Dorama of the Year 2009-I Winter - Tenchijin

Compared to everything else this season Tenchijin is not that bad...

1. Shining Inheritance  [찬란한 유산] (Finished 1/28) Tags: Romance, Melodrama Ko Eun Seong's life is similar to Cinderella's. After her father died, her stepmother, Baek Seong Hui, took away all of her assets and her younger brother, Eun U, suddenly disappears without a trace. Despite this, Eun Seong perseveres and works really hard to fulfil her dreams. When the CEO of a food company, Jang Suk Ja, suffers amnesia and can't remember who she is, Eun Seong takes her in. However, Eun Seong does not know that she is the grandmother of Seon U Hwan, the man who she switched bags with at the airport. How will their constant bickering lead them to realize that they care more about each other than they let on? Melodrama, makjang, absolutely hateful retarded characters. Why make or watch this is beyond my understanding.   Overall Rating: 5/10

2. Princess Ja Myung [자명고] (Finished 2/39) Tags: Action, Historical, Romance A legend tells of the Kingdom of Nangnang’s mystical Ja Myung Drum, which sounded when enemies approached. In truth, the drum is Princess Ja Myung. Born at the same time to different mothers, Princess Ja Myung and Princess Nak Rang face a prophecy: one will save the nation, the other will doom it. With her mother’s influence, Nak Rang is named the savior, while Ja Myung, branded as the nation's ruin, escapes death and grows up among the common folk. All these palace intrigues are absolutely irritating and infuriation to the level of insult.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Buang Ruk Gamathep [บ่วงรักกามเทพ] (Finished 1/28) Tags: Romance, Drama Phubodee is summoned back to Thailand from America by his very concerned mother. They have a family crisis because his younger brother, Prawat, has fallen in love with a woman from the wrong side of the tracks, named Oranee. She is a gentle and kind woman who works as a seamstress; but, she is also a widow, 5 years older than Prawat. Phupodee is a very cold-hearted man and thinks that Oranee only wants his brother for the money and therefore condemns her and her family. His prejudice is heightened, when he meets Ornicha, the very feisty younger sister of Oranee, and a student nurse at his family's hospital. Phubodee and Ornicha frequently fight, as Ornicha is aggressive in defending her very gentle sister and encourages her against Phubodee's bullying. Nonetheless, Phupodee succeeds in separating the couple; but, only after they had secretly married and Oranee was pregnant. Ornicha takes her sister and goes into hiding. Years later, Phubodee discovers he has a nephew and tries everything to take him, but falls in love with Ornicha in the process. Too many yelling psychotic characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Mei-chan no Shitsuji [メイちゃんの執事] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth The story revolves around a young woman named Mei, who was rescued as a young girl by someone calling himself her "butler". With only a vague memory, though, the experience seems like just a dream. But one day, after her parents' accidental death, he appears: Rihito comes from a line of outstanding butlers, and he has been appointed to serve her! Now her ordinary life has completely flipped, as she discovers that she's actually the heiress to a fortune, and is forced to transfer to St. Lucia Girls' Academy, where all the students have butlers! As a result, her childhood friend, Kento, decides to enroll in a butler school so that he can stay close to her. Have not see a single worthy butler work. Would gladly block if it had a clear tag of it.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. ToGetHer [愛就宅一起] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Romance Momo Chen is a quiet and shy girl with Jia Sen as her only friend. She is often forgotten and left behind. Her only interest is to read her manga, "Prince Kashaba." Mars is a superstar whose popularity went downhill after a series of negative publicity incidents. His finances, as a result, go into red alert and he is forced to move out of the company house provided to him and moves into a cheaper place instead. He is also told to attend school while on down time. On the first day of school for Mars, he arrogantly signs his name onto one of Momo's manga with a permanent marker over a picture of Prince Kashaba. Momo becomes furious and yells at him in front of everyone. Meanwhile, Mars' manager, Yi Zhi, finds him a room for rent in Momo's house. Momo is unaware that the room is being rented until her sister drops the news on her suddenly after school. Both are unaware that it is Mars who is to be their tenant. Mars gradually befriends Momo and her childhood friend Jia Sen, a swimming captain with the cognitive ability and maturity of an 8-year-old. Momo Chen describes him as "different from us" and "not silly or stupid". Jia Sen earns many medals for swimming and gives them to Momo because he secretly has feelings for her. He refers to Mars as "bad guy" and often gets upset when Momo hangs out with Mars. In the beginning Mars and Momo constantly fight but after going through some challenges together, they finally begin to show their feelings for one another. Shoujo manga fan FL, arrogant ML, silly Taiwanese production. It did not have a chance .   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Cain and Abel [카인과 아벨] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Action, Thriller, Drama, Medical Based on the biblical story of Adam and Eve's first two sons, Cain and Abel is about Cain's jealousy towards his brother Abel. Lee Cho In is a very gifted doctor who has everything that he wants whereas his older brother, Seon Woo, is jealous of all the attention that Cho In receives. Seon Woo blames his brother for taking everything good in his life away from him. Seon Woo blames Cho In for getting their father's love, getting more recognition as a doctor, and for stealing the woman he loves. Don't care about such revenge concept, but real reason for dropping is my overwhelming irritation of So Ji Sub actor.