Dorama of the Year 2007-III Summer - Hotaru no Hikari

Again, nothing. If choosing among Japanese titles... dunno... maybe Hotaru no Hikari .

1. Katagoshi no Koibito [肩ごしの恋人] (Finished 5/9) Tags: Comedy, Romance Hayasaka Moe is a 30-year-old office worker in an import service company who cannot devote herself in romance. On the other hand, Moe's close friend, Murono Ruriko, who snatches Moe's boy friend away to marry him for her third time, is interested in nothing but romantic affairs. Through their love and friendship, this drama portrays women in their 30s being rocked by marriage, divorce, infidelity, and work. Watchable as next to everything Japanese, but there's no real motivation to. It's just not so interesting cohabitation SOL unlike same genre competitors .   Overall Rating: 6/10

2. Mean Girl Ah Chu [惡女阿楚] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Comedy, Romance Ah Chu is a mean girl. Well, she looks that way. But, under her tough exterior, she is a kind-hearted and charitable modern day female chevalier. One day, this girl encounters a gentle and honest man named Ling Ping Zhi. But he's never been away from his mother; he is very naive. Therefore, Ah Chu displays her chivalry and saves the bachelor in distress. Later when he enters showbiz, she helps him maneuver the dangers of show biz. Again primitive and with the spirit and use of damned martial arts.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Ushi ni Negai wo: Love and Farm [牛に願いを Love & Farm] (Finished 4/11) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama Six agriculture students travel north to Hokkaido for first-hand training and experience in a farm setting. The story focuses not only on their daily life and their growth as young men and women but also on the economic situation in the region, which received national attention earlier this year when the national government cut off aid to the struggling city of Yubari. Well, it's no Silver spoon, sadly.   Overall Rating: 6/10

4. Yama Onna Kabe Onna [山おんな壁おんな] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Comedy Megumi is a top sales person at the handbag section of a department store. Many people admire, and sometimes even envy, Megumi for her beauty and outstanding skills to sell products to customers. However, Megumi secretly suffers from a complex: she is flat-chested and was once nicknamed "kabe onna" (wall woman) by her former classmate. One day, a new sales person named Marie joins Megumi's department. Unlike Megumi, Marie is extremely busty as if she's carrying mounds (yama) on her chest. On top of her great bosoms, Marie also has her own special way of effortlessly selling the products to the customers. Though feeling a little threatened by Marie at first, Megumi soon realizes that they have more things in common than anybody else: they both take pride in their career and dedicate themselves to helping their customers. Through numerous obstacles, Megumi and Marie foster special friendships with each other. Even Fukada Kyoko could not make dry concept interesting. It's not her fault.   Overall Rating: 6/10

5. First Kiss (2007) [ファースト・キス] (Finished 2/11) Tags: Romance A bitter-sweet and uplifting comedy drama about a young girl Mio and her brother Kazuki. To treat her illness overseas, Mio has been living away from her older brother Kazuki for the past ten years. After learning about the upcoming surgery, which she has only a fifty percent chance of survival, Mio decides to fly back to Japan to spend time with Kazuki. Looking forward to seeing his sweet younger sister, Kazuki anxiously awaits Mio's return in Japan. However, their reunion is nothing but full of surprises as Mio has transformed from the innocent sickly girl Kazuki remembers from ten years ago into a sassy woman with an attitude. Kazuki has difficulty dealing with his wickedly selfish younger sister, but soon learns about the truth of her medical condition and has a change of heart. Terminal condition is a serious downer. Can't say everything else is great, too.   Overall Rating: 6/10

6. I Want to Become a Hard Persimmon [我要變成硬柿子] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama, Melodrama Ever since little, Ruan Shi Zhi has always been on the receiving end of bullying. At 18, he decides to shed his pitiful past with a new beginning. Yet the moment he steps into his summer class, he is immediately confronted by a group of classmates whom he usually avoids like a plague. Just when he wants to run out of there, an angel-like girl walks in. He falls deeply in love with her. And for love, he tells himself he has to become tougher. He must find a way to survive in this dangerous place, transform himself, and defeat all his love rivals to win the girl's heart. Nice for a Taiwanese school comedy, but it actually loses in realism, autheticity and acting even to Korean "Run, Mackarel, Run" let alone Japanese counterparts.   Overall Rating: 6/10

