Dorama of the Year 2010-IV Fall - Freeter, Ie o Kau.

Marked two works as masterpieces . Freeter, Ie o Kau. is the winner for me while Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna is more of a honorary mention to serve a paragon for revenge stories.

1. 365 Wun Haeng Rak  [365วันแห่งรัก] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Romance, Drama, Family, Supernatural Lanaree is a feisty, emotional and impulsive interior designer who met & fell in love at first sight with Tula (aka "Toon"), a lawyer, when he intervened in a dispute outside a court building. Ever since that first meeting, she actively chased after Toon and they eventually dated & married 365 days after their first meeting. Lanaree was in bliss and thought that they would live happily ever after, but when Toon's ex-girlfriend appeared, Lanaree found herself emotionally upset because she realised that she did not know much about Toon's past. She followed a co-worker to a fortune-teller to see if she could find out more but was instead shocked when the fortune-teller told her that she would be divorced within a year after her marriage. The fortune-teller gave her a magic book which would be able to transport Lanaree 1 year into the future to see the truth for herself. To Lanaree's surprise, the magic book actually worked and the fortune-teller's prediction came true. Upon returning back to the present, Lanaree then used the magic book, and her knowledge of the future obtained through her travels through it, in order to ensure that her marriage would outlast 365 days into the future. It convinced me of being unwatchable in record two minutes with a single psyhotic rage fight...   Overall Rating: 5/10

