Wednesday, July 31, 2013

BAP Hurricane


 How's the song? 

After much stress and indecision, I have decided to write about BAP's new song. I really wanted to do it last week but I ended up choosing Xia. I like to write about what came out in the week that my posts are written so I probably should be writing about the new B2ST or f(x) song to keep with that goal, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not in love with the new f(x) song, and I don't know a lot about B2ST. Then on Monday, BEG came out with their new song and I was ready to erase everything that I had written and write about them, and I was also unimpressed. What the heck K-pop? 

I feel like a lot of the comebacks this year have been a little lack luster and BAP has been continuously hitting balls out of the park. That is not to say that I haven't found anything that I have liked this year, but I feel that a lot of these groups who have come back after a long absence aren't coming back with so much a bang as a.......pop? Like a firework that you expect to be amazing, but after it is done you say, that was it?  

This song is really strong from start to finish though and I feel like I could listen to it forever. It is just so upbeat and it makes you want to go do something that would allow to answer any question with "because we hurricane" like how "we naughty, naughty" is a legitimate answer to anything.

The only thing that I am not totally in love with is the bridge at about the 2:30 mark. It does give us the chance to see Zelo and Jongup to dance like the beasts that they are, but I feel like I was given musical whiplash from the sudden change. I have gotten used to it and I don't find it as jarring anymore, but I still don't completely love it.   

How's the video? 

The fact that BAP is utilizing the areas that they are in is a really good idea. It shows that they are interested in their global audience and it is always more exciting to see these idol groups interacting - and doing it well - with the outside world. Sure BAP isn't hanging out with any foreigners, but they are in these foreign areas.

While most of this video is spent on the strip and in a party bus, they also go to the desert which I thought was a cool idea. They are using all of the area that they are in instead of just the area that you expect them to use. It is also visually pleasing going from the assault on the senses strip and outfits to the barren desert and these black and white outfits.

 
To continue talking about the outfits in the areas there are in, the outfits are very complimentary to the sets. They have the gold outfits in front of the lit areas, the suits in the lounge room, and a more relaxed look in the party bus and while they are walking around. This is kind of the same thing that they did the in the "Coffee Shop" video with the coordinating outfits and the fell of the area. I know that all videos are like this, but I just feel like BAP is doing a really good job with it recently.

My last note I want to make is that these boys look happy. It seems like they are always working and bouncing from comeback to comeback, but in these videos you can tell they are doing what they want to do. It is always nice to be able to see that an artist is enjoying what they do because when people like what they do, they produce a better product. 

How's the styling? 

How wonderful do these boys look in their suits? Putting a guy in a suit may be one of the sexiest things ever. EVER!


Anyways, why does Zelo's hair look like that? It's like someone sheared a small sheep and then glued the wool to his head.


He is also wearing an outfit that a disturbed preschooler learning his alphabet would wear. There is just so much happening I don't know what to do.

Continuing along with the trend of questionable hair, I wasn't sure how I felt about Himchan's middle part at first. His teaser photo made me cringe and I was really hopping that it wouldn't be the same in the video, but it was. When he starting to sing though, I didn't mind it so much. What are these Jedi mind tricks you're playing on me Himchan?


Last week I mentioned that there has been a trend in music video sets with the pastel colored room, there has also been an accessory that has been popping up in male music videos recently and it is this hand bone bracelet/ring combo. In this video, Daehyun is the one who is wearing it. 


Other groups who have used it are BTS's Jung Gook in "No More Dream" and Infinte's L in "Destiny". There is also a pre-debut group called M.Pire - just what we need, another weird name - and one of the members is wearing one in the teaser.

Is the dance super amazing?

The only dancing part is during the bridge at the end and it is awesome. You really get to see how talented Zelo and Jungup are at this part. I don't think that pictures can fully capture how talented these boys are with everything that they do, so you should just go and watch it. 

Which member owned it?

This was definitely Daehyun's song. He rocked "Coffee Shop" with his sweet vocals and he rocked this song too, but in a different way. I think that I'm falling in love with him. He's just so adorable!


