Dorama of the Year 2008-III Summer - Homeroom on the Beachside

Homeroom on the Beachside managed to surpass GTO . 

1. Koizora [恋空] (Finished 2/6) Tags: Romance, Youth, Drama An ordinary senior high school girl named Mika meets Hiro, a showy boy with dyed hair and pierced ears. It is a “pure love” story of the two going through many unimaginably sad incidents while nurturing their love single-mindedly. It not only depicts the first love of the senior high school couple but also weaves “a story of Mika and Hiro” through episodes probably familiar to anybody, such as warmth and affection of their family members supporting the two, the importance of living, interactions with friends, and so on. Above average, but still just normal school romance, can't call it great.   Overall Rating: 6/10

2. Painter of the Wind  [바람의 화원] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Historical, Romance, Drama, Political Sin Yun Bok is a talented painter who disguises herself as a boy to search for her father's murderer and meets a master painter who guides her into being a great painter. Kim Hong Do is the man who teaches Yun Bok how to paint, and they develop a strong friendship of mentor and disciple. Ugh, why such a cringy bs... just unwatchable.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Beethoven Virus  [베토벤 바이러스] (Finished 2/18) Tags: Music, Romance, Drama, Political Du Ru Mi, a struggling violinist by night working for the mayor by day, is put in charge of setting up a city orchestra. When she is scammed out of the startup funds, she tries to hide it by recruiting any and all volunteers, leading to a rag-tag group of members with varying levels of experience. To lead them, she convinces an esteemed conductor, the infamous Kang Gun Woo, into helping out. Amidst rivalry between members, including Ru Mi's musical prodigy neighbor who works as an officer, also named Kang Gun Woo, and recurring political issues, the group tries to follow their orchestral dreams, and eventually realizes how friends can become like family. Never been fond of works about orchestra because it's inevitable over a dozen of characters to track and possible develop. Concept is stupid, so are actions. I'm fed up with this circus.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. The Land of Wind  [바람의 나라] (Finished 1/36) Tags: Action, Historical, Romance, War The drama about the life of Jumong's grandson, Moo Hyul, who was born with a curse to kill his parent, siblings, son and destroy Goguryeo. Seems to be part of trilogy, but even the main dish was not to my liking let alone this sidekick. Action scenes are worthless without having preconditions and reasons deeply investigated and depicted like in taiga. Ancient history squabbles, including tribal and palace intrigues, are of little interest to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. The King and I  [왕과 나] (Finished 1/63) Tags: Historical, Drama, Political A drama about Kim Cheo Seon's life during the Joseon Dynasty. Kim Cheo Seon was a loyal and faithful eunuch for various Kings, such as the 5th King, Munjong, and the 10th King, Yeonsangun, during the Joseon era. In the Joseon Dynasty period, the kingdom was enveloped in a political maelstrom. Cheo Seon was born as a posthumous child and separated from his mother immediately. He was raised by Weol Hwa and the old Swe Gwi, who ran the eunuch school. When he meets So Hwa, the daughter of a powerful noble, he falls in love with her immediately. He voluntarily becomes a eunuch to be close to So Hwa and is assigned to work for Cho Chi Gyeom, a senior eunuch. Entering the royal palace, he sees King Sung Jong and So Hwa spend their first night together. He becomes So Hwa's loyal protector. As the political battles rage on among the courtesans and wives in the palace, So Hwa is chosen by the king to be his queen and Cheo Seon vows to be her loyal servant. But So Hwa is eventually dethroned as the queen and leaves the palace in disgrace. Cheo Seon helplessly watches these events unfold and he secretly helps So Hwa. But in a cruel twist of fate, he is the one chosen to execute So Hwa's death sentence by serving her a bowlful of poison. After So Hwa dies, he looks after her son King Yeon San as if he were his own son. Pure palace intrigues are petty and not worth my time.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Matchmaker's Lover  [연애결혼] (Finished 1/16) Tags:  Comedy, Romance Lee Gang Hyeon is a manager at a company that sets up people who have been divorced with dates. She meets a divorce attorney, Park Hyeon Su, and they begin a relationship with each other. Cheesy antics stuff with unrealistic characters , and all that manages to irritate me at every single step here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Love & Law [대한민국 변호사] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Comedy, Law, Romance Woo I Gyeong worked at a law firm as a secretary when she fell in love with Byeon Hyeok, a rising star attorney in the firm. They lived together for a year before he left for America with no explanation. Six years later, I Gyeong ends up becoming a lawyer herself and opens her own office. Her first paying case is to represent Han Min Guk in an alimony lawsuit that could cost him 100 billion won. Han Min Guk's ex-wife, Lee Ae Ri, is I Gyeong's good friend, and the lawyer representing Ae Ri is none other than Byeon Hyeok himself, who has returned from America determined to win I Gyeong back. I Gyeong is facing a showdown with her friend, Ae Ri, as well as her first love, Byeon Hyeok, all while falling for her client, Min Guk. Toxic buffonade. Experiencing strongest negative emotions, so have to drop even first episode midway.