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Mae Ka Khanom Wan [แม่ค้าขนมหวาน] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Food, Romance, Drama Baipai is an engineer girl, but she likes to dress as a guy, so many people often misunderstand that she is a guy. She’s good at martial art because she has been trained by her uncle, the former Muay Thai champion. However, she’s also good at cooking food and making desserts because she has been trained to do it since she was a kid by her grandmother and aunt. She quits her engineering job because she has a problem with her boss. So, she gets the idea to open her own Thai dessert shop. One day, destiny makes Baipai accidentally meet Wacharawat, a handsome mafia boss and the owner of the entertainment complex business. However, it’s not a good first impression for Baipai because he steals her first kiss, and it makes her angry and hates him. She also makes Wacharawat pissed off because she punches him in front of his followers, so he wants to get back at her and keep teasing her. However, Wacharawat is enchanted by her cooking skill, and it makes him want to stay closer to her, so he tries to win her heart. Baipai gets mad at him for making her life in trouble, so she tries to revenge on him by dressing up like a guy and stealing his fiancée. Typical lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. The Iron Empress  [천추태후] (Finished 2/78) Tags: Adventure, Historical 'The Iron Empress' is the granddaughter of Wang Gun, the first emperor of Goryeo. She has inherited her grandfather's vision as well as his Great Spirit. The empress fights against the enemies trying to collapse Goryeo, and called as 'The Iron Empress' who gets rid of her brother, son, and even her lover, for the good of the empire. It's more of historical melodrama and it's eternally far from taiga due to stupid abuser talks, primitive personalities and actions here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Again, My Love [미워도 다시 한번] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Romance Lee Min Soo is the Korean male version of Paris Hilton. One day, he meets Choi Yoon Hee when he is trying to avoid one of his many conquests. Min Soo's mother, Han Myung In, thinks that Yoon Hee has what it takes to rein in Min Soo and his playboy behaviour. She offers Yoon Hee a deal that she cannot resist: to become Korea's Hillary Clinton, and in exchange, she has to marry Min Soo and change his playboy ways. Alternative title is Hateful, but once again. Hateful, indeed. Vixen females and boring males make the usual chewing gum.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. Love Shuffle  [ラブシャッフル] (Finished 3/10) Tags: Psychological, Comedy, Romance Usami Kei is a salaryman who has risen in status due to his engagement with Mei, the wealthy daughter of his company's president. Shortly after she breaks off the engagement, a power failure leaves him stuck in the elevator of his apartment building. Trapped with him are three others living on the same floor - Airu, a trilingual interpreter, Ojiro, a fashion photographer, and Masato, a psychiatrist. While waiting, their conversation hits upon their love lives and the question of whether there is truly only one fated partner for everyone. As a result, they decide to try "shuffling" their relationships with each other. Three episodes should be enough to decide whether I stay or not. And I'm not feeling that swinger concept is fresh and interesting. It's natural that there should be a significant change as a result, but I don't care enough. Not sure I saw any comedy here unless simultaneous peeing in the elevator is one, but then it's just bad. Since it claims to be psychological, for me it means a claim to be called clever, and this is not clever.   Overall Rating: 6/10

11. Borisut Bumbut Kaen  [บริษัทบำบัดแค้น] (Finished 1/15) Tags: Psychological, Romance, Drama Taywan loses his wife and son in a car accident...he survives the crash with major injuries including a burnt face. determined to get revenge from Chanai who caused this...he gets a plastic surgery to fix his face and opens a spa near her hotel...they start becoming closer and he starts to fall her..and feels like he should help her survive the schemes of her wicked husband! Can't even find a worthy Japanese revenge story let alone Thai one.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Kami no Shizuku [神の雫] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Mystery, Drama The story revolves around Kanzuki Shizuku, a young man who was estranged from his father, a world-famous wine critic. When his father passed away, he left behind a wine collection worth a fortune, but in order to inherit it, Shizuku must solve a series of puzzles left by his father to identify 6 wines. His competitor is Tomine Issei, a prominent wine critic, whom his father adopted before his death. Mysteries and puzzles aren't my thing, but adding joke profession of sommelier to the mix always makes things only worse since it's basically part gourmet while also being part of scam and adding arrogance. The outcome is sour.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. My Queen [敗犬女王] (Finished 1/21) Tags: Comedy, Romance What will happen when Shan Wu Shuang, a 33 year old beautiful, hardworking yet single woman, meets Lucas, a 25 year old romantic and handsome regular worker? There is an 8 year age difference - what kind of story would then be created? A story that will let us laugh and let us cry. I'm not defeated! I'm the Queen! Now Taiwanese are trying into makjang, the genre that should not have existed. But at least there's a lot less silliness than usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

