Dorama of the Year 2005-III Summer - Dragon Zakura

Dragon Zakura was the only masterpiece for me this season.

1. Ganbatte Ikimasshoi  [がんばっていきまっしょい] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Romance, Youth, Sports Shinomura Etsuko is a girl who wants to start a girl's crew team at her school. However, in order to do so she needs to find at least 4 other members. She is met with many challenges during each episode such as finding enough members, bearing the weight of being captain, going through training, and experiencing some setbacks. However, with the help of her coach, childhood friend, and the rest of the boy's rowing team, she and the rest of her team are able to overcome those obstacles. A sports drama about hope, hard work, and perseverance. Spokon. But even Japanese spokons are better than other nations drama of same period.   Overall Rating: 6/10

2. Haruka 17  [はるか17] (Finished 5/17) Tags: Comedy Haruka is a bright and earnest 22- year-old college graduate looking for a job. She soon finds herself in a pinch and ends up taking a job as a manager at a talent agency. The only problem? Instead of working with clients, she ends up becoming one. And if that weren't enough, she's asked to pose as a 17-year-old. Although Haruka was puzzled and confused by such unexpected situation, she gradually discovers the hidden talent and attraction in herself and aims seriously to become a genuine idol! A success story about a young lady who realizes the "real" side of herself with the support of the unique people sorrounding her. Since it's based on manga, it's quite thoroughly thought out and does not have real fillers. But it's based on shoujo manga, and I'm just not target audience, can't truly enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 6/10

3. Ima Ai ni Yukimasu  [いま、会いにゆきます] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Romance, Drama, Fantasy Yuuji is still a first-grade student. He is having a tough time understanding what has happened to his mother and the fact that she won't be coming back. At the very beginning of the first episode, the voice of the late mother is reading from a picture book that she wrote for Yuuji before she died. It is about a mother who dies but promises to return when the rainy season comes. Yuuji believes in this story and thinks that his mother will come back when the rainy season comes. And surprisingly... she actually does. When it begins raining on a June morning, Yuuji runs out into the forest to the special place where he used to play with his mother. His father, Takumi chases after him to get him to go to school. When they arrive at the old ruined building where they used to play, Yuuji's mother, Mio is waiting there completely alive and healthy, but she has no memory of them or anything that occurred during her life. It was issued as movie in 2004 which was probably fine, but as a series there's not enough content and no direction, so I see zero reason to watch it further .   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. It Started with a Kiss [惡作劇之吻] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth, Drama After an earthquake destroys Xiang Qin's house, she and her father move in with the family of her father's college buddy. To her surprise, her new kind and amicable aunt and uncle are the parents of her cold and distant schoolmate, Jiang Zhi Shu, a genius with an IQ of 200 who, not too long ago, rejected her after she confessed her feelings for him. Will the close proximity give her a second chance to win Zhi Shu's heart? Or will her love for him end under his cold words? Seen exactly same concept at least twice already, probably based on the very same source. And this iteration is probably the worst of them.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. The Queen's Classroom  [女王の教室] (Finished 9/11) Tags: Youth, Drama A new school year begins at Hanzaki Elementary School, and there's a new mysterious teacher named Akutsu Maya in grade 6, class 3. Meanwhile, Kanda Kazumi is now entering the 6th grade and is filled with excitement about the new school year. Kazumi also has Maya Akutsu as her new homeroom teacher. The students in grade 6, class 3 quickly realize that Maya never smiles at them and treats them mercilessly. Students are not even allowed to use the bathroom during class time. Maya places a high emphasis on test scores and gives pop quizzes every week. Students who receive the lowest scores become almost like slaves as they must perform odd jobs in the classroom. Kazumi quickly falls into the crosshairs of Maya. A 1-year battle then ensues between Maya, who rules her classroom like a queen, and the students of grade 6, class 3. It looked like a special case of unusual teacher like GTO, so kept watching it to see where it goes and also for surprisngly good kids acting. But all I see as a result is bullying by both classmates and the teacher, plus very unbelievable constant changes from bullying to friendship and back. And I especially hate the a la Code Geass concept that person voluntarily becomes a bad person so that everyone else allied against him and upon defeating him gained high enough position to procceed to actual social changes. The same kind of bs poison happened to titans much later. It's both unbelievable and harmful if applied to real life, so I don't even want to finish it.   Overall Rating: 6/10

6. Let's Go to the Beach  [해변으로 가요] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Comedy, Romance Yoon So Ra: She is the owner of Sora Motel on the east coast, and has an insatiable desire for food. She is a helpless klutz, but she dreams of becoming a dolphin trainer somedady. Jang Tae Poong: He openly admits that he has no brains, but he is a bold fellow who always gets into trouble. He is deeply loyal to his friends and very protective of the person he loves. One day, he meets a country girl who is full of curiosity. Jang Tae Hyeon: He has excellent decision-making skills and a sharp wit. Moreover, he has a strong work ethic. All in all, he is the perfect man. He dates a woman with the right background to help him along the way in his ambitious career but somehow he falls in love with a rather unconventional girl. Min Joo Hee: She's pretty and too smart for her own good, which makes her an annoying person. She stays close friends with both Tae Hyeon and Tae Poong, but she eventually finds true love. As banal love square as it can be. Feels absolutely plain and horrible.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Lovers in Prague  [프라하의 연인] (Finished 1/18) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Jae Hee, a diplomat in Prague, who is getting over a break-up, meets police detective Sang Hyun and romance blossoms. Jae Hee is the daughter of the Korean President and has to maintain a low profile. Jae Hee's ex, Young Woo and Sang Hyun's ex, Hye Joo make things complicated with secrets surrounding them. With the differences in social status, Jae Hee and Sang Hyun have to fight to see if the love that started in Prague can be overcome from what is trying to keep them apart. Typical love triangle kdrama, somehow manages to be even worse that previous two lovers series.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. Princess LuLu  [루루공주] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Does a love story only exist in tales? Will the Real Prince and Snow White live a happy life described in the tale? Hui Su is the granddaughter of the president of the biggest group, KS, in Korea. Raised by her grandfather, she is charming and elegant. However, she feels regret that she has lost her birth mom, who passed away in a plane accident with Chan Ho's parents. One day she meets U Jin, who has just come back after studying in the UK. She is attracted to the carefree U Jin as he shows her a world she never knew. However, Chan Ho, a very good friend of U Jin, grew up with Hui Su and never regarded her as an elder sister. This triangle relationship drives the three people in endless complex love problems. Silly comedy and main heroine at least make it watchable, but taking it seriously is out of question.   Overall Rating: 6/10

9. Revolving Doors of Vengeance   [酒店風雲] (Finished 1/30) Tags: Mystery, Romance The story befalls the family of Wong Yuk Ting (Lau Dan) who runs a five-star hotel chain and tells of how repaying a favour turns into seeking vengeance in a twisting story of honour and revenge. Wong Kai Kit (Ron Ng) is the youngest son of Wong Yuk Ting, but his two elder brothers are not the suitable heirs to the family's wealth in the eyes of his father. Then Yuk Ting suddenly dies mysteriously and the business is strangely handed to a man named Ko Fung (Joe Ma) to head. He develops a romance with Bik Kei (Kenix Kwok), whom he meets in the hotel and becomes embroiled in a tangled power struggle with the family, including Kit's uncle Wing Fat (John Chiang), where deceit and plots unfold around every twist and turn. Ko Fung saved the business for another purpose and because of this, him and Kai Kit were always at odds. Through their many arguments and conflicts, Kai Kit slowly matured... Hong Kong drama still aren't of acceptable quality level for me while huge length and vengeance mystery plot make it even less suitable.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. Rules of Love (2005)  [이별에 대처하는 우리의 자세] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Romance Han Jae Min, a budding photographer, is in love with Seo Hee Won. As an ELLE reporter, she spends most of her time at Lee Seo Jun's photography studio Conan. Jae Min starts dating the perpetual exam taker Kim Geun Young, whose brother works at Conan, to get a job there. The naive girl that she is, Geun Young falls right into his plot. Jae Min's schemes are successful, and then he tries to break things off with Geun Young, the girlfriend he never wanted. Geun Young, however, wants revenge for being used and isn't ready to let him go. She makes him sign a break-up contract. He must stay and help her get over him until she's ready to let him go. As Geun Young lets him go little by little, Jae Min falls for her little by little. Unfortunately for Jae Min, Lee Seo Jun also falls for Geun Young and isn't afraid to show it. Typical old kdrama does not work for me. This one is same stupid and no special.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Ballad of Seo Dong  [서동요] (Finished 1/55) Tags: Historical, Romance This drama is loosely based on one of Korea's oldest folk songs. Suh Dong was the illegitimate son of the Baekje king and with the help of Princess Sun Hwa, the daughter of the king of the Silla, he went on to become the king of Baekje against all odds. Ancient times already aren't particuarly interesting, but unrealistic characters also play unrealistically here, so can't really care.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Shiawase ni Naritai!  [幸せになりたい！] (Finished 10/10) Tags: Drama Hikari has to take care of her sick mother and two younger brothers. They are informed that their missing father has died, and later find out he left them a huge 10 million yen debt. They are a very poor family. They have no money or food. To pay off the debt, Hikari lands a cleaning job at the UBS TV company. On the other side, there's Masako Nagai, a struggling UBS TV drama producer. The men she works with are somewhat sexist. Through an incident within UBS, Masako discovers Hikari's talents as a creative person with a great imagination for drama writing. With no allies within UBS, she decides to hire Hikari, training her to be an assistant producer. Hikari's happiness is keeping her family fed and paying off her father's debt. Masako's happiness is to gain respect within UBS by excelling as a drama producer Such joy to return to jdrama, and - even better - one with Fukada Kyoko. Watched it fully and never thought of dropping it, but, realistically, can't say I liked the story. As usual in such cases let the ending decide the score, and ending was not great, either, so leaving it like this.   Overall Rating: 6/10

13. Shin Don  [신돈] (Finished 2/61) Tags: Historical, Drama, Political In order to make sure that Koryo was free, Gong Min Wang married a woman he did not love. The Mongolians ruled Koryo so Gong Min Wang married the Mongolian princess in hopes that one day Koryo could be freed. Shin Don was a Buddhist priest who both Queen Nokuk and King Gong Min depended on for advice in ruling Koryo. Again ancient mythological history and again dragged boredom.   Overall Rating: 5/10

14. Slow Dance  [スローダンス] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Life A man who constantly applies the brake in his life, a woman who could do with a brake in her life. They have their careers, but they are both failures in love. Afraid to face each other directly, instead of focusing on feelings, they choose to focus on their positions, meeting each other, and falling in love!? They are already adults but still have some way to go when it comes to putting their foot on the ground. This summer, a feel-good love story... Fukatsu Eri is instant no, sorry, too irritating.   Overall Rating: 5/10

15. The Secret Lovers  [비밀남녀] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Romance, Drama Seo Young Ji was from a poor upbringing and worked as hard as she could to better herself. She went to see a plastic surgeon, hoping that by changing her appearance she would have a better future. The surgeon, a beautfiul young woman called Jeong Ah Mi, asked Seo Young Ji for a favor. Jeong Ah Mi had been set up on a blind date with Kim Jun Woo, but she really had no interest in going. So she asked Seo Young Ji to go under false pretense. Seo Young Ji agreed to help out with the intention to turn the guy off but the blind date was a hit and the two started dating. Add to the equation Choi Do Kyeong, a poor but ambitious social climber, who would do anything to marry rich. He rejected Seo Young Ji as she was poor and did his best to go after Jeong Ah Mi. Another typical kdrama romance with love triangle, silly unpleasant leads and huge length for no reason.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Wedding (2005)  [웨딩] (Finished 2/18) Tags: Romance, Drama Lee Se Na is the only daughter from a wealthy background. Because of her pampered upbringing, she believes that she can get anything she wants if she sets her heart to it. She meets Han Seung Woo, a self-made diplomat, who is not-so-secretly in love with his childhood friend Yoon Su, currently in Japan with her fiance, Seung Woo's colleague Jin Hui. Se Na instantly falls in love with Seung Woo, who asks her what she thinks the meaning of marriage is. In their subsequent marriage, their values are questioned as Se Na's complete trust in Seung Woo shatters with the realization of Yoon Su's and Seung Woo's relationship, and Seung Woo's happiness in marriage shatters with Se Na's deepening mistrust and her own relationship with Jin Hui. Usual stupid lightheaded kdrama.   Overall Rating: 5/10

17. Autumn Shower [가을 소나기 ] (Finished 2/16) Tags: Drama, Melodrama A story about a man, Choi Yoon Jae, who ends up getting into a car accident causing the passenger, who is his wife, Gyoo Eun to end up in the hospital who now suffers from a coma. Park Yeon Seo is Gyoo Eun’s bestfriend, who secretly is in love with Yoon Jae. While Gyoo Eun is in a coma, her husband and bestfriend starts an affair. Will Gyoo Eun ever wake up from her coma? If so what will happen? Such dreadfully boring love triangle... it's still trash kind of quality .   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. Lawyers  [변호사들] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Thriller, Law, Romance Suk Ki and Suh Jung Ho are colleagues within a lawfirm. Besides being colleagues, they are bitter rivals. Ha Young is a secretary in the lawfirm who develops a relationship with Suk Ki. This drama tells the story of the ambition and relationships that circle in the lawfirm.  It's only slightly better than procedural.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. Fantasy Hotel  [開心賓館] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Experience the ups and downs of life in a hotel There are three tour guides, Kam Ji-Kit (Michael Tao), Yung Ka-Man (Melissa Ng), and Hon Shan (Wayne Lai) lead tours from mainland china. One day, unexpectantly, a friend Kam Kong-Hoi (Wu Fung), gives them his hotel to take care of. Suddenly, the three are bosses and need to improve the hotel for the sake of their friend. Along the way, Ka-Man develops feelings for Ji-Kit, but because of a misunderstanding, she tries to stop her growing feelings for him. When Ji-Kit eventually finds out how Ka-Man feels towards him, he tries to court her but Ka-Man is too afraid of getting hurt. It's probably the best Hong Kong drama so far, but it's still below even kdrama.   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Densha Otoko  [電車男 (でんしゃ おとこ)] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Comedy, Romance Aoyama Saori, working as an office lady at an MNC, gets into trouble with a drunkard on a train. She's saved by Yamada Tsuyoshi. As a form of appreciation, she sends him Hermes teacups. Having no experience with the opposite sex, Tsuyoshi decides to ask for help on the Aladdin Channel BBS on how to interact with Saori. This story always irritated me. But seeing how everything taken to extremes and these actors, I feel only cringe. Otaku used to make everything better, but this spineless kind of otaku is totally horrible.   Overall Rating: 5/10

21. Dragon Zakura [ドラゴン桜] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Comedy, Youth, Drama Sakuragi Kenji is a destitute lawyer and one-time member of a motorcycle gang trying to guide failing high school students with an average score of 36 into Japan's most prestigious educational institution, Tokyo University (Toudai). For no other reason than Sakuragi's personal ambition, he has advertised his intention to produce 5 successful Toudai applicants from the students of a nearly bankrupt failure of school. In addition to revealing essential test-taking techniques for everyone who wants to know how to get into Toudai, "Dragon Zakura" will also teach the essentials of living one's life. Watched it in the past and loved it as a minor masterpiece. Great cast. Unusual concept. Abe Hiroshi. Evaluation might change for the better on rewatch, but I trust my former self.   Overall Rating: 7/10

22. My Rosy Life [장밋빛 인생] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Romance, Melodrama Maeng Sun Yi sacrificed her childhood and youth to taking care of her father, who started drinking heavily after her mother abandoned them when she was 10, and her two younger siblings. She even gave up her own education because she had to work hard to earn her siblings' tuitions. She is married to a guy named Ban Sung Moon, her five years junior, and has two daughters with him. Her life continues to present her with endless hardships but she just believes that that is "happiness". One day her husband falls in love with an attractive divorced woman and demands a divorce from Sun Yi. Sun Yi's younger sister, Maeng Young Yi, is a successful career woman. She dates her first love Lee Jung Do, who is now married to another woman and who broke up with her for the sake of his career in the past. Finally, Sun Yi's younger brother, Chul Soo, earns his doctorate degree in the United States and settles down there, completely ignoring his responsibility of taking care of his father. Just to make things worse, Sun Yi is one day diagnosed with cancer, which to her is tantamount to a death sentence. After learning about her disease, her husband reflects on himself and shows her the genuine meaning of marital love. Don't see the reason to watch a constant streak of housewife misery. Neither actors, nor anything else rang for me here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. Rak Nee Hua Jai Rao Jong (2007) [รักนี้หัวใจเราจอง] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Comedy, Romance Phuwanai is the only son of Dr.Phutas, a geologist. He worked as a photographer for a feature magazine in USA. After being away from Thailand for so long, he goes back for a vacation. He vacations in Krabi and borrows a boat to go out to the sea for squid fishing at night. Ravinna, is a famous model. She comes to see her mother who called her to see her in the yacht in the sea. Ravinna doesn't know that her mother sold her to a man Buang Suang because she wants the money for gambling. In the yacht, BuangSuang tries to rape Ravinna but she jumps into the sea to get away from him. She swims and sees Phuwanai's boat, so she tries to get in to his boat, and it ends up collapsing, leaving them both stranded in the middle of the ocean. They both float to a deserted island and try to figure out how to get back home all the while fighting and bickering with each other... That's a record even for lakorn - violation attempt happens in the first five minutes already...   Overall Rating: 5/10

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