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. Suparb Burut Satan [สุภาพบุรุษซาตาน] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Romance, Drama Lilly is a rich girl who has just returned from America. She went to study there because her stepmother did not want her in Thailand. When she returns, her father Rarm gets her a bodyguard, San without knowing that San is his wife's son. San's mother had abandoned San and his sick sister Dao. San thought that Lilly is the daughter of his mother and Lilly's father. He hates her because he thinks that she is living in luxury while his sister is sick and they are barely making their ends meet. He wants revenge. Looks like it gathers full house of melodrama , revenge, conflicts and corresponding tropes.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Devil  [魔王] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Drama, Supernatural Naruse Ryo, who is an able attorney that can turn any case in his clients’ favour, takes cases for the disadvantaged and defends them free of charge; therefore, he is called an “angel attorney”. However, it is only superficial. His true self is that of a man who has sacrificed all his life to track down the murderer that killed his dearest younger brother 11 years ago — that is, he is “a cold-blooded revenge seeker or the Devil King”. Supernatural revenge mysetery is three red flags, so bye bye another stupid unappealing concept.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. City of Glass (2008) [유리의 성] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Romance, Drama Jung Min Joo is a woman from a very tough family background. Her mother had three children with three different fathers. However, she overcomes this in order to become a news announcer. When she first meets Kim Joon Sung, she is annoyed with his continued courtship of her. Eventually, Min Joo marries Joon Sung and her life changes. Her aspirations of becoming a great reporter are put on hold while she copes with her new life as the second daughter-in-law of a rich and influential chaebol family. Generic chewing gum that's just insane to poke for 51 episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Tazza [타짜] (Finished 21/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Thriller, Romance Go Ni suffers an incredible loss when his mother and stepfather die because of Young Min. He later ends up in jail where he meets people who will change his life forever. Go Ni learns from a top tazza player in hopes of getting revenge. Revenge, gambling, mafia, pursuits - too many red flags for this lousy concept.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Yasuko to Kenji [ヤスコとケンジ] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Comedy, Youth The show focuses on a man named Kenji and his younger sister Yasuko, whose parents died in an accident 10 years earlier. Kenji was once the leader of a gang, but in order to support him and his sister, he began making a living as a shojo mangaka. His character normally wears glasses and appears to be a gentle guy, but he throws off his glasses and reverts to his violent side whenever he tries to protect Yasuko from danger. Part of the story follows Yasuko's romance with an intelligent and good-looking man named Jun Tsubaki. Jun's older sister Erika now runs a flower shop, but Erika was once a leader of a female gang, and she used to be in love with Kenji during those days. Concept is deliberately silly and full of potential conflicts while gangsters past means lots of fighting. It's easy to fill 10 episodes with such concept, but need to like such parody comedy and actors... and I have trouble with both here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. My Woman [내여자] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Romance Se Ra and Hyun Min were lovers who have known each other since childhood. Tae Hee, a divorcee, worked for her father who was the head of a ship building conglomerate. She fell for Hyun Min and due to misunderstanding, Se Ra felt betrayed by Hyun Min and started going out with Tae Sung, Tae Hee's brother, and later married him. Hyun Min was never one who could express his feeling well and lost Se Ra's love even though he treated Tae Hee as a friend only. This drama also portrays the ship building industry in Korea and the world wide competition it faces. Could not care less about ships. Talks and actions are full of nonsense. Zero empathy with the characters.  Overall Rating: 5/10

