International K-Fan

There you have it, my favorite asian dramas and movies. - Admin Frida

purgatorychronicles — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:13:52 -0600

There you have it, my favorite asian dramas and movies.

- Admin Frida

The Crucible (2011) The crucible (English title : Silenced) is the movie adaptation of a...

purgatorychronicles — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:07:00 -0600

The Crucible (2011)

The crucible (English title : Silenced) is the movie adaptation of a Korean novel that describes the true events that happened at a local school for impaired children in the city of Moojin. The Crucible describes the corruption that this school had. To put it bluntly, it is about child molestation and rape.

This is by far the saddest movie I’ve watch this year; but it was a very important one for me to see. It is a very gruesome film that shows the living conditions of these children that have no one in this world. It is cruel to see how adults take advantage of these children just to satisfy their perverse beings. It was very uncomfortable and horrendous just watching this film. I got very sentimental and sobbed during some parts of the film. I think it was my first time crying like that in a public place.

The main character was played by Korean actor Gong Yoo. He has been my favorite actor as I believe he has a very honest way of showing his emotions. My opinion of him didn’t change during The Crucible, he showed a very honest man that really wants to help the children at the school. His acting throughout the movie was flawless. Even so, the children were the ones who stole the credit for best performance in this nightmarish movie. It must have been very hard for them and the adults to shoot the rape scenes. I can’t fathom just trying to get the emotions of a girl or boy who has been sexually abused.

The importance of this film is beyond being a good movie. The Crucible has helped bring awareness of child molestation and the abuse and discrimination that the impaired population have in societies. It was very eye opening and I hope that it bring some justice to those who were taken advanted of in one of the most monstrous ways possible.

“For the past few years, we have seen almost no South Korean films that actively examined the state of our society, the values of what is right, and what we need to do the way The Crucible does.”

—Film critic Ahn Si-hwan

I've started watching "Come Rain, Come Shine" (I didn't finish, because my computer's being slow and it's late) because you wrote a review on it and sweet baby Jesus, it's so good. I like it a lot. Thank you for recommending it ^^

purgatorychronicles — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:28:10 -0600

aww you are welcome! I love that movie and I’m a big fan of both actors. I’m glad you liked my review.

Come Rain Come Shine (2011) Starring Hyun Bin and Lim Su Jeong, Come Rain Come Shine tells the...

purgatorychronicles — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:31:00 -0600

Come Rain Come Shine (2011)

Starring Hyun Bin and Lim Su Jeong, Come Rain Come Shine tells the story of a young couple that after five years of marriage the woman suddenly wants to divorce. She tells the man that she has been having an affair with another for sometime now and that she’s leaving him. The man, although chocked and angry towards the wife, he calmly and silently agrees to her leaving. The movie shows a storyline has no beginning, nor an end. The film just merely starts and finishes. The scene takes place in their home, and throughout the day the rain never stops falling.

I thought the way it was filmed was very interesting. Similar to a play, the story takes place in their home. It is a rainy day and the woman is packing. The husband silently and kindly help her pack and tries to be as much help as he can manage. The drama of the movie is seen through their actions. The two main characters almost never speak to each other, is what it’s not being said what matters. It is also very important to notice that the husband and the wife doesn’t have any names. It shows the feeling of distance between the young couple.

The director of the film had the greatest care on the lighting of the set, or rather the lack of it. There were a lot of shadows as well as black and white contrasts. The way it was filmed was interesting too; some of the takes were some seconds too long, making certain scenes have a sense of tense silence, and of someone that is lost in thought and that has no notion of time.

The music of the film was very minimal, what it was heard the most was the rain hitting the windows. Again, with the intent of making the film as silent as possible. With all the silent and stricted setting, it was up to the actors to carry the story. The acting of course was great. The emotions of both were very clear and transparent, even though neither of them didn’t know what each other was thinking. The viewer could clearly see what were the feelings of each individual and the descitions both made were also translucent.

Come Rain Come Shine is not for everyone. The viewer has to be very patient when watching it, and has to be very involved with it so it won’t become boring. It is a movie with no plot, where the characters don’t say anything or do anything. There are not bad guys or good guys, none of them are perfect, neither of them are right or wrong. There is no hero, and not an ending in sight.

But there it is an ending, there it is a resolution. Even though the movie doesn’t show it, we all know how the movie ends, so why show it. I chose this movie as one of the best movies I’ve seen because it is very human; very real. The man and the woman shows just the lack of communication that couples have. How we are not honest and can’t speak up our true feelings, even to those who are close to us.

For a movie with nothing much going on, it left me with a lot to think about.