7. Da Tang Lotus Garden [大唐芙蓉园] (Finished 1/30) Tags: Historical, Romance, Drama Yang Gui Fei was one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China. This drama centers around the ups and downs of her love life, the most well-known part of which was shared with Emperor Xuan Zong during the later years of his reign. Yang Gui Fei's real name was Yang Yu Huan and she was originally betrothed and married to Prince Shou, one of Xuan Zong's numerous sons. However, when Xuan Zong saw her, he fell head over heels in love and forced her to divorce Prince Shou. Later he took her as his own imperial consort, thus the name "Yang Gui Fei". Although he was a competent emperor at one time, Xuan Zong's obsession with Yang Gui Fei caused him to neglect court affairs. This eventually led to a power struggle for central control of the government involving An Lu Shan and Yang Guo Zhong, both of whom had gained favor and power due to Yang Gui Fei's influence. The consequences were dire, and Yang Gui Fei was blamed for the rebellion, forcing Xuan Zong to make a painful decision... Palace idiocy, just as expected.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. Liem Petch Karat [เหลี่ยมเพชรกะรัต] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Karat loses all her fortune when her father dies. She goes to live with her best friend and is now working in Chai’s company. Chai is the owner of the company, but he works undercover as the messenger. He secretly helps Karat in finding out who swindled her father, in the process, they also prevent Chai’s mother from being swindled.  Silly nonsense, as usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Auction House (2007) [옥션 하우스] (Finished 1/12) Tags:  Business, Romance, Drama The drama centered around the work life of the employees at Will Auction, an auction house dealing in arts. Cha Yun Soo was a rookie hired by Will Auction even though she had no background in arts and what's more, her father was once convicted of art forgery. She overcame obstacles by working hard and proving that she could be trusted. She aspired to be an auctioneer like her superior, Min Soo Rin. Oh Yoon Jae was the senior specialist at the firm and would take any risk to uncover the truth. There's been already drama about auction house, and that was better even though also boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. Brown Sugar Macchiato [黑糖瑪奇朵] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth One day, six boys with different personalities and backgrounds are notified they shared the same father. And on top of that, they are entitled to a large inheritance. There is only one catch. They must attend the same school and live in the same house for one year to become loving brothers. But, the boys not only hate each other, but they also have to deal with nine mean girls from their class. Will the brothers band together and successfully pass the inheritance test? Or, will falling in love with their classmates pull them farther apart? Taiwanese comedy which means full scale silliness and weird special effects. That and artificial actors play make it too unrealistic to follow or enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. The X-Family [終極一家] (Finished 1/55) Tags: Action, Comedy, Fantasy Beside our own space and time, there are eleven other dimensions exist side by side with Mojie, a dimension where evil resides. And this story began in the Gold dimension where Da Dong and his gang lived and fought the dark forces from Mojie. After the gang lost all their powers in the last battle, Xiu travelled to other dimensions to find Da Dong's alternate self. His search led him to a boy named Xia Tian in the Iron dimension. The boy's incredible power is sealed away by a Fenglongtie on his neck. If he could harness the boy's power, the boy can save all the worlds from falling into the hands of Mojie.  Supernatural concepts are almost always unworthy for me. Taiwanese cringefest production makes it totally unbearable.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Yamada Taro Monogatari [山田太郎ものがたり] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Comedy, Life, Youth Yamada Taro, a freshman on a scholarship at Ichinomiya Private Senior High School, is high-achieving, strikingly handsome, and truly athletic and seems perfect. But he is actually extremely poor. The story humorously portrays Taro, who tackles problems that occur because of his poverty, and his six younger brothers and sisters. Concept is clear, and story goes in circles. And crossdressing sort of finished it off for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. Yeon Gae Somun [연개소문] (Finished 2/100) Tags:  Historical, Political Yeon Gae So Mun is the general who killed the penultimate King of Goguryeo, Yeong Nyu, in 642. It was a period of tremendous instability, both because of the pressure by Shilla, but also because the political situation in Goguryeo was very confusing. After General Yeon put Yeong Nyu's nephew Bo Jang as his puppet on the throne following his coup d'etat, he tried with little success to calm down Yeon's two sons in trying to gain power and started repressing Buddhism (the Kingdom's official religion) in favour of Taoism. Again ancient history and lots of pathos. As a result, it's not interesting enough.   Overall Rating: 6/10

14. Get Karl! Oh Soo Jung [칼잡이 오수정] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance Go Man Soo is a world known golf player who was dumped by a former beauty queen, Oh Soo Jung, seven years ago. Their fate becomes reversed when Oh Soo Jung who is now known as an old maid comes chasing after Man Soo who is now a 'golden bachelor' with good looks and money. Another revenge story... not sure why such petty plots get stamped again and again. Not great result, anyway.   Overall Rating: 5/10