2. Himitsu [秘密] (Finished 2/9) Tags: Thriller, Romance, Family, Supernatural Naoko and Monami, mother and daughter, are in a bus accident. Naoko dies, but her spirit ends up inhabiting Monami's body. She then returns home to Heisuke, dad, and they try to figure out how to live their lives. Additionally, there is some suspicion surrounding the cause of the accident, which Heisuke investigates. With supernatural premise like this, this premise substitutes the real essence and actors with their characters and actions. It all turns into "what would happen after such supernatural event", and I'm not interested in that in the least.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. Marry Me, Mary! [매리는 외박중] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Music, Comedy, Romance Wi Mae Ri, the cheerful daughter of a failed businessman, becomes friends with indie singer Kang Moo Kyul after nearly running him over. Meanwhile, her father’s old friend, Jung Suk, saves him from debtors and proposes Mae Ri marry his son, Jung In. Desperate to avoid the arrangement, Mae Ri convinces Moo Kyul to pretend to be her husband. Things escalate when her father demands she split her time between Moo Kyul and Jung In for 100 days to decide who to marry. Simple. Artificial. Unconvincing. The usual nonsense and fluff.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Jao Sao Rim Tang  [เจ้าสาวริมทาง] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Romance, Drama Nang’ek is an out of luck, poor, orphan girl raised by her money-hungry foster mom, who has a spoiled brat daughter. Her foster mom also has a no-good boyfriend, who on occasion will try to assault nang’ek Rasa. Nang’ek is the ultimate angel, she is a diligent worker–values education, values hard-work, kind to others, innocent, virginal, not too shabby on the eyes. Though they treat her as an ATM machine, she refuses to abandon her makeshift, foster family because she feels indebted to them. Soon after her mother passed away so did her father, her foster mother took her in when she had no one to turn to. She feels a moral obligation to her evil foster mom who on many occasions will abuse and take advantage of her. Pra’ek Akrin is a good-looking, rich playboy with charm. He is a heir to a well-known fitness complex called M Fitness. Akrin sees women as a plaything and love as a game. His grandfather Amnat is fed up with his immature, careless, insincere lifestyle and wants him to get married. If he doesn’t get marry by a certain time, he won’t inherit M Fitness. It will be given to his competitive sister, Ornuma, who also has to get marry if she wants to inherit the family business. As the the marriage deadline slowly approaches and he doesn’t like any of his potential brides, Akrin decides to hire someone as his bride. He hires Rasa, the girl he likes and the only girl in Thailand who has the audacity to reject him every time he makes a move on her. Their marriage will be a sham, it will be for one year and he will pay her 2 million baht ($66,766 USD) total. He will give her 1 million baht at the beginning of their marriage and 1 million baht at the end of their marriage. Rasa accept his offer because she needs the money. Around that time, her foster mother finds herself in the hospital and needs immediate surgery. Thus, this is how their life together begins through a fake marriage. The new low. Lakorns are constantly beating their own records in the category of cringe.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. Duang Jai Akkanee [ดวงใจอัคนี] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Comedy, Romance Destined to become enemies due to the rivalry beginning from their parent's generation, Akkanee (Fai) and Ajjima (Jeed) can never seem to get along. On the contrary, Heaven seemed to have other plans for them. After an unforgettable misunderstanding and the rivalry between the two families, their lives were forever intertwined. The flowers will start to blossom, but can Fai and Jeed destroy the white fence that is dividing their lands and families? Will Thailand's Romeo and Juliet have a happy ending? Thai comedy means even more silliness than usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Thara Himalai  [ธาราหิมาลัย] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Family Fate leads Doctor Thipthara, or Nam, the youngest and only daughter of the quadruplets of the Adisuanrangsan Farm to meet and fall in love with Phuwanet. However, Nam believes that Phuwanet is just a worker on her farm although his real identity is that of the Crown Prince of Parawat. In an assassination attempt, Phuwanet was injured and was then sent to the hospital in which Nam became his attending doctor. In order to remain safe, Phuwanet feigned to have lost his memory. Nam is then faced with the struggle of loving Phuwanet and trusting that his love for her is also real because he is a Prince and she is only a doctor from the rural side of Thailand. How can a foreign girl like Nam get through the barrier of Parawat's tradition to be with the man she loves? How will Prince Phuwanet get back to his country and claim back what is rightfully his? Another horrible thai comedy, and with Aum Atchart that I especially can't stand.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Pathapee Leh Ruk  [ปฐพีเล่ห์รัก] (Finished 1/7) Tags: Comedy, Romance Pathapee, the owner of Thararin Resort has to confront with the trouble maker, Cha-em, a cunning girl who plans to make trouble in his resort. Cha-em is on a mission to destroy Pathapee's resort because Pathapee had hurt Cha-em's parents in the past. They quarrel and conspire behind each other's backs to win the upper hand against the other's resort. Along the way, they find that they have an ever growing attraction for each other and can't decide what is more important, the resort or their love? Thai revenge ... comedy... unwatchable, as usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. That Love Comes [欢迎爱光临] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Romance, Drama Yezi's father died young and she left home early to repay her mother's debts, and at the same time she also supports her younger brother with his studies. At the other end of the city, fashion photographer Xiatian and top supermodel Flora are being called the golden pair, successful and famous. However, Xiatian's innermost desire is a simple and straightforward life, he longs to become a wildlife photographer.is girlfriend Flora cannot forget the life of fame and fortune, and Xiatian gets tired of dealing with her until he finally chooses to break up. In Yezi, the convenience store girl, Xiatian saw his own desire for pure happiness. Banal romance with nothing remarkable.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Q10 Cute  [キュート] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth, Sci-Fi Heita is an ordinary high school boy with a kind heart but no real interest in romance. His class is joined by a transfer student named Q10 (pronounced "kyu-to", the same as "cute"), who looks like a girl but is actually a robot. Together, the two end up causing trouble at school, and Heita even begins falling for Q10. As of late dorama started to dwell into anime concepts territory. After male Chobits-like dorama version there had to be female one. I've seen too many variants of such concept already, and this one is not even among the better half of them.   Overall Rating: 5/10

10. Big Thing  [대물] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama, Political Seo Hye Rim is a hot-tempered news announcer who was fired by the broadcasting company, but is later elected to the National Assembly and became the first female president of Korea. She faces political pressure and potential impeachment from Kang Tae San and his followers, but survives with the aid of the prosecutor Ha Do Ya. Better than expected, but not even as good as CHANGE which was only decent for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10

