Dorama of the Year 2006-I Winter - Alone in Love

Two masterpieces at once with none being Japanese. Alone in Love is a good example of mature Korean romance. Bump Off Lover is a breakthrough for Taiwanese drama . 

1. Alone in Love [연애시대] (Finished 16/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Life, Drama Lee Dong Jin and Yoo Eun Ho divorced two years ago but continue meeting for various reasons, often at the donut shop where they once dated. They check in on each other's love lives and create excuses like anniversaries to stay connected. Despite their deep love, they struggle with pride and others' interference, leading them to introduce new people into their lives. Concept is love triangle, but with novelty changes like divorced leads and two consequent pairings of the leads instead of usual one. Leads are really nice and comedy elements are good, too. At the beginning it really felt like a firm masterpiece. But 16 episode length and lots of not so interesting side characters did its due. Often leads start to do weird stuff, but here this role is given to sides which helps with the outlook of the leads, but aggravates the irritation towards the sides. Can't say I watched it from the middle with roughly the same interest that I usually finish watchin jdrama, plus really hate open endings, so score is befitting.   Overall Rating: 7/10

2. Goong  [궁] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth, Drama Feisty, bubbly, and no-nonsense, Chae Gyeong is an ordinary high school student until one day when she receives some unexpected news. Because of her grandfather's will, she must marry the unendurable Crown Prince Yi Sin who also happens to attend her high school. Chae Gyeong initially resists the proposal before reluctantly agreeing to marry him to help her debt-ridden family. As she struggles to adapt herself to royal life, learning proper manners and taking on the duties of palace life while dealing with a disagreeable husband, the Crown Prince's sentimental cousin and second-in-line to the throne, Yul, steps into her life. She feels like she can rely on Yul for help and guidance but still finds it difficult not to worry about her haughty, cold-hearted husband. To help bridge this gap, the senior members of the royal family take some special measures to get them to spend the night together. Youth romance elite school comedy is common in manga, and this series feels typical and as an acquainted taste. Probably these stories about princesses and princes are made for girls as for me there's nothing but irritation about actors and situations.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Tree of Heaven [천국의 나무] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Thriller, Romance, Melodrama Hana is a bright young girl who lost her father at a young age. When her mother returns to Japan, she comes with her new Korean husband and his son Yunsuh. Yunsuh's mother died during his 10th birthday and after her death, he gets emotionally scarred and becomes closed off. While Hana is fond of her new step-brother, he wants nothing to do with her. When their parents leave on their honeymoon, Hana's mother leaves the children with her deceased husband's sister who will manage their inn during the trip. While they are gone, the aunt and her daughter Maya abuse Hana and make plans to sell the inn in order to pay for gambling debts and college. Despite all of this, Hana finds comfort in her brother who begins to open up to her and eventually speaks after his 20th Birthday and the day his mother passed away. Yunsuh's mother died on the same day as he was turning 10, 10 years ago. As they start to have feelings for one another, Hana is afraid to love him. She soon leaves with her "senpai", Fujiwara Ryu, who also likes her. Later on, Maya gets jealous, and decides to make Hana's life even more miserable. It's a part of trilogy and very similar to Stairway to Heaven. Remarriage, new non-blood related sibling, bullying - typical tropes for such story. Seen it once - seen it all.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Which Star Are You From? [넌 어느 별에서 왔니] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Life, Drama Seung Hui, after losing his girlfriend in a tragic accident, left for 3 years. When he came back, he sought to make a film in a rural area. Someone caught his eye - Bok Sil, who looks exactly like his deceased girlfriend, Hye Su. Seung Hui followed Bok Sil in order to get some answers and ended up falling for her. Still, the questions remain: is he attracted to Bok Sil because of the memories of his ex-girlfriend, or does he like Bok Sil for who she is? What happens when competitors come into the picture and families oppose their love? The number of cliche in the concept is overwhelming. I find this series truly horrible in every regard. All these naive romances with silly comedy and primitivization in extremes feel very much alike.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. Hello, God  [안녕하세요 하느님] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Romance, Drama The story is about a bright and innocent 27 years old guy with an IQ of 65. Because of his issues he is neglected by society and frowned upon, but he tries to be optimistic and not let it bother him. Seo Eun Hye, a fumbling swindler running from the cops and who only believes money can bring her happiness, and love will bring more sadness then it's worth. One day she meets this boy and hey completely changes her outlook on life. Lead with disability is nothing I can stomack.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Bad Family  [불량가족] (Finished 2/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Family Na Rim, who came from a wealthy household, lost her family in a car accident when she was nine. After the accident, she suffered from amnesia so her uncle hired Oh Dal Gun, an ex-ganster, to recreate a similar household with parents, sister, brother, grandparents and uncle in hopes that she would regain her memory. In a hurry, Oh Dal Gun ended up hiring all sorts of odd ball characters to act as members of Na Rim's family. None got along at the start and hilarious situation arose when all members tried to cope in front of the little girl and also to protect her from the one who caused her family's accident. Eventually they started to behave like a real family and cared for each other, proving that blood relation is not as important as a caring heart. Amnesia with fake family service. It already lacks any story intrigue. Comedy here is repulsive for me, because it's based on conflicts and constant shoutings of people who randomly gathered for a big buck.    Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Soulmate [소울메이트] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Sitcom The person you meet once in your lifetime that fate has brought to you! This person you call your soulmate. In the year 2006, your soulmate is secretly creeping up on you... What if my other half is really living somewhere out there; will I be able to notice them? It is a question that can be asked by anyone who is in their marital age. A time when matchmaking agencies are flooded with people! Try re-identifying the true meaning of marriage and love while watching 6 couples live the same life that you're living. We will show you everything you need to know in the love game! This is a sitcom that young adults and adults can enjoy. Members of all age groups can enjoy it and benefit from its honest and ongoing talk about love. It gives its viewers some final answers to the "love game" questions and presents confusing issues in a way that everyone can understand. The drama will tell you everything you've always wanted to know, from spending a night with a guy you don't like to how to win over a guy's heart completely, and much more!! It spills out all the secrets of the love game. "It is easier to stir up a women's heart than to drink wine." Dong Wook is a playboy who no one can even dare to follow. "My boyfriend of 5 years!! He is definitely my soulmate!!" Soo Kyung is a girl who only looks at one man like a sunflower and is a perfect, pure-hearted character. Two people who have never seen each other and who live on opposite sides of the world from each other live and love in their own way, but from some point on, they start to move towards the same dream and feel the same physiological feelings. Two people who have met by fate in a world full of mixed up fates. Now, the most amazing things, which no one could have ever thought of, start to unfold between the two. As usual, so many pairs make it hard to care about. It's just the usual relations , zero story. Comedy is weird most of the time.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. The Magicians of Love [愛情魔髮師] (Finished 1/22) Tags: Comedy, Romance World-wide famous hair salon Neo-Image has just opened. The beautiful hairstyles of the three popular hairstylists (Artz, Richie and Fernando) attract huge crowds. At this time, an external official came to them for help. There was an event called "The Chinese Hairstyle Competition", and they found a part-time working young female hair-dresser, Xiao Bei, to compete against the French stylist to help advertise French Hair Products. As this competition will greatly affect the country's status, the three guys decided to help. Later, they find talent in Xiao Bei and trick her into working for Neo-Image, since she refuses to cooperate without a fight. One day, Xiao Bei is about to be hit by a car when Artz pushes her away and saves her life. He was wearing a jacket with the number 23 on it. When Xiao Bei saw Richie wearing the jacket and assumed that he was her savior, she fell for him. However, Richie leads a dangerous life, and he lives without knowing if he will have a "tomorrow" or not. Xiao Bei volunteers at a retirement home. A coincidence occurs involving Xiao Bei and Artz visiting his grandma Li Lian at the same time. Grandma Li Lian realizes that they are the perfect couple and convinces Artz to admit his true feelings for her before it's too late. Reverse harem.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Alien Sam  [에일리언샘] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Comedy, Youth, Sci-Fi Alexander is a reptilian prince from another planet who lands on earth. He disguises himself as a human named Bong Sam and works as a teacher at a middle school. Did not expect reptiloid invasion so soon. Silly kids stuff.   Overall Rating: 0/10