Unfortunately, because of Daehyun's beautiful voice, Himchan felt threatened. He didn't have very much time to become the star since they were filming at the time so he came up with a great idea. He then went to the director and demanded a car and said what might be one of the best Engrish lines of the year, "the loofah's on fire."


Does the English make your ears bleed? 

Oh man guys, hold onto your hats because this song is a freaking gold mine of Engrish, and not just the very obvious "the loofah's on fire." I think because of the amount of English in the song and the fact that all the members have quite a few lines I shall put on my teacher hat and give them a grade. I will grade on grammar and pronunciation who will fail and who will pass? 



Bang Yong Guk - A BYG would totally pass the class with what he put forward during his parts. They were pronounced well and made grammatical sense. He did say "chyea" though which prevented him from getting a A+.


Jongup- A Jongup also gets an A for his part. He has the least amount of English apart from Himchan, but he says his part flawlessly, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to give him an A+ either. I think that it's because he says "feelin' good tonight" without a subject. Yeah, I'm being picky, this is my classroom!


Youngjae - A- Youngjae would have received a solid A, but there was one part that he sang that really bugged me. He lists some countries in this order: Asia, US, Korea, Euro, South America. With the exception of the word "south" he said everything very well, but it was the syllable count that got me, "Asia" received three syllables and "Korea", while it did get three syllables, it was crushed into two beats. It's a little thing, but every time I hear it I just want to change they lyrics around.


Zelo - B As I mentioned in the Xia post last week I hate the word swag and another word that I hate only slightly less is YOLO and Zelo says that in this song. I had a few students I had this past year liked to say these two words and I told them if I ever saw them in writing, I would dock them points. Zelo, you have been docked points preventing him from getting an A.


Daehyun - B- The reason that Daehyun is getting a lower grade is because he is the leader of the chorus which should be "we're hurricane" or even better "we're a hurricane". Unfortunately all we get is "we hurricane" which I suppose could be passed off as gangster speak, but this is English class, not gangster class. 


Himchan - F This boy needs to retake the class. The first line he gets is "I wanna, Baby" and, yes, I know that there is a comma there, but it just makes me think that he wants a little baby. Then there is the grand daddy of all line, you know what I'm talking about.    

What else is happening? 

TAHITI "Love Sick

Koyote "Hollywood"

AA "Midnight Taxi" - So, according to comments, one of the members isn't in this video because his image didn't fit with the song. I find that extremely odd, but it's their companies choice. Other than that, I liked the song and video was a giant acid trip, that sounds like a win win to me.

Lee Yu Rim "Call My Name" - debut song, Wow there was a lot of cuteness in this video. It wasn't as cute as Heyne's "Dalla" but it was still pretty cute. She seems to know what her sound is too which is good for a rookie.

Say Yes "It Feels Good" - debut song, Yay for bands! I'm so glad to see that more are coming out. When I heard their song it did remind me a little of CN Blue, but they do have their own sound and I hope they do well because bands are totally underrepresented!

AOA Black "Moya" - I felt like I had been lied to when FT Island started playing, and then I realized that it wasn't FT Island, sad. I wasn't super impressed by the song though, it was okay, but it isn't something that I am going to remember for a long time.

Kim Hyun Joong "Your Story" - This is definitely a softer sound than "Unbreakable" and I really liked it. The video was also very soft and artsy but also very sexy with that woman that was getting some a lot of love from KHJ. Something that I think is funny is that KHJ is one of those artists that can't keep his shirt on, but he has worked hard for his body, so he would want to show it off.

Brown Eyed Girls "Kill Bill" - My first thought after finishing the video was "What the heck was that?" There is too much story and not enough song and the song isn't as bombastic and catchy as their previous songs. I'm kind of sad about this.

T-ara with Davichi "Bikini" - This isn't really a T-ara sounding song, but it is a nice summer song. I also liked that the majority of this video are the girls having fun at the beach. There are definitely some posing, but mostly it's them relaxing.  

5Dolls "Soulmate #1" - This song had this great 80s feel to it that made me want to get in a old care a film a driving scene for some teen romance. I also enjoyed all the mod outfits in the video and the switching from black and white to color.