11. It's Okay, Daddy's Girl [괜찮아, 아빠 딸] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama, Family Eun Chae Ryung is a spoiled daughter who had always completely relied on her father. When he is involved in an accident one day, she finds herself rudely awakened from her sheltered life and forced to mature, encountering numerous hardships before she gradually becomes an independent person. Cringy as everyone except dad either egoist or infantile, or both.   Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Juui Dolittle [獣医ドリトル] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Drama, Medical Despite a reputation as a brusque and ill-mannered man, Tottori Kenichi, a.k.a. “Dolittle”, is also a brilliant veterinarian with the habit of asserting that “Veterinary practice is a business.” Outwardly, he is quick to excoriate pet owners for their utter lack of understanding and careless treatment of their pets but invariably finds himself rescuing not only the “voiceless animals” whose pain and anguish he deeply understands, but even heals the spiritual afflictions of their owners. The result is a moving drama that brings into bold relief the issues that pet owners and veterinarians face and evoking the sacred importance of life. The best asian medical show that I've seen so far. But without comedy it all comes down to cases, and I'm not fond of that.   Overall Rating: 6/10

13. Yaksha [야차] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Thriller, Historical, War Set in a tumultuous period where the political scene is murky and various people fought to gain power and the throne, the young king will do anything to strengthen his shaky position in court. His childhood friend Baek Rok leads a secret military force loyal to the king, called the "Black Cloud Swords". Baek Rok lives for his king, his brother Baek Kyul and his lover Jung Yeon, but when his ambitious brother betrays him and leads him into a trap, he finds himself on the run. He becomes a slave and gladiator, eventually returning to Joseon to seek revenge. It's finally serious stuff - no levitation and similar nonsense, small amount of hand-to-hand combat, also without extremes. So it's probably time to finish first Sageuk since there aren't repulsive elements here. Finally there's just 12 episoodes, but after three episodes story was more or less done with, so of course they needed to introduce time wasting story development that lasted half of the entire show. And the last episodes were left for illogical makjang nonsense, believe it or not. To be honest, even first three episodes could not rival masterpiece taiga.   Overall Rating: 6/10

14. Shooting Star [流れ星] (Finished 7/10) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama, Family Takenouchi plays an aquarium employee named Kengo, who seems ordinary at first glance but actually possesses a secret that he would sacrifice everything in order to protect. Meanwhile, Ueto plays Risa, a young woman working in the sex trade in order to pay off her brother's debt, though her situation has led her to contemplate suicide. These two characters, both full of despair, meet each other and end up entering a contract marriage purely for its benefits. However, as they overcome various troubles, their relationship begins turning into true love. The only slight interest is operation aftermath... but writers drag more and more to postpone operation and introduce all kinds of irritations on the way, and I really hate that.   Overall Rating: 6/10

15. President  [프레지던트] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Drama, Political Three months before the presidential nominating convention, Jang Il Joon, from the New Wave Party, declared his candidacy. On that same day, a woman died in a gas explosion in Sam Chuk. Yoo Min Ki, a documentary producer, heard of his mother's sudden death and headed back home. As he cast his mother's ashes in the sea, he thought of his childhood: his father always blurted out that Min Ki was not his son whenever he was drunk. After the funeral, Min Ki returned to Seoul and Jang Il Joon asked Min Ki to work as a PR agent to record the election campaign process. When Min Ki asked Il Joon why he was chosen, Il Joon confessed that Min Ki was his son. Min Ki soon begins to suspect that his mother's death was not an accident and that Il Joon had actually killed her. As usual, comparing with CHANGE, and it's not a beneficial comparison.   Overall Rating: 6/10

16. Spell of the Fragrance  [国色天香] (Finished 1/33) Tags: Romance, Drama, Family The Xiang family and Gong family have a long history of rivalry as fragrance families. Su Family's oldest daughter, Su Yu Ning, is given the title of number one perfumer and is well known not only for her skills in fragrance but also for her beauty. Gong family's successor, Gong Shao Hua, and Yu Ning are childhood friends and have an arranged marriage. However, when Shao Hua returns from his studies in Shanghai, he discovers that Yu Ning and Xiang's family's successor, Xiang Hao Yu, are engaged and to be married soon. Not believing Hao Yu's words and Yu Ning's betrayal, the two men have a fight only to be stopped by Hao Yu's father. Angry that his father would break his arranged marriage to Yu Ning, Shao Hua rides away from the scene only to infuriate his father and cause his early death. At his father's funeral and Yu Ning and Hao Yu's marriage day, he vows to get his revenge on the Xiang family for killing his father and taking away Yu Ning. Rivalry and revenge among two big families sounds bad at any conditions let alone when made by Chinese...   Overall Rating: 5/10