10. Rondo [輪舞曲] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Romance Japan and Korea's biggest names star in this big-scale drama. Nishijima Sho is a Japanese detective whose father was murdered in Korea when he was still a boy. In hopes of discovering the truth behind his father's death, Sho is working undercover in a huge secret organization. Choi Yuna is a Korean woman who visits Japan in search of her missing father. She opens a Korean restaurant with her younger sister, but soon faces the mercy of fate. The couple meets in a corner of Tokyo and falls in love. But what waits ahead of them. A "rondo" of fate, love, and history is about to begin. It's primarily crime suspense story with lots of water, so not something I can enjoy or appreciate. Female lead fits poorly here. Speaking different languages is another tiresome way to stretch time. Japanese side of series is fine, but Korean side pulls it down.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Goodbye, Solo [굿바이 솔로] (Finished 3/16) Tags: Romance, Life This drama attempts to convey that all human beings are beautiful just by existing in this world. The underlying reason for losing interest in life is disappointment with people. People's desire to have their say in everything to succeed and be beautiful stems from their deep-rooted disbelief in themselves. They are unable to love themselves the way they are. And even those who get disappointed with other human beings are negligent in loving their selves. The main character, Kim Min Ho, was born into a family of a business tycoon, but his family turned away from him because he was an illegitimate child. On the other hand, Chung Soo Hee falls in love with Kang Min Ho, who turns out to be her boyfriend Yoo Ji An's friend, while having a hard time because of her mother's re-marriages. Frivolous Choi Mi Ri loves gangster Kang Ho Chul against her family's wishes. Oh Young Sook calls herself "crazy" and disguises herself in a lie. All these people are linked together by the mute owner of an eatery in the neighborhood, an older woman named Mi Young. Again lots of chracters and again no real direction. Three episodes in, and I still have not found the reason to go on.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Byakuyako  [白夜行 ] (Finished 2/11) Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological, Romance When Ryoji finds out that the object of his father's perversion is his first love, Yukiho, he kills him. To his horror, Yukiho's mother forced her to do so to relieve their dire economic straits. Yukiho also retaliates in similar manner by staging a suicide for her mother as well as herself. It's been 14 years since then and the boy that gave up everything and the girl that waged her life on the boy are struggling to continue to love each other. They grow up attempting to keep it secret and ride out the statute of limitations. In order to protect Yukiho, and improve her life, Ryoji enters the world of vice and dabbles in crimes to support her. I admire quality and actors play, but concept is all about culprits' corrupt logic. It resembles Death Note most of all for me, but corruption happened gradually there while here it bursts right from the start, and I don't want to be part of it.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. Komyo ga Tsuji [功名が辻] (Finished 11/49) Tags: Historical, Drama The 45th NHK Taiga Drama is Komyo ga Tsuji. Kazutoyo lived during the end of the Sengoku period (1546-1605). He was the first feudal lord of the fief of Tosa on the island of Shikoku. He served Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Chiyo (1557-1617) was his wife and was known in history for her dedication and devotion to her husband (like Matsu was to Toshiie in Toshiie to Matsu). She is the daughter of a samurai who served the feudal lord Asai. It's pure waste of time for me, so only going to watch at least first ten episodes in such cases with taiga. There's been at least a dozen of the same period works. More of it, there was Toshiee to Matsu with the very same concept, and that was better in everything. Here we have to watch the fate of another noname peasant who grew into a governor. But the most infuriating is that male lead is a simpleton and female lead is an idion. She admits it herself that she's an idiot, so she worries about womanly trifles, but all females are like that. So she even tries to belittle all the great females. Super irritating and useless.   Overall Rating: 5/10