14. Tenchijin  [天地人] (Finished 10/47) Tags: Historical, Drama The 48th NHK Taiga drama is Tenchijin. The story centers on Naoe Kanetsugu, a loyal and devoted samurai in Echigo Province in the 16th century. Kanetsugu was trained in his early childhood by Uesugi Kenshin and after his death, served Kenshin's adopted son Kagekatsu and is known for his extreme loyalty to the Uesugi family. He also made every effort to protect the people of Echigo with a strong sense of justice and genuine sympathy toward commoners. Sorry, but this is just no good for me. Again some obscure vassal is taken, and there's nothing exciting or refreshing or intriguing here unlike Sanada Maru from 2016 that also takes not significant enough persons, but makes a big masterpiece of it.   Overall Rating: 6/10

15. Artid Ching Duang [อาทิตย์ชิงดวง] (Finished 1/28) Tags: Drama Pharnrawee is married to the wealthy Rangsee Suriyathid. They have one adopted son, Passakorn. Rangsee finds out that he has one biological child with another woman, Sangla. The child is Rangrong, a feisty young woman out for revenge on Phanrawee for hurting her mother and to claim Rangsee’s inheritance. Typical lakorn and even worse than that due to revenge.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Starlit [心星的淚光] (Finished 2/22) Tags: Romance, Drama, Melodrama Cheng Yue is a pianist and Rui Shan is a cellist. They are the most high-profile golden couple in the music industry. One day, Cheng Yue tried to save a girl named Xiao Lu from a car accident, but unfortunately breaks his arm in the process and can no longer play the piano. Cheng Yue was devastated, and so he gave up music and chose to travel to get away. Two years later, Cheng Yue now lives in Shanghai and meets Xiao Lu, and the two become colleagues. Due to work interactions, they gradually establish a friendship. At this time, Rui Shan finally tracks down Cheng Yue. She tries her hardest to get Cheng Yue to return back to the music industry to no avail. However, Xiao Lu encourages him to face life with a postive attitude, and Cheng Yue realizes that he is impacted by Xiao Lu's kindness and enthusiasm. From being a person who has hit rock-bottom, wallowing in self-pity, he has re-ignited the passion in life. Cheng Yue falls in love with Xiao Lu, but he is rejected by her, why? Is their love fated to be a tragedy? Although they are not blessed, although they do not have a future, Cheng Yue still bravely loves Xiao Lu... Of course just broken arm was not enough, and one of MCs has terminal condition. Pilot episode was of adequate production quality, but from second one it degraded even though still remained without usual stupidity that usually comes with Taiwanese comedies.   Overall Rating: 5/10