Old Boy (2003) Old Boy narrates the story of a man who was imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years...

purgatorychronicles — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:27:00 -0600

Old Boy (2003)

Old Boy narrates the story of a man who was imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing why. As he gets released, he seeks revenge and the reason why such a thing was done to him. The movie is very crude, full of mistery and big twist plots. It can be gruesome to watch but it is so endearing and interesting. It is truly a work of cinema art.

The film has been a great success internationally. It is one of the finest movies that South Korea has released, and it put into light the quality of the Korean film industry. Done with much care, the movie portrays a lot of psychological aspects of the human mind. The acting was beyond spectacular, and the plot was very original. This is not a movie to be taken lightly and it has a big fanbase internationally to those who are cinema lovers.

I fell in love with this movie. It was so twisted and sick that it is almost impossible not become interested with it. Actor Choi Min Chik make the viewer to be truly interested in the faith of Dae Su, regarless if you think if he’s innocent or not. The rest of the characters are as interesting and important to the plot. Old Boy is a very important movie to me because I gained an interest on watching more Korean films. It lead me to good movies as well as actors, and it was the beginning of me falling in love with the Korean culture.

Norwegian Wood (2010) First off, I am a big Murakami fan. I read the book before watching the...

purgatorychronicles — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:11:00 -0600

Norwegian Wood (2010)

First off, I am a big Murakami fan. I read the book before watching the movie and I was glad to see it didn’t disappoint. This movie is flawless. Of course no movie will ever be as good as the book, but I was glad that I could feel the essence of what this amazing Murakami tale is about.

Every single character was true to the novel originals. Matsumaya Keinchi did such a terrific job as Watanabe, it was so perfect and I din’t expect less of one my favorite japanese actors. Kiko Misahura, who played Midori did an spectacular job as well. The music was amazing as well, I was specting to hear ‘Norwegian Wood’ by the Beatles throughout the movie, but they only played it in one scene and at the end of the movie. The film used the score written by Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead). The music portrayed the feelings of the characters well, and it felt right with the sound of the 60s as well with the mood of the movie.

The story itself is hard to describe. The plot is about a university student who falls in love with his dead best friend’s girlfriend, and later on falls in love with one of his university’s friends, but the heart of the story is at the complexity of each character. It is very psychological, and it narrates what it means being a young person. Not everything is perfect and is hard to live in a modern society which expects so much of you; it expects for you to change along with the rest. The story is also about young and passionate love.

As stated before, I found this movie flawless. It might have dragged at times, but overall I was in awed at the scenography, the acting, the music, and the plot. It was a good rendition to one of my favorite novels.

Kikujiro (1999) One of my favorites films. Directed and starting Beat Takeshi, one of the best...

purgatorychronicles — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:03:00 -0600

Kikujiro (1999)

One of my favorites films. Directed and starting Beat Takeshi, one of the best actors alive, Kikujiro is a tale about innocence, friendship, love, family, and what it means to be not only a child, but an adult as well. The story takes place in a hot summer and nine year old Masao has no one to play with, he finds an old photo of her mother with her address witten on it and decides he wants to look for her. Kikujiro (Beat Takeshi) is a lazy man who loves to gamble and hates children. He gets forced to accompany Masao in the search for his mother. Both of them become partners in a long and fun journey across the beautiful countryside of Japan.

Kikujiro displays in a beautiful manner the roads and country side of Japan.The adventures that they have along the way are a pleasure to watch. They meet quirky, fun, and weird characters along the way. Like any other story about journey, both of them find themselves to be more mature and wise once the journey is over. It is such a heart welming experience, it made me cry and laugh at the same time.

The film uses also uses magical realism to narrate the story. Kikujiro contains breathtaking dream sequences that are done with such detail and care. Masao is the only boy in the story, and although they meet the wrong people or they get in trouble along the way, Kikujiro and Masao always find honest people that help them on the way and most importanly, help Kikujiro to mantain Masao’s innocence to the very end.

It is a great film to watch with the family, the first time I watched it was with my siblings and parents and we approximately watched this movie three times in a row, we always found new details on the plot, laughed at the same funny moments and cried over the sad parts. I have very fond memories associated with this film.

Autumn’s Concerto (2010) You don’t know sad until you watch Autumn’s Concerto....

purgatorychronicles — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:38:00 -0600

Autumn’s Concerto (2010)

You don’t know sad until you watch Autumn’s Concerto. This is in my top three saddest dramas ever. This is my only Taiwanese drama of the bunch, and although I haven’t seen a lot of Tdramas, I’m interested in seeing more.