17. Ojiichan wa 25 Sai [おじいちゃんは25歳] (Finished 1/8) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Family Fujiwara stars as a man who was in an accident on a snowy mountain 46 years ago. His frozen body is discovered in the present day, and despite being actually 71 years old, he has the appearance and personality of a 25-year-old. He also learns that at his old home in Oshiage, Tokyo, his son is now 52 years old and is raising two children of his own – a 25-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter. I'd call such concept easy-cheesy. Comedy must be superb to let it slip, but even that is lackluster.   Overall Rating: 6/10

18. Go Yi Yi Go  [一一向前冲] (Finished 1/28) Tags: Romance, Drama Yi Yi is a 32-year-old shopping network host who decides to leave her job after a bad breakup. She becomes a DJ at a radio station that's always last in ratings. Pouring her energy into her job, she sees top DJ Cao Yan, whose show airs the same time as hers, as her ultimate rival. One day, Yi Yi gets set up on a date with a friend's son, who turns out to be none other than Cao Yan! Bickering, rivarly, infantile behavior - check, check, check...   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. FACE MAKER [フェイスメーカー] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Thriller Kirishima, a skilled plastic surgeon who previously used to work for the US 'Federal Witness Protection Programme'. His nickname is "Face Maker." Patients come to him seeking to change their lives, and he grants them that wish with a new face. He doesn't take money but asks for his patients' previous faces as a payment. How would you feel if you encountered someone with your former face? Face surgery is already a poor topic for me, and this time it's also collection of cases, the worst possible type.   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Kurohyo Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho  [クロヒョウ 龍が如く新章] (Finished 4/11) Tags: Action, Adventure From the yakuza world of the video game series Ryu ga Gotoku, the series is based on the characters in the franchise's first handheld game and released in conjunction with it. Have not ever played or wanted to play Yakuza series, but even I know that it's liked for characters, large variety of activities and stories. But here there's still no notable characters and story is typical criminal background growth, nothing to be impressed with.   Overall Rating: 6/10

21. Look Khon [ลูกโขน] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Family Gam Pan is the son of the famous ex-boxer Kam Ron. Gam Pan has deep passion for the art of Khone dancing and will often sneak away from his boxing training to go Khone dance with his dance partner, Ram Thai, who is the daughter of a great Khone master. Gam Pan and Ram Thai were selected as representatives to dance in honour of Father’s Day. Sadly Gam Pan’s dream crumbles when his brother Sang Wien, who is their father’s only remaining hope to train and become a boxing champion, got entangled in a relationship with a woman which caused him to fix his fight! Horrible play for horrible concept, as in every lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Perfect Report [パーフェクトリポート] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Drama Kana Aoyama is a 38-year-old TV reporter for CTN. Kana is known for being stubborn and inflexible but passionate about uncovering the truth. After doggedly pursuing an unsolved case for 15 years, she is then assigned to lead a ragtag team of second-line reporters. Her team includes reporter Hiroshi Shiraishi, who constantly receives complaints from his interviewees, and TV announcer Midori Okusawa, who once misread a news report and landed herself here; Shu Akasaka, a news reporter interested in only political aspects of news stories; cameraman Isao Koda, who pretends to be a movie director; Ken Shimura, a camera assistant who rarely touches the camera and AD Yu Momoi, who is easily persuaded and manipulated by those around him. Their first assignment was to cover seals who had reappeared in the Tama River. Kana, however, is interested in the Prime Minister who stood up to the U.S. Secretary of State for a prearranged meeting. What did the Prime Minister do during his disappearance? Kana looks at the footage of the Prime Minister prior to his disappearance, and once he reappeared in public. She notices something that no one else has. Kana then announced her team would focus on the Prime Minister's disappearance. This raises the scorn of her subordinates, and her team is now viewed as a nuisance by others. Nice, but the only available version is physically painful to watch. No reporter series made it to masterpieces before for me, so I'll just excuse myself and have pity on my eyes.   Overall Rating: 6/10