QUEEN B'Z "Bad" - debut song, I really liked this song. Their vocals are unique because they all seem to have lower voices and it wasn't super cute and while it was sexy, it was powerful. The editor was a little heavy with the effects, but it kind of works for the feel of the video

Kang Seung Yoon "Wild and Young" - debut song, I'm totally in love with this right now. Kang has this cool rocker vibe and the bridge kind of reminds me of Cold Play, so I hope that this guy stays around.

Kim Greem "Just the two of Us" - This was sexy lounge music to accompany her sexy photo shoot, so it wasn't really for me.

VIXX "You're Impressive" - This song isn't as dark as "Hyde", this is definitely a more summer friendly sound, and it still fits them as a group, even if I don't like it quite as much. 

~ Alora

Monday, July 29, 2013

Word of the Day: Noona Slayer


Noona Slayer n. 1. A younger man pursuing a romantic relationship with a significantly older woman. 2. The Korean male counterpart to the American female "cougar." ex. I didn't think I'd like Lee Min Ho as a noona slayer, but I did. 

Here in the US, pop media has been obsessed and scandalized with the idea of "cougars," an older woman pursuing a much younger man. But for Korean pop media, it's the much younger man who is pursuing the older woman. Hence the origin of "noona slayers." These different terms seem like opposite sides of the same coin, but "noona slayer" infers that the relationship is male initiated while "cougar" implies that it is female initiated. Probably the biggest difference is that in western society, cougars are still considered slightly scandalous but no one bats an eye when Korean dramas cast younger men with older women. That is, unless the guy is very young, in which case the actress is then considered a pedo-noona. Now for the fun part.

My List of Top 10 Korean Noona Slayers!

1. The Telepathic Noona Slayer. Since I Hear Your Voice is ending this week, I'm listing them first. Lee Bo Young is 10 1/2 years older than Lee Jong Suk.

Noona Slayer Rule # 7- The age difference goes away completely when you are both dressed like high school students


 2. The Time Traveling Noona Slayer. Lee Min Ho and Kim Hee Sun in Faith have a whopping 10 year age difference. It's weird at first, but I promise, after episode 13 or 14 you totally forget about it.

Kim Hee Sun, how do you not run your fingers through Lee Min Ho's hair all day long? Also, how do you keep your hear so shiny and perfectly made up in ancient times?

3. The Most Adorable Noona Slayer Ever. Yoon Shi Yoon. How can you not melt when this boy smiles? You can't. It's impossible, even for this very uptight police woman, Lee Ji Ah, in Me too, Flower! ( which is the worst name ever for a K-drama). But, more importantly she is 111/2 years older than he is.

She started her period while he was still in diapers.


4.The 'My Baby Needs a Mama' Noona Slayer. In Oh My Lady, Choi Siwon discovers that he has the most adorable daughter (Yoon Shi Yoon level adorable). So what does he do? He falls in love with Park Chae Rim, the nanny. 

Park Chae Rim, you could also be Siwon's nanny since you are 9 years older than him.


5. The Body Switching Noona Slayer.Ok, so Lee Min Jung fell in love with little Shin Won Ho, who is almost 10 years younger than her in Big.

You can't blame her cause most of the time he looks like Tom Hanks... oops I meant Gong Yoo. Sorry, I've haven't seen it yet.

6. The 'So What if You have 6 Months to Live!' Noona Slayer. If your dying wish is to fall in love with a crazy hot guy, may I recommend Lee Dong Wook who was 6 years younger than his Scent of a Woman costar, Kim Sun Ah.

Yes, please protect her face from premature aging. You know what, protect it from regular aging as well.


7. The Dating Contract Noona Slayer. If you didn't want to fall in love, you shouldn't have written a contract to be in a fake relationship. Everyone knows that! Unfortunately Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah found that out the hard way in My Lovely Sam-Soon
What is 7 years or 15 pounds when you really love someone?


 8. The Student-Teacher Noona Slayer.  Okay, so Lee Chung Ah opened the door originally in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop by mistaking his age and calling him oppa, but Jung Il Woo happily ran through that door to win her heart. Funny that this drama, more than any other that I've mentioned is specifically about  noona slaying, but Lee Chung Ah is actually only 3 years older than him.

Your babies would be so attractive, they would come with a warning label.


