Happily Flawed Blog

Watch Hello Mr Gu, Royal Feast, Song of Youth & Lovers of the Red Sky - Asian Dramas that Fizzled Out Towards the End.

Wednesday, 19 October 2022

Mr Gu, Royal Feast, Song of Youth & Lovers of the Red Sky - Asian Dramas reviews on Happily Flawed Blog

These are dramas I started watching because of the online buzz around them. I was thrilled in the beginning but very disappointed in their endings...

Hello Mr Gu

"You are the one who make me falling in love"

This intro tune is stuck in my head for the rest of my life.

It made me smile at its cuteness, yet twitch at the grammar mistake at the same time.

My first modern #cdrama, staring Chen Jing ke and Yan Zhi Chao; there isn't much other than like the intro tune its a cute-lovey-dovey drama.

You can watch it on You tube

while carrying out your small tasks.

Song of youth

I enjoyed the family dynamics in this #cdrama. The different couples living in the family household was good for the drama . Lamu Yangzi's character is the gift that keeps on giving, she is the opposite of what she ought to be which is endearing.

The beginning episode was amazing, I was hooked! Our protagonist Sun Yi Lou(Wang Yi Zhe) is passionate, naïve and persistent as he pursues Lin Shao Chin (Bai Lu). The puppets in episode one and at the end of the drama and the element of the circus life is very 'novu' for me.

However towards the end, the series just lost itself.

I think the priority was put into stretching out the episodes and not into committing to the story or the lovely characters.

It's also available to watch on You tube

Lovers of the Red Sky

I watched this purely for the hype on social media!

This is another drama where the elements are intriguing. For example there are skilled ink painters with divine powers , a demon trapped in a royal painting, and then the same evil spirit gets trapped in a blind man with red eyes.

The guardian characters played by Yo Ye-rin and Mun Suk were epic!

When I got to episode 10, I realized that the drama should have ended right there because there was nowhere else for the characters to progress.

I should have realized there was no buzz around the ending...yet there was so much in the beginning!

You can watch this on Viki

Royal Feast

I watched #RoyalFeast because of Wu Jinyan and Xu Kai.

I am a HUGE fan of Story of Yanxi Palace (read my review here)

I agree with Avenuex this Chinese costume drama is really for the fans. It was an opportunity to finally see them together even if it took a whole 26 episodes to happen... 😶😶😶

I readily forgave 'flat' moments where the storytelling or the character development was lacking... and towards the end I found myself realizing I would miss watching ALL these characters together in this world. Special mention goes to He Ruixian. She is one to watch!

Loved the beginning motion graphics and song!

You can watch it on You Tube

That's all folks!

Have you also felt cheated by the online buzz around certain dramas?

Share in the comments...let's help each other lol.

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Watch The King: Eternal Monarch - For Woo Do Hwan Only....

Monday, 17 October 2022

The King: Eternal Monarch kdrama review on Happily Flawed Blog

This is the first #kdrama I watched in two days! Not two straight days. There were some breaks in between but I finished it quickly because all the episodes were available and they fitted my weekend flow.

Staring Lee Min Ho, Kim Go-eun, Woo Do Hwan, Jung Eun Chae and Kim Kyung Nam, this fantasy modern drama is set in a alternative universe which give us a dumbed down fictional depiction of what could have happened if South Korea remained a monarchy. Corea. The Kingdom of Corea.

It's cute and simple, in that it understands exactly what will keep us intrigued but didn't get too complicated with this time-travel-mystery-thriller-stuff.

I am late to this party, this was a popular drama back in 2020.

Truthfully this character is the only reason that kept me going through each 72 minute episode.....

I think we had this conversation in my last blog post. Slicked back hair and well- fitting suit.....this time they added a black horse..... < insert emoji with star eyes>

Here are my other favourite elements.

The Friendships were more Powerful than the Love Story.

We had a leading good-looking couple and they played their role and gave us small small butterflies, but what stood out for me was the loyalty and commitment expressed in the friendships and colleagues working together.

In fact watching their relationships evolve was more interesting. Not a bad thing...just interesting that the couple was not an all consuming one. A criticism would be that the detectives needed to do more than just chasing down criminals and fighting in the streets....

Woo Do Hwan's Performance

Just the juxtaposition in the two characters ....wow...he really played his two roles with such serious talent and finesse.. They were complete opposites yet believable! Round of applause and standing ovation Mr Woo!

The Villain was Evil.

He was cold, frightening, calculative and elusive. He tried to kill a child just so that he could control time. He run a life-swapping-world-swapping business. He did his part, nothing new here in the #kdrama world.

And now for what I didn't like...

Madam Prime Minister's Weak Character Arc

I don't know... but this character had so much promise and unfortunately was such a waste...