23. Second Virgin [セカンドバージン] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Thriller, Business, Romance, Melodrama Nakamura Rui is a divorced but highly successful producer in publishing. She meets Suzuki Kou, an ambitious buisiness man 17 years her junior, and finds herself getting aggressively persued by him. Eventually they begin a steaming affair. Meanwhile, a young couple moves into the house next to Nakamura's and the wife, Marie begins to confide in her about the frustrations of their conjugal life. Even Fukada Kyoko could not fix this for me after two obligatory episodes, and her role is as usual lately of an idiot. For me this drama seriously lacks realism. And as usual there are many even less pleasant sideway stories. Too many irritations overall.   Overall Rating: 6/10

24. Days We Stared at the Sun [他們在畢業的前一天爆炸] (Finished 1/5) Tags: Life, Youth, Drama Chen Hao Yuan is an honor student with a mellow personality. His best friend, Hong Cheng Yi, on the other hand, is a delinquent who did time in juvenile detention for bank robbery. Together, they helped their classmate get off drugs, exposed their teacher's dirty secrets, and even tried to find the bees that have gone missing because of the upcoming 2012 apocalypse. Their carefree attitude toward life turned to rage when they discovered that a corrupt politician was responsible for both of their families' misfortunes. Only partially translated, so can't even watch fully. Fine coming of age story, but those are quite easy to make, so need to be really outstanding for a masterpiece, and this one is decent at best .   Overall Rating: 6/10

25. Flames of Desire [욕망의 불꽃] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Romance, Drama, Melodrama The story of a conglomerate family that falls apart when the members are caught up in a furious battle for succession. Kim Tae Jin's children all covet his fortune and the power that he possesses as the company president, and they would do anything, however cruel and inhumane, to wrest it from the others. At the forefront of this desperate game is Yoon Na Young, the ruthless and ambitious wife of Kim Young Min, Tae Jin's third son. Her unquenchable thirst for power and wealth drove her to the point of no return, manipulating both husband and son to achieve her own desires. 50 more hours of soap opera melodrama to dump. Of course it starts with childhood period for who knows how many episodes. So mundane and simplistic. Don't see any kind of good story here - just ways to show lots of dirt.   Overall Rating: 5/10

26. Ngao Kammathep [เงากามเทพ] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Romance, Drama Tien has been raised as a boy all her life because Kamontat, her ill-willed father, swapped her with the family's gardener/caretaker's son in his estate in Hua Hin, leaving behind a ring strung in a necklace as key to her true identity. Before Grandpa Thaksasoot died, he declared that he wanted a boy to carry the family name since Thorn, her father's brother, who also later died, can't have children. Years later, Kamontat searched for Tien because he doesn't want his adopted son to inherit the money. Thorn and Rome were best friends and one fateful day, Rome met Tien and saved her from an unlikely situation; not knowing at first that she is a girl, brought her home and took care of her. Then Rome discovered Tien's true identity as the missing heiress to the Thaksasoot family fortune. Some years back, Rome was financially ruined by Kamontat. Driven by revenge, anger and grief, Rome kept the truth to himself but later admitted it and helped to get Tien back to her rightful place in the family, but unconsciously falls in love with her in the process. Typical lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

27. Song Pradtana [สองปรารถนา] (Finished 1/22) Tags: Thriller, Romance, Drama Song Pradtana is the story of two women who happened to have the same name and last name, neither side knows that there is another person who has the exact same name. Both of them lives their own life, thinking that in Thailand, there's only one person with this name and last name. Everything would have gone as usual if one of them didn't mysteriously die suddenly. The other one finds out that her bank account, in which she had millions, has been closed by someone. What she has never thought possible before happened, she will then look into who the other person was. Even worse plot than usual, paired up with ever-abominable play.   Overall Rating: 5/10