15. Ying Ye 3+1  [櫻野3加1 ] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Action, Comedy, Romance, Youth Xia Tian, Jia Jiang, Fang Wei, Bulu all four grew up on Westside Street together and currently study in Ying Ye School. One month away from graduation. Xia Tian's dad is a police officer in Westside Street and is retiring tomorrow. But just on that day, they all had a fight with the Dinosaur gang in the school and were almost expelled by the principal. Officer Xia went to settle the conflict and not only did it not get settled, his gun got misplaced by the principal too. Everyone thus discussed things over and decided that AJ they all will remain in the school and they must find the gun within the one month of graduation to let Officer Xia retire peacefully and happily. Jia Jiang, Fang Wei and Bulu then can successfully graduate. While finding the missing gun, they discovered that a ex-convict Grey Wolf who escaped from prison is possibly connected with the missing gun and even more surprisingly, the Grey Wolf is actually having close communication and contact with students in Ying Ye. If you think synopsis is crazy stupid, the reality is much worse - many kinds of antics and special powers and unnatural play...   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Kimcheed Radish Cubes [깍두기] (Finished 1/44) Tags: Romance, Drama Jang Sa Ya is a girl who has grown up living in a secluded temple in the countryside. She meets and helps Park Jae Woo when he passes out in a forest nearby. He hands her a card saying he would repay her if she ever goes to Seoul. As Sa Ya continues to develop a curiosity of the world and wants to escape her "monk" life, her constant effort finally reaches an agreement with her guardian at the monastery. Her guardian tells her she has a father in Seoul, thus starting her venture to find her father. Along the way, she meets some unfortunate events, and while searching for her father, Jae Woo soon falls for her. Again half a hundred of episodes for a nonsense plot and three families. Ofc unreasonable behavior, shouts and toxicity come as addon.   Overall Rating: 5/10

17. How to Meet a Perfect Neighbor [완벽한 이웃을 만나는 법] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Mystery, Comedy, Romance Baek Soo Chan has nothing in his hands but he lives a life under the belief that he will become the man any woman who sits next to him wants. However, his belief is questioned when he starts to realize true love. When playboy Baek Soo Chan finally meets his match in Jung Yoon Hee, he goes absolutely crazy! His once blissful life of messing around with women has become something of the past ever since Yoon Hee started to make snide remarks as she tries to protect her older sister from being trapped by his playboy ways. Yoo Joon Suk is the heir to his father's very successful company. He is forced to come back and take over his father's company when his father suddenly collapses. Yoon Hee then becomes Joon Suk's assistant and falls for her boss. Will Joon Suk return her feelings and will they be able to be together despite his mother's objections? I find everything here weird and non-appealing while nothing is really good.   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. I Am Your Teacher [아이 엠 샘] (Finished 6/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth The story focuses on the conflicts between the young teachers and the problems that high school students have. Jang Yi San is a timid and incompetent homeroom teacher who has to teach the only daughter of a highly dangerous mob leader, Eun Byul. Eun Byul is a new student at MyungMoon High with little drive to succeed. Nice fooling around with my favorite korean actor Yang Dong Geun. But, as usual, there's not enough essence and the bulk of it is pointless stuff with some comedy. If it was just 10-12 episodes, I'd make it to the end since gone so far already. But 16 ? It's waste of time if not enjoying the flow.   Overall Rating: 6/10

19. Jotei [女帝] (Finished 6/10) Tags: Romance, Drama Tachibana Ayaka is a young woman whose life has been ruined after she lost her boyfriend and then her mother became gravely ill. Looking for revenge, she starts out as a hostess with the goal of rising to become the "empress" of the Osaka nightlife scene. Date Naoto is a member of the underworld who becomes Ayaka's ally. Again, quite nice, but why watch it... ofc FL will become number one everywhere, ofc will face hindrances. I'm not rly interested in which exactly hindrances left. It's not that outstanding to qualify for a masterpiece, anyway.   Overall Rating: 6/10

20. Hotaru no Hikari [ホタルノヒカリ] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Business, Comedy, Romance Hotaru works for a famous interior design company. It's a glamorous job, but Hotaru's private life is totally the opposite of glamorous. She lives alone, and when she isn't working, she's mostly lazing about her rented house in training wear. She's not interested in men. In fact, she isn't interested in anything. "I'd rather lay around than fool around," is her motto. Her landlord is a bar owner, and one day, his son, who has just separated from his wife, comes to inspect the rental property, not knowing that someone is living there. He is shocked at the mess, but not as shocked as Hotaru. He turns out to be her boss, Takano. Setting is habitual - cohabitation of untidy woman with property owner. But because of that pretty useless to watch longer as it's all clear as day. If finish for something or someone, it would be for Kuninaka Ryoko support role.   Overall Rating: 6/10