17. Dum Kum [ดำขำ] (Finished 1/15) Tags: Comedy, Romance Not wanting to marry Tuthiya, a man who looks down on country folks, Dum paints her body black and pretends to be an uncultured woman to make Tuthiya despise her and break off their arranged marriage. Sure enough, he does. Typical lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. Zeni Geba  [銭ゲバ] (Finished 3/9) Tags: Drama, Family Gamagori Futaro has been poor since the day he was born. As a child his recklessly wasteful and abusive father sunk the family into debt and disappeared, leaving Futaro and his sick mother to fend for themselves. With no money to pay for medical treatment for his ailing mother, she eventually died. After her death Futaro became obsessed with money and willing to do anything for it. Several years pass and Futaro finds himself working at "Mikuni Shipbuilding" where he meets the company president's daughters Midori, who was his former classmate, and her younger sister Akane, who is disabled, and like Futaro, has a scarred face. In a plot to acquire their fathers company, Futaro begins to get close the sisters...  Since ML is a murderer out of voluntary egoistic decision, I have no sympathy towards him or intention to learn his way of thinking. I'd drop it after first couple episodes, but to see if was going anywhere specific, skipped straight to last one, and was not impressed with that at all, either.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. My Wife Is a Super Woman [내조의 여왕] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Romance, Youth Chun Ji Ae and Yang Bong Sun are high school classmates who did not have the best relationship with each other. Ji Ae was the most popular girl in school, whereas Bong Sun was the girl who was always made fun of. Years later, their roles are reversed as Bong Sun's husband, Han Jun Hyeok, is very successful, whereas Ji Ae's husband, On Dal Su, is just an average company worker. Things get complicated when Dal Su starts an extra-marital affair with his boss's wife, Eun So Hyeok. How will Ji Ae react to this? Just pour in lots of conflicts and watch this nest of vipers fight. It's so bad and sour .   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Sarp Phusa [สาปภูษา] (Finished 1/15) Tags: Horror, Romance, Drama, Supernatural In the period of King Rama V, Princess Seeked, the princess from the vassal state who was brought to Thailand as a war prisoner and then branded the daughter of a rebel, is the most skillful weaver in the royal palace.Although life is full of sadness and injustice, one day she meets Prince Tad who falls for her beauty at first sight. Eventually, Princess Seeked also accepts Prince Tad's advances. However, the love of men in those times is just like dew — abundant in supply for a period of time but suddenly lost when morning arrives. Soon Prince Tad falls for Princess Chay and decides to marry her, leaving a now pregnant Seeked with only a broken promise of marriage. With vengeance in her heart, Princess Seeked completes weaving a golden brocade and places a curse of the fabric with tears full of bitterness. Then she kills herself. In 2009, Bangkok, Maipim, a freshly graduated honors student obtains a job at an ancient fabric store, "Tard Thong Shop", that belongs to her benefactor, Khun Pam, the reincarnation of Princess Chay. All is well until one day, a mysterious man comes into the shop to sell an ancient brocade, and accidentally leaves the beautiful ancient brocade there. And with it, he also leaves the vengeful spirit of Princess Seekad, who still thirsts for the blood of the people who hurt her in the past. Revenge lakorn is instant no, and supernatural elements make usual cringe even deeper.   Overall Rating: 5/10

21. Four Women Conflict [锁清秋] (Finished 1/35) Tags: Historical, Romance, Drama A story about a tragic girl, Du Lan Yan. She faced problems since she was a little girl, and when grown up, she served as a maid. However, due to some scheming and conflict between several women, she is sentenced to a horrible fate. Along the way, she is reunited with an old friend and finds a new love. But will it last? Some historical soap opera with zero interest lying anywhere.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Khun Mae Jum Lang [คุณแม่จำแลง] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Romance A story about a man who dresses up like a woman to compensate for the lack of maternal love in his sons life. Thanwa is a dessert shop owner, who has been divorced from his wife Amie for years. They have one son together, his son has never seen Amie and longs for her. In order to make his son happy, he dresses in drag and pretends to be his ex-wife. He later falls in love with the mother of his son's best friend, a woman who is in an abusive relationship with her ex-husband. The story follows Thanwa's trial and tribulations while juggling two identities. Again a thai gender-bender comedy, again horrible.   Overall Rating: 5/10

23. Romance Zero [하자 전담반 제로] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance Kim Woo Jin was the top couple manager at a matchmaking company until he makes a mistake one day that sees him reassigned to lead Team Zero, a group of people who have had little success in matchmaking couples. In order to keep their jobs, they try their best to find romance for their clients, but their own love lives are also sadly lacking It's a concept built purely on charisma of characters. And I see no charisma here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

24. Arifureta Kiseki [ありふれた奇跡] (Finished 2/11) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama One day, a middle-aged man, Fujimoto Makoto, is standing on a train platform, about to jump in front of a train. Nakashiro Kana and Tasaki Shota both happen to be on the same platform, and sensing what is about to happen, they quickly pull him back to safety. There's a reason why Kana and Shota realized Makoto's intentions; they both have the kind of emotional scars that can't be put into words. Even after so much pain, through a series of e-mails, they've become attracted to one another and slowly learn to open up their hearts once again. Pretty boring overall and nothing really happens, so need to like characters at least, but, alas.   Overall Rating: 6/10

25. Stage of Youth [青春舞台] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Romance, Youth, Sports Xia Lei is a young man who loves to dance. His father is a top archery athlete, and since Xia Lei's mother died, he missed the opportunity to compete in the last Olympics. His father wants him to follow in his footsteps. Yet, Xia Lei only has a passion for dancing. After going through conflicts with his father, meeting constant tribulations and challenges, and gaining determination, he finally reaches his dreams and becomes a new generation of dancing star. Male idol, pretty standard stuff, poor Chinese production.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. Look Sao Kam Nan (2009) [ลูกสาวกำนัน] (Finished 1/34) Tags: Comedy, Romance The son of “Cabinet Minister Som Sak” and “Lady Yupa Pak”, Deputy Chief Chaiya is stationed in Toong Din Dam; he is very happy because he has been wanting to flee from his ex girlfriend Taywee. Once the two meet they argue to death because Tangmo believes that Blat Chaiya is a lustorous satyric man who was just released from prison. He is welcomed by Tangmo with both elbows and knee’s. Instead of being angry with her he falls in extremely in love with her. Blat Chaiya then does everything so that Tangmo can see that he is diligent also. This causes Tangmo to start and fall in love with Blat Chaiya without knowing it. Once Blat Chaiya asks for her hand in marriage she accepts, but once she accepts the news spreads out and there is a problem at the same time “Tatny” the owner of a beauty salon who is in love with Blat Chaiya comes and have a mental war with Tangmo.  Level of silliness rivals that of Taiwanese comedies.   Overall Rating: 5/10

27. The King of Snooker  [桌球天王] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Sports World champion snooker player Yau Yat Kiu (Adam Cheng) takes everyone by surprise when he suddenly retires from the snooker world. This comes as a huge disappointment to his daughter Yau Ka Kan (Niki Chow), who has always wanted to follow in his footsteps. She feels bewildered too, for although Kiu pretends he does not care about the sport any more, he has set up a series of challenge matches on the snooker table in his restaurant. His real purpose is that he is waiting for someone he feels is worth taking on as a protege. Kiu comes to know Kan Tze Him (Patrick Tang) by chance. Noticing his flair for snooker, Kiu decides to teach Him all he knows about the game. Later, Kan manages to persuade her father into taking her on as a student as well. Him fancies Kan, but she is fond of Lui Kin Chung (Derek Kok), Kiu's bitter rival later friend, for a short while). Chung's manager is a devious person; in order to ensure Chung's victory against Kiu, he drugs Kiu's water with sleeping pills during a match. After the game, Chung falls out with his manager because of this when he finds out. Later in the series, a woman named Chin To To (Joyce Tang) falls in love with Kiu. Meanwhile, Him falls out with Kiu because of Chung's ex-manager. Both master and disciple come to settle their scores on a snooker table in the end. Gambling is an often choice for Hong Kong drama, but it's also kind of spokon here. Quality is still underwhelming.   Overall Rating: 5/10

28. The Road Home (2009) [집으로 가는 길] (Finished 1/120) Tags: Romance, Family Yoo Min Soo is the eldest son of a hospital's CEO. His wife, Jang Mi Ryung , bore a child out of wedlock but raises it with maternal love. From 120 episodes length you can guess it's a very big family... and I still have no idea how it can be interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10

29. Uta no Onii-san  [歌のおにいさん] (Finished 4/8) Tags: Comedy The story revolves around an unconventional children's show called "Minna de Utao!" Kenta is a young musician whose band breaks up and who gets dumped by his girlfriend. To top it off, his own family labels him as useless. Unexpectedly, he becomes an "uta no oniisan," a singing character on the children's show. I expected every episode to be a separate comedy gig like anime Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan, but pre-story takes two episodes, and even after that it's again about bickering, so just not cool.   Overall Rating: 5/10

30.  Honjitsu mo Hare. Ijo Nashi [本日も晴れ。異状なし 〜南の島 駐在所物語〜] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Life, Drama Narumi is a remote and peaceful island (modeled after the real-life island of Hateruma) that has much more need for a doctor than for police. But one day, Shirase Ryo, a policeman gets assigned there, to the disappointment of the residents. However, as he gradually becomes friends with the people living there, he begins to help them address their own problems and concerns for the future of the island. Isolated islands are generally a bore and it does not matter whether it's doctor or policeman, not relating to characters either.   Overall Rating: 5/10

31. Good Job, Good Job [잘했군 잘했어] (Finished 1/40) Tags: Romance, Family Lee Kang Joo is a single mother who was abandoned by her previous boyfriend, Yoo Ho Nam. Ho Nam did not know that Kang Joo was pregnant with his child and went abroad to study. When Ho Nam returns to Korea, Kang Joo tries to cover up the fact that Byul is their daughter. Choi Seung Hun is the son of Jung Soo Hee who is Kang Joo's mentor and boss. He has been pursuing Kang Joo since he was in high school but she has always been unresponsive to his advances. Will he finally convince her that his love for her is real? How will he respond to finding out that she has a daughter and who her father is?  Single mother has to deal with lots of jerks for 40 episodes. Intrigued already?    Overall Rating: 5/10

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