14. Kemonomichi  [けものみち] (Finished 2/9) Tags: Mystery Animal Trail, a natural path made by traffic of wild animals, can sometimes be helpful for people who are totally lost in the wilderness. One day, a woman who is exhausted with her hopeless life unexpectedly meets a gentleman by chance. Out of genuine hope to escape from her misery, she allows her destiny to blindly follow the mysterious instruction given by this stranger. Would this "Animal Trail" ultimately lead her to happiness, or would it lead her to disaster? Mystery is one of my least favorite genres, because it's always dust in the eyes and deliberate concealment of details for a petty reveal by the end. Kemonomichi super unrealistic and has characters act like dummies in order to create some high tension moments. Work's philosophy tries to mimic that of crime and punishment and also fails in its primitiveness.   Overall Rating: 6/10

15. YAOH - King of the Night [夜王（やおう）] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Mystery, Drama Matoba Ryosuke is an ex-gangster who enters the world of hosts and the story depicts his journey to be number one in the club. Can't enjoy a work about male host, it all feels really boring for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Ns' Aoi  [Ns'あおい] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Comedy, Medical Aoi Misora is a third-year nurse at a prestigious hospital. After she is involved in trouble at the Emergency Center, she is transferred to a medical ward of an affiliated hospital. Unlike her previous workplace, the medical ward is a crucial place where patients who survived the emergency room must be looked after with extreme care. But it's also a place for dishonest and unskilled doctors. Moreover, it is also a place for cozy ties between politicians and doctors, where the priority is not patient care but profit. Still, Aoi puts every effort forward to take care of patients with her heart and soul. The harder she tries, the more she is alienated from the proud doctors. But with the support of another nurse, Kyoko Komine, and also Dr. Takagi, Aoi succeeds in changing the minds of those around her. Better than expected with this kind of concept as it reminds GTO in constantly opposing superiors and walking on a brink of suspension. But with zero story like this and just case studies like in some Dr. House it's far from what I call interesting even thogh definitely watchable.   Overall Rating: 6/10