9.The Original Gangster Noona Slayers.The opening lyrics of SHINee's debut song  literally begins, "Noona you are so pretty." After 5 years of honing their skills, they are the most practiced and professional noona slayers on the list. I love them so much. 

Slaying noonas since 2008.

 10. Real Life Attempted Noona Slaying Fail. I saw this in the news recently and I had to include it. You remember Ah Sun Young from Dream High? She played Mr. Kang's alcoholic sister. Well, in Dream high she was a bit of a cougar... at least in her imagination.


Well it turns out that she was recently approached by a real life noona slayer. According to her, he was a male idol 12 years younger than her that bragged about how he was going to win her over. Apparently he was very persistent and she had a really hard time shaking him loose. Check it out.


Now it's your turn. Leave a comment and tell me which noona slayers I missed.

~Autumn

Friday, July 26, 2013

Gu Family Book


I think that this drama is a classic example of a drama that has an amazing plot line but then craps out on you in the end. The writers try to be clever in wrapping up the story, but, in reality, they could have done it in such a better way. Maybe that better way would be to make the story end on a mournful note, sure that would be sad, but it would be better than having the audience sit there wondering what the heck just happened. Then to make matters worse, you try to be Marvel and throw a weird after credit scene at us. Does this mean that there will be a season two or were you a little heavy on the soju when you were writing?

Questionable ending aside, this drama was very well written and the actors were wonderful. Our main hero, Choi Kangchi, was played by the wonderful Lee Seung Ki who I had never seen in a drama before. I already knew that he was one of those actors that everybody loved, but I have never seen him in action before, and I am glad that I finally have.

This story is center around the Gumiho legend and the desire that a Gumiho has to become human when they find a human and fall in love. Unfortunately, becoming human is not easy and almost all Gumiho fail and that is the premise that our story is built upon. 

The first couple of episodes is the back story to the drama and it is so sad and beautiful. It is about a Gumiho who falls in love with a human, but ultimately fails in his quest to become human and becomes a demon.


Even though the beginning of this drama was heartbreaking, there were plenty of funny moments to break through the sadness of both the beginning and what is peppered through the drama. Here are some funny scenes that you will get no explanation for. You just get to be confused. You're welcome.





Yeah, this drama is awesome. Most of the time. That sword at the beginning......

Another reason why I loved this drama so much is because the cast meshed with each other so well. Before I began watching the drama I would see articles about Lee Seung Ki and Suzy and how natural they were with each other on and off the camera, and that was not a lie. You could tell that they honestly liked to work with each other and they we comfortable with each other which is always a good thing.


My main problem with sageuks, fusion or other wise, is that sometimes I feel like there are too many characters and I can't remember who everyone is, but I didn't have that problem in this drama which I was thankful for. There aren't a million old men who all look alike all conspiring against each other, but there is definitely one big bad, this guy.


He was such a nasty little skeeze ball and every time that he came into the scene I got the heeby jeebies, especially whenever he went to gibang house and his sick desire for some of the girls. I had to find a rage face to correctly express how I felt when he came on the screen. I feel like I found a pretty good one.

Eternal Contempt
Spoilers!!!!!! Like I did with Nail Salon Paris, I'm going to be grumpy at the ending. If you don't want to know what happens, scroll down three pictures, I also advise you to maybe cross your eyes or something, because these pictures should not be viewed by those who don't know what's happening. Let's go!

I get what you were trying to do writer, I do, you wanted to show that Kangchi's love is able to withstand centuries of being alone. Love conquers all and blah blah blah, but really? I absolutely hated the fact that they killed Yo Oul from the gun shot wound. I was expecting that Kangchi and Yo Oul's story would end happily where Mom and Dad's story was tragic, but how much more tragic did the kids story end up? Mom and Dad at least had a reconciliation, as sad as that was. Since it did end up this way, what was the point of Kanchi wanting to find the Gu Family Book? It didn't even matter in the end because he just remained a Gumiho hoping that some day he would come into contact with a reincarnated Yo Oul. 

I think that I would have been happier if the story ended with Kangchi walking away and the purple flower coming back to life. Then we could have had some bitter sweet voice over. It would be really sad, but I think that that would have been a more satisfying ending.
 

