♔ ~ { J S }: K-Drama - Recommendations & Updates - "I Hear Your Voice" & "The Master's Sun"

Hello again blog world!
Since I'm on my break in between semesters right now, I've started watching dramas again!

The first one I wanna talk about is called "I Hear Your Voice" or "너의 목소리가 들려" in Korean. It's such a trendy drama right now, and it recently finished airing not too long ago. I'm so glad for this, since I hate waiting for dramas to come out... But at the same time, I sorta feel like I missed out on the "action" in "real time". Oh well, haha. At least I've watched it now! I just finished watching the last episode today, and it was a good drama alright. I can totally see why it garnered so much interest and popularity, along with high viewer rates.

"I Hear Your Voice" starring Lee Da Hee, Yoon Sang Hyun, Lee Bo Young and Lee Jong Suk.

*Caution: spoilers ahead, continue reading at your own discretion*
This drama was sort of a breath of fresh air... Well it's not like I've watched many dramas recently to compare it to, but I've got quite a lot of dramas (particularly Korean) under my belt. One thing that really struck me while watching this drama is how every character wasn't completely black or white. Every character was a sort of grey: even if they were introduced and portrayed as "good guys" or "bad guys", every character had a realistic justification for their behaviour.
When Park Soo Ha (Lee Jong Suk) was introduced, he was against bullying, using his mind-reading powers for good, but his "dark side" came out after meeting Min Joon Gook, the man who killed his father, went to prison and was released, again. Also his fantasy about his first love, Jang Hye Sung (Lee Bo Young) was crushed upon meeting her after 10 years.
Likewise, Jang Hye Sung appears to have a really unlikable, stubborn, lazy and overall bitchy demeanor, but she turns out to be a very just person who fights for the truth when she decided to be a witness at the trial for Soo Ha's dad's death... well she wasn't like that at the beginning of the drama, but with the help of Soo Ha and some other characters, she becomes very respectable.
Even though Seo Do Yeon (Lee Da Hee) was introduced as Hye Sung's antagonist, she doesn't seem like the bitch that Hye Sung makes her out to be. They even end up being friends at the end, which I really liked :D
Lawyer Cha (Yoon Sang Hyun) seems to be a good guy, and that's all that there is to him. BUT he turns out to be a bit of a gullible dummy who fights for and wins Min Joon Gook's freedom after he kills Hye Sung's mom.
Min Joon Gook was a terrifying villain in this drama. Earlier in the drama, I kept wondering if they would reveal the truth as to why he killed Soo Ha's father, and they did! Which I'm really glad for. He's actually a really pitiful character, who, under some really unfavorable circumstances, ended up pursuing some horrible actions for revenge. I'm so glad he came clean at the end. This wasn't one of those dramas where the "bad guys" suddenly become good guys out of no where, for no reason. The plot and character were very carefully and well developed: these things are crucial for creating a good drama, but it's really disheartening to see how many dramas can't get it right.

I'm sure there are some loopholes in the plot somewhere and other things to criticize, but I'm not one to be so critical about my entertainment. I do enough of that at school T.T I know it's not that great to just be a sponge when I consume media, but whatever. Ain't nobody got time for that! (Jk...sorta).

I usually don't like noona-dongsaeng (older woman-younger guy) relationships in dramas, but I think Lee Jong Suk and Lee Bo Young pulled it off well. Their chemistry was on point.. even though Bo Young got married irl after the drama ended xD Lee Jong Suk is just so adorable! You can't help but fall in love when you watch him. Even though his character in this drama is a high school student (for like half the drama?), it felt totally different watching him than when I watched him in "School 2013". I don't know much about criticizing actors/acting (I can only say something when someone makes me feel awkward watching them), but I think Lee Jong Suk is pretty good.
Jang Hye Sung was such a bitch in the beginning, but her "I'm so special and so good at everything" attitude and demeanor was so funny to watch when she tried to brush off embarrassing moments. Her acting was also pretty good too.. particularly when her mom died.. oh god I bawled like crazy!
Lawyer Cha was an adorable ahjusshi with his aegyo haha. You can't help but like him too... in the end he helps Soo Ha with his relationship with Hye Sung even though he himself has feelings for her... Sigh it was kinda sad watching him since Hye Sung stopped returning his feelings for her. I sorta thought there might be something between him and Do Yeon at the end though, even though the drama didn't develop that. They woulda been cute together, heh.

All in all, this drama was definitely a good one. It might not be for people who find legal shows to be boring, but the plot and characters were well planned out and well executed. The romance doesn't take up too much of the drama, but there's enough of it to be considered cute. I remember being really grasped by the drama in the earlier episodes; they did a really good job of keeping the viewer interested. I definitely recommend this drama to anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in watching! Bye bye Jang Hye Sung, Park Soo Ha & all the other characters. Thanks for an awesome drama~

Anyway, besides IHYV, I've also started watching "The Master's Sun" or "The Sun of the Master" - "주군의 태양" in Korean. It stars So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin. I've never watched neither of these two in dramas before, and I'm very surprised at how much I like both of them! So Ji Sub is sort of a given, since I watched "Always" a few weeks ago during that exam period break I had, and I completely fell in love with him! Even though that was my first time watching him, I was completely captured. And come on, he's So Ji Sub - he's perfection!

Master's Sun starring Seo In Guk, Gong Hyo Jin, So Ji Sub and Kim Yoo Ri

*There's only 6 eps of this drama out right now... and I don't think I can spoil much with my post... unless you were planning on starting this drama with no idea what it's about.. If that's the case, then only read further at your own discretion*

Even though this drama is a horror-rom-com, it's a lot more light hearted than IHYV. IHYV was a little dark - not horror and supernatural dark, but psychologically dark. I'm loving all four of the main characters. Joo Joong Won (So Ji Sub) is sort of a typical rich, good looking Korean drama male-lead caricature, but he's not too stereotypical since he has a bit of a 4D element that makes him funny, cute and entertaining at the same time. I read somewhere where someone compared him to Park Shi Hoo in CheongDamDong Alice, but not as extreme. Yeah, I just love So Ji Sub in this drama right now :P
Gong Hyo Jin plays Tae Gong Shil (which btw is one of the ugliest Korean names I've ever heard in a drama lol, no offense) who can see ghosts! Typically it's sorta hard to make me watch a drama with older leads... but a few dramas can totally pull that off, this being one, and "Gentleman's Dignity" being another example, so I didn't really expect to like Tae Gong Shil much. To my surprise, I find her completely adorable! Even as a girl I think she is sooooo cute :) I wish I had an unni friend like her, lol. Oh, one thing I wanna mention is that I don't think she photographs very well.. at least a lot of the official picture for this drama aren't very flattering for her... but in video, I think she's quite cute and pretty. She reminds me a lot of Sistar's Soyu. (I know she's a sunbae to Soyu in the entertainment industry, but I knew Soyu first ><... so Soyu looks like Gong Hyo Jin, I guess)
Anyway I can see why her type of character won't be for everyone though. One thing that sorta baffles me is how she isn't used to seeing ghosts/being scared/startled by them, even though she's been seeing them for so many years now.... I guess someone can NOT get used to being scared by ghosts, right? :s

Kang Woo (Seo In Guk) is very cool and suave haha. He's a security guard at Joong Won's mall and he's also spying on Joong Won. Things are developing between him and Tae Gong Shil, and I think they make a cute couple too! Of course, I know she's going to end up with Joong Won though. And it's also adorable how Joong Won gets jealous seeing Gong Shil with Kang Woo, I'm always a sucker for male jealousy, I just think it's adorable! But it's rarely cute when a female gets jealous :s
Tae Yi Ryeong (Kim Yoo Ri) is a likable character too, she's so funny when she's together with Kang Woo :) Plus she's super pretty! I think her and Kang Woo will make a really cute couple, can't wait to see how things develop between them!
*Sigh* Just a few more days for new episodes! I am so hooked, I can't wait :)

Anyway I think that's it for this post :D
I'll just leave these here...