14. Love Beyond Frontier (2008) [อุบัติรักข้ามขอบฟ้า] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Comedy, Romance Golf comes from a rich background but refuses to rely on his mother and struggles to make a living by selling things in the JJ market. His dream is to become a singer because he believes it is a way to help the nature like how his deceased father had once done before drowning in the sea. Although he faces constant obstacles, he refuses to back down. He lives alone in a rental apartment and constantly falls behind for the payment, luckily for him, his friend Ple is the owner and while she has a bad mouth and enjoys teasing and getting into fights with Golf, she doesn't have a bad heart and Golf finds himself fallen for her. Mike has been living in Japan his whole life before his father died and he decided to go in search of his long-gone Thai mother. Having no knowledge of Thailand or the language, he falls into many troubles and meets Pat, a beautiful girl who works in the advertising company and engages actively in an online life (including an online diary and chatting with a boy she thinks understands her). Being kind hearted and realizing that Mike was a good person, she lets him live in her house, and eventually Mike falls in love with her. Circumstance causes Golf, Mike, Pat, and Ple to meet. Ple having an obsession with everything Japanese, immediately takes a liking to Mike, which stirs everything up. Golf and Mike gained the eye of the music company when they helped Pat with a commercial that required them to show off their natural dancing skills. With everyone commenting that they looked alike and that they could be brothers, Golf's producer decides to form the duo Golf-Mike and their singing career starts there. Unknown to the both of them, Golf's mother is the mother Mike has been looking for, and they were half-brothers. Wow, youth Thai drama, but it feels like Taiwanese one with same silly comedy, lackluster quality and general tilt on the youth. I really welcome the change, but this is still bad.   Overall Rating: 5/10

15. Seigi no Mikata [正義の味方] (Finished 4/10) Tags: Comedy, Romance 15-year-old Yoko, a young girl who is constantly tormented by her self-centered and devilish older sister Makiko, who works for a government office after having graduated from a famous university. But despite her ill nature, Makiko's actions tend to somehow make things better for those around her, causing others to praise her as an "ally of justice". After four episodes still don't understand why watch it as it's still the same family bullying plus very strange older sister work relations. It does not get better or have some sense of direction.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Homeroom on the Beachside [太陽と海の教室] (Finished 10/10) Tags: Life, Youth, Drama A private high school by the sea... All of the senior students devote themselves only to their studies for college entrance exams from the end of the summer. One day, an unconventional teacher gets posted at this high academia-oriented school. His name is Sakurai Sakutaro. His background is a mystery. Nobody gets what he's talking about. He's pushy and bold. The students are reluctant to open up to him who sticks his nose into their private affairs. But Sakutaro keep trying to help them overcome their problems He also encourages and guides them, and they eventually develop a bond of trust. "Live in the moment which exists only now"... His message gradually gets through to his students There has been a huge number of GTO imitations. And among them this is the best one so far, because it does not try to repeat moves , at least I did not notice any like stealing and prior betrayal of students etc. Unlike similar works, it takes only the best parts of the cocept like weird yet reasonable teacher, his active involvement and help instead of situations solving themselves somehow. Another great feature is focus on students personalities rather than just situations. Finally, teacher has his own life agenda and logic, and this logic is also fresh. Can't really find traits that I would not like (maybe only darker and bloodier themes, but that's not bad itself) or that would be weaker than in GTO, so can't rate it lower even though it also does not feel like perfect masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 9/10

17. Gakko ja Oshierarenai! [学校じゃ教えられない!] (Finished 10/10) Tags: Comedy, Youth Aida Mai is a woman in her third year as an english teacher at a private all-girls high school. Due to declining enrollment, the school decides to admit its first male students. Those five freshmen initially feel they're in paradise, but the concerned Mai tries to help them adjust by creating a social dance club and inviting five girls. Those ten students become the focus of the drama, which is described as a story of love and adolescence. Wow, Prison school vibes with Fukada Kyoko! Well, it's too lightweight and unrealistic for masterpiece and recommendation, but made it to the end somehow.   Overall Rating: 6/10