Once we were in modern day land, I'm not sure how I feel about the position Kangchi's dad has in his life. You couldn't have given you dad a better job than your secretary? That seems kind of low for the guy that adopted you as a river orphan. Something that I did think was clever was the use of Tae So's and Kon's actors name's when they cam onto the scene, but it's still weird.

Then with Yo Oul, it's her, but it's not her. Sure she has the same name, but she is no longer Kangchi's Yo Oul and I feel that that could come back and bite him in the butt. He will want to treat her the same, but she's not.


Now with Kon's reincarnation, what the heck was up with that after credits scene? Do they somehow still have their memories and they are going to go all SHIELD on Kangchi? Before I started watching this drama I would always see these posts of "Oh my gosh! I hope there's a sequel!" I never thought much of it because people say that a lot about dramas they like, but now I am seriously wondering too. You can't have that kind of ending without having more, can you? CAN YOU? That would just be rude. 


One of my favorite themes of this drama is that it explores what it really means to be a human. Kangchi wants so badly to become fully human, but how much of a better person is he than many of the other characters in the drama, both bad and good. I am a sucker for a drama that explores the human condition. Not that this drama goes that deep, but it does dip into those ideals. 

Overall, even though I was a little disappointed in the ending, even though I could see what the writers wanted to do, I really liked this drama. There was love, friendship, betrayal, strong females, and it pulled all sorts of emotions out of you.

What else am I watching? 

I Hear Your Voice - Oh. My. Gosh. Is it Wednesday yet? 

Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers - I finally watched more of this drama and I continue to love it. My relationship with this drama is I watch an episode and think "Oh my gosh! Why have I neglected you? I love you! I'll never do that again!" but I will definitely do it again.  

White Christmas - I thought that it was a pretty good story. It explored the human psychology and whether or not a monster is created or born. It's a little like Lord of the Flies, where a group of people are trapped together and what they do when they have nothing, or everything, to lose. It definitely had some continuity issues and the last episode was kind of confusing, but I did enjoy it and I would fully recommend it to others.

~ Alora  

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

XIA Incredible


 How's the song? 

Can I just say how much I love this song right now? It's just so summery and happy and it makes me want to wave my arm during the "Oh~" part at the beginning of the chorus. It definitely could have done without Quincy, but I'm just going to pretend that that never happened, even though it still does every time I listen to the song. Curses!

This song is very different both from the music that has already come out this year and from the sound that we have come to expect from Junsu's solo stuff as Xia. His last song, "Tarantallegra", was very big and theatrical sounding and it completely stood out from the other songs that had been released at the time.This song does the same thing, but in the opposite way. There aren't really any theatrics, there's no dubsetp, and the song sounds the same from start to finish, way to be different Xia!

How's the video? 

Okay, so I'm going to be slightly serious for a little bit, prepare yourselves. I have seen Xia's videos and I know that he always has foreigners as his back up dancers, but I never really thought about the why. I was reading the comments for the "Incredible" video and I saw a comment about Asian people being afraid to appear in anything that has to do with JYJ because of SM Entertainment. This intrigued me so I went to the internet, and I found that that comment is not without foundation.

This is all speculatory, but I guess the broadcasting stations won't let any member of JYJ perform on their programs and the only station that has ever tried to work with JYJ was KBS and they always end up "mysteriously" falling out of whatever deal they have made with JYJ. At the end of last year, I think, JYJ and SM finally finished their dispute and SM said that they wouldn't have anything to do with JYJ ever again, but is that true? SM, I know you're grumpy because you lost 3/5 of you major money makers, the world found out about your questionable contracts, but you house some of my favorite groups, so please be less sucky and pull that stick out of your butt.

Hey, look at this article that came out this morning

Anyways........

Look at all of those white people! There's even a token black guy!

    
And to make the video even cooler, Adam Levine is in it!


Oh, wait, that's just some dude that resembles Levine, just kidding.

That being said, something this music video does well is the cultural diversity. It isn't just hordes of white people with random ethnicity in the background. There are all sorts of people and I think that that could help with the fact that K-pop is becoming more global. It shows that K-pop isn't just for weird white people who wish they were Asian. 