I think she was meant to bring all the fashions, since our heroine was not interested but even in that area she never quite nailed it.

Her entrance in the beginning was great, but after a while it becomes clear there really wasn't enough depth to her on so many levels.

An ambitious and competitive woman controlling a country with the 4th largest GDP in the world and she let the Emperor Lee Gon slip out of her hands without even so much as a juicy piece of manipulation, extortion or scandal. I was disappointed...

You can watch it on Netflix

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Watch Its Okay not to be Okay - Emotional Trauma through Fairy Tales

Tuesday, 4 October 2022

Its Okay not to be Okay kdrama review on Happily Flawed Blog

"Please get rid of all my bad memories,

so that I won't have a nightmare again.

Then I will do whatever you ask."

From the first episode,

it is evident why everyone is talking about this remarkable #kdrama.

It's Okay not to be Okay is great storytelling from the get go. I forgot the actors were acting. I still believe this is who they are. This drama doesn't drag, there is momentum in every episode. It's dark, sad and unapologetic right from the start.....

A children's author dressed in black eating an extremely-rare-blood-oozing steak in a restaurant,

A father and daughter admitted to a mental hospital because, the father

tried and failed to kill himself and his child with a drug overdose,

A hospital carer beginning his day shift with old and recent scratches and small wounds on his back.

The same carer prevents the author from killing a patient by holding a knife from the very very very very sharp end...

Definitely not what I was expecting when I saw the title; it cleverly includes some murder mystery with some thriller elements as well. Staring Seo Yea Ji, Kim Soo Hyun, Park Gyu Young, Kim Joo Hun and Oh Jung Se, this #kdrama speaks to the most misunderstood in in our society, the people who don't beat to the everyday drum. These people teach us the most in the drama. Cue tears.....its beautiful...jolting sometimes but beautiful!

"It's funny how people who should be wearing a patient gown aren't wearing one."

Here's what I liked ...

WARNING TINY SPOILERS AHEAD

Our Problematic Heroine

"Obsession is noble and beautiful"

Our heroine is weird, impulsive, and stunning with an insane great sense of fashion. (side note: I want to have this kind of fashion sense now. )

We don't like her. She is rude, manipulative, entitled the list goes one....if this was a western drama she would be the killer but it is not, it is a Korean drama.

Fortunately, she really triggers the whole motion of the story by returning to her childhood home(a haunted castle in the middle of nowhere). She is running from a scandal and chasing the male lead; of course she ends up being forced to deal with her past.

The Story of Family Caregivers

"But you are are more of a kid than I am

why am I like a kid?

Because you want to be loved."

Our hero has suffered. He has been neglected since the day he was born always swallowing or eating his feelings as demonstrated in episode 7. He must take care of his big brother. This is his sole purpose in life, making him forgo any other areas (friendships, romance etc....)

He is also a carer that works in specialized hospitals, so it really is a 24/7 commitment for him; taking care of others and his brother. No break unless his loyal best friend Jo Jae Soo( Kang Ki Doong) steps in. No wonder he begins to have angry outbursts

During their childhood, Ko Moon Young observes the worst in him and doesn't judge him maybe

that's why they belong together. Such an emotional moment watching Moon Gang Tae forgive himself for wanting his brother to die.

I love the depiction of Sang Tae's animated mind in Episode 2 . Very creative...showing without telling...

I appreciate how their relationship is not perfect. Sibling relationships are not perfect but they are the heart of who we are. There's a scene where Gang Tae finally expresses his frustration and feelings with his brother's selfishness, they fight and Gang Tae with his nose bleeding feels relieved that he was finally been honest about his emotions. In episode 11 when Sang Tae takes him out for lunch and does all the things a big brother should do....woosh...my heart....tears...just tears.

Chosen Family and Redemption

" You eat like a bird,

that's why you are so skinny."

Ko Moon Young is all the red flags. Her mother is a killer...a real one, and her Dad tried to kill her as a result. In my head this couple does not make sense for many reasons yet Moon Gang Tae gives Ko Moon Young , what she needs, a family. A real one with breakfast round the table in the morning and they care....they take care of her.

The fantastic thing is Ko Moon Young must also form her own relationship with Sang Tae. I like this element so much; watching them learn how to communicate with each other because they both love Gang Tae, made for heart warming and hilarious moments.

OK psychiatric hospital accepts Sang Tae and they tap into his gifts. He is his own person with his own character arc; starting as a misfit and a burden to finding his purpose and earning an income in the end. The hospital staff become family to Gang Tae and Sang Tae.... there are mother, sister, brother and father figures teaching them and us something every episode.

P.S: But why does Lee Sang In sit on a throne during the publishing house meeting?

Also let's talk about how 80% of the shots are just classic. How do they do this in Korean dramas? Does that mean every director or location scout is a perfectionist? Because like how?