Thursday, December 28, 2017

OCN Black



For me, I have to say OCN was one of the best dramas of 2017. It wasn't a normal crime drama with a twist of supernatural elements, but it was a mystery thriller with a tons of twist and turns. The drama isn't completely perfect, but darn it was close. Spoilers are coming ... leave now.

The first few episodes may have come across as confusing but when we learned by the third episodes it wasn't confusing at all as we only knew one perspective of the story. The ball was finally rolling and it wasn't going to stop.


Song Seung Heon was amazing in his double/triple duty. I loved his no-nonsense Grim Reaper who was such a better detective than his counter point of Moo Gang. He played Black with no shame and went full into the roll. Yet, he was able to switch over to the dork-able Moo Gang who might be a horrible detective. 

Once Black found out Moo Gang was his half brother and his heart was in his brother's body, the emotions Seung Heon was about to reach in these last few episodes. My heart was hurting for him as he came to understand he was human along and the horrible crimes that were committed toward him.


Sadly Ha Ram was a flaw in the series and had nothing to do with Go Ara's performance. The problem is with the character as she is suicidal one minute thinking she killed her Oppa and the next saying she'll lived to be an old granny. It was frustrating to see an inconsistent character during a pretty tight story.

Go Ara was wonderful despite the flaws of the character. Her character being able to see death and how people will die is like living half a life. The moment she wants to fight fate, she comes to realizes that her actions have consequences. She's getting the chance to pick and choice who lives and dies. She might save someone who will do an evil deed which will cause more people to die. Go Ara was able to show a silly side of herself but also a serious one too. I love her unconditional love towards Black. Thank goodness the drama gave us a moment of happiness before it all went to choas.


The main mystery was about the tape with a young Soo Wan being raped by a police officer. When we learned the police officer is a man trying to run for president, I couldn't say I was too shock. It was interesting to learn Leo was the man's secret son. I loved the trick the detective group used to entrap the dude. It's just too bad it didn't get to stick.

Finding out Ha Ram was half Grim Reaper was pretty neat. It totally explains her ability to see shadows of Grim Reapers. It was over the top for the drama to had Ha Ram be one of the elements towards Joon's death. There was no reason for Ha Ram to have shot Joon.

Greepy Doc from the hospital is the runaway Grim Reaper Granny. I had wonder if it was Black's missing partner Loser.

Speaking of Loser, he's been Leo all this time. I almost feel like I should go back and rewatch his parts to see if I can notice it. That element totally went over my head.

Moo Gang was going to cover up his mother's crime and brother's death. He also watch Leo dying and did nothing to save him. I felt bad for his soul when he was killed, but after learning about his moment of weakness it makes me wonder what his punishment would be.



The final show down was just bad ass. I was happy that Black didn't hold back on all those men who had not only hurt the woman he loves, but his detective family too. However, I knew the moment he killed, Black's ending was doomed.

Moo Gang's mother's ending was an appropriate ending. If only she could have waited, she wouldn't have had to become a monster. She'll become a Grim Reaper until she pays for her crimes.

Black telling everyone he was going to travel the world after he recovers was just sad and painful. Loser being able to stay in Leo's body if he make sure to protect Ha Ram is the last thing Black can do for her. The moment she finds out she shot Joon is the moment Black makes he choice to cease to exist. He gives Ha Ram the gift she wanted all her life, to just be a normal girl.

It may seem like what was the point of all that we went through, but for me it's just a bittersweet ending. Both had to go through hell before an ending could be given. It's not the ending I wish would happen but it's the ending we need. Ha Ram and Joon are reunited after a lifetime of waiting. What happens after, maybe they get to go to paradise together or try their shoot at life together again.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Announcing 611 - Drama Unnies





Once upon a time in Dramaland in the month of June in the year of 2011, two women (who were then just strangers) both discovered the wonders of Kdramas on two different sides of the same country. They took different paths to lead them to their Kdrama obsessions, but before long they both found themselves ardent connoisseurs of the genre. This passion led them to look for ways to express their love for Kdramas on a broader scale. They each began slaving away over a hot keyboard blogging and making memes to share with all their fellow Kdrama lovers. One day a great Dramaland Emperor by the name of DramaFever introduced the two bloggers and asked them to do a blog together. They had so much fun and worked together so well that an instant friendship was formed. Over the years the bloggers continued to blog together occasionally and cheer each other on from a distance until one day they had a brilliant idea – what if they combined their forces and created memes together? Thus a beautiful alliance and partnership blossomed. Living in LoganLand and AjaVillaBlog joined together to become 611 – named after the month and year when they both found their greatest love, Kdramas.   

