Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Photo source: http://www.rolalaloves.com/2016/03/10-reasons-i-love-descendants-of-sun.html

I heard a lot about this drama. Mostly just how it was really popular and really good, not anything about the story. That being said I never had any real interest in watching it UNTIL I watched the movie Warewolf Boy, which stars the lead actor Song Joong-Ki. I found him incredibly adorable in Warewolf Boy and couldn't believe how freaking young this guy looks in the film when he was 27 in real life! If anyone has watched this movie then you can understand...I needed closure. Closure? I'm not sure if that's the right word. Basically I needed to see him getting some satisfying loving and lots of it. Alas, Descendants of the Sun, supposedly full of romance. So the next day, I started this drama.

Going in with next to no idea what the drama was about I just thought it was about an army soldier and an army medic who get stationed together. Hilarity and romance ensues.

This is what it's actually about. Captain Yoo Si-Jin (Joong-Ki) is the team leader of an elite special forces unit in South Korea. During a day off circumstances bring him to Haesung Hospital where he meets and is instantly attracted to cardio thoracic specialist Dr Kang Mo-Yeon (Song Hye-Kyo). The two try a few dates but are always interrupted midway by Captain Yoo's work, which he keeps secret from Dr Kang. Ultimately they break up. 8 months later, Dr Kang refuses the sexual advances of the hospital director and as punishment, is assigned to establish a medical facility in war torn Urk with a team of medical volunteers. There, she is reunited with Captain Yoo.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!

Okay sooooooooooooo i'm going to dissect this show by themes. Overall, I found this show a bit ridiculous and skipped through a vast majority of it. Now, in the shows defense, I was mostly just interested in the romance and didn't care about Urk or the North Korean spy or that evil American guy that used to work with Captain Yoo but joined the dark side later.

Bromance - This show has a lot of that and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes between Captain Yoo and his team. Especially with his bestie Seo Dae-Young. It was great to see these two men, who are 100% focused and serious when it comes to their work, just act as goofballs during their off duty times.

Girl power - There are two lead women in the show. Dr Kang and Yoon Myeong-Ju. Both these characters portray very strong women who get down to business and aren't completely useless when faced with difficulties. Basically all the women in this show were great. Nobody was crying excessively or over useless things. Yes there were no irritating women in this show so that's a thumbs up from me. Oh wait! Except that bitch who works at the hospital but she wasn't given many scenes.

Relationships - So yeah it took a lot of back and forth for the main couples to get together BUT it all happened wayyyyyyyyy before the final episode of the show (oh my god that never happens). I liked how the relationships were adult and just seemed like normal relationships. At least as normal as they can be considering their setting.

Cliche story lines - Oh man bye cancer. Bye asshole main character that gets the girl. Bye second lead syndrome. Bye long lost siblings. Bye disapproving rich mother. This show ditched most of the cliche story lines that come with Korean dramas and it was so refreshing. I wonder if that's why the show was so popular? Because it strayed from the norm and people loved it! Maybe they just don't realise what a pain in the ass the typical cliche's are to watch! (I say that...but I still continue to watch those anyway).

Displays of affection - Alright so the main couple. Yes. They kiss like a real couple thank GOD. The second lead couple...much is to be desired. I suppose in the final episode we get a bit of satisfaction but i'll complain about it more later. Actually that's all I have to say on it. Next!

RANT PARAGRAPH !!
Alright, so now I will talk about all the things that urked me (get it? Urk? heh heh heeeeeh). First of all...according to the English subtitles I had, Captain Yoo lead a specialist task force for the UN. Can somebody tell me WHY South Korea has trained up a secret team of elite soldiers and sent them to a foreign country to fight in the name of the UN? I JUST COULDN'T GET OVER HOW STUPID THIS WAS. Apparently something like this actually exists though so... (I didn't google to verify). Next was how Dr Kang took so damn long to accept she liked Captain Yoo and wanted to get with him. I know that he could die any day but honey you have feelings for him and he might die either way so you may as well love him while you can! Next was I know this show is probably a PG or M rating or something but...damn I feel like in real life you don't go to a beautiful deserted island or on a camping trip with your boyfriend and all you do is kiss. Can't they allude to something more at least? Am I just some sex crazed maniac? At least they kissed with passion. The second lead couple though. Come on! On and off for like 4 years and all you do is kiss each other on the bloody forehead? I've kissed my own mother with more affection! I wish they could have kissed like the main couple, that just would have made more sense. Myeong-Ju would not have been chasing Dae-Young for 4 years for a forehead kiss.

Okay, so to summarise, the show was enjoyable. Haha can I say that after the rant paragraph? It was great to see the interaction among the task force and the medical team. There were many hilarious scenes and it gave some nice light moments considering they were in a very dangerous area. The romantic relationships were refreshing to watch because they had great chemistry and the leads definitely got together in a much more natural and believable way. The scenery or Urk (which I believe was actually Greece?) was really beautiful and you could see the show was given a high production value. I think they could have ditched the whole North Korean spy bit at the end which dragged the show on for about 3 or so episodes but ah well.

6 out of 10 stars. It was enjoyable but I just didn't care about the other story lines.

I'd also like to give a shout out to the person who wrote in the topless soldiers running scenes. They were by far my favourite scenes in the show.

What did you think?

Until next time my drama queens and kings,
Sarah

Reply 1988 (2015)

Photo source: https://www.soompi.com/2016/01/05/which-reply-1988-character-is-your-soulmate/

I've got a bookmark folder on my laptop for dramas I want to watch. I took a break from drama after getting halfway through Love in the Moonlight and when I started itching for a new one I went through that folder and read synopsis for the next contenders. I decided upon Reply 1988 because it seemed like it would be an easy watching kdrama. Nothing too dramatic, unlike basically every other kdrama in existence. Also 4 boys and 1 girl. Mate. Reverse harem. Also it stars Park Bo-gum and Go Kyung-pyo who I have seen in dramas/movies previously and liked their acting. 

So essentially, Reply 1988 is about 5 families who are neighbours. Each family has at least 1 child all born in the same year and these 5 kids make up the main group the drama focuses on. Although honestly, that's not true. The 5 kids definitely make one main group, but then the fathers/husbands and the mothers/wives also make separate groups. And then each married couple makes their own group and the individual families make their own group and the siblings of the families make another group. Basically you see how each character interacts in all different groups and you get a really good insight in to each characters personality and mind-set. 

So my initial thoughts was that there would be some massive love triangle action going on in this drama and in a way there was but not in any scandelous way. Nobody was playing dirty tricks and there was no antagonist characters. There were literally no characters I didn't like in this drama. There actually wasn't a focus on romance at all until later on in the series. Normally I am allllll about romance from the get-go but I really enjoyed just seeing these characters live their day-to-day lives. There are so many hilarious moments and SO many relatable moments in this drama. It was such a joy to watch. I don't know what else to say. This drama was just so good all the time. There were also many moving or sad scenes and you couldn't help but cry with the characters!

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

Okay so now let's delve deep. Really i'm just going to comment about the romance in the drama because that held most of my interest. Sun-woo and Duk-seon totally seemed 100% couple material at the start, which I suppose is exactly what the writers wanted. But of course when you see Duk-seon in the future with her husband you know it's not Sun-woo based on him not getting a valentine's from her that year. When I found out Sun-woo actually liked her sister Bo-ra I was like WHAAAT but it was great. I was reading through comments during those first few episodes and everyone hated Bo-ra so much but I didn't mind her...I mean she's just the bitchy older sister but she's not like those psycho gonna blow up your car and bankrupt your family villains you see in the other dramas. So I was cool with her. Also after the first couple episodes she tones way down and does become a very likable character. 

When Duk-seon's attention moved to Jung-hwan I was so sure they would get together because it was obvious that he was in love with her! But then he just never got around to confessing! NEVER! And Duk-seon was just waiting for so long. But man I love Jung-hwan omg I thought he was pretty ugly when the drama started but my god I love that man now. He was such a sweetheart to Duk-seon, wow he would actually make such a great husband. 

Time skip to 6 years later and there's a thing going on with Taek, well honestly I had come across the spoiler for this drama a long time before I watched so I knew what I was coming for. When Taek first says he likes Duk-seon 6 years prior in his room to the other 3 guys (main reason why Jung-hwan doesn't confess then) I just thought...he's such a cutie but Duk-seon needs someone more like Jung-hwan for her personality. 

Sun-woo and Bo-ra's relationship was nice to watch. Sun-woo generally was very mature but when he had problems Bo-ra really gave him perfect advice. Also I think it would take someone as laid back as Sun-woo to date Bo-ra since she's so dominating. They fit each other well. She was also really cute how she would wear skirts on their dates and sneak smiles at him in the street. 

Jung-bong and Mi-ok was a nice little side story romance. These two definitely had the most cliche story haha...cliche? Maybe typical drama style romance in the way he was running from gangsters and hid under her umbrella, love at first sight. It's odd because Jung-bong was really not cool at all but Mi-ok thought of him like superman. 

Sun-young and Moo-sung was a couple I foresaw in the first episode. 2 single parents as main characters? Yep probably going to get together, it's just the question of how. I really liked Moo-sung he is such a cool cat father. But actually a real softie on the inside towards his son Taek. He was my favourite father in the series. There wasn't really a romance between them I guess, just a deep appreciation for each other that lead to a very tame love. 

Kisses - Yes this get's it own section.

The kisses in this drama were so fulfilling. Wow. I wish every drama would include kisses like this. The first kiss is between Bo-ra and Sun-woo and when he asks her, "can I kiss you?" I just expected a long peck on the lips but no that boy went to TOWN. It was great. It was like "oh man my sexy girlfriend that I've liked for 2 years and is older than me is letting me kiss her for the first time. I'm going all out." It was an amazing kiss scene that went for like a whole minute. Full on pash. 

Next was the cute kiss that Taek gives Duk-seon after just waking up. Taking a bit of inspiration from Spider man and being upside down was cute. I also just expected a peck on the lips but they actually did some nice cute normal smooching! So cute. 

Next was the reunion kiss between Bo-ra and Sun-woo. He's agreed to them getting back together, takes her around the corner and then passionately kisses her against the wall oh ma gawd I was screaming so much. It was good because Sun-woo is a man at this stage and it's like...this is real life. If you're dating someone you love you give them a proper passionate kiss!

Finally the crescendo kiss between Duk-seon and Taek! Wow this whole scene was great I re-watched it. I also love how just before they replay their first kiss from 6 years ago which Taek thought was just a dream. I also love how he's shocked and distraught when he first finds out it actually was real life and Duk-seon lied. But then he collects himself and asks, "how about now?" Oh man this guy is not wasting another moment hiding his feelings from Duk-seon! He's waited too long already. We've all waited too long! She confesses their relationship would probably still be awkward, "but..." BUT I WANT YOUR SEXY ASS ANYWAY BECAUSE I LOVE YOU and he goes for the snog! Grips the chair, veins popping out of his hands. She's getting pushed back into the chair. He starts holding her face omg it was so good! Best comment I read on that was "Choi Taek skills 1. Baduk 2. Kissing."

Final comments. Alright this ended up being a long long post because I was so invested in this drama and there were so many things to comment on. 

I felt really sad towards Jung-hwan because he kept his feelings secret for so long. But I personally feel at peace because of the car scene when he owns up for his mistakes saying he always hesitated and how Taek wanted Duk-seon more than he did. I was also really happy that he did actually get to confess his feelings to Duk-seon. That scene and that whole confession was amazing. It was one of those moments where as a viewer you've screamed all these things at the tv so Duk-seon can somehow hear you, and now she's actually finding it all out and it just feels like sweet justice. I wish we did get to see how he ended up in the end though. He did that, gave Taek his blessing to confess to Duk-seon and then pretty much disappeared. I wish that Duk-seon actually did have a romance with him and then could have gone to Taek later. Even if she did stay with Jung-hwan that would be fine. I did hear 2 theories that Taek was so popular with viewers they decided to make him the husband instead. The other theory being Jung-hwan was meant to date Duk-seon and then die (the reason he had so many nose bleeds in the earlier episodes, and his brother had that heart condition). So I guess I would have liked that initial story line to happen. Jung-hwan die and then Taek date her 6 years later. As sad as that would have been to actually happen in the drama. 

Although I liked Bo-ra and Sun-woo's relationship I didn't watch the entire series to see THEM getting married. I mean I was very happy to see them get married but we didn't see Taek and Duk-seon come out as a couple publicly or get married. Why? I want them to film another episode wrapping up those loose ends. And yes just those points would be enough to fill another 2 hour episode.

The last thing I would like to say is my favourite character is Dong-ryong. He is hilarious and I wish he wasn't brushed aside (pretty sure Jung-bong received more story and character development) since he was one of the main 5. He has family issues that were never really addressed. 

8 out of 10 stars (yeah as much as I loved it I did skip through a lot of the scenes between parents so I could get to the romance scenes faster).

Have you seen this drama? Let me know your thoughts.

Until next time my drama queens and kings,
Sarah.