The drama is about this Mu Cheng, a girl who became an orphan at a young age. She lives with her aunt and her aunt’s pervert and abusive husband. Mu Cheng sells bento at a University and her past doesn’t let present sadden her. She is a very cheerful and gentle girl. Ren Guang Xi is a cocky lawyer student who seems to have it all, money, girls and he is the perfect ice hockey player. Despite it all his life is empty. Due to a bet, both of them got to know each other, a hateful relationship that soon became love. Tragedy strikes and he gets injured and loses his memory, forgetting Mu Cheng. Six years passes and they reunite, Mu Cheng has a little boy (their son) and although he doesn’t recognize her, he little by little begins to remember the love that they had.

This show was so dramatic, every episode was full of hair pulling and pillow throwing. It was also very worth watching. The plot was very complicated and interesting, and when I thought nothing could get worse, something horrendous happened. It can be said that it is a drama where the jerk falls in love for the nice, poor girl but it is so much more. What I also liked it was how the second part of the drama was about them six year older, not longer teens, but adults that have to take important decisions, for the sake of their son and their loved ones.

Also, during this show I was so very in love with Vaness Wu. My first impression of him was ‘oh, his eyes are very narrow’ to ‘he has a nice smile’ to ‘fsdufhdjsfnbdb you are so attractive!!!!’. He was such a complex character, acted his role so well and was such an eye candy to watch! My respects and love to Vaness Wu.

I remember to have enjoyed the music in this show. Mu Cheng used to play the piano before her parents died, and this was very important as a plot devise during the entire show. There was a lot of piano melodies as well as classical and instrumental music used in the drama.

Autumn’s Concerto told a very epic tale full of misfortune that showed a love hard to break. Even though full of sad moments, the cute happy moments made my day brighter.

Tatta Hitotsu no Roi (2006) My favorite Japanese drama. What’s left with me are the feelings...

purgatorychronicles — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:15:23 -0600

Tatta Hitotsu no Roi (2006)

My favorite Japanese drama. What’s left with me are the feelings which I had watching this. It is such a heart breaking love story that leave traces of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The cast is terrific, with KAT-TUN’S Kame as the male lead.He plays Hiroto, a guy who had a rough life and has to care for his little brother and mother. Ayase Haruka as the female lead, she has the role of Nao, a beautiful, gentle and smart university student who is of high class. KAT-TUN’s koki as Kame loyal friend and Toda Erika as Haruka best friend.

The story narrates the love between the Hiroto and Nao. Hiroto is always working in his dead father’s factory on the outskirts of Tokyo, Nao is a new university student who is full of dreams and goals. They meet at a college party by accident, and like the modern adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, he is looking through a fish tank when he sees her, and later in the scene they both fall under the pool. It was love at first sight.

The drama was full of real life conflicts, and what it meant to be of different social economic backgrounds. What I liked the most was seeing Hiroto’s every day life, from working on that factory, to him caring for his little brother in their little apartment, and him smoking and drinking in a small boat by the sea shore. It was also interesting seeing Nao learn about his lover’s life and for both of them falling in love so deeply with each other.

Their relationship was acted in the most natural form. The viewer was able to see how they made mistakes, how they fought, cried, and cared for each other. The best friends on both parties were also important, as they were the emotional supporters of Nao and Hiroto. It was such a moving drama, I’m tearing up even as I remembering it. It was truly touching.

Natsu no Koi Wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (2010) Natsu no Koi Wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku or Summer Love...

purgatorychronicles — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:57:00 -0600

Natsu no Koi Wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (2010)

Natsu no Koi Wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku or Summer Love Shines in Rainbow Color (longest name on earth) is the story of Taiga, a son of a famous Japanese actor and who wants to be an actor himself. He struggles to find job as it’s hard to be a second generation actor, plus his skills are more than lacking. One day he goes sky diving with fellow actor friend and meets an older and cheerful woman. She later gets a job at Taiga’s company.

The drama is about a Taiga overcoming his inferiority complex he has gained over the years for not being as good as his father. The drama also dwells on the cultural complexities of liking, dating, and later on marrying an older widower with a daughter. In the other hand, the story of Shiory (played by Taekichi Yuko) is about a woman who lost her husband unexpectedly. She decided not get married again and care for her daughter, even if being a single mother is still looked down upon in the japanese modern society. Her problems increases when a young man appears in her life and who is interested in her. As a young mother she learns to realize that she is still a woman and has to get over his husband death to be happy again.

Taiga was played by Arashi’s Matsumoto Jun. He has done a fair amount of romance dramas but I think this was a very honest and compelling story. The rest of the characters were funny and a pleasure to watch as well. Being a drama by one of the Arashi members, the opening theme song of course by Arashi. I really enjoyed the song “Love Rainbow”. The drama also used a song by self-composer, and my favorite Japanese soloist YUI called ” Please Stay With Me”. The song is a ballad that narrates a person longing for the one he/she loves. It was played in the right moments and I always became emotional every time they played.

