My Top 5 Dramas for 2007

Top 5 Dramas for 2007

These are my picks for the top dramas that I've seen from 2007. Again, they not are arranged in no particular order as I love them all equally and are not limited to Korean dramas alone. Compare it with your list for 2007:

Liar Game

Stars Matsuda Shota and Toda Erika. Kanzaki Nao (Toda Erika) is an honest college student who receives a hundred million yen one day, along with a card saying she has been chosen to take part in the "Liar Game". 

The aim of the game is to trick the other players out of their hundred million dollars. At the end, the winner gets the hundred million and the loser is a hundred million yen in debt. The next day, she receives notification that her opponent is her former teacher, Fujisawa Kazuo. She goes to him, seeking help, but ends up getting tricked into handing her money over. 

Desperate, she approaches the police for help, but they are unable to do anything. However, she is told of a mastermind swindler, Akiyama Shinichi (Matsuda Shota), who is to be released from jail the next day. Desperate, she goes to him for help.

It is rare that a drama can get me so excited that I turn around and watch the entire series, one after another (see Liar Game Post). I was totally riveted while watching this drama. It was my first introduction to both Shota and Erika. This drama is a total mind game! From one episode to another, you are trying to play the game along with the players; trying to figure out strategies and determine loyalties. I don't think for one moment that I truly understood every game played or should I say, figured out the outcomes. One thing I can say, the writer(s) must be sadistic!! Some of the games were seriously twisted.

This drama is definitely not a romance. This is a drama that fits into the genre that I feel that the Japanese writers do very well: suspense/psychological.

Bad Couple

Stars Shin Eun-Kyung and Ryu Soo-Young. Choi Gi Chan (Ryu Soo-Young) is an University Botanic Professor with the "perfect genes." The drama is about an editor of a fashion magazine, Kim Dang Ja (Shin Eun-Kyung), who suddenly develops an urge to have her own baby despite opposing the idea of marriage. The story will talk about Dang Ja striving to look for a man with perfect genes to accomplish her mission. Gi Chan happens to be her "target" in order for her to accomplish her mission. The story later develops as Dang Ja must persuade him to do it without any commitments, which is a problem because Gi Chan doesn't believe in the idea of sex before marriage.

That's right, read the description again! This drama was exactly as it was described. When I saw this, I was not prepared for what I was watching because so many Korean dramas are so straight-laced and near pure; however, when I watched this, I had to remember that I was watching a Korean drama! This is what you would classify as an unconventional drama. It is a drama that somehow slips through and is totally unlike any you've ever seen before. It was also the first Korean comedy drama that I actually got! My problem with a lot of Korean humor is it generally goes over my head but this was so raw and dealt with real life situations.

However, the best part of the drama was watching all of the things Dang Ja was willing to do to entice Gi Chan into bed. No, you are not going to see this type of drama very often. Unfortunately, in usual KDrama fashion, there were periods of the drama that the writer went to sleep but overall, it was really fun to watch and you're just not going to see this type very often.

Time Between Dog and Wolf

Stars Lee Joon-Ki, Nam Sang-Mi and Jung Kyung-Ho. After his mother is brutally murdered by the Triad in Thailand, Soo-hyun (Lee Joon-Ki]) is adopted by NIS agent Kang Joong-ho, and he grows up with Min-ki (Jung Kyung-Ho) like brothers. Min-ki and Soo-hyun both become NIS agents later on. One fateful day, Soo-hyun meets Ji-woo (Nam Sang-Mi) after last seeing her in Thailand when he was a child. They start dating. 

One day, Soo-hyun ruins a mission when the suppressed memories of the day his mother died surfaces in his mind. NIS Director Jung gives Soo-hyun an undercover assignment to infiltrate the Triad and Soo-hyun takes the job. Soo-hyun fakes his death and assumes a new identity to become a member of the Triad. With his fake identity and new name, he prowls the back alleys of Bangkok...

I developed an ahjumma crush on Lee Joon Ki after watching Iljimae and wanted to see everything he had starred in, both dramas and movies. I came across this on Netflix. I watched the first disc from Netflix and immediately went and ordered the entire drama! I've never done this before (and haven't since). Never have I been swept into a drama so thoroughly that I immediately wanted to own it! The action, superb; the story, excellent; the acting, phenomenal! 

I became an obsessed fan of Lee Joon Ki after this. This drama is on my computer, iPad so it travels with me. There are very few moments where this drama is uninteresting. It takes you to Korea and Thailand; showing you the darker sides very well. I was hoping when Lee Joon Ki returned from service he would do another action (okay Two Weeks, so far is somewhat action) drama but because I have total faith in his acting ability, I am looking forward to whatever he does in the future. I don't want to give away any plot lines away, let's just say I highly recommend this to all, you will not be disappointed!

Coffee Prince

 Stars Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun-Hye. Han-gyeol (Gong Yoo) is a smart young man who hates to be tied down to one career in his life. Abhorring the idea of joining the family business, he is ordered by his grandmother to manage a cafe. Unable to disobey his grandmother, he reluctantly takes over the responsibility of running a cafe and begins to immerse himself in the gourmet coffee business. One day, he meets Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-Hye), a cheerful girl who has an unpredictable personality, and learns the meaning of true love...

Who hasn't heard of this drama? I'm quite sure it is on the list of many people's top favorite dramas ever. Having watch Eun-Hye in Goong, it was only natural for me to be drawn to this drama. This was the first time seeing Gong Yoo and boy oh boy! That's all I'm going to say. Not only Yoo but it also introduced me to Lee Sun-Kyun and of course, Kim Jae Wook, even though his role was not very big, it left a lasting impression on me.

I wonder how many people also couldn't understand why everyone thought that Eun-chan was a boy? It boggled the mind in my estimation! She looked more like a girl than a guy to me! Maybe I've spent too much time on the beaches of Venice, California, the city streets of New York City, and in the French Quarters, New Orleans, Louisiana to ever mistake a girl for a guy. 

Overall, a really fun drama to watch and most of all, it has Gong Yoo!!

Thank You

Stars Jang Hyuk and Gong Hyo-Jin. Min Ki Seo (Jang Hyuk) went to Blue Island to fulfill his deceased girlfriend's last wish to find the single mother and her little girl who was infected by HIV and to apologize to them on her behalf as she had unknowingly given the girl tainted blood when she was being treated at the hospital. Lee Young Shin (Gong Hyo-Jin), the single mom, was having a hard time caring for her grandfather who has Alzheimer's and keeping her daughter's HIV condition a secret while teaching her how to live with it. Min Ki Seo was an arrogant person who looked down on people and in meeting Lee Young Shin who accepted her fate and tried to make the best of it despite all odds, he slowly changed for the better and became a warm and caring person.

A lot of people probably never heard of this. This was my first exposure to Jang Hyuk! The fact that the subject matter covered (HIV) also contributed to this being an amazing story! I fell in love with the young child actor, Seo Shin-Ae (recently in The Queen's Classroom) who played the young daughter, Lee Bom, was simply amazing! I am truly going to watch her career! 

The story covered every aspect of a person with HIV living in South Korea; the fear of being found out; the attitudes of people when they do; the suffering of a HIV patient, especially a young child. Couple this with a seriously tortured soul (Jang Hyuk’s character Min Gi-Seo) added to the phenomenal acting displayed. I will never forget Gong Hyo-Jin who plays the mother, Lee Young-Shin. Her story consisted not only of single parenthood but raising a child with an illness! Amazing story and amazing acting! Made me a lifetime fan of Jang Hyuk as well as Gong Hyo-Jin!!

So What Are Your Top 5 for 2007?

Let me know in the comments!