jung Shin Chingoo:

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that any of the acting in this series is particularly phenomenal (and I blame that on the poor writing and one-dimensional characters rather than the actors’ lack of ability), though it did mean that Lee Jung Shin wasn’t completely blown out of the water by the performances of much more experienced actors.

You adorable piece of human

As it is, Lee Jung Shin gives an endearing performance as the loveable idol with a one-sided crush and is able to confidently act alongside the rest of the boys. He was always believable in his character and fit the tone of the series well, very often providing that breath of fresh air and cuteness that was really lacking. While the drama as a whole was a bit of a disaster, it was still a good project for Lee Jung Shin to take part in to expand his acting career. The series wasn’t too ambitious, and the character of Seo Woo wasn’t too difficult to manage, so Lee Jung Shin was able to stretch his acting muscles a little bit more, all while providing us with an adorable, enjoyable character for the show.

Chemistry:

Despite the complete and utter lack of creativity for both the plot and the characters, the actors managed to get some pretty great chemistry going.

Park So Dam had chemistry with literally everybody 

Park So Dam was able to get relaxed and easy vibes out of all of the boys, and made a plausible couple with each of them. Ha Won would have been a good match for any of the four boys, and I wish the drama had veered more towards her tangled relationships with these boys rather than other, less exciting plot-lines like silly missions, Grandpa’s disapproval, or Hye Ji.

Episode 8:

The characters should have got plastered way more often

By far my favourite of all the episodes. Rather than focusing on all the boring drivel that the writers chose to showcase, I wish they’d just got all the characters in one house and got them mind-numbingly drunk for 16 straight episodes. Because believe it or not, character motivations became much clearer when everyone was drunk out of their minds. It was the first episode that really got me believing the Ha Won X Ji Woon love-line would actually work, and it was just plain fun to watch- a quality that the rest of the episodes were sadly lacking. 

What Wasn’t:

Basically Everything That Happened:

People did things and liked each other and fought each other- but did anyone really care? The piss poor characterisations really hurt the series. It’s hard to side with a character or cheer for them when you literally have no idea why they are doing anything that they do. While the motivations behind our characters weren’t explicitly bad, they just weren’t explained until the final hour. Which is far, far too late. Because by the final hour, I’ve already emotionally clocked out and am only continuing to watch because I’ve already spent so much time on the series and didn’t want all that time to be wasted.

Most of the plot-lines just kind of got ignored in the end...

I kept waiting and waiting for the story behind Hye Ji and Hyun Min to be revealed- and boy was it disappointing when it was. Basically they’re both just retards who have no idea how to communicate or have any sort of functional relationship with anyone ever. Chairman Grandpa was also a character I kept waiting to have make sense. Why did he marry the Secretary’s mother? How did he meet her? How did his sons die? How did the death of his sons impact how he treated his grandsons? And most importantly- why in the world was he so against Ha Won dating Ji Woon? All questions that went unanswered. 

H.J:

Any time Hye Ji was on my screen I wanted to smack her with a rock. She is actually one of the worst characters I have ever clapped eyes on.

All she did was cry. I wish I was over exaggerating, but I'm not.

It’s not because she's evil and gets in the way of Ha Won and her relationships with the boys- at least that would have added some tension into the series. No, she was just so darn tepid. She wasn’t evil enough to be considered a villain, but she didn’t have any redeeming qualities, so she wasn’t a character you could like either. Not to mention that she did little more than stand around crying at either Hyun Min or Ji Woon. The chemistry between her and Ahn Jae Hyun was flatter than a pancake, and the love-line between the two characters was unbareable. While Hyun Min’s confession to Ha Won had been swoony (if massively egotistical), all his conversations with Hye Ji felt boring and so very forced. Rather than feeling like two characters who were in love with each other but separated by circumstance, they felt like two actors awkwardly acting out a terrible script. I was not onboard the Hye Ji X Hyun Min ship- so I was pretty disappointed when I saw Hyun Min's story arc finished with him dating Hye Ji. Son Naeun certainly didn’t give her most convincing performance, and the blandness of Hye Ji’s character only seemed to make it worse. She had little to work with as it was, but the combination of a frustratingly boring character (that got an alarmingly large amount of screen-time) and a green, inexperienced actress made a combo that was not pretty to watch. I must say, I’m not at all sad to have the character of Hye Ji well and truly behind me.

Super lame

Frequent Flashbacks:

2% cute, 20% confusion, 30% angst, 48% flashback

You could fill about four hours with the amount of flashbacks we had in this series. It was ridiculous. Any scene that could be considered of any importance was replayed about a million times throughout the series’ progression- even if the moment had happened in the scene right before. And if there was more than one character involved in said important scene, you can bet that we’re going to get flashbacks of that same moment from everyone. The amount of time we spent on characters’ contemplative faces while they thought back on the past was downright painful. It didn’t matter if you tuned out for half an episode, because you’re going to get most of that content in flashback in the next episode anyway. Constant replays of what we were seeing didn’t really aid in telling the story or in developing our characters- it only made it that much more obvious that the writers didn’t really know what they were doing, and didn’t quite know how to proceed. 

Re-watch?

No. It’s not good.

She should have just never gone back