Last thing that I will praise, all these background people don't look like they want to kill themselves. As many people have probably noticed, the people in the background of K-pop videos, especially ones that take place in clubs, are almost impossible to watch because they are just so awkward. All of these people look like they want to be there though. I think one of my favorite moments is when they are standing on the water set and everyone is free-styling in the background. Look at those smiles, those are people who are loving life.


How's the styling? 

You know what is incredible? This hat:


The rest of the outfits though were just so wild and crazy. It's like the stylist went to on a second hand store spree and bought every colorful thing that they could find and then the cast had a free for all to decide what they would be wearing in the video.



The only reason that this hodge podge of clothes work is because everyone is wearing them. Even though all of these outfits are a hot mess, it adds to the fun party atmosphere of the video because of all the colors, patters, and textures. Does that make any of these outfits okay? No, but they can all be crazy together so they feel like they are dressed normal.

Was the dance super amazing?  

The dance style was definitely different than what I expected. This dance was more carefree and easier looking than some of the other things that he has done. When I think of his solo work images of air humping and crotch caressing immediately come to mind, but there is next to none of that in this video. I say next to none because of the slightly random bedroom scenes.

I was watching this video thinking, "Wow, this is very tame, where is the traditional super sexy Xia dance that we all expect in his videos? Oh, I spoke too soon, there it is." This isn't even really a dance so much as an excuse to shake his junk since he hadn't done it yet in the video. Oh, Xia......  



Who owned it? 

Xia is a solo artist so this video is all him. Like Roy Kim's song "Love Love Love" though, there was a random person that as trying to steals Xia's spotlight and it was this guy that I have decided to name Abs McGee, because holy crap did you see him?


So....many....muscles..... I actually creeps me out a little. I'm all for muscles and I will go weak at the knees for a defined back and pair of shoulders, but I don't know, this guy is just a little too much. 

Does the English make your ears bleed?  

This video is a lot like a drama in the sense that the Korean speaking English makes more sense than the person that is the actual English speaker. Everything that Xia says makes sense in the song and it is pronounced well too, I didn't read over the lyrics and find hidden English like I did in BAP's new song, go look those up, English everywhere. Xia did say "swag" though and that makes me want to weep because I think that that is the stupidest word ever created. I would take "yolo" over "swag" any day and that word also makes my skin crawl.  

Now Quincy's English is another story. His rap is as follows:

You’re so hypnotic girl
Alpha-robotic girl
Baby, you’re futuristic
Shine in your vega world
Everybody knows
That this club is yours
Shake your spaceship candy
You’re so incredible

Um, in order for me to shake my "spaceship candy" I need to know what that is. I decided that I would go to Urban Dictionary to see if this was actually a thing, and it's not. If Urban Dictionary doesn't have a definition for something, it can't exist. I have spoken.

What else is happening? 

Kim Hyun Joong "Unbreakable" - I've never actually listened to any of his solo stuff before, but this song was pretty cool, especially since this is his comeback after being in Japan for so long. Jay Park also did a very good job at being awesome, but not overtaking the video.

Henry "Trap" violin and piano version - This is kind of random to be putting here, but it's awesome because Henry is a freaking beast on the violin.

Miss $ "You Were Not the..." - The song was okay, but the video was a little weird. It was a cool idea, but it made me feel a little nauseous. 

B2ST "Shadow" - Both song and video are pretty awesome. The mirrored shots with the couple dancing were really cool as was their makeup. Also, Yoseop has sexy arm veins.

ODD EYE "Follow Me" - This song is a lot softer than their debut song, but the synths completely over power the strings which is the concept of ODD EYE. I'm a little disappointed because even though their debut song was a little, well, odd, it was different.

A Pink "Secret Garden" - Collectively, this song and video are gorgeous. They're like a bunch of fairies serenading you through the computer screen.

Lee Jung Hyun "V" - I have a confession, I have a soft spot for techno. I don't know why, but it hits the spot sometimes. This song hit that spot and it has a crazy fun video to go along with it.  

f(x) "Rum Pum Pum Pum" - To be perfectly honest, I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with this song. I think that f(x) is capable of having a bigger and better sound, especially for a comeback song after being absent for so long.  

~ Alora

Monday, July 22, 2013

Photo Captions of 100%

Ever wonder, "What are they thinking?" when you look at some idols in a photo shoot? Well, we are here to help. 

Here is a photo we recently found of the band 100%.





Using the latest technology, we have narrowed down their thoughts to 2 alternatives. Here they are. 



Or, my personal favorite... 




Have a Happy Monday!

~Autumn

Friday, July 19, 2013

Dating Agency: Cyrano


I thoroughly enjoyed watching this drama. It had a light story line and it didn't take too much brain power to watch. Sometimes it is fun to watch something that you can really just enjoy and then move on with your life rather than be thinking about some mystery plot line. We did venture into Crazy Town during episode 15 which was really weird, but it can be forgiven because of all the awesome that happened around it.

Maybe if I had seen the movie I wouldn't have been as confused about the sudden change in the feel of the drama, but I decided that I didn't want to watch the movie until I had finished the drama. I didn't want anything to influence my watching and how I felt about this story. Maybe I can do that for next week though, watch the movie and do a little comparing. Hmmmm.......

The idea of a dating agency isn't a completely new concept, but I like how these writers did it. Something that I thought they did well was we are never really told how the relationships continued without the help of the agency. In the end many of the relationships were based on a lie - the librarian and the cook set ups - and it was the job of the person who employed the agency to keep the relationship together. That could be seen as a moral dilemma of sorts, especially what happens during the Crazy town segment. Are these people really doing a good thing, or should they just leave well enough alone? 

I thought that the main cast of the drama were all really well matched. They interacted well with each other and you could tell that they were enjoying what they were doing. I was really excited to see Jo Joon Woo in a drama since he was awesome in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, even if he was still denied a girlfriend at the end of the drama. They did the same thing that they did in Ramyun Shop where they showed a hint of what could become of his love life. What the heck TvN! I want him to get a girl and the end of the drama! Is that so hard? Geez. 

Look how sad you're making him!
I think that I have also fallen in love with Jo Joon Woo's partner in crime Hong Jong Hyeon as Moo Jin. He was such an adorable little robot as he was finding out that he did have a heart. I thought that it was clever of the writers to only let Moo Jin find out that he liked Hye Ri when he had a heart beat monitor on to show him proof and even then he had to do a little experimenting to prove to himself it was hormones and not some abnormality in him.


Something else that made this drama really fun were all the cameos that happened. I think that the cameo that I was looking forward to the most was Gong Yoo's because, let's be honest, he's awesome, but he was only in his episode for about two seconds and he had like one line. So disappointed!!! The cameo that was maybe the most surprising, and maybe most confusing, was Taemin's.

As we know, Taemin is frequently dead eyed when he takes pictures and this drama is no different.

 
I thought that he did a pretty good job in his role and he really meshed well with Jo Yoon Woo's character. Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how adorable this picture is, unless you are unmoved by the adorableness of these two, and then you may move along. 


The reason that I was confused is because Taemin played a character named Ray who was in an idol group that I don't remember the name of. The thing is though, when we are at the high school these boys go to, they are playing "Why So Serious" on the television and I thought someone said that was Taemin's group. There was also a part later on when Taemin is in a practice room dancing to a SHINee song, I just thought that is was weird.

Now for my favorite cameo, that title goes to Lee Kwang Soo. The only thing that I have seen him in is City Hunter and I just fell in love with him after that. I also know that he is on Running Man which I have never seen, shame on me. He was just so funny and the fact that he towered over everybody else on set and kept making these weird faces made everything better.

This is his sexy face
Overall, this drama was well written and the acting was also very good. There was just enough twist and mystery in the story line to keep you coming back for more, but not enough that made this drama stick with you for very long after the episode was over, and that is not an insult. It is a perfect summer drama because of these qualities. TvN keeps showing that they are masters at the Rom-com and I hope they keep putting out these sweet and funny dramas for our enjoyment.

Now I will leave you with the best line in the drama.


What else am I watching? 

Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers - I'm such a bag of fail when it comes to this drama.


I Hear Your Voice -Lee Jong Suk turns me into a puddle of fangirling goo and I am not ashamed to admit that.