Review: The Romantic and Idol Season 2

Hello! I have just finished watching The Romantic and Idol Season 2 today which aired its last episode this weekend and was so shocked with the ending. I do suggest that you watch this first before reading my review as I can't promise you guys that this will not contain any spoilers. I don't think I can refrain from saying something because I am gonna compare the 2 seasons so if you haven't seen Season 2 yet, feel free to click here so you can get directed to Kshownow and watch it with English sub :)

SHOW: The Romantic and Idol
SEASON: 2nd
EPISODES: 6
BROADCASTING STATION: tvN
AIRING TIME: Sunday
AIRING PERIOD: December 30, 2012 - February 10, 2013



CASTS:

Male
Jonghun (Ft Island)
Kevin (ZE:A)
Minhyuk (BTOB)
N (VIXX)

Female
G.Na
Yang Jiwon (Spica)
Yewon (Jewelry)
Eunyoung (Two X)


*My review for Season 1

OVER-ALL RATING: 4.5/5

This is definitely an entertaining program and I really believe it is not scripted because if it is, it wouldn't end like how it did. The casts really did follow what's on their hearts and decided to act accordingly. I love it!
I'm also happy that they edited this in a very nice way unlike with Season 1 which used a lot of repeating scenes to make it reach 8 episodes. I really believe 6 episodes is perfect for a 4 day dating show.


MY THOUGHTS:
Oh my gosh! All I can say is, this season is way different than the first! This felt more real too because the reactions and decisions doesn't seem scripted. Even the "final decision" is a surprise because of the ending for all the couples.

I am gonna warn you guys, again, if you haven't seen this Season yet, please feel free to watch it first then come back to see my review as this will contain spoilers for the show.

[SPOILER ALERT]

ZE:A Kevin is the only one who I think didn't get to shine in this show. He's too quiet and shy for a variety dating show. No one actually chose him as an option since he doesn't put any extra effort to show the one he likes that he likes her, although it never changed since the beginning. I don't think he is ready yet to be part in a show like this. I'm just sad coz this show could help him practice for real life as he doesn't have any experience in dating until now.

Eunyoung from TwoX is the youngest female in the cast and I believe she gained a lot of fans with her participation. I didn't know her but she stood out the most among the four females because of her character and personality. Although she is very young and shy, all her interview parts are hilarious and full of charms. if only she warmed up a little faster to the others, she would probably have a lot of votes from the men because her happiness is contagious. She doesn't whine too and use cutesy voice like Yewon does. I really love Eunyoung and I hope I can see her in lots of variety shows soon :)

N is also okay but I just get to see him because of Eunyoung so I don't think it showed any of his charms. I do liked the fact that he turned off the camera when he and Jiwon had dinner together because it showed that he wanted to have a private talk with her and get to know her better. I think that's the trigger why he decided to choose Jiwon in the end instead of Eunyoung.

I can't believe there's a 2nd Seungah in this season. Poor G.Na becoming a comfortable noona to all the guys and never looking at her as a possible "love interest". I think it is actually the fault of the casting director because they didn't consider putting an older man in the roll of casts. All of them are too young for the girls because majority of them are older by a couple of years. I hope if ever they make a Season 3, they will cast older guys instead to make it more balanced. So sad because she's really a cool chick and deserves someone who will cherish her more.

Jonghoon stood out among the men, because since day 1, he followed his heart and went to show Yewon that she's the one. Although a lot said bad things about him, I really think he is the only one who is really honest on what he feels and stuck by it. He said pre-recording that he likes Yewon and when he saw Yewon is part of the show, he really went all out in "courting" her and showing everyone that he genuinely likes her. I don't think it's his fault that even though he liked G.Na at first, it changed after seeing Yewon and his like for G.Na became that of a noona. It's also commendable that he was really honest about it and never lead the other girls on like what Minhyuk did. He also stayed as a real gentleman to G.Na when they date even though he doesn't like her romantically which JB didn't do in Season 1 with Seungah. He is really a man, in my opinion.

Jiwon is also daebak! Even though 2 men chose her for the final decision, she decided to stay single because her final choice is not included. I hoped Seungah was like that when JB chose her in the end because he felt sorry. Jiwon is really cool about all these and the ending was really unexpected which made me believe this is unscripted.
 
Yewon and Minhyuk are meant to be together. They both liked each other since the beginning and they got paired to almost all the shuffles in the season which is commendable. They are comfortable and looks like they really are having so much fun. It is also fun to watch them trying to like other people but always ends up choosing each other. So, yeah, I think these two have a chance of really dating in real life hehe...IU just hated that Minhyuk always try to fix his hair and looks at the camera. he is so narcissistic.


So yeah, overall, I think this is not as scripted as the first Season. The only couple pairing was Yewon and Minhyuk and everyone else ended up alone. I guess Eunyoung's "curse" got granted when she got sad that N didn't chose her or anyone for that matter. No one should cross Eunyoung LOL. Anyway, I think I will still watch Season 3 if ever they decided to go again. I just hope there's a balance in the age between guys and girls.

Thanks for dropping by!
 
 

Review: The Romantic and Idol Season 1

Happy Wednesday! I'm not sure if I can post tomorrow so I'm just gonna upload it today :) 

SHOW: The Romantic and Idol Season 1
CHANNEL: tvN
EPISODES: 8
AIRING DATES: November 11 - December 30, 2012

AIRING TIMES: every Sunday

CAST:
2PM Jun K.
MBLAQ Mir
JJ Project JB
ZE:A Hyungshik
4Minute Jihyun
AOA Hyejeong
Fiestar Jei
Rainbow Seungah 

PLOT:
"The Romantic and Idol" is a spin off from a tvN show called "Romantic" which featured non-celebrity bachelors and bachelorettes looking for love. For the first season of The Romantic and Idol, they have decided to ban the managers of the idols and let them date for 4 days and 3 nights at the romantic island of Jeju.

According to the representatives of the show, they wanted this to become a reality show featuring idols dating and want them to show their real emotions without the interference of their managers.

ENGLISH SUBBED VIDEOS: At Kshownow.net


MY THOUGHTS:

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'll like watching this show. I really waited every week for the episodes to get subbed by Kshownow because their English subtitle is the best. This is one of those Korean reality/variety show that you will really get into because they are never long winded. You'll know that the story will just spun for a couple of episodes so there's actually a lot of happenings per episode :)

You all know how I love watching We Got Married and this has the same feel as they both have celebrity casts getting together and pretending to be couples. The difference between the two is that with WGM, the couples have enough time to get to know each other first before having some sort of skinship, but with the Romantic and Idol, they only have 4 days and 3 nights and they get different missions like holding hands and back hugging to accomplish.. so it's a much faster paced dating show. They also have 4 choices in front of them and they will be able to date anyone depending on the result of the shuffle.

The pairing will be up to fate because they won't know which ones they will have a date with for the day until after they finished choosing-- there were shuffles everyday.

Example:
1) Necklace shuffle - the girls will choose one necklace each (prepared by the guys prior to the show) and whoever owns the necklace they chose will be their date for the day.

2) Clothes shuffle - the girls prepared a top for the guys to choose and the pairings will also based on who got which shirt.


I really liked the unpredictability because you'll never know who will be paired up with whom and if their feelings will change after changing partners. After watching the first season, I really believed it to be a reality show because it won't end that way if it's scripted.

I watched this at first because of 2PM's JunK. but I learned to appreciate all the casts after 1 episode. They are all very exciting to watch. This is definitely a fun show to indulge in every week.
I am now watching Season 2 and I am enjoying it too :)

OVER-ALL RATING: 4/5

This is a really fun thing to watch and I believe that whoever thought about this is daebak! It's a nice twist to the regular variety dating show shown in the TV. Can't wait to see more from this show! :)

SPOILERS ALERT!

I really hated JB after watching the whole 8 episodes. I liked him before this show but instead of endearing him to me with this participation, I ended up hating him and I don't think I'm the only one who got disappointed. I have read a lot of comments saying they were so disappointed with how JB acted and they got put-off with his attitude. I really didn't like how he treated Seungah, it was so immature and ungentleman. I don't care if he's young, because age is not a reason to disrespect someone. The guys in Season 2 is the same age as him and they treated the other girl with respect even though they don't like to have a date with them. I really hope no one will become the next Seungah in Season 2 because that girl really felt bad and alone that she cried due to sadness.

On a positive note, I really believe that Hyungshik-Jihyun and Mir-Jei got together after the show. You can notice that their feelings were real during the show and according to their members, they usually find those two grinning and too happy after going back from Jeju. Also, Hyungshik started learning how to drive so he can have his own car...Yeah, he is dating alright haha. An idol only gets himself a car if he wants to date so that he can hide it from his manager :)


Thanks for dropping by!

Drama Review: To The Beautiful You

Happy Friday everyone! So, one of the dramas that I've been watching lately, To The Beautiful You, just finished yesterday. And I wanted to post the review now while it is still fresh in my mind :)

TITLE: To The Beautiful You
GENRE: live action, comedy, gender-bender
EPISODES: 16
BROADCASTING NETWORK: SBS

AIR TIME: Wednesday- Thursday
AIRING PERIOD: August 16 - October 4, 2012 

SYNOPSIS:
It is based on the Japanese shōjo manga series, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom), written by Hisaya Nakajo. The Korean series is the fourth television adaptation of the manga following the Taiwanese Hana Kimi, the Japanese Hanazakari no Kimitachi e and its remake Hanazakari no Kimitachi e 2011.

It is a story about a Japanese girl (living in the US) named Ashiya Mizuki who went to Japan by herself and entered an all-boys school to see and encourage Sano Izumi, a popular high-jumper, to compete again.

CASTS:
Choi Sulli of F(x) as Goo Jae Hee /Ashiya Mizuki
Choi Minho of SHINee as Kang tae Joon / Sano Izumi
Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun Gyeol / Shuichi Nakatsu
Kim Ji Won as Seol Ha Na
Seo Joon Young as Ha Seungri / Nanba Minami
Hwang Kwang Hee as  Song jong Min / Senri Nakao
Kang Ha Neul as Min Hyeon Jae / Makoto Kaguraza

Watch the English subbed videos at MyKimchiDrama. Just click here to go to the page.


MY THOUGHTS:

As I've said before, Hana Kimi is one of my favorite manga and this had been translated into live actions by Japan and Taiwan simultaneously years ago. Both live action adaptations garnered a huge fan base and the Japanese version (the original...I hate the remake) is my favorite because it is really fun to watch and and the way it was directed made it look like a live anime. I believe I watched that drama at least a dozen times already and I still enjoyed it. In short, I really have a very high emotional attachment with this story and I don't want to get disappointed. 

I was actually skeptical to watch this Korean adaptation, To The Beautiful You, at first when I heard Minho of SHINee and Sulli of F(x) will be the main cast. Hyunwoo is a great actor so I know he will do well for his role as "Nakatsu" but I had doubts for Minho and Sulli because this is their first time acting and Sulli is too girly to pass as a boy. I just told myself to give it a chance and watch the first 2 episodes... If I don't like it, I'll just pass this up like what I did with the remake Japan made last year. Luckily, I liked how Sulli turned out so I followed this drama every week. 

The last episode was aired yesterday and the English subbed version got released today so I was able to watch it already. All I can say is, this is really a good drama. It did not disappoint and I liked how the director wrapped everything up. Everyone has a happy ending and I am glad they didn't copied anything from the Japan and Taiwan versions. The Korean version created their own adaptation based on the manga itself so it gave To The Beautiful You a uniqueness of its own and it became a must watch live action for fans of Hana Kimi.

This version focused on the friendship between Goo Jae Hee - Kang Tae Joon - Cha Eun Gyeol and also the rivalry between Tae Joon and Hyeon Jae. There's no excessive competitions like in the Japanese version...they just used the important ones like the Miss Genie competition and also the high jump events. Dorm 1 and 3 are also not as important as with the Japanese version because TTBY were more focused on the Dorm 2 activities and characters.

I think I prefer this version of Sano Izumi portrayed by MinHo because he really became playful and caring and full of life once he accepted that he likes Goo Jae Hee as a girl and not as his roommate. I also prefer the ending because it had closure to everything :)


I'll stop my review here so that I won't give out spoilers. Do check this drama out if you liked Hana Kimi, Coffee Prince and You're Beautiful.


OVER ALL RATING: 5/5

 Definitely a must watch! I really don't get it why this got a low rating in Korea. The acting is great and has a very light storyline so everyone in the family can watch this. Although it did not garnered a lot of local support, this definitely received a lot of love from international fans like me. I hope SM Entertainment decides to create a Youtube Special for this just like what they did with Playful Kiss who also had the same fate hehe :)

Faith is still ongoing (1 more month to go) and the subbing for When Love Walked In is still not done (only until Episode 15 as of October 4) so I'll probably watch The Panda and The Hedgehog (where Donghae of Super Juinor is the lead actor) every Wednesday and Thursday to replace To the Beautiful You timeslot hehe.  

What about you? What's the current drama you are watching?

Thanks for dropping by!

2012 MBC Idol Star Olympics

Hello! Have you watched the 2012 MBC Idol Olympics already? If not, I have found a couple Youtuber who posted the event of this year's Idol Olympics so feel free to watch them here. These don't have English subtitle but it is still a good watch ^_^

1. Table Tennis Mixed Double

Nichkhun (2PM) and Jiyeon (T-Ara) vs Changmin (2AM) and Amber (Fx)

2. Fencing (women division)

Victoria (Fx) vs Sunhwa (Secret)

3. Track & Field (men)

Look at Jo Kwon's (2AM) face while running LOL so funny ^_^

I love Doojoon (ZE:A) in sports related shows ^_^

4. Long Jump (men)

Seulong (2AM)! He has really long legs..definitely an advantage haha ^_^

Video Credits to shu35151229 from Youtube^_^

If you want to watch the whole 2012 London Idol Olympics in 1 video, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJaTHX9YLB4

Hope you enjoy the videos!

Thanks for dropping by!

Drama Review: K-pop Extreme Survival

Hello everyone! Okay, so remember my post about the new dramas I was watching? This drama is one of them and it has come to an end last week, sadly. 

Title: K-pop Extreme Survival / K-pop Ultimate Audition

Genre: Musical, comedy, cross-dressing

Episodes: Supposedly, this was meant to be 16 episodes but I don't know what happened that it ended at 14. That is the reason why I just did the review now and not last week coz I am  hoping that it will still have  16 episodes. 

Broadcast Network: Channel A

Broadcast Period: March 19 - May 1, 2012

Air Time: Monday - Tuesday @ 8pm

Synopsis: This is a story about Ji Seung Yeon (Go Eun Ah), a great pianist who wanted to do hip hop music. She is a tomboy and was able to join an audition to become a K-pop star. The catch? She needs to stay as a boy in order to stay in the audition because the winner of the event will be part of a famous all-male idol group, M2.

Kang Woo Hyun (Park Yoo Hwan) is the charismatic leader of M2. He hides his bad attitude and selfish personality from fans through his killer smiles and gestures. He is conflicted whether to stay in M2 or go solo because he doesn't like to be part of a group.

Kwon Ji Woo (Kwak Yong Hwan) is the best friend of Ji Seung Yeon. They grew up together and are very close. He is very shy and have a strong stage fright even though he is a very talented singer. He always depended on Ji Seung Yeon ever since they were children and that is one of the reason why Seung Yeon needed to stay in the competition until the end...to give strength to her best friend so he can reach his dream of becoming a singer.

And the other important roles in this drama are the M2 Junior members. This consist of 8 members including Ji Seung Yeon and Kwon Ji Woo.They are the contestants fighting for the spot in the M2 idol group.

You can check the complete info about this drama in D-Addicts. Just click here.

If you want to check this out and watch it with English subtitle, just click here. That is the site where I watch my Korean and Taiwanese dramas. I so love Kimchidramas,net hehe ^_^

If you want to check my initial impression on this drama, feel free to click on this link ^_^

Now, moving on to my actual review. 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DRAMA:

- It has a very light story line and has very few drama scenes. So it makes me feel good after watching an episode and I keep looking forward to the next one.

- It is comedy so there's a lot of  laughter and fun scenes. Even the "romantic" scenes between the two main characters is fun to watch.

- I think the casting team really did a great job in choosing these actors for the role. Everyone is great and they really portrayed their role very well.

- I love the soundtrack! My favorite is the one called "Stand Up". It is sang by the M2 Juniors and it has a great meaning and the melody is catchy. Check it out below. I chose a video that is English subbed so you can see the lyrics too ^_^

- The other supporting characters are great too. I can't believe that they were able to find great actors to be part of this drama. Even the idols like Kevin (ZE:A), Tagoon & Maeng Se Chang (BoM), and Kim Eun Jung (Jewelry) did great.

- The cast are either idols themselves or siblings of an idol so it is a great combination in my opinion because they are talented in the first place and they have personal experience of being/ or being related to a Kpop idol. They can really show the feelings and hardships of becoming an idol in the Kpop world. Very authentic information.

- There is character development with everyone. It is not just focused on the main characters. They allotted one episode per member of the M2 Junior, the administration and of course Woo Hyun and In Young.And after the series, as a viewer, I was able to get to know them all a lot better.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

- The ending is so bad! Since this is meant to be a 16 episode drama, I think they squeezed 3 episodes into 1. Episode 14 is so all over the place and it really feels rushed. I was unable to see any closure in the different conflicts that happened in episodes 12-13. 

There is no closure in:

1. How did the fans reacted when they knew Ji Seung Yeon is a girl?

2. Did the CEO and Team Leader Han ended up together?

3. What happened to M2 Junior members? Did they debuted?

4. What happened to Ji Seung Yeon's career?

5. What happened to Sunny Entertainment after the scandal?

There are a lot of unanswered questions because the ending, Episode 14, is  so rushed. I really don't get it why they needed to cut 2 episodes when it is already ending. If they really needed to cut 2 episodes off, they should have started compressing the story starting Episode 11 so that they can still finish with a complete story.

Aside from the ending, I love this series. I think acting wise, this is better than You're Beautiful. Although the two dramas are quite different, I just loved the fact that everyone here can act. Soundtrack wise, I like You're Beautiful better coz there's a lot more songs that I loved. So if you like YAB, check this out too coz you'll probably like this too ^_^

- I can't find  good English subbed videos. I think each episode was subbed only 83-90% unlike other Viki subbed videos that every part and dialogue has subtitle.

OVER-ALL RATING: 4/5 - If only the ending is right, I would have given this a higher rating. I really enjoyed watching this drama until Episode 13. Very fun and light and is really a feel-good drama. The characters have chemistry together and is really believable that they are a couple.

If you wanted something that is not full of crying and tragic problems, then I suggest you try checking this out.

Till my next post. Thank you for dropping by. Bye! ^_^