18. Bpoop Paeh Leh Ruk [บุพเพเล่ห์รัก] (Finished 1/18) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Aum thinks that Por doesn't really love her and they get married and Por tries to prove that he really loves her. Aum is stubborn so she doesn't give in to him easily but just because she thought he lost his memory she tries everything to make him remember. Soon enough they are in love and Aum finds out he's faking and gets angry and demands a divorce. But she stays with him until she gives birth to their child. Will Por convince to Aum that he really loves her? Will Aum ever accept Por? Bad humor, bad melodrama, horrible FL. You know... the usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. Cat Street [キャットストリート] (Finished 3/6) Tags: Life, Youth, Drama A story about a talented child actress who wins back her dream after retiring from acting. Keito was once a popular child actress, but she had shut herself away from society for 10 years after a traumatic acting incident. She is now 17 years old and incidentally enrolls to a free school for dropouts, where she makes true friends. Together, they build trust and find the meaning of life. Shoujo manga basis makes it unsuitable for me since it's too naive, with inner monologues and just does not relate to me.   Overall Rating: 6/10

20. Woody Sambo [無敵珊寶妹] (Finished 1/19) Tags: Comedy, Romance When Sun Wu Di was still a young kid his father was kidnapped. After this event, Wu Di grew up not trusting people even those who he worked closely with. Wu Di has a narcissistic personality where he feels that those below him are inferior to him and he is perfect all around. He has a perfect girlfriend, Zu An, who is independent and smart. He has no worries! He can always depend on himself. That is until he met a girl named Hu Shan Bao. Silliness of Taiwanese drama can't stop surprising me. Each new scene makes it to the new low. Can't be treated seriously, and comedy is horrible.   Overall Rating: 5/10

21. Botan Gleep Sudtai [โบตั๋นกลีบสุดท้าย] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Romance, Drama The Author “Sampaothong” has recently received the Best Book Award for his novel “Botan Gleep Sudtai”. However, no one knows who Sampaothong is. He is really Ah-Joo, the 3rd son of Ah-Cheng and Meiling, a Chinese couple who runs a food shop in Thailand. His oldest brother Ah-Jo works at an electric appliances and the 2nd brother works at a bank. Ah-Joo’s father has never cared about him as he thinks Ah-Joo is a jinx on his family. However, his father likes reading “Sampaothong”’s novel although it’s written by his son, so Ah-Joo tries to communicate with his father through the book and decides to write a story about a family with three daughters. The Ah-Chang family has three daughters; Dala, Panan and Tanyong. To do research for his book, Ah-Joo applies for a labour job at the family’s Chinese Opera House ‘Chang-Sin’. Tanyong, the youngest, thinks Ah-Joo is a spy from another opera house so tries to drive him away by teasing him and trying to find faults. Concept is based on a novel and only moderately strange, so might even work out in worthy hands. But Thai TV is not it. So far they butcher everything they touch, this work included.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Yottsu no Uso [四つの嘘] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Life, Drama This renzoku follows four women in the "around 40" generation. Shifumi is an attractive woman who stole her classmate's boyfriend in high school, and despite criticism from others, she got married and had a child. However, she soon divorced and currently keeps a younger boyfriend. Three of Shifumi's former classmates: ordinary housewife Makiko, work-focused doctor Neri, and housewife Miwa. Miwa is having an affair with Shifumi's ex-husband Keishi (the boyfriend Shifumi originally stole from her.) Eventually, the various secrets and lies kept by the four women all come to light.  So-so concept and acresses, no motivation to continue.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. Monster Parent [モンスターペアレント] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Law, Youth, Drama Monster parents-a neologism that denotes parents who repeatedly make unreasonable demands to their children's school and prevent it from functioning normally. Takamura Itsuki is the ace lawyer of a major law firm. One day, she is assigned on a case requested by a school board, and learns of the existence of "monster parents." She meets a parent who wants the school to fire a teacher with a dialect for fear that he may exert bad influence on her child, a parent who insists that her son get a regular position on the soccer team, a parent who refuses to pay the lunch fee because it doesn't taste good and so on. She is, at first, reluctant about this case, but gradually becomes determined to solve the problems. Drama about lawyer trying to handle annoyingly petty cases concerning that have little to do with the law and concern elementary school children. It does not sound great and it is not in practice.   Overall Rating: 5/10

