Drama Alert!

Well now that I've become a housewife (I'll explain in a small tangent in a moment) I have a lot of free time on my hands.  The only way to keep myself from getting bored out of mind, because there isn't any place to go besides the 7-11, is to find something to watch.  (There isn't enough people to play cards.)  I could watch movies on Netflix, but that only works in the US (same goes for Hulu).  I've caught up with the Daily Show, and now I wait for each episode of True Blood to go online.  What is another good source of TV. . . Japan and Korea!  Unlike my last host, we don't have a TV but thank NPH for the internet.  There are a couple new shows in Japan that I want to check out, but I've also got some recommendations for ones from Korea.

Side Note: I am WWOOFing which is basically a host program where you work for a family (usually on a farm but there are a variety of hosts) in exchange for housing and food.  All you need to pay is for transportation and the small program fee.  I was potato farming earlier, but now I have been reassigned to stay at home with another WWOOFer and do the cleaning and cooking.

Friend's Recommendations for Dramas:
My Girl
Devil Beside Me
Royal Family
Lie to Me
Oh! My Lady
Coffee Prince
Goong
Gegege no Onna

Japanese Dramas Airing w/ Promise:
Hana Kimi Remake
Ouran High School Host Club
Ikemen Desu Ne (Japanese version of You're Beautiful)
IS


Hana Kimi Remake First Impression

Let me start with a comment I left on someone's blog. . . I was looking to see if the raw for the second episode had been uploaded yet, but I found someone hating on the show instead.

How I responded:

"They can’t bring back the main cast of the original because that aired like five years ago so the actors are one two old and two doing other things. It is not uncommon for the OP to be sung by an idol group if their lead is from that group. . . pretty much every drama which has a member of Arashi in it has them singing the OP. AKB48 has tons of female fans and it is about time they do more things targeting their female audience. I have to admit it is hard to find any male actors that can surpass IKUTA Toma and Oguri Shun, but the guys aren’t all completely hideous. I am enjoying it so far because it is basically the same style but with different scenes. I also enjoy the new take on the girls school. (You also left out the fact that the main girls are all AKB48 members.) After I saw the guys I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but the girls make up for it (Maeda who is the lead may surpass the original in my eyes)."  

There are a couple cute guys in the show, but I think everyone can agree it is hard to beat Shun or Toma.  The good news is the nurse. . . I mean doctor (?) is a hottie McHot Pants (who I've seen in multiple boys love films).  The Shun replacement is cute, but not my type.  Toma is meh when it comes to looks but he does the character well.  

What I recommend is: old Hana Kimi fans should not watch for pure man-candy.  Instead watch for more Hana Kimi antics.  The style of the show and pacing is almost identical so far.  The lead female is almost like a clone of the first.  But the scenes are different even though it still follows the main plot points.  I am enjoying how they change things.  I haven't read the manga which this is based off of so I don't know if one follows the manga better or if they just picked scenes that didn't appear in the first drama.  I did read a comment by a fan of the manga saying that this one is closer compared to the 2007 version.  Therefore, maybe fans of the manga who got frustrated by how off the 2007 series was give the 2011 version a go.

I adore the Hibari Four!  They look like they came out of a manga.  Kashiwagi is playing a different version of Maeda's rival love interest.  This time it is less of a joke and more of a legit rival.  That means the fighting over the guys will be more intense.  The other three are perfect variety.  We have cute Miorin, sassy Minarun, and gorgeous Mariyagi.  

I suggest people watch it.  A remake doesn't have to be better than the original.  To have a good remake it must either surpass the original or present a different take/ twist on the original.  This doesn't seem to be going for better, but different.  Like, did you notice how the guys' school is run down and they don't have that red carpet?

Sungkyunkwan Scandal Review
If you haven't heard, I am picky when it comes to Korean dramas.  I could like the concept or plot, but the acting would ruin it for me.  However, this is one of my exceptions.  This is also one of the few period dramas that I've enjoyed too.  It is the usual gender bending plot of a girl dressing up as a man which causes love complications.  The great thing about this series is that it incorporates some feminism into it which I love to see in East Asian dramas and there is a lovely love shape included.  We have the usual good guy whose life becomes complicated after meeting the protagonist who is actually a female.  We have the bad boy, but actually a nice guy, rival.  We have the expected adored female who falls in love with the protagonist.  But here is what makes the series, we have another love interest in a playboy rich-kid who spends the first half trying to prove that the protagonist is a female and then the second half trying to make the good guy be okay with being a homosexual or flirting with the bad boy.

The romantic plot is great (beside that fact that you know right away who gets the girl) and so is the gender-bending plot.  I don't care for the politics or the fight scenes.  I'm was also bored with watching them solve riddles and such.  Therefore the last couple episodes were not my cup of tea.  The ending is pretty predictable.  I've only seen one gender-bending drama that ended in a way that I didn't see coming, Mendol Ikemen Idol.  (Whenever I try to convince someone to watch it I have to spoil the ending because it makes that show.)