Korean Drama - Queen of the Game

Queen of the Game

Rating: 9.6/10

The Cast:

Kang household:

Lee Bo Young as Kang Eun Seol
Han Jin Hee as Kang Jae Ho (father)
Yoon Mi Ra as Jang Su Ja (housekeeper for 20 years, 50)
Kim Hee Jung as Park Young Sun (Su Ja’s daughter, 30)

Lee household:

Joo Jin Mo as Lee Shin Jun / Chase
Nah Young Hee as Han Mi Sook (mother)
Lee Suk as Lee Suk Gyu (father)
Kim Hong Pyo as Beo Geu Kang (Shin Jun’s friend, 30)

About the Drama:

Joo Jin Mo and Lee Bo Young will lead the weekend drama “Queen of the Game”. Lee Bo Young plays the daughter of the owner of a hotel. Joo Jin Mo plays an M&A (Merger & Acquisition) expert. The filming is scheduled to start in cities of New Zealand including Auckland and Queenstown. Staff from the movie “Lord of the Rings” will participate in the project. Viewers will be presented by the beautiful scenery of New Zealand captured from helicopter.

This is a story about revenge and how love will lead to forgiveness.. and that love will overcome everything- the story about the man who seeked revenge.. and the woman was the target since she’s his enemy’s daughter… she was naive, clueless and lovable.. ( the usual heroine that we expected in k-drama) and it’s a known fact that he WILL actually fall in love with his enemy’s daughter in this whole process…but there’s a twist..the woman will find out.. heartbroken by his betrayal.. and she starts plotting HER OWN revenge..

Comments:

The drama caught my attention when I looked that the box cover of the show...The actor looked totally like my idol Andy Lau!! I was wondering how come he's acting in a korean drama....LOL...Joo Jin Mo is totally handsome here, as always...

This is a drama about revenage, love and heartache. Usually, stories involving revenge have lots of conflicts, twists and turns that make them good stories. The revenge process is also intriguing enough to get past the first five episodes or so, as Lee Shin Jun tries to capture the heart of Kang Eun Seol while falling in love with her at the same time.

As expected, this is quite a heavy feeling drama. It focuses more on the emotions of the characters rather than the details of their actions. For example, why was Eun Seol in Koodu's Farm in the first episode? We know Shin Jun shows up to purposely bump into her, but how did he know she will be there? It's way too big a coincidence. The whole business Shin Jun gets involved in at the hotel is also vague...

I just don't understand why can't the two love birds just forget about the rivalry between the families and live happily ever after?

Nah Young Hee (Lee Shin Jun / Chase's mother) could have forgiven Kang Jae Ho (Kang Eun Seol's father), don't you just want your children to be happy?

The entire cast has done excellent jobs at their roles, especially Joo Jin Mo and Lee Bo Young as the two main leads. Not only do they have good looks, but they share great chemistry and fit their characters very well. Jin Mo's Shin Jun is portrayed as a man stuck between a strong will to revenge and the unmovable love toward his target. Bo Young plays the change in Eun Seol seamlessly, from an innocent and slightly spoiled rich man's daughter to a post-tragedy working mother. She evolved in that role very well.

The conclusion of the series, as said by Eun Seol at the end, is "forgiveness is the best revenge" - Not only is the sentence well done, the story supports it from start to finish.

Queen of the Game [Eng Subs] (Complete)

How to view subtitles (.srt format)

I blogged about this before in my Personal - What Kind of Life blog. (blogging here again cos its easier for pple who visits my World Of Drama blog)

You gotta install 2 things Real Alternative and DirectVobSub:

Real Alternative

You do need a player that is capable of playing RealMedia. The included Media Player Classic supports it and works very well. Supported: RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt), ReadPix (.rp), RealMedia embedded in webpages. .smi and .smil files sometimes only play the first part of a clip. This is a limitation of the current Media Player Classic. The RealMedia Browser plugin supports Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape and Mozilla.

Some advantages compared to RealPlayer :

- Quick and easy install
- It's easy to make an unattended installation
- Proper uninstallation
- No background processes
- Use a player of your own choice
- Low on resources
- No advertising, no registration forms, nothing annoying

Limitations :

- .smi and .smil files only play the first part of a clip. This is only a problem when the clip consists of multiple parts. These files are not very common. These files do play correctly when embedded in a browser.
- The RealMedia DirectShow splitter does not work with streaming content. You must use the included Media Player Classic to play streaming content.