28. Once Upon a Time in Saengchori [원스 어폰 어 타임 인 생초리] (Finished 9/20) Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Comedy, Romance This drama revolves around a group of brokerage firm employees who are relocated to a quiet rural village, where both thrilling and bizarre events occur and romance bloom between the employees and residents. At the center of the many secrets surrounding Saengchori, it is a complicated murder mystery in which the employees find themselves unwittingly involved. However, there are some that prefer certain skeletons in the closet remain hidden and will go to any lengths for this. Is the murderer someone from the quirky, country village of Saengchori, or could it be one of their own?  Murder detective mystery... comedy? Basically, it's pure fooling around of incompetent workers with very little changed from the initial point by the end of 9th episode.   Overall Rating: 6/10

29. Queen of Reversals  [역전의 여왕] (Finished 2/31) Tags: Business, Comedy, Romance, Life Hwang Tae Hee is the daughter of a chaebol and a team leader at her workplace. She is married to Bong Joon Soo, who works at the same company. When Bong Joon Soo's ex-girlfriend, Baek Yeo Jin, who happens to be Hwang Tae Hee's rival as well, begins to work in her team, troubles start to surface. Tae Hee has to juggle her challenges in love with those at work, helping shape her boss and department director, Goo Yong Shik, from an insensitive and uninterested second-generation chaebol to a true leader. Tae Hee's seeming success in love, however, presents her with another problem as she begins to realize that marriage involves just as many obstacles to overcome.  Huge focus on constant conflicts makes it unwatchable for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

30. Secret Garden [시크릿 가든] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Melodrama, Supernatural The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won, an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im, a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies. Typical Korean romance, of above average quality, but otherwise not special or remarkable for me. Luckily, no swapping bodies happened by the end of 2nd episode, as it's always a bad move.   Overall Rating: 6/10

31. King Geun Cho Go [근초고왕] (Finished 1/60) Tags: Historical The story of King Geun Cho Go, warrior king of Baekje. Under his reign, the kingdom experienced its glory days, with military conquests that saw him controlling most of the Korean peninsula and a subsequent enhancement of political power that reached its greatest height in Baekje's history. Average in every aspect sageuk about ancient history.   Overall Rating: 5/10

32. 99-nen no Ai ~ Japanese Americans  [99年の愛~JAPANESE AMERICANS~] (Finished 1/5) Tags: Historical, Drama, Family, War The story follows a family of Japanese immigrants who crossed over to America 99 years ago. Kusanagi plays both the young Hiramatsu Chokichi (later taken over by Nakai) and his son, Ichiro. When the war breaks out the Japanese immigrants face racism and segregation. Ichiro pledges his alliance to America and gets sent to Europe, second son Jiro stays back with Ichiro's beloved Shinobu (who he has a crush on) and tries to protect his parents' farm. Their two sisters Shizu and Sachie are sent back to Japan and have to experience the horrors of war, one in Hiroshima and the other in Okinawa. Can't understand why it was needed except the usual self-pity expression. It's of very little interest and bears no real art or plot importance.   Overall Rating: 5/10

33. Freeter, Ie o Kau.  [フリーター、家を買う。] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Romance, Drama, Family The story revolves around Take Seiji, who quits his job after three months. With no dreams, no savings, and a poor relationship with his family, he becomes a hikikomori. However, after his mother falls ill with depression, he ends up having to take on a part-time job at a construction site. Because of that, he soon decides to work towards rebuilding his life: "Even though I'm just a freeter, I'm going to buy a house for the sake of my family." One of the people he meets at the construction site is Chiba Manami, who graduated from a top-class university and joined a well-known general contracting firm. Manami is the complete opposite of Seiji. But while their personalities clash at first, they gradually come to understand each other. Watched it a decade ago. It cheesed things a little just like Dragonzakura, but it was great overall.   Overall Rating: 7/10

34. Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna  [ギルティ 悪魔と契約した女] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Mystery, Romance, Drama, Melodrama A pet groomer at a salon in Shirogane, Nogami Meiko has a lot of celebrity dog-lovers as customers. She cheerfully serves customers with care, and her skills are tried and tested. The salon's owner, Kotomi, has a strong faith in her, and she is admired by her colleagues. Meiko leads a quiet and fulfilling life... however, there is another side to her. She has a plan for revenge that she must accomplish. In truth, when she was 19, she was imprisoned for murder but there was also another side to this case. And just as she's about to execute her plan, she meets a man named Mashima Takuro. She acts mysteriously around him and for some reason, he makes her feel better. Is he the only miscalculation to her? Or a reckoning? If someone could make revenge concept, it's the Japanese. Can't say I really enjoyed it, but watched it to the end and it was nice which is huge for a revenge story.   Overall Rating: 7/10

35. Home Sweet Home (2010) [즐거운 나의 집 ] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Mystery, Drama, Melodrama Kim Jin Seo and Mo Yoon Hee are high school classmates and rivals whose different family backgrounds shaped their characters and their paths towards love and success in adulthood. Jin Seo develops a warm and cheerful personality as well as superior intellectual ability, while Yoon Hee becomes a beautiful woman with fatal charm. Both women love Lee Sang Hyun, an extremely kind but indecisive man who used to date Yoon Hee but later married Jin Seo. When Yoon Hee's husband, Sung Eun Pil, dies under suspicious circumstances, Jin Seo finds herself becoming involved in the investigation. The process is complicated when the young homicide detective Kang Shin Woo becomes romantically interested in Jin Seo. Detective mystery alongside very weak concept and play.   Overall Rating: 5/10

36. Links to Temptation  [誘情轉駁] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Thriller, Mystery The subtle relationship between Barrister Shing Wai Shun and pole dancer Hung Long Kiu begins with a cell phone. Kiu has been treating SHun hot and cold. On top of this, he also finds her somewhat unpredictable. He decides to check her out secretly. His good friend, Kwan Ho Ching, discovers that Kiu is going out with rich businessman Ko Wing Tai. Under Shun's questioning, Kiu confesses she is coveting Tai's money, telling him to relinquish hope. It turns out that a mysterious man, who has been close at hand, is controlling Kiu. Hong Kong picture quality is finally on a minimum acceptable level. But so far after two episodes it's not far from Korean romance, and the flow is slow and mundane, nothing motivates to go on further.   Overall Rating: 5/10

37. Smile Again [웃어라 동해야 ] (Finished 1/159) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Family Dong Hae was raised in America by his beautiful but unmarried and mentally deficient mother, Anna Laker, who was adopted there. He goes to Korea for a short-track skating competition and brings his mother along in secret, arranging for her to be picked up at the airport by his girlfriend, Yoon Sae Wa, an ambitious TV announcer who harbors a secret disdain for Anna's disability. Dong Hae meets Bong Yi, a poor assistant chef, when Sae Wa prioritizes her job and sends her to meet Anna instead. After Sae Wa later betrays him, Dong Hae begins to search for his father, creating a new family and finding new romance along the way. How many episodes? Pilot is sour and meaningless melodrama with the usual poor vs rich conflicts, so zero motivation left.   Overall Rating: 5/10

38. Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso  [霊能力者 小田霧響子の嘘] (Finished 1/9) Tags: Mystery, Comedy Odagiri Kyoko is a flashy clairvoyant TV personality who has celebrities and politicians as clients. Yet in reality she is just a regular girl with no special power. She conducts solid detective work to solve mysteries, then passes off the results as her psychic visions. Detective mystery with paranormal abilities is instant no even for Japanese series.   Overall Rating: 5/10

39. Marks no Yama [マークスの山] (Finished 1/5) Tags: Action, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Twenty years ago, a boy was rescued after his parents' apparent suicide in the mountains. Now released from a mental institution, he mentions a dark mountain shadow to his girlfriend. Meanwhile, a murder occurs in Tokyo, and Assistant Inspector Goda Yuichiro investigates. A second murder of a Ministry of Justice official points to a serial killer, but Goda is ordered to halt the investigation. He senses a deeper mystery and begins pursuing the killer, Marks. A journalist's research on a corrupt construction magnate and a 13-year-old unsolved mountain murder soon tie into the case. Detective murder mystery that's too dark for me to enjoy.   Overall Rating: 6/10

Share this: