Personal Taste Review

Personal Taste

Alternative Title: Personal Preference

Chinese Title: 個人取向

Year: 2010

Language: Korean

Genre: Romantic-Comedy, Drama

Episodes: 16

Image Credit: Amazon

Synopsis:

Park Gae In (Son Ye Jin) is a furniture designer who lives in a traditional Korean house, Sanggogae. She is kind but clumsy and terribly naive. In a few occasions, she encounters Jeon Jin Ho (Lee Min Ho), an architect whom she presumes later on as gay. Due to some misunderstandings, the two develop some dislike with each other.

After Gae In's boyfriend Han Chang Ryul (Kim Ji Seok) breaks up with her, she attends the wedding of her long-time friend and roommate Kim In Hee (Wang Ji Hye). To her horror, she finds out that the groom is none other than her ex-boyfriend. As if that isn't bad enough, she gets home and learns that her employee Won Ho uses her house as collateral for loan.

On the other hand, Jin Ho is facing some financial problems in his small firm, making him eager to win the contract in building the Dam Art Gallery. He finds out that the head of the museum is in love with the Sanggogae and initially wants its designer, the legendary architect Park Chul Han (Kang Shin Il) and also the father of Gae In, to design the gallery. The latter, however, turns down his request.

Wanting to learn more about the mysterious Sanggogae and after overhearing about Gae In's debts, Jin Ho pretends to be looking for a new place. He convinces Gae In to rent out a room to him. Due to her dire need of money, Gae In agrees.

After they become roommates, their initial dislike for each other slowly turns into budding friendship. Despite the gay presumption, the roomies start to feel something more for each other.

Cheerfulnuts' Review:

After watching City Hunter, I had an extreme City Hunter withdrawal (or rather, Lee Min Ho withdrawal), so I decided to watch another highly-rated drama of Lee Min Ho – Personal Taste.

The female lead is Son Ye Jin. Though I'm not sure about the pairing, I love her in The Classic and Lover's Concerto. As a romantic-comedy drama, I didn't expect a strong plot in Personal Taste. Granted, the two leads are enough to make me want to watch this.

Personal Taste starts strongly. In the first episode, it immediately gives you the gist of the story and its ending leaves quite an impression to me.

The drama is hilarious. The two leads are really cute and adorable. They totally won me over despite their huge age gap. I thought this drama is something my dad (or some men) could tolerate watching. I changed my mind though after the series progresses. The latter part is more sweet than funny, so it is more fitting for females to watch.

I didn't expect that Personal Taste would have such an emotional impact on me. I enjoy watching Gae In and Jin Ho's growing friendship. It has some poignant moments, like when Gae In opens up to Jin Ho and vice versa. I do get teary-eyed in these parts. Jin Ho acts cool, but it's really sweet when he starts to soften up with Gae In. I really love how he looks at her. His gaze is filled with care and love for a friend. And Gae In, she causes troubles sometimes, but her deep love for her friends is very touching. She's definitely a keeper.

Sang Jun's acting as gay is really hilarious! Gae In thinks that Jin Ho has a lot of boyfriends and mistakes Sang Jun and Tae Hoon as his lovers. With so many fake gays in the drama, my jaw dropped when one character emerges as a real gay. When I least expected it, the respected Director Choi Do Bin (Ryoo Seung Ryong) confesses his love for Jin Ho. Some viewers may cringe at his confession, but when Chang Ryul mocks Jin Ho and the latter catches Director Choi looking at him with sad eyes, it tore me apart. This guy took a lot of courage to admit his love, but it would never be reciprocated (because Jin Ho isn’t gay). I felt sorry for Director Choi.*sniff* This scene (with Chang Ryul, Director Choi, and Gae In waiting for Jin Ho's answer) is truly an emotional moment and very memorable. It makes me think about the social stigma that gay people have to face.