 

Hello chingus, this is our fun and silly way of announcing that rather than create memes independently under our own blog names anymore we’re combining our forces and making memes together as “611”. This will help us cover more dramas and allow us to create fresher memes by challenging each other creatively and encouraging each other when we are not motivated. This will also mean more memes in general and on a regular basis. If you are familiar with both of our memes, you will know that we already have a similar style and have worked a lot together in the past so this should be a very natural partnership. We are looking forward to this new project and will hope you guys support our memes just as you did when we were making them by ourselves!

Come find us:
Facebook: 611
Tumblr:  @611.dramaunnies
Instagram: @611.dramaunnies


 

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Weekly Round Up: The Bride of the Water God





Quick recap: Ha Baek has the stones to become the King of the Gods, but he’s having second thoughts because of So Ah. Mura tells So Ah why her family had become servants to the Gods and how this connects to Ha Baek. So Ah begins to tell Ha Baek to go back to where he belongs and he does. Meanwhile, Mura tells Hu Ye to marry So Ah and the break ties with the Gods. Hu Ye becomes So Ah’s knight in armor, but it’s too later because Ha Baek has come back.




Why does it feel like when I talk about this drama I feel like nothing significant every happens? I know things happen but it just doesn’t feel like anything was important to more the plot or characters to matter. The writing seems to be all over the place, but I do believe there is some good stuff from the drama. I just wished the good was more than the bad.



Ha Baek’s curse is important to his character and why he keeps himself detached from love. I felt it a disservice to his character to wait at the last minute to show us his tragic past.  Of course, knowing Ha Baek’s curse also allows us insight on how the servants of the Gods was created too. Again, these should have been included near the beginning of the drama not towards the end. It just feels out of place these plot points.       



I like the OTP, but I just don't feel the emotions I'm suppose too. I knew they like each other, but I could go either way. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't get to together. It's a shame because I don't dishate them, but I also just aren't feeling the feelings for an OTP either.   




I’ll be honest the most interesting character of the whole drama is Hu Ye. He’s more complicated since he’s a demigod. He’s not a god but he not human. I’ve got a case of SLS with him because I want him to find someone to love him. He seems to want to know what it feels like to be wanted but also loved. He’s considered a monster among the Gods and the Humans will too. Lim Ju Hwan is knocking it out of the park. I can’t wait for him to take on a bigger role as the male lead. 

Once Upon a Time Movie Review/ 三生三世十里桃花





Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms is my 2017s can't let it go. I’ve read the book, watched the drama, and finally seen the movie. There was something about the story that was able to hit all my needs. I cried, I laughed, and I was angry. There have been some great dramas this year, but Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms has destroyed me for all the other dramas.
My local theatre was lucky enough to get Once Upon a Time. I’ve been excited for weeks knowing I was going to get to see this on the big screen. I had worried my expectation would ruin my movie experience, but I don’t think it did in the end.
The movie is 1 hour and 48 minutes which had to condense a lot of the characters and plot points of the original. The movie is set up much like the book with a few minor details changed. The book is all told from Bai Qian/Su Su’s point of view and the movie for the most part follows her. There are a few scenes where the audience is giving glimpses into the villains or Ye Hua’s conflicted emotions, but in the end, we the viewer are learning about the mystery past of Su Su through Bai Qian.