Features of Real Alternative 2.0.2 :

- Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.1-107]
- RealMedia Codecs [version 12.0.0.301]
- RealMedia plugin for Internet Explorer
- RealMedia plugin for Opera/Mozilla/Netscape/Google Chrome
- RealMedia DirectShow splitter [version 1.3.1268.0]

Features of Real Alternative 2.0.2 Lite :

- RealMedia Codecs [version 12.0.0.301]
- RealMedia plugin for Internet Explorer
- RealMedia plugin for Opera/Mozilla/Netscape/Google Chrome
- RealMedia DirectShow splitter [version 1.3.1268.0]

The only difference between the regular and lite versions is that the lite version does not include Media Player Classic.

Real Alternative Lite allows you to play RealMedia files in all DirectShow enabled players. Without this filter RealMedia files can only be played in Media Player Classic. This filter only works with files that are on your harddrive. It does NOT work with streaming content. Therefore it is highly recommended to use Media Player Classic, because MPC does support streaming content.

Changes in Real Alternative 2.0.2 :

- Updated Media Player Classic to version 6.4.9.1 rev. 107
- Minor changes
• Real Alternative 2.0.1
- Updated Media Player Classic to 6.4.9.1 rev. 104
- Updated RealMedia codecs to 12.0.1.301
- Updated RealMedia Browser plugin to 12.0.1.301
- Updated RealMedia DirectShow splitter to 1.3.1268.0
- The RealMedia Browser plugin now also works with Internet Explorer 8
- Minor fixes and improvements

You can download the player at http://www.free-codecs.com/Real_Alternative_download.htm

DirectBobSub

Changes in DirectVobSub (VSFilter) 2.39 [2008-08-28] :

- VSFilter: Improved performance with handling the \be tag.
- VSFilter: Fixed freeze that occurred with the combination MPC + VSFilter + Haali Video Renderer.

How to install DirectVobSub :

If you are unable to install the filter, please read this small guide: How to install/uninstall DLL and AX codec files from Guides section.

You can download DirectVobSub from http://www.free-codecs.com/directvobsub_download.htm

Korean Drama - Hong Gil-Dong

Hong Gil-Dong

Rating: 9.0/10

The Cast:

Kang Ji Hwan as Hong Gil Dong
Sung Yu Ri as Heo Yi Nok
Jang Geun Suk as Lee Chang Whee

About the Drama:

The main character Hong Gil-Dong is Minister Hong's son born of the maidservant Chun-Seom, during Sejong's reign in Joseon dynasty, in the capital Seoul. A local monk took him under his wing and taught him martial arts. Due to his illegitimate birth he carried the grudge of not being able to address his father and siblings. His family feared Gil-Dong's unique skills would be the root of calamity someday thus they hired assassins to get rid of Gil-Dong.

Upon escaping danger, Gil-Dong left to wander and became a bandit leader. Hong Gil Dong was inspired to fight for the injustice in this society that divided people into nobles and ordinary citizens whereby the former enjoyed all the privileges due solely to their birth. Gil-Dong schemed to seize treasures from Hae-In-Sa, and afterwards with the name Hwal-Bin-Dang (army saving the poor), with skills and Taoist magic, he seized fortunes from the corrupt officials all over the country and gave them to the poor people, but did not take a penny from the common citizens.

The heroine, Heo Yi Nok, had just returned to Korea from China with her grandfather. They made their living by putting on shows and selling their special brand of medicine in the marketplace.

Lee Chang Whee had been told since he was young that he was the rightful heir to the throne which had been usurped by his half brother. He had also returned from his exile in China and was plotting to overthrow the emperor.

The three got entangled in love, hate, loyalty and betrayal and only one side can win. As the question of rightful succession comes into play, Hong Gil Dong and Yi Nok are forced to take sides.

Comments(spoiler ahead):

I always thought that this person "Hong Gil-Dong" is a real historical person. However, "Hong Gil-Dong" is based on a fictional book about a Robin Hood in Korea. In this drama, the plot twists are great and there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Kang Ji Hwan is such a great actor, he is so commical in the show and totally convincing when his heart-wrenching emotions whirls you into believing in how Hong Gil Dong, the Bum turned into Hong Gil Dong, the Hero.

For those who'd watched "You're Beautiful", you should still remember Jang Geun Suk from "You're Beautiful" (this show's shown after Hong Gil-Dong), he's totally cool here as well!! Even though his acting is not as good, some even commented that if he did not "talk to himself" in the show, we won't even know that he is starting to like Yi Nok. LOL....Nevertheless, he successfully pulled off playing the fallen prince who was passionately in love with Yi Nok.

The supporting cast was excellent. The people you were suppose to hate, you hated and wanted to scream at them...LOL...

This drama is so funny and emotional. After laughing through a good part of the 23 episodes, the 24th left me with such a heavy heart. The last few episodes were an emotional rollercoaster, ending is a bit disappointing.

Ending even though as mentioned a bit disappointing, it is the most realistic. Who else should be able to defeat Hwal Bin Dang but the now King Lee Chang Hwee? He knows Gil Dong and how his group operates, and he knows their hideout fairly well.

This is a case of losing the battle but winning the war. Gil Dong died but his legacy continues. And Chang Hwee may have won the battle and killed him but he knew he was defeated in a greater sense. He lost Yi Nok forever...

Taiwan Drama - Autumn's Concerto

Autumn's Concerto/ Next Stop, Happiness /下一站，幸福

Rating: 9.8/10

The Cast:

Ady An as Liang Mu Cheng 梁慕橙
(Fu Pei Ci as childhood Mu Cheng)
Van Ness Wu as Ren Guang Xi 任光晞
Chris Wu as Hua Tuo Ye 花拓也
Tiffany Xu as He Yi Qian 何以茜
Xiao Xiao Bin as Xiao Le, Liang Xiao Le, Mu Cheng and Guang Xi's son
Renzo Liu as Lawyer Lin
Liu Rui Qi as President Fang, Guang Xi's mother

About the Drama:

Ren Guang Xi, a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life. He's the sole successor to a huge and famous business and a talented ice hockey player. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter and motivation. That is until he meets Liang Mu Cheng, the new bento seller at his school canteen. Although orphaned at a young age, Mu Cheng does not let her past affect her and lives life with great passion and determination. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi suddenly has to go through a major brain surgery which causes him to lose his memory. His mother begs Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Little does she know that she already has Guang Xi's child.



Six years pass. Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with her young son in the countryside while Guang Xi is now a successful lawyer and is engaged to He Yi Qian, the kind and beautiful doctor who took care of him after his surgery. A strangely familiar piano piece stirs Guang Xi's heart as he struggles to recall his past romance with Mu Cheng. How will the couple make up for six years of lost time? Happiness, which stop do I alight at?

Comments:

A very much must watch drama!! I am still looking for a copy of this drama with english subtitles, sigh...I totally can't get it off the shelf =(

I guess the story revolves around misunderstanding and miscommunication between two young couples who loves one another but have to spend so much time understanding one another since they did not communicate....



The plot leading to how Ren Guang Xi remembers about his past was very old fashioned and expected, but nevertheless my heart still skipped when he finally remembers his past...

I totally liked the way Liang Mu Cheng was talking to Ren Guang Xi in the hotel room after she got trapped in the hotel and saved him from a potential scandal. She was actually acting alone while Vanness was resting...

Ady An is such a great actress, she made Vanness Wu feels like a amateur actor. I gotta say Vanness was great too..please do not misunderstand me...but she was better...The couple span off with so much chemistry I watched the show at least 3 times again and again...

Not to forget, Liang Xiao Le (Xiao Xiao Bing), He is totally cute here!! How can such a young baby be such a great actor? He can even remember Van Ness' script LOL...

Some interesting thing I found out from Wikipedia:

As Ady An was filming in China, all publicity touring was held off until February 27, 2010. The drama was also green-lit to be shown in Japan in mid February 2010. However, even with Autumn Concerto's minimal promotion, some of the cast members had been making bets on the ratings of the drama.

Chris Wu, who starred as Hua Tuo Ye, jumped off a diving board at a swimming pool as the response to the drama's ratings inclining above 6%. This act was shown on television. Vanness Wu, Chris Wu, Tiffany Xu, and Apple also recorded a thank you video for all their fans because of the ratings of Episode 18.