Overall, I really liked the simple-yet compelling story between a young man trying to be an actor and an older woman trying to raise her daughter. Plus the drama also included the best kindergarden love between Shiori’s daughter Umi and her friend Yuki. It was adorable!

My Girl (2009) My Girl tells the story of Masamune, a simple 23 year old with a normal life until...

purgatorychronicles — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:45:00 -0600

My Girl (2009)

My Girl tells the story of Masamune, a simple 23 year old with a normal life until one day he meets his five year old daughter. Now he must raise her and take care of her as a single father. This drama narrates the troubles of being a single household parent as well as to cope with the dead of a loved one. The story is about growing up and becoming an adult, take responsibilities and learn that at the end of the day the most important thing is your family.

I cried in every episode. It is such a heartwarming drama, and it’s so real. The acting was done perfectly, Koharu, the five year old daughter is the most cute girl I’ve seen. Her acting was spectacular; she took care of Masamune as much he did for her, and her overcoming of her mother’s death was such a tearjerker. She even won an award for best actress for a main female role and she was six at the time! Now, Masamune was played by Aiba of Arashi and I totally fell for him, without doubt he became my Arashi bias. His acting was great too, their tears and their laughter were very honest.

The reason why I like Japanese dramas is that they take stories that are more realistic than kdramas which creates a different viewer’s experience. My girl was able to create a nice balance between humor and drama and it was clear that the main interest was to see every character grow up. It wasn’t the usual romantic love story but it certainly contained a lot of love.

"Finally, a Tumblog worthy of my time!" - a real reader with real opinions about The Life of an International K-fan blog.

thisemptygirl — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:24:00 -0600

Not sure if troll or actual compliment. Either way, thanks for checking us out!

- Admin Aby

Coffee Prince (2007) Coffee Prince will always be my favorite drama. It surpasssed the limits of...

purgatorychronicles — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:17:00 -0600

Coffee Prince (2007)

Coffee Prince will always be my favorite drama. It surpasssed the limits of story telling and denied to go with the usual drama plots that kdramas usually have. Thus, this drama is refreshing, sincere, and at the end I was truly touched.

The story is about Eun Chan (played by Yoon Eun Hye), a tomboy girl who has to care for her mother and youngest sister. Choi Han Kyul (played by Gong Yoo) comes from a rich family, her sick grandmather who is tired of he fooling around, tells him to run a coffee shop. Therefore The First Shop of Coffee Prince is born, in which only males can work. Eun Chan lies about her gender and starts working in the coffee shop. There, a ‘forbidden’ yet innocent love is born by Eun Chan and Han Kyul.

The acting is beyond perfect. The main character and supportive characters did an amazing job portraying their personas. Goong Yoo became my favorite actor after watching his portrayal of Han Kyul. His emotions always showed in his face, from his anger, to confusion, to love. He was very convincing when showing his love to Eun Chan, or to his former crush, the beautiful painter Yoo Joo (played by Jung Ah). When he cried, I cried, when he laughed, I laughed. I defently felt his sincerity in his character. The same goes for Eun Hye and the rest of the cast. Every single character had a role and added to the storyline. The audience truly cared for everybody.

Finally, the music. Oh my god it has to be the best soundtrack I’ve heard. Instead of using catchy kpop songs, The First Shop Of Coffee Prince uses indie artists and instrumental music. It was a perfect to the ambient that coffee shops have. The music went along with what the characters felt, instead of overshadowing it. The use of music was placed with such a good presicion and it never felt overused or repetitive.

Overall, this drama show us a very innocent love between two people who have not yet become adults, both Han Kyul and Gon Chan are child like (portrayed by Eun Chan’s like of experience with boys, and Han Kyul is seen playing with toys and is very stubborn, an attitude of four years old). They both are also very mature in some aspects of their lives. Watching their love story was a pleasure.

Greetings!

purgatorychronicles — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:29:00 -0600

This week is my 2nd year anniversary of watching Asian dramas, so I will be reviewing the best five dramas I’ve watched, as well as my favorite movies and the worst dramas I’ve seen.

Hello.

thisemptygirl — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:49:00 -0600

We are a new blog dedicated to bringing you reviews and opinions on all the things that your little K-fan heart could desire.

We are Chicago-based and will be supplying you with information on Korean stores and such in the area. Our admins are also fans of Japanese culture, so related posts may occasionally make an appearance on here. We are just getting started, so bear with us. We hope to provide you with information and entertainment in the future. Thank you! 감사합니다!