17. Seoul 1945 [서울 1945] (Finished 1/71) Tags: Historical, Drama Seoul 1945 is a drama that takes place during turbulent times in Korea, spanning from the end of the Japanese occupation to the eventual split of the country into North and South. The story revolves around the lives of four young adults who grew up together. Choi Oon Hyuk is a child prodigy born into a family of poor miners; Kim Hae Kyung is the eldest daughter of tenant farmers; Lee Dong-Woo is the heir to a wealthy, well-connected family; and Moon Suk Kyung is the only child of an affluent and powerful political ally of Japan. In a blend of personal choices and circumstances beyond their control, each individual embarks on different paths that reflect the chaotic nature of the time as well as their true character. As their paths collide, love, friendship, loyalty, vengeance, moral conscience, and ideology become driving forces to irrevocably change the course of their lives.  Looks like an attempt to recreate Sandglass success from 1995 with a different period and even larger scale. My grudge with it that it focuses on notable historical events and ficitonal character fates are tuned to represent those events. So, while it has historical value, the artistic value is doubtful for me .   Overall Rating: 6/10

18. Unfair [アンフェア] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Action, Thriller, Mystery, Drama Yukihira Natsumi is a no-nonsense, intelligent Tokyo homicide cop known as the department's "number one" case closer, who nevertheless also has a bad reputation for not working well with others and pushing the limits of the law. As she sees it, her only job is bringing in the bad guys, and the results are all that counts. However, she is haunted by a hostage case five years prior in which she had to pull her weapon and kill a man, which earned the ire and distrust of some of her coworkers and members of the community. To bring balance to her life, Natsumi must find a way to deal with her demanding work, the aftermath of a divorce, and caring for her young daughter—all while chasing down a serial killer who's taunting the police with serialized short stories that foretell the next murder with no time to spare. Detective murder mystery with an excentric cop, so not for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. Bump Off Lover [愛殺17] (Finished 14/14) Tags: Action, Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Xu Yi Jing and Xu Yi Zhen were identical twins who grew up always relying on one another. When Xu Yi Jing is murdered, the suspected killer commits suicide just prior to arrest, leading everyone to believe that the case is closed. However Xu Yi Zhen believes there's more to the case and is determined to uncover the truth. As she digs deeper, Yi Zhen is about to discover that the sister she thought she knew everything about was an illusion and that there are darker, uglier secrets that threaten to derail Yi Zhen's whole view about Yi Jing, her family and her past, Not fond of mysteries as they are often presented not in the right order and are deliberately confusing in different ways. Can't say I really liked this one, but for once Taiwanese actors were ok and it was indeed story focused even though such detective with everyone lying or keeping secrets is not great for me. Still, but sum of factors I'd like to nominate it as a minor masterpiece in hope that it paves the way for works of better quality and more maturity. It's more of a score in advance.   Overall Rating: 7/10

20. Gachi Baka!  [ガチバカ! ] (Finished 3/10) Tags: Youth, Drama, Sports Former pro boxer Gondo Tetta has come to Kaki-no-ki-zaka High School as a beginning teacher. The school hopes to restore finances by improving the students' abilities and strengthening its baseball team. Tetta goes head-to-head with his class full of failing students who have no ability whatsoever in sports and studies. Everyday, he passionately encourages his students who have no drive at all. School is not just a place to study. It's a place to learn how to live! If it means helping out his students, Tetta won't hesitate to snap at the parents and school. Gondo Tetta's slightly dangerous class is about to begin. GTO imitations get released regularly, so the main question in such works for me is how problems get resolved. The answer for this series is ... luck . Case closed.   Overall Rating: 6/10

21. Kami wa Saikoro wo Furanai [神はサイコロを振らない] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Psychological, Supernatural Everything seems normal until the Oriental Air 402 plane is swallowed into some kind of energy and disappears. Ten years after having everyone think the plane had mysteriously crashed and everyone died, in 2006, it reappears as if nothing had happened. Now the passengers of 402 apparently can experience how life is 10 years after the day they boarded that plane...  So deliberately supernatural situation is created in order to overcome it... there's not even sympathy in such case, not sure who it's made for and can't say I emathize the actors or characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Lhong Ngao Jun (2006) [หลงเงาจันทร์] (Finished 1/18)   Tags: Romance, Drama Pim's half-sister Khem goes out with guys pretending to be Pim. After getting dumped by Khem, one of the guys dies in a car crash. His friend Aae accuses 'Pim' of being the cause and vows to get revenge on her and gets engaged to Khem so he can get closer to Pim in order to make her life miserable. Pim on the other hand has no clue why she's being stalked/bullied by this psychopath. Typical primitive lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. Under the Canopy of Love [天幕下的戀人] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Romance, Drama Because of a lost PDA, the lovely and childlike Fiona Ko Yat Sze is brought together with her Prince Charming, a boy whom she had had a crush on since school days. Alan Shum Long is the Prince Charming, who, after graduation from school, lost touch with Sze. Their encounter takes place in a shopping mall, which is designed like a canopy. Meanwhile, Sze meets Nick Kuen Lik, who happens to be the long lost son of the rich owner of the mall. The simple and honest Nick starts to like Sze. Meanwhile another woman falls for Long... Hong Kong started doing romance, too, but it's full of banality and prejudice, so just boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10

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