I don’t think the movie did a bad job adapting the main source material. There were a lot of adapting choices to make on how to compress the original story down. I can understand people feeling rushed by the story as we the viewer are moved to scene to scene. It can be a bit jarring and at times scenes can feel hurried to get to the next plot point. I did enjoy being able to learn about Bai Qian’s past as Su Su through the other characters. I can see Ye Hua’s love for Su Su when he’s accounting his first meeting and their marriage together. You can also see Su Jin’s hate and her manipulation when explaining Su Su’s life in the palace and her death.

The film has only 7 main characters compared to the original story - Bai Qian, Ye Hua, Zhe Yan, Su Jin, A Li, Xuan Nu, and Qing Cang. The film did keep Si Yin and Mo Yuan’s background story with a minor change. It appears that Ye Hua and Mo Yuan aren’t twins, but the same person. I could nitpick this minor detail, but if I did it would make me hate the ending more. I’m a bit annoyed by the choice, but it’s not the worst adapting choice the movie could have made.



Su Jin in the film version is the main villain and will do anything to claim Ye Hua for herself. She’s a monster who works with Xuan Nu to kidnap A Li and Mo Yuan. She’s not just a lady who plays palace politics, but is willing to kill Bai Qian knowing she is royalty and the ramifications of her actions could mean for her in doing so.  Heck, she’s the one who opened the bell and release Qing Cang to bring about destruction to the Heavens. A Li never liked Su Jin and to allow her to hug him was ridiculous. It was by far the weakest plot point in the movie.



Ye Hua is much like his book counterpart and it’s hard to read his emotion or motivations. He’s playful, but also fierce towards Bai Qian. He is conflicted about Bai Qian learning her past as Su Su, but he does the right thing by giving her memories back. Once the truth of Su Su’s past comes out, it takes Nai Nai to explain to Bai Qian the sacrifice and protection Ye Hua made on her behalf. It’s a quick hail mary but it does work.



Bai Qian is a frustrating character in all versions. She may be 140,000 years of age, but there’s a childlike quality in her and the film gets that. Yet, she’s able to take care of herself in any battle. I like the scene when Su Jin’s spirit animal tries to push Bai Qian off the platform and she just dodges it. It’s a nice moment to show Su Jin, she’s a powerful immortal who won’t be beaten by cheap tricks. I was irritated with Bai Qian being stuck in the pity party stage of grief for most of the remainder of the movie. A bad adapting choice on the movie’s part by not having Bai Qian get her revenge on Su Jin by taking her eyes back. It’s my favorite part of the book to see Bai Qian just be pissed at the world for her love calamity always ending in tragedy.

Unlike the book and the drama, I wasn’t given the heighten emotions. The punishment scene for Su Su’s eye always makes me cry, but the movie failed to give me the tear jerking emotions. I blame the director on the scene not living up to the original source material. Point goes to the drama for executing the scene just right.  



Point goes to the film for seeing Bai Qian and Ye Hua bonding/fighting together. I’m actually a fan of this change from the original source material. I like that Ye Hua isn’t facing this battle alone, but with the love of his life. He’s willing to lose his life and possible Bai Qian by gaining the plant. Bai Qian choses Ye Hua over her Teacher coming back in the end is a powerful moment. It’s a big change from the original material, but I find it plays well for moving these lovers togethers.

The look of the movie is very fantasy like and very pretty. Clearly this isn’t out world but the world of immortals and gods. The CGI was appealing and well done. The 3D was actually nicely done too and I’m one who hates 3D. The costumes were either hits or misses in my book. The Heavenly Palace look was silly and at times bizarre. As for the soundtrack, here’s my money so give it to me now. The main theme song is beautiful but the score I would love to listen to it.



My evaluation of Once Upon a Time: It was Good.

The book, the drama, and the movie all did things better than the other, but they all got the point of the story about love. It’s a sad story of love and sacrifices. My friend tagged along with me to my second viewing and was impressed with the film. As someone who didn’t know anything about the plot, I was surprised by their reaction and review of the movie. Books are hard to adapt to begin with as there isn’t restrictions on what you can and cannot do. But if you want a deeper look at the story, stick to the drama. If you want to see a fantasy world that gets to the heart of the story, the film is for you. In the end, I have many different ways to relieve this story.