Other than Director Choi’s being gay, most events are pretty predictable. The latter part gets a bit dragging. I’ve read that a lot of viewers complain about their disappointment with the last two or three episodes. I agree that they’re not as good as what the drama promises. Jin Ho is so out of character that the story becomes unconvincing. The drama obviously wants to incorporate some angst but it did it in an ungraceful way. I won’t recommend this show to men or to anyone who only wants strong plots. That said, the good and cute parts of this drama does make up for the messy parts. I still like Personal Taste as a whole. I like how it has stirred some emotions in me. A truly heartfelt drama. It’s worth to mention that the acting is really superb here. I won’t mind watching this drama again.:)

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

8 out of 10 stars

City Hunter Review

City Hunter

Korean Title: 시티헌터

Genre: Action, Thriller, Romance

Year: 2011

Language: Korean

Episodes: 20

Box set available on Amazon

Synopsis:

After the Rangoon bombing that killed several South-Korean officials, five officials, known as the Council of Five, decide to get even with North Korea. Not known even to the president, they send a team of 21 men on a secret mission to assassinate North Korea’s high ranking officials. However, after the South Korean president announces that they won’t retaliate, the Council of Five is left no choice but to abandon their men. The team includes Lee Jin Pyo (Kim Sang Joong) and his best friend Park Mu Yeol (Park Sang Min) who has just borne a son. When they are about to embark on a submarine that would bring them back to South Korea, the men onboard shot them, killing everyone except Jin Pyo who is shielded by Mu Yeol. Realizing that they have been betrayed by their own country, Jin Pyo vows payback.

He returns to South Korea and steals Mu Yeol’s newborn son from Kyung Hee. He leaves for Thailand where he raises the child, Yoon Sung (Lee Min Ho), as his own. He gives Yoon Sung extensive training and tells him years later about his biological father and his plot for revenge. After studying in the US, Yoon Sung goes back to Korea with a mission and a warning on not falling in love.

He meets Kim Nana (Park Min Young), whom he develops feelings for, and Kim Yoong Ju (Lee Joon Hyuk), a prosecutor with a strong sense of justice. As he hunts down his enemies, Yoon Sung is conflicted with having to choose between heroism and revenge, and between love and his mission.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

City Hunter has everything in store for you. There is action, thriller, drama, and romance. The drama is well cast, with Lee Min Ho and Park Min Young as the lead characters. They are both well-known actors and the storyline is good so it makes this series a must-watch especially to K-drama fans.

The drama starts strongly and looks promising. Most Korean dramas are sprinkled with unrealistic events, and City Hunter doesn't exempt from that. That said, the plot is very well-developed. It gets better and better in each episode. The series is packed with suspense that it never fails to keep me on the edge of my seat!

I don't know much about politics. I don't even watch the news anymore. But I can relate to this drama. A lot of corruption exists not only in Korea but in most, if not all, countries around the world. So it feels really satisfying to watch City Hunter kick the asses of those corrupt officials.

There is some character development here. As the story unfolds, Lee Yoon Sung has to make some important decisions. I like that he always sticks to his principles despite his dad’s threats. I also like Kim Yoong Ju’s being righteous and upright. Although he can be annoying at times, having such a guy hunt City Hunter adds more depth to the story.

About the romance department of the show, Yoon Sung doesn't act sweet and all but I can't hate him. Having been trained as an assassin doesn't make him good with expressing his feelings. It's fun to watch how his relationship with Nana grows despite his playboy persona and his lack of social skills. He doesn't act like Gu Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers as he doesn't try to impress his love interest at all. He protects Nana from afar and keeps his feelings to himself, which I find really sweet.

I love that the antagonist, Lee Jin Pyo, is someone dear to our hero, which makes the story very exciting. There is no one harder to defeat than someone you love. Kim Sang Joong's portrayal of Lee Jin Pyo is amazing. He's the type of villain that you can't totally hate. Even if I don't agree with his ways (who would?), I can sympathize with him and can't help feeling bad for him. He also makes me shudder when he's one step ahead of Yoon Sung.

The series do have some flaws. As I've said, there are unrealistic events, such as having too many coincidences (e.g. the hotel room incident). Despite that, I love City Hunter. It's one of the most heart-pounding dramas that I have ever seen. With a very strong plot, great cast members, hot male lead, a creepy yet likeable villain, awesome action scenes... I couldn't ask for more! You don't have to be a K-drama fan nor a female in order to like this one.;P I highly recommend City Hunter to everyone!

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

9 out of 10 stars