21. Yi San [이산] (Finished 1/77) Tags: Historical, Romance, Drama, Political This drama details the life of King Jeong Jo, Joseon's 22nd monarch, who is remembered in Korean history as one of Korea's greatest kings, one who loved the people and reigned for the commoner. Again palace intrigues and hundred episodes spam. Boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Mafia Tee Ruk [มาเฟียที่รัก] (Finished 1/15) Tags: Action, Comedy, Romance, Crime Chun is saved by a girl from a mafia group in Thailand awhile he was visiting on a business trip. He returns to Hong Kong safely but is intrigued by the girl. So he sends one of his men to find out about this girl.  Horrible unnatural mess as every old lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. Dae Jo Yeong [대조영] (Finished 4/134) Tags: Historical, War The drama tells the story of the life of Dae Jo Yeong, also known as the founder of the kingdom of Balhae. Again ancient history, overwhelming unnatural pathos and... how many episodes?!   Overall Rating: 6/10

24. Time Between Dog and Wolf [개와 늑대의 시간] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Action, Romance, Drama After his mother is brutally murdered in front of him by the Thai criminal syndicate Cheongbang, Lee Soo Hyun is adopted into NIS agent Kang Jung Ho's family. Together with Kang Min Gi, Jung Ho's son, Soo Hyun becomes a NIS agent. When Soo Hyun met Suh Ji Woo they were about twelve years old and has another fateful encounter with her 13 years later. Together, they had promises for the future. One day, Soo Hyun leaves for an operation dealing with the Cheongbang, only to return in failure because of the resurfacing terrible childhood memories of when he was in Thailand. The chief of NIS agents, Jeong, proposes to the distraught Soo Hyun to infiltrate the Cheongbang. Through Chief Jeong's proposition, Soo Hyun becomes an undercover NIS agent after staging his death. Hiding his past, Soo Hyun infiltrates the Cheongbang with revenge in mind, leaving Ji Woo behind. Under the pseudo-name of Kay, he passes through the backstreets of Bangkok. What Soo Hyun didn't know was Ji Woo is the daughter of the same villain, who killed his mother and father. Secret intelligence superagets action looks really cringy to me. Addition of melodrama only makes worse.   Overall Rating: 6/10

25. Good Morning Shanghai [纯白之恋] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Romance You Hao Yun is a Korean who lives in Shanghai with her family. Her biggest dream is to become a famous pianist. Wanting to move away from her family, Hao Yun and her friend Xiao Mei rent an apartment, but later she finds out that there is no empty apartment and that the estate agent had run away with their money. Not having time to take care of his son, Wang Zhi Hao offers Hao Yun a job as a nanny and a place to stay. So Hao Yun, who is too afraid to tell her parents about the incident, agrees to take the job as a nanny. So they sign a 3-month contract... This is also a story about following your dreams and confronting your fears. Tasteless and mediocre, with advancing the right topics, as expected from Chinese strained cinema.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. Sky High (2007) [날아오르다] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Romance James O'Neil is a 28-year-old man who was adopted by people overseas when he was young. He is the CEO of a very large supermarket and is the typical man with cool charm who deals with things in a cool and collected manner. Lee Jin Hee is 32 years old, and her husband suffered a horrible accident on the 6th month they were married. She has taken care of their son for seven years and is faced with bankruptcy. Jin Hee meets James, and they do business together. Soon, they develop a romantic love story. Very typical kdrama romance (like getting in the same bumping situation three times in a row...) that can be only praised for the lack of hysterics substituted by constantly open mouths and antics.   Overall Rating: 5/10

27. Winter Bird (2007) [겨울새 ] (Finished 1/43) Tags: Romance Young Eun lived with a family ever since she was an orphan and then fell in love with Do Hyun who is 5 years older than her. However, Do Hyun's family did not approve of Do Hyun dating Young Eun. As a result, Young Eun eventually left Do Hyun and marries a doctor, Joo Kyung Woo. Although Kyung Woo acts like a gentleman, he is actually a mama's boy with multiple and complicated personalities. Though he treats Young Eun well, he believes everything his mother tells him and will turn on Young Eun at any moment. Jin Ah is a pediatric medical resident and falls for Do Hyun. But she is unsure of his relationship with Young Eun. Do Hyun decides to marry Jin Ah and after the wedding, Young Eun has had enough of Kyung Woo's mother. She decides to leave Kyung Woo. What will happen between Do Hyun and Young Eun? Will they realize they can't leave without the other? Again no psycho, but there are so many long looks that it's painful to watch. Story is again melodramatic, and without comedy or something special it's just not enticing.   Overall Rating: 5/10

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