Dorama Recs The Second
2011-08-25 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rodoI still haven’t finished my current dorama binge (hey, I haven’t even worked my way up to the Chinese and Japanese doramas), so I decided to do a recs post every time I have five series to recommend. I have a type when it comes to series that I do watch, so some elements are bound to repeat themselves. So here are two historical dramas, one about conmen, one about revenge and one about an unlikely couple. Not in that order.
1. City Hunter. This is supposedly an adaptation of the Japanese manga, but I am not sure if it is faithful. The story is about Lee Yun Seong, who grew up in the Golden Triangle, having been abducted by his adopted father as a baby to help him take revenge on the five men who betrayed him and his crew. Back in Korea after 28 years, Yun Seong starts working for the president to uncover the truth about what happened in 1983 – and along the way he falls in love with Kim Na Na and helps people who suffer from politicians’ corruption. In this series, I especially like the action and the revenge plot, although the couple is cute too.
2. Iljimae. Iljimae is – to make it simple – about a young man whose father was murdered before his eyes and who is looking for clues to the identity of the murderer by robbing people’s houses. Only, the robbing doesn’t really start until halfway through the series, there are the adoptive parents, the strange twists of fate, the half brothers, the childhood sweethearts, and the conspiracies. I mostly like this series because of the main character’s character development. He starts out as relatively talentless and has to learn all the things that turn him into the legendary robber. The ending is very open and most people will hate it, but I like it the way it is.
3. Oh! My Lady. I should probably mention that I just mainlined this series in two days (it’s well paced and very watchable) and now have a ginormous crush on Choi Si Won. Anyway, this series is about the romance between young superstar Sung Min Woo and divorced housewife Yoon Gae Hwa, who is hired by him to take care of the unexpected child his ex-girlfriend left on his doorstep (literally). Gae Hwa demands that in return, he stars in a musical produced by the firm she’s doing temp work for. Of course, there are a few problems: Min Woo is a terrible actor, his manager is determined to get him out of the contract and little Ye Eun was traumatised because her mother abandoned her.
4. The Return of Iljimae. Not related to the Iljimae above, although some elements are similar. Abandoned as a child, Iljimae is found by a beggar and raised by adoptive parents in Qing. As a teenager he returns to Joseon only to find the country full of corruption and suffering. To help the poor he becomes a thief who gives to the poor. I actually liked this version better than the other one, because the romance is very sweet at times. At the same time the story also has very sad moments that don’t get resolved in the end, which I thought was realistic. I even liked the narrator. In any case, it is best to just forget about the first fifteen minutes because they are not a good introduction.
5. Tazza. To be honest, it took me quite long to grow fond of this drama, mostly because it starts very slow and because the summary that I read was not a good (or even accurate) one. The drama is about a guy called Kim Go Ni, who loses everything he loves due to a gamble gone wrong. To get revenge on the hustler who ruined his life, he resolves to become the best gambler there is. His friend Young Min, on the other hand, becomes the gambler’s student to escape poverty. What follows is a deadly game for money, revenge and love. Okay, still not a good summary, but better than the other one. I like stories about hustles and cons, and this one has some quite interesting ones.
1. City Hunter. This is supposedly an adaptation of the Japanese manga, but I am not sure if it is faithful. The story is about Lee Yun Seong, who grew up in the Golden Triangle, having been abducted by his adopted father as a baby to help him take revenge on the five men who betrayed him and his crew. Back in Korea after 28 years, Yun Seong starts working for the president to uncover the truth about what happened in 1983 – and along the way he falls in love with Kim Na Na and helps people who suffer from politicians’ corruption. In this series, I especially like the action and the revenge plot, although the couple is cute too.
2. Iljimae. Iljimae is – to make it simple – about a young man whose father was murdered before his eyes and who is looking for clues to the identity of the murderer by robbing people’s houses. Only, the robbing doesn’t really start until halfway through the series, there are the adoptive parents, the strange twists of fate, the half brothers, the childhood sweethearts, and the conspiracies. I mostly like this series because of the main character’s character development. He starts out as relatively talentless and has to learn all the things that turn him into the legendary robber. The ending is very open and most people will hate it, but I like it the way it is.
3. Oh! My Lady. I should probably mention that I just mainlined this series in two days (it’s well paced and very watchable) and now have a ginormous crush on Choi Si Won. Anyway, this series is about the romance between young superstar Sung Min Woo and divorced housewife Yoon Gae Hwa, who is hired by him to take care of the unexpected child his ex-girlfriend left on his doorstep (literally). Gae Hwa demands that in return, he stars in a musical produced by the firm she’s doing temp work for. Of course, there are a few problems: Min Woo is a terrible actor, his manager is determined to get him out of the contract and little Ye Eun was traumatised because her mother abandoned her.
4. The Return of Iljimae. Not related to the Iljimae above, although some elements are similar. Abandoned as a child, Iljimae is found by a beggar and raised by adoptive parents in Qing. As a teenager he returns to Joseon only to find the country full of corruption and suffering. To help the poor he becomes a thief who gives to the poor. I actually liked this version better than the other one, because the romance is very sweet at times. At the same time the story also has very sad moments that don’t get resolved in the end, which I thought was realistic. I even liked the narrator. In any case, it is best to just forget about the first fifteen minutes because they are not a good introduction.
5. Tazza. To be honest, it took me quite long to grow fond of this drama, mostly because it starts very slow and because the summary that I read was not a good (or even accurate) one. The drama is about a guy called Kim Go Ni, who loses everything he loves due to a gamble gone wrong. To get revenge on the hustler who ruined his life, he resolves to become the best gambler there is. His friend Young Min, on the other hand, becomes the gambler’s student to escape poverty. What follows is a deadly game for money, revenge and love. Okay, still not a good summary, but better than the other one. I like stories about hustles and cons, and this one has some quite interesting ones.