24. East of Eden [에덴의 동쪽] (Finished 1/67) Tags: Romance, Drama, Family, Melodrama The drama will be about two men whose fates are crossed from the very first day that they were born. Both men were born in the same hospital. When he was five years old, Lee Dong Cheol witnessed the death of his father. From then on, he promised to seek revenge on the man who caused his father's death, Sin Tae Hwan. But unbeknownst to everybody is the fact that Dong Cheol's younger brother, Dong Uk, was switched at birth with Tae Hwan's son, Myeong Hun. Dong Uk grows up to become a prosecutor and vows to help his brother seek revenge. But what happens when they find out that they're not brothers? What will Dong Cheol do when he finds out that his real brother was raised by Sin Tae Hwan and that the brother that was beside him all these years is the son of his enemy?  Revenge melodrama action is what I really despise. 67 episodes is insanely long for this sucky type of story.   Overall Rating: 5/10

25. Tears of Happiness [幸福的眼泪] (Finished 1/28) Tags: Romance, Drama A chinese remake of "1 Litre of Tears". While on vacation with his girlfriend, Gu Yihang(Liu Enyou) hires He Tongyao(Jin Sha) as their tour guide, inadvertantly causing her to get in a car accident. After the accident, she learned that she had spinocerebellar ataxia, an incurable degenerative disease. Her boyfriend breaks up with her after learning of the disease. But at the same time, fate brought Yihang and Tongyao together again, and again, causing them to fall in love... Dumped worthy Japanese original not to watch its imitations.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. Miss No Good [不良笑花] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Jiang Xiao Hua is a funny girl that dresses bad and runs her family's accessories store. When fatty Jia Si Le returns from Japan, he surprises everyone with his lean and thin body. As Si Le asks Xiao Hua out, he also comments her style as a "Christmas Tree". Token offensively, Xiao Hua seeks for some help to change her bad style. She meets Tang Men a stylist, who had dropped his expensive, rare scissor in the cab he was sharing with Xiao Hua. Not agreeing to help Xiao Hua, she uses the scissor as a threat, announcing that she will break them if Tang Men does not agree to help her. On the other hand, Jiang Mi is the arranged fiancée of Jia Si Le, angry that Jia Si La is in love with Xiao Hua, she uses Tang Men to distract Xiao Hua while she tries to get close with Si Le. As Tang Men distracts Xiao Hua, their relationship becomes stronger and stronger. Xiao Hua becomes confused of who she really loves... Tang Men or Jia Si Le! Taiwanese silliness and lousy special effects are back. Best leaving this mess early (mistakenly included it in Winter season previously).    Overall Rating: 5/10

27. My Life's Golden Age [내 인생의 황금기] (Finished 1/56) Tags: Romance, Drama, Melodrama When two previously divorced people get married and raise their children together, they name their children after the golden period of life, hwang-geum-ki, hoping that their children will reach this period in life sooner than they did. They have no idea what their children will have to go through before reaching hwang-geum-ki, however. Lee Hwang, the eldest daughter, has been married for five years with a daughter and a successful career, but underneath she is anything but happy. When she runs into an old flame, she embarks on a reckless path. Lee Geum, the second daughter, has chronic myelogenous leukemia, a serious condition which constantly takes a toll on her life and happiness. Bright and cheerful, however, she pours her energy into her job as a track team coach, while secretly trying to repay her birth father's hospital bills. Lee Ki, the youngest son, successfully graduated from med school and became an intern at a hospital, but his real dream is to become a musical actor. When he quits the hospital in order to take dance lessons, he must hide it from the rest of his family while dealing with his sisters' issues. Enter Go Kyung Woo, a TV producer at a major network whose success has made him arrogantly indifferent to the troubles of others. When he and Lee Geum meet, sparks fly but can he learn to care about her, especially with her disease? Lee Ki, meanwhile, has another problem - he just might be falling in love with his sister-in-law... Again huge family in order to justify even huger 56 episode runtime. Again, horrible pace and lots of conflicts and toxic relations that spark zero interest.   Overall Rating: 5/10

28. Koko wa Greenwood [ここはグリーン・ウッド] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth Set at the all-boys school Rokuto Academy, the story revolves around Hasukawa Kazuya, a late arrival to the unusual Greenwood Dormitory, a former insane asylum. His first surprise comes when he discovers his roommate is Kisaragi Shun, who appears to be a girl... Manga adaptation from 80s, moreover, with crossdressing and with episodes of just 20 minutes long, Since it's centered at dormitory, hoped it would bear some semblance to Maison Ikkoku , but, alas. So it's just morally old boys school SOL, was not particluarly interesting to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

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